I am Mike, I'm a once and future cyclist.
06-03-12, 11:50 AM
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I am Mike, I'm a once and future cyclist.
I learned to ride a bike when I was about 9, after a number of years of coasting into cars in the neighborhood.
As a Mormon missionary I went through six cobbled together machines and a few spectacular wrecks. The most memorable was a good gash in the knee from a bike with a road front wheel on a mountain bike frame and rear wheel. I think it had road handlebars as well. I was riding through a park and hit a turn with gravel on the path and VOOT the front wheel slid out from underneath me. But that was not the worst. The worst was when I pulled up to a stop at a red light and, failing to disengage my feet and tipping over like a redwood falling.
Good times.
But now it has been a while since I have had a bike for any use. I had one that I had to lend to a friend, but it got taken by a more desperate rider. I really hope he survived the bad brakes on that thing.
So now I am 44 years old, and I weigh 336 pounds. That sounds like a lot, but that is after losing forty pounds these last six months or so. I have a good plan in hand to lose a bunch more weight, but I feel the need to add some good exercise into the mix, and so my thoughts turn to cycling. Plus, bikes are cool.
I'm not a fancy gear sort of rider. I have never owned any cycling shorts or other specialized attire. I never even really owned or wore a helmet (they came into more general use and then mandate after most of my cycling adventures ecclesiastical and otherwise.) I would wear one now, especially as I have young children to set example for.
So here I am, hunting up information and community, looking in through the windows --or rather out as cycling is more the outdoor sport. At this point I'm thinking I will have to get through a series of second hand machines till I get the wherewithal to grab a really nifty bike. All I know is that steel will hold me up, and the more spokes the better.
As a Mormon missionary I went through six cobbled together machines and a few spectacular wrecks. The most memorable was a good gash in the knee from a bike with a road front wheel on a mountain bike frame and rear wheel. I think it had road handlebars as well. I was riding through a park and hit a turn with gravel on the path and VOOT the front wheel slid out from underneath me. But that was not the worst. The worst was when I pulled up to a stop at a red light and, failing to disengage my feet and tipping over like a redwood falling.
Good times.
But now it has been a while since I have had a bike for any use. I had one that I had to lend to a friend, but it got taken by a more desperate rider. I really hope he survived the bad brakes on that thing.
So now I am 44 years old, and I weigh 336 pounds. That sounds like a lot, but that is after losing forty pounds these last six months or so. I have a good plan in hand to lose a bunch more weight, but I feel the need to add some good exercise into the mix, and so my thoughts turn to cycling. Plus, bikes are cool.
I'm not a fancy gear sort of rider. I have never owned any cycling shorts or other specialized attire. I never even really owned or wore a helmet (they came into more general use and then mandate after most of my cycling adventures ecclesiastical and otherwise.) I would wear one now, especially as I have young children to set example for.
So here I am, hunting up information and community, looking in through the windows --or rather out as cycling is more the outdoor sport. At this point I'm thinking I will have to get through a series of second hand machines till I get the wherewithal to grab a really nifty bike. All I know is that steel will hold me up, and the more spokes the better.
06-03-12, 11:55 AM
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Welcome, Mike!
It's great that you want to get into cycling again. Take a look at the Clydesdale & Athena forum, I think they can give you some good information to help you choose a bike.
It's great that you want to get into cycling again. Take a look at the Clydesdale & Athena forum, I think they can give you some good information to help you choose a bike.
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Originally Posted by Xerum 525
Now get on your cheap bike and give me a double century. You walking can of Crisco!!
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06-03-12, 04:45 PM
#3
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Welcome to BF. And great job on the weight loss.
06-03-12, 10:03 PM
#5
The Left Coast, USA
"As a Mormon missionary..."
I would be likely to steal your bike from under you and make you run after me to get it back..so I hope you don't have that lettering on your t-shirt. Or, was that Jehovah's Witnesses? I forget.... But I digress, more seriously:
... An old school MTB is great to re-cut your cycling bones. They are not all ugly, and with some slick tires they can be lots of fun to ride. They are damn [pun] sturdy, virtually maintenance free, cheap, and they make you work at cruising speed. Save your heavenly dreams of CF 14lb bikes for after you loose the first hundred or so. CL or eBay, figure $450-500 ought to get you into a very nice 10 (+) year old bike, e.g. Trek, Specialized, Fisher, etc.
Happy trails.
I would be likely to steal your bike from under you and make you run after me to get it back..so I hope you don't have that lettering on your t-shirt. Or, was that Jehovah's Witnesses? I forget.... But I digress, more seriously:
... An old school MTB is great to re-cut your cycling bones. They are not all ugly, and with some slick tires they can be lots of fun to ride. They are damn [pun] sturdy, virtually maintenance free, cheap, and they make you work at cruising speed. Save your heavenly dreams of CF 14lb bikes for after you loose the first hundred or so. CL or eBay, figure $450-500 ought to get you into a very nice 10 (+) year old bike, e.g. Trek, Specialized, Fisher, etc.
Happy trails.
Last edited by FrenchFit; 06-03-12 at 10:17 PM.
06-06-12, 12:08 AM
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Holy smokes on the weight thing, Mike. But you're right, bikes are cool. Forget about racing bikes with root retention or anything like that right now. Just get something cheap, sturdy and comfy. Ride once or twice every day, eat right, and get a good night's sleep, and you'll feel better in no time.
Worked for me.
Worked for me.
06-17-12, 08:38 PM
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06-26-12, 08:50 PM
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I got my first bike ride in many years.
In the Bahamas!
5K on a rented Schwinn Stingray cruiser bike on Disney's Castaway Cay as part of the Disney cruise the Make a Wish foundation sent my family on.
In the Bahamas!
5K on a rented Schwinn Stingray cruiser bike on Disney's Castaway Cay as part of the Disney cruise the Make a Wish foundation sent my family on.
01-02-13, 08:57 AM
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Now down to 247#! That is from my top weight of 375# or so eighteen months ago.
Almost none of the loss from bike riding, though, as I only putter around the neighborhood once a week or so. More is the goal for this year.
Almost none of the loss from bike riding, though, as I only putter around the neighborhood once a week or so. More is the goal for this year.
01-03-13, 01:12 AM
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Great job! Cycling was certainly the right move! Keep it up! 
