Getting in shape via bicycling

Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on the story of Duane Kujawa, who is a pretty typical example of someone who has used bicycling as an important part of his routine to get back into shape:

A friend at his workplace participated in Ironman triathlons - running, biking and swimming extreme distances. He invited Duane to ride with him regularly.

"There's a group of those guys that I've met now," he said. "That was over a year ago. And I started doing the cycling."

He started biking an hour each day, and the pounds began to melt away.

"The cycling is what started to improve my fitness level. The other things seemed to support my health, but I started the cycling, and there was a gradual buildup."

He started in May 2005. By August 2005, he did his first 100-mile ride - about six hours on the bike. The ride went from the Arch to the Grafton Ferry in St. Charles County, then to Alton, then back to the Arch and finally to Forest Park.

Now he regularly participates in "century" rides, those of 100 miles. And he has dropped to 185 pounds, a weight he has maintained for a year.