My Great Journey
Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:06 am
Thanks Zep! I bought a Specialized Road Bike.. with gas prices I wanted to start riding more and leave the truck at home.
I have some pictures of it I posted on facebook.. it rides so nice.. I am at the point I don?t even like getting in the truck..
However, truth be told this has been a bit of a journey for me.. last thanksgiving I had to go to Redimed (after hours clinic) to have a minor procedure done.. stepped on a scale and had an OMG moment. I had been looking in the mirror and really hated the person who was looking back at me. So with that, I rededicated myself to the gym 6 days a week.. 1 hour of cardio a day plus I am weight training.. I was getting stronger but in December the smokes were holding me back so I set them aside too. Now I am doing over 5 miles a day on an elliptical and another 10 miles on a stationary bike, I bench press 245 and can run a mile in less than 8 minutes.. I have lost almost 50 pounds since Thanksgiving and am completely smoke free with no desire to go back.
I was looking at different ways to mix up my cardio routine and I thought what better way than to ride a bicycle.. save some money, get some great exercise. Plus maybe some big adventures.. so I started looking at roadbikes, and wow are they expensive.. I have $1200 invested in mine.. and while it?s not entry level it?s not top of the line either.. You can spend some money on a bike let me tell you.. I saw bikes for $8000 at the bike shop.. mine has an aluminum frame, carbon fork and it is so light, around 16 pounds.. It is a dream to ride.. I am absolutely hooked on cycling.
So right now I am just knocking down goals I have set for myself. 4 months ago commuting to work and the gym 20 miles a day on a bike seemed impossible, now it?s my routine. My girlfriend lives 10 miles from me.. never thought I would ride a bike that far either.. I have a 25 mile ride this weekend.. this summer there is a museum in Kalamazoo Michigan which is 97 miles away.. I plan on making the trip on my bike.. and this fall there is a 100 mile ride through the hills of southern Indiana. I have heard it is very grueling but it?s a goal that is going to get knocked down..
I love adventure so I am thinking that maybe next summer I am going to take 30 days off work, maybe more.. still working on the details but I would like to get on a bus with my bike and go to Rapid City SD and from there ride the bike to the Pacific Northwest area.. I love it out there and have been wanting to go back and who knows I may stay.. I have family in the Seattle area. Anyway its roughly 1346 miles one way and it is not lost on me how rugged that terrain will be. I figure a year of hard work and conditioning in the gym and on the bike, I could manage 200 miles a day. I thought about camping along the way but after 200 miles on a bike, a warm bed and hot shower would be welcome. There are a lot of details to work out but this is a very doable goal. I am thinking July 2012 tentatively. I will make a determination as to where I am at physically next spring .. I am also looking for somebody to make the ride with me.. At some point I am going to start a blog and I may do this as a charity ride.
I will keep you all posted with my progress.
I have some pictures of it I posted on facebook.. it rides so nice.. I am at the point I don?t even like getting in the truck..
However, truth be told this has been a bit of a journey for me.. last thanksgiving I had to go to Redimed (after hours clinic) to have a minor procedure done.. stepped on a scale and had an OMG moment. I had been looking in the mirror and really hated the person who was looking back at me. So with that, I rededicated myself to the gym 6 days a week.. 1 hour of cardio a day plus I am weight training.. I was getting stronger but in December the smokes were holding me back so I set them aside too. Now I am doing over 5 miles a day on an elliptical and another 10 miles on a stationary bike, I bench press 245 and can run a mile in less than 8 minutes.. I have lost almost 50 pounds since Thanksgiving and am completely smoke free with no desire to go back.
I was looking at different ways to mix up my cardio routine and I thought what better way than to ride a bicycle.. save some money, get some great exercise. Plus maybe some big adventures.. so I started looking at roadbikes, and wow are they expensive.. I have $1200 invested in mine.. and while it?s not entry level it?s not top of the line either.. You can spend some money on a bike let me tell you.. I saw bikes for $8000 at the bike shop.. mine has an aluminum frame, carbon fork and it is so light, around 16 pounds.. It is a dream to ride.. I am absolutely hooked on cycling.
So right now I am just knocking down goals I have set for myself. 4 months ago commuting to work and the gym 20 miles a day on a bike seemed impossible, now it?s my routine. My girlfriend lives 10 miles from me.. never thought I would ride a bike that far either.. I have a 25 mile ride this weekend.. this summer there is a museum in Kalamazoo Michigan which is 97 miles away.. I plan on making the trip on my bike.. and this fall there is a 100 mile ride through the hills of southern Indiana. I have heard it is very grueling but it?s a goal that is going to get knocked down..
I love adventure so I am thinking that maybe next summer I am going to take 30 days off work, maybe more.. still working on the details but I would like to get on a bus with my bike and go to Rapid City SD and from there ride the bike to the Pacific Northwest area.. I love it out there and have been wanting to go back and who knows I may stay.. I have family in the Seattle area. Anyway its roughly 1346 miles one way and it is not lost on me how rugged that terrain will be. I figure a year of hard work and conditioning in the gym and on the bike, I could manage 200 miles a day. I thought about camping along the way but after 200 miles on a bike, a warm bed and hot shower would be welcome. There are a lot of details to work out but this is a very doable goal. I am thinking July 2012 tentatively. I will make a determination as to where I am at physically next spring .. I am also looking for somebody to make the ride with me.. At some point I am going to start a blog and I may do this as a charity ride.
I will keep you all posted with my progress.