Ups and Downs

I intended to ride to work on Friday.  I drove instead.  I intended to eat healthy this weekend.  I did not.  I had intended to ride to work tomorrow, but I know now that I won’t

The last few days have been bad.  I need to adjust my attitude so I can accomplish something.  I’ll leave that for Tuesday though.

Feeling Good

I feel good.  I rode into work today.  That’s three days this week, and I plan on riding tomorrow too.

My weight last night was 235.2 lbs.  That’s the lowest weight yet.  I’m halfway to my goal weight.  I’m not going to celebrate yet though.  I want to have a weekly average that puts me halfway to my goal before I bring out the fattening celebratory sweets.

In addition to riding my bike to work 3 to 4 days a week, I plan on a longer weekend ride at least once a month.  Last Sunday’s ride was very enjoyable.  Now that I know how far I can go, I can work on building that distance up.

126 Miles In Three Days

As I mentioned in my previous post, I rode 60 miles on Sunday.  I was sufficiently motivated to ride to work on Monday and Tuesday after that.  That totaled 126 miles.

I had planned on riding all week, but my legs are very sore.  I drove today, but I will be back on the bike tomorrow.  I won’t be riding this weekend, so I’ll be sure to ride to work both Thursday and Friday.

I bought fenders and new lights for my recumbent.  The lights came in yesterday, I’m expecting the fenders today.

The lights are incredibly bright.  I bought a 600L headlight and 140L taillight from Dinotte.

The fenders will keep the road grime off of me in bad weather, and the lights will make me more visible as my commute occurs in times with less daylight now.

I almost feel bad for not riding today.  The weather has been incredibly good for riding all week.  I hate to waste a day.  My legs really need the rest though.

Nice Sunday Ride

I planned out a 90-mile bike ride for Sunday.  I haven’t been riding enough, and figured this was one way to get back into it.

I didn’t complete the entire route.  I was out of steam at 60 miles.   A friend picked me up outside of Borden and drove me home.

I rode this route:

Download file: 2008-09-21.gpx

This ride was great, and has helped get out of my slump.  I was able to ride into work today also.

I did take some wonderful pictures along the way.

'bent
‘bent
green
green
turtle
turtle
hill
hill
whee!
whee!
cloud
cloud
rolling
rolling
horse
horse
creek
creek
fuzzy
fuzzy

Back In the Game

After roughly a week of really slacking off, I’m back.  I’m eating better, I rode to work today, and I intend to keep blogging, and weighing myself daily.

My commute into work today was a little nippy.  I need to buy some gloves.  There was more road debris to watch out for due to Sunday’s storm, but not a lot more.  Most of the tree branches have been pushed off of the road.

Weekly Average Weight for September 13, 2008

My average weight for the week ending 9/13/2008:
240.3 lbs

Up from last week:
3.0 lbs

Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
56.1 lbs

My average weight is back above 240.  It’s my fault.  I didn’t watch my eating while traveling.  I only rode my bike 12 miles in the last week.  I continued to eat poorly after getting home this weekend.  I didn’t control my eating again until today.

On the bright side, my power is back on at home, and I intend to ride to work in the morning.

I’ve Gained Weight

I don’t know how much weight I’ve gained.  My trip last week, and general laziness over the weekend has definitely put me off track.  I intended to ride my bike to work today, but yesterday’s windstorm made a mess of the roads.  I will ride tomorrow.

I’ve been overeating for almost a week.  I haven’t been on a bike ride in a week.  I haven’t rode to work in over a week.  I’ve got to get out of this rut.

Wind

I’ve been without power since noon on Sunday.  The remnants of hurricane Ike blew through… quite literally.  There was very little rain, but we had wind gusts of 80 MPH.

My back yard wasn't too bad
My back yard wasn’t too bad

My yard didn’t get it nearly as bad as some.

More of my back yard
More of my back yard

My neighbor two houses down got it worse.

My neighbor is a police officer.
My neighbor is a police officer.

At least it’s his work car.

This is the tree that fell on the car
This is the tree that fell on the car

He’ll still have to deal with this tree.

Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut

The local Pizza Hut had some roof damage.

 

My entire town is without power.  Many nearby areas don’t have power (including 60% of Louisville).  I’m only able to post this today, because I’m at work.

Traveling and Weight Loss

Obligations at work mean that I’m spending three days out of town this week.  I’m currently in Goshen, New York to work on a project.  My weight loss efforts are a lower priority for the rest of the week.  I got up at 3:30 A.M. today, took a 6:30 flight from Louisville to Newark, and traveled by car to here.

I worked all day today, then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  Now I’m back at the hotel, and getting ready to get some sleep.

There is a fitness center here at the hotel, but I packed light, and don’t have clothing to wear while exercising.  I thought about renting a bike, but exhaustion and time are problems.

I gave up tracking my calories for these few days, and don’t have a scale with me.  Oh well, I’ll be home late Friday, and I’ll get back into my routine.

Idiots

I only rode to work two days last week.  On Friday, I took a longer, hillier route home.  Most of the ride was enjoyable.

I did have a bad encounter on the ride home.  Some jackass threw a wooden plank out his car window at me.  It missed, and I noted the last part of the license plate number (couldn’t read the first part), and the make and model of the car.

Several minutes later, I saw the same car approaching from behind.  I stopped my bike in the middle of the lane, and got off the bike.  They stopped some distance away.  When traffic cleared, they gunned it and went around me.  I got a good look at them.  It was two young guys.

I called the police, waited around for the police to show up, and filed a complaint.  I have a feeling they aren’t going to pursue it at all.  They would if it were bricks being dropped from overpasses though.

I think they live near there.  I’m going to drive around down there.  If I find the car, I’ll leave a note on the windshield.  That might make them think twice about doing it again.

Back On the Bike

Yesterday was my first day back at work.  I intended to ride my bike.  Apparently I prefer sleeping over riding, as I overslept, and had to drive to work.  I felt like a lazy slob all day because of it.

I made up for it today.  I rode into to work this morning, and made good time.  I felt incredibly fast (although my bike computer said I averaged less than 17 MPH).  Some of it was good luck.  I didn’t hit many red lights.  Traffic was light.  The weather was wonderful.

I still have to ride home later.  It may rain.  The temperature will probably be in the 90s.

I hope to ride everyday the rest of the week.

Great Labor Day Riding

It’s Labor Day, so I didn’t have to work.  My daughter came over this morning, and we headed to Louisville for the Mayor’s Hike and Bike.

Lotsa bikes
Lotsa bikes

We only rode the short route, about 16 miles.  I saw several recumbent bikes, unfortunately, I was on my hybrid.

Lotsa people
Lotsa people

We rode with the last group.  It is the new & family group, the slowest, and the largest group.  I could have went with a faster group, but my daughter would have had trouble keeping up.  It was interesting to ride in this large of a group.  I did have to watch out for young ones weaving around though.  It was crowded.

After I got home, I really wanted to ride more.  So I hopped on my recumbent, and took a 14 mile ride in the country.   It was hilly, and the temperature is in the mid-90s, but I enjoyed the ride.

So I rode a total of 30 miles today.  That’s just a little less than when I commute to work.