Any overweight roadies?

iTswape

Hi everyone!

I was happy to find this group on MFP!

I have always wanted to join a road cycling club but am very overweight and worried about keeping up, or being dropped on a hill! The website for my local club says that the slowest group rides at an average of 22km/hr (about 13.5 mph) which I can easily maintain on flats but would struggle to maintain on hills. I've cycled a lot, almost 4000 miles last year as part of a long tour... I can ride for 10 hours without a problem but forget about riding fast! Which is why the roadies intimidate me, so I mostly ride alone and stick to mountain bike trails and a friendly and a casual (slow!) MTB club in the area.

Was wondering if there are any other overweight cyclists on this board who ride with a club? Do you manage to keep up with the group on the hills?

Also, I've always been curious, do you get much faster on the hills when you lose weight? I think I'm actually quite strong and have powerful legs to be able to cycle as much as I do at 240+ pound. I've always kinda thought I'd be super speedy if I lost weigh! I'll be really disappointed if I lost 80 pounds and am still a slowpoke

chelso0o

Right now I weigh 220lbs and ride with a team, a club, and other roadies. I do not keep up on hills at all. But the good thing about riding with a community is that they wait for me, and they see me improving. It motivates me to keep getting better and faster. Also, riding with a group you have the benefit of being able to "ride a draft" so the group benefits from the stronger riders. The average pace is usually an overall pace. So, you don't have to go uphill at 13.5mph. But if you can't hold 15-17 on the flats you could always approach the group and ask to join them for recovery rides. Those are usually a slower and more conversational pace.

TDSeest

I'm still 140 pounds overweight, and my circumstances are similar. I don't ride with any formal group, but I'm fortunate to have some local MFP'ers I ride with. I also ride with my sons a lot.

Oddly enough, I don't have any desire to go fast. I prefer distances, and enjoy the surroundings.

Keep on pedaling...

kerry0521

Good for you! Keep on pedaling...
Yes you will definitely get faster on the hills when you lose weight. (and practice on hills). I did for sure.
I'm still somewhat of a slowpoke for rides around here...I started where you did and I'm up to about 16-17 avg comfortable without drafting now. I can push it faster, but not for a long ride.
My favorite rides are still the long slow scenic ones, though.
But I have to say getting faster and keeping up with the group motivated me to lose weight. Just don't try to lose to fast or you will lose precious muscle....

cyclingben

haha i had to comment on this when i saw it. I started riding at 420 now im down to 325 and i bought my road bike at 350. I love it so far in the last two days i have logged 45 miles. I recently found a group that starts at a local bike shop on sun/mon/tue so im going to join them. I did it yesterday and the hills were intense but it was fun. Except for that nasty pot hole where i finally had my first tube pop. Im training for the MS150 in less than 60 days.

beachgrad05

I will be getting my road bike soon for training rides and let my FX be just for commuting and leisure rides to the sports bar with the hubby.

I am just getting started and am looking to lose 100 lbs (down 6 now) ... so I qualify as overweight I think. :-) Anyway....I ride by myself which gets boring. So I looked for a group to ride with. Found one local group here and contacted them. They have three groups...their slowest group avgs between 15 and 17 mph....I can't do that. On my FX my avg is around 12 mph currently.

Today found a group of women cyclists that I joined and will get to ride with some of them this weekend! Can't wait. Will still be on my FX but am stoked to get to finally be part of a group that I can ride with as well as doing LBS rides.

fatboypup

ME ME ME! but i dont ride a true road bike seems a crosser is my ideal ride till i get a little lighter

rides4sanity

Our club has a variety of rides, as most do, and those we call "club rides" are no rider left behind. We have all been new to the sport a one time or another and needed a place to start. My first ride with them was on an old steel mountain bike, and they made me feel right at home. Yes, I slowed them down, but it was a social ride and everybody there knew it, different people would cycle through and hang out. It was a great way to meet people. Now I go on "club rides" to help out and take my turn as a mentor/motivator whatever you want to call it. If you want more people to ride you have to be willing to teach them, and that's how we manage it around here. Search for a local club and see if they have any social or club rides. BTW most people lag on the hills at first don't let that worry you there is almost always a regrouping point. Get out and ride, and enjoy it!

beachgrad05

Once I get my road bike and build up my pace...I will check out the one group again. But at least I have found a group that fits my needs and it is all women.

I am aiming to ride at least 1200 miles this year (if not more)...here is my current status *I hadn't gotten on my bike this year until Feb 21 - so this mileage is from that day forward.

broadsword7

Hi everyone!

I was happy to find this group on MFP!

I have always wanted to join a road cycling club but am very overweight and worried about keeping up, or being dropped on a hill! The website for my local club says that the slowest group rides at an average of 22km/hr (about 13.5 mph) which I can easily maintain on flats but would struggle to maintain on hills. I've cycled a lot, almost 4000 miles last year as part of a long tour... I can ride for 10 hours without a problem but forget about riding fast! Which is why the roadies intimidate me, so I mostly ride alone and stick to mountain bike trails and a friendly and a casual (slow!) MTB club in the area.

Was wondering if there are any other overweight cyclists on this board who ride with a club? Do you manage to keep up with the group on the hills?

Also, I've always been curious, do you get much faster on the hills when you lose weight? I think I'm actually quite strong and have powerful legs to be able to cycle as much as I do at 240+ pound. I've always kinda thought I'd be super speedy if I lost weigh! I'll be really disappointed if I lost 80 pounds and am still a slowpoke

Hi iTswape! Welcome to the group.

