thorton

So I started my second day on a bike..at the gym. The guy at the LBS I will be buying my bike from told me he won't sell me a bike until I hit 20miles on the one at the gym.

His reasoning being that I would get sick of it if I wasnt able to go at all without getting tired, and would waste the money. So yesterday I hit 4.5miles,today I hit 5, tommorow Im going for 5.5


Decided finally to get a Kona hoss, thanks to everyone here with all the tips.

Anyone have any suggestions on a seat for the bike when I get it? Im kind of heavy at 411, so thinking a softer maybe gel seat would work.

Btw, I made a blog if you guys want to drop in, Ill be updating it daily. Using it as a log for myself so I can look back next year and see how I started.

https://tylersstory.blogspot.com/


Thanks again for all the help with everything guys.

jimmuter

Go Tyler! I predict you'll be up to 20 by the end of next week. I find riding at the gym more difficult because at least I can coast when I get tired of pedaling outside. Congratulations on deciding to take control of your health and have fun at the same time.

Jarery

Sounds like you found a great LBS. Refusing to take your cash without knowing your in for the long haul. Cant say I know of any LBS around me who wouldnt have just taken the cash, sold you your bike and not cared wether you gave up in a week or not.

Cant help you in your quest for a saddle, i've never been that heavy and im sure that will make saddle recomendations different from mine.

Kona is a great bike, very good value for dollar. Even if I do ride a kona so am biased

Anyways, gratz, good luck, and dont forget to post if you ever need more encouragement to help get thru the rough times of starting a lifestyle change. Were an awesome support group, even if we are a tad ornery at times.

sngltrackdufus

I wouldn't fool around with "Gel" anything for bikes.
Your best bet would be go to your local compatent bike shops, look at the various designs & see if they can get you fit to one. Alot of them will let you try them out also.
you should try out the saddle that your new bike comes with for a while.
When you break it in & get it adjusted properly , you might just like it.

CastIron

Great LBS. Love them back when the time comes. Remember: crawl, walk, run. It's a process.

AndrewP

Careful because you will probably find cycling more addictive than online gaming. When you buy your bike, talk to the nice man at your LBS about trying out different saddles. He obviously sees his future as keeping you as a long term customer. Good luck.

thorton

I am hoping it is as addictive at least with a healthy hobby I won't have that dreaded monitor tan

Jarery

Oh god.......let me warn you now. Cyclists end up with some real weird a$$ looking tans...

thorton

Maybe I should pay for some tanning bed minutes too

metal_cowboy

Well, I can not say that I agree with you LBS's selling technique. For a person to ride 20 miles on an indoor trainer means that even at 20 mph, you will need to be on that trainer for an hour. Granted, that is a great goal, but club trainers are in no way comparable to being out on a real bike.

Get your bike, get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Don’t think of your bike as a piece of exercise equipment (like the indoor trainer). Loosing weight and getting stronger are simply byproducts of becoming a cyclist.

As for a seat: that is strictly a personal preference. I am a large rider and I have always liked the WTB saddles. Terry also makes some good saddles for large riders.

Keep up the good work!

skanking biker

I went through 4 comfort "gel" saddles that were not comfy at all after 15 min on the bike until i finally broke down and got a brooks

badkarma

Agree w/the LBS or not, you have to give them props for actually caring more about its customers than making easy money.

I'll second the comments on cycling being addictive, I got into it last May, and 4000+ miles later and 25 lbs lighter, I'm hooked. The only question is whether cycling counts more as a hobby or an addiction......

Best luck w/cycling, remember as someone said, crawl, walk, run. Keep things in perspective.

Nermal

One thing about that 20 miles, thorton; if you can put up with it, you're going to love riding. My first adult bike was a low end mountain bike, and I really held back on the spending on account of all the sorry exercise equipment I either sold or trashed. Now, if I had known how much I was going to like it, and what kind of bike worked for me, I could have saved the loss on selling the old one.

curt in denver

Congrats, and +1 to your LBS.

baj32161

Great post Tyler....I hope you find all the encouragement you seek. You will love cycling. Just try not to look upon it as exercise and as fun and you will be well on your way.

BTW...great job by your LBS!!

