At this point the weight loss has tapered off somewhat. I don't seem to have lost any weight over the past week at all. I do have 82 miles on the bike so far this month though. I am going to be attempting a long ride this Sunday as preparation for a planned 28 mile ride on the 13th of June.
I have lost some of my initial excitement about cycling. Mostly for my morning ride into work really. I enjoy all of my other rides, hmmmm......perhaps I am just dreading going to work and not the actual ride. I have developed a healthy interest in cycling in general it seems. I have been recording and watching the Giro d'Italia on Universal Sports all this past week. When I was a teenager I met a guy who tried to talk me into cycling the Hood to Coast with him. I was too chicken to go for that though. I think my real interest in cycling lies in touring these days. Long trips on a bicycle loaded with gear. Cycling along US 101 on the Oregon coast sounds like a great deal of fun to me.
I am also interested in working on bikes, mechanically. I have always liked taking things apart and putting them back together. In my pre-teen years I used to spend the night at my cousin Gary's house and we would usually end up putting a bicycle together for me to ride from the bike junk pile he always seemed to have. Ususally the bike would only last the weekend, but it was a lot of fun. Learning the ins and outs of bicycle mechanics is a very strong itch I am doing my best to scratch now. Thankfully my wife is embracing and encouraging this life style change I seem to be undergoing. I am going to be doing some wrenching on her bike to try and make it a better fit for her. It's a bit small (13 inch frame size) and some of the cables need to be replaced but I think I can at least make it a bit more comfortable for her by getting a taller stem and handlebars for it. Of course that means replacing all the cables as well. I think we will hang on to the everything I pull off the bike though, just in case we manage to sell it to someone that is a bit shorter than my wife.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Last weeks trials and tribulations
I had a hard week last week on the bike. Mainly due to break downs. I posted previously about bending my rear wheel. The day I got the wheel back I rode home from work on the bike. The next day the rear tire was flat. I patched the tube that evening and it seemed to hold air just fine. I went for a ride from Gresham into Portland on Saturday (on the patched tube) and it held air the whole way. My wife picked me up at 22nd and Powell after the ride and we went to the west side for lunch. After lunch we returned to the car and I found the rear tire flat again. It was fine when I loaded it on the bike rack.
When we got home I pulled the tube out and filled it with air. Placing it under water in the kitchen sink I couldn't find any air leaks. I went ahead and put in a new tube anyway but I am suspicious that someone may have flattened the tire while it was attached to the rack. I rode on the new tube on Sunday, just a couple of miles but enough to limber up my legs and keep me from just sitting around Sunday. The tire seems fine today, hopefully I won't get a flat on my way to the MAX train this evening, or from MAX to Guardian games.
Even with all the troubles I managed to log 28.2 miles last week. I will probably end up with another 6 miles tonight.
When we got home I pulled the tube out and filled it with air. Placing it under water in the kitchen sink I couldn't find any air leaks. I went ahead and put in a new tube anyway but I am suspicious that someone may have flattened the tire while it was attached to the rack. I rode on the new tube on Sunday, just a couple of miles but enough to limber up my legs and keep me from just sitting around Sunday. The tire seems fine today, hopefully I won't get a flat on my way to the MAX train this evening, or from MAX to Guardian games.
Even with all the troubles I managed to log 28.2 miles last week. I will probably end up with another 6 miles tonight.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
First real snag
After cycling home from work last night I installed Burley hitches on both mine and my wife's bicycles. We have a used Burley Tail Wagon trailer, Taj picked it up on the side of the road, some of the canvas was torn and a snap is broken, but it is a functional trailer. I have another long term goal, to be able to go camping and touring by bicycle. The trailer tows smoothly behind both of our bikes, the snag came when I went to get off my bike after tooling around on the street for a minute. I had already put in six miles so I was a little tired and I tripped getting off my bike. I must have put a little too much pressure on the rear wheel as I stumbled and bent it. I didn't notice until this morning when I went to ride in to work. After riding a couple of blocks, noticing something was rubbing as I went, I pulled over and inspected the rear tire. It had a definate wobble and was dragging against the brakes as it went around. I rode back home and Taj gave me a ride to work before taking the bike into the shop for repairs. I am hoping that it doesn't take too long, I need to get some more miles in this week!
