week before Christmas

and I am going to try again to get focused. I weighed in this morning at 250lbs. My Goal for sunday is 248lbs.

So far monday has been bad but I am looking to improve the rest of the day with P.T. I finally started doing as she asked (30 situps and 10 pushups last night) and I am looking to get on bike trainer also (Jen has the one who has been taking advantage of this tool but I need to also)

This weekend ended up a weekend of some mechanical woes... My car gave me a low coolandt warning but looks to have been fixed with $7 dollars worth of coolant. The bike on the otherhand had a more expensive issue *sigh* I cleaned spike and took her to the post office on Friday. When I got back I looked at the rear tire and thought to myself *WTF* as I could see the wires of the tire in the central tread. After calling around and checking online I ended up riding to midsouth motoplex in clarksville (15 miles at 50-60 mph speeds) and paying 170 for a tire (170 FOR A FRIGGING TIRE.... ONE.....ONE not four ONE) then paid 45 for it to be mounted and balanced. This was not me being ripped off though this is the standard price...... WALMART if you can hear me START DOING MOTORCYCLE TIRES only just to get the price down *LOL*.

Ok rant over... see you at 248 Sunday I hope

ps mountain bike still in for repair.... poor thing

Steve

Update on repairs of eaves

So I promised when we worked on the eaves I would paint and post. It took me a while but I have some progress shots. Bear in mind that only half has been painted and the other half is still in need and that this s only till ken can get out so we can put vinyl up on them.

Area 1 before work
Area 1 after repairs
Area 1 after painting
Area 2 Before work
Area 2 after repairs
Area 1 after painting

Other shots of work done

wow

Its been a while since I last posted. I am surprised how long. School is finished for me and its almost time to have a few weeks off. Weight has not moved much and I have probably gained 5 lbs but I am hoping to get it sorted and back on track finally.

As in my last post the only real fun I have been having is riding the motorcycle but I hope to get my ass back on bicycles too. The road bike is set up on the trainer and I want to ride it some, the mountain bike is currently in the shop getting repaired I hope. Since I bought it the gears have not been right and it would jump up and down any time I put pressure on them to get up a hill. It was mucho frustrating. On talking a day or so ago they are about to try changing out the cassette in their attempts to resolve the issue.

Last bit of news is that Jen has completed her Masters and is graduating tomorrow. As she had talked to her 'rents and they had said they would be here she is going to walk. Come 10am I will be cheering her on as she gets cloaked (damned Klingon technology - how come she gets it *LOL*). As it is chrimbo time we are going to try have a general get together to celebrate this at some point soon.

ok I hope to post more regularly so talk to you soonly.

Steve

Thoughts

Have you ever had those times where you don't know where the time goes and never seem to have time to do anything. I think I'm living that just now. Thankfully I am making time to ride the motorcycle and that is keeping me sane but hmmm there are other stuff that needs a doing. I think this is part of my issue with continuing on my journey. It is just easier to go out and eat when I get home at 7pm. The problem with that is I don't loose weight and, as this morning showed, my stomach gets very unhappy with me.

I think I have to make a new rule for my life. While unexpected things happen and while out and about I will probably eat out, when at home I am limiting myself to eating out for dinner no more than 1 time a week. I am doing this in the hopes that I will stop myself some times and minimize the cost and maximize the weight loss.

Wish me luck.

S

Biker Pic

Jens sister posted a couple of pics of our ride this weekend. Here is a copy of me on "Spike"

and Jen relaxing

More cycling goodness

Well we did more Motorcycling on Saturday. Instead of 300 miles in a weekend we did it all in one day. It was fun fun fun. We also met up with Jens sister for part of it. As a side note Lola has an injury (cracked headlight) but thankfully it looks to have been a minor flaw and is being covered under warranty and she will soon be good as new.

The route we took ended up being complicated to route so I am doing the out route followed by a map for our return home.

Here is out (NOTE: you have to view larger map as google refuses to show it in the little screen)


View Larger Map
and here is the return


View Larger Map

These are best estimations for the trip unfortunatly I am am not 100% sure but it is the general area *LOL*

Sunday we decided to do another form of 2 wheeled fun and took the mountain bikes to Rotary park. For the first time we did not take the repair kit and yup you guessed it, after 1 hour of riding it was called off due to a flat tire. We still had fun just it was cut short (man I have been of the cycles too long It felt HARD plus i am STILL having issues with the gears on my bike). As soon as I an I am going to have to take the bike in for gear work. I just wish they could fix this I am getting tired of it jumping every time I try to pedal.

EDIT: Mike joined us in Madison at Castle for most of the trip and thanks to his GPS he has sent me the route we took so I am editing the maps and you should now see an accurate representation of where we went. Thanks Mikey!!!!!

Weight

So I weighed Mmyself last week and I had went up to 250 WTH. I think college has me not caring about my weight and that's bad m'kay. This last week however I worked harder at watching what I eat and I weighed in at 246lbs. Its a step in the right direction but the damned 230s remain ever so elusive.

Official weigh in way at 8.30am and was 246lbs

Biking weekend

Ok this is a little late but we did our first rides on the motorcycle this weekend (Ok it was really last weekend but if this works right it will be dated the 8th *LOL*). Saturday we headed out and rode via Flealand in bowling green (really good indoor and outdoor flea market that I had been recommended for bike leathers and to which I ended up buying chaps, gloves and do-rags to complete my gear for the bike (pic to come soon hopefully), Once we left there we headed to mammoth cave and tried to meet up with Jens sister and her boyfriend (we failed to meet them unfortunatly) and stopped at the visitors center, had lunch and rode home. It took us 4 hours to get there 90 minutes to return *LOL*. AS Jen said I finally found my throttle *LOL*, for me I finally started to gain confidence.

