Biking Update - August 16, 2008

Another good week of weight loss. It was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster because the graph was quite sawtoothed (down one day, up the next, then down again) but overall the trend was in the right direction, and I wound up at a new low since the start of the program. I don't have a lot of exciting examples to show off the weight loss, no new belts or major milestones or clothing changes. But it is still a good feeling to be moving in the right direction.

In the area of biking, however, we did have a major milestone. Last Saturday, I rode with CRChair, Nick, and Nora on the Larkin Bridle Trail, a biking, hiking, and horse riding trail that begins in Naugatuck and ends in Oxford. You may recall the last time we were on the trail, we got caught out in a storm that reminded us all of two things: Noah and how much we liked dry underwear. This time, it was a beautiful day with nary a cloud in the sky (which made the largely tree-shadowed trail even more pleasant). We even saw several groups of horse-riders who were amazed to see us dismount when they came near and pull off to the side of the trail. This, of course, is trail etiquette - apparently horses have a great fear of bike riders and have to be carefully calmed after seeing such a ferocious beast. We also spotted a snapping turtle and lots of wildlife just off the trail. The milestone mentioned earlier is that this time we rode the whole trail, from start to finish and back again. This was a ride of 17.4 miles, by my GPS, which is the longest ride we have done so far. This may bode well for Bowhunter's dream for next year to have us all come along on the Ididaride.

This next week may be a bit more dry on the bike-riding front. For her birthday, we're taking Shadowmom down to the Galloping Hill Inn in Union, NJ. Despite the name, it is a hot dog stand. It is a place that she used to frequent when she was dating our father, and full of good memories with good friends. We're planning to meet Ward and Muse (and La Bambina) down there, too, to get some good friend-time in. But it will rule out any trail-riding for the weekend. Which means, I will have to work hard to get in riding the rest of the week. Please keep praying that I stay on the "wagon" diet and exercise-wise. So far, so good, but I still have a ways to go before my goal.