My eating habits have been bad recently. Holidays don’t help, but it hasn’t just been the holidays. I’m considering tracking everything I eat again to find out where the problems are.
My weight has been holding steady around 260 to 262, but holding steady isn’t going to cut it. Nobody ever said this would be easy.
I convinced my daughter to take a ride with me on Saturday. We bought her a helmet, and I got a mirror and panniers for my bike.
We rode the Louisville Riverwalk, a (mostly) paved trail running along the Ohio River.
Our total round-trip ride was about 11 miles. My daughter hasn’t ridden much, and has mild asthma, so it was a leisurely pace. We both enjoyed the trip.
While walking across the Second Street Bridge this afternoon, I noticed a bicycle painted white, locked to the bridge. I took a picture with my phone:
You can’t make it out in the picture, but the sign mentions the cyclist who was hit and killed last year, and a website, ghostbikes.org.
Personally, I never ride in the road on the bridge. The lanes are too narrow, and traffic moves too fast, much faster than the 35mph speed limit.
I had planned to ride to work four days this week. My lack of planning is preventing me from riding tomorrow.
I had a flat tire on the way back to my car today. I don’t have any bike tools, nor do I have a spare tube. I walked my bike three miles back to my car. It really drove the point home about how much faster a bike is than walking.
I’ve wanted to get fenders and a rack put on my bike, so I dropped the bike off at the shop, and, hopefully, I can pick it up tomorrow, fixed, and improved. I’ll also have a few tools, and a spare tube.
I didn’t ride today. I had plans after work, and the weather didn’t look good.
Well, the weather looks much better for the rest of the week, and as of yet I don’t have any after-work plans. Maybe I’ll do my partial commute to work four days this week.
My blog has not actually gone dark. I’m still making progress. I’ve ridden about 18 miles in the last week. I’ve done a bunch of yard work. I’m getting exercise. I’m eating well, other than drinking too much beer.
My main problem is finding something of interest to write about. A lot of little things in our lives are unimportant to anyone else. Bloggers who are good writers can turn an otherwise boring story into something engaging. I cannot. I’m not much of a writer.
7:00 A.M.
I want to be lazy and drive all the way to work. Riding is too hard.
7:30 A.M.
I want to lose weight, so I guess I’ll load the bike on the car.
8:30 A.M.
Please don’t run me over. Please don’t run me over. Please don’t run me over.
11:00 A.M.
I need to have a better attitude about work before I really piss someone off.
5:45 P.M.
Downtown rush-hour traffic is awesome on a bike.
6:00 P.M.
Please don’t run me over. Please don’t run me over. Please don’t run me over.
7:30 P.M.
I enjoy doing dishes while listening to Puscifer. Yes, I think with hyperlinks, I am a web developer after all.
8:30 P.M.
I’m dreading weighing after eating too much, and drinking beer.
Today was the Democratic Primary here in Indiana. Apparently the Clinton campaigners decided that standing around on the bridge over the Ohio River (technically in Kentucky), would be a good way to get the attention of Indiana residents who commute to Louisville.
They were waving and yelling out to people stuck in traffic. I rode by on my bicycle and waved back at a couple of them. As I neared the end of the bridge, right at Main Street, an older woman yelled out “Hillary loves men on bicycles… and so do I!” I told myself “Pedal faster, fat man, pedal faster”.
I’m really beginning to enjoy my partial commute to work. I’ve done it both yesterday and today. I also did two days last week. That’s 28 miles of riding just for my partial commute. I won’t be doing it tomorrow, the weather isn’t cooperating, and my legs need a rest.
I also track my gas mileage, and the bicycle has made a difference. My average mileage is up because the part of my commute that I ride is the most congested part. I also have driven fewer miles per day with the partial commute, and made a few short trips around town on the bicycle.
Overall, my cost per day (in gasoline expenses only) went from $4.63 to $2.71. In addition, I don’t have to pay for parking when I ride.
I drive a small car that gets good mileage (currently averaging 33mpg), and I’ve cut my daily fuel expenses by around 40%. I find that amazing considering I’m not riding the whole way to work yet. We’ll see if the trend continues.
Today started wonderfully. I woke up in a good mood. The weather is perfect for a bike ride. I had a few things to do first.
I went to the bike shop, and bought a helmet. I’m old enough to know I’m not indestructible. The guy at the shop was helpful, and understood that I had never worn a bike helmet before.
I also bought a stereo receiver and speakers for my living room. I guess I’m an old fart. I just want good stereo speakers. I don’t want a surround sound thing. I got a decent receiver, and settled (temporarily) on some bookshelf speakers. I’ll probably replace them later with some big Cerwin-Vega speakers.
I got home, tested out the new electronics, then took my bike to the state park for a (mostly) traffic-free ride. The helmet didn’t bother me, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get into the ride. I only rode about 30 minutes before packing up and heading home.
Now I’m at home bored and somewhat depressed. I really don’t know why.
I may go out for another ride today. I will go out tomorrow. I will also do my partial commute at least three times next week.
I found a place to park that is 3.5 miles from work. The commute round-trip is now 7 miles. I also took a leisurely ride of 4 miles during my lunch break. I won’t be riding again until this weekend. My legs need a break.
I also really need a helmet, so I’ll buy one this weekend. I’m also planning a long ride this weekend. I’m going to explore the bike trails in Louisville.
I’m not sure how much of it is due to the riding, but my weight is down under 260. I weighed-in at 259.4lbs tonight. That’s a loss of 37lbs. I extremely pleased with that.
If you 100lbs or more overweight, you can do it too! Less than a year ago, I viewed this as impossible. Just set some realistic goals, and get busy.