Let's see...Yep, I am an overweight cyclist. I ride solo and I also ride with two local clubs. I do keep up with the group on hills, at least once I get in a groove, and I do find that losing weight makes the hills a lot easier. And faster. We have quite a few hills in Southern Indiana. In the Ice Ages, or thereabouts, the glaciers came down and kind of squished the landscape, creating lots of ridges, knobs and hills. They make me huff and puff but hey, you gotta love em. Believe me, if you have strong legs now and you lose weight and keep your strength, you will be faster.

cloggsy71

Yup! Another overweight cyclist here

TheBigYin

at 127.6kg (down from 180.4kg since last july), I'm pretty sure I qualify as well...

Bike2BFit

I'm a chubby road biker too. I sure like the calories I burn when I ride, I wear a heart rate monitor when I ride so I know my caloric burn afterwards. Some rides I burn 1200 to 1800 calories. Yes, they are 2 hour plus rides, but we sure have a nice parkway here in TN that allows for pretty rides that make ya want to ride forever.

I now ride anywhere from 15-17 miles per hour on flat roads. Hills kick my back end and we have some serious hills here. I tried riding with group last year and felt very defeated. I've been riding more so I look forward to jumping in this year with a faster pace. I did meet a gal at a road biking repair class. We talked after class and her mph were about the same as mine, so we now ride together.

I love riding my bike....such freedom and love feeling the wind against my skin. If only I had wings....

beachgrad05

I'm a chubby road biker too. I sure like the calories I burn when I ride, I wear a heart rate monitor when I ride so I know my caloric burn afterwards. Some rides I burn 1200 to 1800 calories. Yes, they are 2 hour plus rides, but we sure have a nice parkway here in TN that allows for pretty rides that make ya want to ride forever.

I now ride anywhere from 15-17 miles per hour on flat roads. Hills kick my back end and we have some serious hills here. I tried riding with group last year and felt very defeated. I've been riding more so I look forward to jumping in this year with a faster pace. I did meet a gal at a road biking repair class. We talked after class and her mph were about the same as mine, so we now ride together.

I love riding my bike....such freedom and love feeling the wind against my skin. If only I had wings....

Welcome to the group! :flowerforyou:

I just found a group to ride with locally and will get to ride with them this weekend. It is a women's group and they have a sponsorship with one of the LBS which is handy.

iTswape

Right now I weigh 220lbs and ride with a team, a club, and other roadies. I do not keep up on hills at all. But the good thing about riding with a community is that they wait for me, and they see me improving. It motivates me to keep getting better and faster. Also, riding with a group you have the benefit of being able to "ride a draft" so the group benefits from the stronger riders. The average pace is usually an overall pace. So, you don't have to go uphill at 13.5mph. But if you can't hold 15-17 on the flats you could always approach the group and ask to join them for recovery rides. Those are usually a slower and more conversational pace.

That's great advice. I will ask about recovery rides and social rides! And yes, I do love drafting. I always make my husband take the lead when we are facing headwinds or long/tough flat rides!

iTswape

Thanks guys! You've given me some great insight and encouragement. I feel lucky to have stumbled into the cycling group in MFP.


TSSeesT - I agree with you that sometimes going slow and savoring the scenery is the way to do it. Great that you have found a community of friends and family to ride with.

kmccarv - I hear you about losing muscle! sounds like you've gotten quite a bit faster. inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

adjusterben - sorry about your crash. I am still a crash virgin... at least you got your first out of the way!

beachgrad05 - sounds like you've found the perfect group for you. lucky you!

fatboypup - i hear you, i have also never ridden a road bike and worry that the more aggressive posture on the frame may be hard for me. But I am sure there are roadbikes designed for people like us who like to ride a little bit more upright.

Notfortyyet - thanks for the insight into how club rides work. My MTB club is like this, with occasional "family rides" that are very newbie friendly where the more experienced riders welcome new riders and help them get started in the sport. I will look into it and see if the road clubs have social days. It would be a great way to get started.

broadsword7 - Thank you for the encouragement! It sounds like Indiana is a very challenging environment (in a good way) in which to ride.

TheBigYin - your weight loss is inspiring! Glad to hear riding your bike had something to do with it.

BeckwithRN - I hear you. Cycling does provide a sense of movement and freedom that I have never experienced with running or hiking (just too damn slow!!!). Please let me know how riding in the group goes when you try it again. Would love to hear your experiences.

All the best!

Rebecca

piccolarj

Yep another overweight cyclist here!! I've lost 40 pounds since riding and yes that has made a difference but also riding with people who are faster than me helped a lot too. We have a local club that I ride with and we have No man left behind rides for the newbies. Just keep riding and those legs will get stronger and you will be going faster!! I also live right on the Natchez Trace Parkway which is beautiful year round so sometimes you can't help but slow down and enjoy the scenery!!

cohophysh

The skinnies may smoke us going up hill but they will never catch us going down hill...

cyclingben

I Rode with the local group again today. We did 20 Miles in 1 hr and 10 min with some nice size hills. I enjoyed every moment of it. At one point about 10 of us got separated from the group from a red light. We sprinted and caught back up with the group. Max speed was 34 mph. Not bad for a 300+ Lbs

iTswape

Sounds like an awesome ride! You guys have inspired me to find out more about my local road biking groups.