General Cycling Discussion - Grizzled veteran of one month of cycling for health.

Hello Everyone,

Here is how my first month of logged cycling has gone. I was just checking, and I pedaled 355 miles for the month. I will put tomorrow on the month, because it is the last day of the week for my bike log. I wanted to do 40, but I probably will not have time.

I have to put a pool up, change the oil in wife's car, and repair some ductwork under the house, and put down some ant killer, and the Lord knows what else the woman will come up with for me to do, maybe I can squeeze in 20 for tomorrow. I have since the beginning of the month gone from a 10 mile daily to a 20 mile daily, at least for the last couple of days. For some reason, 20 miles is no harder to do than 14, 16, or 18 miles. I do like to rest about 5 minutes after the first half of the ride. My ride average is hovering at just over or just under 16 mph, depending on how I feel.

I dropped 10 pounds this month, though the log shows that I only burned enough extra calories to lose 5 pounds of fat. I did eat slightly less than I usually do. Anyway, lets see what the month of June brings. Best -

Originally posted by The Terminator
I have to put a pool up, change the oil in wife's car, and repair some ductwork under the house, and put down some ant killer, and the Lord knows what else the woman will come up with for me to do,

Congrats on the miles and the weight loss.

My dream in life.

A house that needs no yard work, nor painting nor anything fixed.

A car that always runs and needs no lube jobs, tires nor anything else.

A job that lets me come in at 9:00 and leave at 3:00

A body that needs no care and has no sicknesses nor problems.

A wife who says - "You just go out biking whenever you want. I will take care of everything else."

Ah - dream on!!

But, why must we be slaves to our homes, our cars, our society, our jobs, when what we really want to do is get out there and bike??

Good work T. I am on a weight loss quest myself. I gotta lose about 15lbs by september.

You should come down and do the Savannah century. It is great and flat. It is on labor day weekend. It has become my yearly ride where I test myself to see what kind of shape i am in.

Originally posted by DnvrFox
My dream in life.

A house that needs no yard work, nor painting nor anything fixed.


I'm renting, it's all done for me! :D


Originally posted by DnvrFox

A car that always runs and needs no lube jobs, tires nor anything else.

My bike does that. And having seen some of the traffic jams on my commute, does so a lot faster than most of the cars around here. :D


Originally posted by DnvrFox
A job that lets me come in at 9:00 and leave at 3:00


Nah! I'm just warming up after six hours!


Originally posted by DnvrFox
A body that needs no care and has no sicknesses nor problems.

But isn't it kinda fun stuffing yourself with pasta and fruit?


Originally posted by DnvrFox
A wife who says - "You just go out biking whenever you want. I will take care of everything else."


I don't have a wife or girlfriend. Just a pet lizard - and he doesn't care what I do. :D

Dream on Chris. You will get trapped sooner or later. It happens to all of us!!

Originally posted by DnvrFox
Congrats on the miles and the weight loss.



Many thanks for the remarks Fox. I didn't quite get through my list today. I soaked my riding shoes, I also knock around the house in them. I haven't gone to the clip type pedals yet, but I will in the near future I think. With wet shoes, I kinda blew my ride today.

What has happened with me here, is that a US Dept. of Agriculture, Grade A Couch Potato, has become extremely agitated when the honey-do list interferes with his new career. Namely his daily cycling excursions. I informed the missus that come hell or high water, I was going on my biking exercise tomorow and that was that. Gee, isn't it great to have a positive change every now and then. Best -

But then again, seeing my son flop around in his pool, without a care in the world, is worth a cycling trip any day.

Congratulations on the weight loss. :thumbup:

Where do you ride? On the backroads around Dallas or on the SC Trail?
I'm thinking about heading up there one day this week. Have been there since November.

Originally posted by RonH
Congratulations on the weight loss. :thumbup:

Where do you ride? On the backroads around Dallas or on the SC Trail?
I'm thinking about heading up there one day this week. Have been there since November.

Thanks Ron,
I do my riding on the SC trail. It is only about 1 1/2 miles from my house, if that far. My LBS is having a group ride in two weeks, on Saturday. It is 27 miles. Though I am riding 20 daily, most every day, I don't feel ready to ride with the more experienced riders just yet. I don't know if I could keep up. There are little or very low hills on the trail. It is virtually flat. I drop to about 13 mph or so on the uphills. My average is right around 16 mph, so maybe before the end of the summer I will be good enough to ride around town, and take the hills, in a group ride. Best -

Ted: Are you saying you just started riding or just started keeping track of your miles? If you just started riding and are doing 350+ miles per month you're awesome! I've been averaging 300+ miles for the past three months and am almost 50% of the way towards my goal of 2500 miles for the year.

BTW, I may be coming back up to ATL for some more training in late August. We'll have to get a BF Silver Comet Trail ride organized.

Zack

Originally posted by ZackJones
Ted: Are you saying you just started riding or just started keeping track of your miles? If you just started riding and are doing 350+ miles per month you're awesome! I've been averaging 300+ miles for the past three months and am almost 50% of the way towards my goal of 2500 miles for the year.

BTW, I may be coming back up to ATL for some more training in late August. We'll have to get a BF Silver Comet Trail ride organized.

Zack

Zack,
Gee, (shuffling my feet and looking down) thanks for the compliment! I rode my MTB around the neighborhood for about a month before I started riding a road bike on the trail. I started my bike log on the first day, updated today. At the beginning, I could not believe how hard 5 miles was, now I can't believe how easy 20 miles is. The only two things that really interfere are the weather, and the ubiquitious honey-do list. (oh, and don't forget work also)

I have increased incrementally, and haven't yet really reached a threshold where I am too tired the next day to ride. I do get sore sometimes, if I don't move around enough the next day. I get encouraged by other cyclists that I meet who are doing 40 miles 3 times per week, and some who do 25 miles daily and so forth. My average today for 20 miles was 16 mph. I also set a new personal land speed record of 24.2 mph on a very slight downhill. Not bad for a fat guy! I think what has helped beforehand is that my work environment involves a lot of climbing vertical ladders, sometimes for 5 or 6 stories, with catwalks about every 15 or 20 feet up to stop and rest on.

Yes, I would very much like to see us all from Metro-Atl have a group ride on the Comet. Sam and I are going to do a short trip in the next week or so, when we get the details worked out. Best -

Originally posted by The Terminator
At the beginning, I could not believe how hard 5 miles was, now I can't believe how easy 20 miles is.

My LBS is having a group ride in two weeks, on Saturday. It is 27 miles. Though I am riding 20 daily, most every day, I don't feel ready to ride with the more experienced riders just yet. I don't know if I could keep up.
If you can do 20 miles with no problems then I wouldn't worry about 27 miles.
Most group rides that are organized by bike shops are for riders of any ability. They have riders of all sizes and ages and will accomodate the slowest rider.
Why not visit the LBS and ask about the riders. You may find someone to ride with who is there for the first time and had the same misgivings as you. :)
I'd be happy to ride with you. It gets kinda lonesome on my daily rides to Stone Mountain. :(