‘Fat Guy’ Eric Hites Is Biking Cross Country For Love And Health

Eric Hites, self-described “fat guy,” lost his job and his wife because of his weight — currently about 560 pounds. To reclaim his life and love, the 40-year-old is bicycling across the country, having started his journey from Falmouth, Massachusetts, in June.

Unfortunately for Hites, he is currently stuck in Tiverton, Rhode Island, after one of his tire rims bent. According to MassLive, he’s now camping out while waiting for a bicycle better equipped to handle his weight from Newport Bicycle.

Before the new sponsor stepped in, he vowed that he’d finish the journey regardless.

“If not, I’m hooking up a rope to my trailer and making a harness and I’m just going to start pulling it until I can find a sponsor. Because I can’t stop, I got to keep moving.”

His determination has started to produce results; he reportedly lost 60 pounds from the first two weeks of riding.

Time Magazine reports he has three goals: lose weight, repair his marriage, and gather enough material for a second book.

His first book was Everybody Loves Ramen, a humorous cookbook filled with recipes he collected from his college days all featuring ramen as the chief ingredient, including Easy Cheezy Ramen and Elvis’s Fav’ Gravy Ramen.

To document his new journey, Eric Hites started the website FatGuyAcrossAmerica.com. Although he has a long way to go, he’s already inspiring a few people, like Rob Purdy, owner of Newport Bicycle.

“It’s definitely inspiring. It seems like a really good cause.”

Hites told the Newport Daily News that about 800 other people are checking in on his journey over the Internet.

Eric’s father Dan is also standing behind his son.

“When he said he was going to do this, he was so determined… We’ve been praying about what was going to happen.”

According to Eric Hites’ mother, he’s always had a weight problem. When Eric graduated from high school, he weighed about 300 pounds, but could still reportedly run five miles without a problem.

The bicyclist says that a combination of too much soda and lack of exercise led him to nearly double that weight. He didn’t finish college, instead concentrating on a career as a D.J., where he stayed up late, smoked cigarettes, and drank more soda.

When Eric — who says he hadn’t ridden a bike in 30 years — started his cross-country trip, he expected it to last four months. Nevertheless, he’s already two months in, and still in Rhode Island.

Eric Hites is still determined to keep going, writing, “[B]y completing this ride I hope to encourage others to get up and get moving no matter their weight.”

[Image Credit: Getty Images]