“By far the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Meet 56-year-old, local high school teacher, Kelly Oram. Though Kelly didn’t start cycling until 2011, in the last two-and-a-half years, he has dropped 45 pounds with the help of his roadbike.
Kelly leads a busy life. He teaches during the day and supervises night school twice a week. In the summer he leads an Art History tour in Europe. Outside of his vocational activities, Kelly is well-rounded, with an avid love for books, classical music, learning and an involved father of four. With so much time dedicated to helping others, it’s easy to see how Kelly, like a lot of us, had let his physical health slip from priority.
Kelly said, “I was a pretty lethargic, ordinary, pretty crappy-eating, basically lazy human being – in a physical way.”
Kelly had several students that were cyclists. After speaking with a few pupils in a past class he decided to get on his old mountain bike again. He rode it to the gate at Antelope Island and back. He loved it.
When asked if jumping into cycling was difficult, Kelly responded, “I liked the fact that, as opposed to running…I was going somewhere. A bike you can go miles and miles away and back again. It wasn’t a hurdle, it was an adventure.”
Kelly had discovered the simple joys of cycling; the feeling of freedom, to go where you want in the early morning with birds chirping as your company. He was hooked on the high that cycling can give you.
He started to YouTube videos of cycling races and soon discovered that he needed a road bike. With the help of Biker’s Edge, Kelly walked away with a better bike and more clear understanding of the lifestyle.
Kelly said about his experience, “They were very good about explaining everything, and they weren’t trying to up-sell me – which I really appreciated. They were very good at being patient with someone who didn’t know anything. Very helpful.”
Kelly ended up purchasing a composite Scott CR1 with Shimano 105. He has never looked back. That first season, Kelly lost 20 pounds. The second season, he shed another 20 pounds. “You get started on this, and you watch what happens over time,” Kelly said.
As time went on, Kelly began to see that what he was eating was impacting how he was riding. After many hours of research, Kelly completely cut out junk food and became a vegan. Impassioned, Kelly offers his advice for those who think they can’t afford to eat healthy.
Kelly said, “You’re faced with a serious choice in your life, and you need to look at the long term ramification of what you’re doing. And if you want to spend the last 15 years of your life on dialysis, you know, your joints wearing out because you’re carrying around 75 extra pounds, and you want to be on medications for the last 15 years of your life - you can die slowly and painfully at 85 or you can die at 85 in your sleep healthy. What do you want? You really have to think long term – how do I want to die? And that’s what triggered it for me. That’s what made it easy for me. I don’t want to spend 20 years on meds hobbling around with Type II Diabetes.”
His willpower and the massive change of lifestyle are impressive, but says Kelly, “The only real hurdle is writing the check for that bike…but look at all the money we waste – people waste money – you can adjust your priorities.”
Kelly started at 220 pounds and has now lost 45 pounds. His goal weight is 155. That will be a total of 65 pounds. Kelly said that purchasing this bike and changing his lifestyle was, “by far the best thing I’ve ever done.” It has changed everything about his life. It has given him more energy and made him think more clearly and accurately.
In the words of Kelly Oram, “It’s a healthy proactive way to live your life, you’re not a victim of the great American diet anymore. You can get yourself in charge of the way you feel, the way you look, and the way you think. Its unbelievable and I can’t wait for it to get better. And then when its gets better, that whole spandex thing becomes part of the deal, its like, yeah I can wear this – with pride.”
Kelly has become one of our favorite customers. His outlook on life is contagious. Take wisdom in the words of Kelly, because there is much to gain. He is a teacher by occupation, but also by nature.
If you’re really looking to change your life, take Kelly’s challenge.
“I really mean this, if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody, and I don’t care if they’re 300 pounds – you get started on this and you watch what happens over time. It is so worth it –so worth it. Anybody can do this. I’m just ordinary.”
