I’ve been meaning to post this for awhile. Got a little behind on uploading photos, etc. Anyways here’s a photo album from this past Easter and Eric’s second birthday.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Tags: birthday, easter, egg hunt, eggs, eric, haircut
I managed to squeeze in an evening ride this Sunday – just 3 laps around Flatwoods Park. But I was glad to fit it in. I didn’t lose my 2 lbs this week, instead I gained about 1.4lbs instead. I was careless with my calories, so this week I must be both more careful and more active. Two goals, one week = (My new tag line.)
I was pretty happy with my ride this week. I did some bike maintenance on Saturday and finally got my cadence meter to start reading accurately again. My goal for today’s ride was to maintain an average cadence of 80, which meant using lower gears, but spinning faster. The best thing about it was that my average speed also went up and I had a much more consistent ride than I frequently do.
At the end of my second lap, I had that voice in my head saying call it a night, but I ignored it and finished out the third lap, making for a nice 21 mile ride, which was finished in under 2 hours. Definitely seeing some improvement from my previous riding. I think the mountain biking and the personal training is starting to pay off. The only thing I must remember is to use bug spray. Mosquitoes keep eating me.
So the goal for this week is to stick more closely to the calorie counter and fit in more activeness.
Tags: cycling, road, training, weight loss
The weather has been so nice lately that I’ve had a hard staying focused at work in the afternoon. Thankfully, though, the sun’s setting later, and the parks are open longer. Fitting in ride time is much easier this time of year. Today, I headed out to the Flatwoods area again. I’ve mostly been mountain biking on Fridays. I know I can fit an hour or two in on a Friday flying around the singletracks. I went to ride the complete main loop (about 15 miles), which took me a little under 2 hours. Next time I’ll be faster.
What I’ve been loving about these quick mountain bike rides is the adrenaline. I finish riding and feel almost like a super hero, tearing through banked tight turns and trying to jump the larger roots. Although, I did nearly lose it twice today on the trail. My tires slipped a little on one of the turns, and I thought for sure I was going down, but managed to correct myself. Made me feel even more awesome. The second time I nearly went down was due to a slightly muddy turn, a poorly placed root, and me missing it till the last moment. But managed to safely get out of that one too.
I also had one of those moments that are slightly surreal. I haven’t ridden the complete main trail loop in a long time (years), and I don’t know the paths like the back of my hand. This means occasionally I get turned around in the woods. Today, I was in the Flatwoods Park section and was trying to get back on the MTB trails. I turned onto the first off-road marker I saw and headed down, but noticed that the trail marker numbers were getting lower, not higher. After a little ways I turned around trying to find the trail numbers I needed. I came out the same trail entrance and rode down a little further taking the next turn off. This time I rode for quite a ways and wound up coming out again where I’d started earlier. I felt like I was in a cartoon where no matter which way I went I wound up back where I started. Finally, I managed to find the correct trail marker and for the rest of the ride had no more déjà vu mishaps.
The trails out in the area are full of animals. I’m always amazed at how despite being close to the city, there’s still a lot of wildlife. I often see a lot of local wildlife (not just cyclists and motorists). On my ride Wednesday, I saw a bunch of pigs and piglets wallowing in the water and mud along the Bayshore Trail in Wilderness Park. Today, I saw plenty of turkey. Practically, felt like Thanksgiving I saw so many. The first one I saw was so close to my left side that I originally thought he was a very good fake, till he turned to look at me. I could’ve touched his waddle. Later on I came across three deer, looking at me with real horror, unsure which way to run. Two of them jumped across the path, but the third turned tail and ran the opposite direction. Saw at least one gopher tortoise and an armadillo busily snuffling in the dirt, digging some new holes. He didn’t even stop what he was doing till l had practically ridden up right next to him. The rest of the ride I continued to see mostly turkeys, but none so close as those first two.
After my fantastic ride, I headed home to pizza and a shiner and watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Fun movie. Tomorrow I plan to head out to road bike. I’m hoping to make it a long one, as I need to get in the time in the saddle. The MS 150 will soon be here.
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