Trea

Howdy folks,

As someone who is tired of being fat, I decided to finally do something about it. I used to love to ride my bike as a kid and thought it would be an enjoyable way to get in better shape. Last Sunday I stopped by the LBS and tried a few bikes out. I ended up taking a Trek 7.2fx home with me. I've been riding it every day since and I really didn't realize how out of shape that I am. This is tough!

So far I am just able to ride 3-4 miles at a time. I read about you guys riding all these miles and I hope that I can get there eventually, but for now my legs are killing me after a short ride. I hope that ican build up some stamina in a few weeks and be able to get out more. I'm glad that I found this forum and look forward to learning and losing weight.

10 Wheels

Hey Trea,

Welcome to Bike Forums.

Riding your bike will soon get you feeling and looking better.

Stay with it, you will become stronger each week.

Loosing weight is all about food control.

Trea

Thanks for the welcome. My eating habits aren't so bad really. I just get near no physical activity. I am going to cut back on the calories to help me along. I am enjoying the bike so far. I've been trying to ride twice a day to get used to it but only rode once today.

10 Wheels

I first started with 5 miles rides. Got up to 10 rides one day, with 80 laps around the block.

Takes about 500 miles for your legs and other parts to adapt to your bike.

Keep it fun, ask questions when you have a problem with your bike or body.

Trea

That's awesome! I really want to work my way up to being able to do the MS150 one day. That's my goal. I will probably need a road bike for that but one day at a time.

2 wheeler

It takes quite a while to get in "bike shape", not weeks; it's a long term goal. You can get used to the feel of the bike pretty quickly, but building endurance and speed takes lots of miles.

You'll do fine as long as you keep it fun and don't get discouraged. You'll stick with it if you really enjoy what you're doing.

MikeM21

Trea, welcome! You're at the right place. You will definitely find lots of folks here who have been just where you are today and have made wonderful changes in their life.

I struggled for years to find the right motivation to stick with an exercise program. Riding a bike, as you said, is just so much fun! After a while you don't think of it as exercise. At 50 I still feel like a kid as I'm flying down the road on my bike.

Don't forget to let your muscles recover and grow - it can be tempting to ride every day and you need some recovery time. As you move through this next phase of your life, on a bike, come here for advice, motivation and inspiration. This site has it all!

Mike

MattInFla

You'll get there. Every ride gets you a bit more stamina and strength. It is also amazing to learn how effective a bike is at detecting even the slightest incline

PhotoJoe 

As others have said, welcome and this is a GREAT place for you to be! We've all been there to one extent or another. Some have 20 lbs to lose, some have 200. However, we're all in this together and get where you're at.

The goal of the MS150 is a GREAT goal. However, that's going to take some time (though probably less than you think!!!). I like to accomplish goals. Therefore, while I have big ones, I have smaller goals, too. If I were you, I'd set my next goal to be 5 miles. When you accomplish that, you'll be motivated. Next goal - 10 miles. Etc. Etc. I'll bet you'll knock out 20 within a couple of months!

Again, welcome, and keep us posted on your adventure!

eja_ bottecchia

Welcome. Keep riding--the miles will get easier and the pounds will melt away.

Ride safely.

Trea

Thanks for all the encouragement. I am just riding a loop around the block for now but really can't wait until I can go some more fun places. The loop is a half mile exactly though so for now it makes it easy to know how fair am riding. I don't expect to be able to ride the MS150 in 2014 but the following one is what I really have my sights set on. I like the idea of mini goals and will definitely use that.

GuyWood

Welcome from another noob! Stick with is my advice. I got back on my bike at the beginning of June this year and have done 640 miles since. I started with small rides and was really suffering but believe me, it gets better . A great bit of advice I stick to is if your legs feel sore when you tense your thighs, leave it for a day until your legs feel better - there's no point discouraging yourself. Another motivator is removing the 'where shell I go?' from the occasion. I have a 17.9 mile ride I call my local loop so when I don't want to go out (like now) I can just go out and do it to get the miles in. Don't worry about the bike too much either, I ride a 30lb mountain bike with Conti Travelcontacts on and it does me just fine .

Just to add, if you come across something that motivates you, use! I'm mildly Aspergic and keep a spreadsheet of my rides. Often, like now when I'm a bit hungover, and don't want to go out, the thought of nudging my total up again motivates me - whatever works for you .

Mvcrash

I cannot believe how easy bikes can detect hills. I recently did a class 5 hill during a ride........thought I was Superman until I did some research and realized it was a baby hill. LOL


I started biking again back in August. I've gone about 200 miles so far. When I started, I was riding 4 miles on flat road and averaged 8-10 mph. I am now riding 7-10 miles which include some hills and average 11-14 mph.
I have a long way to go, but I'll get there. I promised myself a new bike in the spring when I hit 500 miles.

Trea

This site is really great. I just went for my morning ride. I was debating on not going today as I am a bit sore but decided to just get on with it. I installed strava for the first time and it tells me that I went 3.7 miles in 21:10 with an average speed of 10.5mph. I do have one question however. It seems pretty flat to me but stava says 195 feet elevation gain. What exactly is that a measure of? I know that one side of my loop is at a slight uphill but only in my later laps do I have to downshift for it as my conditioning doesn't allow me to continue at the same speed but it seems a very slight incline.

mrodgers

Are you actually counting calories? I ask because I was curious with myself and started with MyFitnessPal. I found that it told me to eat 1800 calories to lose 1-2 pounds per week. I started counting and realized that breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I was eating about 1700-1800 calories. That means that my downfall was definitely the junk food. I try to eat 0 junk food now. We never did eat much fast food and such, everything we eat is organic, home grown (the family raises eggs, chicken, and beef) and homemade meals (no processed foods from a box.) Thus, the HoHo's (wish Hostess didn't come back, LOL) cookies, and even the majority of the junk food, home baked goods was the sole reason for my weight. I started watching the junk food and started losing weight.

