First!

[ROGER4314]

I guess members aren't posting their progress but I'll keep doing it.

BICYCLE UPDATE
Miles since March 2011= 2300.30
Weight lost= 23 pounds
Blood Pressure as I type this= 111/78
Age= will hit 65 in 7 days.
Goal= 3000 miles before Christmas. Got that made!

The high pressure tires I installed on the Trek 7300 (two for $80) rolled great with 110 psi tire pressure but they turned the bike into a rattle trap. The thing rattles like a can full of rocks so I ordered some Continental tires like I have on my Schwinn ($60 for 2). Rolling friction at 70 psi max is higher but the ride is smooth as silk! Sorry.....couldn't stand the noise so we're going for quiet instead of high efficiency. Gonna park the Trek until the Continental tires arrive.

Flash

 

[Glockster69]

Goal= 3000 miles before Christmas. Got that made!

Flash

Just went back one page to look at your mileages s es ess. 3K miles is to low of a goal for you. You're not challenging yourself.
Good job on the other stats!

 

[ROGER4314]

3K miles is to low of a goal for you.

I'm not going to quit at 3000 miles but that is my short term goal. Riding the approx width of the US is a real grin! I think it's actually something like 3200 miles but perhaps I'll meet that goal, too. Thanks for the encouragement!

I love your avatar! Who is that lovely creature?

Flash

 

[Glockster69]

Thanks for the encouragement!

I love your avatar! Who is that lovely creature?

Flash

Your welcome.

I was gonna get new one cuz Dawico been giving me crap, then a newbie had one near identical to my previous and I had to make a rush decision. Does she match my eyes?
Bing n search = gun girl. Other than that I have no friggin idea. :-)

 

[ROGER4314]

Bicycle Update From Flash

Miles ridden since March 2011= 2699.03
Weight Loss= 27 pounds
Blood pressure as I type this= 109/68
Age= 65
Goal= 3000 miles by Christmas

The ragweed has slowed me down a bit as I feel like hammered shxt. I ride every day between 17-34 miles given the opportunity and if I feel good.

NEW RECORD!
I ran a new record for my 17 mile run about 30 minutes ago. The record was 17.0 miles in 1 hour, 17 minutes, 41 seconds. I beat my old record time by 1 minute, 36 seconds! Average speed was 13.1 mph and top speed for the run was 15.5 mph. My run is on roads, not on a track. I deal with traffic, kids playing, stop signs and lots of turns.

Flash

 

[Portals]

I thought the Human Weapon show was great. Watched it every chance.
Not just the different fighting styles, but the training techniques. Some very interesting concepts for getting and staying in shape.
Almost all were a variation of 'use what you have'.

 

[ROGER4314]

Bicycle Update From Flash

Today is a special day for me! I started this bicycle/exercise program in March 2011 and set the goal of 3,000 miles to ride before Christmas soon after that. Today, I made my goal! I rode 34.1 miles today in a fierce wind so I could make the 3K mark.

Miles ridden since March 2011= 3,003.03 miles
Weight Loss= 28 pounds
Blood pressure as I type this= 107/76
Age= 65 + 1 month
Goal= 3,000 miles by Christmas.....Got it!

Here's a breakdown of the bikes and miles on them:

Trek 7300 (newest bike)= 322.80 It took a while to get this 24 speed bike right. It runs great now!
Schwinn Solitaire= 2107.6 (Used up one pair of tires- Continental City Ride 700c x 37) 21 speeds.
Schwinn Meridian Trike = 572.03 (2 flat tires, one broken axle and one bad wheel replaced) Jake rides with me on this trike. One speed.
------------------
Total 3,003.03 miles

I'll keep riding the 2 bikes and a trike that I used in this effort until 12-31-2011 then start a new record for 2012. I put everything else on hold to make getting back in shape a top priority. Haven't been to the range in a while and I need to take some new toys out there to shake them down. SO....I'll slack off a bit for the winter. Cold air on my knees really makes them stiff so it will be a good plan for the cold weather.

I bought and assembled a stationary bike to use when it really gets cold. I moved a chair out of the living room and set the bike up in front of the big screen. I'll do some form of exercise every day. Watching the football games and riding my stationary bike sounds like a plan!

So....there you go. Mission accomplished!

Flash

 

[Vaquero]

Bully!! Good to see you feeling better and sticking with it.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Congrats!

