Mahoolihan

Yanno ... I got all y'all beat. I am at 364 lbs (down from 385 in February). I don't care what other people think of me ... I am out there riding, and enjoying the bejeezus out of it. My new longest ride is 32.5 miles, and my new high average is 11.4 mph. Not good enough to ride with most of you yet, but I will get there. I haven't had a lick of trouble with my 20yo Fuji and no problem with traffic (maybe because I am bigger than some of the compacts on the road lol). Biggus said, "At the end of the day its not the bike its the rider and anyone who rides is part of our worldwide club." I *really* appreciate that sentiment.

4SEVEN3

You Rock man! Keep up the good work!

plin

I am curious about the type of wheels you use (how many spokes are there?) and tire pressure. Great spirit and keep riding!

Evolution-06

yea, I am 6ft 1in and weigh in at around 240lbs. I dread the day i get a road bike because of all the finger pointing and such that revolves around the roadies cliche.

People dont realize that road bikes extremely help us heavy guys on the hills. Being able to bench 395lbs doesnt really help me when faced with a steep grade. My local bike store owner says that he cant wait to fit me and build me a road bike that will make really love the sport. He is more excited than I am (i think) and looking for the challenge. 62inch shoulders are going to require wider set of handlebars.

Last year I started riding my bike because I was too heavy to run. Now that I have dropped my weight, I ride to the local park, run 5 miles, and ride home.

Bottom line, cycling in any form is great exercise for your body and soul.

Mahoolihan

Thanks Chain and Plin. The tires I use are whatever came standard on the Fuji ... I'll have to count the spokes. I keep the tire pressure between 85 and 90 psi.

Evolution: Keep up the great work!

MikeR

Get 2 or 3 of your pretty, young girlfriends together for a ride. All of you stop by and invite dad for a ride. He'll pedal has socks off just to 'Prove' to himself that he still has it.

fmw

Excellent that you are out there riding. As one who has lost a lot of weight riding a bicycle, I can tell you it does get easier and you do get faster and the hills do become easier to climb as the weight comes off. I remember a few years ago I would be huffing and puffing all the time on every ride. That's gone now and I have to work on my leg muscles because my wind is not longer the limiting factor in my riding. Be proud that you're doing something to improve your fitness. I think it is very cool.

snooker

I'm new to this board and a couple of years ago I finished playing football and am trying to get back into riding. I have been out of it for awhile and am trying to get smarter on them, basically figuring out what types (frames) are good for big guys. I'm 6'3 275lbs and am on a slight budget. Any help or info would really be appreciated.

Thanks

Don Gwinn

Snooker, at 275 you can ride most of the quality stuff. I just did a metric century (62miles/100km) on my Giant OCR2. It's an aluminum road bike and I weighed 289.2 this morning. I rode it over rough stuff, including some really vicious chunks and potholes on a narrow bridge with traffic passing me, and it's held up so far. I don't have the stock wheels, though. My local bike shop substituted a pair of more standard wheels built in their shop with 32 spokes, and I've been very happy with them.

I showed up to do 40 and decided to do 62 after about 20 miles. I was able to average 15.1 over 62 miles, which I felt wasn't too shabby, but I was either last or close to it for that distance after a long stop for a flat tire that eventually required the loan of a pump from a SAG truck to get me back on the road after I broke my CO2 inflater. Now I'm looking to see if there's a true century I want to do around here in late October or early November so I can have time to truly work up to it. I can't wait to do 100!

Don Gwinn

Hey, you were offensive line, right? You're a little big for a linebacker, and you spell too well to be "D" line.

snooker

LOL . . . . . Actually, I was a defensive tackle but I did play at a pretty smart school though (Georgia Tech). I actually played at 300lbs so I have lost some of it.

patentcad

I started riding again in April after a five year layoff (long story). I'm 47. I'm 5'11". I was 208 in March. I was 165lbs this AM. Hey, Lance is also 5'11", 165lbs. so at least we have that in common.

I have nothing against Fat Guys in Lycra. I just hated being one. And they don't last long on the rides I try to hang on. I'd like to get back into racing (before my back injuries I raced for nearly 10 years), but we'll see if that ever happens. I'm getting there.

And for me EVERY ride is competitive. Hell, I compete against myself. In a way I wish I could help myself, but I can't, so why bother? I love it when somebody says 'yeah, we'll go easy today, this ride isn't a race'. Uh-huh. Yet somehow all the group rides I've ever been in turn out to be a race. So it's not just me. There are plenty of days when I don't want to hammer. It only takes one guy who wants to - and another one dumb enough to try and chase him.

Doid23

Sure, he spells well, but they also considered that he was too athletic to be wasted on the offensive line, so they switched him to D Line

Hey Snooker, from another former 300+ pound D Tackle, biking is a great way to get back in shape, and trust me, your knees are going to thank you. After years of pounding away on turf with the excess baggage, it's a relief to glide down the road. And I second the wheels, no need to go expensive, but 32 spokes at least are a big help in terms of durability.

patentcad

By the way, Fat Guys in Lycra look more silly than the rest of us do (all of us look a bit silly in lycra, let's face it) but at least they're out there exercising. I don't care if you wear a Bozo outfit - you get deserve 10x more respect than some cool looking dude sitting at home drinking beer and watching TV. If I really gave a s*** about what the world thinks of me in a bicycle getup it might concern me. It does not.

