Archives for September 2004

Lest you think this is becoming a cycling log – despair not!

I am in the midst of the most significant change in my personal life in many many years.

When I was in high school, I was a 140 pound speed machine. I ran somewhere around 6-8 miles daily. From June through October I played 2-3 hours of Tennis at least once a day – and often more. I swam laps like there was no tomorrow while lifeguarding at the city pool. Most nights I umpired two softball games. Starting the Monday after tennis season ended, I hit the weights and started running – and that didn’t let up until track ended in June. I did that for four years.

Then came college, the discovery of beer, and a stressful job and suddenly I weighed 230 pounds.

Last year, I did a modified Atkins diet and lost thirty pounds over two months. And then I gained it all back.

Three weeks ago I finally decided that I had enough. I started a food diary and discovered I was overeating by about 1200 calories each day. That was fairly easy to trim down. I just changed what I was eating – how I was snacking – and cut out all of the crap (like ice cream).

I do miss ice cream!

Then I started running. First outdoors, then on the treadmill – and then I broke out the bike.

Now my bike was 12 years old – I paid $80 for it at Target to have for college. The new bike is a world of difference.

My goal is to get to 170 pounds and do a century ride (100 miles) by October 1st, 2005. I believe this is completely doable.

My reward is that I’ll let myself purchase a nice road bike – like this Trek 1000. Until then, I’ll buy nothing. No computer gizmos, no new gadgets, no new golf clubs, nada.

Short day due to issue at the house – only 13 minutes, 3.1 miles, average speed around 14.6 mp/h, top speed 24.5 mp/h.

3 Laps around the development.

I pushed hard, got up a good sweat and then ran out of light.

Monday’s ride: 5.2 miles in 25.43 minutes. Average speed was 13.96 miles/hour. Top speed 23.9 miles/hour.

Up Williams Street, around King’s Place development, circled housing addition twice.

Nice simple ride – saw one other biker on a road bike.

First ride w/ shorts and gloves – much more comfortable…

Today’s ride: 15.1 Miles in 1:20.45, average speed 11.2 MPH. Top speed 21.2 MPH.

First day with the Trek 4500 – awesome ride.

Afternoon ride – twice around development, down 140 to Taunton Green, around Green / Courthouse, down to High Street to broken bridge, back to High’s intersection with 140 – down to 3rd/4th street – past the old Silver plants – past Public Works building to Weir Corner – down Weir to gas pipeline, back home via Elementary School, Williams Street, High School.

For the last three weeks, as a part of a major change in my lifestyle, I’ve begun to seriously exercise for the first time in many years. My goal is to reach 170 pounds in a year or so.

I’ve found that running on the treadmill is exceptionally boring – and the treadmill here at the house is not a great one. Running outdoors is good and easy to do in this neighborhood, but my shins aren’t so sure about that. So a few weeks ago, I started riding my bike.

Now, I’ve had this bike since 1992 when I was preparing to goto college. I paid $80 for it at Target and it shows. It has not worn well over the years. So after discovering some local trails and talking with some friends that had nicer bikes, I decided that a new mountain bike would make a nice Christmas gift this year. So Christmas came early for me.. it came this morning!

After researching several bikes, I ended up purchasing a 2004 Trek 4500, along with some accessories (below) from Silver City Bicycles, just down the road in Raynham, Massachusetts.

Here’s a view of the Trek 4500:

In addition, I wanted to be able to monitor distance, speed, time, and some other factors, so I picked up a Cycle Computer from Vetta – the Vetta RT-88. This little baby is wireless and measures a ton of factors. Take a look:

Of course, you have to have a cool helmet. Unfortuantely, I couldn’t find a Trek helmet that fit my head – so I went with the Specialized 2005 Air Force. It was a pain in the ass to adjust, but I suppose it’s worth it to keep my brain intact.

Of course, I have a wish list of items. Here it is:

• Bolle Revert Sunglasses
• Camelback M.U.L.E. Hydration System
• Minura Interwim Trainer
• CatEye HR200DW HeartRate & Cycle Monitor
• Performance Spin Doctor Essential Tool Kit

I expect this list to grow in the coming weeks!