Hybrid to a road bike

5/14/20


Hello Reader,


I made the move from a Hybrid/Commuter bike to an entry level road bike. I didn't even know that GMC made a bicycle until recently, I purchased a GMC Denali Road bike pro off of Offerup. I had to do a few modifications to get it to where I would be willing to rely on it for riding into work.


Problems with the Bike:


Tires were shredded/sun cooked (bought 2 new tires on Offerup, bought tubes and liners from Greggs in Lynnwood)
Rear wheel bearings were a little loose (had to repack and adjust)
Freewheel cassette bearings were loose/worn
Gearing was tough for me (bought a new freewheel cassette from Staton that took the 8 speed cassette from 13/28 to 13/34)
After 1st 100 miles bottom bracket bearings were loose/worn out (replaced bottom bracket assembly with updated sealed bearings)
Front wheel bearings were a little loose after 115 miles (repacked and adjusted)


I will do a cost breakdown at a future post.


So with that, I sold Andre the Giant on Offerup to offset the cost, essentially covering the cost of my transition to a road bike.


The new cassette with that 34 tooth really helped me, it took somewhere between 10-15 minutes off of my commute home, and it made the hills more bearable. Here are a few pictures.


Keep the rubber side down,


TDC

The trouble is the intake

5/11/20


The trouble is the intake


Dear reader,


We had a beautiful sunny couple of days, here in the Seattle area any sun before July 5th is bonus. With the "stay home" order still mostly in place as we progress through the phases of reopening, all of the bicycle/walking trails are extra busy. Lots of people working in their yards, we will probably have the best summer for landscaping for the last number of years!


With all of this cycling to work I still have a hard time getting my weight down, I think I understand the problem....The trouble is in the intake....too much fuel.


Even when I ride to work 2 times a week (about 32 miles roundtrip), I have not seen the scale drop anything of significance. Probably because when I get home, I eat because I feel like I have burned so many calories.


There in lies the problem....I am eating what I "feel" like I have burned.... Let me see what happens if I keep to my meal plan AND ride into work 2 times in a week. Maybe that will be better.


How about you, do you tend to overeat after working out more rigorously than normal?


Let me know what you think,


and keep the rubber side down,


TDC

Hardware Store Ride

4/11/20


Hello reader,
Saturday I needed to pick up some pipe cleaners for a project that my wife was doing and I wanted to get out and ride. So I looked it up online and found that the closest store that had what I was looking for was in Edmonds about 7 miles away.
      I have driven to the area before but I had never ridden it. It was a nice cool, dry day. I headed out and found out why it is called the Edmonds bowl, going there was good, but coming out was more work than I expected. I made it out but there was a block (on the road in the picture with the bike laying down on the curb) that I had to go about half a block in my lowest gear, my legs and lungs were burning at capacity.
      But all in all a good ride, and I'm glad I made it a functional trip to the store without having to use the car. Mr. Money Moustache would be proud of me for that!


Keep the rubber side down,


TDC

520 Loop Ride

520 Loop Ride

4/8/20

Hello reader,

On Monday I was able to make a ride happen that I have wanted to do for nearly 2 years. With all of the “stay home” order in place it was a very quiet peaceful ride. Very few people on the trail, very few cars on the road. A little over three hours in the saddle, and since I haven’t been riding nearly as much, the roughly 32 miles was a real stretch for me. But I did this ride instead of my usual “leg day” so I wasn’t too sore the next day.

One of the reasons I really like the Northwest is that there is a lot of green, mountains and water. Also here in the Seattle area we have a lot of “rail to trails” (old railways that were turned into bicycle/ running/ walking trails), because of that most of the ride was on dedicated trails, very little riding on the road. The temperature was low 40s, high clouds and dry, perfect for a east facing morning ride across the 520 bridge.

I left the house at 7am and I got back at about 10:15am. Even with breaks for pictures and a chance to stretch and catch my breathe, I think that I made decent time all things considered. It was a good day.

 

Thanks for reading,

Keep the rubber side down,

 

TDC

 

Busy weekend on the trail

4/1/2020


Hello Reader,
As everyone has been talking about, here in Washington and (seem ably a lot of places) there is as "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order in effect. Well all of the gyms, events, most stores, etc. are closed. So as I figure out how to incorporate my exercise routine into current turn of events, I realized that still my favorite kind of cardio is real bicycle riding. Two reasons I prefer bicycle riding to any gym cardio:


      1) I enjoy actually going somewhere, and seeing the beautiful scenery of Western Washington.


      2) I get more cardio work done, because it is not easy to just get off of the machine when  I am thinking of all of the other things I could be doing.




So since it had been a while since I had been in the saddle, I rode a little over 16 miles Saturday, then a little over 20 miles Sunday. A good weekend for bicycle riding! Also the trail was packed, I guess people are getting stir crazy and needing to get their exercise too!


Keep the rubber side down!


TDC

A year and a day

3/5/20


Hi,
It has been 1 year and a day since I last published, I have started this journey to be in better shape and found my path is not linear. At my heaviest I was 265 lbs., that was a few years back.


 I have decided to not commute to work via bicycle because of the time it takes to go home. For the last 11 months I have been going to the gym 3-5 days a week.This part of the reason I started going to the gym. Started at 240 lbs., got down to 222, but as of this morning I am back up to 233. Frustrated at my self for letting my eating get out of control, I have a new resolve to get to that 215 lb. marker and reevaluate if I want to keep cutting. My typical week of working out is:


Monday: Legs and Shoulders
                -Squat, straight leg deadlift, calf raises (reverse lunges when time allows)
                -Shoulder press, reverse fly machine, lateral/front raises


Tuesday: Chest and tricep
               -Bench press, lower cable flys, incline press
               -Dips, tricep extensions or rope pull downs


Wednesday: Back and Bicep
               -Lat pull downs, straight arm pull downs, Rows, pull ups
               -Easy bar, drag curls, concentration curls, chin ups


Thursday: bonus day(extra cardio or extra Tues or Wed)


Friday: Every muscle group day
               -Deadlift, leg press, hamstring curl, calf raise
               -Chest, Back, Bicep, Tricep, Shoulder


Saturday and/or Sunday: Bonus or make up days


All days at the gym include 5-10 minutes of cardio, as well as core work.


Thanks for reading,


Keep the rubber side down,


TDC