I had errands to run after work, and my wife had plans for after that.

While at work, 40 balloons were delivered to my office.  Also came a vase of flowers – some of them daisies.  I was told it’s because I’m getting ready to “push up daisies”.  That seemed a bid morbid.  :)

I was expected to bring the balloons home.  I rode my bike to work, so yes, I rode through town with 40 balloons trailing behind me.  I got a lot of strange looks, a couple of honks, and one person yelled “happy birthday”.

I met up with my wife and daughter at Tony BoomBozz for pizza and beer.  I had a good day, but didn’t ride anywhere near 40 miles.

Nothing else is really worth writing about.  I ride a bike to work every day now.  I haven’t been losing weight.  I’ve dropped out of triathlon training.  I’m busy at times, depressed other times, just trying to do what needs to be done.

Blogging doesn’t need to be done.  It’s no longer a priority.  I’ll still post on the rare occasion, but it’ll probably be a while.

My wife bought me a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx GPS for my bike.  I’m happy with the device, but not with Garmin.

The device comes with a very basic map, no problem, I’ll spend $80 for a detailed map.  I chose the download option for instant gratification (my favorite type of gratification), and the website was so slow as to be unusable.  They already had my money, and the customer service department won’t be open until Monday.

In any case, the site seems to working now, and I’m attempting to download the map.  It’ll take a while, if it ever finishes….

I didn’t eat much today.  I didn’t see a point in a Christmas dinner when I’m the only one home.  I mostly just grazed on sandwiches, leftovers, and two snacks from the coffee shop.

Tim and I got out for a little ride this afternoon/evening.  We met at Heine Brothers at the loop, as that location was open most of the day.  Good for business, not so good for those poor souls that had to work on Christmas.

The picture to the right was taken on my way home after the ride.  No, that’s not my house.  I was just passing through the neighborhood.

Although my new GPS didn’t have a suitable map loaded, I had it mounted on the handlebars, and it tracked my route through town.  I was able to import my route into RideWithGPS, as seen below.

I drove to work on Wednesday and Thursday.  I was mad at myself for that.  I’m not gaining weight, but I’m not losing it either.  I didn’t work yesterday (Friday), nor did I get out on the bike.

I did pick up my daughter who had taken a bus from Michigan to Louisville.  I only spent a few hours with her before she headed off to spend time with her boyfriend.  I’ll see her briefly tomorrow before dropping her off at the bus station.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  My day was peaceful, if a bit lonely.

Candy is unsure

After riding my bike to work and back home, I needed to go to the grocery store.  I didn’t feel like riding, so I intended to drive.  Once I was standing next to my truck, keys in hand, I realized it was silly to drive.  The local Kroger is less than a mile away.  I didn’t need much, so I walked.

The sidewalks had been ice-covered a few days ago, but they seem to be clear now.  I bought what I needed and headed home just as it began snowing.  By the time I arrived home it was sleeting.

Raw-Food

While researching paleo-diet stuff (which I’m not doing right now), I came across raw-meat diet for pets.  Dogs and cats are carnivores, so I did a little reading and decided to give it a shot.

My finicky cat is not taking to it at all so far.  The dogs however, love it.  They’ve eaten pork ribs, eggs, and chicken legs.  I need to buy some organ meat to round out the diet.

I was buying some fairly expensive dog food before, so I may actually save money doing this.  You don’t have to buy expensive meat.  The cheap stuff is fine.  Watching a dog eat an egg can be funny.  Both of my dogs eventually eat the whole thing, shell and all.

The downside to this plan is that I’ll have to mop the kitchen floor much more often.

Sandy is being protective

Getting Up Early

I hate mornings.  Even if I go to bed early, I still really dislike getting up.

I need to start getting up earlier so I can train for the triathlon.  I’ve got a couple of weeks before I really start training, but I need to get up tomorrow and get down to the Y before work and work on my swimming.

Amazon Kindle

I already have a huge lack of free time, but I’ve purchased something to further eat into my time.  I bought an Amazon Kindle.

I love to read.  I hate taking the time to buy (or check out) a book, and I hate the clutter in my home.

Back in February, my daughter got a Nook.  I’m not sure how much she uses it, but I was intrigued.  I didn’t like the small touchscreen.  The Kindle has a keyboard.  I like buttons.

Although I will save time on buying books, the ease of buying them, will now cause me to read that much more.  I’m definitely going to have to control my eating.  Reading doesn’t really burn many calories.

