Bad Luck Tuesday

Yesterday was a bad day, but it COULD have been much worse.

Started out like any other day. Woke up at 6am and hopped on my bike at 630 to get to work. Took my same old normal route, uneventful. I got to work disappointed that I didn't get much of a workout. Apparently that means I'm getting in a lot better shape so that is really good. I had some workout clothes with me to put in my locker in the gym and workout after work.

Since it's summer break, I'm only working until noon. Well, I get off work and head to the locker room and get changed. Once changed I head into the gym. LOCKED! I read the sign, apparently they are closing it from noon-1 every day during the break. Too bad that's the only hour of the day that I have available to work out in that gym. Just my luck.

So I go back to the locker room and unchange, get on my bike and head to my meeting at Bellevue University. All goes well and I'm done in an hour and hop back on the bike deciding to take a more challenging route home.

I'm hauling butt the whole way home in the heat to get maximum workout. Come to find out I forgot to refill my water bottle but oh well, I'm just going home right?

Ok so I make good time and get home all sweaty and thirsty but wait.. OH NO MY BIKE RACK BAG IS GONE! I yell up at my wife what the problem was and the route I took home so she can load the boys up in the car and head to the beginning of the route while I jump back on my bike and start backtracking. Halfway there I'm feeling the heat and dehydration and starting to get light headed. I make it to the last spot I know I had the bag and turn to head home empty handed hoping my wife had better luck and I make it to a gas station for some nice cold icewater. Luckily they were nice and let me fill up with the free water because I had no wallet or cellphone to call my wife and pick me up since they were both in my bag.

LUCKILY a very nice man found my bag on the trail and got ahold of my wife after seeing the last number called on my phone. UNLUCKILY, it was a month old HTC Touch Pro 2 and the screen smashed into my ULock when it hit the ground (or at least that's the impression I get when I look at the now-smashed screen). Also, the microphone doesn't work so the only way I can talk is with a headset... BUT at least is still mostly functions and at least I got everything back so it could have definitely been worse.

Here's a picture I stopped and took at the last known place that I still had my bag in my possession.. some nice flooded trail!

Bike Stickers!

I decorated my bikes with all these cool stickers from Worlds Best Bike Stickers. You can order a whole pack for a cheap price. I found them to be a GREAT way to cover up nicks and dings on your frame from the wonderful bike racks, etc. The coolest part is that they have an assortment of REFLECTIVE stickers, like mine that says "Please don't steal my bicycle. Thanks!" (my fav)! I want to order more and slap a couple on my helmet and other places. Check them out. They are very reasonable.

I've also got one slapped on my old bike from them that says "Life is too short to ride new bikes" and another that says "Oil Addict in Recovery". My Jamis has one covering up a nice bike rack boo-boo that says "Faster than a speeding pack of dogs" which I love because it reminds me of my first dog chase experience on my Jamis lol.

They have fixed/single speed stickers, environmental stickers, I wish my boyfriend/girlfriend was as dirty as my bike stickers and a whole lot more!

Day #8.. but slacking..

 Today is day #8 of my AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. I lost another 3 lbs (now at 213) and I have to admit, I was extremely lazy this week. I have hardly ridden my bike at all. I haven't rode it once to work. This past week was all carpooling with my wife or hopping the bus. The bus always brings entertainment though! You always get to meet new people so if I don't ride the bus for a long time I start to miss it. Especially my favorite bus driver, Marv. He's a great guy and he always has stories and things to talk about!

Total I think I have lost 20 lbs since the beginning of April. I started at a little over 230 and am almost down to 210. My goal is to get back to 190, or less. That is about what I weighed when I was in highschool and healthy and in great shape. I want to start lifting weights also soon. I am planning to hit the gym here and there at SCC before or after work this summer (in between vacationing). Once I get close to 200, I need to build my muscles back up. I want to lose weight but I don't want to be skinny!

The donations for bike MS are doing pretty good and I want to thank everyone who has donated for their tremendous generousity. I can't wait to ride for you all and for those with MS. I did do that Cortland ride a while back with Shane and Dan which was a blast but that was my biggest ride so far and I don't think it was even half of what I'm going to attempt for bike MS and I was BEAT!

Keep the donations coming! I'm still $300 away from my goal but if they keep trickling in over this month I can easily reach it. Thanks again!

PS. I did win the males division of SCC's "Biggest Loser" challenge. Yay me!

Losing Weight, Getting Healthy, Feeling GREAT!

Since I started riding my bike 2 months ago, I have went from right around 231 lbs down to 216 lbs. I am starting to feel a lot better and healthier! I just started a program that some close friends of mine have had a ton of success with through a company called AdvoCare. Today is the first day of the "24 Day Challenge" for me. I should be seeing another nice drop in weight, increased energy, and improved overall health. I even have heard of peoples' skin even looking healthier after using AdvoCare for a while (and I'm not talking about AdvoCare's skin products). I am excited to see these results. I have felt health go down the tube every since high school and it has made a sharper plummet downhill these last couple years. My wife is joining me in the "24 Day Challenge" on Sunday and she's excited to see her results too.

I have been using their very healthy energy supplements called Spark and Slam along with a product called V16 that is caffeine free and along with energy, helps sharpen your mental focus. I have had instant gratification with these products and have been able to successfully ween myself away from pop and carbonated energy drinks (it's only been a very short while but I'm still impressed). I wake up in the morning not wanting to be out of bed let alone ride my bike 11+ miles at 6 am but within moments I am itching to hop on and start pedaling. It really did amaze me as I am very skeptical and had a genuine love for Amp (I am commonly seen sporting my Amp cap). Cutting this out of my life alone would be a huge step for me and a huge step healthwise so I can't wait to watch it continue and start feeling better free from sodey pops and Amp/Monster/etc.

Want to know more about my AdvoCare journey? Check out my profile page.

Wilderness Park Trails!

Ruby (my wife) and I decided to finally try out Wilderness Park. It was wonderful! It feels like you aren't in Lincoln, or even Nebraska! If you have never checked it out before, it is a must for cyclist and hikers alike.

There are nice and easy limestone paths. There are narrow paths. There are muddy paths! There are bridges! And there are steep inclines and declines! Basically, there is some of everything!

The nice crushed limestone path runs along the tracks for part of the way which adds an even extra cool feel to it!

Afterwards, it was time to give the vehicles a good wash and wax!

Happy Memorial Day!

"Training Ride"

After riding around Johnson's Lake with my friend, I decided I "needed more training" for the day so I hit the gravel roads here in Dawson County. I pretty much killed myself. I made a stop in Cozad for a break but I basically did the opposite of what every sane cyclist normally does on this unfortunate day. I caught the headwind on the return trip. Myself and my 29er were both squeaking and moaning by the time I was about halfway back and almost out of water. Needless to say I lowgeared it back slow and steady and chalked it up to a good training ride. My body is going to pay tomorrow and my bike needs to pay a visit to JoyRide if a little lube and cleaning dust off doesn't quiet her down again.

Johnson Lake Trail

Went for a ride on the supposed new addition to the trail out at Johnson Lake with an old good buddy of mine. Definitely not worth a trip to do. It "might" be a couple miles long and you have to ride across the dam to get to the other half. They have not completed much at all. If you want to ride around the lake be ready to ride the highway most of the way with no shoulder. There's a ton of potential if they'd actually get to work and make it go all around the lake but at this rate, it won't be in my lifetime.

Bottom line, don't waste your time going to Johnson Lake to ride. If you're going camping there anyway bring your bike but don't expect much.