Cycling really works wonders for me!
Annahbananas
Posts: 284 Member
On March 28, 2021 I was tired of being fat. I was over 300 pounds and I needed help.
Long story short, I adopted the CICO way of eating but I also invested in a Trek Checkpoint Gravel bike. First, I had no idea there was a worldwide shortage but I was lucky and found one at a bike shop. I tacked a Garmen on it and off i went.
I absolutely love cycling. At first it was risky because these bikes only hold 275 pounds but I trekked along. Today is August 4, 2021 and I am at 250. I still have a hundred pounds to go but I never had so much fun losing weight. Joining a cycling club makes a world of difference too. But going to out of the way gravel road locations and explore brings me back to my childhood days and I'm burning 500-1000 calories a pop doing it.
If you haven't tried cycling, give it a whirl!
Long story short, I adopted the CICO way of eating but I also invested in a Trek Checkpoint Gravel bike. First, I had no idea there was a worldwide shortage but I was lucky and found one at a bike shop. I tacked a Garmen on it and off i went.
I absolutely love cycling. At first it was risky because these bikes only hold 275 pounds but I trekked along. Today is August 4, 2021 and I am at 250. I still have a hundred pounds to go but I never had so much fun losing weight. Joining a cycling club makes a world of difference too. But going to out of the way gravel road locations and explore brings me back to my childhood days and I'm burning 500-1000 calories a pop doing it.
If you haven't tried cycling, give it a whirl!
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Replies
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I like cycling and keep to the paved paths, but wouldn't mind giving a crushed stone path a try. I love being outdoors!1
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Checkpoint was on my short list, but I wound up with something else instead. Sounds like you love yours!! You make an excellent choice!
Can we see pics of the bike, and places you ride? 🙂3 -
sure! Here's my bike
There's an old railroad path about 4 miles from my house. Goes from central PA into Maryland
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I like cycling and keep to the paved paths, but wouldn't mind giving a crushed stone path a try. I love being outdoors!
My first choice was a Trek Road bike, Domane SL 5 (but they had a 11 month waiting list
But the gravel bike is really fun! I saved about 800 bucks and still having a blast (honestly, I am kinda glad I got the gravel bike..I absolutely cannot see myself on a road bike at my weight keeping up with those road folks lol
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All black bikes look so good!1
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NorthCascades wrote: »All black bikes look so good!
Yeah, I got very lucky. The bike shop announced they got that bike in..the right size. I was waiting at the front doors before they open to snag it the following morning. Literally 5 minutes after I told them I wanted it, two others came in for it.
I had absolutely no idea bikes were in such high demand. I think I spent about 3 hours there. I am a complete bike noob but they were patient with me...but it was the motivation i needed. I blew a crazy boatload at that store. But it worked. I haven't waivered in my fitness or diet...too expensive to cheat now4 -
I didn't know there were gravel bikes! The tires definitely look different! What else is different about them? Guess I can research it. I would just have assumed a mountain bike would suffice, but I'm a novice... I see you use a cycling trainer. I used one that my bf had years ago (cyclops) and right now I have a stationary bike, but I really don't like that kind of indoor cardio. Just outdoor cycling for me.0
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A gravel bike is basically a road bike that takes/can take larger tires, usually has somewhat easiest gears, and often has slight changes to the geometry (shape) to make it more stable.
The reason a person would choose a gravel bike over a mountain bike is that they're doing long distances. They're especially great choices for rides that involve a lot of pavement and also a lot of dirt or gravel, where a MTB would be less ideal. But, like their skinny tire road racing cousins, they're still somewhat dainty. Usually perfect for unpaved roads and light, easy single track, but nothing very technical.
A gravel bike doesn't give much up on a road bike. A lot of people do fast group rides on gravel bikes, but the folks that do that (1) usually have a second pair of wheels for the bike, outfitted with road tires and cassette, and (2) work a little harder to keep up because of the gearing differences.2 -
Annahbananas wrote: »There's an old railroad path about 4 miles from my house. Goes from central PA into Maryland
Hey! I just rode 21 miles on that trail yesterday! I know that tunnel well.
Way to go on the weight loss so far. I find cycling to be one of the very few modes of exercise that I don’t get bored doing on a regular basis. I love riding the rail trail, but also love hitting the local parks to do some mountain biking too.
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As I said in my profile, I think my bike saved my life. I don't like road bikes or skinny tires because I get too much pain in my hands, a sign of oncoming arthritis I guess. With a MTB I can ride my 24 mi every day and not suffer at all. One summer I had to ride a road bike and the hand pain increased exponentially. So all the road bike dudes go whizzing by a lot faster than me on my fat-tire MTB but now it is the tires that are fat and not me!3
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@Kevboy seems like MTBs usually have people ride them in an upright posture, which is going to support most of the body weight on the sit bones, but a road bike has people leaned over forward which naturally moves the center of gravity forward, and can cause the rider to bear more of their weight through their arms. I don't think that means you can never ride a road bike, just that you need it to have a more relaxed and upright fit probably?1
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Cycling is fab for getting you in shape! I'd love a gravel bike for slightly more adventurous terrain, but in the meantime I'm having lots of fun on my road bike. I want to start doing some Audaxes and bikepacking next Spring/Summer, so I've just invested in a Kickr trainer and Zwift subscription so that I can keep on riding through the winter. Only had the trainer 2 weeks and I've ridden 160kms on it already.
