Changing Your Life By Bike
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In 2005, Scott Cutshall weighed 501 pounds, could barely take nine steps at a time without gasping for air, and wore size XXXXXXXXXXL pants. But when doctors said he could die in six months without stomach-reduction surgery and heavy medication, the 38-year-old husband and father took a drastic step of his own: He got a bike.
Stephen Regenold, better known as newspaper columnist The Gear Junkie, chronicles Cutshall’s inspiring transformation, which included augmenting his biking program by eating nothing but vegetable soup for breakfast, hummus on a pita for lunch, and a salad and pasta dinner — no exceptions. Cutshall even had to commission a custom-built, reinforced bike to support his weight:
A bike was saving his life, he said. And the person who built that bike, Bob Brown of Bob Brown Cycles LLC, lived in Minneapolis. “Other frame builders turned me down, even laughed at me,” Cutshall said. “But Bob embraced the project.”
Cutshall went from riding less than 2 miles a day to hundreds of miles a week. He even moved to bicycle-centric Minneapolis to further focus on his goal. All told, Cutshall lost 269 pounds, and he hopes to lose about 50 more. But most importantly, Cutshall got his life back. And he did it all on a bike.
If you’re feeling like a mid-afternoon dose of inspirado, do yourself a favor and check out Regenold’s full story. — Ted Alvarez