freighttraininguphill

I haven't been spending much time on any forums lately, but I need to make an exception for a good friend of mine.

My Clydesdale friend who I've mentioned in previous posts has been in the process of losing weight since last year. He started at 470 lbs. By modifying his diet and exercising in the gym and on his bike, he has now lost 70 of those pounds and is down to 400 lbs.

He has a steel-framed Marin Kentfield hybrid and an electric-assist Sidewinder recumbent tadpole trike. He recently purchased a Garmin Edge 500 and a GoPro HD Hero2 camera for documenting his rides. We have been doing most of our rides on our hybrids, since they are much faster and more maneuverable than his recumbent or the adult trikes I usually ride around town.

He has gained enough strength to make it up short hills without stopping, so we have been incorporating more of those into our rides. Last night we rode around Roseville, which has plenty of very short hills. He wore his new GoPro on his head. The Hero2 has better low-light performance than the previous model or the HD Hero 960 that I own. This is important, as most of our rides are during darkness due to schedules.

He wanted me to post the video of last night's ride on this subforum, so I edited out all the words that can't be said on radio or TV. You can still hear him breathing on hills, but the video should still be work safe, especially compared to my videos, which have much louder "freight training uphill".

We also rode in Roseville on Tuesday night. On that ride we did 10.58 miles and 433 of climbing. He forgot his GoPro, so there's no video of that ride. However, we did climb some of the same hills on last night's ride.

Here's the video.

Beachgrad05

Thanks for sharing and kudos on the weight loss to your friend

freighttraininguphill

My friend thanks you. He couldn't ride last night due to chafing from the saddle. I don't know if that is a Clyde issue or it's due to the fact that he rides in regular baggy cotton shorts like I do instead of cycling shorts.

According to him, even when he reaches his weight loss goal he will still weigh about 250, so he has a natural Clyde build. Even so, I am convinced that he will be a halfway decent climber because he has strong legs.

Yo Spiff

A nice start! Kudos to your friend for the accomplishment so far!

freighttraininguphill

Two days after this ride my friend got cellulitis in his right leg. It wasn't caused by the ride. It was either psoriasis, a mosquito bite, or athletes foot that brought it on this time. He has had cellulitis four times now. He never had cellulitis until he started losing weight, which is odd.

From what I've heard, cellulitis is most common in people who are morbidly obese, like my friend. He would like to know if any of you have had this problem. He is recovering faster this time, so hopefully the better fitness has strengthened his immune system.

phread59

Try cycling shorts. The padding helps. But the big thing is the lycra really cuts down on skin issues. I had some chafing from the sweat pants I used to use. I got some 50$ Bontrager shorts at the LBS. Night and day. I ride a Cirrus currently. And the saddle is actually too wide for me. I'll replace it this fall.

Mark Shuman

JakiChan

Odd, I didn't have cellulitis *after* I started losing weight. I had it *before*. Twice.

It's not quite an immune system problem. From what I've read every time you have a big cellulitis infection it damages your lymphatic system, which makes it more likely that you would get a big cellulitis infection. It's a wicked feedback loop. Does he have edema at all? I did, and still do a little even with having lost 215lb. (And I started almost as big as your friend - I was 460.)

My two times were big, though. IV antibiotics both times, leg super swollen, and now I have a big scar on the front and back of the leg. It's not fun.

freighttraininguphill

He says he doesn't have edema. He also had IV antibiotics. He doesn't have any scarring.

This really sucks, because we are having the most perfect weather you could want for our usual night rides, but he can't ride until the leg heals.

JakiChan

That would be...surprising, in a guy his size, especially since cellulitis causes lymphatic damage. He might want to check with the doctor. But regardless, the more you have it the more likely you are to have it again. Has it had it in the same leg? (Mine was in the same leg twice.) The first time I got it it went untreated for 2 weeks because I was overseas. Bad bad bad idea.

I got the scars from the second time I had it. Two giant blister-like things formed on the top and bottom of my leg. That was pretty bad. I may have had it once since then but I jumped on it super quick with oral antibiotics.

freighttraininguphill

He says the doctor said he doesn't have edema. He has had cellulitis three times in the right leg and once in the left leg. He hasn't had it in the left leg in quite a while. Also, he is not diabetic. He wanted me to mention the diabetic part because his doctor said cellulitis is more common in diabetics.

funrover 

Can't help any any info. Just wanted to congrat him on the weight losss so far.

JakiChan

The lymphatic system is still involved. I am not diabetic either. (Never was, certainly not now.) All I can say is that if he's had it 3 times in the same leg then the lymphatic system in that leg may be damaged, which makes it more likely to happen again. He should just keep an eye on it and jump on it early if needed.

freighttraininguphill

I goofed in that post. I don't think it's been years since he's had it in the left leg, because it's only been about a year since he started losing weight. But it has been quite a while.

He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and he's going to ask the doctor if there's any way to prevent it from happening again.

freighttraininguphill

I have some good news! My friend's cellulitis is healing much quicker than the last time he had it. He thinks he may be able to start taking short rides around the neighborhood by tomorrow, with longer ones by this weekend. He thinks he may be able to resume the hill climbing rides in Roseville by next week.

