Riding in the rain

Today was the usual group ride with the club. Only four of us showed up for the ride. The group consisted of Chip, Tom, John, & myself. We all decided it was going to be a somewhat easy pace for the ride. We headed out on the ride & as we got close to the Haynesville Hill, it started to rain. We decided to climb the hill & see how things got at the top. Once we hit the top, it wasn't that bad yet so we decided to do the short Thursday route. Once we got on Grovania Rd., the rain picked up a bit, but still wasn't that bad. As we got on Payne Rd, we started to see a bit of lightning. After seeing that, Chip & I decided to pick up the pace to get back to the church before it got any worse. We left Tom & John behind & picked things up. I was surprised at how my legs were feeling the entire ride, especially after the effort I put in yesterday. I was able to keep a good steady pace the entire ride & my legs never really felt all that sore. I'm sure I'll feel it here in the next day or two. I actually do enjoy riding in the rain from time to time even if other guys hate it. Today all in all was a good ride & I had lots of fun.

Hammer Time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today due to time constraints, I deciced it was Hammer Time!!!!!!! I have a route I use every so often to gauge my fitness. It's made up of varied terrain not really flat but with some climbs that will make you work. I did this route on the 16th and averaged 19.2 mph. Today I did the same route & averaged 20.4 mph. I can see what a difference losing the weight has done so far. I'm down to 204 right now, for a total weight loss of 8.4 lbs. My legs felt good today, climbing was better than usual & I was able to climb the hills in a bigger gear than before. It felt great beating my average speed, that's the incentive I need for right now. I'll do this route at least one or two more times as long as there is light enough to do it to see how my fitness is going with the weight loss. Thanks to everyone who reads this. I'll keep updating on the weight loss as it progresses. Stay tuned.......

Nice day for a ride

Today was a beautiful day for a ride. I got home & got ready to head out on the bike. My legs felt good from the start. I just took it easy the first part of the ride, due to the wind, but I was really enjoying being out on the road. The scenery was great & traffic wasn't that bad. I didn't see anyone else riding, but that's their mistake for missing a great day. I did 35 miles today & rode some rolling hills. Losing the weight is helping me climb better and it's getting easier to go uphill, still not my favorite part of riding, but I'll get better if I work at it. I hope to be able to ride most of this week, but it will depend on the weather. I'll try to get better at posting more often. Stay tuned for more.......

I know, I've been very lazy about posting

I know that I've been extremely lazy about posting anything on here lately. I've been busy with other things & the weather here lately has been kind of on the wet side, so I haven't been able to ride as much as I would like to. Well, I've pretty much finished my racing for this year & it's been a big learning experience. I had lots of fun racing, if you call suffering at the back of the pack most of the time fun, but I did learn alot. I have some ideas as to what I need to do this off-season and will do my best to become a better rider. The first thing that I need to accomplish for next year is to lose weight. I have started that by attending Weight Watchers. I started a couple of weeks ago & have already lost 6.6 lbs. I did the short group ride on Thursday & when we started climbing the hill into Haynesville, I noticed a big improvement over the last time I rode that hill. My eating habits and losing the weight have greatly helped my climbing. My goal is to get down to 165 by my birthday on March 5th. I am at 205.8 lbs right now. I figured out that I will have to average a weight loss of 1.7 lbs per week to meet my goal. I also told a friend that when I reach that goal, we are going to climb up Brasstown Bald. I just want to see if I can make it up that climb. I know I can't do it now, but after I lose 40 lbs, I might have a better chance of making it up there. I need to be more consistent in my on the bike training. I need to quit making excuses for not riding when I really should be on the bike. I'm going to continue with the Cyclo-Core workouts & remember to continue doing them during the season, not just do them in the off-season & then quit doing them. I think that was one of my biggest mistakes during the season. I also need to put more time into specific types of workouts, not just going on the group rides & hammering all the time. I need to work on hill climbing, intervals, & sprinting just to name a few things. I have plenty of time to set up a training schedule, so that's the biggest thing for me. They have what they call the Peach Peloton rides here starting in November & I'm going to attend everyone of them. They are for building up base miles. They start out with 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hour rides each Saturday in November and work up the distance, time, & speed each month after that. I had one guy in our club do them last year & said that it really helped him get better. I hope that I can have the same effect he did & that will be a good start for next year. Right now, I'm just riding my bike for the enjoyment of it & keeping a level of fitness. I forgot how much fun just riding a bike is. I have been enjoying just getting on the bike & seeing the sites around here. That's about all I have for now, I'll keep posting about the weight loss & how things are going so anyone can see.