Juan Foote

I find myself firmly back in Clyde territory, I have made the decision to quit talking about it and get my butt out riding. Not that I expect to come below the 'standard' definition of clyde. Getting below 200 lbs isn't something I expect will really happen for my size and age. Even when I was going on club rides and such I never could break 200. Came pretty close. Due to where I am on weight I can't actually "safely" ride my carbon bike right now. I won't feel secure in trying that till I can get back down around 220 or so, 30 pounds from now.

I had actually forgotten how exhilarating it is to ride. Went for a ride yesterday and today. Nice and slow, just for time, get my knees worked back into it. I haven't been on the bike outside since August and the 10 miles I have done in the last two days beat that whole month by 4. It's a bit chilly, but that is ok too. I have enough insulation for now.

TrojanHorse

Pfft, 250 is nothing for a carbon bike, despite what the fear mongers would have you believe.

sdmc530

Juan Foote

Well, actually the manufacturer has a weight limit of 250# for rider and gear stated explicitly in the manual. I am the original owner and sure don't want them to void the lifetime warranty in such case that I have issues. Aside from that, as I neared that weight I could feel the seat tube giving a bit more bounce that I was super comfortable with. As an ex BMX racer that is familiar with the injury that occurs when a CF seat tube breaks, I would rather not chance it. I will just lose the weight, THEN ride it. (and all that is an aside from my wheelset which also have the same limit)

TrojanHorse

Speaking of jawja, how's that silver comet trail? It's enticing... I have a couple sisters in Atlanta, one of these days I'll have to rent a bike and go find out.

Juan Foote

It's a nice ride for once in a while. Beautiful to see the first time or two, then it starts wearing on me. I really don't care for lollipop rides, I prefer doing a loop. My suggestion for the Atlanta area is more along the lines of Panola/Arabia Mtn path. Still and out and back, but more challenging.

TrojanHorse

Yeah, it's hard to turn around early on a loop. I prefer going "somewhere", anywhere... just out of town.

Vq30de

JLDickmon

That sounds like the classic N+1 dilemma to me!
Slightly heavier bike, rated for a little more weight, beat the snot out of it..
When you get back to fighting weight, clean up the spare and loan it out to someone or keep it when the primary bike needs work.

Juan Foote

Yup, I had been doing a lot of city rides the last couple of years, mass and such. I was nervous about the shenanigans and tomfoolery ending up in damage and worried about theft while we went in to eat. I purchased a mtb-like city/commuter style bike from Performance on the cheap. I actually had ended up riding it much more just due to comfort and utility. I cannot say that it's easy going style (along with other things) didn't help contribute to the weight gain in the first place....My Roubaix isn't really a "take it easy" style ride.

Juan Foote

Just to update in regards to the goal. I have been riding between 2-3 times a week for the past few weeks, weather permitting. I have been taking long lunches and going down to a local lake/park and putting in five miles/30 minutes. The biggest issue I am having at the moment is a bit of knee pain in my good leg, thus why I am taking it easy and doing short mileage. This, along with some diet changes have resulted in an 8# loss over the last month. I am almost to 240 again.
Next week is due to be warmer and is a vacation weekend for us, heading to sunny Florida...taking the bikes too. I hope to get back down to Terra Ceia.

sdmc530

congrats!!

Juan Foote

Sort of a good and bad on my goals.

I am already two miles short of my total mileage for last year, however I am nowhere near where I should be as far as how often and my weight loss goals. I actually hit the heaviest I have ever been outside the time during my crash recovery back in 07. Already made some diet adjustments, but going to have to do more. Got to get myself motivated to make this happen more often, work be damned.

cyclist2000

I think that doing a lot of riding helps me lose inches but not much pounds. for me to lose weight it take modifying my eating habits (I have bad eating habits). I lost weight on Weight Watchers because they had me write down everything that I ate, then I realized how much I ate.

Leisesturm

If anyone gets any encouragement from this post that is great, but it is coincidental. Likewise, any discouragement is unintended. My goal is to inform. I spent two years as a Clyde (barely) weighing 203@ 5'10". Despite eliminating ALL carbs at dinner and eliminating ALL sugar at any other time of day, my weight remained fixed at 203. I do not own a car. I have two commutes daily. The first a 3mi. round trip to take my wife (blind) to her job on the tandem and then my own 3 mi. round trip. In addition 3x/wk we both hit the gym and do heavy weight work followed by 20 min. elliptical machine (me) 20 - 30 swim laps (her).

I presently weigh 196 and have been at this weight for most of a year. It wasn't the diet or the exercise that did it. It was the Flu. Last March my Father passed away and on the flight down to jawja from NYC, I had to sit next to an extremely ill individual. He spent so much of the flight in the bathroom I thought he might be a terrorist. No, he was just puking up his Last Supper. I know that because that was what I found myself doing a few days later. I've never been so sick in my life. I actually sought Emergency Care after 3 straight days of 104* fever. I have never done that. I was not able to work or exercise for one week and that is when I discovered that instead of weighing 203, I actually weighed 185!! So, yeah, I've been gaining weight since. 185 is what I weighed in High School. I'm 60. I like what 196 looks like especially when a lot of it is from heavy Bench Pressing and Lat Machine Pulldowns.

I just looked up 'calories burned per hour of cycling' and the short answer is: 650. That's for a 180lb cyclist at moderate effort. Friends ... a person has to do a whole lot of cycling to make any kind of dent in even a slight amount of overweight. Don't even think about it. Bike because you like to or because you need to. A better way to burn calories is a rowing machine, elliptical machine ... even a treadmill. Why? Because on a machine you don't have to stop until time is up. I can recommend the 'Flu Diet' as a quick and dirty (yes) way of dropping a decent amount of weight to motivate a longer term diet plan. However, to actually work, that diet is going to have to be pretty brutal. I know that because my diet is more extreme than many and does very little in terms of actual weight loss. The Paleo and Keto and Intermittent Fasting people may be onto something. Diabetes is a real possibility at the weight levels that come with being a Clyde. That should be checked, and strategies for dealing with its onset are worth investigating. FWIW.