Route as shown below (thanks google maps)


View Larger Map

Mike stayed the night and we relaxed had some pizza and watched some movies. Since he was there Sunday we decided to ride some more *LOL*. Not as much Sunday as we all had stuff to get done. LBL and back.


View Larger Map

Thoughts and updates

Ok I have had a bad month or more where I have not been focused at all on my weight and continuing my journey. I dunno why just haven't wanted to for some reason. I realised last night I have to give a damn. I WANT to get down more.

Weighed in this morning - 247lbs

Thankfully not to much damage but I need to focus. As part of my re focusing I have put all my foods in for the day (except dinner) at sparkpeople. This way I know what I am eating. Its also not easy just now in work. So far I have passed about 6 piles of help yourself candy and a tray of help yourself cupcakes. I have walked away from all. I hope to report next Monday a drop and that I am not just deluding myself again.

Peace out

Steve

New Addition

And without further delay I would like to introduce everyone to spike. Yeah it sounds like a guys name but she just has a cool nickname ok. Maybe one day I will tell you her real name.



This is a picture of her in the dealership and will keep everyone going till I can take pictures of her at home. Jen and I headed out and did a little bit of riding to get me used to her and it was fun. I hit 55mph on 101st and it was like I was hardly even moving. Very comfortable bike and if you look at the handlebars you will understand her nickname (more on other locations of the bike *LOL*). The bike is a Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Meanstreak and it makes me happy *LOL*

S

Apologies

Ok I have to apologise to Jen and to Lola. I will openly say that Lola is a kewl as hell motorbike and that it is perfect for Jen. It does not sound like a prius, with the choke out it it a growl and with choke in the bike literally purrs. This is a complement BTW Jen *LOL*. If there is any motorbike I would gladly follow it is Lola. (that plus it has the COOLEST design on any bikes I have looked at. The colors make it shine and complete the look of this bike. (stock photo below courtesy of Triumph) .

First of multiple updates.

Last week was just a crazy week for me. I had my mountain bike in getting some work done to it (it only has 2 rides on it) and they tweaked the gears a bit, had to straighten a tooth on the front crank that had bent I think when the chain seized and also had to totally replace the chain. I had to take it for a quick test and I think it is better now. While it was there Jen had them work onhers and increase the spacers on the handlebars to raise them. I am hoping that they will be happy bikes now.

Also had some sad news in that my direct boss passed away. He had blockage issues and had to have heart surgery and never really recovered. Its still a bit of a shock as I was still expecting him to come back. Most of the end of last week was taken up dealing with stuff around that.

Thats it for this post. I have two more to do for today so talk to you in a minute

Steve

Licensed to Ride

Well One weekend later and I am almost licensed to ride. I did the Motorcycle safety course this weekend and passed. It was a little cold but no rain the whole weekend and it was fun, fun, fun. I am going to go to the DMV tomorrow am and get my license changed to add it on and make me official. Till I can get a bike of my own I am going to have to talk nicely to that sweet, wonderful, intelligent, generous woman that I love so much (HI Jen - have I told you how wonderful you are *LOL* *hugggs*) to get some time with her super cool bike.

On the bike this weekend

Just not a person powered one *grin*. While Jen is in D.C visiting one of her history colleagues I will be taking the Motorcycle safety course in Nashville. I am hoping that I do well and get the certificate, either way I will let everyone know the results Sunday night.

It does however mean that I will not be getting any road or mountain biking in which does suck. Perhaps the weather will improve for next weekend and I can get out then. If only it was not getting dark earlier and earlier. In the meantime expect to see results next week from the bike trainer.

Talk to you soon.

Steve

More new clothes

So we headed to Kohls last night to see if we could pick up a couple of T-shirts I really liked and wanted more of. Unfortunately it looks like I have missed them and they have changed to winter clothes in the store. BUUUUUT and this is a big but, I did pick up a couple of jackets (buy one get one free) and I had to suffer with getting a medium sized jacket..... OH the burden of it people, I am having to buy large and medium clothes (yeah I know its probably just a big medium but I don't care its a MEDIUM!!!!)

Well that's all I wanted to tell you *grin*. Its the little things or in my case the littler things *LOL* that make your day. Ok I got to get back to work.

Laters S.

Weekend updates

Well weigh in for the week is 244lbs a loss of 2lbs which after some of the eating I am happy with. Coupled with this I have officially broke one of my goals which was to get out of the 40's for pant size. This message is brought to you today by a Steve in a pair of size 38 Jeans (courtesy of Old Navy who parted with them for a whopping 4 dollars after tax *LOL*) so this is officially a Red, Green and Blue letter week.

This weekend Jen and I headed off with the new tent and bikes to Montgomery Bell State Park. The goal was to see how well the new tent would cope with both of us in it and to take in some trails we had been told were really good for biking.

I was really surprised when it comes to the new tent Jen picked up. It looks small, it is small but it did fit both of us in it. The fact that we both slept about 8 hours ok wise is a testament to either us being tired or it being comfortable *LOL*. The major issue we think was using my CPAP in the tent as it created condensation in the tent and everything started getting damp. Also by the time 6am hit I was getting sore and could not stay in the tent any longer. I crawled out got dressed and dozed in the jeep till the sun came up and I could start a fire.

The funnest part of this weekend does have to go to the mountain biking. We had a blast (the whole weekend, camping, cooking out and biking was brilliant - Monty Bell campground is perfectly situated). On the Saturday after we set up we did the red route of the trails (see image below).

Image copied from Montgomery Bell trail pdf. All copyright the State of TN

Sunday we decided to do a longer route before heading home. Knowing that there was a downed tree towards the end of the trails we decided to do a route in reverse. We headed off down the blue route (intermediate trail) and rode that till we hit "4 Points Junction" on the map. From there we rode a little of the red trail till it hit marker 6 of the white trail and headed down that. This consisted of what is classed as the white pine trail and the storm track and of the 3 trails we had been on I think this was the coolest. We were unsure how long the rabbit run (white) was towards the end so we omitted it and returned back to the trail head and civilization. Totals for the weekend are a guess, but I think it is about 2 miles on Saturday and about 8 or 9 on the Sunday.

