Month: July 2009

Happy

I’m still alive.  I took a break from posting.  Actually I took a break from quite a few things.  I haven’t stepped on a scale in a week.  I haven’t tracked my calories in almost two weeks.  I’ve been drinking beer again.

I took two vacation days from work, and had a four-day weekend and went to Parkersburg, West Virginia with Kristy and Dawn.  It had been 32 years since I was last in West Virginia, so I had little memory of it.

Parkersburg is an interesting town.  It has it’s issues, but I found one charming aspect.  People ride bikes there.  There are kids on BMX bikes all over town.  Adults were riding mountain bikes (most with disc brakes).  Nobody wore a helmet.  It was like the 80s all over again.  🙂

Kristy didn’t have a bike, so we brought both of mine with, plus Dawn’s.  We hauled three bikes there, and four back.  Kristy doesn’t like riding either of my bikes, so we bought one for her.  Her new bike is a Cannondale Adventure 5.  I also test rode a Surly LHT, and it even fit.  I don’t have the budget for that bike.  It’s been on my wish list for some time, and the reservations I’ve had about getting one are now settled.  I want it.  I just can’t have it now.

I didn’t get to ride nearly enough while I was there.  I did ride between the hotel room and her family’s house (about 2.5 miles) several times.  The three of us also went on a short ride around town.

I had to go back to work on Monday, and wasn’t able to ride because I didn’t get much sleep, and had to pick up my dogs from the vet where they were boarded.  I felt a strong need to ride.  My mental health was requiring it.

So, on Tuesday, I rode to work.  There was a chance of rain, but it only rained while I was at work.  The ride home was lovely also.

Today, Wednesday, was the opposite.  I got drenched in the morning, and in the afternoon, but it didn’t rain while I was at work.

I enjoyed riding in the rain.  Only the first few minutes of getting wet is uncomfortable.  Once you get totally wet, it doesn’t really matter anymore.  I’m riding again tomorrow, no matter what the weather.  I probably won’t ride on Friday, as Kristy will be here.

Back to my weight… I’m sure I’ve gained.  I don’t know how much.  I’m actually pretty happy with the way I feel this week.  I feel like I’ve developed the right mindset to ride much more often.  If I can keep riding, I will lose the weight.  Yes, I should get back on the scale.  Yes, I should eat better.  Yes I need to lay off the beer.

Maybe tomorrow.  🙂

Disconnecting?

I feel the need to use the computer less.  I’ve been feeling stressed, frazzled, and I just don’t have much time.

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.

Weekly Average Weight for July 18, 2009

My average weight for the week ending 7/18/2009:
204.2 lbs

Up from last week:
5.0 lbs

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

My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
4.42 lbs

Weight until goal:
29.2 lbs

Blah.  I gained 5 pounds in a week.  It’s true I haven’t been as careful with my eating.  I expected to gain a little, but not 5 pounds.

This next week will be a challenge.  I’ll be with Kristy and traveling.  I’ll need to have a little more self-control.

New One-Day Mileage Record

The RCCS had an 80-mile ride today, which would have been a new mileage record for me by itself, but I tried to take things even farther. I decided to ride the 20 miles to the ride, and the 20 miles back, for a total of 120 miles for the day. It didn’t quite work out that way.

The ride to Louisville started at 4:00 a.m. and was very peaceful. There is so little traffic anywhere at that time on a Saturday morning. Riding down Bardstown Rd. at about 5:30 was a completely different experience than it would be a few hours later.

I arrived at the ride start and met up with Leslie (from the last ride), Glen, and Tim. It was still dark and rather cool at 6:00 a.m. when we headed out. I was still feeling strong at this point even though I had put 20 miles in getting there.

I was riding Oria, my recumbent, and had an issue with the chain coming off and getting wedged between the small chain ring and the frame. I had to remove the chain ring to “unstick” it, then put the chain ring back on. This took up some of our time.

Along the route there was a road about a road closure, but we were on bikes, certainly it would be passable. It wasn’t, not even on foot. So we turned around and took an alternate route.

There was some climbing involved and I had packed a bit too much on my bike, the extra weight was hurting me on the climbs. As the ride went on, I was getting slower.

At some point it was decided to cut the ride a bit short. It turned out to be closer to 68 miles than 80. That was fine. It put me over 88 for the day, and I still had another 20 miles to get home. I was worrying about the ride home. I was considering riding to work and sleeping in my office first.

Tim offered to take me home, and I gratefully accepted. So my total mileage for the ride was 88.5, which is a new record for me. Next time I try to break 100 miles I’ll carry less weight on my bike.

Yo-Yo Weight

I haven’t been tracking my calories.  I haven’t been riding my bike to work recently.  I’ve been sick.  I’ve been skipping my daily weigh-in at times.  So what’s happened?  I’ve gained weight again.  I weigh the same now as I did five months ago.  My weight has bounced around a bit, but no lasting loss since February.  That’s really frustrating.

I want my goal weight to remain at 175 lbs, but that doesn’t seem achievable right now.

