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How Out-Of-Shape Were You When You Started Cycling?

83K views 368 replies 201 participants last post by  uberculture 
#1 · (Edited)
The thought: As I anticipated getting my first bicycle in several decades at age 49, I figured I'd start out slowly...like making an 11-mile circuit on the local country roads around my home, here in the rolling hills of Kentucky.

The reality: Riding the first time from my front gate to my rear fence (about 1200') with a good deal of it being a good up-hill grade, I had to stop after about 200' and was huffing and puffing like crazy. Had to stop 2 more times before I made it the entire 1200'. When I came in the house, I was huffing and puffing for an hour!

Fast-forward about 2 weeks of doing that routine....I still have to make two stops...but don't huff and puff nearly as bad, and am breathing normally when I get in the house.

My goal is to be able to do that ride without stopping to rest...then I will venture to ride a little on the street (Like the 3/10ths of a mile to the church just down the road). Maybe by spring I'll be able to do the 11 mile circuit?

I am pathetic! Wow! I wanted a bike largely so that I'd get some much needed aerobic exercise....I'd say I should have gotten it a few years ago. Was anyone else this pathetic? (Granted, if I were still in relatively flat Long Island and NYC, I'd probably be able to ride at least a few miles....)
 
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#254 ·
I can't say that I ever needed to lose weight...if anything people said I was too skinny. (Say it even more actually now that I'm cycling so much...) The other thing people remembered me was as "the bookworm". I had a few accidents though- two car accidents that injured both shoulders, a riding accident that caused a concussion that affected my ability to read and my attention span for quite some time, and finding out about degenerative meniscus in my right knee.

One thing though- my hamstrings were so tight that I could get past my knees without pain. After a few months of cycling 10-15+ miles three or more times a week and after adding in cardio-kickboxing...I was shocked to find out I can actually touch the floor. I'm still not sure how that really happened. At some point I turned around and people started saying "wow, you're athletic." Who me???
 
#255 ·
Heh, yeah, Nitefeatherz, that's the amazing thing about road biking- you can do it even when you're injured, and not only isn't doing so detrimental- it can actually be theraputic!

I injured my ribs or bruised a lung or something last week- so I've been taking it easy the last few days...but I still ride just as if nothing was wrong (In fact, now that I'll have a little extra time whilst taking it easy, I'm actually increasing the distance of my rides!)

The first few miles of the first few rides of this week, it was a little hard to breathe on some of the hills...but after a few miles I got over it, and I'd come back feeling great!

I know of no other sport/exercise/physical activity that can be so accomodating and theraputic, and not do you any harm when you're injured! Amazing!
 
#257 ·
Heh, yeah, Nitefeatherz, that's the amazing thing about road biking- you can do it even when you're injured, and not only isn't doing so detrimental- it can actually be theraputic!

I know of no other sport/exercise/physical activity that can be so accomodating and theraputic, and not do you any harm when you're injured! Amazing!
People kept telling me I should take up running. Running+ degenerative medial meniscus= knee replacement surgery when I'm still in my 20's.

Cycling manages to get me out and about. I also am that much more motivated since I like being outdoors in nice weather. I see all sorts of wildlife and birds in the parks (like a few weeks ago for the first time I got to see Great Horned Owl chicks in their nest, bluejays for the first time in 20 years, an albino Robin...)

I just wish I could talk my sister into trying out a bicycle for her that has been properly fitted. She is always trying someone else's- then she complains that she is in pain during the ride. (It probably doesn't help that at this point I ride for 13+ miles each time and she is somewhat inactive.) She also has different health issues than me and the fact that the bike isn't properly fitted makes it hard to tell if the cycling is just bad for her in conjunction with her health issues or if the pain is from a poorly fitted bike.
 
#261 ·
Actually...it does get easier.... Hills that I couldn't even make it up without stopping at first, I can now do pretty easily.....

I used to huff and puff on EVERY little hill...now I don't on all but the biggest/steepest ones.....
 
#262 ·
The one thing I hate about dogs when I am biking is I never know if they are going to have the common sense to stay out of the way of my bike: if I was in a car it would just be the dog. If I'm biking though BOTH of us will wind up injured if I hit the dog. Don't get me wrong. I love dogs but I wish people would use more common sense with them sometimes.

There is a guy with one of those tiny flexi-leads that he walks his dog on near where I live. I already know he walks his dog on the flexi-lead but I have to wonder if he knows just how hard it is to see.

Stuff like that makes me glad I'm a careful rider- some of the more gung-ho cyclists aren't always as careful as they should be IMO. I'm not looking to be a stain on the path that someone has to clean up if I can avoid it.
 
#268 ·
Been reading through this thread, and wow, I have to say there are some incredibly inspiring stories on here!

I just started cycling a few weeks ago, and due to a combination of some really uncooperative weather, scheduling conflicts, and the face that I live in an area that is not particularly fun to cycle in (until next month, when I move into Vancouver, and leave Surrey behind forever) I haven't done nearly as much as I would like to be doing.

I'm 28 years old, and right now I weight in the neighbourhood of 220lbs, which is about the heaviest I have ever been. I am 6'2, and do have an athletic frame, but I'd still estimate I am about 30-35lbs overweight. I gained almost all of this weight over the past two years in what what a fairly stressful time. Stress, couple with a lifestyle change that saw me go from living in the downtown core of a major city and walking everywhere I went, to living in the suburbs and walking exactly nowhere, well it got the better of me. I had grand plans to get back on my bike and get in shape last year, but living in the dunghole that is Surrey, BC, Canada (seriously, this city has nothing going for it, and the property and gang crime is atrocious, anything bad you hear about Surrey is true) resulted in my locked up bike being stolen from my home.

