Cycling UK Forum

Honestly, it's great that you are still cycling. I wouldn't worry about how far and how much, as long as you don't over do it.

As others have said, a frame with a step through, or maybe even a bike with electric assist would be helpful. Otherwise, you can tilt your bike, or set it down and stand in it, changing your leg position as your raise it. There are a couple of threads describing this technique, though they also include advice about increasing flexibility.

viewtopic.php?t=133612
viewtopic.php?p=191317#p191317

There are some other threads on here about people with serious & heart related health issues returning to cycling. Even if the advice isn't applicable, you may get some inspiration. This thread has links to a couple of others
viewtopic.php?p=982030#p982030

Good luck!

liffy99 wrote: ↑3 Mar 2022, 1:06pm I am now 12kg overweight and only manage rides of up to about 20 miles across the easy Somerset Levels.

There are websites to help with weight loss, MyFitnessPal ( a free to use website) worked for me and I certainly felt better after losing weight. You might need to buy a weighing machine to measure your food portions and it was a bit of a faff at first but you soon get into the swing of it. If you feel hungry you can go for a walk or run on the bike and that allows you to consume extra calories.
It would take a few months to lose 12kg, but in that time you dump bad eating habits and adopt a more healthy eating and exercise regime.

Ron wrote: ↑9 Mar 2022, 4:00pm

liffy99 wrote: ↑3 Mar 2022, 1:06pm I am now 12kg overweight and only manage rides of up to about 20 miles across the easy Somerset Levels.

There are websites to help with weight loss, MyFitnessPal ( a free to use website) worked for me and I certainly felt better after losing weight. You might need to buy a weighing machine to measure your food portions and it was a bit of a faff at first but you soon get into the swing of it. If you feel hungry you can go for a walk or run on the bike and that allows you to consume extra calories.
It would take a few months to lose 12kg, but in that time you dump bad eating habits and adopt a more healthy eating and exercise regime.

Weight control is a bit of a personal thing and I believe that different folks respond to different methods. Over several years I’ve gradually lost about two stone (around 12&1/2 kg); whilst I was active I was also overweight. For me the loss came by: moderately exercising each day and exercising for hours at a time, by some degree of portion moderation, and by some degree of changing what I ate. I still eat treats but weigh out portions and now enjoy them over several days rather than polishing the lot off in one go; we now eat our meals off of smaller plates and don’t automatically go back for ‘seconds’.

Several years ago I struggled to climb a particular hill without resorting to the bottom gear on my three speed hub, the middle gear of 52” was too tall to get me more than part way up. The the other day I climbed the whole hill in top gear (63”) and I wasn’t out of the saddle. If I stick a training load of 11kg on the rear rack I can peddle all the way up the hill on the (altered) 47” middle gear. The changes above are down to a mix of: improved fitness, better technique, less (body) weight to shift ... and a critical 10% gearing ‘enhancement’ after a change from a 46 to a 42T chain ring.

TLDR. Small changes here and there give marginal gains that collectively add up to something useful.

As foxyrider says "Don't give up, focus on what you can do rather than what you can't." That's the key.

I cannot speak about touring, never having done it (other than taking Brompton to Wales and Shetland by train/ferry and day rides from a fixed base).

Domestics (my late wife's health) didn't allow when I could have done and now I certainly couldn't.

I am 73 and suffer extreme COPD. During 1st lockdown I ignored "shielding" but practiced extreme distancing. I continued and increased my "cycle every day" (easy when unable to go on holidays!). I managed 144 days on the bounce, admittedly including a few 10 miles on the turbo trainer when weather TOO awful.

I tailor my bikes (all have a c. 20" bottom gear) and my routes to what I CAN do. 6,700 miles in 2020 and 6,100 in 2021. Radiotherapy and drugs for prostate cancer last summer, but I kept to "every day" through 20 days of ERT.

I now find even the Easy CTC group hard (and the prostate and treatment means I have to find a hedge with a frequency that would disrupt the Ride for others. So I make my own way to lunch stop!

Yesterday I made a 42 mile round trip to meet up with the Club's Saturday Ride. It was windy and I struggled on the return leg, but fine today and will do 10+ after breakfast!

Missed only 5 days so far this year - Xmas at daughters and a short break away for Valentine's Day with my g.f.!

So, I do what I CAN ...... had I not done so my COPD (lung age 95 y.o.) would by now have reduced me to almost total immobility without an oxygen tank.

We are hoping to "get away" a couple of times this year so my modest target is to average 10 a day. Got about 30 days in hand so far!

Accept the inevitable, but delay it as long as possible!

Wishing you better luck!