The irony of being Lance

Being named Lance and starting cycling as your exercise of choice at the age of 32 does not come without the comments of "joining the bandwagon" considering the popularity and success of Lance Armstrong. When you add to the fact that when I started I weighed in at a whopping 264, the urge to supress a giggle is quite straining. When I read most of the articles in magazines I see training methods which are based on a 150 lb rider and I think to myself, "hadn't seen that one since the 8th grade".

When I first decided to look at road bikes, I was very uncomfortable about the effect my weight would have on performance. Don't get me wrong, I am 6' 2" and I carry 264 rather well. I have been active in aerobic weight training for two years so I am not totally out of shape.

But all I saw were those skinny tires and I thought, this should be interesting. In July I made a decision that I needed an activity to inspire me to be in shape and drop some weight. I had been toying with the idea of cycling for quite some time and back in the days of paper routes and no car, my Raliegh was my transportation.

I went to Wood-n-Wave in Grand Rivers, KY which is about 30 minutes from Murray near the Ky. Lake. I talked to Steve, the owner, and explained my plan. He was awesome to deal with and gave me a great price on a Trek 1000c which he told me was a good comfort bike for a beginner.

I started riding that afternoon and love it. So here I am 10 months later. I have ridden quite a bit but not as much as I would like. This winter my wife bought me a trainer for Christmas and I was able to put some time in at home in the den.

Right now I am 248 lbs. Not near the average riders weight but not bad either.