One good point is that we met a guy as we were packing the bikes up who we gave a copy of the map to and who told us about another trail near Columbia so we may be heading there to try it. Its a loop of 8 miles and starts at easy and builds up.

Steve in action

Its the same barn as Jens pic but from a different side and we have just returned to it from our route. It is me trying not to show my cheesy grin and look suave... I failed *LOL*

Jen in action

This is Jen next to an old barn in the middle of Rotary Park. We are about halfway into our ride and she is shiny, can you tell *grin*

Weight Update & Images of our bikes

Ok first off, it has been a rough 2-3 weeks for me in the weight department. I gained from 242 up to 245, then I gained from 245 up to 252 lbs. Last week I gained some of my focus (mojo) back and I weighed in Monday morning at 246 lbs. I am trying to get myself back to 242lbs this week and push to the 230's. Wish me luck.

On an update to our new mountain bikes. I have pulled images from the cannondale website for our 2 bikes. Please note that these images are the copyright of Cannondale and should not be used without proper credit (which I am doing for them right here). I will be posting more images that we have take but I need better lighting for the shots so will probably wait till the weekend.

Now That I have more details on the bikes I now present to you *drum roll*

Jens 2010 Cannondale F5


My 2009 F7 with CO2 Frame Technology

Mountain Biking

After Competing in the Dirt, Guts and Donuts race last month Jen and I where somewhat bitten by the mountain biking bug. I'm not saying that we are giving up road biking, rather that we are adding mountain biking to our repertoire. We had been looking for newer mountain bikes that were not walmart specials (read Heavy assed POS's) and after much looking, much test riding, we settled on Cannondales from the Bicycle Center in Clarksville TN.

Until I can get all the photos I want to post of our new acquisitions I am giving you a teaser in the form of the jigsaw print, this is the front of the top tube from Jens bike and as you will note they may be a little artsy (I decided to do something more than just straight forward photos of them, but that will come also.

As you might note from the print Jen got the Cannondale F5 and just so you know I got the little brother the Cannondale F7. When we finally picked my bike up Saturday we headed down to rotary park and ended up having about an hours fun on the new bikes. Its amazing what a decent mountain bike will do to you. For the full hour on this bike I had the cheesiest grin on my face and NOTHING could remove it, not even when I wiped out on a soft dried up stream bed (just dirt no damage, pedal sunk in about half of an inch). I got up dusted myself a bit laughed when Jen asked if I was ok and got back on the bike to catch up. This is a definite change from the race where I wanted to throw the POS target bike in the lake (might have been why I was going slow when I found Lisa in the water *LOL*).

All I can say is roll on the weekend, I have printed out the bike trails for Montgomery Bell park and if we can I hope to get out on the trails for a good amount of time. We are also hoping to try arrange a time to meet up with Scott et al. from work along with Lisa and get us all involved in some decent trail riding. Lisa if you see this I will make sure Scott pick trails away from water !!!

ERK just noticed its midnight. Time to hit the sack.

Night all

S

Short Ride

I had a short ride last night and although I did 5.02 miles I did not go anywhere *LOL*. Yes, I have finally set up the trainer and got myself on it to test. I have to say that it is weird weird weird, but I can see me doing it. I bought the Travel Trac Century Fluid trainer from Performance bike and I am happy enough with it. Once I have a couple of hundred miles on it I will post a more detailed report. Noise levels are minimal and I can hear the TV ok over it (my scenery)

Stats are : 5.02miles Distance, 21mins approx, 14.5mpg ave speed approx.

ok back to work for me

S

disposable technology = sandisk and toshiba suck

I don't normally post about technology on my blog but I felt I had to this one time. You see I'm a geek / nerd / whatever you want to call me. I work with computers, i fix computers and I play with computers. I have no fear of technology. I have to say however that the way companies seem to be putting quality control of their products on the customer sucks, actually it right royally sucks. The two examples I have are as follows.

The Sansa Sandisk E250 - I bought this in Feb 2008. I didn't really use it till I started cycling as the idea I had for it didn't pan out well. When I used it I realised that there was a static/ sound drop out at the headphone socket. After investigating online I find out that I am not alone and that this is a common issue with them, in fact it seems that Sandisk knows well about it and if you are in warranty they will fix but if you didn't realise in time then you are S.O.L. I opened this device up and resoldered the connector and I have (I think) removed the drop out issue for now, but static seems to remain (not major - the drop out of one ear was ANNOYING). I should not have had to do this, when enough units had this issue Sandisk should, like car manufacturers issue a recall and fix or replace the units. They did not.

Sandisk - you are on notice. I will no longer be buying your products, and as you can tell from this blog you will no longer be on my recommended suppliers list. This probably will not mean a lot to you, but I recommend technology to a LOT of people, you will be a manufacturer to avoid. Hell I even recommend the technology for my company. The same goes there.

My next gripe - The Toshiba M35X-S111, an older laptop we have had it for about 3 years now. The problem is once again Shoddy soldering on the motherboard (it has been relegated to an emergency, dire need backup). One of the pins of the power connector has a dry joint and as it was soldered with high temp soldering I have been unable to get a good solder joint. I am about to try again. We bought an extended warranty on this thing - extended to 2 years. Yup, you got it, 2 years one month later the fault appears and because of it the battery is now also shot. We ended up buying an HP to replace it. With the new HP we have had better luck. I used to recommend Toshiba's, you got it, no more. We even had the chance to get a Toshiba for a better deal, um no thanks.

Toshiba - you are on notice. I will no longer be buying your products, and as you can tell from this blog you also will no longer be on my recommended suppliers list.

I feel better for that. You don't need to tell me that this was a waste and they will never see this blog. Well it made me feel better, I have vented about it and it helps me. If the companies want to refute my claims they are more than welcome.

