Too big?
 

I am at my biggest weight yet since being down for six months with foot surgery. I am now 300 lbs. I really want to ride my road bike but we have a lot of roadies around here and I am so embarrassed to be this big guy on a road bike. I just feel like everyone is saying look at the fat guy on that bike. I mean I do kind of stand out. I'm also concerned if I'm too big too even ride this bike.

Do what you want to, not what others want you to do. Your life will be a whole lot more enjoyable that way.

Most riders will be quietly or outspokenly commendable of you for getting off the couch and getting on the road in an effort to do something about your weight. There will also be those who aren't so nice, but they're everywhere, not just on bikes, and you have to really train yourself to ignore what they say. Haters are going to hate, and such people are truly ugly on the inside and I really pity them.

Back to riding, I started on my road bike when I was 140kg or about 310lb. I started out on my own, and then local club and social groups were really encouraging about joining in on their rides. I grew to really love cycling and I started out doing the early turnaround on the bunch rides, but it didn't take me a whole lot of time to be in there for the full ride. I started out in racing and came across track racing and that's what I've really come to love. No hills! 6 years on and I'm still around 118kg, was 113kg a few months ago, but I'm racing a lot faster and can stick it to the A graders on the sprints if I can make it that far.

Get in and do it! Forget the haters. Haters are going to hate no matter what you do. Living your life for yourself and not for others will see you being a happier person and perhaps a healthier person.

Too big??? I thought maybe the same - But nope . . . Just fine and shrinking every week!

Here's what 300 lbs. on road bike looks like . . . Complete with bib shorts and jersey.

Most other riders are nothing but complimentary. Check out some local www.MeetUp.com groups and such. There are probably several in your area with folks just like yourself who just want to get and ride a bit for fun & fitness (no matter your beginning 'shape'.)

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=400466

I weighed 282 lbs when I started in April of this year and I was on a road bike. Today I weigh 238 lbs and can't wait for the next ride.
I am not going to let what others think hold me back from what I'm trying to accomplish.

Enjoy your rides and forget what the others may be thinking.

Don't worry about the roadies, that is what they want. They want you to notice them and how elite they look, so don't give them the attention. Smile, wave, say hello and I promise most of the roadies will reciprocate the gesture. Not that I am a roadie but, I will often slow down and have a 20-30 second chat a few times a week with a "big" Clydesdale. Look for encouragement and you will find it.

I was 335 and riding a road bike. I was wearing lycra shorts. I know people were looking and laughing at me. I didn't care. I am now at 221. Guess who is laughing now.

Go for it.
We have all been there.
I kept putting off getting back on my bike until I weighed XXX. I was walking to lose weight but it was slow and painful due to arthritis. When I developed plantar fasciitis, I could no longer walk. I was still 30 pounds heavier than I wanted to be riding my bike. But I tried it and have since lost 16 pounds.
I feel so much better. There are a few snubs but I bet they would snub me no matter my size.

I was 280 or so when I drug my Trek 7200 out of the shed and started riding it on crusty old dry rotted tires (got those changed in the first two weeks). I hardly ever SEE another cyclist really, and the one I do see is some girl/lady who rides on the wrong side of the road. I see some runners and walkers, one mom and dad I see with their two kids in a little athletic stroller thing, I always kid them that they get to log triple the miles :-).

But I'd say just do it, none of us is ever the COOLEST folks alive, there will always be somebody who thinks their cooler :-).

I have put in 1142.63 miles since June 1 2014 and I am the closest thing to a "roadie" I have run into so far :-).....and I'm for sure not a "roadie" yet hehe :-).

Bill

I have never looked at another bike rider ( even beach cruiser riders ) and thought about anything but giving kudos for being motivated to ride !

I started at around 300 lbs on a Trek 1000 road bike and I am still riding and am now lighter than may of the guys I ride with at 181 lbs. I have an ultimate goal to get to 171! You just have to stop worrying about what people think and JUST DO IT! Diet and riding and the pounds will come off. Also, many who you think are staring at you out of ridicule may actually be admiring you for your efforts!

Keep riding!

I ride a hybrid, but I can assure you of a generality based on my experience over the past decade or so (there will always be some exceptions).

Riders will be supportive, idiots in motor vehicles will not be.

I rode the Tour de Scranton this spring, and had several people talk to me during the ride, and a couple come up to me after the ride, and every comment was positive. I was hard to miss at about 340 pounds and wearing a 4XL safety orange t-shirt from alertshirt.com. Even when I walked up some of the hills, I was still better off than if I was at home in the recliner. :)

Enjoy the ride!!!

If anyone is judging you, it is because they are insecure with themselves! Happy riding!

Do this for your health, for a longer life and for your family. People can say what they want, but it's only you that can decide to give up. Of you give up what are you going to do.
There will always be somebody faster, skinner, better looking and fitter but that shouldn't stop you.
Enjoy the ride, celebrate the results and share them here.
Take those comments and let them drive you to your goal. Use them as energy to go one more mile.
Show them you can do it.
I know people have probably said things about me, but it hasn't stopped me or slowed me. Among the Strava people that belong to the local shop group I am second in miles on Strava for the month and I do a ride on the hills that few try more than a couple times a year if at all. I try to ride it twice a month.
I'm not the fasted but I get there in the end, which I won't do if I had given up.
I'm off medication and my times are improving and down 30 lbs since I started less than a year ago.
Get on your bike and ride.
Allan

At the risk of repeating what others have said - who are you riding for? Yourself, right? Then why worry about what others think?

