I can say this much you will drop the weight. Im interested to know when you did that ms ride what did you weigh. What kind of bike do you have? my concern is that I weigh 220 now and I dont know what kind of road bike would suit heavier dudes like me. also what was your workouts like before you picked up a bike? Im sorry Im being so personal but I'm kind of in the same boat as you.
txags92 said:I just started cycling in May of this year with the idea of riding in an MS 150 ride. I spent most of my time just building a base and getting to the point where I could do the miles necessary to complete the ride. We did go up a few times and do some relatively short rides in hilly terrain (typically about 25 miles) but most everything else was 30-50 mile weekend rides on level roads and 15-20 mile weekday rides, again on level roads. I recently completed the MS 150 ride and one of the things that was really obvious to me during the ride was that my ability to deal with hills needs lots of improvement. I was able to stay with pace lines around me at 15-17mph easily when it was flat, but as soon as we started up any hill, I got dropped like a bad habit. The easy solution is to say "go ride more hills", which I would love to do. However, I live on the west side of Houston, and the nearest "hills" are at least an hour or two's drive away. So within the confines of flat roads, a gym, and possibly with a soon-to-be aquired trainer (probably fluid), what can I do to increase my climbing power and aerobic capacity? Also, I have dropped from 265lbs to about 235lbs since the beginning of the year with an eventual goal of about 190lbs. I know being lighter will make a big difference in my climbing, but is building my climbing power compatible with trying to continue losing weight? With the upcoming time change, I will only realistically have time to do road riding on weekends, and the rest of my time will have to be either in the gym or on a trainer. I do have access to spin bikes at the gym outside of actual spinning classes as well.
So what should I be doing to try to improve my climbing and lose weight at the same time? I will be doing some smaller one-day group rides this fall and early next spring, but my target is to be in much better climbing shape by next April or so and to be at or very near my goal of 190lbs by August or September. I want slow steady weight loss, because I know that that is what will be more likely to be sustainable for me in the long run. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.