Can’t miss DC area rides

[NicDiesel]

My wife and I are moving to the Twin Cities in the fall so I’m trying to do all of the cool and fun rides around DC before we leave and need some advice. Thanks to spending a ton of time at the gym this past fall and winter, I’ve dropped (another) 50lbs so I can finally get out of saddle to climb hills and easily ride over 50 miles a day. Right now the only long rides I have planned are a Saturday ride from DC to Baltimore for an Os game in July and trek out to the western end of the W&OD trail next month but would like to do some others before we leave. What are some of your favorite rides in the DMV area?

Topic

[NicDiesel]

Here’s me in summer 2008 when I was up around 500. These clothes fell apart so I don’t have them any longer, but the shirt was 6XL Tall and the pants were a size 58. As you can see my stomach was hanging over my pants by about 8-9 inches. I couldn’t walk more than 200 feet without my back hurting, had to buy two airline seats, had an A1c over 9, high blood pressure, had kidney function issues, and couldn’t stop overeating and sleeping.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2996[/ATTACH]

Here’s me on Thursday at Camden Yards on my birthday. The shirt is a size 2XL bought off the shelf at the team store (a little tight but it fits nicely), shorts (elastic band) are finally over my stomach and a size 44-46, and I had just rode 20 miles the day before in rush hour traffic (one of my favorite times to ride). My A1c is now below 6, kidney function is normal, blood pressure is normal, and have my eating under control.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2997[/ATTACH]

[NicDiesel]

I should mention that in the summer of 2009 I caught Swine Fu (H1N1) that forced me to make some serious changes. Due to my size, it quickly developed into double pneumonia which caused my body to shutdown (kidneys failed, lungs clogged) and resulted in being put into a medically induced coma for over two weeks. It was one of the worst things to ever happen to me (it just about bankrupted us, almost killed me) but it was also one of the best things to ever happen to me because it got me to make some serious changes in my life.

Unfortunately, my insurance at the time (and now) didn’t cover bariatric surgery so my pulmonologist recommended I give cycling a try to get into shape and lose weight. It took me a good three years to get to the point where I could physically ride but now that I can I’m aiming to ride 5,000 miles this year and 10,000 next. It’s going to always be a challenge to keep my weight and eating under control but cycling has really given me some place to focus my energies on both.

[KLizotte]

@4st7lbs 53631 wrote:

I’ll definitely do that since its right by our place. I assume this is also one of those deals where there are refueling stations and it’s cool to stop and rest, right?

Last year there were water stations in Crystal City along the route but the main refueling station is at the top of the Air Force Memorial which is at the top of a hill (which seems to grow with each lap!) where water (possibly Gatorade), bananas, and candy were given out for free. There is also shade and bathrooms at the AF Memorial.

You can also rest at the many restaurants/cafes along the route in Crystal City (they are air conditioned). Most are quite casual and won’t blink an eye if you walk in wearing sweaty bike gear (I do it all the time).

[KLizotte]

@4st7lbs 53733 wrote:

Here’s me on Thursday at Camden Yards on my birthday. The shirt is a size 2XL bought off the shelf at the team store (a little tight but it fits nicely), shorts (elastic band) are finally over my stomach and a size 44-46, and I had just rode 20 miles the day before in rush hour traffic (one of my favorite times to ride). My A1c is now below 6, kidney function is normal, blood pressure is normal, and have my eating under control.

Whoa, your weight loss is *super* impressive, esp since you are trying to do it in a healthy way by incorporating exercise/healthy eating into your life. I’d read an article that said obese people are a lot stronger than most people realize because of all the weight they have to carry around; in other words, there are real muscles in there. The more you lose the easier the exercising will be. I hope you enjoy your new city.

[fuzzy]

Man, congratulations on your progress. Plant based diet plus your cycling routine will probably make you get so small you disappear…. And poo a lot(fiber).

No I haven’t tried it, I know a few people that live it and are thin…. I’m somewhat of a chunkster myself, 5-11 225lbs.

[DaveK]

@JimF22003 53719 wrote:

Holy crap

@4st7lbs 53733 wrote:

@#$%ing awesome

You guys are truly inspiring. Thanks for posting, I know how emotional these stories can get. I would say I’ve been there, but it’s not much compared to what you guys have done. Only a few people who didn’t know me then have seen these, but I couldn’t ask you to show yours without showing you mine…

Circa 2004:

The guy most have you have met:

I was always a fat kid. I went through periods of more activity where I dropped some weight but I never really worried about it either way. I ballooned when I was in high school and started driving everywhere. All through college I didn’t really do much except studying and drinking. I only started doing any kind of activity when I got out of grad school and got a job… I would come home to my two dogs looking very sad and lonely, so we started going on longer and longer walks. When the weather turned nice we started to run a block here and there. One block turned into two, turned into three, turned into 120lb lost after about a year and a half. Keeping it off was and is a constant struggle, but I’ve been “normal” for about 5 years. It really turns your world upside down and the years of fat don’t exactly leave you completely normal mentally, but the only thing I would change is not getting started sooner in life.

[NicDiesel]

@fuzzy 53741 wrote:

Man, congratulations on your progress. Plant based diet plus your cycling routine will probably make you get so small you disappear…

That’s the next step in this whole journey – transitioning away from my current eating regiment into something more plant based but I have a feeling that might be difficult to do and stick with the Weight Watchers methodology and still be as busy as I am right now.

