Yesterday didn't start off so good. I was going to be meeting with a client in the afternoon to teach their kids. For that I use a game to help teach some basic principles. I'd loaned that game to someone, but I couldn't remember who - and when I finally did, they weren't home. I called to cancel the meeting with the client - and just then BowWow called me.
"Hey," he says, "I'm going for a ride, wanna come?"
To make a long story short, I decided to go for a ride with him and work out some of my frustrations. While heading to the meeting place, I ran into Bartman just getting home and extended the invitation for him to join us.
The three of us took off towards Leavitt for a quick little spin of 22km.
I was thrilled to be out on the road again. All of us were so thrilled to be riding again that once we got to Leavitt we decided to keep on going - we ended up doing 45km. When I checked later I discovered it had been almost exactly three months since I had been out on the road.
I don't even know how to describe my feelings on this ride - it took alot of work for me to hold Bartman's wheel on the Monson's Hill climb coming back. I did find that in general I was able to hang, but until the final sprint (right after Bart had pulled for the final lead-out) I never felt really strong. In the sprint I felt strong. My legs were really capable of going hard.
On the way out I did some high cadence work - in fact ran it up to 155 for half a mile (yes, I was doing a fair bit of "bouncing" in the saddle!) - on the way back I threw it into the big ring for the whole way back and worked on some power.
It snowed today, and so I was unable to get outside for another ride. I realize now, more than ever, that it's important for me to get out whenever I can. I need to ride outside! Yes, the computrainer is good, and I'm going to be working that hard so that I can get my weight down, power up, and reach some of the goals I've set for myself for 2007, but getting outside was good for my spirit. It really lifted me. Even if I have to fly somewhere warm for a weekend, I'll do it. I don't suspect I'll have to, as the weather around here does get warm with the chinooks (at least, warm enough to get out and ride. This is relative, some folks wouldn't ride in our "warm winter weather.")
I wanted to take some pics while we were riding, but my camera battery was dead. Oh well, next time.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
I've Been Tagged!
For those of you who don't know, once you've been tagged (as in, "tag, you're it") you have to post 5 little known, obscure facts about yourself on your blog - then you can tag 5 others. Howard, you shouldn't have, no, REALLY. Somehow, somewhere, I'll think of something to repay the kindness...
So, those 5 obscure facts about myself. This is difficult, as there isn't much about myself that I don't tell anyone about. I asked my wife last night for help - she laughed.
So, I've dug around in my past and present to try and find something.
1) My earliest cycling memory has me as a kid racing in a neighborhood "crit" - being the non-competitive type that I am I tended to push pretty-hard in some of the corners. My dad, being the thrifty individual he was, and not seeing any value in spending hard-earned dollars on a "toy" went to the dump and salvaged a rusted out bike for me. It was a piece of garbage - literally and figuratively, but I'd hammer it out with the other kids regularly. One race I was hammering hard through a corner when the bike fell apart - completely. The frame literally came apart at the head tube and the forks folded. I got pretty bruised and cut-up, but I was so mad at my Dad for not buying me a real bike that I remember carrying all the pieces home, throwing 'em on the front step and storming through the house. My kids all of pretty good quality bikes now.
2) In my mother's house is a picture of me holding a string of fish. It's supposedly the first fish I ever caught - it's not. Every year we used to go down to Kalispell, Montana to go fishing during Canadian Thanksgiving. The salmon run fell during that time period, and the river was literally over-flowing with fish. The limit was 30 fish/day/person - my family and grandparents made 9 - and we'd break the limit every day. I grew up thinking everybody had smoked salmon! I never had tuna sandwhiches, alwasy salmon. You get the idea. Well, one year the run was late, and there weren't any fish to be caught. I was down fishing with some friends of my parents, everybody else had left and for the whole morning they'd caught about 6 fish. They put the fish on a string and told me to go tell my parents that I'd caught these fish. Mom was so proud she took a picture and had it framed. Mom knew nothing of it until just a couple of years ago when I was telling the story to a friend - and didn't realize Mom was standing behind me...
