Biking Update - July 11, 2009

This was both a good week for biking and not a great week for weight loss. I started off the week on Independence Day with a solo ride along the Stratford Shoreline and rode a new high of 25.3 miles. It was quite tiring, but quite satisfying. It is nothing like the 75 miles that Bowhunter rode on the Ididaride or the 100s of miles of the Great Divide Race, but it was my personal best. Then, on my birthday on Monday (July 6) I rode another 26.9 miles solo by the Stratford beaches. Finally, I rode up to Guys Night Out with Nick and CRChair. That is over 57 miles in a single week! Not bad.

But at the same time, on my birthday I took a "free day" and ate what I wanted. No sugar - despite early plans to have some ice cream - but I had potato chips for the first time since New Years (I think) and a good pasta dinner at Bertuccis. That caused a major spike in my weight that is clearly visible on the graph below, but the weight has been slowly coming back down over the course of the week. I am confident if I can keep up the riding that I'll be back down shortly. I also purchased a new stationary bike to replace the old Wal-Mart cheapo that I destroyed in a little under a year, which should help me to get a better workout on nights when I am not biking outside.

Biking Update - June 6, 2009

Not a bad week. While I did not reach a new low, I did make it back under 210 lbs and stayed there all week. And I reached 206.4 lbs which was my first measurement under 207 in several weeks. These are encouraging trends! And, as observed by may, some of my difficulty in making "significant" weight loss may be that I am on week 4 (almost week 5) of the 100 Push-Up Challenge which is building muscle. I am not used to having that particular problem. Most of my life, the issue has been shedding a surplus of fat cells.

But there was something new this week on the biking front. For the first time, I took a long solo ride along the beach in Stratford. For some reason, I have almost always gone out with a group - at least my brother. I did a few short rides near home, and a few in the winter in Cherry Hill and Delaware. But never a really long ride. Last Saturday, I rode over 20 miles on my folding bike alone. It was a very different experience. In most ways, it was very pleasant. No worrying about outpacing anyone else - or being outpaced by more experienced riders. No concerns about worrying about whether or not I was going too far or spending too much time. The downside was the nagging worry about what I'd do if I crashed, since there was no one to notice and render aid. But there was no crash, and honestly I was not all alone for much of the ride. Usually, there was someone else nearby in a car or on foot. So it was not a problem.

I also learned that a man on a bicycle can not outrun two little girls on a gas-powered scooter. :-)