Have a nice day everyone I'm going to solder a Toshiba laptop AGAIN

EDIT: I called Toshiba as I came across a recall for batteries which included ours. Our battery did not have the serial number they wanted on it, because the serial number sticker was missing. After talking with the first line customer support my details were forwarded to the battery replacement team so they could investigate. 3 hours later I get a call asking for my address to send the battery, I mentioned the lack of sticker, he said they had a contingency for these situations and it was to send the battery. I still hate the fact the power adapter has a solder weakness but they are replacing a 5 year old battery free without me having to go through bells and whistles. I am impressed by their support team so have officially removed my notice above.

Weekend Update

After the evilness of the rich food and drink over this weekend Jen and I ended up getting out on Sunday for a 20 mile ride. It was fun and no real issues except we both realised it had been a while, for me my rear was just a little tender after it *LOL*.

Stats for the ride are:

• Total Distance: 19.54 miles
• Total Time: 1hr 27mins 54secs
• Ave Speed: 13.34 mph
• Ave Cadence: 66rpm
• Max Speed: 25.42mph

S.

working

Its been a busy week so far, I have not been able to get on the trainer or get out to ride. On a positive not I have been able to resolve and issue with my personal trainer (she was going to have to quit, but through arrangements she doesn't have to and I can continue with her which is good).

Food wise I have been maintaining an input level of about 1600-1700 calories for this week so we will see what happens weight wise. I feel as if I might be eating just a little too much but the scales should tell.

Posting will be scarce this weekend as we have Gabe, Em and Marina visiting so wooooooooo! (seriously its cool, Marina is from Sweden, we have a real live foreigner.....hmmm wait...... oh never mind *LOL*)

S.

Chapter 2 begins

Its been busy of recent and I have not been able to get much riding in (we did the rails to trails on Saturday but that is it). It has been so busy I have not even been able to pull out the trainer I bought. I have made it my goal to get this done so I can get my leg muscles back *LOL*.

For the last 5 days Jens cousin Ken and his wife Amy were visiting and Ken and I (more Ken) worked on the eaves problems we have. After the 5 days I am glad to report new wood has been installed and has also been pressure washed. I was going to post pictures but I have decided to wait. At the moment I have the start pictures, the in progress (needs painted but repaired) and as soon as I have it painted and pictures taken I will post the finished result.

Weight has fluctuated due to rich eating. Weigh in on Sunday was 245lbs but I hope to get it back off soon. Goal for end of year has now been set at 220lbs this gives me the ability to lose 2lbs a week with a couple of weeks to fix any gains or plateaus. Official date I am looking at this for is January 3rd (Sunday) To get to my Goal of 200lbs I am calling March 28th the goal date. The problems I foresee for these goals are as follows:-

• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas
• Jens Birthday
• New Year
• My Birthday

Basically multiple dates where I may end up eating or drinking badly. Probably should add this weekend also as we have Gabe, Em and Marina coming to visit. Looks like we have Jazz on the lawn and other activities in our future *LOL*. But you know that's why I build in a cushion to my weight loss. It allows me to have the occasional bad day then get back onto my normal eating. Without these occasional days I doubt I would have got to where I am today.

It may have been quiet on my Journey of recent but it is not at an end. I would say that now that I have reset my goals that Chapter two has officially started. I have the tools to continue this journey and its time for me to use them. Don't expect this to be quiet again, this blog gives me an output for my thoughts on my weight, my cycling and anything else I need it to be. It also pushes me to continue if I get lazy. Its out here for anyone to read but its also here for me to read and realise how far I have come.

Talk to Y'all soon.

S,

Dirt, Guts and Donuts

So we tried our first attempt at mountain biking this weekend. At the suggestion of Scott in work he thought it would be cool if we come out to Gallatin for the Dirt, Guts and Donuts race as it was a nice easy introduction and would be fun. Ok he got the fun part right and it probably means that we need new bikes but easy? Not a chance *LOL*.

First I talk about Jen - or as I like to call her, the mountain goat on wheels. First time out at a mountain bike race, riding a POS 45 - 50 dollar walmart special bike and she won the woman's division. I bow down to your mountainy might Jen *LOL*. From what I could tell she was stoked and had a hell of a time.

Me - that's a different Story. I did not finish. The thing is I went out to see if I would like mountain biking and to take it easy. As such I was in the situation that I came across the other Did Not Finish rider Lisa. The reason we did not finish? Lisa had ended up going off the trail heading down a 5-10ft embankment and dropped another 5-10ft into the lake, bike and all. I did not finish because it was only human nature to assist in getting Lisa , her bike and other gear out of the lake safely and making sure she was ok till people better trained than me could make it to the spot (I had called Jen and sent another rider behind me for help). The end result was that we both did not finish, the more important result for this situation is that Lisa, while a little sore is ok and did not require a visit to the hospital.

Ok time for me to hit the books
S.

Back on the bike

So here is yet another post, see told you I was slacking.

Over the last 2 weeks I have not worked out or rode the bike. I have missed it all! Last night we got on our bikes and rode to quiznos for dinner. All around we rode just under 11 miles and then I ate 800 calories of sandwhichy goodness. According to sparkpeople I burned 898 calories. That means I was negative for the ride, go me. *LOL* This ride made me realise how badly I had missed riding. As it moves into winter months I am only going to be able to ride outside on the weekends but I am also in the process of getting a trainer to allow me to work on my training at night. I will not fade back into the obesity I was dealing with. I will not fade into the night! Bring all that you can life because you know what? I'm ready for it all. Yeeeee and Haw.

I don't have access to the stats but will post them tonight. In related news I also have personal training for the first time in 3 weeks. I will not lie when I say I have slacked. I have the gear at home to work out but just cant motivate myself to use it *LOL* to much else around me to distract me (read clean, yard, wow, netflix).

