Linkback lovin'

Do you read this blog and lurk in the shadows? Do you have your own blog? Shoot a comment with your blog's addy, and I'll throw you some linkage lovin.

Today's ridin was great, real great. A little chilly but man oh man the second I turned west I got a BLAST of tailwind. Was one of those where I just grabbed a meaty gear and spun easily whilst flying at a rapid pace towards work. Saw Cornbread on the way in, fightin the wind I wanted to hug, but he still had a smile on his face. Amazing, isn't that? It isn't often I see a regular cyclist who isn't smiling, or able to make a big ole genuine toothy smile on command. It can be rainin', cold, with a headwind in your face and even then - if you are on a bike - you can probably find something to smile about.

That's really, just how it is. And it's good. For sure, by far, better than anything else.

Extra Value Meal

It's a blurry pic thanks to cameraphone + NONSTOP SHAKING FROM THE COLD, but the summary is me and the little guy made the monthly "work food" run to Sam's last night. And then I loaded it up on the Big Blue Truck and headed in. Only things missing are soups and pita, but those I get from the store a block away from work because, well, Pita is best fresh and I'm not carrying a month's worth of soup on the truck. But here's the real deal, I did some math while me and Nick were making our way back south - to feed me, for a day, costs just about $3.22/day. I shouldn't say "for a day" because that's not counting dinner - but that's breakfast and lunch for a day - $3.22. I'm definitely not sufferin', nope I'm eating good granola bars, hummus, Boca burgers, soups, and oatmeal. All real good stuff.

So then I got thinkin' on the ride in today, I used to eat at Mc D's or other fast food places for lunch because "it was cheaper than going home or making something". Yeah, I totally see that logic now, seriously. It, however, was marketed beautifully in a manner where it seemed to make sense that 4 bucks for a soda, meat sandwich of some sort, and fries were a "bargain". Wonky.

What's even more wonky is how good all this stuff is, how filling it is for low calories, and how good I feel afterward. Not to be on a pedestal or anything but seriously, once you ditch that junk, this junk is even better.. and it's good junk. Nitro powered rocket cycling fuel. That's what it is, and that's where it's at.

Hello big numbers

Dropped a big 10 this week, which honestly, I needed to see.  Now I'm only 25 away from my lowest, and 60 away from one of my big goals.. both of which will be nice to see.  I'm hoping, crossing fingers, that like what has happened in the past will ring true again - the "winter weight" seems to fall off, then the slowdown kicks in on the rest of the weight.  if it doesn't, I'm cool, I'm really happy just seeing something less than what I previously saw each time I step on the scale.  

It's all coming back to being natural, you know, the whole thing.  Riding feels good, real good every day.  Eating good feels even better than it did, espescially now that I'm really getting to the point where I have a system.  I tried to lunch on Lean Pockets for about three weeks, yeah, that didn't work at all.  I was left feeling hungry about an hour after lunch every day, consistently, and about ready to resort to cannibalism by the time I got home from work.   Calories were within limits, but they obviously provided nothing to actually fill.  So I tried something different and just dig it in volumes I can't summarize.  One piece of pita bread, one boca original vegan, little bit o hummus, and a can of progresso light.  440-ish calories and I was FULL, and stayed that way.  Before I left on my ride I had a granola bar to add some fuel because I wanted to hammer, and hammer I did, arrived home starting to feel the beginnings of hunger - by the time I sat down to eat I was hungry.  

So that works for me, and works good.  Still love Oatmeal in the morning, don't think that'll ever change.  I'm a creature of habit, so if I can figure out a good system again - life'll be good.  

The ride, the ride was the bomb.  I've had now two solid weeks of commuting (well, still Th-Fri left this week, but yaknow) with lots of added miles in, and I feel good.  Real, real, real good.  I hammered it pretty hard and focused on making the most of the clipless situation, which also has worked out dang well.  I'm really starting to figure out how to pedal with 'em, and man when I do I fly.  Best thing is that it's leaving some muscles burnin and sore that don't usually get that - definitely a win.  Shoes?  Wonderful.  Love 'em.  Pedals?  Wonderful.  Love 'em.  

Got to thinkin' a bit about the bike today, I'm getting close to finishing my 3rd year on it, it all started back in '06 on a whim.  I thought "huh, that'd be cool", so I threw my brother's old Raleigh MTB in the back of my pickup and drove out to the Mopac.  I'm trying to remember the distance, but basically I did a Walton to 34 and back ride - and couldn't stop smiling.  I was hooked, it was all over, started riding that old Raleigh everywhere until kept breaking it, so I picked up the Specialized.  The rest is how it is, and it's good.  Real good. 

Lacking Clips

So far so good. Feels a little strange, definitely, but good at the same time. Goona get a longer shakedown ride in after work to finalize my opinion, but I think they're here to stay. I don't notice any speed or "omg so fast" gain like I've heard, but I do like the fact that my feet don't slide around. And then there's the shoes...

..are EXCELLENT. I'm really happy with 'em, they're the Bontrager Mountain RL's, I tried the "Race" and yeah they didn't work out for me. Fit good, dang good, but there was a issue with the sole that didn't work with my foot. But these, boy oh boy, they're good. I wouldn't ride them with platforms, but they'll work. Nice and stiff, fit roomy even on my ginormous feet, and run about a size or two too small.

And yes, they have carbon soles. Only the "Bronze" series, wonder what gold is? Okay whatever, mock away at my carbon footsies... :P

Training Day

You know what yesterday was?  72 degrees.  Seventy Two Degrees.  Seven.  Two.  Two words that amount to "amazing".  One of those days where I left work and didn't know where I was going, but was sure it would be good.. real real good.  And it was.  20 miles of goodness, even the part riding straight into a blast of wind.  That part was great, in fact, because the blast of wind was warm and refreshing not attempting to murder me with it's coldness.  

