A trail ride, my new Trek and some more photos.

So, I mentioned in my last post that a new bike was brought into the pile O bikes that I now own and I got to take it out on Saturday for its first ride and my initial opinion on the bike is that I love it. Do I really NEED another bike? yes and no, yes because I feel that my riding had advanced past the K2 that I have been riding and the bike is a couple years old now and since I am me I kind of just wanted a new ride! no because the K2 does what it needs to and has been awesome for me so far but the trigger was pulled on the new bike in either case. I started researching bikes and since I am a fan of the Specialized line up I assumed a Rockhopper comp would be the bike for me but upon test riding one it felt cramped so I kept searching. The Trek Cobia was looking like a clear winner to me after riding a lower end version of the same frame so to the LBS I went, I started chatting with the sales lady and I asked about a last years model Trek X Caliber, she said "let me check". Long story short for a tad more than the 2012 Cobia I could have a 2011 X Cal and I liked the paint scheme better on that anyways not to mention the upgrade in components, the order was placed and a few days later my new bike was ready to be picked up.

There she is, 2011 trek X Caliber Gary Fisher collection.

My plan was to get dropped off at the bike shop and ride the bike home but it was later than I wanted to get there, it was raining and I had no one that was able to drop me off so onto the rack it went and I would have to ride it another time. The bike stared at me..er I stared at the bike as it sat in the living room waiting for Saturday to come and the excitement built up right up until I put it back on the rack Saturday morning to meet my riding buddy at the trail head. A quick once over of the bike when we met up and we were off, we had no real plan on how far we would ride we only wanted to make sure to hop off of the trail at the LBS so that he could buy some pedals for his Jamis. Taking our time we kind of just rode and stopped randomly to let the bikes pose in their natural environment and we ended up riding just under 22 miles, now I really love the bike.

Stopping for a quick break the new Trek next to Ed's Jamis Exile.

One of my favorite shots from the day, I like the way that birch log matches the white on the bike.

A longer shot of the first image that I posted.

Look out! big man coming through!!! 300 pounds plus 20 miles per hour equals a bad day for anyone that gets in the way!

Nice little bridge shot, there were hundreds of geese in the water just to the side of the bridge.

I liked the way that the bikes were positioned in this one, pretty cool picture I think.

Just a little brook with a bridge near the end of the ride, it was a fantastic day for a ride.


Stopping for a rest at one of the trail heads.

My initial thoughts on the new bike is that its well made and VERY comfortable for me, when I first looked at the seat (Bontrager Evoke 1) I thought that it would very likely need to be removed from inside me after a ride but to my surprise it was not uncomfortable during our 22 mile ride. I mentioned in my last post that I did have a little mishap... lets call it a lack of judgement perhaps and ended up with a broken toe on this ride about 12 miles in so I had to ride the 10 miles back to the car with a sore foot, this did not at all take away from my ride, I laughed about it the entire way back and hopefully I am healed up enough to get back out this coming weekend. I have a new set of pedals on order wt the bike shop and I am hoping that they come in this week so that I can ride over there on Saturday and get them put on, I also bought some lock on grips which are already on the bike.

On the surface of my mind almost every time I am riding my bikes I think about how once upon a time I was more than 500 pounds and getting on a bike was not really an option for me. Perhaps I appreciate my time on two wheels as much as I do because of that fact, perhaps its just something that fits me either way my bicycles and my time pedaling them is one of my greatest passions and I don't see that changing any time soon. There are photos of me from when I was 500 plus and most of them I am sitting on a couch or in a chair, not very far from my front door or I use the excuse that "I was holding the camera" now I look at some of the images that I have taken and some of the places that my two wheeled transportation devices have taken me and appreciate every single minute of my time that was spent that way, even when a broken bone was part of it. If you are thinking about getting back onto two wheels my advice would be to stop thinking about it and do it! there is lots to see out there and doing it on top of two wheels is a great way to go about it.

Attempting to post more regularly, stay tuned for more on the fat man, his progress, meal plans and his bikes! don't be afraid to click that leave comment button either!

Until next time, that's all I got.

As Ever
Me

Day 1113, news? and 36 hangers...

Between the snow, dance classes, birthday parties, OBGYN appts and rearranging just about the entire house I have not had a single minute to myself in four or five days and my body feels it. Friday was the last day that I made it to the gym because of all of the things happening around me all at once so the plan was to hit it hard today but alas the weather gods decided that my children would be home from school again because of freezing rain on top of last weeks feet of snow so I doubt that I will make an appearance at ye olde gym today. I'm going to have to admit that I haven't been the strictest fella when it comes to counting my calories either over the last few days, random schedules and just plain old forgetting to eat has lead to some haphazard meals and meal times.

My wife's creative way to store some extra clothes hangers from our rearrangement of the house yesterday.

What has my bike been reduced to!