3) On a more serious note - if you don't know me in the "real" world you wouldn't know this - but I have the GREATEST WIFE IN THE WORLD! She's supportive and helpful in almost every way (though when it comes to weight loss she sometimes is a little devil - like last night when she brought home Chinese, "this is for me and the kids - you can have a shake...") I don't talk much about her on-line, but she really is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She makes me want to be a better person. I was told growing up that I should try to marry "above" myself - I sure did that. How she puts up with my "ocd" tendencies constantly amazes me.
4) I long to kick SombraGato's butt on Triple Bypass next year. Hold it, I guess that's not something that is unknown. Oh well. I'm running out of ideas and this one works just fine. TBP is my motivation for everything I'm doing right now.
5) The final obscure fact of Rob01? While in college my best friend and I would ride our bikes everywhere. One night we had both been dumped by our current girlfriends and it was a "preference" dance. Small college town, when there was something going on socially at the college there was NOTHING going on anywhere else. So, we rode our bike around campus, up and down stairs, etc. That got boring and so I jokingly said, "let's go ride the stadium stairs". He said ok and we spent the next half hour at the top of the stairs with the following conversation:
"you ready?"
"yeah"
"ok, one, two, ... you sure you're ready?"
Until finally my buddy Dave went - and fell. I went and endoed... but then the challenge was on. After many falls we finally made it all the way to the bottom. Later we went back to get some pics of our antics - here they are:
and on the way back from that was when I met my wife (a whole other story.)
So, those 5 obscure facts about myself. This is difficult, as there isn't much about myself that I don't tell anyone about. I asked my wife last night for help - she laughed.
So, I've dug around in my past and present to try and find something.
1) My earliest cycling memory has me as a kid racing in a neighborhood "crit" - being the non-competitive type that I am I tended to push pretty-hard in some of the corners. My dad, being the thrifty individual he was, and not seeing any value in spending hard-earned dollars on a "toy" went to the dump and salvaged a rusted out bike for me. It was a piece of garbage - literally and figuratively, but I'd hammer it out with the other kids regularly. One race I was hammering hard through a corner when the bike fell apart - completely. The frame literally came apart at the head tube and the forks folded. I got pretty bruised and cut-up, but I was so mad at my Dad for not buying me a real bike that I remember carrying all the pieces home, throwing 'em on the front step and storming through the house. My kids all of pretty good quality bikes now.
2) In my mother's house is a picture of me holding a string of fish. It's supposedly the first fish I ever caught - it's not. Every year we used to go down to Kalispell, Montana to go fishing during Canadian Thanksgiving. The salmon run fell during that time period, and the river was literally over-flowing with fish. The limit was 30 fish/day/person - my family and grandparents made 9 - and we'd break the limit every day. I grew up thinking everybody had smoked salmon! I never had tuna sandwhiches, alwasy salmon. You get the idea. Well, one year the run was late, and there weren't any fish to be caught. I was down fishing with some friends of my parents, everybody else had left and for the whole morning they'd caught about 6 fish. They put the fish on a string and told me to go tell my parents that I'd caught these fish. Mom was so proud she took a picture and had it framed. Mom knew nothing of it until just a couple of years ago when I was telling the story to a friend - and didn't realize Mom was standing behind me...
3) On a more serious note - if you don't know me in the "real" world you wouldn't know this - but I have the GREATEST WIFE IN THE WORLD! She's supportive and helpful in almost every way (though when it comes to weight loss she sometimes is a little devil - like last night when she brought home Chinese, "this is for me and the kids - you can have a shake...") I don't talk much about her on-line, but she really is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She makes me want to be a better person. I was told growing up that I should try to marry "above" myself - I sure did that. How she puts up with my "ocd" tendencies constantly amazes me.
4) I long to kick SombraGato's butt on Triple Bypass next year. Hold it, I guess that's not something that is unknown. Oh well. I'm running out of ideas and this one works just fine. TBP is my motivation for everything I'm doing right now.
