40, Fat and unfit

[adds21]

Three weeks ago, I got on a bike for the first time in about 20 years. I stopped smoking last year, and now I feel I've beaten that (nearly 9 months nicotine free, after 25 years smoking), I think it's about time I started losing some of the weight I put on after stopping smoking! If I'm honest, at the moment, I'm 40, fat and unfit.

So, I've been taking it really easy. For the first week I went out on the bike every evening just for a mile or so. I know a mile is pathetic, but I really am unfit, and I have to start somewhere! A couple of weeks ago I found a nice little "circuit" near my home. It's just over 3 miles, so I've done that every evening for the last two weeks. It's hilly round here and my 3 mile ride includes (what I consider to be) a pretty steep hill! 200 feet elevation in about half a mile. The first time I did it, I stopped several times just to get my breath back. Last night, I did it without stopping (albeit, pretty slowly!). Woohoo. That's a huge achievement for me, even if it sounds rubbish to more serious riders!

My average speed has been pretty slow - Just over 10mph I think, but that does include That Hill (it deserves capital letters in my book). As I live in the country, I'm going down little lanes in the pitch dark (other than my lights, obviously), so I can't even get up to much speed on the downhill bits! I'm looking forward to the longer days, although I have to admit that I quite like the fact that no one can see me puffing along in the dark!

Anyway, just thought I'd pop in here to say hello. My short term goal is to do a 10 mile ride soon... and not die doing it! I feel pretty confident I could do it on the flat now, but I think I need to keep doing my 3 mile loop, and That Hill a few more times before I'm ready for it round here. My semi-long term goal is to commute into work. It's only 5 miles each way, but the way home is all uphill. Before then I want to be doing a 10 mile ride every evening (where I can pick the route!).

The important thing is that I'm enjoying it! For me, the most enjoyable thing about cycling is being able to tow my son along (he's 4) using one of those Gator-Tail things. We both have a whale of a time when we're playing around with that. I'm hoping that, in a few months, I'll be able to start taking him out for the day on it on some of the cycle tracks around here.

So, errm. That's me!

A.

 

[allen-uk]

Well done. It is a truism, but nonetheless accurate, that a journey of 10,000 miles starts with one step.

Me? 62, one leg, one eye, fat, unfit. Started again six months ago after 40+ years out of the saddle. First ride: 400 yards. Now: 5 miles, including what I call hills.

Conclusion: if I can do it, then anyone can!

A.

 

[ACS]

Hearty welcome from CC’s clan of salad dodgers

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Congratulations on

1/quitting smoking

2/starting cycling

and

3/beating that hill.

Milestones like that are so important (especially in the early days).

Stick at it and your first 10 miler will soon come and then you will be setting your sights further and further.

Also, remember that 40 is NOT old (I'm 38 ) and you will soon start loosing the weight.

Out of interest what bike have you got?

 

[nigelb]

I'm 50, fat, and very unfit, started commuting to work by bike (~7 miles each way) most days. Not been doing it long, but I am already noticing a difference. My legs now ache less than they used to, and generally I feel more mobile. Weight is creeping down (very slowly, mind, but at least its not going up). My target is to get down to 14st by the end of the year (I'm 5'8", and currently a shade under 15 st).

If you're finding the lanes dark, try getting one of the tesco 3W torches, and strap it on your handlbars with a large rubber band made of old inner tube - boy do they make a lot of light for less than a tenner!

I've also found that if I back off a bit, my legs burn less, but I can keep working longer, so I may not cycle quite as fast at any moment in time as I did before,nor am I slowing down as much as I used to.

Anyway, key thing is to have fun whilst including more exercise in your daily life, well done :-)

Nige

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

Well done.

I know just where you're coming from, being up until relatively recently 40, fat and unfit. OK, I didn't have the smoking thing prior to that and now I'm 41, a bit overweight and not too unfit, but it's close enough.

I bought a bike - along with my wife - a little under two years ago when we realised we could no longer walk and keep up with the children if we went out for a walk with them on their bikes. Having bought it, I thought I should ride to work - about 7 miles each way.

Just like you, I started off doing a mile or two each evening, including my equivalent of your That Hill. And just like you it was a couple of weeks before I could get up it, using my lowest gear, at about 3mph average.

After a few weeks, I felt like I could do the commute so one Sunday I cycled home from a country park round the corner from where I work to be sure I could do the distance. (We'd taken the bikes there on the car for a ride out with the kids - we've got a Trail-Gator for Littlest-LC, they're great fun aren't they!?). Mrs-LC and the kids went home in the car.

Soon after, was a Bank Holiday Monday and I happened to be working, so I decided that would be my first proper to and from commute, as it didn't really matter if I was a bit late. I made it. Took me a while, but I made it.