Stats:

• Distance : 10.7 miles
• Time: 49min 26sec
• Ave speed: 12.99mph
• Ave Cadence: 53rpm
• Max Speed: 24.21mph
  
  Ok back to work.
  S

More posting goodness.

So as promised I and posting some more. Two things that I have that I feel are bolg worthy. First is that Jen got herself a motorcycle. Not just a motorcycle but a kick ass motorcycle. It is a Triumph 2010 Bonneville T100.

She had been looking at a couple of other bikes but of them all I personally think this is the best of the bunch. If they just made them like this in bicycles then man I would be set *LOL*. Here is a pic of Jen in action in the neighborhood. She has graduated out of it and has done a couple of 30-60 mile rides.

Other blogworthy news is that I nearly had my eyes pecked out Hitchcock "Birds" style. Well ok maybe not quite but I walked into our sun room and right outside the door perched on the handrail for the step were two of the biggest vultures I have ever seen (REALLY close up) they were sitting looking down at the gap under out sunroom where poor Marley (our cat) was hiding. Below is a picture of them on top of the neighbors roof after I scared them off (like I really could, think they wanted to move).

They were still around Monday morning but thankfully I haven't seen them today.

Ok time to move on. Laters folks.

S

Part one of Multiple posts

Ok this is just a quick weight update. I have other posts but they include pics which have not been off loaded from the memory card. I have really been slacking of late and hope that that will change for next month (although I did just start classes for my masters *LOL*)

Weigh in last Saturday - 22nd Aug - 244.5 lbs

I had some eating issues *LOL* and I gained a bit back the next two days but on weigh in this Sunday:

Weigh in Sunday 30th at 8am :- 244 lbs

I have officially reached my dragon con goal and passed it 2 weeks early. My immediate goal for next weekend is to try stay as close to maintaining the weight (Its dragon Con home of multiple bad things) and not gain.

New long term goals will be discussed after dragon con.

Me Update

Hi all. Noticed I have not updated in a little bit. Sorry but life has just been way too hectic. I did get a bike ride last Saturday but it was just a relaxed 10 mile ride at the Chickamauga battlefield in Chattanooga, this was part of our general camping trip that went swimmingly although only 4 people in total were there (5 on Saturday when Mike showed up) consisting of Gabe, Em, Jen and I so we made the most of it and had a blast.

I hope to get back to normal sometime soon but work is hectic at the moment due to an illness and it means I am lucky if I get to sit long enough to gather my thoughts. It also means that by the time I get home I am pretty much exhausted.

I neglected to update my weight Monday as I weighed in. Weight at 6am Monday 17th was 250 lbs a loss this week of 5lbs.

ok sleep time laters

Weight and thoughts

As we were out and about this weekend it took till this morning to weigh in. Sadly it was as I thought it would be, a week of weight gain. Weigh in for this week is 255lbs a gain of 6 lbs.

I am not too worried though. I know I can continue my journey and that I need to be a bit more observant over weekends. I know it is weekends that are the problem as I manage my input strictly over the week. It has been difficult over the last few weekends as we have a lot going on and, as is normal, we get together with friends and have yummy rich (calorie high) foods. This is probably what will happen this coming weekend, we have booked a campsite just outside Chattanooga (we thought you had to get there but it was actually bookable *LOL*) for this weekend. While not being nit picky I will try write down (just the food not cals) what I eat so I can put it into spark people after the fact so I can see what I am eating.

We are also taking our bikes with us so hopefully we will get some riding in this weekend also. I think this is the last weekend of events before dragon con so I have 2-3 weeks of really monitoring what I eat and do to try reach my goal. This is not helped by the fact that I cannot have P.T for the next 3 weeks but am going to try do it myself till I can get back. I will work on the yard to get it back to livable and work out / cycle as much as I can and hopefully it will all help my weight.

Steve

Knoxville Cycle.

Well we came to Knoxville for the weekend and we brought the bikes with us also. Gabe and Em had picked up a book that gives bike routes for the area and they had picked 2 out that looked pretty good. After our 6am rise this morning we picked the 55 mile route as our eventual goal.

It is now 1.49pm and I am sitting showered and relaxed so *grin* I think its a little bit obvious things did not pan out. We knew that there were approx 7-9 miles of climbing involved in this route and it took us up about 2000-2500 feet in elevation. We didn't realise exactly how hard this climbing would be! I think that I am doing well on my improvements in cycling, slowly getting faster in the Clarksville routes we ride. Knoxville is the great equalizer. *LOL* The elevation involved in this ride was HARD. I found myself in the lowest gears for a lot of the hills, going at a ok cadence (about 60ish) but I found myself getting more and more drained. At mile marker 12.5 of the ride I think everyone was feeling similar as a consensus was that with 40 miles on the route left we were unsure if we would be able to complete it (we were about 1 - 1.5 miles from the peak). A decision was made and we turned round for some nice 30-40 mile an hour coasts back down the (mountain *LOL*) hill.

As it stands I think we are going to try for another 10-15 mile ride tomorrow so YAY us.

Linky to GMaps

Stats for the Ride:

• Trip Distance : 25.03 miles
• Trip Time : 2hrs 04 mins 08 secs
• Average Speed: 11.88 mph
• Average Cadence: 64 rpm
• Max Speed: 39.35 mph

Ok time for more Knoxville fun. Laters S.

Edit: Gabe and Jen both thought the elevation image given by gmaps didn't do the climb justice so I have scanned the elevation info from the book which gives a better picture.

Theres a Storm a comin!

