cmrtn7

After lurking for a couple months, I've decided to tell my story and intorduce myself.

54 y/o male, biked a lot as teenager (Ross 10 speed.) Bought a Mountain Bike (Trek Antelope) in the late 80s (with a bunch of friends) but we never took them off road! Still have the bike, with less than a thousand miles on it.

My wife decided she would get a bike in 2009 (well, she had bought a WM mountain bike prior, but so the errors in her ways when she rode my Trek.) Went with her to help her pick one out. She decided on a Trek fx 7.5. I got some of the old feelings from my teenage years (no, not those feelings!) rode the Antelope a little bit, but having just moved into a new house, was really tied up with that and work.

At the end of the summer, after watching my wife have all the fun, I did splurge on a Trek 2.1. My wife was a little ticked ("you bought a road bike!") I told her I would need it to keep up with her, since she had logged over a thousand miles. Only had 26 miles on it when I had bout of chest pain (not on the bike) and had a cardiac cath done (ended up to be $30,000 Indigestion.) But that stopped the riding for that year. I don't know what the excuse for 2010 and 2011 were.

The fall of 2011 brought a routine stress test, with a report of possible abnormalities on the film. That scared me a little, and with the fact my weight was at an all time high of 255 lbs. (5 foot 8) I realized it was time do something. Lost 5 pounds on my own, and then my wife signed us both up for weight watchers (online.) Dropped another 20 by Christmas.

My wife decided she wanted an exercise bike for the basement (to go with her elliptical, weights, and a broken treadmill.) So a brought one home and assembled it. After it sat there untouched for a couple days, I decided I was going to use it if she wasn't. So it now has 550 miles on it.

We had an early spring this year, so the Trek came out in March for a week. Put more miles on it that week than I had since I got it. (April sucked though) I had bought my wife a Trek Marlin (29er) for her birthday. She had bought a Road Bike (Lexa SLR) back in 2010. Now she had more bikes than me! So of course, I had to get one too. This bike has been great, since most of the roads near my house are dirt and full of potholes. I put 150 miles on that bike the first month I had it.

So now my weight is down to 210. The abnormalities on the test were just from to much stomach fat obscuring the image. Still quite a ways to go, but this forum has been a great inspiration to me. My goal for this Summer is a fifty miler, with lots of hills at the end of July.

Sorry to be long winded. Also sorry to sound like a Trek commercial. Don't really love the brand, but do love my LBS. They have always treated me great, so I return for more.

TrojanHorse

Good for you! Sounds like you're making great progress too. And welcome to Bike Forums.

Street Pedaler

Welcome aboard. Ride strong!

chefisaac

Welcome my friend! Where you from?

CommuteCommando

Similar story. I had my case of "indigestion" while riding my Trek around a local airport at lunchtime because my commute wasn't long enough. I honestly thought it was heartburn. Fortunately, a flight instructor was driving by and recognized it for what it was and called the little red bus to come get me. Two stents later, I was back on the bike in about a month, and am now down by about 45 lbs, with 60 to go.

Sadly, one big difference is that my wife refuses to ride one.

cmrtn7

Erie, PA

Commando, good for the flight instructor. As they say in the business, "Time is heart muscle." Sometimes, your lucky and it just is indegestion. Other times, your lucky and two stents save your life.

lenny866

Welcome