Category: Eric

This past weekend I joined my friends at Suwanee Creek bikes and went for a 23 mile ride as shown here.

1,909 miles to go.

Happy!

So 2010 has started as a slow cycling year mostly due to the cold weather. This week we finally got a breakthrough with a nice warm weekend and the yearn for a big ride was set in motion.

I got the call Friday evening from my cyclist friend to join him and his family at the Silver Comet for a ride. So I got the bike ready and did a double take on my full face helmet with the magic shine headlight on top and thought- I don’t need that since it is only 2 p.m. and I would not be riding too long. My prior two rides on the Silver Comet took about 2 to 2 1/2 hours and that would  put me safely at the trail end before it got dark….. start some ominous music here ….

Got geared, loaded the SUV and started the 42 mile ride to the trail start. Again – I kept thinking, why would I drive to a place to ride a bike? Why not ride around my town? Well  the Silver Comet Trail is one of the best East Coast bike trails. Built on an abandoned railroad line, it is 61 miles to the Alabama line and then extends another 33 miles into Anniston, Alabama and it is one of my 2010 goals to ride from the Alabama line to the start of the trail (or about 7 Alabama miles + 61 Georgia miles for a total of 68 miles).

Arrived around 3 p.m. and started the ride. The first 4.2 miles I pedaled without the motor – since I forgot to move the battery select switch to the internal battery and it is quite hard to find and select it while riding (note to myself – learn how to do this while riding). First stop was the Floyd Rd trail head where I switched the motor to be ready for takeoff.  I continued to the usual turn around point where my friend was waiting for me.  It took me about an hour to get to our meeting place, the Hiram trail head (mile marker 14.7). I shot the breeze for about 30 minutes (mistake!!!!) and since the trail continuing west was reopened (it was closed September 22 due to the worst Atlanta area flooding in history – same day I got my bike) – I decided to continue north to Dallas – GA. This was my bonehead move of the day.

While riding – I decided I wanted to do a 5o mile ride. My Garmin edge 705 gps started to give me conflicting distance when comparing to the marked milestones on the trail. To avoid a conflict of not reaching 50 mile I decided to go beyond the 25 mile marker to make sure Garmin recorded at least 25 miles. That put me to mile marker  26.53 and subsequently explains my 54 mile ride. I will post the Garmin’s take on my ride later and also the pictures to prove my feat!

It was fast getting dark when my Optibike red light started blinking about 12 miles from the trailhead. I only blinked red for about three seconds. Oh Sh!!!  Within the first two miles on pure muscle power, my thighs started hurting. you know like Charlie horses when you started to push down the pedal. It became obvious – when I had to stop at a crossing and had to put my feet down when I got a jolt of pain and almost ate my bike for dinner – that I wouldn’t make it to my SUV before dark.

Spirit over mind over body – I’m glad at my small group bible study group meeting the night before we discussed how important is for your spirit to take over your mind and your body. It was my time to ask the almighty for a miracle to get me back safe to my car and for the next 10 miles I was chanting my religious mantra non stop. Oh Jesus let me get back to the car!  Hosanna! Hosanna! rapidly became my mantra.

It was right after dark when I finally got to the trail head and put the bike on the rack, While driving home I started to get chills and when I finally made it home I bundled myself in 2 jackets and 4 blankets and crawled into a fetal position in bed.

No advil, no aspirin, no massage.  I only got out of bed to get my bike safely into my garage, ate some dinner, weighted myself at 293.5 and went back to bed. This morning, with my thighs still hurting –  I weighted myself and my home scale showed a semi naked weight of  288.5 lbs (I had my socks on). Glad I’m able to lose some weight while sleeping!

Was it worth it?

Yes – I proved that with two battery packs I will be able to safely do 75 miles each day x 2 for my MS 150 mile ride on April 10-11. If you like to assist my fund raising efforts –  click here.

I also found out that at my current weight I can do about 40 miles with battery assist. Thus making it possible to ride from Anniston, AL to Cedartown, GA about 45 miles – take a break – find a place to recharge the battery and continue for the final 54 miles to the start of the trail – all in a day’s worth.

Will I continue to stupidify myself, you bet!

Check out how stupid my Garmin Edge 705 became… (lap 1 & 2 should be the same exact length)

p.s. 1,932 miles to go

Today it was a beautiful day and took a casual ride around my “fake” downtown of Duluth, GA.  How fake is it?  There was never a downtown – it is now being made and looks like the one use in the Back to the Future series from the 80’s including a clock tower…. I’m also started wearing my Garmin 705 heart monitor and you can check my ride here  (might require creation of a free account at Garmin to view the ride).

If the weather permits , I will target 2 rides each weekend and at least once during the week to build up stamina for my 150 mile ride in April.

Trying to get the house in order to begin my 2010  bike season. With a target mileage of 2,000  miles for 2010 (or 3,500 km whichever one is quicker)- I need to start adding miles.   Yesterday – with all the snow on the ground in Alasktlanta I went for baseline VO2 and RMR testing. The plan is to do it again at the end of my year with Optibike at the end of September. The numbers were interesting to say the least. I’ve been able to keep the weight down during the winter with very little biking. The waist is still at the last notch of the belt and the scale at the Sport Factory showed 294 with heavy jeans…

What is RMR and what does it matters? RMR is resting metabolic rate – the amount of calories you burn by just being alive. That for me is 2,448 calories. If I eat less than that I lose weight. Wait!! So if I sleep for 30 days would I lose 25 lbs? (3,500 calories per lb) Not that easy. Check out why. My test results tells me if I only eat 2,000 calories per day I can lose 1 lb per week. I have obviously not done that in a long while.

