Bariatric cycling club... your thoughts

Hi Guys,  

I am going to cross post this on a few boards. So, excuse the duplicates that you may come across.   I am 18 months out from surgery and doing great. Over the past year I developed a real love for cycling. During this time, I began cycling with some fellow WLS patients and members of my support group. We had a wonderful summer and fall of biking rail trails and a variety of trails in our area.

This winter we decided to start an actual cycling club for bariatric patients. We have begun our planning and hope to be up and cycling when winter dies away and spring is in full bloom.   I am here today to see if any of you participate in a cycling club or cycle with fellow WLS patients? We are looking for input and ideas for our group. We don’t want to invent the wheel again but would rather learn form others’ experiences. From our research, we have been unable to find any other club with a similar goal and approach.  

I’ll definitely share how we are doing as we get going with this effort. Right now the three of us are very excited to see this become a reality. Cycling is such great exercise and easier to do than I ever imagined.   

Give me your thoughts and ideas on this. Even if you haven’t cycled, what would entice you to cycle? What would you like a cycling club of bariatric patients to do? What would keep you from joining a group like this?    

Thanks,
Tom from Akron

I would love to join. My husband and I both decided when we get our income tax money back that we are buying bikes. I would like to be with people that are not judgemental. I am out of shape and have not rode a bike in about 15 years. Please keep me informed.

Tonya,
Looking at your profile, you must attend my support group at Summa. Actually the three of us (me, Susan and Chris) are all Summa patients. We are planning away right now. We will be presenting the club at the March support group meeting. We are also now planning our kick-off event and picnic on June 12 on the Towpath in Canal Fulton. It will also be the Summa bariatric group's picnic. So things are moving. We would LOVE to have your family cycle with us. We have a great time and look forward to seeing more people join us. We can always use another person help with planning too!
Tom

I do attending the Summa group. I would love to help you guys plan. I did notice the meeting for June so that is great. I live close by you. I see your profile says Mogadore. I live in Springfield right by the Mogadore border.

I'd be interested in joining too!

I don't know if it'd be helpful or not but there's a website called meetup.com where people post clubs and groups they have formed. You can post meet-up times on there and directions and such... and it's a good way to find more members. I've been on there a couple times and I always see people looking for WLS support groups or exercise support groups. It's a pretty cool site and an easy way to keep members of the group informed about meet-ups and people can RSVP.

Julie, That sounds good. I will check it out. I see you are also a Summa patient. I look forward to meeting you at a support group meeting. Hope you will bike with us some time this year. -- Tom