Anyway, now I have a new bike, and a new commitment. My longest ride so far has been 35km, which is nothing compared to what I used to do as a kid, and I am sure I could do more. The hills are difficult, on one particularly steep one I did have to stop a few times, but I never walked. I felt pretty good about it, to be honest, for an out of shape newbie with a compact crankset.

:)
 
#269 ·
Newbie here. I'm 48 and am on the market for a new road bike. I haven't rode a bike since the 1990's when I lived in Manhattan. Like the OP, I'm thinking of getting in shape to ride. Then, it occurred to me that I'm going to ride to get in shape! I recently started running, and hate it. I'll be dusting off my 20 year old Cannondale 3.0 mountain bike and bringing to a shop to see if its worth getting a set up.

I hope to be in shape to ride 20-30 miles per day!
 
#273 ·
I was about 200 lbs when I stared running four years ago, maybe about 160 when I started biking 3 years ago. Down to 148ish right now, but it'll run back up a few pounds in the winter.

I was always the fat kid in grade school/ high school, I weighed about 160 as a 13 year-old so it's been an interesting journey becoming a thin person, but I still see myself as fat when I look in the mirror
 
#274 ·
I was about 280 lbs when I started biking. Looking back, I'm happy that my hybrid comfort bike (Miele Umbria 200) could take a good beating from me. My bike was my secondary form of transport, next only to public transit. It served both commuting and touring functions. I'm down to 195 lbs now, but want to reach the 160s.

Today, I just upgraded from hybrid, flat-bars to my first road bike (Specialized Secteur Comp Apex). Hoping to do longer and longer rides for years to come.
 
#275 ·
Congrats on a job well done. You don't have far to go, only slightly more then 15 pounds, I bet that feels like a huge relief!

Make sure you don't get too thin, there's more to weight then BMI calculations would make one believe. You also have to take into consideration bone size, here's a some information about that:
How to Measure Your Wrist Size to See If You Are Big Boned | eHow.com
Once you established your bone size then go to this site to fine the range for your weight, scan down below the women chart to get to the men's: Height and Weight Chart - height weight chart, weight height chart

A lot of people don't know that their bone size relative to their height plays a major role for their idea weight. I once knew a young lady that was going crazy dieting and looked very bad from being too thin, and she kept complaining she was too heavy according to the BMI. Once I explained to her the bone size thing she realized she was actually too thin because she was a large bone woman. So people need to be careful and not just go by BMI. The bone size charts do use the BMI but uses it in relationship to the bone size.
 
#276 ·
Thanks! Based on the chart (5'8", large frame), I'm in the 152-172 range, so not too far off from my original goal.

My mistake early on was losing weight too quickly, at about the rate of almost 3-4 lbs/week. I know most of that was water weight, but I shed nearly 40 lbs in just 3 months. I felt great, but it didn't give my skin enough time to recover and "snap back," so i had a case of saggy skin.
 
#280 ·
Been a competitive swimmer for the past 17 years, swimming year round taking off a summer or two towards the end. Swam at a D1 school throughout college, by graduation I was burnt out. Ask most swimmers, this happens a lot. During this time I was in amazing shape, 5' 10" weight ranging about 190-200 lbs(I had a lot of muscle mass). Took a year off and started gaining weight fast.

Been riding now for a few months and I am already noticing a huge difference in my weight and fitness level, though I have yet to weigh myself. I think I found my replacement for swimming.
 
#281 ·
Recovered by cycling

One year ago last July put some slicks on a mountain bike and started riding 2 miles a day on a bike trail. Weighted 335. Waist 54. Stayed at it every day. Back on road bike now. Did 135 miles and 12,750 ft of climbing last week including Mt Diablo, Palomares, and Broadway Terrace here in East Bay. Weight 152. Waist 32 today.
 
#282 ·
One year ago last July put some slicks on a mountain bike and started riding 2 miles a day on a bike trail. Weighted 335. Waist 54. Stayed at it every day. Back on road bike now. Did 135 miles and 12,750 ft of climbing last week including Mt Diablo, Palomares, and Broadway Terrace here in East Bay. Weight 152. Waist 32 today.
WOW! double WOW!
 
#288 ·
Read this entire thread and it has inspired me to get going again. I have been cycling off and on since I was 14 and 125lbs. Now, I am 40 and 175lbs and only 5'6" had always been the "little guy" but then the Dr said to loose 25 lbs!. Have ridden and raced every few years but never been able to get it to stick since the last time I was sort of in shape back in 2000. Bought a new SuperSix last year just as my work schedule went crazy and now it only has 60 miles on it. Well, enough.. I am tired of feeling like crap everyday, its time to take control again. These stories are great and you should all be proud. Thank you guys for proving I can do it too!
 
#289 ·
you can do it man ,just hang in there. I was in decent shape when i started , but i'm a cross country runner and a lifter. When i started running i thought i was gonna die to , because that summer in iowa it averaged around 100 degrees with 50 percent humidity. Everythings hard for a while , but hang with it and your body will catch on. no worries
 
#290 ·
Here I am at the beginning of my endeavor into road cycling hoping to get back to how I was post working in a restaurant. I'm 205 and get easily winded going around the block. I'm hoping to get more into shape and get down to 170. (Dieting is also part of this endevour)
 
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