Update:
Taj took my bike in to Gresham Bicycles and they will have it back to me by tomorrow afternoon looks like. I also had a broken spoke.
Update:
Taj took my bike in to Gresham Bicycles and they will have it back to me by tomorrow afternoon looks like. I also had a broken spoke.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Last weeks endeavors
I realize that I haven't posted in a full week, but this blog is young and not much exciting happened last weeks. After work on the 4th I headed to the MAX station instead of home as I had a game downtown to go to. It's an extra mile added to my usual ride home and of course it was pouring down rain the entire way. Thankfully I had the poncho on. Another mile from MAX to Guardian Games for a total of five miles in the afternoon. After the game a friend of mine has been giving me a ride home usually in his mini van. I decided to go ahead and ride the mile back uphill to MAX instead last Monday. The rain had stopped but I put the poncho back on just in case. I should have left it in the bag.
Climbing the hill on Grand it crosses over I-84, as I rode over the highway a gust of wind flipped the poncho up and over my head. I was blind, moving slow, in the dark, on a normally busy road. Thankfully the road was pretty empty at the time and I managed to stop without crashing. I took off the poncho and stuffed it in the bag. I pushed on to the MAX station and called my wife, who picked me up at the Gresham end and drove me the rest of the way home. I ended Monday with six miles ridden for the day.
Tuesday I rode in to work, I was exhausted. I had been making it to work tired, but without having to stop on any of the hills along the way. I had to stop once, and finish a hill by pushing the bike. I had no energy in my legs. I spent the rest of Tuesday on shakey legs, downing as much water as I could. I decided to take it easy the rest of the week, still cycling, just at an easy pace and stopping as much as I felt necessary. I stopped once on my way home Wednesday, even though I didn't really feel I had to. Thursday I made it in to work with one stop but I at least didn't have to push up any hills. I was on call for work the rest of the week so no cycling Friday or Saturday. Sunday morning I got up and weighed myself, another 10 pounds lost. That's 25 pounds off so far! I took a longer route home from work in the afternoon after dropping my truck off once I was finally off duty. It only adds a little over half a mile to the ride but every little bit helps.
I made it into work today with no stops.
Climbing the hill on Grand it crosses over I-84, as I rode over the highway a gust of wind flipped the poncho up and over my head. I was blind, moving slow, in the dark, on a normally busy road. Thankfully the road was pretty empty at the time and I managed to stop without crashing. I took off the poncho and stuffed it in the bag. I pushed on to the MAX station and called my wife, who picked me up at the Gresham end and drove me the rest of the way home. I ended Monday with six miles ridden for the day.
Tuesday I rode in to work, I was exhausted. I had been making it to work tired, but without having to stop on any of the hills along the way. I had to stop once, and finish a hill by pushing the bike. I had no energy in my legs. I spent the rest of Tuesday on shakey legs, downing as much water as I could. I decided to take it easy the rest of the week, still cycling, just at an easy pace and stopping as much as I felt necessary. I stopped once on my way home Wednesday, even though I didn't really feel I had to. Thursday I made it in to work with one stop but I at least didn't have to push up any hills. I was on call for work the rest of the week so no cycling Friday or Saturday. Sunday morning I got up and weighed myself, another 10 pounds lost. That's 25 pounds off so far! I took a longer route home from work in the afternoon after dropping my truck off once I was finally off duty. It only adds a little over half a mile to the ride but every little bit helps.
I made it into work today with no stops.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Near Death Experience
Those of you reading this that have known me for a long time will also know I am into role playing games. Not the computer ones (though I like those too), I am talking about good old fashioned, pencil, paper, and dice role playing games. Every first Saturday of the month my friends and I get together to play GURPS. Since my schedule has been allowing us to play at my friends house in Beaverton, and he has incredibly bad luck coming to my house (flat tires, speeding tickets, small fender benders, etc.) I rode to MAX and then bicycled to his house from there. I had never biked to Gilbert's house before, always taking the Jeep when I had it. Needless to say I was not fully aware of how hilly the route was.
