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Top 10 Bucket List Bike Rides For Better Times

I've ridden 880 miles in the past 3 months. No rides over 28 miles, but frequent 5-15 milers, often not even out of the neighborhood. But in south Florida I never see a hill. Some of those mountain passes in the video would kill me. It's on my bucket list to do Florida to Maine, and Florida to California some day. I would love to do riding vacations in Ireland and/or Scotland.
 
I've ridden 880 miles in the past 3 months. No rides over 28 miles, but frequent 5-15 milers, often not even out of the neighborhood. But in south Florida I never see a hill. Some of those mountain passes in the video would kill me. It's on my bucket list to do Florida to Maine, and Florida to California some day. I would love to do riding vacations in Ireland and/or Scotland.

I was at a bike shop earlier today. Got a new set of wheels. The guy there said he did this ride:

Took him 4+ hrs and the last 1000m climb was at like 6km/hr. And the wind up there almost blew him off the road.. dizzy as the air was thinner up there.
 
When I was in my 20s I rode many century rides, 100 miles in a day. I rode the Hilly Hundred (a two day ride) every year in Bloomington, and the one day "Nashville 90". Then I also lots of centuries in northern Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere.

As I have gotten older, 57 now, several aspects of distance riding got way worse: back pain, neck pain, butt pain, wrist pain, knee pain. So my riding became less and less and less.

Fast forward to November 2018 and I was at my highest weight ever. Coming off back fusion surgery. Before that, neck fusion surgery. Osteoarthritis in one knee pretty bad, other knee soon to follow. Pre-diabetic. I committed then to low calorie/ low carb dieting and walking. I lost 80 lbs. Then I was kind of stalled out. I wanted to ride bikes, but the back. neck, knees, and butt wouldn't take it.

So I invested in one of these guys, a catrike 559 recumbent trike:

be9aca_7abfc2efa291484882f39429a7d79a0f.jpg

Damn what a blast this trike it. It's like being 8 again and getting a go-kart. After a few weeks to get "recumbent legs" I was up to speed and found that I can ride 30 miles @ 13 mph without a stop and not have any pain at all. More comfy than the best recliner. Not great for hills since you can't stand on the pedals, a little slower than a good road bike, but in every other aspect it is a blast.

I think I could ride centuries every day, if I had the time.

I am no longer morbidly obese, or even obese, not just "overweight" by BMI and looking to shed that label by 2021 and be in the "normal BMI" range. Clothes went from 3XL to 2XL to XL. Hopefully just L, soon.

It's been quite a journey so far.
 
When I was in my 20s I rode many century rides, 100 miles in a day. I rode the Hilly Hundred (a two day ride) every year in Bloomington, and the one day "Nashville 90". Then I also lots of centuries in northern Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere.

As I have gotten older, 57 now, several aspects of distance riding got way worse: back pain, neck pain, butt pain, wrist pain, knee pain. So my riding became less and less and less.

Fast forward to November 2018 and I was at my highest weight ever. Coming off back fusion surgery. Before that, neck fusion surgery. Osteoarthritis in one knee pretty bad, other knee soon to follow. Pre-diabetic. I committed then to low calorie/ low carb dieting and walking. I lost 80 lbs. Then I was kind of stalled out. I wanted to ride bikes, but the back. neck, knees, and butt wouldn't take it.

So I invested in one of these guys, a catrike 559 recumbent trike:

be9aca_7abfc2efa291484882f39429a7d79a0f.jpg

Damn what a blast this trike it. It's like being 8 again and getting a go-kart. After a few weeks to get "recumbent legs" I was up to speed and found that I can ride 30 miles @ 13 mph without a stop and not have any pain at all. More comfy than the best recliner. Not great for hills since you can't stand on the pedals, a little slower than a good road bike, but in every other aspect it is a blast.

I think I could ride centuries every day, if I had the time.

I am no longer morbidly obese, or even obese, not just "overweight" by BMI and looking to shed that label by 2021 and be in the "normal BMI" range. Clothes went from 3XL to 2XL to XL. Hopefully just L, soon.

It's been quite a journey so far.

I have never been on a trike. Sounds fun the way you described it. I have seen a few people ride it here. The gears work like a regular bike?

My concern is that if I was to ride it in Penang -- where I was supposed to have feckin' moved to back in March but because of the lockdown in both countries, god knows when that will happen -- the roads there aren't as 'civilised' as it is here in S'pore. (We have what you call park connectors here -- paths for just bikers and joggers that interconnect the entire city now. 400+ km.) Though I read that they are supposed to build some eco-superhighway for joggers and bikers along the sea at 'some' point.

My choice of ride is really trail riding but as you get older, you lose friends who are willing to come along or sustained interest. So my Marin is sitting on the bike rack collecting dust. So I ride on the road by default. Penang is pretty good for trail riding.

Congrats on the weight loss. Its amazing that you could have dropped all that weight. More importantly, is how mentally better you feel. It clears up stress or at least chip away at it but for me.
Also, I have a 'brain jam' for work, I would be on a stairmaster/elliptical or bike ride and be able to crack the 'code' halfway through the activity. I have been known to get off the machine and run off to the front desk to ask them for a pen and paper to 'jog' (no pun intended) down my notes!

Finally, with a lockdown and the increased efforts needing to go out -- we have to get scanned going into the mall, get scanned again going into and out of the supermarket here -- I have become fussier with what I eat and buy. To save the effort, I tend to buy low GI foods now. Luckily, I don't have that relationship with food where I binge eat to help manage stress or to reward myself -- which is good as I have a natural metabolic rate of a sloth.
 
My initial weight gain was metabolically driven, thyroid hormone levels almost nonexistent.

Trikes run about 10lbs heavier than regular bikes and quite a bit more expensive since the market is so small. Mine new costs a little over 3K bit I got it used. Wide gearing, 30 speed in fact, helps keep up. You can get fat tires on most models, so gravel roads aren't a killer, but tons of hills are. Unless you get a 20in rear wheel, which then hurts your flats speed. It is flat here so I wanted 26 in rear wheel, didn't care if I had suspension/ shocks, which would add 1K, and I wanted it to fold so I could take it places.
 
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My initial weight gain was metabolically driven, thyroid hormone levels almost nonexistent.

Trikes run about 10lbs heavier than regular bikes and quite a bit more expensive since the market is so small. Mine new costs a little over 3K bit I got it used. Wide gearing, 30 speed in fact, helps keep up. You can get fat tires on most models, so gravel roads aren't a killer, but tons of hills are. Unless you get a 20in rear wheel, which then hurts your flats speed. It is flat here so I wanted 26 in rear wheel, didn't care if I had suspension/ shocks, which would add 1K, and I wanted it to fold so I could take it places.

I will need to do a recce of what the new place is like for biking/triking later and then decide if its on for the roads there.

Meanwhile some photos from my rides around here:



(It's the 2nd busiest port in the world so you have like a ship come in every 3-4 minutes. They park there amongst some of the parking lots around the island. Its Indonesia in the background, some 16miles away)



(About to storm. That's Malaysia in the background with cranes/ships)









 
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