I understand how easy it is to make fun of a middle-aged fat guy riding an expensive bicycle… Frankly, it does kind of look silly. It makes you ask the question “Just what does he think he’s doing?”
Well, having been one of those silly-looking guys I wanted to tell you my story…
10 years ago I was a very athletic 180 lb bike rider. But because of a hormonal disorder (pituitary failure) that went undiagnosed for years, I gradually ballooned up until my weight topped out at 330 lbs last year. I had a hard time even walking and was too sick most of the time to do much more than sit on the couch…
But last year, I finally began getting effective treatment and for the first time in years felt like I could give biking another try… I bought a hybrid last November and became another one of those middle-aged fat guys riding a brand new bike. I couldn’t even find a jersey big enough to cover my stomach completely. At the age of 50, I could tell that other people looked at me kind of funny when I rode by…
I’m now 206 lbs and I do a 50-mile ride at a respectable 18mph average. At 5’10" I still have about 30 more pounds to lose. I know there are those people who buy an expensive bike just for show and only ride it for a while before quitting, but you never know the story behind that person who looks so out of place on a bike.
I’m still tempted to chuckle when I see a middle-aged fat guy ride by on an expensive bike but instead I now find myself quietly rooting for them by thinking “Way to go buddy! Keep on pedaling…”
Well done…but why the explanation???nobody needs to justify what they are doing with their money…than again everybody has a right to think watever they want about fat guys riding very expensive bikes…
I’ll second the great job … Also second the no justification needed for what someone decides to ride. Since most of America is less than athletic and might be considered overweight I feel that anyone out there doing something deserves some respect.
Sometimes it seems as if the ST crowd needs a few basic lessons in metabolism and motivation. Every few months there is some thread that is critical of people who don’t immediately reflect a perceived ideal of how a triathlete should look and perform. I appreciate jshelton’s effort to enlighten all of us.
No no no…it makes perfect sense to require someone who’s overweight to buy a cheap bike, until they lose some lbs., then purchase a medium priced rig…and only after they reach the TdF average of 2.2 pounds per inch of height are they allowed to buy an expensive bike.
Perhaps if everyone wasn’t so g0d-darned judgemental, and jealous of other folk’s $$$$, we’d have fewer overweight people in society, which leads to lower health care costs, which leads to…
Just like it is not the case that only professional photographers buy SLR cameras, and only racing drivers drive sports cars, there is no need to justify why one needs high end race bike. I do see many non-rally drivers who have a Subaru Imreza Turbo WRX (some even get the STi model). Many of them are fat middle life men. But clearly, they like cars. Others like bikes.
In the case of cycling, it is required by UCI that ordinary people should be able to buy the bikes that we see on the tour. So you and me can go and get a P3C, a Giant TCR T-Mobile and so on. Isn’t it great?
In our cycling club, some people are very wealthy but ride very old steel bikes, others ride similar bikes because they are on a budget, and yet some ride top of the range Colnagos, De Rosas, Trek 5.9, Canonndale Six13 and so on. It has nothing to do with how fast they go. We have all types of bikes in the slow, medium, and fast groups.
It is simply their preferences and what makes them happy (if they care about).
BTW middle age has nothing to do with it. Many in our club are in their 50s, 60s and even 70s. I challenge 99% of the 20-30 years old population to test their endurance against these 70 something years old guys. I know I am in my early 30s and can’t keep up with some of them.
When it gets down to the heart of the matter … I think most, even many of the “Complainy Complainersons”, are happy that people are riding … no matter what they are riding.
Sure, folks may complain and nit-pick about this and that … but let an outsider complain about it … and they likely come to the rider’s defense. It’s sort of like how it’s okay for you to pick-on and terrorize your little brother … but when someone else does … it’s on.
The only thing I find really weird, funny, confusing, is when people talk about spending all this money on a bike for reasons that deal with lightweight, aerodynamic, etc … and then the rider is 30+ pounds overweight. (Visualize a 200 pound jockey … same thing).
Anyway … great job on your progress/treatment. It’s fantastic that you’ve done so much for your health. If the bike serves as motivation and a vehicle to improved fitness/health for you … then more power to you.
I think the one complaint that is justified is when people spend big money on a bike, and then let it sit there … unused. It’s sort of like the Lambourghini and '64 GTO I have in my garage. They just sit there, as I prefer to drive my humble Taurus around town.
Thanks for the great replies! I never felt that I needed to justify riding a bike when I was much heavier. I mainly wanted to encourage everyone here to be supportive of those folks carrying a lot of weight and just starting to ride.
And when you’re climbing any kind of hill and your carrying an extra 20, 30 or even 50 pounds, you need all the support you can get!
And I totally agree that it’s silly to worry about saving grams on your bike when you’re quite overweight!
Way to go! When I see someone with “a little extra” on a bike I think it’s encouraging. The only thing that I can’t resist chuckling at is anyone riding a recumbent. I don’t think that even Mario Cipollini could make being bent look cool.
My steel frame bike weighs 23 pounds. I will still get more out of losing my weight than I will ever gain with a 16 pound carbon bike. We’re just Clydsdales, we’re not fat.