My riding is down this week.  I’ve been busy, tired, and stressed.  I drove to work today, but brought my folding bike.  I’m giving blood tonight, and I’m going to ride down to avoid parking issues.

Edit:
I fixed a stupid typo above.

I did ride to donate blood.  I forgot to bring a lock with me, so I just wheeled the bike into the building.  They were okay with that, so it worked out alright.

I didn’t do much riding this weekend.  I rode with Tim for about ten miles on Saturday.  He let me borrow a single-speed road bike.  I’ve been wanting a nice, simple, cheap, single-speed bike for a while.  I found one on Craigslist, but it was too small.  Tim’s is almost big enough, but he’s not selling it.  I’m not crazy about the new ones out there.

I did visit Vic’s Classic Bikes today.  I put down a deposit on a new ride.  I’m still figuring out what components I want, but I picked out a frame and wheels.  I’ll do a big reveal once I receive the bike in a month or two, but yes, it will be a single-speed.  It’s wonderful to have a wife who is so supportive of my cycling.

We also spent hours today driving around Louisville looking at neighborhoods.  I’ve spent countless hours looking online for houses also.  Yes, we intend to move out of Charlestown.

One of the houses we are looking at would leave me with a 3.5 miles commute instead of 16.5 – 20.0 miles ride.  That might actually force me to take the long way to work occasionally.  It would eliminate the need for me to drive to work.  Even in snow, my LHT with studded tires would be fine.  I could walk if I needed to.

So, will I end up car-free?  Kristy will still drive.  We would probably go down to one vehicle instead of two.  That would be quite nice.  :)

I had been pushing myself to break a new record, and it just wasn’t fun anymore.  So, I didn’t ride, other than one trip to the pizza place and back.  I rode wearing normal clothes (it was a short ride), sandals (no clipless on the LHT), and <gasp!> with no helmet.  I actually intended to wear the helmet, but forgot it on the way out the door.  Once I was on the bike and realized it, and didn’t bother going back.

I did spend some time over the weekend getting a new home-theater PC up and running.  Now I can watch Doctor Who episodes (via iTunes) on the TV instead of the tiny laptop screen.

I also spent some time watching the TV.  I have a weird relationship with TV.  I hate the normal crap.  I don’t have cable.  I rarely watch TV, but then some particular show will come out that I’ll purchase on iTunes, and I’ll spend entirely too much time with it.  Right now, that would be season 5 of Doctor Who.

I’m back on the bike today.  I rode to work, with a full coffee pot strapped to the rear rack.  I need to buy a large thermos.

I’ve been unable to sleep much at all.  I ate very little yesterday, and limited myself to soup, ice cream, and popsicles today.

This damn bacteria set up shop in the back of my throat and is trying to poison me.  In addition, my own body is making me miserable while fighting the bacteria.

I felt better mentally after finding out that this was strep, and having a plan to get rid of it.  Now I’ve been suffering with it long enough that it’s affecting my mood badly.

The thought of riding my bike is comical.  I don’t even want to step outside.  Actually, I’d rather not be inside either.  I want to be able to sleep through this.

Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow, and I’ll quit whining.

I did visit a bike shop on Saturday, but I was just looking around.  I have done some walking.  ”Playing pedestrian” is a nice change of pace.

Kristy and I drove the rental car from Herndon to DC and back yesterday.  Parking in DC itself is crazy.  I would have rather been on a bike.

After eating entirely too much on Saturday and hating myself for it, I ate better yesterday.  It’s still early today, but I’m determined to get my eating back under control, whether or not I’m traveling.  I haven’t weighed myself since April 1st, and I’m a little scared to step on a scale again.  I will weigh myself on June 1st, but not before.

That said, I am enjoying playing tourist and spending time with my wife.  I fly out tomorrow morning, and will spending some time at the Detroit airport.  If I can avoid some of the food, and concentrate on just getting home, that will help.

Since I’m flying, I’m not bringing a bike, and probably won’t be riding.

I’m also horrible about maintaining my eating habits while travelling.  I may eat poorly, but I’ll have a good time.  :)

Marathon Winter Tire

I haven’t posted in two weeks.  What happened?

I’ve been busy.  Some of it was necessary, some of it was fun.  I’ve been riding, but not quite enough.  I’ve been following my paleodiet a bit better.  I’ve  been losing weight.

The RCCS had a another coffee ride last Sunday.  It was a lot of fun.  Due to scheduling issues, we didn’t have one today.

