Giant Bike (ers)

Article in this months 'Buycycle' magazine "Get Lean Now", and has a
vignette about a 370lb biker who has turned to cycling for his 'last ditch
effort' to lose weight...

(paraphrased)...

"When "Mac" (can't remember his name) goes out on a ride he folds a
bathtowel in thirds and inserts it down his 50" waist sweatpants, using it
as his version of the usual Chamois pad. "Mac" doesn't care if people
laugh at him. He says "I laugh at myself". Since he has short legs, he has
to ride a smaller bike, so when he rides he admits he looks pretty
strange..."

gasp

Next we have an article by a John Kurtz (sp?), who is 290 lbs and started
riding on a dare.

"After 8 years riding (he started out a bit heavier), he is down to 290lbs
and has ridden 16 organized century rides and when he rides along on level
ground he keeps his speed up to 20 miles an hour..."

We see a picture of 'John' on his bicycle, he has got to be at least 50%
fat, with huge saddle bags under his armpits about the size of a small
cantaloupe (!!), and about three giant spare tire rolls of fat under his
jersey...

gasp, sputter

I kid a little, b/c I've struggled with losing weight, I have to give these
guys major props for appearing in these articles and for hanging in there.

But even I almost choked at the 'bath towel' chamois thing, and I'm
struggling to understand how this guy was able to ride 16 organized
centuries, and hits 20mph. (I'm still not sure what those things were under
his armpits...)

I feel so svelte and slim after reading that article and checking out those
guys, though....lol.

jj

"jj" wrote in message
...
Article in this months 'Buycycle' magazine "Get Lean Now", and has a
vignette about a 370lb biker who has turned to cycling for his 'last ditch
effort' to lose weight...

(paraphrased)...

"When "Mac" (can't remember his name) goes out on a ride he folds a
bathtowel in thirds and inserts it down his 50" waist sweatpants, using it
as his version of the usual Chamois pad. "Mac" doesn't care if people
laugh at him. He says "I laugh at myself". Since he has short legs, he has
to ride a smaller bike, so when he rides he admits he looks pretty
strange..."

gasp

Next we have an article by a John Kurtz (sp?), who is 290 lbs and started
riding on a dare.

"After 8 years riding (he started out a bit heavier), he is down to 290lbs
and has ridden 16 organized century rides and when he rides along on level
ground he keeps his speed up to 20 miles an hour..."

We see a picture of 'John' on his bicycle, he has got to be at least 50%
fat, with huge saddle bags under his armpits about the size of a small
cantaloupe (!!), and about three giant spare tire rolls of fat under his
jersey...

gasp, sputter

I kid a little, b/c I've struggled with losing weight, I have to give
these
guys major props for appearing in these articles and for hanging in there.

But even I almost choked at the 'bath towel' chamois thing, and I'm
struggling to understand how this guy was able to ride 16 organized
centuries, and hits 20mph. (I'm still not sure what those things were
under
his armpits...)

I feel so svelte and slim after reading that article and checking out
those
guys, though....lol.

jj

I read the article, also, and I have a hard time believing the tales of the
290 pound century rider. I don't see how somebody could do all the training
required to cycle at that level and still remain morbidly obese. He must eat
like a horse to consume enough calories to offset the cycling and remain at
that weight. Methinks he should switch to water only on his rides, no sports
drinks for him. The 20mph average on levet ground sounds pretty impossible,
too. I know the effort it takes to maintain 20mph, and this guy would have
to be way strong to propel his huge mass up to that speed and keep it there.
I think Bicycling was exaggerating a bit for the sake of a good story.

In article ,
"Gooserider" writes:

I read the article, also, and I have a hard time believing the tales of the
290 pound century rider. I don't see how somebody could do all the training
required to cycle at that level and still remain morbidly obese.