I've changed what I thought. I believe when the saying goes, change diet to lose weight and exercise for fitness. Fitness isn't about being skinny and your weight. Fitness is about your heart and cardiovascular system. You can be a fit fat guy and you can be an unfit skinny guy. I started watching what I ate first, and started losing weight. I started riding the bike a month or so later, and my cholesterol and cardio fitness got better.

This was me too. I thought of many things I could do for exercise. I have through the years broken out the weight set many many times, always found after a few weeks, I'd be tired or have something to do and just that 1 day of skipping, I'd be done. It was a chore, not a fun activity.

I finally cleaned up the old junk Walmart mountain bike sitting in the garage. Started riding it and I enjoy it that it isn't a chore, it is fun. I have to wait until next spring to upgrade from the Wallyworld bike, then it will be even more enjoyable.

JackoDandy

Welcome Trea. Biking is lots of fun and I really enjoy the techy 'mechanical' side of things. Ive ridden many miles as a fat guy and one thing remains constant; biking alone doesnt lose the weight. Ive ridden 60 mile rides, come home famished and hit the fridge. The next day Ive gained weight! - as if I hadnt ridden a mile! Ive also been off the bike for a few weeks, watched my food intake and dropped 10lbs. The biking is fun but its all about diet - unfortunately.

Ive also tried counting cals but its not for me. I get too obsessed with how many cals Ican eat and find myself thinking about food all day. I prefer to just 'halve' everything. Instead of a full sandwich - eat a half, instead of eating the whole plate of pasta - eat half. Seems to work for me.

PS - Good choice on the Trek FX - I have an FX in my 'stable' and its an awesome 'do-anything' bike.

IAMAMRA

Welcome! If it makes you fell better when I started I could only do 1-2 miles..

Solare

If you are looking for routes to ride check out the bike club in your area. They usually have the routes they ride as a club along with how long it takes them. You can use this as a benchmark and ride the same ride to see how you stack up.

From what I understand the elevation gained is just the uphill side of the rides.

brianogilvie 

Welcome! Cycling can be great fun, and it's an excellent way to get into shape. Challenge yourself a little bit every week, but don't overdo it.

In Strava, the elevation gain is the total amount of climbing that you did on the ride, counting uphills only of course. If you're doing a loop and returning to your starting point, it should equal the elevation lost. However, if you're using the Strava app on your smartphone, the elevation gain isn't very accurate; the phone has to use GPS to estimate your elevation. A somewhat better estimate can be made by mapping your ride on a site such as RideWithGPS.com.

As for weight loss, there are a couple of sayings to keep in mind:

1. You get fit in the gym, but you lose weight in the kitchen.
2. You can't outrun (or outride) a bad diet.

I rode over 2000 miles in 2011, and about 1500 in 2012, but didn't lose a pound. Since January, I've lost about 39 lbs. by counting calories religiously. I haven't changed what I eat, just how much.

WebFootFreak

Welcome Trea!

These guys are dead-on. This is my first full month biking, and I'm loving it. Having some issues, but these guys are great for ideas and advice. I've been losing weight by walking and diet and I like to change it up to keep boredom from settling in. I'm not a counter like I probably should be, however I do pay attention to what and how much I'm eating. If I know it's going to be a calorie-killer of a meal, then I use smaller portions. I also eat a LOT of fruits and vegetables since they're generally not horribly calorie-dense. All you have to do is find what works for you in the kitchen to lose the weight, and the biking will help while getting you healthier

CommuteCommando

This is where I started in 1999 with a KHS ALite 500 front susp. MTB. There have been a lot of victories, and a few set backs I didn't actually focus on weight loss until about '06. Those first years my distances got longer and faster, as long as there were no hills involved. In '08 I had a MI and that got me really serious about losing weight. Exercise alone will not do it. Diet is important too.

Since '08 I have lost about 90 lb and am about to officialy become Clyde Emeritus. Some do what I have done in a year or less. If it takes you five or more like it did me, it's still good.

I did this yeasterday. Five years ago I would have died just thinking about it. https://app.strava.com/activities/87162444

I do a full Century (my first) next Saturday. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/2622468

Trea

Thanks again for all the advice guys. I am definitely going to watch everything I eat in conjunction with the biking. I need to buy a scale so that I can see where I am and track my progress. I will update as I go along. Thanks again for the warm welcome and support.

ECB1

Welcome to the riding world again. Peddal, peddal and peddal some more, don't let anything stop you. I started out at 340lbs and could only ride around the block. I am now 212lbs and I ride 100 mile rides now. I have seen 198lbs last season. ECB1

GuyWood

As for the elevation thing, it works like this... If you go in a 10 mile loop and end up where you started, your net gain is 0 feet. But, if there are 5 twenty foot hills that you go up and down on this route, your GPS bike computer will say you have climbed 100 feet which is technically true albeit slightly confusing .