I kept a close eye on the weather during work time as I really wanted to get out for a bike ride tonight. It initially showed that it was a 30% chance of storms between 6-8pm but that eventually moved to later in the night. As there was less chance of storms I decided to do a 20 mile bike ride and chance it. I was the only one to go and was missing a few items (still in Jens Jeep *LOL*) so had left my route and instructions if Jen didn't hear from me by 8pm. Overall the ride was fun and pretty much uneventful. That is up until about 1 mile to my home. At that point I looked up and I nearly freaked out *LOL*. There was the hugest, nastiest storm front almost on top of me. I pushed as hard as I could and as I started up the last hill I started getting buffeted by 30-40 mile an hour winds. It got so bad I had to get off the bike, cross the road and duck waddle (thanks to road shoes) over the overpass and then coast down to the house. I made it to the house with about 30 seconds to spare and it literally opened up the skies and dropped an ocean onto Clarksville. I Think I pushed myself to have my fastest average speed for all rides and it was double the sustained distance of my previous best so woooooo.

Linky to Gmaps

Stats for the Ride:

• Trip Distance : 18.02 miles
• Trip Time 1hr 05 mins 07 secs
• Average Speed : 16.61 mph
• Average Cadence : 81 rpm
• Max Speed : 31.48 mph

Now that the power is back at home I wanted to post and am going to head to bed *LOL*

S.

Weekends Activities

I have to say that I have had one hell of a weekend. No not bad hell but great hell. I came home with some fresh Veggies and because of the availability of these Veggies Jen and I dived to the store picked up a few things and had a fantastic cookout. The weather was great we grilled some eggplant, squash, brats and even tried some boudain which turns out to be pretty cool and overall had probably one of the best BBQs to date in my opinion. After this we relaxed watched some shows and generally chilled the night away.

On Saturday we rose early and had breakfast at about 7am. We tried to keep it light as we were meeting Shannon and her hubby for breakfast and then were heading to the farmers market. By the time we met up it was brunch and I think both Jen and I were glad of this as we were still kind of full *LOL*. At the farmers market I think the coolest thing we bought was some jalapeno BBQ sauce, I sampled it and it was good, good. good. Splitting ways here we rushed home and grabbed the bikes and gear and headed to Montgomery Bell Park for a 10 mile ride. Compared to the normal flat routes done here It was a lot harder but made me realise we probably need to do it more often to get used to hills, I was chuffed when I got out of the saddle and powered up a smaller hill as this was really the first time I felt confidant to do so. It really showed that we are not used to hills as both Jen and I were done after one circuit *LOL*. I am really surprised that this park is so close to Clarksville, it is AMAZING the roads are well maintained, there is camping and overall it is one of the coolest parks I have visited.

Linky to Gmaps

(check out the elevation - not our usual *LOL*)

Stats for the Ride:-

• Trip Distance : 10.63 Miles
• Trip Time : 1hr 01min 50sec
• Ave Speed : 10.21 mph
• Ave Cadence : 55 rpm
• Max Speed 29.97 mph

On our return we cleaned up and had an excellent night with our friend Liz. We met up at Longhorn and proceeded to be full carnivores *LOL*, after the ride I was hungry and I'm glad I weighed in on Saturday as I threw a few pounds on with this meal (which I will clear out my system over next couple of days). After dinner we headed back to the house and all 3 watched the Spanish move "The Orphanage", definitely a very unusual movie.

For today it has been a home day, not a down day though. Jen and I headed out into the front yard and attacked some of the foliage (read garden). we chopped down the bulk of a tree (it had 2 others inside it growing) along with clearing out the surrounding area and then while Jen mowed the ward I cleaned up other refuse in the surrounding area (from other work not mentioned. By the time we finished it was noon and we had worked about 2 - 2.5 hrs. It felt as if I had worked harder today than I had on the bike yesterday. *LOL*

Final information for this post is weigh in. I am going with Saturdays weigh in as I thought I might be bad yesterday and I was. At the 8am weigh in Saturday my weight was 249lbs. If I keep this form I will reach the dragon con goal a couple of weeks early. I can but hope.

Ok gone for now. Goal for the next few weeks is to get on my bike as much as possible. If its clear and I am not at personal training I'm probably going to be on the bike. People are more than welcome to join *grin* but don't worry if you cant/don't cause its not gonna stop me. As Jen so perfectly put it yesterday when she made me laugh "Vrrrrrrooooooommmmmmm" ok on a bicycle I suppose its more of a "Swwwwwwwiiiiissssssssssshhhhhhhhh"

S

Weird Day

Yesterday was a weird day. I started off the morning in a great mood and everything went smoothly. I get to the afternoon and it seemed to go pear shaped. I became grumpy and I didn't get to leave Vanderbilt till 5.30pm. As I was late and trying to get home to ride I was rushing to get home, the problem however was that everyone was going slow. By the time I dropped Mark of I was resigned to getting home at 6.30 and wasn't pushing it any more. This is a good thing! On one of the roads I travel I ended up having a car accident. Lucky for both involved there was zero damage to both cars.

Thankfully we were able to get a ride in last night, the weather held off and it ended up being what I needed to relax and have fun. We did the 101st to Dover Rd and up past Ft Campbell route which is really just a fun ride.

Linky to Gmaps

Stats for the ride:

• Total Distance: 19.43 miles
• Total Time: 1hr 22mins 32secs
• Ave speed: 14.14mph
• Ave Cadence: 66rpm
• Max speed: 29.97mph

Talk to you soon, I am looking to get at least 1 more ride in this week but its dependent on weather.

S.

Ahhh Weekends

Well it was a busy week and a busy weekend. I had been dealing with all work stuff as Jeff was out on vacation but cant really complain as I loved every minute of it and feel more focused. When I got home Friday I did the 101st 10 mile cycle, I would have did more but I knew I needed to work on the yard more so I had to compromise. I have been playing the Trek wow sweepstakes and funnily enough I have won 2 tshirts. Sucks though as I was trying for the bikes. I have another competition that the results will be out tomorrow so fingers crossed *LOL*.

