Biking to Live continues to draw more visitors each year. The first year there were about 6000 of you. The second about 15000. The third around 26000 and this past year over 50000 visitors. Almost doubling the traffic each year which is awesome. The first three months of 2012 has seen a big increase in traffic with over 18000 visitors. I find those numbers hard to believe considering how infrequently I’ve posted lately. Here’s a snapshot of Biking to Live’s visitor growth over the past four years.

Visitors Overview Google Analytics

There are cycling and weight loss sites out there that get A LOT more traffic than Biking to Live but those numbers tell me each year that folks are out there reading this blog and relying on the information on it.

I could list the goals I have for Biking to Live (I have many) but won’t bore you with those. I’d rather thank you. Without your continued moral support, comments on articles, and re-tweeting or liking of articles Biking to Live probably wouldn’t be around today. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit, and contribute to, Biking to Live. Here’s to another fantastic year.

PhotoC: King of Monks

Tale of the Scale

Last month I didn’t lose any weight but I didn’t gain any either. I was really depressed about that. Looking back, I should have paid more attention to the fact that I didn’t gain any weight. I’m not always going to lose weight so I need to remember that. You should too. This month I more than made up for it though. I started the month at 275. By the end of March I was down to 268.5! A whopping 6.5 pound drop for the month! I think there were several contributing factors to the 6.5 pound loss. They are:

1. Good eating. I really paid attention to what I ate last month. Although I didn’t log everything like I should have I was still able to keep on track.
2. Good hydration. I’m terrible at drinking enough water and made a commitment to do my best in March. I even downloaded an app for my phone to help me and talked about hydration in a recent article.
3. I was primed for weight loss. Not losing any weight last month set me up to have a big month. That combined with 1 and 2 above was the trifecta.

In the Gym

I had to take the last three weeks of March off from going to the gym. I pulled a muscle in my neck that made lifting very painful afterwards so I took the time off. Now that my 12-week winter training program is over, I’ll be shifting to a full-body dumbbell workout.

FYI, you can pickup the 12-week winter training program over at Training4Cyclists.com at the promotional price of $29.95 until April 10, 2012. Disclosure: I received the program for free and receive no monetary gain if you purchase it.

On the Bike

March still wasn’t a huge month for me on the bike. I did manage 278 miles which is slightly more than march. A good thing is that my riding is increasing each month and I know for a fact that I’m way ahead of where I was this time last year. My longest ride of the month was only 25 miles which I did several times when riding with the group on Saturday mornings. My solo and group pace is increasing nicely as well.

Goals for April

• Lose 4 pounds. Again, taking a conservative approach for a slow weight loss.
• Ride 300 miles. Not a huge increase over last month but with winter officially over I need to be increasing my ride length both for my weekday rides and the Saturday group rides.
• Get back in the gym. My neck feels much better and I’m ready to start lifting again.
• Core training. I don’t know why I put this off. Just. Do. It.

As of today I haven’t had a soft drink, of any kind, for over 90 days. I think the last time I had a stretch like that was when I sent to Officer Candidate School in 2006. Wow!

How was March for you from a weight loss and/or cycling perspective?

I have to admit that I’ve never been good at drinking enough water. I would drink it while exercising but the bulk of my daily fluid intake was as either soft drinks (regular for years followed by years of the so-called ‘diet’ drinks) and coffee. I don’t think it would be inaccurate to say that I was chronically dehydrated from the age of 18 to 40.

As a side note, I haven’t had a drink of soda since January 1st!

Why didn’t I drink enough water? Mainly due to the taste. I didn’t like the taste of plain water except when I was exercising. And I wasn’t exercising very much. It wasn’t until last year, and again this month, that I really took a hard look at my water consumption and did something about it.

Why is Water Consumption Good?

A quick search of Google yields millions of results on why you should be drinking enough water each day. I’m not going to bore you by linking all of them here. Besides, that would take like forever. I will give you a few reasons why drinking water is good for you from an exercise and weight loss perspective. They are:

1. Water accounts for up to 60% of our body weight and every system depends on water to function properly. Water carries nutrients throughout our body, flushes toxins out of our system and keeps us hydrated.¹
2. It regulates our core temperature. This is especially critical when exercising in extreme temperatures.
3. It may help keep us from overeating. One of the things people are told is that drinking a glass of water before eating may help them eat less when sitting down to feast.²
4. It keeps us hydrated. Staying hydrated is important for our body to perform properly as well as being able to exercise at our top potential. One theory regarding weight loss is that being dehydrated can be mistaken for hunger². Instead of immediately eating when you feel hungry try downing some water first to see if it takes care of the craving.