290 lbs isn't necessarily morbidly obese, depending on the
frame it's carried on. And big/overweight people can still
be pretty strong. And maybe those were flatland, leisure
centuries. Anyhow, good for them for riding.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 23:59:30 GMT, "Gooserider"
wrote:

I kid a little, b/c I've struggled with losing weight, I have to give
these guys major props for appearing in these articles and for hanging
in there.

But even I almost choked at the 'bath towel' chamois thing, and I'm
struggling to understand how this guy was able to ride 16 organized
centuries, and hits 20mph. (I'm still not sure what those things were
under his armpits...)

I feel so svelte and slim after reading that article and checking out
those guys, though....lol.

jj

I read the article, also, and I have a hard time believing the tales of the
290 pound century rider. I don't see how somebody could do all the training
required to cycle at that level and still remain morbidly obese. He must eat
like a horse to consume enough calories to offset the cycling and remain at
that weight. Methinks he should switch to water only on his rides, no sports
drinks for him. The 20mph average on levet ground sounds pretty impossible,
too. I know the effort it takes to maintain 20mph, and this guy would have
to be way strong to propel his huge mass up to that speed and keep it there.
I think Bicycling was exaggerating a bit for the sake of a good story.

He looked to be under six feet tall, and I'd guess his normal weight would
be about 170lbs. My thought is that they meant to write '20 km/hr' and it
got by the editor...

Still the 16 centuries...the chafing alone boggles the mind.

If even half true this guy is freakishly strong or something. If he did get
rid of the fat, I'd imagine he could ride up the side of a building...no
joke.

No more "whinging" about being too heavy to climb.

jj

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 18:25:19 -0400, jj wrote:

But even I almost choked at the 'bath towel' chamois thing, and I'm
struggling to understand how this guy was able to ride 16 organized
centuries, and hits 20mph. (I'm still not sure what those things were under
his armpits...)

Weight doesn't matter on long, flat rides, and overweight people can still
be quite fit. I've ridden with people who are clearly overweight (although
not seriously obese) who are stronger and faster than me on the flat,
although they can't compete up hills. They probably develop strong legs
just carrying themselves around off the bike :-)

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 11:40:14 +0930, Michael Warner
wrote:

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 18:25:19 -0400, jj wrote:

But even I almost choked at the 'bath towel' chamois thing, and I'm
struggling to understand how this guy was able to ride 16 organized
centuries, and hits 20mph. (I'm still not sure what those things were under
his armpits...)

Weight doesn't matter on long, flat rides, and overweight people can still
be quite fit. I've ridden with people who are clearly overweight (although
not seriously obese) who are stronger and faster than me on the flat,
although they can't compete up hills. They probably develop strong legs
just carrying themselves around off the bike :-)

Again, I wasn't at all trying to comment on overweight riders - I am one -
just marvelling at their abilities for one thing. Able to weather joking,
not afraid to have their picture in the magazine, and after the initial
double-take, the resourcefulness in the 'chamois-towel' thing.

If you go by the bookstore, have a peek at this story. This guy clearly has
a rather substantial 'effective drag area', and would be unable to get in
any kind of an aero position, istm. If he's getting 20mph even on the
flats, I think he should be on the cover of SI as athlete of the year - not
people who clearly have athletic ability. Imagine the entitlement! (no real
sarcasm intended)

jj

"Gooserider" wrote in
:

the cycling and remain at that weight. Methinks he should switch to
water only on his rides, no sports drinks for him. The 20mph average
on levet ground sounds pretty impossible, too. I know the effort it
takes to maintain 20mph, and this guy would have to be way strong to
propel his huge mass up to that speed and keep it there. I think
Bicycling was exaggerating a bit for the sake of a good story.


I'm not too sure about that. I'm a hefty guy and my legs are pretty strong,
I'm nowhere near being capable of doing a century and I reckon I won't ever
be close to that but I reckon hauling around all that mass tends to make
for stronger legs.

