A bit of advice for the men out there

I missed riding yesterday due to an unfortunate incident involving a lawn mower, a swarm of yellow jackets, and a whole bunch of benedryl. Fortunately, I appear to not be allergic, and have fully recovered from the incident. There were at least 5 stings, and there were probably more. I'm unsure because I ran out of fingers upon which to count...

Today's ride was largely uneventful, but I have learned one VERY important lesson to share with all of the men folk out there. Simply put: Always have your own soap! I am here on vacation, and I am at the mercy of my mother-in-law's showering amenities. This usually is not a problem as there has always been masculine shampoo. However, today I came across the unthinkable: no soap. Seriously, men use bar soap. Women use that shampoo-esque bath gel. And that was all I had to clean up with after my ride.

Ugh...

You see, I was showering up to go on a date with my wife. A true date, that involved dinner, and opening car doors for her, and fancy stuff like that. Alas, I couldn't smell manly for her because the shower gods conspired against a man on vacation. So I had to go out with her smelling like "Warm Vanilla Brown Sugar." And let me just tell you, that smell clashes with the Speed Stick deodorant!!

There it is, men. The moral of the story, when you go on vacation, make sure you pack soap with your toiletries.

Conquering Snellville

We made our way up to Snellville (near Atlanta) to visit some more family and friends. Since I missed a ride on Monday I determined to try and catch up on Tuesday.

No such luck.

I think I have managed to find a natural anomaly. I believe that this town is the one in existence to have more uphills than down. Even when I tried to return home, I swear that there were roads going uphill both ways!?!

The worst part about riding around here is that I don't know the area that well, which means I was learning it as I rode. Coming from rural Georgia, there is something that I am familiar with, but of which I do not have an intimate knowledge: cul de sacs!! These things are evil! What's worse is that they pop up out seemingly of nowhere, and usually at the bottom of one of the few hills.

At least that was the case yesterday when I managed to get a downhill, and I was flying along just over 27 mph, when I happened to see the dreaded cul de sac. Expletives ran through my mind as I locked down my brakes in an attempt to stop before flying further down the hill, but without pavement. I was seriously considering putting my feet on the ground to try and "Fred Flintone" that bike to a stop...

Fortunately that was not necessary as I turned that remaining energy into a fast turn around. Then there was something even worse: the uphill from Satan.

To be honest, I got a little lazy at that point. I put it in the granny gear and eased my way back up the hill a little under 10 mph. I know where I am NOT riding today.

Although I didn't catch up in distance, I do believe that I managed to burn more calories and get a better workout than if I has simply ridden 10 miles on flatter ground. Oh the joy that is the uphill battle. I'm not really looking forward to today's ride, mostly because I have to go and cut grass first.

Not so anonymous...

Sunday morning I went for a nice pre-church ride. It was nothing too long, a quick 5.5 miles, but this time I truly went with a purpose: to answer my question. As it turns out, things seemed easier on Saturday because of the slower speed. I pushed myself as I normally would, and found the town to be every bit as I remembered it; not too hard, but still a decent workout.

The best part was that it was a cool (high 70s) Sunday morning. In a sleepy little town like Swainsboro, that meant that I largely had the roads to myself. It is great to be able to ride and not worry about cars, traffic, exhaust, or anything else. All I had was some quiet time with the outdoor air and my thoughts. But, with the way my mind works, that could be a scary thing... as you are about to see...

The best part of the ride was that I got to take a picture that I have wanted for years. Our local Alcoholics Anonymous building is something unique. First of all, they have their own BUILDING! Not a meeting hall, not a room in a church, but an entire structure. What's worse is that they have their own sign out front. This is nothing abnormal about that per se. What is unusual is the size of the sign. It is massive! Below you will see it, and my bike is in the picture for a size comparison.

Now, what this tells me is that they have enough need and business to erect a massive, concrete, permanent sign for this facility. Yet what makes it really interesting is the willingness to have it. You see, a town like Swainsboro is small enough that you can pretty much recognize people by their cars. I did it in high school all the time, and I know many people who still do. My point is that if you are at an AA meeting, people driving by know your car and know why you're there. Hmmm.... not so anonymous now is it?

Fortunately I didn't have to worry about anyone asking my why I was there on a Sunday morning. I figure those who are successful in the program are at home getting ready for church, and those who are not doing so well are at home hungover. Either way, I was free to sightsee all I wanted!

Yes it was a good ride.

Unfortunately, I missed a Monday ride due to yardwork and inclement weather. I need to make up for that later today.

First Ride in Georgia

I love Georgia. I lived here for many years, and have pined for the state while I lived in South Carolina. Now, after a year in Virginia, I came back in the late July and have to say, I LOVE Virginia summers. Oh my gosh... the weather down here is horrible. Sadly, though it is no where near as bad as when I was in high school. We are not hitting 110 yet. Still, upper 90s with a side order of 90% humidity, I do not miss this!

