I'm just getting back into bike riding after a 10 year absence. I bought a Trek 800 Antelope mountain bike in 1987 and used it to commute to grad school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After leaving grad school, I didn't ride at all until recently.

I'm trying to lose some weight and get in shape, and a friend recently bought a bike, so I thought it would be great to start riding again. I weigh 290 lbs, so I'm not your typical cyclist.

My bike was looking terrible after being unridden and not maintained for so long, but after washing it and brushing the rust off the obvious places it's working out pretty well. The bike is pretty basic by today's standards, but for '87 it wasn't too bad. It's got 18 speeds and old Shimano indexed shifters. I've replaced the seat, the cables, and bought a new cyclocomputer; but everything else is original. If I stay with it, I'll think about getting a new bike (or good used one) but for now, I'm very happy with my old one.

Welcome to the forum! You are not alone in the large category. I was around 300lbs in December, but have gotten down to 275. I just ordered a new bike this week and will be hitting the streets soon. I have 7 or 8 co-workers in the 220+ category that I'll be riding with in the ACS bike-a-thon in July.

Have no fear about being a big biker. The cars will take more damage if they hit us!