The funniest part about the Trek competition is that we had to go to Nashville to get one of the Tshirts (I had only won one at that time *LOL*) and we ended up at the Jolly Cyclist. These people ain't daft, we bought a couple of helmets and a floor pump *LOL*

Stats for the ride (map etc is in previous posts as I am being lazy today *LOL*):

• Trip Distance: 10.85 miles
• Trip Time: 39 mins 57 secs
• Average Speed: 16.31 mph
• Average Cadence: 77 rpm
• Max Speed: 26.94 mph

I weighed in Yesterday Morning : 252lbs.

A loss for the week of 3lbs

WOW

I just realised that using my leet math skills I have lost 17.5% of my starting body weight (309lbs). Things like that that makes you stop and think!!!!

Weekend Update & Weight

Well its the weekend and its my first weight update in 3 weeks. As you will have seen from my posts I had a few bad weeks, this week was a different matter. I worked on my diet and with the working out it seems to have worked. I am back on track and its where I plan to stay. It will be a simple matter of pushing myself further physically and making sure I don't eat poorly.

Weigh in for this week was taken at noon today and is : 255lbs

This is also time for me to revise my goals as I have reached the last one albeit a week late. New goal is the target goal for Dragon-Con which is Sept 4th 2009.

Target Goal for Dragon Con : 245lbs

It gives me 6 weeks to make it to the goal, hopefully this gives me 5 weeks at 2lbs a week loss and still supplies a week cushion.

In other cycling news we finally found our "team" shirts. Reggie, Jen and myself all wore them today and even if I'm biased we looked good *grin* . What made it even better was that we got them for an excellent price, well below the 70 dollars that cycling shirts normally cost.

Link to Route in Gmaps

Stats for Ride

• Trip Distance :- 26.49 mph
• Trip Time :- 2hr 00mins 25sec
• Ave Speed :- 13.20 mph
• Ave Cadence :- 73 rpm
• Max Speed :- 28.75 mph

Talk to everyone soon.

S.

End of a new week

Well its hitting the end of the week (Friday) and I am in a good frame of mind. I have had a pretty good week eating wise and exercise wise. It looks as if I have stayed within the 1200-1400 calorie range for the full week and I actually feel good for doing so, I don't have a heavy feeling in my stomach and I feel focused on what I am trying to do. I also feel energised and motivated which has been lacking in that last few weeks, maybe even months. I feel the personal training is starting to work (I see improvements) and combined with the healthy eating and cycling it should boost me to the next level.

This week I changed my personal training and I am now going to start going for 2 half hour sessions each week. Because I did the hour session Monday it meant I did extra time on Wednesday and then I used the elliptical for 20 minutes. After doing these two sessions Jen and I went for a 20 mile cycle last night *grin* and I loved it. The feeling of being on the bike again was exhilarating and I didn't fall this time *LOL*. My goal for this ride was to just try pedal at a high cadence. I came in at 71rpm but I think the average was probably higher due to me coasting a couple of times. I looked at my computer at one point and I was at 100rpm *grin*.

Link to Gmaps Route

Stats for the Ride:-

• Trip Distance : 19.40 miles
• Trip Time : 1 hr 21 mins 57 secs
• Ave Speed : 14.20 mph
• Ave Cadence : 71 rpm
• Max Speed : 28.75 mph

It looks as if Reggie may be well enough to go for a ride with us this weekend (after his motorcycle accident). Talking with Jen we might arrange to cycle from our house to Dunbar Cave, have foods and then cycle back. In all its about a 20 mile ride with a few hills that might try us a little bit.

Ok I need to do some work so I guess it time to post. You guys have fun and be safe out there.

S.

Restart

Its been a difficult few weeks for me. I think I have been demotivated and I am finding it hard to focus in on my diet and my continuing battle with the weight. I can be thankfully though that I do not seem to have put any weight on over this period but have also not lost any. I realised, however, that going into this that it was not going to be easy and that I was going to have these battles to contend with.

Its almost Sunday, and it will probably be official by the time I actually post. Its the start of a new week, not only that but hopefully the start of the next chapter in this story. Its time to take the weight down more, to pass the 250s, 240s, 230s and all the way down to my goal weight. As well as cycling I also have a regular personal trainer again and this will help in creating a fitter me. I do though have to work on my mind. Part of the issue is that mentally I was not in a good place, especially this week. By talking about it my hope is that its out in the open and I can move past it.

In cycling news I went out for a ride Friday, it was a solo ride as Jen is gone for a motorcycle course this weekend and Reggie is on the disable list due to a motorcycle accident. My goal was to ride the 25 mile route Jen had us do earlier in the week. From the start of it I could tell things were not right. The full ride I was not feeling it. With the first push off my legs felt like lead and this didn't change the whole ride. At mile marker 10 I decided to take a break, I unclipped my right shoe and leaned right. I guess gravity wanted me to go left though. Heeding the advice of others in the same situation I kept my arms in and let my shoulder/arm take the brunt of the fall. My hope id that the fall is now out of the way and I can move past it. I have a few minor cuts from it but no broken bones and no road rash.

No images of the ride, it is the same route as the last ride but stopping at mile marker 10 and returning. Stats for it are:-

• Trip Distance - 19.45 miles
• Trip time - 1hr 14mins 58secs
• Ave Speed - 15.57 mph
• Ave Cadence - 67
• Max Speed - 32.39 mph

Sunday & Monday

Sunday 5th
On Sunday we had a lazy day *grin*. It was so lazy that I did not even get dressed. WE sat around and played World of Warcraft for 13 hours straight *LOL*. it was a fun day.

Monday 6th
Personal Training was supposed to be after work today but the new personal trainer had something ome up in work so we have rescheduled to Wednesday. When I got home Jen suggested a nice bike ride. We started out on the 101st 20 mile route but at about half way Jen suggested a modification that made it a 26 mile ride. This was fun and at a good pace. By the time we got home we had done 6-8 miles in the dark with very little light except moonlight (which was actually cool). We finished the night off with dinner of beans that had been cooking (YUMMM). Locking pedals still working great and having no issues.