Here is where the Vo2 max test comes into play. My Vo2 results tell me that I must keep my heart rate at 120-130 bpm for aerobic (fat-burning) exercise and at 150 bpm for my anaerobic threshold. If I hit my cardio peak limit of 162 bpm I will be burning 1,076 calories per hour.  If I exercise 3.5 hours a week I can also lose that same 1 lb per week. Thus the idea with my Optibike rides is to make them long and to work out a sweat every time I hit a hill to increase my cardio endurance. I’m starting this year with a peak rate of 28.3 ml O2/kg/min which is low for my age. The question is – will I be able to increase that to the good (35.8-40.9) or excellent range (41.0-45.3) at the end of my Opti year? The bet is on.

This puts me back to my initial motivational statement. I hate to exercise and I love to eat. That pre-Optibike statement kept my weight stable at 306 lbs for a few years. Now is time to bundle up in layers and start riding again. Today with a high of 47 degrees should be warm enough to go for a ride.

Let’s get my butt in gear for 2010!

Update 2/16/2010 – Went for a 6 mile ride around the block with 3 layers. Layer 1 stayed dry all others were drenched – I guess fleece and a wind breaker doesn’t cut it. It still felt like cycling inside your freezer – but colder while going downhill.  1,994 miles to go.

I’ve been unable to post in the past few weeks due to a long trip to visit my father-in-law who just went for his final sunset ride in his adopted hometown of NYC this past Monday. I thank him for the daughter he taught how to ride a bike around Central Park. I’m getting mentally ready to start biking again once we get back to normal – if that is possible – after his burial. May Freddy rest in peace. 🙁

Finally Atlanta got over 60 degrees and I was able to test some of my new Christmas gear. I got a Magic Shine night light that I finally installed on my Giro full face bike helmet and tested one of my reflective yellow jacket (alma mater 2)… Now if we can only get the nice weather on the weekend. Is it too much to ask?  The ride tonight about 5 miles. Just a little to warm up and start working toward my April 10-11 big ride (150 miles) and that is another story.

* not on the same ride (yet)

On Friday I went for my first medical visit after I got my Optibike.

I’ve lost 16 lbs since the I started using my Optibike I went from 306 lbs to 290 lbs. My total cholesterol is down from 285 to 217 (from pre-medication vs. biking).  It is still over the new 180 TC maximum guideline (used to be 200) – but for the first time my cholesterol came significantly down without dieting nor medication. I checked this site and read Lipitor’s information insert that comes with the drug  and even with 80 mg daily intake the average lowering of TC (total cholesterol) is only -45 points. I achieved -68 with the only side effects of a belly getting 2.5 inches smaller, which translates to 3 belt holes towards the right direction  and my thighs getting 1.5 inch larger.

I hope you noticed my mention of “without dieting nor medication”. I have not altered my eating habits in any significant way since the start of my adventure. Yes I did moderate my participation on the Donut of the Week at work and stopped gorging in a Churrasqueria buffet after riding the bike for 2 hours – but as all my co-workers and family can attest, I’m still their Gordo!

How things change. I’m now looking forward to seeing my doctor.

I’m going to my 1st weight in at my Doc this Friday a.m. and the plan was to bike the 10 miles to his office.  Can someone tell me how do you bike when it is below 20 degrees F? How do Alaskans bike in the winter?  Last night Anchorage Alaska was 20 degrees, Duluth – GA was 18 degrees, global warming k!ss my Opti@ss!

check out how cold it is at my town!  Here is Alaska weather at Anchorage

brrrrrrrr

I turned the wheel past 50 a few days back and all I want to ask the Lord for my next 50 is to grant me the blessing to pass on my love for biking to the next generation which is addicted to video games and avatar like experiences in etherial worlds. (yes – I did see Avatar! – “I can see you”).

What are my goal list items for next year?

1. Accomplish my 10% body weight challenge with Opti before the deadline next September

2. Reach the Alabama -Georgia line on my bike riding the Silver Comet.

3. Learn to pedal using clip ons…. (before this year end).

4. Learn to layer warm clothes properly and conquer winter riding.

5. Conquer the fear of night riding.

6. Dabble in Mountain Biking.

7. Ride while at my time sharing adventures this year (Anaheim, San Diego, New Orleans, Destin, FL )

8. Take my grand-kids on bike rides (non powered).

9. Ride to work daily for a week (250 total miles). Want to average at least once a week for the full year (about 2000 total miles).

10. Ride with my wife (need to teach her to use the Opti since she can’t exercise due to her lungs).

* * * * * * * * *

This past year I broke through many self created limitations and I want to thank our Lord for allowing me to go past them.  If this past January 2009 I would have been asked these questions I would have laughed all the way to the floor:

1. Eric will buy a $10K bike

2. Eric will lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks.

3. Eric will ride 300 miles in 8 weeks

4. Eric will ride 30 miles in a day and over 50 miles in a weekend.

5. Eric will bike from work.

6. Eric will enjoy exercising.

7. Eric will bike successive days.

8. Eric will dress in lycra.

9. Eric will ride a bike in the rain.

10. Eric will wake up early to exercise using a stationary bike daily.

Those who know me would have agreed and would have bet real money against me completing any item on that list.

Thanks to Craig @ Opti who assisted me in pursuing a joyful activity that will repay itself in dividends of health and joy.

Thanks also to my loving wife Nancy for supporting me on this re-kindled love affair with biking.

Weather have turned cold and wet in Atlanta. My last ride was on Thanksgiving day.  I drive to work and see random bikers wrapped in many layers… but the thing I dread the most is biking when it is pitch dark.  I need to get myself some cold weather biking clothes and very reflective night riding gear (maybe a night light?). Time to ask Santa to get my mojo back!

p.s. Got a semi – official home cholesterol test and my numbers improved by 25% with no drugs!!!