How Much Water is Enough?

Our daily water intake varies by several factors including age, sex, exercise level and where we live. The USDA has published guidelines based on age and sex.³ For my age group, they are:

• Males, 31-50 years old, 3.7 liters/day
• Females, 31-50 years old, 2.7 liters/day

These intakes are to include water consumption from all sources (i.e. food, beverages and normal tap water).

How Much Water am I Drinking?

Like I said earlier, I was probably dehydrated from the ages of 18-40 because I didn’t drink enough water and instead lived on coffee and soft drinks. That ended last year when I started drinking more water. I did real good up until late last year and lost sight of the need to stay hydrated.

This past week I got serious about my water intake and started drinking between 64 and 80 ounces a day not including any water intake from food, beverages or what I drink while riding.

I Needed Help

One of the big things I changed this month was really tracking how much I was drinking everyday. I knew I needed to drink more water each day but I had a bad habit of getting busy and forgetting about it. Before I knew it the day would be over and the water bottle on my desk was still sitting there empty from the previous day or full from refilling it at some point. I needed help so I turned to my smartphone.

I downloaded a simple (and free) app that let me set how many glasses of water I wanted to drink each day and it reminds me how much I have left to drink that day. As I drink a glass I open the app and tap a water glass to add to my daily consumption. Each hour I get an alert on my phone reminding me how much water I still need to drink that day. The amount of water you want to drink each day, when you want to get alerts, and how often you want to be reminded were all options in the app.

The result? I drank between 64 and 80 ounces each day (including the weekend) last week. I found the app critical in reminding me to drink water.

The Challenge

Are you up for this? I hope so. If you’re having problems drinking enough water each day I want you to make a commitment to do it for the next four days. Starting tomorrow I want you to start measuring how much your drinking and log it. If you can find an app, get it, and use it. I use Windows Phone 7 and if I could find an app for this there’s got to be a ton out there for the iphone and android.

Each day I want you to go to the Biking to Live Facebook page to let me know how you did for the day, what your challenges were and any benefits you saw (i.e. felt better, was less tired, exercised better, lost some weight, etc.). I’ll make a short post announcing the Daily Hydration Challenge and all you need to do is ‘Like’ it to accept the challenge and then keep us all posted on your progress.

¹Mayo Clinic: Water: How much should you drink every day?
²LiveStrong: Daily Water Intake for Weight Loss
³USDA Dietary Reference Intakes, Page 5

The truth is – It’s not easy

How many of you have tried to lose weight before and failed? I know I have. Multiple times. Or I would lose it only to gain it (and sometimes more) back. Same goes for my riding. I’ve made great gains only to lose them when I slack off and lose fitness.

It can be FRUSTRATING!!

As I mentioned, it’s not easy when we start to look deeper into what it takes to lose weight, get fit, ride better, or eat right. Some of the stuff you’ll have to consider might be:

• How much riding per week? Hours or miles?
• How many carbs per day?
• What kinds of carbs and when?
• Making sure you drink enough water each day.
• Fueling properly on the bike.
• Getting enough sleep.
• Which exercises to perform.
• Do you need to do intervals?
• How do you get the proper balance of protein, carbs and fat?
• How can you simplify eating right?
• Do you go paleo?
• And the list goes on and on.

Throw in other factors like age, gender, medical history, etc. and you can easily become stupified. No wonder losing weight and getting fit can be hard to do.

So, what prompted this post? My lackluster performance last month is a huge contributing factor. I have found myself becoming frustrated with my failed attempts at losing weight and getting better as a cyclist. I am making improvement on the bike but I know I can make more. Especially if I can lose 100 pounds of fat. I imagine there are some of you out there that are just like me and are getting tired of not making gains.

It’s time for a change and we’re going to do it together

I’m going to start a series of posts where we look at all of the questions, above as well as many others, and how best to accomplish them. We’re going to set some simple goals together and see if we can’t accomplish them. Together. Maybe we’ll inspire each other.

