Brad Pitt is a bit intimidating for a chubby guy, I know, Polish Bike Team. That ones in the forums too.

You really do have to be real careful getting newbies involved. I have a neighbor with a pretty decent bike, but never rides further then a few miles. I was telling him about the M.U.P. a few miles from where we live. He said he would like to go sometime.

When the day came I tried to keep in mind that he wasn't really up to my level (he's around 30ish hardly rides his bike, I'm nearly 50ish and commuted for 7 years on everything from rusty old huffy cruisers up to 20 miles one way). I checked out his bike (he had it tuned up recently), made sure he had enough water, and tried to teach him to down shift when climbing (It's pretty flat here but there is an underpass on the way to the MUP and the MUP itself has a couple of steep rollers). I kept things at (what for me was a leisurely almost boring) level. I kept up a conversation as we rode. I made sure we took breaks once we got to the MUP.

It was a little over 6 miles to the MUP and we went an additional 3 miles on the MUP and he called it quits (the short climbs got him). He has gone back to the MUP once that I know of, with a friend of his that is about his level, but he has turned down all my invitations to go back out with me.

Having someone to ride with is fun in it's own way but I didn't get much of a work out, the other guy got too much of a work out (he said he hurt for days afterward). I tried to be very moderate but I guess it didn't work out so well. I guess sometimes we forget just how hard it can be for folks that aren't used to riding.