I’ve been sick for a couple of days including taking one day off of work.  I’m feeling better today, but I’m taking yet another day off of the bike just to be sure I’m over whatever this has been.

Sick Day

I had my bike packed last night for a ride into work today.  I woke up sick, and stayed home.

I haven’t eaten well today, but I haven’t eaten much either.  That coupled with not riding my bike has me feeling lazy.

On the positive side, I have some better tires ordered for Nermal and I’ve got my new hand-built front wheel to match the one in the rear.  I should be able to put it all together this weekend.

I’m also going on an early morning ride with Tim on Saturday, possibly 80 miles.

What Have I Been Doing?

Kristy came home on Friday.  I spent a lot of time with her.  She left on a plane again this morning, but she’ll be back on Sunday, so it’s just a few days this time rather than three months.

She tagged along for Sunday’s RCCS ride driving my truck as a “support vehicle”.  Mainly, she carried snacks and took pictures.  Tim’s write-up is here.

I didn’t post a weekly weight update, but basically I gained 0.1 lbs.  I haven’t weighed regularly and I’ve been eating more.  My next weekly weight will probably be up more.

I haven’t ridden a bike since Sunday, but I will be riding tomorrow.  I felt angry and depressed today, but I think it was the lack of bike riding, or exercise in general.  I felt much better today after my weight-lifting session.

I’m considering riding a century (100 miles) this Saturday.  I need the stress relief.  If I do it, it’ll be my longest ride yet.

If anyone else out there is interested in riding 100 miles starting early Saturday, and riding at a slow-ish pace, let me know.  I could organize a last minute RCCS ride.

It’s Going To Be An Interesting Few Days

My “mental funk” eased up a bit by Tuesday, and I rode to work and back.  Wednesday morning I had to force myself to get on the bike and ride to work.  By Wednesday afternoon I wasn’t feeling well, so I got a ride home at the end of the day.  I had to leave my bike (Oria) at work overnight.  I had to drive in today so that I could haul it home.

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.

Still In a Mental Funk

I hate it when this happens.  I have a lot of good things going on right now, but I’m depressed to the point of not being able to accomplish much.

I didn’t have the willpower to get out of bed early enough to ride to work, so I had to drive.  When I left work, I found out that they had increased the parking fee from $7.00 to $8.75.  Although that does give me more incentive to ride, it didn’t help my mood much.

My daughter and I went grocery shopping this evening.  I usually ride my bike, but I wanted to go to a different grocery store, so we drove.  It wasn’t all bad, we stopped for ice cream along the way.  I’ve eaten light all day today, other than the ice cream, so my total calorie consumption is only 1305.

I really need to figure out how to shake off this bad mood.  I feel that it affects my health, my job, and my relationships.

Lazy Weekend

I haven’t done much this weekend.  I now need to replace my lawnmower, so I didn’t finish the lawn.  I didn’t ride my bike at all over the weekend, but I don’t feel too bad about that, I did ride three full commutes to work, and two partial ones, for a total of 117 miles for the week.

I did do housework, cooking, and bike maintenance, so it wasn’t a total waste.

Despite a case of the “blahs” that made me want to consume large quantities of food, I actually ate pretty well.  I did have to keep reminding myself that I want to lose weight though.

Kristy will be back in town on Friday.  I’m taking that day off, so I have a four-day work-week.  I’m going to ride to work every day and try to keep my progress going.

Weekly Average Weight for July 4, 2009

My average weight for the week ending 7/4/2009:
199.1 lbs

Down from last week:
1.9 lbs

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

My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
4.77 lbs

Weight until goal:
24.1 lbs

Please Help the Cancer Patients

I’ve written before that I’m participating in The Ride to Conquer Cancer this September.  I’m trying to raise $3200 to benefit people in this community who need cancer treatment. 

When you donate, The Norton Cancer Institute can use the money immediately to help treat cancer patients.  Please be generous, and donate!

This fundraising project is a 150-mile 2-day bike ride from Louisville to Lexington and back.  I’m honored to be a part of it, but your donations are what really matters.

Month in Review – June 2009

On the heels of my record bike-miles week, I set a new record for the month also.

Month Bike Car
01-2009 277.8 678.0
02-2009 263.0 768.0
03-2009 192.4 1,995.0
04-2009 290.9 1,550.0
05-2009 452.0 1,087.0
06-2009 542.2 1,835.0

My car mileage is up, but I made a trip to Michigan, and two trips to the Danville area.  I didn’t track my bike mileage monthly until this year, and I believe I rode about 500 miles in August of last year, but at 542.2 miles, I’m calling June 2009 a record.

chart-month-2009-06My average weight for the month was 202.0 lbs.  I have been struggling with my weight recently, but I think the last month or so has been due to building muscle mass from more bike riding and weight lifting.

After over riding over 80 miles last weekend, I’m riding full commutes to work this week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  On Tuesday and Thursday, I’m doing a partial commute, and my weight training.  The commuting alone should bring me to 120 miles per week.