PhotoC: david.wadsworth_photo

Last month my goals were simple – lose 3 pounds, ride 390 miles, and start core training. I failed at all three. The only thing I did accomplish was not having a soft drink bringing my total to 60 days without one.

Tale of the Scale

I was all over the place on the scale last month but I started out great. A couple weeks into February I was down to 272 and already achieving my 3 pound weight loss goal when everything exploded. It seemed like overnight that I shot up to 277, struggled to get back down to 275 and then hung out there for a week. I finished the month at 275 which meant I didn’t lose anything. On the bright side I guess you could say that I didn’t gain anything either.

In the Gym

I continued working out twice a week in the gym by lifting weights. The workout is still focusing on the legs with only two chest exercises. Since February was the second month of lifting the sets and reps changed from 2×12 in January to 4×8. This let me increase the weight to continue building strength. I can really tell the difference in my thighs as they are rock hard but I’ve always had very strong legs. Starting in April I’ll shift to a more whole body weight workout.

On the Bike

I only managed 244 miles on the bike in February. That’s 100 more than January but about 150 short of my goal. 150 miles! That’s terrible.

My longest ride of the month was only 41 miles and I went a stretch of 13 days where I only rode three times. How pathetic is that? Especially when you consider how mild a winter we’re having here in Florida where you can literally ride outside everyday (there have been a few days where it wouldn’t be a good idea but you know what I mean). On the 23rd I turned 41 and had wanted to ride my age before heading into work that day. One thing lead to another and I had a good string of excuses as to why I only rode 11 that day – not enough sleep, short on time, tired, etc.

Basically, I was full of excuses and short on commitment.

Commitment

Sometimes I wonder if I lack the commitment required to lose this weight. I’m tired of sounding like a broken record every month on these reports as I detail how much weight I failed to lose and how far I didn’t ride. Know what I mean?

I know why I’m trying to lose the weight (health, family, etc.) but why am I not making any progress?

Am I not riding far enough?

Am I not riding enough?

Am I still eating too much?

Am I still eating the wrong stuff?

All of the above?

I don’t feel like I’m alone in these questions either or you would see everyone who wanted to lose weight and get fit do it with no problems.

Sorry, had to vent a little.

Goals for March

• Get back to basics – logging my food, taking my supplements, riding, eating right.
• Lose three pounds.
• Ride 400 miles.
• Finish my winter training program strong.
• Start a daily cardio/core program. I am so tired of putting this off.

I think I was successful in getting back into the routine of those habits. I got some good training miles in and cleaned up how I was eating. I still ate out more than I wanted to but the last couple of weeks I’ve been very good.

One of the things I’m most proud of this month is not having any soft drinks. I gave up regular soft drinks a long time ago but diet drinks aren’t any better. Especially when trying to lose weight and eat healthy. I had cut way back on the diet drinks last year but had never totally given them up. I did that on January 1 so I’ve been soft drink free for 31 days. Thanks to Tyler at 344pounds.com for the inspiration.

Tale of the Scale

To start the month I tipped the scales at 277.5 pounds and yesterday I weighed in at 275. That means I’m down 2.5 pounds for the month of January which is great. The first couple weeks were up and down as I got back into a routine. Eventually my weight settled out and has started to drop. How did I accomplish it? Just trying to eat right, drinking more water, no soft drinks, no late night snacks, and reducing how much I ate out. And exercising.

In the Gym

One of the new things I’ve added to my training plan this year is time in the gym lifting weights. I haven’t lifted in years but knew it was something missing in my training. Not only for the weight loss benefits but also to become a stronger beast on the bike (especially on the Saturday group rides). The winter training plan I’m following (more below) calls for lifting twice a week. It’s geared specifically for cyclists so it’s a lot of lower body exercises like squats, leg presses and leg curls. Before lifting I hop on the elliptical for 10 minutes to warm up.

My focus in January was to just get in the gym and not hurt myself. I follwed the sets and reps as called out in the winter training program but kept the weight light. A sample workout in January was:

• Squats – 3×12. That’s 3 sets of 12 reps. I started really light at 115 pounds. My weight workout on Monday saw me squating 145/155 for each set.
• Leg Press – 2×12. Again, stayed light in the 130-150 pound range.
• Leg Curls – 2×12. 90-120 pounds.
• Bench Press – 2×12. 155 pounds.
• Chin Ups – 2×8. Weight assisted because I’m too fat, and too weak, to do them otherwise. I’ve never been good at chin ups.

