PTSD led Navy veteran Jacob Henriksen to pile on literally hundreds of pounds. At 40 years old, he hit 450, and his doctor told him he wouldn’t see 45 unless he changed. Henriksen turned his nutrition around and began slowly dropping weight, but it wasn’t until two years later, in 2016, that a friend invited him to go for a ride—and everything changed. Henriksen now weighs 170 pounds.

“I said, ‘No. I’d break a bike. People will laugh at me, this giant fat guy on a bike.’ The friend didn’t take no for an answer, lent me a fat bike, the Specialized Fatboy. He said I could keep it if I hit my goal weight of 200 pounds. I loved it. And made that goal by January 2017. What made it all possible was another friend Tom, who rode with me and invited me to be part of the Hometown Bicycles team. We’d be out in Michigan winters and Tom would be turning blue, freezing to death because I could only average about 5 mph! I don’t know how he didn’t topple over. Now that I’m fitter, I try to help people who were like me and make change possible for them.”

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