Tim got a new bike.  It’s a Kona Ute, a cargo bike.  I have no real need for a cargo bike.  If I get a trailer, I’ll have even less need for a cargo bike, but I really like his Ute.

My Daughter's Nook

My daughter got a Nook.  I got studded tires for my bike.  Winter still won’t go away.

A shifter on my new LHT broke.  On Your Left Cycles has ordered a new one for me, and fixed up the existing one well enough to have most of my gears.

I’ve order some slightly wider tires for my LHT.  I should have them by Wednesday.  There as wide as I dare go for enough clearance between tire and fender.  (42-622 Continental Contact).

I’ve been under a fair amount of stress.  I’m trying to teach my daughter to drive, but her attitude has made that difficult.

The stress makes me want to eat poorly.  I’ve been doing pretty good at avoiding that for the most part.

With my weight hovering right around 200 I’m trying to push it under that 200 lb mark.  I know that’s just an arbitrary number with no real meaning, but it does have a psychological meaning to me.  My goal weight of 175 is also just another arbitrary number.

Sandy letting me know she wants back in

I woke up this morning to several inches of snow, and it’s still coming down. My daughter’s school is closed. Many places are closed.

I haven’t been out yet to see the roads. There is a strong possibility I will stay indoors and drink coffee.

Michael in 2004

Michael was my little brother.  As we grew, that phrase became comical, as he got much bigger than I, in both height and weight.  We fought a lot, as brothers do, but mostly we just grew apart as we took very different paths in life.

His path led him to drugs and run-ins with the law.  He had recently gone clean due to health issues, and his new wife, Sondra, pushing him to clean up his act.

The two of them were homeless recently, but were staying with her family in Rochester Indiana.  I had no idea he was even in the area.

He had a seizure, and never came out of it.  Sondra called me, obviously shaken.  She doesn’t know how to handle the arrangements, neither do I.  As I write this, his body is in a hospital in Rochester.  I hope his spirit, soul, or whatever it is that makes us human is at peace.

Mike and I in 1986

Tasty!

I met up with five others today for the Ghost Bike Memorial Ride.  It was a cold day for a ride, but I was dressed well enough.  After the ride, Tim and I continued on for a few more miles (after a stop for coffee) bringing the total to 19.

After arriving home I cooked a nice healthy meal of chicken tenderloin with red pepper (I overdid the red pepper), brussells sprouts, and a bottle of Schlafly’s Coffee Stout.  Thanks Tim!

The week starting on the 12th was a little crazier.  I still managed to ride to work and back 3 days.

Why could this affect my riding?

• I spend an extra 1.5 hours per day commuting when I ride
• I have less physical energy
• I have less mental energy after an extended amount of bicycle commuting
• I need more sleep when I ride a lot
• My weekends have been busy with personal errands and tasks (such as moving Kristy’s stuff into the house)

This past week, I had enough, and I was exhausted.  I still rode on Tuesday, but that was it.  I paid $8.75 per day to park for 4 days, and drove my truck.

I’ve been so busy, I’ve been running and doing something from the moment I wake up, until I get to sleep at night.  Some of it is work, some of it is moving Kristy’s stuff, some of it is normal domestic crap.  Oh, yeah, Kristy is out of town, so she’s not here to help.  I’m not blaming her, she wishes she could be here.  I also have my younger teenage daughter living here and increasing the stress level.

On Monday I applied a software update that has led to a work-week-long pain in the @ss.  This coincided with two other screw-ups (one of which is partially my fault).

On top of this, I had to come up with a fat chunk of money for a lawyer.  I’ve got some legal issues to deal with.  It’s just a “family law” matter, nobody is in trouble or anything. 

So, it’s late on a Friday night.  I can’t mentally let go of the issues at work, so I can’t sleep.  I can’t fix the issues at work until at least Monday.  I have to get up early tomorrow to finish up at Kristy’s old apartment.

On the bright side, I will be done at the apartment tomorrow.  I’m going to try for a bike ride on Sunday.  I think I’m going to get back on the bike for full-time commuting again on Monday.

I don’t know who said it, but the phrase “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” applies perfectly.

Wish me luck!

I was unable to borrow or rent a bike  for this trip, but I will be a pedestrian and enjoy the Riverwalk.

After deciding to sell the recumbent, then changing my mind, I did ride it to work today.  I’m still suffering knee pain while riding it.  There are no big hills on my commute, maybe something needs adjusting.

My 17-year old daughter is moving back in with me.  She has lived with her mother since the divorce, but she’d rather take her senior year of high-school here rather than in Michigan.  I’ll be driving up there on Sunday to move her.

