Questions for/regarding potential new cyclist



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"Lars S. Mulford" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Howdy folks!
>
> Wow, what good and thoughtful replies! It is also wonderful to hear of all the support out there!
> Ok, let me see if I can kinda cover all the replies and whatnot in one fell swoop. Here goes.
>
> The ideas on teaching him to ride are great, especially the ones that mentioned riding first with
> the feet and legs out and perhaps no pedals and whatnot... learning to balance first before
> starting up cyclical motion... that makes a lot of sense!
>
> That is my biggest concern right now, to be honest, in that before he can even begin riding and
> mapping out what he can and can't do as far as riding goes, we've first got to get him to where he
> can actually ride.
>
> As far as health issues go, he is under the care of very good medical staff and has the green
> light from them to explore biking as a means of exercise. They'll comment more when we figure out
> what he can and can't do on the bike. To be sure though, we're talking about a guy who IS
> overweight but has the desire to lose. I don't know if this makes sense or not, but I consider him
> overweight but not terribly out of shape?
>
> As for support, he looked to me, I reckon, because I was in his position at the beginning of this
> year. I'm 6'6" and 218 lbs right now. It's what I weighed when I got married 15 years ago. At the
> beginning of this year, I was 300 lbs. I got a bad "report card" from my doc, who then gave me 6
> months to get my act together or face a lifetime of meds for blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. It
> was enough of a wake up call for me, but what cemented the deal was when my youngest daughter came
> to me and asked how my doctors appointment went. (My wife and oldest daughter knew to NOT ask me
> when I came in because they know that "look" on my face that says "don't ask me about it right
> now". My youngest daughter did not recognize that "face".) I looked at her and was honest and said
> "Daddy got a bad report card and he needs to take better care of himself." She looked right at me
> and said "Daddy ,you always talk about how much you love mommy and sissy and me, but if you loved
> us, you'd love yourself more."
>
> That did it.
>
> If ever I needed something to provide ownership along with commitment, that was the deal sealer.
>
> Bottom line? I lost the weight. I changed my diet, dropped bad eating habits, began riding and
> working out every day. My friend knows me from college days and knows how lazy I can be. I
> think he is heartened by the fact that I did it. He should be, because I could scarcely believe
> I did it too.
>
> I feel pretty good about him losing the weight (he'll be doing other exercise too as well as
> dietary changes); I think it will happen for him. I admire his desire to do something (ride
> bikes) that he's never done and always wanted to do. He's nervous and apprehensive, but his
> desire remains. It is heartening to read all the advice and support on here - I'm passing it all
> on to him.
>
> --
> "Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are you
> looking?" "Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Ian wrote:
>> >
>> > You make good points, the only thing I worry about with new cyclists is
> they
>> > cycle an easy 5 miles and suddenly find themselves 5 miles from home,
> then
>> > instead of being sensible and calling for a lift home they adopt pig
> head
>> > status and try to ride back,
>>
>> Okay. But if this guy is 300-plus pounds and inactive, I doubt he is going to be able to make it
>> 5 miles on his first day. I know that I couldn't, and I wouldn't have even tried. Half a mile the
>> first week was all I could do, and I was definitely trying to take it easy. And he can't even
>> ride a bike yet, so having to learn *will* keep his initial distances short. Hopefully if he is
>> seeking the counsel of his thoughtful buddy who is the OP on this thread, he will be easily
>> convinced that he has to go v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y and make sure he gets an okay from his doc.
>>
>> I'm with you on the dietition recommendation, too, but sometimes with health plans the way they
>> are you can't get too many good ideas from them. I know that I went to the dietician a quite
>> number of years ago and basically all we worked on was getting me to automatically figure out a
>> standard portion of anything and eat one portion at a time before deciding to eat a second
>> portion. It helped keep me from putting on 20 pounds a year because I never learned how to eat
>> right, but it hasn't helped me lose any. Of course she was right that being seriously overweight
>> sort of precluded me from going on a 1000-cal-a-day diet and that portion control was the first
>> step, but she never mentioned exercise and we never seemed to get any further than that before I
>> had to quit.
>>
>> it has been known for a heart fighting against
>> > fat to give up when expected to provide the extra for the ride home, a largely inactive life
>> > with a poor diet does not just lead to the storage
> of
>> > body fat but also to the build up of arterial fat, and it is the
> arterial
>> > fat that kills. In example, my girlfriend has a thyroid problem, she has difficulty
> keeping
>> > weight off but she has a sensible diet and she is able to exercise, conversely a slightly
>> > overweight guy with a fatty diet and inactive lifestyle will be more likely to suffer cardial
>> > infarction if he starts
> to
>> > exercise without first addressing his dietry problems. And yes I have been trained in
>> > nutritional and sports sciences. I would hope this guy has been referred to or has been to
>> > see a
> nutritionist
>> > as well.
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
>> - Mother Teresa
>>
>
>
>