 

[ROGER4314]

THANKSGIVING DAY BICYCLE UPDATE

Slowed down a little as the temperature is cooler (arthritic joints get stiff in the cool weather), we've had rain and some terrible allergy issues.

Miles ridden since March 2011= 3,209.64 miles
Weight Loss= 29 pounds
Blood pressure as I type this= 104/72
Age= 65 + 2 months
Goal= 3,400 miles by Christmas.

I'm going to keep after it, turn to the stationary bike in my living room during the really cold weather then resume riding in early Spring. Weight goal is to lose another 24 pounds. When I reach the weight goal, I'll be able to do some of the things that got ignored in favor of the bike riding. Hell.....I need to go to the range and I have several 10-22 rifles to build up. The Harley Sportster is waiting, too.

The Schwinn Solitaire developed some chain problems so I just checked it for stretch. It's a Wipperman nickle plated chain ($35.00) and it showed virtually no stretch. .75% is iffy and 1% means replace it. It's WAY under .75%. That means it's just a lubrication problem. I'll remove it, give it a good cleaning and re-lube.

If any of you guys think biking may be the answer to your exercise needs, I'll repeat the source info for the Schwinn Solitaire. I am 6'1" and wear a size 54 coat and 32" inch inseam. The bike fits me perfectly. Contact Walmart.com at $249. Have it shipped to the store free and they will assemble it for free (even though the web site says they won't). It has an aluminum frame, 21 speed click shifters, alloy hubs and rims, fenders, back rack, aluminum threadless stem (the newest set up) and alloy bars. My other bike is a $6oo+ Trek 7300 with 24 speeds. It's a great bike but not superior to that Schwinn Solitaire. I'd say they are equal.

Hope you guys had a good TG! Jake and I just polished off a Banquet frozen turkey dinner. He got to lick the empty tray, too. We're happy.

Flash

 

[ROGER4314]

It's Christmas Eve and it's time to close out the year's exercise activities. Things slowed down a little as the temperature is cooler (arthritic joints get stiff in the cool weather), we've also had rain and some terrible allergy issues.

Miles ridden since March 2011= 3,360.66 miles
Weight Loss= 31 pounds
Blood pressure as I type this= 105/74
Age= 65 + 3 months
Revised Goal= 3,400 miles by Christmas. Almost made it but I'll finish it next week before January 31.

The individual totals include:
Schwinn Solitaire 700C 21 speed= 2,245.9 miles.
Schwinn Meridian Adult Tricycle= 651.97 miles
Trek 700C 24 speed= 462.66 miles
-----------------------------------------------
Total= 3,360.66 miles

I'll reset the computers on January 1, 2012 as the batteries in them are getting weak anyway. That will reset miles to zero.

An interesting side story is what I've found since beginning this saga:
One Apple Ipod- well smashed
One Cell phone
One garage door opener
One home base portable phone
24" machete- new without sheath
A handful of assorted sockets (tools)
Pair of standard pliers
Pair of needle nose pliers
Approx $2.50 in change
Several plastic buckets
Approx five pounds of nails, tacks, screws and hardware

Got attacked by the same dog three times and was bitten once. Filed one Police complaint.

It's been a great experience and thanks to all for following the story! We will continue next year.

Merry Christmas!

Flash

 

[Jakashh]

I started walking/running 2 miles every night on the treadmill in october. I lost 11 lbs in about 2 weeks. Then one of the air pockets on my Air Max 2009's blew after I scraped it on the side of the treamill. Around the same time, my brother broke the treadmill by running for about 2 miles without pausing or slowing down. So I haven't ran since before thanksgiving, yet I have not gained any weight since then either, even though I haven't been eating healthy, nor consistently. I have no set eating schedule and I have had many chinese [FONT=arial, sans-serif]food meals[/FONT] and epic burgers since then.

 

[ROGER4314]

Good going! Winter is hard on all of us so we just try to make it through with as few bumps and bruises as possible (and without gaining too much weight). Through all of this, I have cooked a huge breakfast including a 3 egg ham & cheese omelet with a big bowl of cereal with 2% milk and artificial sweetener. I ate a small quantity of trail mix at 2 or 3 pm to beat the mid afternoon bonk, then a small dinner at about 6 pm. Did that every day and kept out of the restaurants.

Good luck with your efforts!

Flash

 

[Jakashh]

I want to run more, but I don't want to run outside the comfort of my house, and I need more shoes. But the ones I had were expensive, but useless now... They were my only running shoes.