I’m still eating too much.  After two decent days, today was over 4000 calories.

There has been so much for Kristy and I to do to prepare for our wedding next month.  Life is a little crazy.  I’m spending a couple of days at her house this weekend (before the Michigan trip).

Kristy is spending another week out of town later this month.  I’m attending a conference in San Antonio at the same time, but Kristy will be on the east coast.

I’ve been up to late almost every night this week just getting stuff done.  Today it was housework and packing for spending the weekend with Kristy.  It’s been really hard to focus on my weight loss while this busy and somewhat stressed out.

I’m going to ride my bike to work tomorrow, and leave my laptop at home.  Yes, I use a computer all day at work, but without my personal laptop, I won’t be checking my email and reading bike-related stuff during breaks.

I’m not giving up on this blog or on weight loss, just taking a break from the “connected” lifestyle.

I have tomorrow off, and I’m picking Kristy up at the airport.  She’s been away for three months, and it’ll be great to see her again… and that is a major understatement.

We’ll be spending the weekend together, even on Sunday when I’m going on the RCCS ride.  She’s not riding, but she’ll be driving as a “support” vehicle.

I took a little bit of an alternate route to work.  I rode a slower pace along the river.  It did add about a mile to my route.  It was a beautiful day.

I also took advantage of the weather during lunch, and two of us went on a lunch ride.

I almost bailed out of riding home, and asked for a ride home.  I was in a fair amount of pain.  I rode home anyway, and I’m glad I did.

I felt strong and fast on the way home, then realized there was a tailwind.

One of the churches along the way was hosting a blood drive.  I hadn’t given since October, so I stopped in.  I’ve rode after donating before, and it’s never been a problem.  It wasn’t a problem this time either.

As my commute home was nearing an end, I spotted something on the side of the road.  It could have been a cell phone in a carrying case.  I turned around.  As I got closer it looked more like pepper spray in a carrying case.  I picked it up, it was a small LED flashlight.

I never really imagined myself picking up and keeping objects on the side of the road, but I can always use another flashlight, and if I didn’t pick it up, it would probably just remain more debris on the side of the road.

My average monthly weight was 203.3 lbs, or a loss of 3.3 lbs from April.  I’ve made up for April’s gain, and then some.  My daily weight has dropped below 200 lbs for three days in a row.

Mileage

May mileage is improved.  I’m driving less and riding more.  I wasn’t tracking mileage by month last year, but May 2009 could be the most miles in a month for me.

Health

It turns out I have arthritis in my right shoulder.  I probably injured it years ago, and just don’t remember it.  Most of the medication I have been given for it didn’t do much, and had side effects, so I’m no longer taking medication for it.  I have been doing strength training for my upper body with a personal trainer.  This has been helping my shoulder, and is good for the general fitness also.

Personal

Kristy is still too far away.  I’ve been focusing on bikes, cooking, and diet to keep the loneliness away.  Kristy sent a picture, and gave me permission to post this one. 

I’ve been recruiting some co-workers to go on a bike ride during lunch.  Several people keep a bike at work, and we ride along the riverwalk during lunch.  We ride slow, and it’s not a long ride, but it helps break the day up and clear the mind.

My average monthly weight was 206.6 lbs, or a gain of 2.0 lbs from March.  I had been gaining in late March and early April.  I’m fairly confident that May will show some more loss.  I haven’t weighed under 200 lbs yet, but I’ve been very close, and it’s a bit frustrating.

Mileage

My bike miles are still low, and I still drive too much.  I don’t think it’s going to be possible to hit my 5000 bike miles for the year.  April’s car miles are lower only because I went two weeks without a car.

Health

My blood pressure is excellent, my cholesterol is good.  I’ve been seeing a doctor for some severe shoulder pain.  I still don’t know what’s causing it, but I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow.  Maybe that will clear things up.  Some of the medication I have been taking has drained my energy, and made it difficult to ride to work recently.

Personal

As I blogged about before, I’m engaged to Kristy, and will be getting married this September.

I haven’t ridden to work since buying my truck, but I have taken some evening rides.  I’m also trying to get  a co-worker interested in riding.  He’s going to bring his bike over this weekend for adjusting, and we hope to meet up on Tuesday for a partial commute into work.

I had hoped to ride to work today, but woke up late, and really sore, so I’m driving.

As many of you know, Kristy lives 90 miles from me.  She’s currently much further away than that for work.  Initially she was going to be gone for one month, now it’s been extended to three months.

