fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Good going - you've got some good targets there..so keep at it
40, Fat and unfit
- Thread starter adds21
- Start date
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killiekosmos
Veteran
Welcome, adds21.
Like you I started cycling in latter years, overweight and having given up smoking. At the start a few miles were enough and hills were for walking up. Now - 7 years on - all the money saved from not smoking has gone on bikes (3) but I'm a good deal fitter, feel a lot better and have lots of fun.
I commute by bike and save money on transport and get more exercise and evenings and weekends I get out into countryside and enjoy the hills and views.
Keep it up as you'll lose weight and enjoy cycling too.
Like you I started cycling in latter years, overweight and having given up smoking. At the start a few miles were enough and hills were for walking up. Now - 7 years on - all the money saved from not smoking has gone on bikes (3) but I'm a good deal fitter, feel a lot better and have lots of fun.
I commute by bike and save money on transport and get more exercise and evenings and weekends I get out into countryside and enjoy the hills and views.
Keep it up as you'll lose weight and enjoy cycling too.
stoatsngroats
Guru
- Location
- South East
Hi A,
Me too, 3 1/2 years ago, 40, 15St, ex-smoker, black coffees and doughnuts...but my last, long ride was 62 miles, on my own, and out at 5.45 am!
I did begin my re-cycling fun because of a desire to ride the L2B, which I did in 2006....and I got the bug there and then!
So well done you, for starting, welcome to CSC, and good luck for the future, now, on your bike!
Me too, 3 1/2 years ago, 40, 15St, ex-smoker, black coffees and doughnuts...but my last, long ride was 62 miles, on my own, and out at 5.45 am!
I did begin my re-cycling fun because of a desire to ride the L2B, which I did in 2006....and I got the bug there and then!
So well done you, for starting, welcome to CSC, and good luck for the future, now, on your bike!
hi adds21, your story echoes mine very closely. Got to 40 years old a few years back, was unfit and overweight. So got a bike. Started off with a mile and half to the station and back, and that damned near killed me. But kept it up. Then worked out a 10mile loop around home which I did every saturday and sunday, then got it up to 20 miles. Then cycled to a further station 5 miles each way. Then hooked up with local cycling organisiations through the LCC. Now I am cycling minimum of 26 miles round trip commute everyday, with longer rides at weekends. So I am much fitter and over 2 and half stone lighter and absolutely love being on my bike(s)
So you are not alone mate... welcome to the club.. it only get's easier and more fun.
Perhaps as an insentive you may want to log your mileage on Cyclogs
http://www.cyclogs.org
There is a CycleChat team on there where you will find a lot of us...
All the best and keep it up..
Ian.
So you are not alone mate... welcome to the club.. it only get's easier and more fun.
Perhaps as an insentive you may want to log your mileage on Cyclogs
http://www.cyclogs.org
There is a CycleChat team on there where you will find a lot of us...
All the best and keep it up..
Ian.
jayce
New Member
- Location
- south wales
Keep it up and it can only get better
Randochap
Senior hunter
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada
I'm guessing I don't have to convince any one of the truth in the following quote I use on the front page of my website:
Getting back on a bicycle, after a long absence is like rediscovering youth. It not only returns vitality to the body, it reinvigorates the mind.
Quiting smoking, of course, eliminates the poisons from your bloodstream that have hobbled physical activity and clear thinking.
Though I've been a lifelong cyclist (I'm 57), I also smoked on and off, until I quit for good 18 years ago. When I quit, I used my training log to track my progress. After 1 week, I gave myself an award in the form of a "no smoking" icon in the margin:
... then at the end of a month, 3 months, six months and finally a year. It was like collecting medals! That helped keep the momentum.
My only long period off the bike occurred during a couple of years I suffered from undiagnosed piriformis syndrome. Luckily, I gained 20lbs. I say luckily, because had I not had that weight to sustain me, I would have wasted away to nothing during treatment for oral cancer in 2003.
I've survived two battles with the crab now, and both times it's my determination to get back on the bike that has pulled me through.
We all make bad choices in life. Of any contraption we canny apes have made, the bicycle alone is a life machine. Put in an ounce of energy and you get back a pound of joy. For those with pounds to spare, the rewards are great!
Getting back on a bicycle, after a long absence is like rediscovering youth. It not only returns vitality to the body, it reinvigorates the mind.
Quiting smoking, of course, eliminates the poisons from your bloodstream that have hobbled physical activity and clear thinking.
Though I've been a lifelong cyclist (I'm 57), I also smoked on and off, until I quit for good 18 years ago. When I quit, I used my training log to track my progress. After 1 week, I gave myself an award in the form of a "no smoking" icon in the margin:
... then at the end of a month, 3 months, six months and finally a year. It was like collecting medals! That helped keep the momentum.
My only long period off the bike occurred during a couple of years I suffered from undiagnosed piriformis syndrome. Luckily, I gained 20lbs. I say luckily, because had I not had that weight to sustain me, I would have wasted away to nothing during treatment for oral cancer in 2003.
