Weekly Update and Attempted Murder.

Ok, weight update for the week first. Weighed myself at 6.30am and I am :- 280lbs which means I have had a 5lb weight loss for the week which is all good.

Now down to the business for the day. We headed out for a 22 mile bike ride today and I think that Reggie planned it to kill me *LOL*. I am just not sure how I go about reporting it to the cops as I survived and there is no evidence *LOL* (Love Yah Man). We did a route that took us from Kirkwood baptist church to Port Royal State park and back.

Linky to route

A certain idiot who will remain nameless (ME) forgot his Cycle Computer so all stats are from Reggie's computer. I will not post cadence or max speed as I know they are not the same.

Stats for ride:-

• Trip Distance : 21.7 miles
• Average Speed : 12.8 mph
• Trip Time : 1 hr 42 min 55 secs

Time for me to get onto what I need to do today.... a 12-15 page paper that's due by Tuesday 5pm. Laters...

Edit: forgot to mention. We stopped at this little convenience store/restaurant that is run by a Mexican couple to get more water. We were so impressed we drove back and had lunch there. it was yum yum yum. Its just next to the state park entrance.

TGIF

So I made it to Friday and had such good intentions of studying for an online exam I need to take this weekend (plus I have a paper due Tuesday) but the call of the wild (cycling) was too strong. Jen, Reggie and I mounted up and headed out for a quick 10 mile ride down 101st airborne Parkway. Man I missed riding the bike so much this week. It felt so good to be back on and heading down the road. We finished our ride and headed to Ruby Tuesdays for some ribs and are going to finish the night of watching "The Spirit".

Stats for the ride are:

• Distance : 10.45 Miles
• Ave Speed : 13.64 mph
• Ave Cadence : 69
• Top Speed : 26.94 mph
• Time Taken : 45mins 58 secs

Note the following route is off by 1 mile as gmaps will not cross over the median, it has to use road *LOL*

Linky to route information

Laters

Goal Reset

Due to vacation weight woes I am resetting my next level goal. I am however keeping the Dragon Con Goal the same as I built in a few extra weeks.

• Next level Goal, hopefully within 5 weeks (24th May) :- 275lbs
• Dragon Con Max weight (1st weekend in Sept.) :- 245lbs

Steve

Roller Coaster Weight

Well After gaining 11 lbs during my vacation I worked my arse off to fix the weight gain and I am proud to report that as of 8am this morning my weight is 285lbs which means I have lost 10lbs of the weight I gained and I am just about back to where I was. It puts me two weeks off on my 5 week goal but we shall see how it goes.

On Friday we pulled a couple of friends together and did our first official BBQ (the previous one was a spur of the moment thing that just happened) and invited 3 friends. Unfortunately Larry was otherwise engaged but Reggie and Colton made it. Grill work was Chicken with spices and a veggie combo of squash, garlic, onion and potatoes.

Looks like there will be very little cycling over the next 3-4 days (BOOOOOO) as there is rain in the forecast till Wednesday and Wednesday Jens fam are coming to visit. After that there looks to be sun for the foreseeable future and our goal is to up the distances in preparation for Watertown. Jen has had to drop out do to a previous commitment but Reggie and I are ready (more when we ride the distance *LOL*) The only issue I have is that my bike really needs a service (free from REI after 100miles to reset for settling) but they say I need to leave the bikes with them for at least a week... WTH. I have had to figure that I will drop Jens off while she is out of town and then drop mine off after Watertown that way Jens is done by the time she is back from her trip and mines is done for me after my wind down week (and let me get ready for our June event).

Signing off for now.

The Wall is big and strong

Athletes always talk about hitting the wall where they cannot go any further. For me I think the wall snuck up behind me, gave me a wedgie, threw me on the ground and then stole my bike. Reggie took me on the Lock B route and it kicked my Scottish Arse. The first hill we encountered I made it, at 4 miles an hour, up it. The main hill at the riverside I had no chance. Reggie and I hit it in the wrong gear configurations and by the time we had dropped gears to combat the hill our bikes had both come to a stop. For the first time since I started cycling I had to get off and walk my bike.....Damn you lock B hill.... Damn you all to hell. *LOL*. On top of dealing with the wrong gears I also tweaked my left leg a bit, nothing too bad but I could feel it as I cycled and when I hit the bigger hills I cycled as much as I could and then had to get off and walk (only 2 hills thankfully) of the 15.5 miles we rode I think we had to walk about 0.75 miles.

Linky to Gmaps Route

Stats for the Ride:

• Distance : 15.52 Miles
• Ave Speed : 10.09mph
• Ave Cadence : 59
• Top Speed : 41.47mph (new P.B. by 5mph)
• Time Taken : 1 hr 32mins 20 secs

I'm going to hobble on to the rest of the night. Laters.