Which is why I will cycle in the mornings or late at night. I went for a ride at 10:00 this morning, and that was very nearly too late. Fortunately, I was able to ride with my wife. She's great, but a lot slower than I am, which may be a good thing. I'm sure that if I pushed myself at my normal pace I would have gone too hard in the heat. As it stood, we managed a nice 12 mph. (Which was much like riding with my nephew... you can check that story if you like.)

I must admit that the roads, hills, and everywhere else I used to go seemed to be a lot easier than before. I don't know if it was because of the additional year of practice or if it was from the decreased in speed. Either way, I think I was sweating more from the heat than the ride.

We managed a nice 5.33 miles today, and I look forward to another ride tomorrow. I hope that I can go with Wifey again, but we will see about that in the morning.

Family Trip with EVERYTHING... and a Trash Can

So we have come down to Georgia to visit family (both mine and my wife's). The bad part is that I didn't get to ride for two days in a row. Thursday I missed due to traffic court (that's another story altogether...) and Friday I missed due a mere 9-hour trip in the car. That was fun. I could literally feel myself getting fatter just sitting there for so long.

And to make that worse, I actually had an ice cream cone yesterday! Well, first it is important to know that we have a little bit a tradition. Since we usually come down I-95, the kids always want to stop at South of the Border. If you do not know what that is... you HAVE to take a trip down 95 just to get the experience once. Trust me, there is enough local color that you do not even have to get off of the interstate to experience it. Well, it is a good point approximately half way, and not a bad place to stretch our legs, so we usually stop and let the boys get an ice cream cone. It was here that I made my mistake.

I had an ice cream too.

Full fat ice cream.

I know that was horrible for any kind of weight loss, but I have lost 5 lbs in the first week of cycling, and was feeling good, and was apparently not thinking. So I had a "trash can." This is a flavor of ice cream that is a combination of all other flavors. I don't know how or why they make it, but they do. And it is offered at South of the Border. And I had one. It must be popular as it was the only flavor that was nearly gone. All I can say is that was another once in a lifetime experience that I am glad I had, and will never have again.

So, that aside, we made it back down to south Georgia for the first time in nearly a year. But I did the important thing: I brought my bike. It's going to be fun to ride in my old stomping grounds and see how it compares. I used to ride on a crappy old Wal-Mart bike, which was great until I replaced it with a Trek... one of the best moves I have made.

So now I get to see how a good bike and one year's worth of experience on a decent bike changes the riding experience in south Georgia.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Riding with my nephew

I went riding today even though I didn't feel like it at first. This is the great and odd rule of cycling. The more I don't want to go, the more I am glad that I did when I get home. There is some kind of weird, inversely-proportionate rule for that I think.

At any rate, I went riding with my nephew. He borrowed my good bike, and I took the 35 year old Daimler road bike out for a spin... that was an adventure.

I know I am not fast, but I am a LOT fast than my nephew, who is 13. I had to stop twice to wait for him, and then made him ride in front of me so that I didn't leave him forever behind me. Actually, it was at the halfway point that I stopped and waited for over a minute for him to catch up. That was bad, but I never expected him to get so far behind on such a flat stretch of road.

Our trip was like this:
Nephew: peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle, peddle...

Me: peddle, peddle, coast... look at birds... enjoy the breeze... peddle, peddle, coast... look at birds... enjoy the breeze...

Well, you get the idea.

When we got back, we had gone 5.25 miles and I felt that I had hardly broken a sweat. We'd averaged 11.9 mph, which is a lot slower than my usual 15+ mph. Oh well, I will count this as a non-aerobic workout day.

It may have been slower, but I am glad that I went for the ride. It's pretty fun riding with someone. Plus, this is five days in a row. One more then I can take a day off. But at this rate, I might not. We'll see.

4 Days Down... who knows how many to go...

So far I have managed to do this for four days straight. I started with a 10-miler on Saturday, and have followed up with 5 miles for the past 3 days. I must admit that this is the first day that I don't want to ride. Luckily it is the summer and I can put it off for a little while. I'm using the fog outside as an excuse. We get really thick fog that usually burns off around 10:00, so I will try to go then.

I have just today thought about when to weigh myself. Ugh... what a miserable concept. I really HATE the idea of stepping on a scale, but I have to do it at some point. Otherwise, I won't know if my plan is working. So, after careful thought and consideration (I believe I spent about one half of a second on it) I have decided that I will do that on the weekend. That way, I will start at the one week mark and keep it going from there.

I haven't decided if I will post my weights or not. Mostly because I am still embarrassed by how much I weigh. Alas, that is a story for another day...

Let's get this party started!

So you are probably wondering who the heck this is, and those who know me are wondering why the devil I am doing. Well, it is simple. I have enjoyed cycling for a couple of years now, but I have been inconsistent with it.

The problem is... well... to quote Tommy Boy, "I have what doctors call a little bit of a weight problem."

So here I am, attempting to do something about that. My goal is to ride 5 miles a day 6 days a week. Right now, it comes down to motivation and time management. I hope to get it started on a good note.

I welcome you to join my misadventures and share your stories as well, but most importantly, let's have some fun along the way.