Had a few personal issues earlier this year and have been unable to bike as regularly as I would like to. Last month – I received an invitation to join a Biggest Loser style weight challenge at work with a prize of $3k for the biggest percentage weight loss in a period of 18 weeks and decided to join in. Too bad that the week of the initial weight in was the week I was taking off on a 25th anniversary cruise to Alaska and thus I decided to avoid any potential encounter with other vehicles before the cruise.
Started this challenge as I started the Optibike challenge with a visit to my doc and a few lab tests to validate my initial condition before embarking on my second life changing challenge. This time around I know exactly what I need to do. Regular use of my Optibike together with a simple weight routine and portion control and by the end of this Summer I should meet my weight goal.
The secret weapon is that I decided to target 100 lbs and I am doing psychological warfare and personal training to get me started on the right track. Let’s see how this Summer goes!
I also want to dedicate this challenge to the memory of my brother Richard who would have celebrated his 55 years today if he wouldn’t have left us 14 years ago due to being overweight with heart issues. That is why I’m doing it – ultimate health.
Complete my 2010 goals and exceed them by targeting 2,000 miles + on my Optibike for 2011.
I’ve been a bad boy and will need to ride more intensely in 2011. Already signed up for the MS 2011 Atlanta – Athens ride and the Bike for the Cure Diabetes ride in May.
Follow my 2011 rides on this site.
May your wishes come true in 2011.
Eric R
A don’t know if it is the nippy air this morning that slowed me down or was my bike ride group riding like the wind to keep warm – but I struggled to keep up with the Suwanee Creek bike ride group this a.m. I was only able to catch them up going up hill.
One of the riders commented that you lose more weight on cold rides because your body is actually working harder to keep you warm – but I debunked this one when I only lost 2 lbs of water weight vs 4 lbs last week. So far after riding about 5 months out of the past 12 months I’ve stabilized my weight 16 lbs lower and about 3 inches skinnier than before I starting using my Optibike. And that is without any other diet (pizza and beer are always welcome).
Another 29 miles against my 2010 goal, 1,440 miles to go!
Check my ride via Garmin. I called this the extended edition since we added a few more scenic miles around Suwanee than the normal ride. Ended the ride with a solid red LED.
A ride around a couple of suburban cities
Suwanee Creek Bicycles sponsors 20 mile Saturday rides around Suwanee which is a suburb north of Atlanta. Most Atlanta ‘burbs where originally train stations from the New Orleans to Washington DC train route. Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee, Buford all were small train stops that in the recent years are being gentrified with “fake” multi million dollar town halls and city parks with playful fountains. Today I finished my ride by watching the Duluth Fall festival parade. I was able to ride -before the parade started- among the cars full with HS beauty queens, cheerleaders, school bands and sure enough, the guy with a motorized Lazy Boy that can hit 50 mph. I had a joyful kick chatting with him for a few minutes.
I was able to ride for about 30 miles without cramping and fully enjoyed a beautiful indian summer Saturday in fall.
Again – you can check my ride here!
1,469 miles left in my 2010 goal.
1,499 miles to go – 60 more beers? 100 lbs less?
Yesterday I rode 70 miles on the ” Beautiful Back Roads” 10th anniversary ride that started / ended from the Budweiser brewery at Cartersville, GA.
It definitely was beautiful, but painless? no! This was my first ride since June 19th due to technical glitches and I definitely felt it. At about mile 40 I started to get the first indications of upcoming leg cramps. At about mile 50 I started my new mantra. I discovered that when singing a mantra, your mind gets distracted from the pain and the miles start rolling by. By mile 68 I had frozen legs – until I saw the brewery and got the strength to finish the ride.
How did the bike behaved? Other than I noticed that I need to check the derailleur alignment or replace the chain (a maintenance part) – it was flawless! I noticed that the software revision I received during Opti’s visit to her maker made the fast vs eco speeds noticeable faster. I was able to achieve 20 mph using eco in flatlands (plus a few mph added by my pedal pushing) and 27 mph using fast mode. I even managed to go over 30 mph without the gift of gravity. It was exhilarating telling skinny, fast riders that they were doing 29 mph while I passed them on a heavy laden mountain bike with panniers with my double wide body wearing lycra – or was that polyester? Anyway – not a pretty sight for their egos….
The results of the ride: 5 lbs to the ether even after having 3 beers, 1 hot dog, tasteless chicken at the Budweiser brewery and on my way home, a meat pie and a chick fillet sandwich to top it off. So based on the ride I can extrapolate that I have 20 x 75 mile rides left to accomplish my goal – and at 5 lbs of weight loss and 3 beers per ride I can reasonably extrapolate that my 1,499 miles to go would represent 60 more beers and 100 lbs less on my body.
There you go Jared!
I’m spending a few days at the beach in Destin, Florida and decided to rent a single speed beach cruiser from FantaSea. Rode for a couple of hours and cranked 18 miles to my 2010 total. 1,569 miles to go. I’ll need to average 400 miles / month to get there. Anyone willing to bet I’ll reach my 2010 goal?
Signed up yesterday to the Budweiser Century ride out of Cartersville, GA on September 18. It is also called the Beautiful Back Roads ride. Starts and ends at the Budweiser brewery and I noticed in small print that you must have an id to prove you’re over 21 – which means – brewery taste tour afterward!
Still putting back my Opti together and will test ride it this weekend.
Namaste!
I’ve never named a bike – but this relationship to further develop must have a name.
Any suggestions?
Tormentor ?
Flash?
Mork from Boulder?
My bike just started its ride back from the Colorado mountains and I’m ready to get back to it.
Hey baby Opti, make it back safely
from where you were born
your Daddy is waiting for you
to ride your through rail trails
all the way to ‘Bama
and back to Duluth,
your sweet home….
PS. Update 8/12/2010 – bike is back home but bikeshop became retarded and couldn’t put it back together. I’ll try my best to put her together this weekend and take my super e-bike for a ride.
Actually just shy of a year. The last months have been consumed by my volunteer activity and having to travel every week.
In any case, two days ago I pulled out the trusty Optibike and cranked out (with the help of the MBB) 25 miles in an hour and five minutes with an average cadence of 84. When peddling I tend to stay between 90 and 100. Strong headwind on the ride out then the joy of the tailwind returning. Lots of juice left so headed up the hill just to extend the ride and enjoy the decent at a touch over 40 MPH without an assist. Just an amazing amount of fun.
Today I did a quick tour of the downtown area to scope out a market then rode the hill the other direction with a decent of 45+. About 15 miles just playing. I’ll go out again in a bit.
While I won’t meet my objectives in the year timeline I certainly will meet them as the year unfolds and couldn’t be happier with the Optibike. Just need to get out there on a regular basis. Let’s see what we can do with the remaining few days then go from there. I’ll be in Boulder at the end of the month and will stop in on the good folks at the factory.
Also a big congratulations to Eric. Amazing stuff.
