Well, it's been awhile. Let's just say I've been a little busy of late. Where do I start? Let's see, February was my last post so March and April and May updates are in order. So in February, I hovered, weight-wise, around 210 - 215 lbs. NOT GOOD damn it! How did this come to be? Well . . . I know; too much! It's what we Americans do, TOO MUCH! Too much eating, too much drinking, too much layin' around and doin' nothin'! But I thought I was ahead of the game? I thought, riding through the winter would be the way to avoid the seemingly inevitable weight gain.
Not so much. I'd even been playing racquetball twice a week as well as indoor soccer. But, then it happened. Too much happened. During a regular season indoor game, as goalie, wearing knee pads, elbow pads, shin guards, I ended up dropping to my knees with all of my 200-plus pounds to block a shot. It turns out, I bruised the bottom of my right (and to some degree my left) femur where it connects to the knee. Oh, and I bruised the back of my right patella and have a frayed meniscus. Yeah, kinda put a damper on things. To make a long story short (right) I ceased and desisted all "plant and twist" activities. Translation: no racquetball and no soccer of any kind.
So, how did I deal with the weight issue if I had to quit activities that constituted burning of about 2K-3K calories per week? Answer: "Ride lots!" - Eddie Merckx, "Just ride!" - Bruce Phillips So, Lisa and I decided we'd get up an hour earlier in the morning and extend our morning commute. We literally live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. How could we NOT ride along the waterfront every morning and enjoy that beauty on a daily basis. Honestly, we're missing the point if we don't!
Now she's putting in 10 miles a morning and I'm doin' about 20. It used to be about 3 and 8. So this is a good thing. I've already lost nearly 15-lbs. We've also been pretty good at doing weekend rides of at least 30 - 50 miles or more. Oh, and we've scaled back our caloric intake during the week. You know, less wine and beer an' stuff. Anyway, when you're putting in nearly 20 - 40 miles a day, ya get results! Currently, I'm sporting about a 200-lb. frame (my body not my bike).
Tomorrow we float! It was a spendy decision, but . . . hey, ya only live once. We signed up for the "Tour de Victoria" (http://www.tourdevictoria.com/). Probably the coolest thing has to be the fact that we can download the course into our new Garmin Edge 800s. I'll be posting my rides later, but you can access them through http://www.connect.garmin.com/ and selecting the "Explore" tab and "Activities". You can enter "Port Angeles" in the "location" box and filter the results to show just the "cycling" activities.So, I promise to take lots of pictures and post them . . . when I get a chance. Meanwhile, Lisa and I'll be on our first new 140 km (86 mi.) adventure in beautiful Victoria, BC! Seriously, I can't wait! My bike Kandi just came out of the shop with a new rear hub, front derailleur -the original of which was somehow mysteriously bent and a new, much needed, chain. Still, I feel I won't be coming anywhere near Ryder Hesjedal. Lisa and I have ridden with Frankie Andreu and if his thighs/quads are any indication, the pros and former pros are a different species altogether.
Oh and BTW, did I mention that we'd also be riding with former Canucks captain Trevor Linden and current radio announcer Ed Bain of 100.3 the Q? Yeah, maybe we'll be able to catch up to one of them. In any event, just riding with a healthy, smiling Lisa (Locomotive) is plenty for me!