5) The final obscure fact of Rob01? While in college my best friend and I would ride our bikes everywhere. One night we had both been dumped by our current girlfriends and it was a "preference" dance. Small college town, when there was something going on socially at the college there was NOTHING going on anywhere else. So, we rode our bike around campus, up and down stairs, etc. That got boring and so I jokingly said, "let's go ride the stadium stairs". He said ok and we spent the next half hour at the top of the stairs with the following conversation:
"you ready?"
"yeah"
"ok, one, two, ... you sure you're ready?"
Until finally my buddy Dave went - and fell. I went and endoed... but then the challenge was on. After many falls we finally made it all the way to the bottom. Later we went back to get some pics of our antics - here they are:
and on the way back from that was when I met my wife (a whole other story.)
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Virtual Wheelsucking
First, let me say that a couple of nights ago ol' Bartman came to visit and I put him on my computrainer. If you've got one, check out the course "Madeira World Championships" - it's got 3 climbs at 15%. It's a killer. Bart called my voice mail the next day and left a message "you owe me a night's sleep!" hahahaha
Anyway, this morning I dragged myself out of bed at 9am (after last night's 4am cooking fiasco, that was pretty early.) and headed down to get a computrainer work-out in. I chose a course I've done before, not particularly hard, and only 24.5km long, but I wanted to hammer it.
I haven't been on the computrainer for awhile - or any bike, for that matter. So, I really wasn't expecting to post up any great numbers. At the end of the ride I felt like I'd worked hard, but my average wattage was 22watts lower than my best time, my HR was a little higher, but my time was 6 seconds faster than my previous best! Yup, wheelsucking that little silver computer dude allowed me to be in worse shape and set a new PR....
Tammy would have been so proud!! I'm learnin'...
Anyway, this morning I dragged myself out of bed at 9am (after last night's 4am cooking fiasco, that was pretty early.) and headed down to get a computrainer work-out in. I chose a course I've done before, not particularly hard, and only 24.5km long, but I wanted to hammer it.
I haven't been on the computrainer for awhile - or any bike, for that matter. So, I really wasn't expecting to post up any great numbers. At the end of the ride I felt like I'd worked hard, but my average wattage was 22watts lower than my best time, my HR was a little higher, but my time was 6 seconds faster than my previous best! Yup, wheelsucking that little silver computer dude allowed me to be in worse shape and set a new PR....
Tammy would have been so proud!! I'm learnin'...
Chef Rob01
Some friends wanted to have a bit of a dinner party. I love to cook. So, I volunteered to be the chef.
"Don't worry," I told them, "I'll think of something fun and creative that'll taste GREAT!
At first I thought I'd do Chinese. I haven't done a really big Chinese dinner in a couple of years, and I love the mess I get to make of a kitchen when I cook it. Then I thought about how badly I want to get my weight down and decided that a traditional Turkey dinner might be a better idea.
Hmmmmm, how do ya make that creative and fun? I know! It's been a few years, but I have this GREAT secret marinade recipe that combined with a DEEP FRYER would be FANTASTIC. (That's gotta be one of the best ways to make good-for-you-food suddenly be bad-for-you-food.) I don't have a turkey fryer anymore, so I do some quick checking and order one in. No problem, they tell me, it'll be here in plenty of time.
I buy the turkey, thaw it, marinade it - I'm ready to go! Go to pick up fryer - oh, we're sorry sir, that didn't come in. AGGGHHHHH! So, I start calling. Canadian Tire says they have 3 - but they're 45 minutes away. No worries, I get my wife to start on a few of the vegies for me. I jump in the car.
On the way there I decide to call and confirm - so I call. Yup, the computer says there's 3 of 'em, but, just to be sure the clerk says she'll check and call me right back. 20 minutes later I'm almost to Canadian Tire and still no call - so I call. Nope, nothing. Computer must be wrong. I start calling every place I can think of. Peavey Mart - sold out. Home Depot - sold out. Other Canadian tire - sold out. I'm getting desperate. I call Home Hardware. "Yes, we've got them on sale this week and we have lots of them!" Great - what's your address. Way over on the West side? No problem! It's only another 20 minutes, but I'm on a mission. I get there in 15. I talk to one clerk - she's not sure what I'm talking about, but takes me back to customer service. "Oh yeah - I know what you're talking about, but we don't have any left, and haven't for a couple of weeks - are you sure you're at the right store?"
