2 Days On, One Day Off

October 30, 2007 at 5:19 pm | Posted in Cycling, Fixed Gear, Road Bike, San Francisco | Leave a comment
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Back in the saddle baby. Okay, so I did the 33+ miles to and from Sam’s Saturday, then jumped on the fixed gear and peddled around Sea Cliff and the Lake District for about 45 minutes, which actually was harder on the muscles in my legs than the Saturday ride.  Monday was a day of rest for me and my legs needed it. Serious lactic acid build up from me not doing anything for such a long time. But, it was not as bad as it could have been as my $100 Brookstone massager saved the day and really makes a big difference. I used it after both rides and it is amazing what a half an hour with the massager can do to help your muscles recover and prevent soreness. Believe me, I am still sore. Today I am debating what to do as far as exercise. It is ugly and cold outside, which is not a big deal because I have gear for all seasons here in San Francisco. But, I have a lot of things to do today and my road bike is still down at my buddy’s house (who won’t call me back). So, I can either ride the fixie again, do the Lyon St. stairs or go for a walk.  I think all are good options.

Most importantly, I had somewhat of an epiphany this weekend. Saturday night we had pizza and I had a few Cokes with dinner. As I stared at the ceiling that night, trying to fall asleep, I began to think about my family medical history and my lifestyle. I used to be in top shape inside and out and I let that go.  I realized on my ride that I was pretty much back at square #1 when it came to cycling and my eating habits were probably the same. So, I decided to not only begin riding again every week, but also get back onto my diet that I devised when I used to ride and run.  I will be posting more on my diet later, but you should know that it is a great way to eat well, lower your LDL cholesterol, lose weight, keep your digestive system healthy and feel great.  Gotta run.

Back on the Bike

December 5, 2005 at 1:59 am | Posted in Cycling, Fixed Gear, News | Leave a comment

The weather in San Francisco has been dry, clear and quite cold in the past week.  I have not been on the bike much lately, aside from my fixed gear on the flats over Thanksgiving.  But, I have been eating, drinking and ahem, smoking for the past two months.  There has been little riding and a lot of Amici’s.  So, today I finally got off my lazy ass, took out the LeMond and went out for an easy 25 mile bike ride.  What I was reminded of was that there are two things that can really hurt your performance on a bike.  The first is not riding, the second is gaining weight.  I have managed to keep my, relatively high caloric intake, up over the past two months, while not doing anything to burn it off.

Part of the problem was that I was overtraining riding 40+ miles 3 to 4 days a week.  There were no easy rides or base mile rides, they were all fast-paced, training rides.  So, I was a bit burnt-out, but more than anything, I was losing performance. I could see my ride times declining a bit and more than anything I felt like crap every time I went out.

Today however, I REALLY felt like crap.  This was mostly due to the fact that I have not been riding and that I have probably put on 15 pounds in the past two months. I am 6’4″ and about 225 lbs right now and it is a lot of weight to push around on a bike. The other thing that was not helping was the cold weather and my ignorance. I thought about putting on some long tights to keep my leg muscles warm and somewhat protected…I did not.  Riding over the Golden Gate on the way out, my calves started cramping, I knew I did not make the wise decision.

The good news is that I got on the bike today, and that I will hopefully be back on a 3 to 5 day a week riding schedule. For now, I will probably keep the rides down to 20-30 miles and not push it while I am out there.

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