I need to drive to her apartment and grab some stuff to ship to her.  I would say more, but she’s sensitve to information about her being posted on the web.  She did tell me last night, that she’ll send a picture that I can post.  I’m still waiting to receive it.

What I can say, is that I asked her to be my wife, my bride, the woman I spend the rest of my life with.  That wonderful woman said “yes”!

Both of us have some craziness in our lives right now, so we haven’t nailed down a date.

It’ll be interesting to mesh our lives together, and challenging to continue losing weight, as she’s a great cook!

I’ve been walking on air for a few days because of this.  I really feel good.  I’m trying to channel this “excited energy” into riding my bike… as that’s still my only form of transportation.

Which, by the way, I had an appointment with my doctor after work today.  I had to ride there in the rain.  I arrived wet on the outside due to rain, and wet on the inside due to exertion.  It certainly wasn’t  my favorite visit to the doctor.

I made a short detour on the way back to stop at a beach on Lake Michigan.  It was cold and windy, but it was nice to watch the waves for a while.  Walking along the sand, and climbing the rocks was fun too.  Kristy has spent time on coasts before, but never at one of the Great Lakes.

I didn’t have a camera with me, but I could have had some great pictures.

My weight loss is doing poorly.  I’m overeating and riding too little.  I really need to work harder on that.

She was concerned about this website, and how public I am about my life.  I have agreed to keep that part of my life out of here, but I did want to let people know I am writing less often (and riding less often) because I found other things to do.

I still plan to continue riding and losing weight.  After all, I’d like to get myself into good shape, and stay that way for my health, and for her.

Some other aspects of my life will be improved now.  I may do some home and car repairs that I’ve put off for a while.  She lives some distance away, and my car has a few issues.  My house has some minor issues that I haven’t fixed, and it makes me look lazy.

So, don’t expect to see much about her on here.  I just wanted to let people know that my less frequent postings are not a bad sign.

This morning, I can hear the wind howling outside.  Not ideal weather for a ride.  I also woke up late.  Apparently I had a brief power outage overnight, and my alarm clock didn’t go off.  The alarm on my cell phone did go off, but it took it almost 2 hours to wake me up.

I’m happy and in a good mood despite these setbacks, mostly because new possibilities seem to have opened up.

My boss got a call about the problem, and tried to call me.  I didn’t hear my phone in my trunk bag over the traffic noise.

Luckily, I only rode a partial commute today, so 20 minutes later, I was at my car, and noticed the missed call and voicemail.  A quick call back to work determined that the best course of action was to continue home, then fix the issue remotely.

If I had ridden the entire distance (which I considered this morning), it would have been an additonal hour of downtime, at least.

How do other bicycle commuters handle this?  Especially if you have a longer commute like mine?

The headwind was strong, but for such a short ride it wasn’t a big deal.  I had to ride back across the bridge and back at lunch time.  The northbound trip was fast and fun with the tailwind.

At the end of the day, the wind was stronger.  It was a tailwind, but it was strong enough to be frightening.  I could accelerate easily without pedaling.  While stopped at a light behind a truck, I watched the wind yank a plastic vent off of the truck.  I was a bit worried the guy driving the truck would think I did something.

I managed four bridge-crossings with barely any rain while I was out.  That worked out well.

What didn’t work out well, is I came home to a house with no power again.  Apparently the wind took some power lines down somewhere.

It was reasonably warm, so I stayed home in my dark house.  I cooked on the grill, and went to bed early.

I still didn’t have power this morning, and didn’t ride as the wind was still howling quite a bit when I got up at 5:00 a.m.

I haven’t been riding as much as I would like, but my weight loss is still progressing nicely.  Today’s weigh-in was 207 lbs.  I have lost 89.4 lbs.

There is still going to be some nice warm weather for commuting, but I’ll probably get wet.

I’ve lived in the area for eight years, but being divorced, and having no family in the area, I had been feeling rather alone.  I think events of the last couple of weeks have fixed that.  Thanks guys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCJsEjxcuq4

I’m not saying we need to stop people from driving cars.  I believe we need to change peoples’ attitudes about driving.

Would my 35 MPH speed limit idea help?

Here are the before and after pictures.

I have no idea how many calories that burned, but it felt good to do it all with my own work.  Much like the first time I rode my bike all the way to work.

I still have more limbs to carry from the back and side yard and I’ll have to have a tree service come in to do some work that I’m not comfortable with, but my driveway is clear now.