Haakon Studebaker wrote:

"Gooserider" wrote in
:

the cycling and remain at that weight. Methinks he should switch to
water only on his rides, no sports drinks for him. The 20mph average
on levet ground sounds pretty impossible, too. I know the effort it
takes to maintain 20mph, and this guy would have to be way strong to
propel his huge mass up to that speed and keep it there. I think
Bicycling was exaggerating a bit for the sake of a good story.

I'm not too sure about that. I'm a hefty guy and my legs are pretty strong,
I'm nowhere near being capable of doing a century and I reckon I won't ever
be close to that but I reckon hauling around all that mass tends to make
for stronger legs.

One one of my normal routes, I often run into a guy who's on a nice
carbon fiber bike, wears all the "Fabrizio-approved kit", but who's
easily 50-60 pounds overweight. Really "round", and about my (old)
age.

Thing is, the guy's a hammer. Our paths only converge for a mile or
so, but he's always "right there" when I'm going hard. He's obviously
very strong, and let's not forget that weight alone doesn't really
slow you down that much on the flat. So if a 290 pound cyclist has
the muscles and aerobic capacity to hault that much weight around,
it's not a stretch to assume that when the weight is supported by the
bike they'll be able to produce enough power to propel the bike at a
reasonable speed for a reasonable distance.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

"jj" wrote in message
...
Article in this months 'Buycycle' magazine "Get Lean Now", and has a
vignette about a 370lb biker who has turned to cycling for his 'last ditch
effort' to lose weight...

(paraphrased)...

"When "Mac" (can't remember his name) goes out on a ride he folds a
bathtowel in thirds and inserts it down his 50" waist sweatpants, using it
as his version of the usual Chamois pad. "Mac" doesn't care if people
laugh at him. He says "I laugh at myself". Since he has short legs, he has
to ride a smaller bike, so when he rides he admits he looks pretty
strange..."

gasp

Next we have an article by a John Kurtz (sp?), who is 290 lbs and started
riding on a dare.

"After 8 years riding (he started out a bit heavier), he is down to 290lbs
and has ridden 16 organized century rides and when he rides along on level
ground he keeps his speed up to 20 miles an hour..."

We see a picture of 'John' on his bicycle, he has got to be at least 50%
fat, with huge saddle bags under his armpits about the size of a small
cantaloupe (!!), and about three giant spare tire rolls of fat under his
jersey...

gasp, sputter

I kid a little, b/c I've struggled with losing weight, I have to give
these
guys major props for appearing in these articles and for hanging in there.

But even I almost choked at the 'bath towel' chamois thing, and I'm
struggling to understand how this guy was able to ride 16 organized
centuries, and hits 20mph. (I'm still not sure what those things were
under
his armpits...)

I feel so svelte and slim after reading that article and checking out
those
guys, though....lol.

jj

I think riding centuries at 290 pounds is doable.
I weighed 255 pounds when i started training to ride in the local MS150 out
here.
I was down to about 230 when I rode in the MS150. It was 92 miles the first
day and about 60 the second day.
My boss easily weighs 10-15 pounds more than me (but a lot of muscle there)
and he passed me and left me in the dust.
I am currently down to 217 pounds and still going on my weight loss program.
I now regularly commute to work about 23 miles one way three to four times a
week. it is here in Texas where the afternoon ride home is over 90 degrees
with 40-50% humidity, headwinds and such. I am training for the HHH this
weekend coming up.
I commute using a heavy steel framed touring bike with 700c32 tires, a heavy
100oz camelback pack and about 20 pounds of stuff in the panniers.
But I ride my much lighter road bike without all the extras in the organized
rides, which makes it feel like I am pedaling without a chain.
But all that weight is great for flying downhill though, but climbing the
hill sucks. Everyone would pass me going up and then I'd pass them going
down.

Gooserider wrote in message
. ..

too. I know the effort it takes to maintain 20mph, and this guy
would have
to be way strong to propel his huge mass up to that speed and keep
it there.
I think Bicycling was exaggerating a bit for the sake of a good
story.

Anyone who can carry around 290lbs through anything approaching an
active lifestyle is "way strong" in rbm terms.