I got off of MAX at the 141st & Milliken stop, from there it's about four miles south on Murray to my friends road. The route is hilly, from Milliken Way headed south it is mostly uphill with a few flat or downhill slopes, but they aren't super steep so I was managing alright. Then I saw the hill past SW Sexton Mountain Dr. Apparently, after looking at a map today, it's an actual mountain. Sexton Mountain to be precise. It's steep, very steep. I thought about waiting at the bus stop at the bottom steep. I had made everything else OK though so I pushed on and started up the hill. One third of the way up my heart was hammering in my chest so I stopped and caught my breath. I had switched into the lowest possible gear on my bike a while back since I just couldn't push on in anything higher. At least in that gear I was able to start up again on that incline. I caught my breath and pushed on, making it another third of the way up the hill I stopped once more. Perversely this is the point in which the angle of the incline becomes even steeper. Needless to say, I pushed my bike the rest of the way to the crest on foot. Looking back from the crest all the cars at the bottom of the hill looked like toys. I stood there and caught my breath once more.
After catching my breath I hopped on the bike and cruised downhill, a much more pleasant ride than the uphill for certain. Due to a motorist trying to turn in front of me (he had plenty of room but saw me and stopped instead) I was paying more attention to him than the road he was turning onto. Of course that was the road I was supposed to turn down but I zipped past it. I realized my mistake when I made it to Scholls Ferry Road and had to turn around, climbing uphill again to my friends house. By the time I got to his house my shirt was soaked through. It had been drizzling all day but I had been wearing a poncho to keep dry. It was sweat soaking my shirt not rainwater. The added detour to my route made the trip five miles instead of four.
The game went pretty good, it usually does. The majority of our group has been gaming on this schedule for around two years now. We did our usual joking around and general mirth making. Towards the end of our gaming session it started to rain hard. The rest of the guys looked at me and asked if I wanted a ride to the MAX station after the game. I said yes, thinking of that huge hill as much as how the rain was coming down outside. Just for emphasis a little thunder and lightning got thrown in the mix. Yeah I would definitely take a ride to the train. Of course by the end of the game it had cleared up. And my bike was too big to fit in anyones car as well. We tried stuffing it into Jeff's car, taking off both wheels even. No go. I told everyone I would just ride to the closest bus stop on Murray and take the bus to the train. I put the wheels back on the bike, grabbed my pannier and helmet out of Jeff's car and they took off.
I hopped on the bike and headed down the hill from Gilbert's to make my way through his neighborhood to Murray so I could catch the bus.
I forgot to reassemble the brakes. I found this out when I tried to keep myself from going too fast down the very steep hill that Gilbert lives on. I tapped the brakes at the top of the hill because I knew I didn't want to be going full speed at the bottom and try and make the 90 degree left turn.
I am fairly certain Gilbert's neighbors heard my shout of "Oh Sh*t!!" as I rocketed down the hill. Luckily about halfway down the hill was a side street that went back uphill. I managed to zip around that corner without wiping out and came to a stop. Thank god for gravity. I got off the bike and assembled the brakes. Then I stood there for a bit shaking.
After composing myself I hopped back on the bike and headed for the bus stop. I did ride partway up Sexton Mountain again, as far as my spent legs could take me anyhow. I ended up waiting forty minutes for a bus that is supposed to come by every twenty. When the bus finally arrived I found out that my bike is too large to fit the bike rack on the front of the bus. I could have walked to the top in the time that I had been standing there waiting. Of course now I had no choice but to walk to the top. No way would my tired legs get me up that steep slope on the bike.
To make a long story short, I managed. I made it to the top of the hill and then called my wife to explain what was taking me so long to get home. She asked if I just wanted to stay where I was and she would come and get me. I asked her to come pick me up at the MAX station. I was tired, wet, and cold, but I wanted to finish out the ride to the MAX at the very least. Besides it would take her long enough to get to Beaverton from Gresham that I could be there by the time she was at least. I made it those four miles and rested on a bench at the station until Taj picked me up. With the mile from our house to MAX that morning I had managed to go a total of ten miles on Saturday.
I took Sunday off from cycling to recuperate.
I have lost fifteen pounds and three inches off my waist since starting this blog.
