I felt pretty good about my fitness after Saturday’s ride, so I was eager to get back out on Sunday.
I waffled back and forth about whether I wanted to ride from the Cul-De-Sac Shack or ride from a Soiled Chamois Approved Dirt Road Ride Launching Pad south of town. In the end, I decided to try and save time and beat the heat and shadeless sun by leaving from the house. I also hoped to add another mile or two to my Better Than The Trainer Ride™ along the way and help it lose said moniker.
I had a good ride but fell short of meeting my 25-30 mile goal. Let me say yet again how humbling that goal is. In the past, I have completed upwards of 12 or more 100-mile mountain bike races, numerous 100K races and competed and finished several 12 and 24-hour solo mountain bike races. Yet here we are. Buckle up; life comes at you fast, bitches.
I missed my ride goal by a mile or so, AND I missed my end-of-week weigh-in goal, as I somehow gained 2 pounds from riding more. Go figure. Still, I was happy with how I felt on my bike. It’s seriously been over a year since I felt so good on the bike, and I know the mileage will come.
I felt less confident about the weight, so I needed to take a moment and remind myself that it’s probably just a fluctuation due to water weight, and I’ll be back on track soon. I also needed to be reminded that I jumped back into watching my food intake, riding, and working out with both of my fat feet on July 1st, and the chunk of initial pounds that just sort of fell off is NOT normal. From the bro-Science I see on the interwebs, my body realized what was going on and adapted to the calories and daily workouts. A 1 to 2-pound loss per week is MUCH more normal, and it’ll all level out eventually. At least, I hope.
Monday
Last week I tried to workout AND mow the lawn of the vast (not really) estate of the Cul-De-Sac-Shack in 87˚ heat. Then, after walking 2 miles behind a mower, I felt like I needed to sit down. STAT! With that nugget of knowledge in my head, I called Monday a rest day and settled on the 2-mile grass cut walk. Not surprisingly, my weight was unchanged.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning was a quick 3-mile workout on the Dreadmill; then, I was off to the shop for some hours of stocking and helping Chris in the work area with varying results of failure. My weight edged back down to where it was a week ago, so at least there’s that.
International Harvester 3788 ready to go.
Wednesday
With my Wednesday free for the most part, I decided that I would try to finally get up over that 25+ mile mark and do one of my Standard Dirt Road Rides from the house.
I have to admit I was a bit nervous before I left. What if I’m just too old and fat to ride more miles now? What if I keep riding and working out and STILL don’t lose any weight? I joke about being fat and fit, but I would much rather be thin(ner) and fit! With that, I took a big swig of cold pre-ride coffee, made some brown, got dressed, and left. Realizing just a few miles in that, I got this and that I don’t care if I’m fat and fit or skinny and fit as long as the word fit is involved and used in its present tense.
The morning air was a bit dank, and the clouds were hanging so low to the ground that they obscured the tops of the wind turbines along the route. I stopped to get a photo, and it was eerie not to be able to see the blades moving but hear them creaking above me in the clouds as they turned the morning’s weak breeze into energy.
The early clouds made for great riding conditions, and at about mile 10, I decided to keep on course for one of my local loops that would get me 28.5 miles at ride’s end.
At about mile 20, the warm sun started to burn off the clouds, and things began to heat up. I was stoked that I got my ass out the door earlier and even more stoked that I only had a bit over 8 miles to go and a whole 2nd water bottle at my disposal.
I was once bit by a dog near that house off in the distance.
It felt great to finally get in a quality weekday loop and still have a bit left in the tank. It was also nice at weigh-in later when I saw that I finally got the sale moving south again. However, all that joy was cut short when I later realized via Garmin Connect that I’ve lost 15.6 pounds and am now just getting back to where I was LAST July and still have a shit ton more to go. Fuck!
The joy later returned when I realized that I STILL lost some weight for the first time in months, and I feel fitter than I have in over two years. I’ll take that shit all day long. I just need some patience when it comes to this stuff, and remember that that weight will not fall off as easy as it did when I was 20. Thirty more years makes a difference! It’ll happen someday. I just hope I’m alive to see it.
No idea where the other 98 Luftballons are.
NOTE: as you might remember, I have a new husky man wheel for my Checkpoint on back, back, backorder (along with stuff for 5 billion other impatient cyclists), so nearly all of my riding this month has been on the Roscoe converted from 27.5+ to 29″ wheels, plus a larger front chainring so as not to spin out on the dirt roads. I have to say, I haven’t been this happy on a bike in a long time! And that’s getting me excited about the arrival of my Trek Stache frame that is currently on the Slowest of the Slow Boats from China (along with stuff for 5 billion other impatient cyclists) and to is set up as a full rigid do-it-all in the dirt bike like the Trek 1120 but with a cooler name and no racks for now. Gravel™ bike? I don’t need no stinking Gravel™ bike! That seems about right for me; Gravel™ bikes are getting lighter and more aero (FUCKING AERO??), and I start riding a mountain bike for everything like a DUI cyclist on a stolen 50 pound Huffy.
Heavy storms are supposed to move through the area tonight, so finger cross for riding two days in a row. If not, it’ll be time in the Not-So-Stankment to avoid drivetrain killing gravel mud.
Later.