Ride on!1 -
@Bella_Figura
I love Audax events, superb way to explore new areas using the local knowledge of the organisers.0 -
@Bella_Figura
I love Audax events, superb way to explore new areas using the local knowledge of the organisers.
I'll probably start with just a 50km one next Spring to see if my legs are up to the challenge. I live in Norfolk so there's not much opportunity locally to get some climbing practice, but the turbo should help a little there. Eventually I'd like to challenge myself at an Audax route over slightly hillier terrain.0 -
Bella_Figura wrote: »@Bella_Figura
I love Audax events, superb way to explore new areas using the local knowledge of the organisers.
I'll probably start with just a 50km one next Spring to see if my legs are up to the challenge. I live in Norfolk so there's not much opportunity locally to get some climbing practice, but the turbo should help a little there. Eventually I'd like to challenge myself at an Audax route over slightly hillier terrain.
It's always worth checking out the elevation climbed when selecting an Audax - some of them are extreme and go out of their way to detour up every nasty hill by the most difficult route possible. There's riders of all abilities, ages and speed on these events so no pressure.
Worth checking out the permanent routes too as you can do them whenever suits you. Did one around Cambridgeshire and Essex recently and the hills were very mild compared to my local Surrey Hills AONB cycling playground.
BTW everyone - there's a MFP member Strava weekly group challenge.
https://www.strava.com/clubs/179287
And also a monthly freeform MFP challenge thread if anyone is interested in rambling about their cycling adventures.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10840295/august-2021-biking-cycling-bicycling-unicycling-tricycling-tandemming-challenge/p1
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Thanks for the links - I didn't know either of those challenges existed.
A mild introduction to Audax sounds like a good plan! I'll build up my endurance over the winter then look for a flattish 50-75km course.1 -
Good luck on your journey(s) - scale weight journey, life journey, bike journey. I dropped 85 lbs when I returned to cycling at retirement, but have plateaued since covid, although I am continually building muscle - a good thing for my age bracket. I'd like to drop another 50 or so.
Just back from several weeks in Ontario visiting my daughter's family that we couldn't since March 2020. Took my bike of course. I use my go-mostly-everywhere-with-it mountain bike with minor mods (Trek X-Caliber) and that suits me fine. Here's a couple of "gravel" pics from Canada: (1) Algonquin Provincial Park, (2) Ottawa River Trail (East) and (3) Prescott-Russell Trail (vicinity of Plantaganet, Ontario). Lots of gravel there. Last night, coming home to NJ, on 476, I passed Jim Thrope PA, and reminded myself that that's an area I truly need to get to. Again, good luck.
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That’s fantastic! Riding a bike outside is like being a kid again. I love a real bike so I can see that someone is putting in landscaping, someone else is painting their house, etc. you just don’t get that in a spin bike in a studio! I enjoy riding in the canal paths where I live.1
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NorthCascades wrote: »@Kevboy seems like MTBs usually have people ride them in an upright posture, which is going to support most of the body weight on the sit bones, but a road bike has people leaned over forward which naturally moves the center of gravity forward, and can cause the rider to bear more of their weight through their arms. I don't think that means you can never ride a road bike, just that you need it to have a more relaxed and upright fit probably?
Actually the problem for me is that I have arthritis in both hands and wrists and an injury (hit and run on a bike) in my left wrist so I get a lot of hand pain if I ride a road bike. The skinny tires on road bikes transfer way too much of the jolting to the handlebars and to my hands. On the fat tires of a MTB it's manageable, and as you point out I'm putting less pressure/weight on my hands on the MTB.
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NorthCascades wrote: »@Kevboy seems like MTBs usually have people ride them in an upright posture, which is going to support most of the body weight on the sit bones, but a road bike has people leaned over forward which naturally moves the center of gravity forward, and can cause the rider to bear more of their weight through their arms. I don't think that means you can never ride a road bike, just that you need it to have a more relaxed and upright fit probably?
Actually the problem for me is that I have arthritis in both hands and wrists and an injury (hit and run on a bike) in my left wrist so I get a lot of hand pain if I ride a road bike. The skinny tires on road bikes transfer way too much of the jolting to the handlebars and to my hands. On the fat tires of a MTB it's manageable, and as you point out I'm putting less pressure/weight on my hands on the MTB.
I ride not-quite-"plus" tires (29x2.35 Schwalbe "Big Apple") on my Trek X-Caliber. I"m a big, older (67yo) guy. These tires are near-slick, so I can/do ride roads/pavement as well as a variety of natural surfaces as you can see from my pics above (not sand and soft stuff, though). I swapped out the default round flat-bar grips with Ergon GP-4s, as you can see in the below pic, that give me a variety of hand positions as well as a more supportive grip relative to wrist extensions, etc.
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