BRAVO to you both Lars! I am in the process of coming back down for the second time in my life. Down
50 in the past 2 years, another 35 or so to go. I was similar to your friend at 5'10" and topped out
at 292lbs. I was fat, but I was never a slug. I do physical work so I was always in decent
condition, though seriously overweight. I could still outwork most people at that time. (now it's
all people :) At 44 I don't play the team sports that I did to help lose the first time so now
biking and walking are my main exercise. I would strongly suggest a cyclometer from the start. It is
SO encouraging to SEE how quickly you progress as you're able to do more mileage almost every time
out (a little at a time). Most people can't grasp how quickly a body responds to new demands (as you
well know :) Anyway, I find doing another mile much more satisfying than 10 more minutes. It also
helps on those draggy days when you struggle for awhile and think about going home, then you look
and see that if you just hold on for 4 more miles you'll have made your regular distance so you gut
it out, and then feel good about yourself :) Not telling YOU anything you don't already know :), but
refresher to pass it on to him. Good luck. Tell us how it's going.
 
Originally posted by Lars S. Mulford
Howdy folks!

I've a friend who recently received a bad "report card" from his doc, and it sufficiently motivated
him to want to get in better shape. He's 33 years old, 5'11" and 320lbs. He wants to bike, and wants
biking to be a part of his process of losing weight and also to be an ongoing factor in his life.
There's a monkey wrench here though.

He's never ridden at bike. EVER.

He's never sat on a bike, never had one as a child. NOTHING, NADA, ZIP.

He wants to learn to ride and to make it a part of his life. He asked me for some guidance in a bike
that will handle him at the higher weights. Initially I directed him to check out trikes, but he
made it very clear that he wants to learn to ride a two wheeler.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a bike that would not only handle his weight for now, but also
have docile enough manners that we can use it to teach him how to ride?

Initially he was interested in upright bikes, but he's seen my recumbents and thinks that they would
be easier on his back. Anyone have any thoughts on a recumbent (or recumbents) that would handle his
weight and also be mannerly enough for him to be taught to ride?

--
"Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are
you looking?"

My first inclination, assuming your friend is leaning toward a recumbent, is a long wheelbase bent like a Rans Stratus or an EasyRacer Tour Easy.
The second thing that occurs to me is that he should gage his first rides, not by distance, but by time and heart rate. He should buy a good heart rate monitor and determine his target range for bike riding. He should initially stick with flat terrain and lightly traveled rural roads. He could, for example, start out with rides no longer than 20-30 minutes and work up from there.
I'm overweight myself and had bypass surgery two years ago. I wish your friend the best of luck.
 
MLB wrote:
>
> What is an infarction? Heard the term but never knew? I've heard of Myocardial? ifarction as well.
> Is that the misfiring of the electrical signals?

It is the correct medical term for a heart attack.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. -
Mother Teresa
 
"Lars S. Mulford" wrote:
> ... Initially he was interested in upright bikes, but he's seen my recumbents and thinks that they
> would be easier on his back. Anyone have any thoughts on a recumbent (or recumbents) that would
> handle his weight and also be mannerly enough for him to be taught to ride?

M5 Carbon Lowracer or dual ISO 622-mm Reynolds T-Bone ;)

The EZ-1 SC [1] or EZ Sport [2] would be among the easiest bikes to learn to ride, and both should
hold up under the weight as long as the wheels are stress relieved, re-tensioned and trued by a
competent wheel builder.

[1] < http://www.easyracers.com/ez_1_sc.htm >
[2] < http://www.easyracers.com/ez_sport.htm >

Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon
 
Ian wrote:
> ... And yes I have been trained in nutritional and sports sciences. I would hope this guy has been
> referred to or has been to see a nutritionist as well.

