F'up Question to Fat Guy Biking

Hi all.

Thanks so much for the posts and the information.

I live in the middle of nowhere Vermont and the only close local bike shop (where my wife's bike
came from) seems to to be staffed by people who don't think ppl like me should be riding. At the
very least, there's some elitism that I'm not too comfortable with.

There are a couple 'quality' shops (based on ppl at work's reviews) an hour or so away... I called,
but they're schedule and mine don't line up well.

Is there anywhere online, I could do some reading and become a more informed consumer before I take
a day off to road down to these shops? I imagine this is detailed in a newsgroup FAQ, but I
couldn't find it.

Thanks in advance.

A. Nony Mouse

"Albert N. Mouse" <anony@mouse.com> wrote let it be known in
news:b98hol$vag$1@merrimack.Dartmouth.EDU:

> I live in the middle of nowhere Vermont and the only close local bike shop (where my wife's bike
> came from) seems to to be staffed by people who don't think ppl like me should be riding. At
> the very least, there's some elitism that I'm not too comfortable with.

Where are you in the state? I'm in the Brattleboro area (Putney), if you live somewhere in the
SouthEast corner of the state maybe I could at least point you in the direction of a shop that can
be helpful, not snobish...

I also know of at least one club that welcomes riders of ALL ability levels to its rides. People
show up and ride anywhere from 10 to 25mph. (distances of 15 to 45 miles on evening rides).

--

Curt Bousquet moc.enilnacs@PTNN < Reverse for email

Road biking in Southern VT and Western Mass.

My 2002 bike log: http://www.scanline.com/bikelog/2003.html

Tue, 6 May 2003 10:44:37 -0400, <b98hol$vag$1@merrimack.Dartmouth.EDU>, "Albert N. Mouse"
<anony@mouse.com> wrote:

>Is there anywhere online, I could do some reading and become a more informed consumer before I take
>a day off to road down to these shops? I imagine this is detailed in a newsgroup FAQ, but I
>couldn't find it.
>

The rec.bicycles.* FAQ http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/index.html

For anything concerning bicycles, alway check: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/articles.html
--
zk

>I live in the middle of nowhere Vermont and the only close local bike shop (where my wife's bike
>came from) seems to to be staffed by people who don't think ppl like me should be riding.

>At the very least, there's some elitism that I'm not too comfortable with.

Too bad, they are scaring away people, bad for cycling. >Is there anywhere online, I could do some
reading and become a more informed
>consumer before I take a day off to road down to these shops? I imagine this is detailed in a
>newsgroup FAQ, but I couldn't find it.
>

As someone else posted, start here:

www.sheldonbrown.com

Sheldon has it all, how to fix your bike, how to ride your bike, some great humour.

He is located at Harris Cyclery which in West Newton, Mass, don't know how far it is from you but
it might be worth the drive, if it were me I would make the trip.

I am sure there are other shops closer that can do a great job but I think Sheldon would not give
you the brush off because you might not look quite like a cyclist is "supposed" to look. H

e would be sure to get you on a bike that could handle your weight and that would fit you, not doubt
about that. Since the main issue is the proper tensioning and stress relieving of the wheels,
knowing that someone like Sheldon was making sure everything was right could well be a big plus.

They call him "Captain Bike" with good reason..

Jon Isaacs

06 May 2003 16:38:46 GMT,
<20030506123846.21914.00000709@mb-m11.aol.com>, jonisaacs@aol.com (Jon Isaacs) wrote:

>
> He is located at Harris Cyclery which in West Newton, Mass, don't know how far it is from you but
> it might be worth the drive, if it were me I would make the trip.

Especially if I had to take a day off work. You'd lose more time driving around blind than getting
right to the point.
--
zk

Mr Mouse,

Don't let them scare you off, I used to be a fat guy riding myself. I once weighed in at a not to
pretty 255. Bike riders are an elitist bunch, but many of them are great people once you get past
the BS. So, find your bike and ride it, watch your calories and get the thyroid (if I remember
correctly, that was an issue) checked out by your doc. Before you know it, you will post as medium
hefty guy riding, then slim guy riding will be soon to follow. The hardest part about getting unfat
for me was shaking off what other people thought about the fat guy at the gym or the fat guy on the
bike. Once I conquered my self conciousness, I was off and running. With good eating and good
training, you can safely and permanently lose 8-10 pounds a month. Email me if you are interested in
more detail on how I ate and how I trained to lose a boatload of weight.

Matt

PS. This post almost looks like I am selling something, I am not.

"Albert N. Mouse" <anony@mouse.com> wrote in message news:b98hol$vag$1@merrimack.Dartmouth.EDU...
> Hi all.
>
> Thanks so much for the posts and the information.
>
> I live in the middle of nowhere Vermont and the only close local bike shop (where my wife's bike
> came from) seems to to be staffed by people who
don't
> think ppl like me should be riding. At the very least, there's some elitism that I'm not too
> comfortable with.
>
> There are a couple 'quality' shops (based on ppl at work's reviews) an
hour
> or so away... I called, but they're schedule and mine don't line up well.
>
> Is there anywhere online, I could do some reading and become a more
informed
> consumer before I take a day off to road down to these shops? I imagine this is detailed in a
> newsgroup FAQ, but I couldn't find it.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> A. Nony Mouse

Most of this has been said before, but go with some good solid training tyres and strong wheels, purely for the reason that you'll ride more when you aren't flatting all the time.

You'll get some funny looks being a big guy, but you probably get them already. Most athlete types will at least respect the fact that you've decided to do something about it. There's a reason why there's not many really fat people out riding and running - they disappear once they start!