Next week the reps start coming down so I’ll be adding more weight. The current plan gets me through March and then I have another weight training program I intend to follow but we’ll talk about that later when the time comes.

On the Bike

I didn’t ride as much as I had planned to for January. In fact, not by half. My total mileage for January was 145 miles which pales in comparison to Bike Noobs 400+ miles this month. I guess it took me longer to get back into the swing of things on the bike than I thought. Plus there were a couple of days where I said it was just too cold or I didn’t feel like it. I really didn’t start riding until January 11th so I guess I should take that into consideration.

The riding I have gotten in though has been quality miles while following the 12-Week Winter Training Program written by Dr. Jesper Medhus.

(Full Disclosure: Jesper sent me the training program for free. I fully intended to purchase it but he was kind enough to send it to me after I asked a pre-purchase question and he learned about my attempt to lose weight. If you decide to purchase it, or any of his other training programs, I see no financial benefit.)

Jesper’s winter training program is interval based and includes the weight program that I talked about above. It’s 12-weeks in duration and will get me through the end of March when Spring arrives and daylight savings time begins. I’ll do a more detailed review later but if you’re looking for a program to get you through the winter you should check it out.

January also saw me return to the Saturday group rides at my favorite local bike shop. I really missed these rides and didn’t realize how much until a couple of weeks ago when I showed back up. I’m just hanging with the B group right now and doing what we call the short route (about 25 miles) until I get more miles under my butt. One of the cool things the group has started doing is stopping at a local Starbucks after about 20 miles. It’s a great break to just sit and talk with the other riders. I am riding with them better this year when compared to last year.

February 2012 Goals

In addition to my yearly goals for 2012, I’ll be setting goals for the upcoming month in these posts as well. Here are my goals for February 2012:

There you have it – my lookback at January and my goals for February.

How are you dong with your goals so far this year?

I don’t know how many shotgun wielding cyclist-haters you’ll see while out riding but that’s cool as heck. It says something for the durability.

Can they be ridden in?

The thing you probably want to know more than anything though is if they’re any good for riding. In a word, yes.

BTB 910 Sunglasses Lens Clarity

Like I said above, I’ve ridden in these sunglasses about 15 times now and have experienced zero problems with them. The frames are well made (out of a material called Grilamid TR90 – the link goes to a tech document for all the geeks out there) and have a good form fit. The temple pieces are attached to the frame using screws – not some cheap plastic connection. The lenses are vented so you don’t get any fogging while riding which is always nice.

BTB 910 Sunglasses Nosepiece

I didn’t have any problems with the BTB 910s staying in place either. The hypo-allergenic temple inserts and nose piece seemed to help a lot in this department. Not having to continually adjust my sunglasses while riding is a huge plus for me. The pic above gives you a good closeup of the nose piece. The little ‘fingers’ are flexible which help with the form fit even more.

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, the BTB 910s are great sunglasses for cycling. They perform their function very well and you can’t beat the price at $34.95. Similar sunglasses from some of the big brands could end up costing you two to three times more. As always, here are some pros and cons:

Pros

• Great fit. The BTB 910s fit me really well and I’m a hard fit with anything.
• Durability. You can’t argue with how well these sunglasses are constructed.
• Vented. The lenses are vented to prevent fogging up while riding.

Cons

• Limited colors. Call me a cycling fashonista but I like my cycling sunglasses to be white. The 910s are only available in black.
• Only one lens. As a cyclist you’ll want different lenses for differing conditions (polarized, clear, amber) and the 910 only comes with the polarized option. Still, the single lens option is still a great deal for the price.

If you’re in the hunt for a good pair of cycling sunglasses at a fair price you should check out BTB Sunglasses.

After our customary 3-4 mile warm-up I came to the quick realization that I had waited too long to get back out here. I was hurting already and it wasn’t going to get easier. As we crossed over a bridge I pulled off my trademark move – the stealth slide back to the B group. Except I was already leading the B group. So I just stayed where I was. Three of us made up the group including the shop owner who drove a relentless pace when in the lead.