Nutritional advice from someone with "[email protected]" as an alleged email address? ;)

Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon
 
MLB must be edykated coz e writed:

>
>> inactive lifestyle will be more likely to suffer cardial infarction if he starts to exercise
>> without first addressing his dietry problems. And yes I have been trained in nutritional and
>> sports sciences. I would hope this guy has been referred to or has been to see a nutritionist
>> as well.
>>
>
> What is an infarction? Heard the term but never knew? I've heard of Myocardial? ifarction as well.
> Is that the misfiring of the electrical signals?
I believe the literal translation is death, but it is a term to describe interupted heart function,
I should have typed "myocardial" by the way, although the most likely first symptom would probably
be coronary vasospasm, this could be induced by ventricular obstruction caused by oxygen imbalance
when the heart finds it is unable to pump blood fast enough due to arterial fat content, this would
lead to myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock.

--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk
 
Tom Sherman must be edykated coz e writed:

>
> Ian wrote:
>> ... And yes I have been trained in nutritional and sports sciences. I would hope this guy has
>> been referred to or has been to see a nutritionist as well.
>
> Nutritional advice from someone with "[email protected]" as an alleged email address? ;)
>
> Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon
I'll change it to bacon and eggs and claim to be Atkins friendly, haven't you heard about the great
European Spam debate?

--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk
 
Ian wrote:
> I believe the literal translation is death, but it is a term to describe interupted heart
> function, I should have typed "myocardial" by the way, although the most likely first symptom
> would probably be coronary vasospasm, this could be induced by ventricular obstruction caused by
> oxygen imbalance when the heart finds it is unable to pump blood fast enough due to arterial fat
> content, this would lead to myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock.

ROTFL! Hey, I do medical transcription and you can't lose me with something *that* easy.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. -
Mother Teresa
 
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply must be edykated coz e writed:

> Ian wrote:
>> I believe the literal translation is death, but it is a term to describe interupted heart
>> function, I should have typed "myocardial" by the way, although the most likely first symptom
>> would probably be coronary vasospasm, this could be induced by ventricular obstruction caused by
>> oxygen imbalance when the heart finds it is unable to pump blood fast enough due to arterial fat
>> content, this would lead to myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock.
>
> ROTFL! Hey, I do medical transcription and you can't lose me with something *that* easy.
I'll get you with some long winded engineering stuff then. lol
--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk
 
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply must be edykated coz e writed:

> Ian wrote:
>> I believe the literal translation is death, but it is a term to describe interupted heart
>> function, I should have typed "myocardial" by the way, although the most likely first symptom
>> would probably be coronary vasospasm, this could be induced by ventricular obstruction caused by
>> oxygen imbalance when the heart finds it is unable to pump blood fast enough due to arterial fat
>> content, this would lead to myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock.
>
> ROTFL! Hey, I do medical transcription and you can't lose me with something *that* easy.
Anyway, it's pretty good for a layman like me.
--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk
 
Ian wrote:
>>ROTFL! Hey, I do medical transcription and you can't lose me with something *that* easy.
>
> Anyway, it's pretty good for a layman like me.

I will concur with that wholeheartedly. And it's accurate, too.
--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. -
Mother Teresa
 
As a basic "rule of thumb" the high seat, low crank like on an EZ1 will be easy to learn. The frame
has a good triangle structure so the load should be no problem. Put a wide, high pressure "free
style" black wall tire on the back. Enjoy Steve "Speedy" Delaire

"Lars S. Mulford" wrote:

> Howdy folks!
>
> I've a friend who recently received a bad "report card" from his doc, and it sufficiently
> motivated him to want to get in better shape. He's 33 years old, 5'11" and 320lbs. He wants to
> bike, and wants biking to be a part of his process of losing weight and also to be an ongoing
> factor in his life. There's a monkey wrench here though.
>
> He's never ridden at bike. EVER.
>
> He's never sat on a bike, never had one as a child. NOTHING, NADA, ZIP.
>
> He wants to learn to ride and to make it a part of his life. He asked me for some guidance in a
> bike that will handle him at the higher weights. Initially I directed him to check out trikes, but
> he made it very clear that he wants to learn to ride a two wheeler.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions on a bike that would not only handle his weight for now, but also
> have docile enough manners that we can use it to teach him how to ride?
>
> Initially he was interested in upright bikes, but he's seen my recumbents and thinks that they
> would be easier on his back. Anyone have any thoughts on a recumbent (or recumbents) that would
> handle his weight and also be mannerly enough for him to be taught to ride?
>
> --
> "Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are you
> looking?"

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