I got off of MAX at the 141st & Milliken stop, from there it's about four miles south on Murray to my friends road. The route is hilly, from Milliken Way headed south it is mostly uphill with a few flat or downhill slopes, but they aren't super steep so I was managing alright. Then I saw the hill past SW Sexton Mountain Dr. Apparently, after looking at a map today, it's an actual mountain. Sexton Mountain to be precise. It's steep, very steep. I thought about waiting at the bus stop at the bottom steep. I had made everything else OK though so I pushed on and started up the hill. One third of the way up my heart was hammering in my chest so I stopped and caught my breath. I had switched into the lowest possible gear on my bike a while back since I just couldn't push on in anything higher. At least in that gear I was able to start up again on that incline. I caught my breath and pushed on, making it another third of the way up the hill I stopped once more. Perversely this is the point in which the angle of the incline becomes even steeper. Needless to say, I pushed my bike the rest of the way to the crest on foot. Looking back from the crest all the cars at the bottom of the hill looked like toys. I stood there and caught my breath once more.
After catching my breath I hopped on the bike and cruised downhill, a much more pleasant ride than the uphill for certain. Due to a motorist trying to turn in front of me (he had plenty of room but saw me and stopped instead) I was paying more attention to him than the road he was turning onto. Of course that was the road I was supposed to turn down but I zipped past it. I realized my mistake when I made it to Scholls Ferry Road and had to turn around, climbing uphill again to my friends house. By the time I got to his house my shirt was soaked through. It had been drizzling all day but I had been wearing a poncho to keep dry. It was sweat soaking my shirt not rainwater. The added detour to my route made the trip five miles instead of four.
The game went pretty good, it usually does. The majority of our group has been gaming on this schedule for around two years now. We did our usual joking around and general mirth making. Towards the end of our gaming session it started to rain hard. The rest of the guys looked at me and asked if I wanted a ride to the MAX station after the game. I said yes, thinking of that huge hill as much as how the rain was coming down outside. Just for emphasis a little thunder and lightning got thrown in the mix. Yeah I would definitely take a ride to the train. Of course by the end of the game it had cleared up. And my bike was too big to fit in anyones car as well. We tried stuffing it into Jeff's car, taking off both wheels even. No go. I told everyone I would just ride to the closest bus stop on Murray and take the bus to the train. I put the wheels back on the bike, grabbed my pannier and helmet out of Jeff's car and they took off.
I hopped on the bike and headed down the hill from Gilbert's to make my way through his neighborhood to Murray so I could catch the bus.
I forgot to reassemble the brakes. I found this out when I tried to keep myself from going too fast down the very steep hill that Gilbert lives on. I tapped the brakes at the top of the hill because I knew I didn't want to be going full speed at the bottom and try and make the 90 degree left turn.
I am fairly certain Gilbert's neighbors heard my shout of "Oh Sh*t!!" as I rocketed down the hill. Luckily about halfway down the hill was a side street that went back uphill. I managed to zip around that corner without wiping out and came to a stop. Thank god for gravity. I got off the bike and assembled the brakes. Then I stood there for a bit shaking.
After composing myself I hopped back on the bike and headed for the bus stop. I did ride partway up Sexton Mountain again, as far as my spent legs could take me anyhow. I ended up waiting forty minutes for a bus that is supposed to come by every twenty. When the bus finally arrived I found out that my bike is too large to fit the bike rack on the front of the bus. I could have walked to the top in the time that I had been standing there waiting. Of course now I had no choice but to walk to the top. No way would my tired legs get me up that steep slope on the bike.
To make a long story short, I managed. I made it to the top of the hill and then called my wife to explain what was taking me so long to get home. She asked if I just wanted to stay where I was and she would come and get me. I asked her to come pick me up at the MAX station. I was tired, wet, and cold, but I wanted to finish out the ride to the MAX at the very least. Besides it would take her long enough to get to Beaverton from Gresham that I could be there by the time she was at least. I made it those four miles and rested on a bench at the station until Taj picked me up. With the mile from our house to MAX that morning I had managed to go a total of ten miles on Saturday.
I took Sunday off from cycling to recuperate.
I have lost fifteen pounds and three inches off my waist since starting this blog.
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