"Well, unless there's two Home hardwares at this addres..." - I notice a clerk standing off to the side - I suspect he's the guy I talked to on the phone and I'm about to tear a strip off him when I decide it's just not worth the time or effort.
Frustrated would be the under-statement of the year.
Only one more place I can think of - Wholesale sports. I call. Yup, they carry 'em, but they're out of the kits and only have the components. It'll be more expensive this way, but I can get it. - I speed over as quick as I can. Did I say speed?
Speed limit is 50km/hr - I'm doing 80km/hr when I think I see lights on the roof of a car coming towards me, but my radar detector's not going off - ooops, I unplugged it to charge my phone up. The cop hits his lights, but instead of whipping around and plastering me, just gives me the thumbs-down sign to slow down. I do - for about 5 minutes, anyway.
Finally arrive at Wholesale sports. Pick up the stuff, and head for the till. I ask the guy - "you're sure this is the right size and everything, right?" He assures me I've got what I need.
I get home and start assembling. My dinner guests are already here, so we're gonna be about 1.5 hours late for dinner. I get it put together, fill the vat with oil, fire up the burner - and the vat doesn't fit on the burner. AGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
A little creative "McGyvering" and I'm ready to go. Turns out the burner won't throw off enough heat to bring the oil up to the temp I want it at - I throw the turkey in anyway. We're running a little later than planned (dinner was to start at 6:30 - we're now looking at 11:30 before we start eating.)
Turkey's cooking slow - It's midnight when I pull it out and start cutting - what's this - PINK?! Still not done. I hate to give up, but it's time to pack this one in.
By 1:00 my guests have left (we played some games and filled up on the veggie trays I'd put together earlier.)
I now throw the turkey into a roaster pan and put it in the oven. By 4am it's finally done and I pull it out, cut it up, and throw it in the fridge. Time for bed.
Don't know if anybody's gonna ask me to cook anything again! oh well. Guess I"m gonna have to go shoot a clerk at Wholesale Sports.
"Don't worry," I told them, "I'll think of something fun and creative that'll taste GREAT!
At first I thought I'd do Chinese. I haven't done a really big Chinese dinner in a couple of years, and I love the mess I get to make of a kitchen when I cook it. Then I thought about how badly I want to get my weight down and decided that a traditional Turkey dinner might be a better idea.
Hmmmmm, how do ya make that creative and fun? I know! It's been a few years, but I have this GREAT secret marinade recipe that combined with a DEEP FRYER would be FANTASTIC. (That's gotta be one of the best ways to make good-for-you-food suddenly be bad-for-you-food.) I don't have a turkey fryer anymore, so I do some quick checking and order one in. No problem, they tell me, it'll be here in plenty of time.
I buy the turkey, thaw it, marinade it - I'm ready to go! Go to pick up fryer - oh, we're sorry sir, that didn't come in. AGGGHHHHH! So, I start calling. Canadian Tire says they have 3 - but they're 45 minutes away. No worries, I get my wife to start on a few of the vegies for me. I jump in the car.
On the way there I decide to call and confirm - so I call. Yup, the computer says there's 3 of 'em, but, just to be sure the clerk says she'll check and call me right back. 20 minutes later I'm almost to Canadian Tire and still no call - so I call. Nope, nothing. Computer must be wrong. I start calling every place I can think of. Peavey Mart - sold out. Home Depot - sold out. Other Canadian tire - sold out. I'm getting desperate. I call Home Hardware. "Yes, we've got them on sale this week and we have lots of them!" Great - what's your address. Way over on the West side? No problem! It's only another 20 minutes, but I'm on a mission. I get there in 15. I talk to one clerk - she's not sure what I'm talking about, but takes me back to customer service. "Oh yeah - I know what you're talking about, but we don't have any left, and haven't for a couple of weeks - are you sure you're at the right store?"
