Hello all!

So after a few years of not riding, it's time to get back on the bike. I'm 6'0 and about 280 lbs.

The lowest I've been in my adult life was 215. I wasn't ripped, but I was buying shirts to fit my chest first.

Around that time I did a 100 km charity ride. I had ridden maybe 100 km the whole year prior. I was stiff and sore after an hour, but still managed to finish in 3:30. It was mostly flat (less than 2% grade) with about 7 km of 7% grade -- nothing killer. The "fast" guys in the local bike club did it in about 3:00; they had a pace line going but they weren't racing hard either. I rode solo.

I learned a few things:

1. I really enjoyed it.
2. Conditioning on the bike would really help. I was sooore. I had trouble walking after. I should have trained.
3. Even at 215, I had trouble using the drops as my breathing capacity was cut in half. It was faster for me to plow into the wind.

I also did another fun ride a couple weeks later in the Rockies, from Radium Hot Springs (from the intersection of highway 93&95) into Kootenay National Park. I turned around at the first summit. It took me an hour to ascend the 387 m (1270 ft) climb along the 12 km (7.5 mile) route, but only 15 minutes to make the descent. Now that was FUN! I regret not spending more time in the mountains when I lived near them.

So I think I'm a Clydesdale. I've seen a few clydesdales in real life, and I like that name.

One of my goals this year is to ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls and back (perhaps the next day). It's about 150 km of riding from my place, pretty flat. The other is to get back in shape.

Is it physiologically possible to take full breaths while in the drops? Or did I still need to lose more weight?