bigaaronsrt

Well I will start with saying I live about 30 miles outside of Nashville in Murfreesboro. I am 27 years old and have been riding for a few years off and on. I started out on a mountain bike and then went to singlespeed/fixies, I am now on a road bike that I picked up last week. Biking has changed my life and made me a healthier person and a lot more active. I started out at about 300lbs and biking got me down to my lowest at 230lbs, current at 260lbs from taking some time off from riding due to being diagnosed with cancer. I am now clear of cancer and really picking up riding again.

Here is a picture of me last summer. On the right I was at 300 and on the left I was about 250lbs.


here are my current bikes
first one is a full fix aventon mataro with carbon fiber fork and carbon aerospoke. Its a fun bike to ride the down on.


Here is my new bike that I am really loving riding so far and have a lot of learning to do.

2014 specialized allez elite

bigaaronsrt

This was my first ever ride on a road bike and I loved it. I was a little slow but I will get there eventually. Any advice would be great!!

Juha

Cheers and welcome to Bike Forums!

I'm a utility cyclist / commuter myself, so I don't have much advice on speed - it's not a high priority for me. I suggest either Road Cycling, or Training & Nutrition subforums.

--J

decotriumph 

Welcome, Aaron. I live in Tullahoma. Congratulations on the weight loss and kicking the cancer! I believe I see MOAB in one of your photos!

Shadow722

Congrats on beating cancer and dropping weight. Doing some sprint intervals will help you with some speed. Just push all you got until you need to slow down, catch your breath and do it again. Bicycling Magazine had a workout article on that, that was much more technical. As you get light you will also get faster. Do some leg work with Squats, lunges, and calve raises that will increase your leg strength. Find a riding group in your area and get some miles in.

I claim TN as home but currently on Active Duty living in Oklahoma.

bigaaronsrt

Yeah that would be Moab. Mark and the guys are awesome and have helped me out a lot and helped me take the plunge into a road bike.

bigaaronsrt

i plan on riding with my LBS once I get to the level to keep up. And thanks for the advice !

Lacumo

Welcome to BF and congrats on the weight loss and the diagnosis and enjoy those bikes!

Shadow722

Many LBS bike groups have a no drop group where they regroup once people start dropping off. I rode with the fast group until I got too beat then waited and dropped in with the slow group. I am in the process of switching from hybrid to road. I test rode a few road bikes that the LBS brought out to their hosted Saturday morning ride. After pushing a hybrid for 6 years I come out strong on the road and the slow group was too slow so the next time I tried to ride with the fast group and they were keeping better than 20 mph even with some hill. They wore me out so at the rest stop I thought it was an opportune time to drop back with the slower group. If you have a friend that rides you may get one to ride with you and encourage and coach you. I'm 40 and my riding friend is 28 and we are always challenging each other. He gets me on the hills because he is on roadie and I'm still on the hybrid. For our age difference I hold my own pretty well. Can't wait to pick up the road bike this Friday and bring a hard challenge for him. I also take my 12 year old son riding and I have to keep around a 12 mph average speed for him and encourage him along and tell him to get it in gear let's go. A few more years of that and I may hear him telling me that. I have to stay fit so he'll always have to try hard to keep up with Dad.

03tr

Is that Smyrna?

I used to live in the boro. My nephews and niece still live there. That reminds me I am supposed to give TJ a call LOL

bigaaronsrt

Good eye! yes it is. I live off almaville but went to school in the boro.

03tr

I recognized lee victory. My niece and nephew both own homes in the deerfeild subdivision off of john rice. IIRC, they both graduated from Riverdale.

Congrats on the weight loss.

GeoBigJon

Welcome to the forums!