The "Fat Man Hike-a-Bike"

I enjoying mountain biking, however, over the last few years, I have found I enoy eating and watching TV as well. This has added to a little extra weight around the mid-section. This added weight leads me to my topic for the day; a little thing I call the "Fat Man Hike-a-Bike."

In my youth, we used to have a thing called a "Hike-a-Bike" which is where you ride up a trail as far as you can (often until snow makes it impossible to continue riding), and then you pick up your bike and carry with a hope that the snow covered trail will only last a couple hundred feet, and then you can ride again.

This was often the case for early spring riding and late fall riding here in Northern Utah, and often the Hike-a-Bike lead to some fun times. But now I am heavier, and I am more out of shape than ever, and so the Hike-a-Bike takes on a new meaning.

The "Fat Man Hike-a-Bike" is also typically an early spring event that requires an out of shape fatty like me to get off his bike and push it up hills on occasion. (For me, this has lasted sometimes through the summer and fall as well)

I am all for pedalling till you puke, but often the mind is willing, but the legs aren't able.

It seems my leg muscles disappear quickly, and added weight appears on my gut magically thus making it nearly impossible to ride up hills I once found insignificant.

Fortunately, I try to ride with friends who on occasion have to do the "Fat Man Hike-a-Bike." We all push our bikes to the top of a hill (often getting laughed at by passer-by's), but that is okay because where I come from it's okay to be a little uncool on a bike because I am not there to be popular or cool. I am there because I enjoy the time spent with friends and a bike.

So... I proudly do the "Fat Man's Hike-a-Bike".