I hit ~280 at my largest, I think (after that I stopped actually getting on the scale until I noticed I could tighten my belt a notch for "some reason"). That was after I started riding again...off and on ... again... off and on... again. Finally, got semi-serious in that I was riding at least 3 times a week. What felt good physically was not reflected by the looks, "stares" and comments of others - people can be so cruel, intentionally and otherwise. Unfortunately for me, I didn't and still don't have a lot of local/familial support in relation to my weight loss effort or my cycling per se.

So I had to HTFU (harden the f up in case you're not familiar). Shrug. It is what it is.

So, I ride for me, with me, and have become fairly unconcerned with what others think and say. If they have issues with me, I really don't know anymore.

Good luck.

Note: Tooting my horn here just a tiny bit - got on a digital scale for the first time in about 6 months --- had to check it twice when it said I was ~210 +/- a few ounces! I haven't seen that weight in decades. Unfamiliar territory to be sure. :thumb:

Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. I think everyone is right. I just gotta do it. No fear. Now I just gotta get used to being back on the bike and making it a routine. I miss cycling. I guess a big part I left out is that I have terrible anxiety and I guess that's why I had to start this thread. Thanks for the help.

I get what you're saying...I was where you are. At my heaviest I weighed 380 pounds and too was embarrassed. Thankfully I chose not to listen to them and have lost 156 pounds. This is something you need to do for you not for them!
People are fickle. They laugh at someone who is overweight but will also laugh at them for doing something about it. By getting out there and doing something you already are ahead of most other people.
If you listen to them they win. If you don't you win.

I am at 300 also and have rode 500 miles so far. Not on a road bike but a comfort and I haven't had anyone say anything to me. Not that I would care too much. At some point we have to make a choice between better health or possibly getting your feelings hurt. You might find a jerk at some point that might say something. but hopefully there will be many miles between and you pay it no mind.

Way to lump an entire group of people into one pot. And did you stop to think that the OP would be a "roadie?" Guess not.

And no. The OP did not write that roadies have made comments in the past just in case you intended to go down that avenue.

Well to be fair, who would we look at as the most "image conscious" type of cyclist that exists on the road ??

In the road forum if you read the threads you can see that there must be at least 150 ways to be a "dork" in the eyes of some in that realm, one such infraction being using a smart phone instead of a Garmin cycle computer ;-)....I'm not sure how high that is on the dork scale...and if maybe one could distract attention from other dorky features by using a larger call phone with a dorkier case or not ??

LOL all in fun :-).

BUT in that forum as well I have seen people (who may be roadies) defend "Fred's" by pointing out that they they are cyclists and enjoying the activity :-).

Bill

I'm a Clyde (started at 300+) and a part-time roadie (also ride gravel, single-track, and flat-bar mixed-surface touring). If you are physically comfortable on a road bike and enjoy riding one, go for it and (insert expletive of your choice) anyone who doesn't like it.

You'll find that most cyclists, roadie or otherwise, are pretty decent people. You can find arseholes anywhere so it's best to ignore them.

Dude, I was riding a road bike at 350, screw what everyone else thinks. Get out there and do your thing. I did almost 2500 miles that year and went from 360 to 315. I currently ride between 3K and 3.5K a year and sitting at 200 lbs... Just cant seem to break the 200 mark, but that is fine. I far exceeded my goal of 230.

Well, a different perspective... I think there are many genuine athletes, runners and cyclists, that have nothing but respect for a big cyclist or runner out in the wild. You are taking responsibility for your health and fitness, you are a warrior, you are part of the tribe. Nothing but props.

Don't do it for the health, do it for the opportunity to go out and do something other than writing software all day! My hometown is full of trim road cyclist types and the local Strava KOM numbers are unreal (25 mph uphill?) and lots of older people strolling by at 10mph (that's me!!!)

Cycling provides an incredible clarity of mind for me. This week has been monsoon week here in Indiana and I have only gone out once or twice, and I'm jittery. Can't wait to hit the trail tomorrow.

Dude, I weigh over 300 lbs and I'm the only white guy living in my neighborhood. I've ridden all over this neighborhood, aside from a couple of youngsters looking at me crazily, mostly what I've gotten were waves, hellos, and "I like your bike". I credit that to the discerning taste of people in this vicinity.

Ride what you want.

Think of it this way. If someone doesn't like you, that's OK. There are 7 billion other people on the planet. He can p*** off and find one of them to like. Someone told me a long time ago that other peoples opinion of me is none of my business.

Of course......you could always use it to justify N+1.....

I got back into riding years ago when I hit 250. I was a big guy. At first the MTB came out of storage and I rode that mostly in the dirt. Was self conscious of my size. After a few months of trail riding, had dropped about 10 pounds and my legs were pretty buff. Got lots of comments from friends when I would wear shorts. That was all I needed to uncover the road bike as well. I would chat with riders at stop lights and rest spots and never once ran into any attitude that was not encouraging...though I surely expected it. Turns out, that I was doing something to better myself was all that most riders needed to see to welcome me. I am in So Cal and we have roadies everywhere here...all year through. Not sure how riders are in your area, but I would bet they would be mostly supportive. The elite competitive types will be who they are, but you generally do not have to deal with them for more than a few seconds as they zip by. Cagers, well they will hate...cause that is what they do. Ignore 'em!