Thoughts and prayers are with oGaryo tonight

An excellent day indeed - take it easy for a bit.
Check out with the docs what your max heart rate ought to be when you are out on the bike.
 
CLB said:
what other sort of grin could you have had in Cheddar gorge?
Seriously though, well done. If I'm honest, I need to follow your example. Any tips to help get a rather overweight, approaching 50year old, in better shape? Were you a cyclist before, or did you take it up post problem?
Click to expand...

Gary & I are quite different. I'm happier wearing men's clothes for instance, but I've just started riding again after a break of 30 plus years. As a kid I lived on my bike, then cars took over. I can't imagine how Gary managed to cross the country in a day but he's a beacon of hope for fat feckers like us ?

I went into Halfords one day a couple of months ago and treated myself to a hybrid, a cross between a road and mountain bike. Initially I started riding along the canal tow path. Pretty soon I found there are loads of Apps for your phone which map your ride and flesh it out with height changes, speeds & so on.

The first few rides were tiring and my arse hurt like hell. I had to spend some alone time on the internet searching "specialist" websites. The resultant purchase was a pair of cycling bib shorts and some mountain bike shorts with insert specialist underpants. I looked an absolute prat in the bib shorts but they have specialist padding to protect your corn hole and were a revaluation. I wear them under the baggy mountain bike shorts. Pretty much overnight the seat issue was a thing of the past allowing me to start enjoying the bike.

I then discovered Windsor Great Park. Safe, essentially traffic free, the roads are in great shape and I've got an 18km route which is stunning in its charm & variety. There are some challenging height changes which initially nearly killed me but now act as a benchmark to my progress. I use an App to time myself which calls out time and speeds every 1km.

For me training in this way allows me to break the ride down into smaller chunks and I can see small improvements. A small hill that used to stop me in my tracks now gets attacked by standing up out of the saddle. It still hurts but a little less each ride.

An hour in the saddle after a day in the office is a great release. Ive now got a bit braver and cycle on roads in my fluorescent jacket & flashing lights to supliment my Windsor Park regular route. Strangely when down on the boat Gosport and the surrounding area have some superb cycling routes.

I've also tried to be more sensible with my food. I'm not on a diet as such but I don't do sweets, puddings and so on. A bit of fruit instead. Over the past couple of months I've seen the scales come down by about 5kg. There's still some more to lose I'm afraid but it's going in the right direction. In terms of pure weight loss cycling adds a bit of muscle which adds weight so you have to look at shape and fat.

Ultimately cycling means different things to different people but I find it easier to stick at compared to swimming lengths in a pool or working out in a gym. Take small steps and build up as you feel able.

Henry :)
 
Quick update for those thinking about keeping the bod in shape following a bit of a wake up call event

Still going strong enjoying the annual circumnavigation of the IOW with HenryF, Rafiki and Zippy during the late May Bank Holiday. Biggest news of all is Henry now wears Lycra. Was a great day spent with friends in the saddle exploring lesser known parts of the island, it's a beautiful place.

Next challenge for myself is at the end of June to cycle from Seascale in Cumbria over Hardknot Pass, Wrynose and the Yorkshire Dales to end up in Whitby the same day, lots of lovely hills to cycle up :). Also cycling around Brands Hatch again in September hoping to do 340 miles in a day with 30k ft of climbing to qualify for RAAM (Race Across America), unlikely I'll achieve this but going to give it a good go.

Got the IOW festival to get through first though next weekend berthed in Island Harbour so hope to see some of you there if not on the water at some point in the season

All the best ogaryo
 
oGaryo
I dunno how the heck
I missed this Thread first time around
You are a flippen Hero Mate
Just read 90% of the thread
You are a Star, so well done
Just an aside
me little bruffer, well hes 5 years older than me but shorter!
He is OLD, well I keep teling him that!
Closer to 80 than 70 now
Silly sod has no car now
Silly sod still does 150 miles a week on his cycle bicle
Weather permitting
Oh but porbably does anyway cos he has a machine thinghy in his little two roomed flat
Silly sod
Must tell him Iknow another silly sod who pedals, he will like that!
Gary so glad to my heart you are doing so well

Great
 
Kawasaki said:
Closer to 80 than 70 now
Click to expand...
Since I turned 25, I began saying that I was closer to 30 than 20.
Afterwards, I kept saying exactly the same. Nowadays, 30+ years later, that still stands 100% true.
Still wondering why the Nobel Committee for Physics didn't yet appreciate my crucial contribution to the special relativity theory. :cool:

PS: Along the same lines, I maintain that I'm not overweight, I'm underheight. But that's another story... :rolleyes:
 
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