I am convinced that his new healthier lifestyle is the reason that the healing process is faster this time.

freighttraininguphill

We've taken a couple rides so far, starting last week. The latest one was on Sunday, and he rode his Sidewindercycle recumbent tadpole trike with AmpedBikes hub motor on the rear wheel. This bike has a 400 pound weight capacity. He bought it from Utah Trikes. Unfortunately it is no longer on their website.

He pedals as much as he can and uses the motor when he gets tired. As his fitness progresses he will use the motor less and less. Recumbents use different leg muscles than upright bikes, so he gets tired much quicker on this bike than on his hybrid. I had the same problem when I had a tadpole trike. Lactic acid burn at low speeds on flat ground!

Here's third person footage of him riding the recumbent. I rode behind him with my helmet cam recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yePkzg4Uh4

freighttraininguphill

Yesterday we rode around Roseville again. Our friend suggested we ride the bike trail there, which ended up having many more small rolling hills than my Clyde friend was ready for, which resulted in a sufferfest of a ride for him. It was 88 degrees when we made this video, and he is only used to riding at night when it's cooler.

freighttraininguphill

My friend's doctor put him on a low dose of beta blockers for irregular heartbeat, so at first he was worried that the medication would act as a "governor" on his heart, preventing him from doing any intense exercise. I am happy to report that this is not the case. He has no problems on our rides, and his recovery time after climbing a hill is very quick. His weight has dropped to 390-395 lbs

Here's our ride from a couple days ago. He has a Cannondale Quick 4 hybrid now, which he loves. He still has the Marin Kentfield and the recumbent. We went over both sides of one of the longer, steeper overpasses in town, then over one side of another milder one on the way back to his house. There were three of us on this ride: me, him, and his cousin.

He has a new NiteRider 350 lumen headlight, which lights up the road much better than any light he has ever had.

WARNING NSFW language!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F9vJH4JRV0

freighttraininguphill

Last night we took a very short but very hilly ride in Fair Oaks. We started by climbing Pennsylvania Ave., which is 3/10 mile long with grades up to 15%. The last time he attempted this hill, he only made it 100 feet or less before having to get off and walk. This time he made it much further before walking, which is shown in the video he recorded with his GoPro on the handlebars.

Across the street from the top of that hill was a short 20% grade, which he made it up without having to walk. It may have helped that he had some momentum from crossing the street.

Next was another hill with a 14% grade. On this one he only made it halfway up, but that could very well be because he was still recovering from the effort of climbing the 20% grade.

We stopped at a convenience store for cold drinks, then headed back. He rode all the hills on the way back with no problem, including the final 7% grade to the truck.

Here's the video. This time I was a "good girl" and edited out all the cusswords, so it should be work-safe.

sjvcycler

Why would you edit out the best parts? I cuss all the time when I ride. Its part of it . Why does everyone want to make everything PG-13

freighttraininguphill

Trust me, I didn't want to do it. I cuss like a sailor! The problem is, I have noticed a disturbing trend of hostility here in C/A. It has gotten to the point where I no longer post my own ride videos because of the conflicts caused by people not liking the fact that you can hear my heavy breathing, or me voicing my opinion on music on ride videos. Since I like natural sound with no music and other people don't, that has caused problems. I was even accused of faking my breathing and Garmin data, so why would I ever bother posting my videos here after that treatment?

I figured that if I didn't edit out the cusswords, someone would complain to the mods. Some people just can't handle reality, unfortunately

freighttraininguphill

OK sjvcycler, here ya go! This is my friend's first mtb ride on his new Trek 3500 hardtail. I took him on some easy singletrack by the river. I left the few NSFW words in, so be forewarned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m1KueAC9Do

magohn

Nice video. I especially appreciate it because I just bought myself a MTB and will be taking my maiden voyage sometime this week. Ive ridden it a few times on roads but I need to find a similar path to whats in your video just to experience some dirt without going crazy. I will be sure to strap on the GoPro as Im also sure I will be wiping out!

What bike are you riding? Does he like the 3500? I looked at those before ordering a Fantom Comp from Bikes Direct.

freighttraininguphill

I am riding my 2012 Trek Wahoo Disc 29er. He says the 3500 is very comfortable, and next time we ride he wants to take that trail to the end!

I just bought a GoPro HD Hero2 yesterday, so now I have two GoPros (the HD Hero 960 is the old one). Today's sufferfest of a ride was its first real test, so hopefully everything turned out okay.

Looking forward to your first mtb video and ride report

magohn

Nice. I bought my Hero 960 a month before they released the Hero2 - oh well. I hear the LCD has more obvious icons than the Her 960. I LOVE the 960 but I use it ab out twice a month and each time I have to pull out the manual to remind myself what the cryptic menu items mean. No complaints though - Ive tinkered around with a bunch of cams and the 960 is by far the best and most stable video Ive produced.

I rode 25 miles on the road today to test out the new MTB - ran perfectly so its off to the off-road section mid-week. I will post some video of my ride following that.

freighttraininguphill

Last night we rode the Roseville climbs that I posted video of in June. This time it appeared that he climbed better, struggled less, and had less "freight training uphill" compared to the first video. You be the judge (caution, some NSFW language).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Oy77EuM3c