Cheers,

Brian

willtsmith_nwi

Honestly, it's bad business to try to play "daddy" with your customers. This especially applies to someone who makes you ride 20 miles on a stinkin' stationary bike.

If your customer is an adult, all you can try to do is encourage them. If they want to spend their money on a bike, you should not do anything besides helping them find the RIGHT bike. Otherwise, they might decide to buy somthing ridiculous like a bow flex or a stationary rower or ... whatever.

Furthermore, I think it is actually illegal to engage in this type of discrimination against someone based on their weight. If a slim guy walked in, the shop wouldn't force them to ride a trainer in order to ride a bike. I don't think it's right to impose ANY stereotype on any customer whether it's keeping blacks out of your store or fat guys off your bikes.

thorton

I sort of appreciate this guys honesty over the over 5 stores that tried to sell me 2000$ Roadbikes. Somtimes, specially in the fitness world, and especially with the way I asked stores if they could help a guy who weighs 411 pounds. This guy was honest, and is actually looking into helping me, rather than just making a sale on the most expensive bike he could get me to buy. I understand where you are comming from, but there are always exceptions to every rule.

Little Darwin

Try different bikes at the gym... I have been riding an hour on most days when I do an exercycle and on some I get 12-13 miles, and on another with the same time and level of effort, I get 20.... I believe the 12 is more accurate, so when I ride the one that reports 20, I multiply by 2/3. But for you, it just might work to your advantage.

As far as a seat, I started riding at 365 pounds (I lost 55 pounds before I took up riding), and the saddle on my Giant Sedona did very well for me, and is still going strong after almost 2000 miles. Giant sells very similar saddles after market, they are not gel, but I think they are billed as "dual density foam"

Good luck on cycling,

As far as building up your mileage, don't forget to throw in some rest days too... otherwise you could be working against yourself by over training.

badkarma

Tyler, I was reading your blog, and although I'm not a dietition, it seems as you though you're eating a lot of protein. Whereas protein is great for muscle development and repair, if you eat too much protein and not exercise enough, it can metabolize itself into fat.

Perhaps someone who knows more about proper diet can comment on this more than I can. Just wanted to chip in my 2 cents.

TarmacRider

Awesome. Keep it up. Sounds like you're LBS is pretty on the ball. You'll hit 20 in no time flat.

thorton

Hey, thanks man. I was wondering about this, and I think it is a stayover from my bodybuilding years back 4 years ago when I was hitting the gym daily. I think I will be cutting protein in half on off days (days Im not at the gym pushing weight) And restrict the protien on other days to right after cycling (for the leg muscles). Thanks for pointing that out, I was wondering myself if it was proper or not for the different training I am doing now.

Dewbert

Go Tyler!!!!! Cycling helped me a lot in losing over 100 pounds! Also, being out on the road is much much better than riding inside! Welcome to the club!

drissel

Wow- I just read your blog, talk about some inspiration!! I too have alot of weight to lose, and am doing it on my own, been heavy 37 years and topped out at 350 last January 2005, dropped 50 pounds during the year by exrecising and now if I just watch howmuch I eat I will drop more, I go to the gym about everyday, one day upper body, one day lower body, doing cardio for 20-25 minutes each day and then a rest day of only cardio, then back to the weights again. I can't afford what they want for a personal trainer. Just have to keep nagging myself about my eating habits. I do read alot of bike stories to get my motivation going but I need something to keep me from shoving food in my mouth. I'm hoping the weather starts to break as I mind the cold more now that I'm older (50) in 6 months. I hope to be able to follow along with the blog and get some motivation from it, any advice anybody has would be welcome, most fat people know all about diets as we tried them all and failed.
Dave

AndrewP

Eat more vegies for your snacks - baby carrots, radishes, celery. It might be too wintery in London Ont for getting into riding outside now, but you can be sure that there will be some really nice sunny days in a few weeks time. Get the bike now, a jacket and some nylon pants, so you can take advantage of those days when they come.

silversmith

Keep at it, Thornton!

My bikes have carried me from 317 to 220.

I was in such piss-poor shape that I could only do a mile a day at first. Now I commute 15 miles a day and feel great.

Set yourself doable goals and give yourself some rewards:

Mine is to be down to 180 by mid July. As a reward i'm building up a neat old ultralight Sakae Prism to ride across Iowa in Ragbrai.