PlatyPius - Cyclist, Fat guy

I reckon this is where I should say "Greetings!" to everyone.  As the title says, I'm a cyclist and a fat guy.  No flowery words to get around it - I'm fat.  I'm 5'11" and was 304 pounds when I joined this site about a week ago.  I'm currently weighing in at 296.

I was an avid cyclist until 7 years ago.  When I moved from Indy to my small hometown, I just stopped riding.  At the time, I was a mountain biker - only - and there aren't any trails here.  With work and everything, driving an hour to the trails in Indy, riding, then driving for an hour again just wasn't feasible.  See, I'm also restoring my house (http://www.oldhousegazette.com).  Time hasn't been on my side. 

Late last year I started riding again.  I also got my old job back at The Bike Wave in Indy.  By October of last year, I'd gotten to the point where I was able to ride The Hilly Hundred.  But then I stopped riding at the end of October, due to house stuff, no daylight, and just generally not liking cold weather.

This year, I turn 40.  I am giving myself a birthday gift this year.  I've wanted to ride RAGBRAI (www.ragbrai.org) for about 10 years.  I'm going to do it this year.  My birthday is on the 19th of July, RAGBRAI starts on the 20th of July.  My wife added a condition, though.  I have to lose 50 pounds before she'll "let" me do the ride, since she's afraid I'll keel over from a heart attack.  Not an unreasonable concern, really.

Hence my joining this site and tracking what I eat.  Until it warms up here in Indiana, cutting calories is about all I can do.  In late February or early March, however, I'll be able to start riding again.  I'm hoping to get back up to my normal rides of 40-45 miles by May, and work up to 80 mile rides by the time I leave for RAGBRAI. (RAGBRAI is a ride across the state of Iowa in 6 days.  The rides each day range from 40 miles to 100 miles.)

So... any other cyclists on here?  Or people riding bikes to help lose weight?  Anyone have any questions about cycling?  I've been working as a bike mechanic/salesperson for about 4 years, so ask away.

 

Welcome fellow biker,

I also love cycling.  I'm from NE PA and have been doing the indoor spinning classes to keep me in shape for the "good weather" rides.  Spinning is a great alternative for the bad weather - having company on the ride makes the time fly by.  They also have new bikes at our YMCA that are hooked up to a network (see expresso.net) the machines have a screen that looks like you are riding trails.  You can also set the gears and add a pacer rider to keep you on track.  You also have to steer or you go into a skid. Your stats are kept on-line to see how you stack up to other riders around the country.

I also need to lose weight to get ready for a competitive ride, that is why I signed up on this site.  I did not realize I was eating so many calories.  I am 5' 5'' and 165 pounds (recommended is 135).  I was eating over 2000 calories / day and my recommended is 1450.

Since keeping track I down around 1900 (which is still high) but am working on buying better food choices and getting is a little lower. 

I wish you the best of luck - keep us posted on your journey.   

 

 

The number of calories this site recommended for me was 3100.  There's no way I can do that.  So, I have my limit set at 2200 for now.  I'll adjust it as needed.  For the rest of the winter, it'll go down as I lose weight.  When I start riding again, though, it'll have to go up.  Most of my rides (based on my current weight) burn around 3000 calories.  Can't be eating 2200 when I'm burning 3000 on a bike ride.  lol

As for indoor trainers/spinning....  just can't do it.  It bores me to tears.  Unless I'm actually on a bike and moving toward a goal, I just can't do it.  I've been doing what I can here at home to get the blood flowing, though.  I've been working on the house - building bookcases, putting up walls, etc.  I've been doing some light sit-ups... I can't overdo that - I've had one ventral hernia, and I have an un-repaired  small umbilical hernia currently.  I have to watch what I do with weight training too - I ripped my lumbars in high school doing dead lift; my back still goes out frequently (cold or over-exertion).

I'm hoping that once I've lost some weight, the sit-ups won't be so painful for me.  Once I don't weigh more than I can bench press, I should be able to do push ups, too.  Basically, I let myself get into really crappy shape.

 

 

Hi and welcome.   I live in California where it's bikeable year-round.  I bike on weekends and go to the gym / run during the week and when it's raining. My brothers are competitive cyclists (they got the speed in the family) and they use rollers indoors in bad weather.  Good luck with the weight loss and training!

I just put a question about cycling computers in the fitness forum, responses welcome.

Welcome and Good luck! You're doing a great job  I hope you can have your birthday gift. I'm sure you'll succeed.

Nessa

Good luck platy! You seem to be being really well so far. Hope you can reach your goal. Maybe we can exercise together if I ever come up to Indy. -Amber from VJ

Howdy Nessa and Amber!

 (By the way....at the weigh-in today, I'm now at 9.5 pounds lost so far.  It comes off faster when you're really fat, I'm guessing)

 

Been too depressed to update this....