I cooked dinner on my gas grill, but my house continued to get colder.

Although my laptop has a battery, my cable modem and router do not.  So I didn’t have internet access to keep me occupied.

I took a short bike ride, which was probably a bad idea.  The roads were a mess, and my brakes and derailleur iced up.  I got back home safely, but I have a new respect for those that ride to work in snowy/icy conditions.

I’m staying the night at a friend’s house.  He came and picked me up in his four-wheel drive truck.  The drive would have been dicey in my car.  It’s warm here, and I have internet access.  I’ll be back home in the morning, and will hopefully have power by then.

Due to disruption of my routine, I didn’t weigh-in this morning.  If it’s still cold at my house in the morning, I won’t weigh-in tomorrow either.

I’m not entirely sure what my work plans are for tomorrow.  I went to work on Tuesday, when many others didn’t.  I skipped today, as I was unable to even get my car out of the garage for most of the day, and I’m still not sure I can get it through my neighborhood without getting stuck.

If the roads are passable, but my power is still out, I may go into work just to be warm.  If my power is on, I’ll probably stay home, and catch up on sleeping.  I also desperately need a shower. 

Both Duke Energy here in Indiana, and LG&E in Louisville say it could be this weekend before all power is restored.  I’m seriously beginning to consider an alternate heating source for times like this.

So, I now have a stove and refrigerator that are less than a year old, but no TV.

I had bought the TV after she moved out and took the old one with her.  It was important to me at the time, as I had an elliptical, and wanted to watch TV to keep my mind occupied.

I no longer have the elliptical, and time I spend time watching TV is generally wasted time.

I still have my laptop with iTunes on it, so I can continue watching a few TV shows.  At some point in the future I will probably buy another (bigger) TV, but I’m in no hurry.

That’s changing tomorrow.  The two of  them are packing and moving 300 miles away.  I’ll still visit when I can, and my daughter will probably spend quite a bit of the summer here, but my family, as I’ve known it, is changing.

My daughter is 17.  She’s at the age where she wants freedom from her parents, but has no idea what that really entails.  I have a feeling that her and I will grow more distant for a few years, until she has a family of her own.

When I began living alone, I was extremely lonely.  I have since adjusted, and having the two of them nearby to visit was a big help.  It was an even bigger help that they would go home and leave me alone.    I won’t have them nearby anymore.

I have no family in the area now.  I have only a few friends.  I have no real ties to any particular city.  I like Louisville, and I like my current job, so I have no plans to move.  If I did move, it would be somewhere else without family, because I’d like to move somewhere west of here, and most of my family is in Michigan.

On the plus side, I won’t be going out to eat with them anymore, so it should be easier to control my eating.  I also feel I’ll be able to move forward with my life.  I don’t know exactly what I want out of life.  I have a variety of ideas, but some of them are in conflict with each other.

Whatever path I choose, it will involve getting fit, staying fit, riding a bike, and doing my best to improve myself as a human being.

I was driving up Highway 62 at 50 MPH – 5 MPH under the speed limit – and I was being tailgated by a pickup truck.  Traffic was light, it’s a 4-lane highway, and this guy couldn’t figure out to go around.

I ignored him, as I usually do.  He didn’t do anything aggressive, but didn’t back off either.  He continued for almost two miles.  At that point there was a police officer turning around in the road.  The officer started to pass us, then slowed and pulled behind the truck, and pulled him over.

It’s possible the guy had no license plate, or a light out, but odds are that he was pulled over for tailgating.  If so, that is the first time I’ve seen that happen, and I hope it continues.

I would have loved to stick around and listen to the conversation…

driver: “…but he wasn’t going the speed limit”

officer: “It’s an upper limit, not a lower limit.”

Other than that my weekend was spent indoors at home.  I had plenty of housework and other tasks to keep me busy.  I also managed to get some computer stuff done that I needed to.  However, I ate too much, and didn’t ride my bike at all.  Then I was up too late last night, and didn’t get up early enough to ride today.

My weight has been climbing for the last few days.  The weather doesn’t look good for riding for the rest of this work week, so I may have to spend some time working on sit-ups and push-ups.

I’ve ridden my hybrid bike 150 miles in the last five days.  I rode to work all three workdays this week, and every commute was great, except the ride home today, which I really did not enjoy.

I’ve ridden my two bikes a combined distance of 2238 miles for the year.  Next year, my goal is ride at least 5000 miles, and drive less than 3500.  That will mean riding to work nearly every day.