The lack of gym time is leading me to really miss my trail, I drive by the trail head and see freshly driven snow, zero tracks or marks in it and something in me says "go get your bike and make some tracks" but alas the snow is deep and without seeing what hides beneath it would be ill advised me tinks. Compound the untouched trail with the fact that Wify has found a use for my K2 and somehow I am really feeling the need to take a ride! a real ride, I am not talking about on a stationary bike! My poor faithful mountain bike has been reduced to an expensive clothes hanger holder for the time being with 36 slaps to the face hanging from her backbone, I suppose that I can't complain too much as it IS in my bedroom.

Tomorrow the children should return to school and I am planning on kicking my own arse at the gym to make up for the couple few days without anything that I would call cardio aside from the shoveling. Missing out on that part of my day effects me, I am literally bouncing off of the walls looking for things to do in order to make up for some of the lack of movement I suppose such is life in the north east eh? When the roads clear a bit I do believe that I will be taking one of the new old bikes out for a cold wet ride mostly because I can't stand it any more but also because I have been jonesin' to take that Crisscross out for a ride since I picked it up. Eat well and often, exercise daily while living life to the fullest is how I get down these days and sooner than later my time will be even more restricted because of a new "addition" so I must bust thee ass in order to get as close as possible to my line in the sand before that day "arrives".

Some news perhaps? complaining about the status of my bike? wishing that the snow would subside just a tad bit so that I might get out on two wheels? all of the above, some more subtle than others and the band shall play on while the world keeps spinning. My life is so different than it was three years ago, than when I was 500 plus pounds and I am embracing everything that I have because of a three year old decision and my only regret would be that I did not decide to do something about my weight problem sooner.

Keep on keepin' on and remember that everything that life offers is mine and yours alike for the taking.

That's all I got for today.

As Ever
Me

Its YOUR life, live it! lots of pictures.

There are days when a person feels like they don't want to get up out of bed and then there are days when we jack in the box out of that bed, hit the ground running and have the most amazing of days and today, well you can call me Jack. I think that the program going as intended is starting to get my body back into a rhythm because I have not stopped moving today and feel like I can do more than I already have. This post shall be dedicated to movement and my bike for I owed her a nice ride because of the state that she was in yesterday with the clothes hanging from her limbs.

I had to start off with the tunnel of love to warm her up to me again

My trip to the gym this morning was a good one, I did 25 minutes on the stationary bike followed by 20 on a treadmill and finished up with some light weight lifting for about another 20 minutes. I did some light shopping for bananas and oranges and homeward bound I was but as I drove I noticed just how gorgeous the day was and decided that a bike ride around the lake was in my future. Upon getting home I ate a banana and topped off the tires on the bike and off I went but when I hit the spot in the road to turn and go around the lake I decided that I would hop onto the Rails to Trails path that's not too far from my house and off I went. These photos are just a few shots that I took during my ride, I figured that since I disgraced my poor bike with the clothing photos yesterday that I would make it up to her with a few pictures more in her element.

oooh! a Bridge!

and the purpose for the bridge.

Just me stopping for a drink about half way through my ride.

Same spot as the image of me above just shot from behind the bike.

This is one of the crossings where the path crosses a street.

oooh! a Lake!

I came across a couple other riders on the trail today but otherwise it was all mine and I have to tell ya, enjoyable does not even begin to describe the just over 10 mile ride. I also came across a couple deer! I was cruising about 11 mph down a nice sunny part of the path when about 100 yards in front of me I see a deer cross the bike path, then another and in the interest of not plowing into a deer on my bike I slowed down and kept my eye open for any more crossing. I wanted to get a photo of the deer but as soon as they heard the bike coming down the path they leaped back across the way they had come about 30 feet in front of me so no picture but it was pretty cool none the less.

I am still floored at the fact that I can just on a whim hop onto my bike and head off for an awesome ride like the one I took this afternoon because I can clearly remember not being able to run and this is a far cry from that old me. I at times think about all of the things that I must have missed out on in the past because of my weight and I can with all honesty that it saddens me. There are whole blocks of years worth of my life that I cannot get back and they were wasted on brown bags full of greasy fast foods laced with sodium and who know what else, I could have been enjoying things like I did on today's ride all along. Making the decision to lose the weight that was holding me back was one of the best and most important decisions that I have ever made in my entire life because now I am actually living that life unlike in the past when I was much heavier.

If you are on the fence about starting a weight loss program I recommend that you hop on down and start today, it doesn't matter if you count calories like me, join one of the pay to play programs or if its just making the choice to go for a walk after dinner tonight just do it. Who knows what I have missed out on because of being so heavy? I will never know the true extent of it but I wish that I had started earlier than I did because this side of the fence is a lot better than the one where dragging myself up a flight of stairs to take a piss was a reality. You owe yourself the chance to live life on your terms just like I do and everyone else that's in this world and if its weight that's holding you back you CAN do something about it and you MUST do something about it or else you are cheating yourself out of what life really has to offer.

That's all I got for today but you can be sure that tomorrow is another day and another post will be on the way, until then keep on keepin' on.

Oh yeah, I caught my bike smiling at me through the dust on the gears so she ain't mad no more.

As Ever
Me