I've dropped my calorie intake to 1500.  I stopped losing at 292.  I've been there, up and down a pound or so, for 2-3 weeks.  I dropped from 2200 to 2000.  Then to 1800.  Now I've dropped to 1500 calories.  Hopefully that will let me see some results again.

Still no riding here in Indiana.... rain, snow, sleet, tornadoes, cold, etc.  Maybe in March, eh?

 

 

I posted too soon, it seems...

I've lost another 3 pounds.  Only 39 more to go!  lol

 

Hi, platy,

Congrats on the weight loss!  I hear you on the plateaus. I started consciously working on weight in September -- I'd been cycling for about 6 months by then.  Since September I've lost 24 pounds (if today's weigh-in is to be believed).   And I've had two plateaus that lasted for 3-4 weeks. It's really frustrating.  But I figure that if I keep a calorie deficit and keep working out, that the scale will eventually cooperate.  

Good luck, and best with the weather. March is soon :-)

I won't tell you about what the temperature's been in the bay area :-)  But it's raining again, and is expected to rain most of the time through the weekend.  

1-2" of snow for us tonight. I'm tired of snow. I ordered some compact cranks for my road bike (I've been riding 53/39) and was hoping they'd show up today. No such luck. I need to pick up a 10 speed cassette from the shop tomorrow, too. Once I get my conversion to 10 speed done, I'll HAVE to go out riding, even if it's 10 degrees. lol

Original Post by alevin:

Hi, platy,

Congrats on the weight loss! I hear you on the plateaus. I started consciously working on weight in September -- I'd been cycling for about 6 months by then. Since September I've lost 24 pounds (if today's weigh-in is to be believed). And I've had two plateaus that lasted for 3-4 weeks. It's really frustrating. But I figure that if I keep a calorie deficit and keep working out, that the scale will eventually cooperate.

Good luck, and best with the weather. March is soon :-)

I won't tell you about what the temperature's been in the bay area :-) But it's raining again, and is expected to rain most of the time through the weekend.

 

Heh.  I really like running in cold weather as long as there isn't ice on the ground, but cycling is nastier because of the wind factor.  My brother the bike racer lives in Seattle and he rides all year round in weather that would have me in the gym!

I've been shopping for new bikes to replace a 27-lb mid-90s diamondback. This is in part a weight loss reward -- "20 lbs off the rider, 10 lbs off the bike" Looking at Trek and Specialized.   The really nice, small bike shop in my town sells Specialized. I want to buy from them because they fix my bikes and I want them to get my money, but I'll buy what fits best.   The Trek place is also locally owned, a couple of towns away.   I rented a not-very-well-fitting bianchi last weekend, not as light as the specialized/trek models, and went 15% less slowly than on the diamondback.  So I'm really looking forward to a nicer bike. 

I'm not really partial to either one.  Of course, my shop doesn't sell either of them, so.... 

We sell Colnago, Masi, Cervelo, Litespeed, Quintana Roo, Merlin, Fuji, and Raleigh.  I'm seriously lusting over a Masi right now.  lol

 
That said, Trek, Specialized, Fuji, Giant, and a few others offer some really good choices.  I'd lean toward a Specialized, personally.

 

Well, y'all are a bit far to buy from :-)  It would be kinda cool to have a less ordinary bike, but I'm kinda picky about not buying more gear than will make a difference at my performance level. I got up to riding 40-50 miles, and getting to a 1600' summit on the coast range on the diamondback before shopping for a new bike.  Now I want to get fast enough to go on the club rides that do routes like the ones I ride. 

hi platypius! there's a calorie count cycling club thread somewhere on here where many avid riders post (although it's gotten buried lately).

you can do more that cut calories right now... why wait for the weather to come around? does that shop you work at sell trainers? get a trainer & watch a Tour de France video or a movie or something and get in a solid cycling workout that way until the weather comes around!

welcome to the site :-)

As a professional bike slut, I think the opposite.... I buy the absolute best I can afford. I reckon I'll get to the same level as the bike eventually. lol

That said, the Masi I'm looking at retails for only $679.00. It's a single speed steel road bike. I only want the frame. (I'm a traditionalist) I have a bunch of 10 speed Campy stuff laying around here just waiting for it. :)

http://www.masibikes.com/cycles/speciale_comm uter.php

 

that masi IS cool! i love that the color is named root beer!

Yup!  Now imagine it with Campy 10 speed, bar-end shifters, touring wheels/tires, and a moustache handlebar.  LOL!  Seriously.  I want a touring bike that isn't really a touring bike.  The Masi is laid out and steel, so it should be comfortable while riding across Iowa.   Plus, how cool is the tail light built into the seatpost?  lol