So I thought a lot, and figured out that I need to ride a lot in the next two months to prep for Dirty Kanza.  My legs are awesome, which I was honestly a bit worried about yesterday - the 20 mile sprint didn't phase me at all.  What worries me a bit is my mass, weight, chub, superchub, fat, etc.  It's painfully obvious that the problems I have on longer rides with hydration is because of said mass, and I'm not sure how to keep from fighting the dehydration monster yet again.  I am most certainly going to try out some products recommended a while back, but the big thing is ridding myself of the mass.  Trial, error, etc will be preformed to re-lose some of the 30 (uggh) pounds gained over winter and add a little more to it.  

Winter sucks, that much is very clear to me now, but what sucks more is losing rythmm.  For three years in a row now I've had awesome summer weight losses followed by winter gains that negate half of the loss.  Every year it starts at Thanksgiving with a little too much food, which throws nutrition off but I seem to keep moving with exercise so it's a plateu of weight loss.  Then it goes out the door by the time New Year's is over as the nutrition has gone out the window, and by then the winter has worn on me enough that exercise is "meh".  Come spring, I make a post like this, vow not to do it again and.. 

Yeah. 

Nuff said, basically.  I've got a plan, I've got momentum, and that's how I roll.  

Two interesting things.  First, I've developed what has to be the tastiest lunch wrap ever.  1 whole wheat tortilla (120 cals), 1/2 Boca burger (50 cals), 1 dollup hummus (uhh.. 20 for arguments sake, much less probably), and some lettuce.  190 calories of pure tastiness erupt when consumed, seriously.  Two of those and I was pretty full and fueled up, amazing how that works.  Also is hummus the best thing ever or what?  On lettuce, on a sandwich, on anything.. it's the new salsa. 

Second, more deep, it's painfully obvious to me that unless you find peace in yourself you can't find peace anywhere else.  Think about that for a bit.  When I was big, really big, I was a judgemental, critical, prick.  Now parts of those things exist, but for the most part I see the best in everything and everyone.  It's nice, really, to have that peace and see that good.  Maybe not the weight thing, but maybe more the cycling thing did it.  Seriously, reaching those points where life is amazing on a bike, and life is tough, and life is downright impossible gives a new appreciation to life itself.  Gives a whole new realization that life is, really, too short to care, to judge, and to be anything but peaceful and happy.  

Spring = best. thing. ever. 

Wanderlust

I haven't posted much lately, and this one won't be very long due to time constraints (I have about 8 minutes to finish, ya see). However the other day I met up with Oly and got to see his Fargo in person for the first time. See the shorts? 60 degrees that day.

Today I was driving around doing half-lunch-hour errands when it really hit me. I've been in a funk, a.. zombiefied existence if you will. tense. edgy. grumpy.

I need to ride. I need a couple hours just to get lost, to focus, to come back to reality. A warm day, a warm breeze, a long road.

Then, I imagine, the smiles will come back.

Rough Winter

This winter has been long, and honestly, pretty rough. It's worn on everyone, I think, even Nick who I'm sure is sick of the dumb hats and dumb coats he has to wear all the time. It started out tolerable, I think only because it was new and I could still remember warmth. Then it became a novelty. Now it's just.. suckage. I've not been doing so good on riding since January, for the first time in a LONG time my drives to work have begun to outnumber my rides to work. Suck.

Maybe not a total loss. Two years in a row I've had rough winters, and after analyzing it a bit I think I know why. It's all about focus. 100%. I was thinking at the dentist the other day, while I was yet again getting a tooth drilled on, if I focused on something other than the drilling it didn't drive me crazy. I mean it didn't hurt at all, but that sound is the worst if you've ever experienced it. When I focused on the ceiling and just thought about things, though, it went away. Same with ridin' and the life change thing.

For the past two, no three years I've fallen off around Thanksgiving time then didn't get back up again until spring. This year I fell pretty hard, but got right back up in December and started to make some things happen. Moving happened, and that just threw me right off again - now it's March and I'm sitting here saying "oh shit" and looking at an extra 20 pounds on the scale. Suckage.

What happened? I lost my focus. I let it slip just for a little bit, and it all went to hell. I let it slip, nobody else, not Mc Donalds, not New Belgium brewing, not the economy - me. I lost focus for just a second and it all went to hell. Old habits are hard to break, but you can break 'em.

Anyway, that's what happened. Now I'm sitting here with 20 extra pounds, a sore ankle (some myseterious injury that I can't quite put my finger on), and motivation that's slowly building back up. I've finally ditched soda - again - and ditched booze - again. It became apparent to me that drinking diet soda isn't condusive to weight loss, nor is drinking a bunch of booze every (other) night. I'm back to coffee, water, and the occasional Lipton Diet Citrus Tea. Slowly resetting the diet, it's been good so far (I've dropped 2 pounds in the past week just by intake changes) but the focus has to stay.

On the cycling front, I need to get back into it with a vengeance. Thursday new shoes arrive to address the issues I had with the lower end pair, which is suckage because they fit soo good. New SPD pedals are sitting at home waiting for a home, and after it became obvious to me the seatpost on the MTB was too short I ordered a longer one for that ride. It's all starting to shape up, the forecast for today is 56 degrees by the time I head out this afternoon, and I can dig that. Temps for the 10-day forecast all are over freezing - that's all I care about. March has promise, I know April is goona be wet, then May is where it's at. 200 miles in Kansas. I'm either goona do it, or die trying.

All I know is I'm really, really, really tired of "Big and Tall".