I was going to go on another midnight ride tonight to ring in the new year, but I had a rough ride home, so I’m going to sit with my dogs, watch The Dark Knight, and eat popcorn.  Then I’ll get to bed.  I won’t be drinking tonight.

Happy New Year!

I intend to ride a short ride around town before riding to her house for dinner.

My weight was 221.4 lbs this morning.  It seems to be stuck there again.  I didn’t weigh-in on Christmas of last year, but based upon other days it appears I weighed about 274 lbs.  So I’m down over 50 lbs in a year.  I’m hoping to be at my goal weight by next Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Once I get some sleep, I’m going on  a Christmas ride around town.  Nothing too long, just a ride on my recumbent decorated with Christmas lights.  If I had a Santa hat I’d put it on my helmet, but I don’t.

My diet for the last few days has been pretty good.  I think my Christmas dinner will be small this year, so I’m not worried about diet.

I am worried about not riding my bike enough.  I’ve been suffering from the normal holiday blues, and it is affecting my ability to get motivated.

I didn’t intend to make this such a negative post.  I will enjoy the day, I hope you do too.

Merry Christmas!

I drove to work today because we are under a winter storm warning.  I’ve been thinking about my bikes all day.  I know how often I have to ride to work to make my mileage goal for next year.

I can list off anything I’ve eaten in recent history, again because of my spreadsheet.

I’ve probably changed my perception of myself from “fat guy” to “weirdo on a bike who is OCD about tracking things in a spreadsheet”.  How far is too far?  More importantly, what comes next?

I will reach my goal weight sometime in 2009.  I know I have to maintain, but it won’t require as much work.  I will continue to ride a bike as much as possible (I want 5000 miles for next year).

What will be my next big goal?  I need to find something to achieve, or I will feel lost.  Maintaining the goal weight isn’t enough.  It’s got to be something different.

I have some other goals in mind.

• Learn to ride a unicycle (next year)
• Be car-free (three years away)
• Either fix-up my house, or move (three years away)
• Meet a woman crazy enough to like my lifestyle (never?)
• Ride a several hundred mile multi-day tour (next year?)

Those are neat ideas, but it doesn’t solve what to focus on.

Mostly, I feel a little lost.  I think people that know me are tired of hearing about my weight loss or bike rides (blog readers don’t count… they just leave when they tire of it).  I really don’t have other things to talk about now.  My life has been consumed with these matters recently.

I’ve actually remained friends with my wife throughout this.  The weirdest part was friends (and family) who wanted to take sides.  There were no sides.   Things just didn’t work anymore.

Yesterday I got the final papers in the mail.  The divorce is final.  The marriage has officially come to an end.  We were married for over 13 years.  I don’t regret any of it, but it was time to move on.

My divorce was unrelated to my weight loss, however, the overall life change intertwined a bit.  Here’s a rough timeline:

• October 2007: My weight was nearly 300 lbs.  I got serious about weight loss, bought a scale, and started changing my eating habits.
• November 2007: I bought an elliptical for exercise.  I started this blog to document my progress, and publicly humiliate myself to lose weight.
• December 2007: My wife and I decided so split up, and continue on with our lives without each other.
• January 2008: My weight dropped below 270 lbs.
• February 2008: My wife found an apartment, and I helped her move.
• March – April 2008: I struggled with my weight, depression, and loneliness.  I gave up consulting work for a full-time job.  I spent a bunch of money to feel better.  I bought new furniture and my first HDTV.
• Late April 2008: I bought a bicycle.
• May 2008: My weight dropped below 260 lbs.  I started commuting to work on my bicycle on an (ir)regular basis.
• July 2008: I bought my recumbent bike.  I received some minor fame from WAVE3 TV.
• August 2008: My weight dropped below 240 lbs.  My wife and I actually got around to filing for divorce.  I started considering a car-free existence in the future.
• September 2008: I rode a 60 mile ride.
• November 2008: I changed jobs to work with less stress.

Now it’s December.  I am glad the divorce is over, but my emotions over the whole thing are rather weird.

I truly enjoy my new job, but I do fear I won’t handle some of the bigger challenges I face there.

I haven’t been riding enough, and I’ve been eating too much too often.   I’m still losing weight, but at a slower rate.  I didn’t ride to work today as planned, but it was because I overslept (again).  I need to get better about that.

I rode a partial-commute (12 mile round trip) today.  With my new winter gear, I was actually overdressed.  When I left work, I went with one layer less.  I was still overdressed.  I should have checked the weather forecast.