Linky to Gmap

Stats for Ride:

• Trip Distance : 26.58 miles
• Trip Time: 1hr 54mins 38secs
• Ave Speed : 13.92mph
• Ave Cadence : 60rpm
• Max Speed : 29.97mph

Ok time for bed again.

July 4th Weekend

Friday 3rd

We got up early on the Friday and loaded up our bikes to head to the Natchez Trace Parkway. We had driven the route and it didn't seem that bad *grin*, We were fooled. This route is quite hilly and by the time we were finished we were a little tired. This was also my first real ride using the Locking Pedals and I didn't have any mishaps. Only one time did I forget I was in them but was somehow able to get my feet out of it. We also did our good deed of the day and helped a fellow cyclist out with our tool that had a phillips head screwdriver so that he could fix his cleats. Lunch was had half way through the ride in Leipers fork and it was pretty good food. After the ride we headed to REI and lucked out on a pair of hiking boots for Jens Motorcycle class and a pair of locking pedal shoes for Jen at half price.

Dinner involved pecan crusted trout and crab muffins. talk about yummy.

Linky for route

Stats For the Ride:

• Total Distance : 26.62 Miles
• Time Taken : 2hrs 18 mins 27 Secs
• Ave Speed : 11.54 mph
• Ave Cadence : 62 rpm
• Max Speed : 40.26 mph

Saturday 4th July
Jen and I got up on the Saturday and worked our derrieres of in the yard. I worked on making one side of the back civilized while Jen mowed all grass. By the time we were finished (2hrs or so) we were tired but happy with the on going results. Unfortunatly we still need more to be done, weeding, dealing with hedges, trimming bushes pulling more wood trim from the deck (we are making it minimal as it looks so much better). Maybe 2-3 weeks and it may be good enough to have guests to view the new look..

Dinner for this night was our Anniversary dinner (our anniversary was yesterday.... yaaay) and it consisted of Lamb marinaded for about 6 hours and served with a salad, roast potato and fried pears. Food ended up being slow cooked as we lost power due to storms *LOL*. Desert consisted of white chocolate pudding and a fruit compote made by Jen on angel cake. Talk about yummyness. this meal was amazing.

After dinner we headed down to Nashville with Reggie to watch fireworks. We met with Mike and viewed the display from our work car park. This was a good idea as the night of the 4th was stormy as hell (we even lost sight of down town which I was amazed about as we are on the edge of down town *LOL*). The fireworks went off early and we headed back to mikes for a couple of movies (Mall Cop and Australia).

ok more to follow tomorrow night. Its late and I'm tired.

Weekend events and Weight

Weighed myself Friday and today (after breakfast) and both times the same weight :- 259lbs a loss of 1lb for the week. This is encouraging for me as I have not been as strict this weekend with Gabe and Em being here and for the couple of days before they got here, then again I have not been majorly bad either.

Yesterday we headed out on the bikes (Gabe bought a new toad bike and we got them to bring their bikes through) and took Gabe and Em on a 21 mile ride. For Gabe this was 15 miles longer than the most he had done on his new bike. For someone just getting back to biking he isn't having issues and he is of the body type that when he builds up his calves etc he is going to be a fast little shit *LOL*.

Link to route on Gmaps

Stats for the Ride:-

• Total Distance :- 20.70 miles
• Total Time :- 1hr 31 mins 20 secs
• Ave Speed :- 13.25 mph
• Ave Cadence :- 58 rpm
• Max Speed :- 26.33 mph

Today we are having a cookout in about 15 mins then looking to head to the movies, looking at Transformers II so here is hoping.

In other news *drum roll* I finally put locking pedals on the bike. It has only taken me about 2 weeks to do this so I need to practice a little bit before going live with them *Grin* don't wanna fall do I.

ok time to fire up the grill.

quick update

It has been a hectic week and its taken me till today to post about Tuesdays ride. As such I do not have the stats and will amend them on later. We rode the "Lock B" route but in reverse and then cut a section out to eventually ride 11.5 miles. All in all it was a fun ride. Jen did get a little under the weather but that might have something to do with the fact she had worked out twice that day before even riding *LOL*. After the fact we relaxed with some nice salmon and Cod prepared by Reggie and watched a really cool documentary called "Dream Riders" about a father and sons cycle trip from the west coast of the US to the East Cost.

This weekend we have Gabe and Emilie coming to stay and in theory Gabe will be bringing his new bike. If it is with him our goal is to take them on a kirkwood 20 mile ride (a nice easy ride *LOL*)

Stats for ride:-

• Trip Distance :- 12.03 miles
• Trip Time:- 58min 24sec
• Ave Speed:- 12.36 mph
• Max Speed:- 38.44 mph

quick update

Ok Weigh in Sunday lunch time was 260lbs a loss of 2lbs.

We went Camping with Jens Parents this weekend so fun was had by all and dang was it hot hot hot. Kept on finding myself drenched in sweat *EWWWWWWWW*.

Hoping to get out and ride a couple of times this week but house (inside and outside) may prevent this. Here's hoping. May just schedule one for Wed or Thur and say top heck with it. Might see if Reggie n Jen want to do the 101st 20 miler again *Evil Grin*.

Another Red Letter Day

Why you ask is it a red letter day, *grin* because I made Reggie tell me he hated me on our bike ride tonight. Ahhh definite good day.

Link to route

I felt good through the whole ride and we did a few sprints while we were riding. Stats for the Ride are as follows:

• Trip Distance 20.55 miles
• Time Taken: 1 hr 16 mins 44 secs
• Ave Speed: 16.07 mph
• Ave Cadence: 68 rpm
• Max speed: 29.38 mph

Well its late and I'm tired. This weekend is a trip to rock island state park with the parents. WE are however taking the bikes to go for a ride yeee haw. (new location is always good)