I owe you an apology. Back on April 12, 2008, I made this post. It explained why I was overweight, what I was going go do about it, and why I chose to blog about it. I realized (with some help from a couple of readers (Pete and Arlyn), as of yesterday, that I had unequivocally failed to do what I had set out to do in that post.

Why you ask? Well, there are several reasons. Sure, I burned my hand here and I crashed pretty bad back on Ride 23 but I’m over those injuries and should be riding again. The only reason that matters, though, is that I have become lazy and lost focus of what this blog, and my mission, was about. Over the last week, instead of tending to my own health and fitness by riding, I tried to turn my blog into something it isn’t – a news site for bicycling. I’m sorry.

So, where does this leave me? I’m returning to what I started this blog about. Me and my fight to improve my health through riding a bike. I’ll return to posting about my rides but I don’t want the blog to turn into a boring training diary. I’ll post on other cycling subjects from time-to-time as well as my life as it relates to cycling (i.e. bike shop visits, local cycling events, opinions, etc.). I’ll also try and post some informative articles in weight loss and fitness. I think if I return to these core areas I can not only revive Biking To Live but also revive my riding, and in turn, my health. Hopefully my two readers (I say that in jest; I may have upwards of ten!) will appreciate this and I can reach out to those in similar situations to help them.

For those of you who have visited, commented, and encouraged me to date I sincerely appreciate it.

If you have an comments, or recommendations to improve this blog, I’m all ears.

Thanks.

Bryan

Here are the totals for this week:

Monday: 11.52 miles, 52:26, 16.1 mph max, and 13.1 mph avg
Wednesday: 11.51 miles, 53:35, 18.2 mph max, and 12.8 mph avg (first ride on the Cannondale)
Friday: 12.17 miles, 47:05, 18.7 mph max, and 15.5 mph avg
Saturday: 25.14 miles, 1 hr 36 min, 20.8 mph max, 15.6 mph avg

Even though Wednesday way my first ride on The Crotch Rocket my average speed was still about the same due to taking it easy. I was riding with my brother-in-law who was riding a hybrid and if I hadn’t taken it slow I would have dropped him pretty quick. On Friday and Saturday though you can see a substantial increase in the average speed.

I also passed 200 miles this week since starting Biking To Live and this weeks mileage puts me at 241 miles total.

I can’t tell you how much better I feel since embarking on this journey. Not only is my biking improving but my health is too. My weight loss has been minimal (less than 5 pounds) but improvements in my blood pressure and heart rate has been dramatic. I had another doctor’s visit this week to follow up on some blood work and my resting heart rate had dropped 3 beats and my blood pressure is normal for the first time in a long time. The doc called my blood pressure perfect. I’m still taking meds for it but by the time I lose all this weight I hope to be able to come off of them. Time will tell.

As I said, my weight hasn’t changed much at all but I am seeing drastic changes in the fit of my clothes. I believe I’m burning the fat off but am replacing it with muscle with riding I’m doing. I talked with the doctor about this and he seemed to agree with me. He also said that losing 5 pounds in a month isn’t bad at all because you should be taking it off slowly (approx 1-1.5 pounds per week). If I follow the 1 pounds per week thumbrule then I’m right on track. He told me that as long as my clothes are getting bigger then I’m doing it right. He just cautioned me to watch my diet (which I am) and to start taking a multi-vitamin (which I will).

Pete over at Cycle Pig has started a new weekly series called The Weekly Oink where he summarizes some of the great content he’s found throughout the week. This week, one of the links he’s shared was a video documenting the construction of a bicycle helmet. Very fascinating. You should check it out.

http://www.cyclepig.com/archive/family-on-bikes/