Jump Jump! CrissCross will make ya.... oh wait

Back in Jan of this year I picked up an old Schwinn Crisscross on Craigslist for a mere $35 and have had plans to get it riding again so that I have a bike for when I need to run down to the corner store for a gallon of milk or a Cigar and a bottle of Jack. I figure that I can do some posts about the progress of this bike so anyone interested can watch it transform from something that was ridable as long as you only want 7 gears to a decent bike good for carrying small loads around and general rolling around the neighborhood. The bike has sat dormant for the past however many months because of the shifter that controls the front derailleur which is really wiggida wiggida wiggida wack when you think about it. The problem is the old not made any more Suntour Xpress shifter that I needed to match the rear derailleur shifter was not easy to come across unless I wanted to spend top dollar and well I am cheap so it took a while. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not afraid to search out a great deal, I figure my time is my time and if I can save as much as possible either searching out deals or waiting for one to come along I am no worse for wear and I end up with some killer deals.

The day I got it, this is as the bike stood, see its in good shape, especially for $35

Ebay to the rescue this time around I found a set of NOS Suntour Xpress accushift 6 speed shifters, the Crisscross is a 21 speed but the rear derailleur/shifter looks and functions perfectly so I only need the front shifter from this set. I got the Shifter set for $13 delivered so I am into the bike now for $48 and am planning on reselling the rear shifter on ebay at some point. I am not sure how far I will take this little project but I have been pricing wheel sets out for it and I have lots of odds and ends that I can use on it laying around in Tupperware but the plan is to keep this as budget friendly as possible and see what kind of a bike I can turn it into.

Brandy spankin' NOS shifters, soon enough the one I need will be on the bike.

Cycling has in a way kept me going, anything bicycle interests me and since I can't really do much riding if I weigh 500 pounds it keeps me in check when I am not feeling like staying on track. Taking things apart to see how they fit back together has always been something that i was into so having some bike projects is a great way to distract myself from anything that is stressful in my life and I am planning to use it as a tool to help keep me on track. Since this is after all a blog about a fat guy taking the weight off (putting it on and then again taking it off lately) I wanted to pop my menu from yesterday up here for anyone who cares to see it. I hit 1730 calories for the day which is ok since I aim for between 1700 and 1800 total for any given day, here is a look at how yesterday played out.

Breakfast
7:30 AM
coffee/creamer 90

8:45 AM
2 C Honey combs 220
1 C milk 110

11:45 AM
2 slices lite Rye 120
3oz deli ham 180
1 wedge laughing cow cheese 35

Lunch
1:00 PM
1 banana 105

4:00 PM
Healthy choice Café steamer 300

Dinner
6:15 PM
6oz baked breaded haddock 380
1 C southwest corn 120

7:30 PM
boiled egg 70

1730 total calories for the day.

Of course I had my green tea, that is something that has not changed no matter how off my eating is, I do not drink my calories! I do drink a gallon of green tea per day and another gallon of H20/Powerade zero on top of that with some Pepsi max or some other diet soda tossed in now and again... yeah yeah I'm working on getting off of the diet soda again! I went almost 3 years without it and just recently started indulging again.

Yesterdays post I got a couple comments and was going to respond but I cannot respond to comments for some reason so I need to sort that out so that I can leave comments on my own blog! My restart? yeah lets call it that, has been good so far and I am able to separate any outside stresses from my health plan, I think that focusing on my bikes is helping as well and this Crisscross project I think will give me something to focus on.

Thanks for the support and for stopping by to read the musings of a fat guy and his bikes..

Until next time.... That's all I got...

As Ever
Daddy Mac