"Well, unless there's two Home hardwares at this addres..." - I notice a clerk standing off to the side - I suspect he's the guy I talked to on the phone and I'm about to tear a strip off him when I decide it's just not worth the time or effort.
Frustrated would be the under-statement of the year.
Only one more place I can think of - Wholesale sports. I call. Yup, they carry 'em, but they're out of the kits and only have the components. It'll be more expensive this way, but I can get it. - I speed over as quick as I can. Did I say speed?
Speed limit is 50km/hr - I'm doing 80km/hr when I think I see lights on the roof of a car coming towards me, but my radar detector's not going off - ooops, I unplugged it to charge my phone up. The cop hits his lights, but instead of whipping around and plastering me, just gives me the thumbs-down sign to slow down. I do - for about 5 minutes, anyway.
Finally arrive at Wholesale sports. Pick up the stuff, and head for the till. I ask the guy - "you're sure this is the right size and everything, right?" He assures me I've got what I need.
I get home and start assembling. My dinner guests are already here, so we're gonna be about 1.5 hours late for dinner. I get it put together, fill the vat with oil, fire up the burner - and the vat doesn't fit on the burner. AGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
A little creative "McGyvering" and I'm ready to go. Turns out the burner won't throw off enough heat to bring the oil up to the temp I want it at - I throw the turkey in anyway. We're running a little later than planned (dinner was to start at 6:30 - we're now looking at 11:30 before we start eating.)
Turkey's cooking slow - It's midnight when I pull it out and start cutting - what's this - PINK?! Still not done. I hate to give up, but it's time to pack this one in.
By 1:00 my guests have left (we played some games and filled up on the veggie trays I'd put together earlier.)
I now throw the turkey into a roaster pan and put it in the oven. By 4am it's finally done and I pull it out, cut it up, and throw it in the fridge. Time for bed.
Don't know if anybody's gonna ask me to cook anything again! oh well. Guess I"m gonna have to go shoot a clerk at Wholesale Sports.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
It's all coming together - sort of.
Well, the work-outs are coming along great - I haven't been able to do all of my "two a days" 'cause I just haven't been able to make the time, but I have gotten in at least my morning work-out.
Diet is still my big problem. Yesterday was going pretty well - then I had to go to a funeral, and, well - I think I did pretty good there, too! (I actually said "no" to all those buns and pasteries! and for lunch I didn't indulge in any of those jello/whipped topping salads - stuck with a couple of slices of roast beef and glasses of water.) - but that night was a hurried night.
My wife was off to do some Christmas shopping, I was stuck with the kids and nothing in the house. So.... PIZZA!! Pizza is my kryptonite. I managed to limit myself to 2 pieces, but then snacked on some chocolate and, .... well, I blew it.
I've gotten back on the wagon today, and didn't put a ton of weight on after yesterday's slip, so I guess I'm making progress. I'm really trying to do something dramatic this month, though.
Tonight is season finale of Biggest Loser. I'm looking forward to seeing how all those folks "at home" have done. These guys/gals really accomplish something amazing, but what I'd like to see is something like the folks like me - people who have a 30-50lb goal in mind.
Diet is still my big problem. Yesterday was going pretty well - then I had to go to a funeral, and, well - I think I did pretty good there, too! (I actually said "no" to all those buns and pasteries! and for lunch I didn't indulge in any of those jello/whipped topping salads - stuck with a couple of slices of roast beef and glasses of water.) - but that night was a hurried night.
My wife was off to do some Christmas shopping, I was stuck with the kids and nothing in the house. So.... PIZZA!! Pizza is my kryptonite. I managed to limit myself to 2 pieces, but then snacked on some chocolate and, .... well, I blew it.
I've gotten back on the wagon today, and didn't put a ton of weight on after yesterday's slip, so I guess I'm making progress. I'm really trying to do something dramatic this month, though.
