Cyclescheme 7
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GARY BRENNAN We catch up with the commuters featured on the Cyclescheme website. This issue: Gary from Manchester, who went from 39 stones to 13
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lenty of people cycle to lose weight and get fit. Few have the kind of challenge faced by Gary Brennan: aged 28, he weighed 39 stones 13 pounds and had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnoea. He was refused a gastric band by a surgeon, who simply said 'Your situation is far too dire for that'. So he got on his bike. 'The stark reality of it was that my two kids faced a future without a father,' he says. 'I knew I had to make a lifestyle change. Going to the gym wouldn't work. It's too easy to make an excuse not to go, such as the weather or being tired after a long day at work. Whereas if I cycled to work, the only way to get home
would be to cycle back again.' He bought a Giant Yukon, an entry-level hardtail mountain bike that looked like it would take his weight, so long as he avoided potholes. It did. 'Day one was horrendous and amazing all at once,' says Gary. 'My problem was not traffic but hills. It was hard enough to cycle on the flat when I was so fat, but hills…hills had to be avoided.' For his first day, Gary planned to take the train most of the way, cycling four miles in total to and from local railway stations. Even the short first leg was a challenge. 'I was wheezing, my arms hurt holding up my weight, my legs hurt pushing my weight along. I was soaking in sweat. But I was determined to save my own www.cyclescheme.co.uk
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