@DaveK 53745 wrote:

Keeping it off was and is a constant struggle, but I’ve been “normal” for about 5 years. It really turns your world upside down and the years of fat don’t exactly leave you completely normal mentally, but the only thing I would change is not getting started sooner in life.

One of the main reasons I didn’t bite the bullet and just finance out bariatric surgery is that I knew just “losing weight” wasn’t what I needed to really improve my life – I had to fix a lot of things that were broken, mainly my relationship with food. It’s taken a long time and will continue to take a long time to take off the weight I put on but I’ve finally, after 25 years, gotten my eating under control for an extended period of time. It’s always going to be a struggle to not want a sixer of vanilla kremes from Dunkins, but for once I know I can tell myself no when I start feeling that urge.

@KLizotte 53738 wrote:

Last year there were water stations in Crystal City along the route but the main refueling station is at the top of the Air Force Memorial which is at the top of a hill (which seems to grow with each lap!) where water (possibly Gatorade), bananas, and candy were given out for free. There is also shade and bathrooms at the AF Memorial

Perfect. Looking that route over I’m pretty sure I can probably handle three laps no problem during that time period if I pace myself correctly. I might try to do a test ride on Thursday night just to see what it’s like so I’ll know where to rest after the first lap to be prepared to finish laps two and three. Now that I can actually get out of the saddle and climb I shouldn’t have too many problems doing at least two laps, though we’ll see how that goes once Sunday rolls around.

Does anyone know if video taping the event is forbidden? I’d love to put my GoPro to good use!

@KLizotte 53738 wrote:

I’d read an article that said obese people are a lot stronger than most people realize because of all the weight they have to carry around; in other words, there are real muscles in there. The more you lose the easier the exercising will be. I hope you enjoy your new city.

I found that be very true once I started adding in weight training with the little bit of cardio I was able to do starting out. Not so much my upper body but my lower body is pretty developed from the five years of carrying around 450-500lbs on the regular. A year ago I put 540lbs on the incline leg press on a whim and had little problem doing six sets of 15 reps. I started moving up every month until I could max out at a little under 1,000lbs, which is the max that machine can handle. I can’t do as much now, since I’ve lost a fair amount of muscle along with fat, but that, unfortunately, comes with the territory.

[DaveK]

@4st7lbs 53746 wrote:

I found that be very true once I started adding in weight training with the little bit of cardio I was able to do starting out. Not so much my upper body but my lower body is pretty developed from the five years of carrying around 450-500lbs on the regular. A year ago I put 540lbs on the incline leg press on a whim and had little problem doing six sets of 15 reps. I started moving up every month until I could max out at a little under 1,000lbs, which is the max that machine can handle. I can’t do as much now, since I’ve lost a fair amount of muscle along with fat, but that, unfortunately, comes with the territory.

I can’t stress enough that lifting heavy and often will make your life better on your way down the scale. I did it with all cardio at first and I was left skinny-fat, my weight was normal but I had no muscle whatsoever outside of my legs. It’s scary to try and add back calories from things like whey protein powder when you lift after you’ve been controlling your food so strictly but it’s worth doing.

[Tim Kelley]

Very cool All–thanks for sharing!

[dasgeh]

All of your stories are very inspiring — and timely for me. I know it’s a different journey, but I’ve been on a frustrating journey with the baby fat from #2. Annoyingly, this fat didn’t seem to come with extra muscle, making getting back to running (the only thing that seems to help me actually lose weight) more difficult.

Anyway, it’s easy to slip into “it’s impossible, why even try” (especially since my mom never lost weight after babies # 3 and 4). Seeing that others have conquered so much more is inspiring.

Thank you.

[DaveK]

@dasgeh 53801 wrote:

Annoyingly, this fat didn’t seem to come with extra muscle, making getting back to running (the only thing that seems to help me actually lose weight) more difficult.

Cycling is undoubtedly good exercise but in my experience, running and calorie control just melts the pounds off. That’s how I did it. Cycling is excellent for maintenance, but even with all that I ride I don’t seem to fluctuate more than 5-10lb from summer to winter. It’s hard though to get motivated to run. Bikes take you new places, there’s wind in your hair, and that sensation of speed without any assistance is wonderful. Running is a death march. But it works…

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DaveK 53826 wrote:

Cycling is undoubtedly good exercise but in my experience, running and calorie control just melts the pounds off. That’s how I did it. Cycling is excellent for maintenance, but even with all that I ride I don’t seem to fluctuate more than 5-10lb from summer to winter. It’s hard though to get motivated to run. Bikes take you new places, there’s wind in your hair, and that sensation of speed without any assistance is wonderful. Running is a death march. But it works…

Concur. I lost most of my weight just by dieting and doing a lot of walking with my dog. I’ve lost a few pounds and slimmed down a bit since I started riding a lot, but I tend to eat more when I ride a lot, so like you said, it helps maintain more than anything.

I started dieting in late 2010 using Nutrisystem. It works, but the food is terrible. I lost probably 40 pounds that way and then stopped the “diet” and focused on cutting snacks, getting more exercise, and eating lighter meals, particularly at work. I used to buy lunch every day from the cafeteria (usually pizza or whatever), but now I just bring in soup and crackers. It’s way cheaper and much better for keeping the pounds off.

I’m down about 60 pounds total since my heaviest point. I lost most of it within the first year and plateaued for a while, but I’ve started losing again slowly since late last year. Hoping to lose another 20:

[Author]

Replies