Peter_C

This particular road started for me back on Sept 19th, 2009.

That was my first post on the Bike forums C/A sub-forum. At that point in time, I weighed 378 pounds (from an all time high of 419lbs). I hadn't been on any form of bicycle in some 30 odd-years. My over-all health was pretty bad, and my heart DR insisted that I get my left knee replaced ASAP or I may not finish the year above ground.

Most of my beginnings can be found in this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...gery-and-More!

Fast forward to today; This marks 30 days in a row under 300 pounds~! This morning I weighed 292.4lbs.

Due to many joint issues, I am now riding a recumbent trike (TerraTrike Rover), so I spend most of my time lately over in the trike forum of https://www.bentrideronline.com/messa...splay.php?f=13 (BROL).

This truly was a year of firsts for me:
First non-surgical year since 2002
First time under 300 pounds since 1981
First tour
First metric century
First imperial century
First year over 1,000 miles (1720 YTD)

There have been and will be others that have achieved great life changes through cycling, and I am one more~! I have easily lost and regained literally hundreds of pounds over the years, but this is more of a life-change than any 'diet' ever was. The big difference for me is that this has been all about simply getting more healthy and active, and the weight loss has been a slow by-product of me getting more healthy.

As of this summer, I no longer need to see my heart DR. Quite a change from weekly visits back in 2009.

I am not at the end of the road, and I honestly hope I do not see it for many years. BF, and many of the people here have been a great help to me. I will always be a 'Clyde', and most likely I will continue to ride slowly, but I wish to acknowledge that it was BF that first gave me hope, and helped me to start riding again after so many years.

So a heartfelt "Thank You" to BF members past and present :-)


A photo back in April, 2010:



A photo taken April, 2010 on my first 15+ mile ride with another BF member:



A photo from June, 2012:

Mark Stone

What a journey! Great job so far, keep it up!

bwilliams

WOW!!!!Awesome job....

Shellyrides

Keep it up !

goldfinch

Wow, you are looking good.

You make me want a trike every time you talk about your adventures.

nevermore1701

you kick ass bro

Peter_C

Thank you all for the kind words. I am hoping that perhaps some of the newer members/lurkers will get the 'gist' of the message, which is, if I can do it, I honestly believe most anyone else can if they have the desire to do so. It's not a magic pill, and there are still 'bad days' as well as good ones, but this is one of the very rare times in my life that I have been able to stick with something long enough to make real, lasting, meaningful changes in me. Riding is a reward for me, for doing all the other stuff. I didn't get a bike to help the new knee, or the new hip (although it has certainly done so), but rather the bike, and then the trike is my reward for getting, and then rehabbing, the joints replaced thus far. Riding is the carrot on the stick in front of me, and I thank God it has continued to be a carrot for me.

Hehe - remember, PROs and CONs to each and every choice~! I am so glad that I switched to a recumbent trike. But, of course they are not for everyone. For me, trading more comfort for speed, no fear of balance issues, being able to ride as slow as I like, being able to stay clipped in when I stop, always having a chair whenever I pause, the real ability to easily carry all the crap I like to bring with me on a ride, and on and on. But for ever positive reason I bring up, another can surely give a reason to stay on two wheels - of course, here's a perfect reason for N+1 - right?

Mark Stone

I love threads like this because when visitors or noobs come to BF that think they can't lose weight or get healthy, then they see the C/A and click on it and see these testimonials it can actually change their lives. They say "I can do it too!"

Sayre Kulp 

Great job, Peter!

Peter_C

Sayre is a perfect example as well, started out big and look at you now~!

And I agree, and that is my hope as well, because honestly, I am a lazy SOB who loves Pepsi~!

prxmid

AWESOME, nothing good comes easy. Makes the reward feel all the better knowing how hard you worked for it

epiking

Way to go.

OiS

Well done Peter, you have made great progress! Keep up the momentum!

magohn

Great Job Peter!

On a side-topic, if on a trike and going uphill, is there a certain gradient where its not possible?

Jseis 

Fabulous. I like 'cause this is my first year not going to the ER for arrhythmia (only took 3k miles to get the heart in shape).

Mi11er

Wow that is awesome! You are a inspiration my friend!

Fangowolf

Great job Peter.

Black wallnut 

Great progress Peter. It is a great circle, the more you cycle the more you are able to cycle and cycling is its own reward.

Peter_C

It's all about the engine, and gearing. So far, with all my weight, and my poor engine, I have not met a hill I can't go up, slowly to be sure, but I can pedal easier than I can walk, so for me it's wonderful.

Peter_C

See, that (for me) is the reward. Some folks ride like it's a job. I thank God that I can ride as I love it so. Just think, I once rode from Massillon, OH all the way to Cleveland, and back again! I can't walk 100yards without pain. The freedom of my trike is still a wonder to me.

Wulf

Sir, you are an inspiration for me. I am in similar circumstances and I hope to use your example to power me through the changes I know I have to make.
Thank you!

Peter_C

Thank you for your kind words. I must say though that there are many others here on BF that have lost more weight, done it faster, and have made much more progress than I have. That said, I will say that if I can do this, I sincerely believe that anyone can~! I have had so many false starts, outright failures, and more over the years - but key to me is riding! As the reward that riding is too me happens to also be the greatest cause of most of my health changes - talk about positive reinforcement!!

Striving to make changes that improve my riding, having wonderful trails to ride on, and finding the perfect method to ride (my trike) has done nothing but encourage me to continue to ride.

The single biggest key is making riding part of your daily life. Learning to get past all the reasons to not ride on a given day, and learning to ride whether it's a short 10 minute ride, or a long 12hr ride - the key being simply to ride, and let the changes come as they do.

I can't do diets, they mess with my head too much. But I can change (and have changed) many of my eating habits. The largest change was to simply stop 'grazing'. Eat a meal or eat while riding is OK, but eating simply to eat (for me) had to stop. Once it did, the weight started to come off.

Reading of long rides, of tours, of Centuries is all well and good - but in my beginning, it was 400ft here, 1 mile there, and so on. Baby steps, as my overall health really was that bad. I only wish that I had started on my trike, instead of my bicycle the first year, it would have been much easier.

Lastly, finding others to talk to about the changes you wish to make helped me greatly, and for me, that is where BF came in.

AllieBaba

Awesome. Just...awesome.