That being said, while it is not important to ride like a pro, it is important to LOOK like a pro - as much as possible. So please guys, ditch the little bags strapped under the saddle and just stuff the spare tube and tire levers in your jersey pocket : ).

J Rad

WOW Great Thread!
I too am a Clydesdale! 6'2" 250. I just started riding in July. I have actually gained 5 lbs since I started. Decided the best thing to do was to throw out my scale! That felt better then my first 30 mile ride!!! ; )

I hope that I can lose some weight but it is not why I ride. I ride cuz it is a blast. My wife is a runner so trying to run with her is like watching a Waterbuffalo chase a Gazelle! Not pretty! So I Ride!!! I think of my son, my wife and my health... not my weight! I also remember my mother saying "F**K'em if they can't take a joke!"
Me in Spandex is deffinitley a joke.

Keep up the great work all! Pedal on!!!

ExMachina

BMI is a statistical device invented by public health officials to describe and classify populations. It's an expedient, correlating basic quantitative information with whatever qualitative condition (health, economic, etc) is being studied.

Its predictive power is only as accurate (and extensive) as the studies in which it is employed.

Interestingly, a few recent studies looking specifically at BMI vis-à-vis life expectancy, show a statistical advantage to being slightly overweight!

"Overweight was not associated with excess mortality (-86,094 deaths; 95% CI, -161,223 to -10,966).
Underweight and obesity, particularly higher levels of obesity, were associated with increased mortality relative to the normal weight category."
---JAMA. 2005 Apr 20;293(15):1861-7.

Swimjim

I'm about 225 pounds and I'll kick your A** on a hill. I can out climb almost all the grey hounds. And they have a hard time losing me on the flats for the first thirty miles. You can't judge a book by its cover.

Jim

Don Gwinn

Fixed it for ya.

(I played both ways in high school, but I saw the light in college and learned the thinking man's game. Smartest thing I did, though, was realize that everyone on a college field was faster than I was and my grades were dropping. I went from a 2.7 to a 4.0 GPA when I quit football.)

Evolution-06

THE BMI is totally ****. It is no representation that someone might hold muscle weight. When I was in the Marines I usually weighed around 217lbs and 8% body fat. According to BMI I was overweight. Even though I finished in the top 10 in PFT scores at my unit every time. 20 Dead Hang Pull Ups, 100 situps in 2 mins, and a 19-20 min 3 mile run.

BMI means nothing!

lungdoc

Well, no. BMI means simply the weight relative to height (weight in kg/[height in metres]squared to be precise). It doesn't mean nothing, it gives some useful information however as you correctly point out it has significant limits, as would any number you could derive from those two facts alone. Still more useful than just stating a weight, what is incorrect is to make too many conclusions from this one simple number.

Bobmo

Wow, I admire everyone in this thread who rides for the passion, not just the glory... you guys rule

twahl

I can't tell you all how gratifying it is to see my humble post receive so many replies, and have the vast majority of them be positive. We come in different sizes and shapes, and that's the point I was trying to get across. I'm well on my way to becoming more fit, and the love of the bike gets all of the credit. Of course there are a lot of folks on this forum that discovered the bike before they became large, so they have an advantage on us bigger guys, but it's heart warming to see so many of them understand and appreciate the hard work of us bigger folks.

For those that are much bigger than I have ever been and stick it out, you really are my inspiration. I read your stories and I have no choice but to lose the excuses and go put in some miles so I can lose some pounds. You true clydes rock!

snooker

That is true about the GPA, but when they're paying $30k a year for me to go to school it's hard to quit. Also, with playing football it's very, very easy to sell yourself to companies because of the sport and not only your GPA.

But I want to hear about some big boy bikes. I'll definitely remember what was said about the 32 spokes. I had even heard that a Carbon fiber frame is not good in our situation. I'm just trying to spend up to about $1300. Thanks

nova

Alot of heaveyier people will ride nice bikes because it hypes them up for riding. Its a well i got a ncie bike and i cant let it just sit there and do nothing. If he was realy 250 doing 14 or 15 for 5 miles then id say thats not to shabby for some one of his weight in fact its prety good. I avarage acording to calculations 21 to 25 depending on route i ride. A couple places i can do 28 like on my ride to the local park and back wich is 7 miles all grade 1 to 2 avarage there and being a there and back corse with a loop in the park all down coming back other than one hill thats a grade 3 avarage with a grade 6-7 30 foot bit.

For some one 250 pounds riding on flat paths/roads doing 14 to 15 isnt something to mock. Just better hope you never face him in a race in a year or 2 when hes down to 160 170 cause hes gona stomp you lol. I mean seriously think about it for a secound the guys doing 15 now at 250 whats he gona be doing at 160 170? 25 30 35% faster easly. so 18.75 to 20.25 mph possibly and probably faster for longer distances. If he is some one with the guts to stick with it hell easly be doing 20+ for 2x 3x as long with out truble at even a heavy 190. Heres a scary thought you race him on a hilly course with one large down hill and one large up hill. 190 pounds pedaling down a hill on his highest gear hes gona leave you miles behind. Probably so far behind that he could walk his bike up the huge up hill and still not have you catch him.

On Rails

Genius, I'm throwing my scale out as soon as I get home from work.