Two other guys joined us that broke off from the A group so five of us ended up settling into a paceline for the next six or seven miles. This was when the shop owner asked if I was interested in stopping for coffee. All I heard was rest stop. So I said yes. There’s a Starbucks conveniently located on the return route so we stopped in at mile 20 for a rest. I mean coffee.

We sat outside (did I mention that the temp was climbing?) and had our coffee and talked. There was a new guy with us who was wearing some of the brightest shoes I’ve ever seen. The joke was what size batteries they used and whether or not he actually needed lights at night. They were the Diadora AeroSpeed 2 in fluorescent yellow. Believe me when I tell you that the pic below does the actual thing no justice.

Diadora AeroSpeed 2 Flourescent Yellow

I seem to have given myself a nickname as well. The new guy was pointing to each person sitting at the table asking what they did – one guy was the shop mechanic, another was the shop manager, another was the shop owner and then he points to me and asks what I do at the shop. I instantly reply that I’m the shop wheel sucker. That got a good laugh.

Alas, it was time to get back on the bike and finish the last five miles. We rolled back into the shop right at 25 miles at a 17.5 mph pace. All joking aside, while I was hurting pretty bad, this first group ride of the year was better than my first last year so I can’t argue. Just gotta stay committed and put the miles in.

Thumbnail courtesy of Wheel Sucker on Twitter. Why don’t you click through and follow.

There will be no long explanations here trying to describe my reasoning behind these goals other than the fact that in order for me to lose this freaking weight I need to ride. In no particular order, here are my 2012 cycling and weight loss goals:

1. Ride 5000 miles.
2. Lose 30 pounds.
3. Ride a century.
4. Ride 500 miles in a month.

As I said earlier, I have a more detailed post coming that will explain my 2012 training plan so look for it soon.

How many of you have set your goals for the year? If you have what are they? If not, what are you waiting for?

Photoc: angietorres

Riding

My first ride of last year was a short 8 miles that I didn’t even manage a 13 mph pace on. I had to start somewhere right? Over the next 10 months the mileage increased and the pace followed. One of my best rides of the year was the Patriots Ride where I managed 57 miles at a 19.2 mph pace (in a group). I’d say that’s a huge improvement.

2011 also saw me start group riding on a regular basis. I started riding with one of the local bike shops on Saturday mornings and it was one of the best things I did all year. Riding with a group introduces you to new skills, a little comraderie, and it helps you make huge gains from a fitness standpoint. While I was never able to finish with the fast group, I was able to hang with them longer throughout the summer. One of the last group rides of the summer was one of the more memorable where I rode 47 miles at a 18.8 mph pace. Great stuff.

Everything wasn’t rosey with my riding though. I achieved my 2000 mileage goal in Oct-11 and raised the bar to 3335 miles. I failed to reach that ending the year with 2715 miles total. I think that was a great number but it could have been so much more. Why? Because I only rode 46 total miles in November and December. Ouch.

Weight Loss

This was totally a mixed bag but, in my opinion, a failure for me. Did I lose weight? Yes as I finished the year down two pounds. 279.5 down to 277.5.

Give me a second. I feel like I just got punched in the gut. I seriously just looked up the total weight loss and am at a loss for words.

[Pregnant Pause]

I only lost two pounds total for the year? I knew I had gained some back over Nov-Dec but I didn’t know it was that much. Oh man. I’m totally embarrassed now. How pathetic. Not even close to my 30 pound goal for 2011.

As you can tell, I have a real problem with this and it highlights my biggest area of improvement needed for 2012. Lots of things here need to change to include not eating out, structured meal planning, no binge eating, etc., etc., etc.

Recap of 2011 Goals

Here’s a quick recap of my 2011 goals:

• Ride 2000 Miles – Achieved
• Ride a Charity Event – Achieved. I actually rode two.
• Ride a Century – Fail. I only managed 80 miles at the Tour de Cure.
• Lose 30 pounds – Epic Fail
• Only eat out once a week – Epic Fail
• Do more group rides – Achieved

So, I was 50% for the year with my goals. Overall, I still think I made a lot of improvement in my cycling in 2011 but looking back it’s obvious I need to really focus on a my eating in 2012. As if I didn’t know that already.

How did you do with your cycling or weight loss goals in 2011?