I've survived two battles with the crab now, and both times it's my determination to get back on the bike that has pulled me through.
We all make bad choices in life. Of any contraption we canny apes have made, the bicycle alone is a life machine. Put in an ounce of energy and you get back a pound of joy. For those with pounds to spare, the rewards are great!
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
There are a load of maps for cycle routes in Somerset (the bit south of you). You can get them through this email address: transport@somerset.gov.uk
soulful dog
Veteran
- Location
- Glasgow
This is what I love about this forum, threads like this certainly help with the motivation to keep cycling as much as you can
That's an excellent outlook, and there's no doubt you will feel better, healthier and once you get past just about any hill feeling like really hard work, it will get more enjoyable too - what more could you ask for!
When I started cycling last year I probably started off at a similar fitness level as you ('probably even more unfit), and even though I'm pretty slow and don't have the desire (or energy!) to really push to get super-fit, and although I haven't really lost any weight, the difference is really noticeable.
If you can get through those early 1-2 mile trips, and slowly build them up without chucking it as too much hard work, you can probably go on to do whatever you want with your bike.
Just make sure you don't get too fit so your wife gets left behind when she's able to get on her bike too!
Good luck adds21 and everyone else.
adds21 said:
That's an excellent outlook, and there's no doubt you will feel better, healthier and once you get past just about any hill feeling like really hard work, it will get more enjoyable too - what more could you ask for!
When I started cycling last year I probably started off at a similar fitness level as you ('probably even more unfit), and even though I'm pretty slow and don't have the desire (or energy!) to really push to get super-fit, and although I haven't really lost any weight, the difference is really noticeable.
If you can get through those early 1-2 mile trips, and slowly build them up without chucking it as too much hard work, you can probably go on to do whatever you want with your bike.
Just make sure you don't get too fit so your wife gets left behind when she's able to get on her bike too!
Good luck adds21 and everyone else.
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
Well done, well done (so well done I said it twice)
Keep it up and before you know it you will be doing those commutes and 10 milers without any problems
Regards,
SD
Keep it up and before you know it you will be doing those commutes and 10 milers without any problems
Regards,
SD
amnesia
Free-wheeling into oblivion...
- Location
- Bournemouth, Dorset
Well done 
I have just turned 35 and I'm waiting for my cycle2work voucher so that I can get on my first bike since school. I fear my first ride will be rather short, but hope like you to steadily increase until I can do 20 miles as a warm up.
Well, maybe...
Just a thought... If your 3 mile loop becomes 'easy' but you don't feel up to 10 just yet, why not just do it twice ? Or once in each direction to see all the things you miss going the other way
Good luck, and happy riding !
Daniel.
I have just turned 35 and I'm waiting for my cycle2work voucher so that I can get on my first bike since school. I fear my first ride will be rather short, but hope like you to steadily increase until I can do 20 miles as a warm up.
Well, maybe...
Just a thought... If your 3 mile loop becomes 'easy' but you don't feel up to 10 just yet, why not just do it twice ? Or once in each direction to see all the things you miss going the other way
Good luck, and happy riding !
Daniel.
Banjo
Fuelled with Jelly Babies
- Location
- South Wales
Hi ADDS21 Im 50 unfit overweight etc recently started cycling on a secondhand Hybrid to try and regain a bit of fitness.Like you live in a hilly area. I think a 3 mile ride with some bottom gear gradients is harder than 10 miles of gentle riding so dont be put off by average speeds etc .
I have been doing short rides almost daily and after less than a month feel a lot better allready. Good luck .
I have been doing short rides almost daily and after less than a month feel a lot better allready. Good luck .
OP
OP
adds21
Rider of bikes
- Location
- North Somerset
amnesia said:Just a thought... If your 3 mile loop becomes 'easy' but you don't feel up to 10 just yet, why not just do it twice ? Or once in each direction to see all the things you miss going the other way
It's actually quite easy for me to add a bit onto my loop by simply going down some extra lanes. This evening I decided that I'd add an extra mile, and although that included a little more uphill bits, it obviously also included some extra downhill bits too!
So, my 3 mile loop is now a 4 mile loop. I've already planned an extension to turn it into a 5.5 mile loop, but I'm not quite ready for that yet (and won't been until the week after next, as we're off on holiday next week).
A.
johnr
Über Member
- Location
- Grand depart 2014 county (east)
That Hill comes up here whilst you're asleep... it took me 3-4 weeks to get up it when I started. For the next year or so I felt great exhilaration everytime I topped it. I was thinking about those days this afternoon as I finished off a 40 mile training ride. You'll be doing it soon.
If you keep at it you'll be amzed at how the weight comes off. I've been doing a 20 mile round journey commute since last May. Pretty hard to start with but now I think nothing of it. Lost about 3 stone, waist is 4 inches less and dropped from x-large tops to mediums.