If You're Thinking of Taking Up Cycling - DO IT!

Buckie2k5

good luck philly, that 1st time out will give you a real buzz. My 1st outing was end of august and ive not looked back, stone and a half lighter already. Although the bank balance is going down rapidly too, Not just on bike gear but on my wardrobe all my clothes drown me now lol

jagx400

Good inspirational post. I went from 18st 6lbs to 15 stone, since March of last year. I now cycle 70 mile club runs with ease, have done a 100 mile charity run. Cannot get the last 6lbs off though, want to get to 14.5 stones but wont happen. I am basically bone idle, so if I can do it anyone can........Go for it

Philly8mt

Buckie2k5 wrote:

good luck philly, that 1st time out will give you a real buzz. My 1st outing was end of august and ive not looked back, stone and a half lighter already. Although the bank balance is going down rapidly too, Not just on bike gear but on my wardrobe all my clothes drown me now lol

Thanks

Believe it or not I'm planning to get out at about half four/five in the morning! My reasoning is as follows ...

Hardly any traffic
Hardly any spectators
If I wobble or fall there will be no one around to see it!
Back in time for work.

unixnerd

I was never that heavy, I'm 5'6" and I think I got to about 12.5 stone in my 30s. But I was never fit, not since I went hill walking a lot in my teens. This summer at the age of 44 I dipped down to about 9 stone 10 despite eating like a horse at every opportunity. I went to size 32 trousers as my 34s were falling off me. My mother was hassling my wife about not feeding me enough and said I looked ill! I pointed out that a good cyclist is meant to look like a heroin addict on a diet and that Robert Millar was 8 stone 6 when he won the King of the Mountains :-)

I was maybe doing an average of 150 miles on the road bike a week but doing it at a good pace with lots of hills thrown in. The Highlands weather has seen me moving to the mountain bike of late and I've likely put half a stone on, probably no bad thing. But cycling has certainly made me super fit and I have much more energy than ever before.

It's great to see so many folk taking up cycling and improving their health. My nephew lost over three stone in a year and stopped smoking, it's changed his whole outlook on life.

Mikey41

So far, so good for me. Commuting on the bike whenever the weather is fair, but I really must start to extend my distances from my current 25 - 30 miles.

Huge improvement in fitness though and it feels great

Aims this year are to get my first Sportives done and a C2C completed.

Htron

Last April I was awarded some Red Letter Days vouchers as a performance award at work. I decided to use them for a mountain bike. I started as a sedentary 32 year old at 13.5 stone.

I have been commuting regularily ever since. I am now 12st 3lbs and was asked if I was an athlete at my last health check as my resting heart rate was very low!

I now have a road bike too and love the feeling of a pure cardio workout, no impact on the knees, just that euphoric feeling after a good run out.

mlgt

Great thread and real fuel here for others who are thinking about it.

I am hooked and really enjoying it. The initial spend in getting kitted up can be a little off putting but you reap rewards back in a small amount of time especially if you take into consideration the rising costs of travel.

I admit I am a wuss as I dont cycle on raining days

But apart from that I love my Bianchi and cant wait for the weight to shed off even more!

RiderUk

Have now lost 22LB and about 12LB's away from my target weight.
Fitness levels have improved without question, my average speed has increased without really trying.
Today I cycled 46 miles and getting prepared for my first charity cycle ride in 2 weeks time.
Hope to be joining a club soon and to hook up with some local riders.
I don't mind cycling on my own,but would like to cycle in a group from time to time.
Cycling has been of great benefit and in conjunction with a calorie controlled diet, weight loss has been easier than expected.

dadmcstuffins

I've thought about and took the plunge today. Hi all newbie here. After badgering the better half for a road bike for a couple of months she freed the purse strings and allowed me Specialized Allez, with a few toys to get started.

After spending far too long overweight 18.4st at 6ft I wanted/needed to do something about it. Used to play football as a kid, 36 now, 20 years a smoker and the only excercise I get now is a round of golf once a week, and playing football with my 4yr old daughter. So you can imagine the state of me !!!!!

Anyway took the steed for a little spin earlier ( yes rear end pain ) but thoroughly enjoyed it and the feeling afterwards that I'd made a start. (Only 4 miles)Smoking will be next on the agenda but one step at a time. Reading other threads on various topics it seems most started in a s@&t state but doesn't take you long to build up and get the best from the outdoors.

Thanks for reading the waffle.

philwint

daysofspeed wrote:

Tred running, lost weight, got hurt / bored.

Got bike, fell in love, waiting for weight to fall off still. Only doing one long ride at weekends, don't commute and struggle to ride in week.

You skinny fellas ride lots to lose weight?

I'm hardly skinny - but have lost a lot of weight.

Think about it as a maths problem and its easy.

(simplification follows)

In order to lose 1 pound you need to introduce a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories. So that means, what, a four hour fast ride. To lose a stone with no change to your diet means doing that once a week for nearly 4 months!

So either ride A LOT or diet too.

If you can ride a lot AND cut out 1000 calories a day the weight will fall off

[edit] And without an eye on your diet I bet you eat a hearty meal after that once a week long ride, maybe halving (or more) the deficit

philbar72

Re-started riding in august last year, and have improved no end, my weight when I started was 13 ½ stone and in 8 months I’ve lost a stone and have better fitness levels. I used strava to track my improvements and my speed for a circuit of Richmond Park has gone from 29 minutes to 19 minutes ( traffic dependant). I feel fitter and more healthy but need to get down to 12 stone I think. The only trouble is that even with the weight loss I think my climbing technique is still to be worked on. Other than that though it is all good. I feel better than I‘ve done in years.