My value at the moment is that I have lost 15-16 lbs since starting to bike on May 5. That may not seem like a lot, and certainly I have a long ways to go, but for me it's a start. Plus I am much stronger. I am now riding my bike at least 50 miles per week and hope to soon bump it to 75 per week. My only real issue is that I ride in the city and can't really get any decent speed up because of stop signs and traffic lights. So my rides take longer than most. I am happy to say that one part of my ride, a one-block uphill section that I've nicknamed "the pipeline" due to it being crammed into a single lane by construction stuff - I got up to 18 mph going through it the other day. I try to go as fast as I can because I don't want the cars behind me to have to wait for me to slog through it. 18 mph is the average speed of the RAAM riders (Race Across America). I only touched it for a few seconds, but I would love to know what it's like to go flat out on an uninterrupted road.
There is someone in my life that I believe to be "the one." That being said, neither of us is really in a place to move forward with each other, perhaps him less so than me because of some past issues he needs to clean up before trying to move forward. I have my issues too, pretty much all financial, but he has old relationship issues that are like a lead weight around his ankle.
He has told me he is not attracted to me - but I think he's not attracted to the weight. Well, I'm not terribly attracted to it either, and it's coming off... in a healthy, althletic way. I'm even starting to figure out longer rides, and I may want to do some century rides before too long.
I've never been terribly athletic, but I've always been at home on a bike, and I want to know how much I can push myself. I carry my weight around my middle, and one thing about biking is that it really only works you from the butt down. The rest is pretty much along for the ride. That's where diet and some initial detoxing are important. I'm not talking about going on a calorie reduced diet per se because when you're biking 200-300 miles per month, your body's needs change. My body isn't tapping the outer layers of fat for fuel.... yet. It's still tackling the inner layers around the organs. My legs are firming up nicely, and I'm starting to see some muscle definition below the knee and can feel definition in my thighs.
The last two days I logged 25 miles on the bike... but each day I was already drained when I started and I slogged through the rides. So today I listened to my body and decided to take a rest day to give my body a chance to recover.
I'm looking forward to riding my bike to Venice beach via Venice Blvd which has a wonderful bike lane. So very excited to do it. Perhaps if I'm lucky my new odometer will be here by then...