 

[ROGER4314]

END OF THE YEAR BICYCLE MILE TOTAL!

The end of the year total was 3,414.55 miles since March 2011! My butt hurts just thinking about it but my legs are like iron bars and the weight loss has improved my overall health a lot!

I replaced all computer batteries and reset all to zero. Started a new log book, too. Got three bikes that need a little tune up and just bought a Schwinn Protocol full suspension 24 speed dirt bike so I'll rig it for ditch riding. 2012 is going to be 100% dedicated to bicycles, shooting, and riding the Harley.

The old dopers attitude still works for me: "Anything worth doing is worth doing to EXCESS!"

2012 is phase 2 of the plan. There is NO room in the plan for finding another woman. I ran off the last one and that's gonna be it for a while. Contrary to the prevailing female opinion, being "without" a woman in my life isn't fatal. I've had more than my share, anyway.

I used to ditch ride a lot on motorcycles and there is a picture in my profile doing that with a Kawasaki KLX 650 which is a BIG 50 horsepower 4 stroke thumper. It's the same type of riding but with bicycles, now.

I picked up a used Cannondale hand made in USA road bike. Everything (Trek, Schwinn, Specialized, Cannondale, included) is made in China now except for a few high end custom bikes like Calfe and Waterford. The Cannondale was a $2000 custom made bike and I bought it from the estate of the late rider. When I get my weight down another 24 pounds, I'll start to do serious road rides. Until the weight is down, a belly boy riding a road bike is like trying to fold a watermelon........snicker. The road bike is phase 3 of my plan. If my knees permit, I'll do some long rides.

I am retired, now and do NOT want to go back to work. Without a purpose, you start to die. Fulfilling this plan will be my purpose for at least another 12 months.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Flash

 

[Vaquero]

Git 'er done!!!

 

[Skip]

Nice job!!!

 

[ROGER4314]

2012 BICYCLE FITNESS PROGRAM

I was shocked at how easily the 31 pounds that I lost started to come back. I packed 13 pounds back on. Gaining weight in the winter is normal for me but I didn't like loosing so much ground. Since I've never lost this much weight before, I didn't know how to keep it off. Next winter, I'll be prepared with a simple diet right from the beginning of the cold weather. The best diet I used is "Half". Just eat half of what you normally eat. To be honest, I just won't do a lot of fancy crap for a diet. It must be simple & easy or I just won't do it.

With that in mind, I'll kick off the 2012 bicycle fitness effort!

To date from January 1:
Trek Hybrid= 70.585 miles
Big, adult tricycle (with Jake aboard) = 154.91 miles
Schwinn Solitaire= 122.16 miles
_______________
Total to date= 347.66 miles

Had some really bad allergy problems from tree pollen. Jake is sick, too. The poor little guy can hardly lift his head, sometimes.

The tricycle (there's a picture on my profile album) has been great because Jake gets cabin fever like I do so it gives us a chance to go outside together. I could probably ride the bicycle instead and cover more miles, but the Trike is more fun.

BIKES.......... If you're interested in getting a nice bike for little dinero, try the Schwinn LINK at Walmart. It is a steel frame, 21 speed, suspension seatpost, suspension forks and alloy hubs & rims. I bought one for a "ditch riding" bike and they are marked down from $179 to $124 in the store, now. It's a terrific value!

The Schwinn Solitaire at $249 is my favorite at $249 and full of top quality features but the Schwinn LINK is a nice bike at 1/2 the price. In contrast, my Trek was over $600 and it's made in China like the Schwinns are, too. They could even be made in the same Chinese factory (Giant brand)! The only bikes made in America now are high Dollar custom bikes. Waterford and Calfee are two examples. Everything comes from China, now.

More later...............

Flash

 

[ROGER4314]

I dealt with some really crappy physical issues this year but to date, have ridden 501 miles since January 1 2012. It's way off of last years pace but it's all I was able to do. I'm healing and the terrible allergy issues are much better but it's been a tough couple of months. Even Jake, my little dog has been sick from allergies!

Update....The Schwinn Meridian tricycle that got my knees loosened up and enabled me to resume riding bicycles has well over 1000 miles on it. I bought it for $249 through Walmart.com and have used the heck out of it. In fact, Jake & I rode it 6.1 miles today. The price of that trike has increased to $299! It's still a great deal!

Flash

 

[Chupacabra Hunter]

Just started taking aikido at a local dojo. Taking my son also.