Tonight is season finale of Biggest Loser. I'm looking forward to seeing how all those folks "at home" have done. These guys/gals really accomplish something amazing, but what I'd like to see is something like the folks like me - people who have a 30-50lb goal in mind.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Weight struggles
Well, I've now done what I had hoped to never do again - I crossed the 190 mark again. This weekend I weighed in at a monster 195lbs. OUCH! That's way too close to the dreaded 200 number that I swore I'd never cross again.
Last night I finally made a point of getting to bed at a reasonable hour - still later than I wanted, but a couple of hours earlier than my recent "evenings" have been. Then, at 5:45am I got out of bed and my wife and I headed for the gymn. I had a good upper-body work-out and am looking forward to tonight's run. It won't be very long, as I'm still concerned about my ankle, and with all this extra weight I don't want to do any damage.
I've planned out a two-a-day work-out schedule - every evenings will be running. Mon/Wedn/Friday are weights in the morning, Tues/Thurs/Sat is computrainer in the morning. If I can keep a handle on my eating I should shed some big pounds this month.
My fear is next week's trip up north to Fort McMurray. That always throws my schedule out of whack.
Last night I finally made a point of getting to bed at a reasonable hour - still later than I wanted, but a couple of hours earlier than my recent "evenings" have been. Then, at 5:45am I got out of bed and my wife and I headed for the gymn. I had a good upper-body work-out and am looking forward to tonight's run. It won't be very long, as I'm still concerned about my ankle, and with all this extra weight I don't want to do any damage.
I've planned out a two-a-day work-out schedule - every evenings will be running. Mon/Wedn/Friday are weights in the morning, Tues/Thurs/Sat is computrainer in the morning. If I can keep a handle on my eating I should shed some big pounds this month.
My fear is next week's trip up north to Fort McMurray. That always throws my schedule out of whack.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Hey Stupid! Wanna try...
So I get this email from a friend. He's been doing some reading and thinks maybe he has something to really get me motivated.
I've been talking about getting my mountain bike out and starting to ride off-road again. It's where my start in cycling began, and, to be honest, I miss tearing down some single track. My friend (and I do use that term loosely here.) has heard about many of my adventures on-road over the last couple of years, and thinks he's found the answer to my recent lack of motivation.
The Leadville 100.
If you don't know about this race, it's 100 miles through the mountains of Leadville, Colorado. It's tough. Elevations that almost never dip below 10,000 feet, and LOTS of climbing.
I then chatted with my good friend Steve. See, Steve has been talking about doing the Leadville 100 for about 5 years. Yes, he's crazier than I am - it's his fault I did the Death Valley Double last spring. Oh yeah, he's game - but he's recently found this other ride in Colorado - the Durango 100. Supposed to be harder than the Leadville, and it's right smack dab in the middle of his already scheduled holidays... 18,000 feet of climbing and altitudes of 11,800 feet. Oh yeah, that sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday...
So, I haven't said yes yet. I haven't said no yet, either. I'm thinking. It would sure force me to get my weight down, 'cause ain't no way I'm climbing 18,000 feet on a mountain bike carrying an extra 30 lbs!
I've been talking about getting my mountain bike out and starting to ride off-road again. It's where my start in cycling began, and, to be honest, I miss tearing down some single track. My friend (and I do use that term loosely here.) has heard about many of my adventures on-road over the last couple of years, and thinks he's found the answer to my recent lack of motivation.
The Leadville 100.
If you don't know about this race, it's 100 miles through the mountains of Leadville, Colorado. It's tough. Elevations that almost never dip below 10,000 feet, and LOTS of climbing.
I then chatted with my good friend Steve. See, Steve has been talking about doing the Leadville 100 for about 5 years. Yes, he's crazier than I am - it's his fault I did the Death Valley Double last spring. Oh yeah, he's game - but he's recently found this other ride in Colorado - the Durango 100. Supposed to be harder than the Leadville, and it's right smack dab in the middle of his already scheduled holidays... 18,000 feet of climbing and altitudes of 11,800 feet. Oh yeah, that sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday...
So, I haven't said yes yet. I haven't said no yet, either. I'm thinking. It would sure force me to get my weight down, 'cause ain't no way I'm climbing 18,000 feet on a mountain bike carrying an extra 30 lbs!
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