So I gradually increased the frequency of the rides to work .. including rest days and so on in my schedule, getting quicker, finding I could more easily get up the hill.

A year and a half later, I can easily do the hill in a far higher gear, much quicker than I used to, hold a conversation at the top and barely even notice my journeys to and from work, which I do every day.

I've still got a gut, but it's smaller, and I am far fitter and healthier than I ever was.

Sorry, long post .. but I thought my experiences would mirror yours quite well, and show you what you can do. Sounds as though you've got a great plan .. little and often, gradually increasing distance and speed. It worked for me. I've still got a way to go, but it's a lot of fun doing it ..

 

[summerdays]

Welcome - its how we all start ... you seem to be progressing very well. Some hills are always HILLS, others over time can become mere inclines, and you look back and think how far you have come.

There is a free North Somerset cycling map from the Council / Sustrans etc which you may find in a local library etc (this is part of a series covering Bristol, BANES and South Glos too).

 

[adds21]

Thanks for all the welcomes.

I've got a Specialized Vienna. My bike knowledge is pretty much limited to Raleigh Arenas and Choppers from the 70's, but the LBS recommended it, and I have to say it seems fine to me. I use it mostly on the roads, but hopefully I'll start finding towpaths or cycle paths at the weekend.

Lazy-Comuter, Yep, sounds like I'm in the same boat as you were a couple of years ago. My wife would also like to get a bike at some point, but she's 6 months pregnant at the moment, so it's not the best time for her to start cycling (confidence-wise, more than anything else I think).

It's really encouraging to hear stories like yours and nigelb and allen-uk et al. I think like most people, I don't expect (or even want) to get super-fit. I just want to feel generally healthier and enjoy myself. If I'm honest, I don't really mind being over-weight (I'm not massively over-wieght anyway, I think I have a BMI of 28 or something). At any rate, I'd rather be over-weight than a smoker. If I lose weight by enjoying myself cycling, then all the better.

Summerdays, thanks for the info about the cycle map for N Somerset - I picked it up the other day from a major-bike-store-that-I've-learned-shouldn't-be-mentioned-here.

Thanks again all.

A.

 

[tyred]

Hello and welcome and congratulations. You have to start somewhere and if you keep it up, you'll soon be feeling much fitter and healthier. You're doing the right thing by starting of in small steps.

 

[country joe]

Well done, im 60 and just back into cycling after 2 years
first 4 runs my behind was killing me,i started off with 10 miles
Im now doing 25, and no painful spots.

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

<snip>

Lazy-Comuter, Yep, sounds like I'm in the same boat as you were a couple of years ago. My wife would also like to get a bike at some point, but she's 6 months pregnant at the moment, so it's not the best time for her to start cycling (confidence-wise, more than anything else I think).

<snip>

A.

Oh Gawd yes, she wouldn't be comfortable sat on a bike at all !! (I bet someone comes along in a bit and says it's OK really )

The best thing is that you can go further and further as a family as the kids get older. With Littlest-LC on the Trail-Gator - although we're hoping to wean her off that this year as she'll be 6 in a few months - and now Little-LC (just turned 8) has got her legs in a bit, we can easily do the 6-7 miles each way to Grannie's house, with a stop there for tea and cake.

Our ambition for this year is to do a "tour" with them: there's a nice 11 mile route along a disused railway not too far from us. We plan to go along it one way, stop a night in Travel Inn, and then go back the next day. Hardly long distance, but the whole being out for the night with our bikes is a pretty exciting prospect for them.

Just keep plugging away and enjoying it. You can hardly help but get fitter .. my BMI is similar to yours, btw. It'd probably be lower if I didn't keep eating more to "compensate for all those calories I burn off on the bike".

 

[colly]

Welcome adds21,

It's a similar story one that will ring bells with many here, it did with me. I took up riding a bike when I was in my early 40's not having ridden since I was a teenager. Like you my first attempts at anything like a hill had me wheezing and wobbling all over the place and having to climb off and push.
It kind of spurred me on and pretty soon I was hooked.

 

[magnatom]

Excellent story, and well done!

Keep it up and you will be planning your round the world trip in no time!

 

[MacB]

yep, good stuff adds, keep it up, it does get easier

 

[Halfmanhalfbike]

Just wanted to add my congrats along with all the others. Well Done. 10mph is really good for a ride round dark lanes. I only average 15 when I'm really pushing it

As other have said, when you look back in a few months time you won't believe how far you've progressed. I was like you 6 months ago and now I don't even notice some hills which had me feeling like my heart was about to burst out my chest before.

I actually like Hills now and actively seek them out on a ride for a bit of a challenge

Mind you, a triple helps!