just an observation of rider weight

Yes, after a good ride, I check the plug to see how I'm burning. When I see the awesome chocolate color on my NGK, it makes me crave something sweet!!! So, I go inside the house, and grab some sort of desert to eat under a big shade tree. Then...................:20: rest of day.
 
Any of you remember the writer, James Fixx? He was overweight, and a two-pack a day smoker. He started running at age 36, and became an avid distance runner, lost , and wrote a book (The Complete Book of Running, which had a picture of his legs on the cover) that helped trigger the running and fitness boom in the late '70's.

I went to school with his son, Paul in college, who was like his father (before he started running) in that he smoked smoked like a chimney, and was way overweight. Knowing that Paul's dad was the avid runner and fitness freak that he was, I got a real chuckle at the time, at how different Paul was from his dad.

James died at 52 (in 1982, I believe,) of a heart attack, after completing his daily run. Turns out that he was genetically predisposed to heart failure. But, James' dad, who died at 40, never took up exercise at all. So, maybe the running added 10-12 years to James' life...We'll never really know. RIP.
 
And, as others have mentioned, if you have health issues, adding a motor may be the only way that you can keep biking at all. For instance, over the years, I've had knee surgery 5 times (three on one knee, two on the other) and it's really a matter of time until at least one knee gets replaced. But, I enjoy cycling, and don't want to give it up. (After all, light cycling is good for the meniscus in the knees - it keeps the fluid moving in the joints, which is needed to keep the meniscus healthy, but without the potential knee damage associated with impact exercise or strenuous cycling if you have meniscus damage or osteoarthritis.)
 
Last edited:
I posted this on the OT page back in mid-summer. Many views but no comments. http://motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=34763

Meh, still it's an inspirational story, guy had the will power and it's never too late.

Once 420 pounds, man cuts his weight in half with cycling

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Five years ago, Bill Cole weighed 420 pounds, had little strength and less endurance, and generally avoided physical exercise.

Cole, 49, is a Lexington real estate consultant. Before that, he taught sociology at the University of Kentucky and Morehead State University.

"I was born with some foot problems and had a bunch of surgeries, which kind of gave me an excuse not to be active," he said. "In college, I started to get sedentary.

"I worked behind a computer, essentially lived in my car commuting to different college campuses, and ate nothing but drive-through."

Five years later, Cole has cut his weight roughly in half. He now weighs a little more than 200 pounds. He eats small portions of healthy foods only and is a hard-core bicyclist who pedals 150 miles a week, leads rides around Central Kentucky several times a week and tirelessly spreads the word that physical activity is a key to good health.

Cole never took an exercise class, never joined a spa. He says he turned his life and health around with wise eating and lots of walking and biking — and he did it on his own.

Not surprisingly, he doesn't think much of Men's Health magazine's recent designation of Lexington as America's most sedentary city.

"I prefer the designation we got from Bicycling magazine of 41st-best cycling community in the nation, which unfortunately nobody knows about," Cole said. "They wrote up our club ride that comes out of Masterson Station every Monday night as one of the best in the nation for cyclists of all levels."

What motivated him to get active? Almost six years ago, Cole's mother died unexpectedly of a heart attack. He took stock and realized that "every single older relative I had was an overweight diabetic."

He knew he had to do something about his health.

"I went down to Hartland Park, where they have a half-mile track, and started walking," he said. "It took me an hour to walk a half-mile, and I had to stop and sit down a couple of times."

It took Cole two days to coax his aching legs and ankles back to the track, but he kept walking. Soon, he was walking six or seven miles several times a week, and he entered 5K races — walking, not running.

He started counting calories, eliminated soft drinks and switched from deep-frying to grilling.

Cole bought a used bike at a garage sale and started puffing up and down Delong and Walnut Hill roads. Gradually, the rides got longer, with fewer rest stops, and his extra pounds started melting away.

Cole joined Bluegrass Cycling Club, becoming a club director and a member of the committee that plans the club's annual Horsey Hundred event. This year, he completed a "metric century," pedaling 100 kilometers in a day.

It has changed his life, he said.

"Anybody can do it," he said. "All it takes is the discipline to do it."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2015743043_cycler29.html
 
Back
Top