Back On Track, Just not Clarksville Speedway Track,

After the relaxing evilness of the Vacation we got back on the bikes and went for a 9 mile ride (approximately). Starting at the Great Escapes movie theatre and heading down tiny town road, turning left at needmore and after visiting Clarksville speedway (hmmm who knew we had one) used the subdivisions to get us back to tiny town safely. I'm not doing gmaps as we got lost and did a few streets a couple of times *LOL*.
And talking about Clarksville speedway. Its difficult to take it seriously. Looks more like an excuse for boy racers to take their toy cars and rev them hard. Even though there is a sign saying open to the public we had some power hungry woman drive up at speed in a POS minivan and say we couldn't be there as they were doing test/tuneup rides, and that they charged entry (hence why there was no one there) and we had to leave..... made me laugh that she seriously thought anyone would pay to get in there (wait is that a nickel on the ground there you go speedway Nazi that should cover us for all three entry fees).
I also made a minor change to the angle of my bike saddle as I had some numbness issues (trapped perineal nerve which seems to be common) and I had a bike mechanic from Elite (mentioned in last post) recommend a couple of things. I need to make sure on a longer ride but no numbness tonight. Finished the evenings physical activity with working out arms with Jen (using 20lb dumbbells and 20lb barbell)

Stats for the Ride:

• Distance : 9.2 Miles
• Ave Speed : 13.01mph
• Ave Cadence : 60
• Top Speed : 26.94mph
• Time Taken : 42mins 36 secs

Have fun

Steve

Grump Grump Grump

Ok Weighed myself after vacation (this morning) and I am 295lbs . WTH, WTF, GTH, MFW and a few other expletives. I feel fatter, My stomach feels bleh, and I feel generally unhealthy. Stupid vacation food (it was yummy though). This is a minor setback for me, (note: minor i will be back down to 284 SOON), the vacation did what I needed it to do, I feel rested, I feel ready to take on the world and work. For my health I have already started my vacation food healing process. Its a 3 step plan.

• Get back to low carb eating (effective this morning)
• Get at least one 10-15 mile bike ride in this week ( I would prefer a 25 mile ride or 2 15 milers)
• Focus on how I eat (Jen told me the following: I eat too fast & I don't know when to say enough: I need to fix this).

Coolest part of the vacation bike related was that we found this cycle company (we though it was a store) that makes custom bikes. We talked to the guy that builds them and he gave us advice on making Jens bike more road like (plus he gave us a nice set of hand made road tires for free which were installed on her bike last night) plus he gave me some good advice on ways to fix a numbness issue I am having due to my cycle seat (common issue in cycling due to trapping of perineal nerve). I recommend if you read this blog and are cyclist who wants a bike made around yourself for a very reasonable price you need to go here: ELITE BICYCLES

philadelphia

A panoramic shot of philadelphia from where rocky statue used to be

On vacation

Ok As you know we are on vacation and I will not be getting out much on the bike (read none). My goal is to try be as healthy as possible but know its almost impossible to eat low carb here. Below is a picture from our hotel room in Philadelphia so view is not bad. This may be my only post as we will not have net unless we need to post for school (at 10 dollars a day its too damned expensive, but not as bad as the 38 dollars a day parking!!!!). To combat the weight I know I will probably put on we are trying to walk every where and are making use of the Fitness center in the hotel. I worked out for 15 mins on the bike and then worked my legs a bit on the machines.

No chance of being lazy this vacation. So far we have :-

• hiked a moderate trail in the Smokey's (4.6 miles) which left me out of breath again due to altitude.
• walked a 1.3 mile trail at our campsite in Virginia
• Worked out at Fitness Center in Hotel (15 mins bike, 60 reps at 120 hamstring, 20 reps at 80lbs quadriceps, 60 reps @ 65lbs quadriceps)

I will post pics direct from phone if I see anything cool.

Back to Fuuuuuun

Early Weight update

Ok so we are heading on vacation and I weighed a couple of days early. No big weight loss this week, only a pound so Weight as of 6am this morning :- 284lbs

Also we posted our entry forms for the Big Hill Challenge at Watertown TN for the 31 mile route. If we don't get to the distance by then it will be our longest route.

I will try post while on Vacation but don't hold your breath.

Wednesday Cycle - Quick post

Ok this is a quick post as its 11pm and I am exhausted from our cycle. We did the Sango full course that is used by the Clarksville Cycling Club. In the end we had to use our lights to full effect as it was dark.

Linky to Gmap-Pedometer

After the Ride we dropped the bikes of at Reggie's and went to New china buffet. I think I did not bad and the only known carbs were 1 spring roll and a half dozen sushi pieces. I just competed the night with yummy low carb ice cream so I'm content.

Stats for the Ride:

• Distance : 17.81 Miles
• Ave Speed : 12.66mph
• Ave Cadence : 63
• Top Speed : 35.11mph (another new P.B. zooooom)
• Time Taken : 1hr 24mins 28 secs

G'night all

Edit: Ok its next day and I'm awake and sore *LOL* - Reggie reminded me what else I wanted to mention. It was another Red letter day for Reggie. He finally got me to say "Reggie I hate you on this ride" it was during the last long hill when I was crawling up on my lowest gear at 5mph *LOL*