Introduction

Once upon a time there was a girl. She had been overweight all of her life, and really, as a feminist she didn't think much about it. After all, she hated how the American advertising industry portrayed women: as sex objects, submissive to men, and too thin to have any kind of strength.

She came from an overweight family. Her father was dangerously obese and did nothing to try and lose weight. Everyone else in the family was overweight, too, but not to the extent that her father was. And she was growing tired of two things: people ridiculing the overweight individuals that don't fit the ad industry's definition of "beautiful" and the stereotypical overweight individuals that were running around.

In the summer of 2008 gas prices started soaring. She worked a mere college job, so each and every one of her paychecks would have to go paying for gas. She decided that didn't really suit her well, so she moved in with her boyfriend and bought a new bicycle. At the end of June, she started her journey as a bike commuter.

I am, of course, talking about myself in the third person here. It makes background information storytelling fun :)

Being a bike commuter has changed me. Before the bicycling began I was at a size 22. Now, at the beginning of October, I'm down to a size 18. The first thing people say to me when they haven't seen me for a while is something along the lines "OMMMG. YOU LOOK SO GOOD!" or "You're my hero". The narcissist in me tells me that's a good thing.

There are, of course, more benefits to being a bike commuter than just the mere weight loss. I only have to fill my gas tank up once every three weeks or so, and I don't have to worry about being stuck in traffic jams anymore. Luckily there's a bike path that mostly goes to the location I work and attend school at. (I work on campus at the local university here in town.) It's a lot less intimidating than riding in the street is.

I'll write more when I get the time to do so, but for now I must come to a close in this entry:

I started this blog as a means of documenting what the things I see, hear, and do while I'm on my bicycle. Welcome, readers, to the blog of the fatty on the bike.