I also ran some errands here around town after I got home.  I park my bike in the grocery store now, but don’t walk around with it, and they seem to be okay with that.

I had a really good riding weekend, and I rode today.  The weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday doesn’t look so good, so I’m not riding.  I’ll get back on the bike on Thursday.

Car-Free

In my previous post, I talk about a future where I am car-free.  I got some comments about that.  It’s not easy, and it’s not for everyone.  I’m not sure it’s for me.  It is a long-term goal I want to work toward.  I probably will have to sell my house and move to make it work.  However, I’ll worry about that later.

Blogging

While on my ride with Tim yesterday, he said that someone else said that blogging is a bit narcissistic.  I guess it can be.  However, I believe Tim and I share the view that writing about what we do (cycling for him, cycling and weight loss for me) is good for others that read the blog.

If I wouldn’t have found some of the other cycling blogs out there, I probably would have never taken my bike into the street.  I certainly wouldn’t have bought a recumbent.  A blog (even a silly one like this one) can inspire someone to change something in their life.

I do know that my posting frequency has gone way up.  However, I don’t think the quality of my writing has.  I’m taking a few days before I post again.  I will keep updating my weigh-in, and respond to comments.

Progress

My weight this morning was 225.8 lbs.  That’s the lowest yet.  It’s probably a temporary dip from yesterday’s ride, but I’ll take it.  I have been eating better over the last few days.  I even went out to eat at Panera Bread and was sane with what I ordered.  I’m cooking tonight.  I’m having a small piece of steak, and brussels sprouts.

Work

My new job is much different than any I’ve had before.  It’s a neat atmosphere to work in.  I do have to dress better, but that’s easier now that I don’t weight 300 lbs.  I will have to be there at 5:30 Wednesday morning for a software roll-out, but that’s a rare thing.  My normal hours are 8:30ish to 5:30ish.

It hasn’t just changed my physical condition, that’s still a work in progress.  It has changed how I feel about a variety of things.  It has helped me to realize that I don’t have to be “the out of shape fat guy”.  I can ride 60 miles in a day.  I realize that when properly prepared, a little weather is not a big deal.

I am working toward being car-free.  It will be a few years, but I will get there.  However, the way that I drive now has been affected by bicycling.  I’m more cautious.  I drive under the speed limit most of the time.  I’m never in a hurry when behind the wheel anymore.  It’s not worth the stress or the risk.

There are a number of ideas thrown around by bicyclists to get laws changed, from the good ideas, to unworkable ideas such as banning cars.

I have an idea.  It’s unworkable, but let’s pretend it’s not.

• Maximum speed limit: 35 MPH (other than interstates)
• Residential speed limit: 20 MPH
• Speeding – first offense: large fine
• Speeding – second offense: loss of driving privileges for 5 years
• Reckless driving or driving without a license – jail and loss of driving privileges for life

I would assume that most people reading this think I’m off of my rocker.  That’s not true.  This idea will not happen.  I don’t even think the level of federal government control required to pull it off nationwide would be a good idea, but think of the benefits.

• Fewer traffic deaths
• Better gas mileage
• Less stress while driving
• Less pollution
• Traffic control becomes less about revenue, and more about saving lives

Everyone I’ve talked to about this thinks it’s a bad idea.  Most people get angry.  Between my house and work, there is a nine-mile stretch of road with a 55 MPH speed limit.  If that stretch of road had a 35 MPH speed limit it would take less than five additional minutes to get to work.  If I average 25 MPH (including the stops through town) I can go the 16 miles to work in just over 38 minutes.

I do drive slower now.  I don’t drive 35 in a 55, that might be a bit extreme.  I drive 50 in a 55.  People pass me recklessly.  This is on a four-lane divided highway where passing is easy.  They get angry because I’m not “going the speed limit”.  Everyone seems to forget that it’s an upper limit, not a lower limit.

When I’m on a bike, travelling between 12 and 20 MPH they really get angry, even when I get out of the way when it’s safe to do so.

Last night I went out to dinner with my ex-wife and daughter, and my car broke down.  It’s in the shop now, but I still didn’t ride to work.  I got a ride from my ex-wife.

So, I’m three days into what was supposed to be a car-free week.  I drove my car briefly yesterday, and mooched rides from other people today.  I may take the bus from work to within nine miles of home tonight, then get a ride from there.

I should have my car tonight.  Tomorrow is my first day at a new job, so I’m going to drive.  I will ride to work and back on Friday though.