Whoa, January was a big month for me!
1) Highest mileage and duration month on a bike EVER. Um, it’s winter… what is up with that?!
2) The weather allowed for a ton of outdoor riding.
3) I’m down just about 9 pounds.
Woohoo!
OK, so I have a new obsession with making charts and tables. I can’t tell you why, maybe it’s because after decades of using a computer I finally can efficiently make a table in Word. Either way, here’s a nice comparison of my Januarys past. Definitely a jump in everything! I average over 8 hours weekly, and thanks to crazy weather (and the fat bike) I was able to get outside a whole lot more! I’ll also venture to say that I’ve gotten a bit hardier and adventurous when it comes to riding outside and dressing the part.
The weather wasn’t the best for this weekend… we did 53 miles yesterday with an average temperature of 34 degrees. My toes were frozen the whole time, and I got a bit whiney about 40 miles in about them but trudged on back to the car. Normally I’d call someone crazy for riding 53 miles in 34 degree weather, but it sure beat the trainer! I seriously, utterly, totally cannot do long endurance rides on a trainer, so I don’t have much choice! Today it’s really cold, I’m not sure it has gotten above 20 here in Cheyenne, so I do plan on spinning on the trainer while watching the Super Bowl. I was going to do a mountain bike group ride in Fort Collins, but I woke up with a decently bad sore throat and figured it would be smart to play it safe and stay inside, ride the trainer, and get caught up on household chores that I’ve been slacking on since I spend my weekends playing on the bike.
This past week wasn’t the best for my nutrition, I was feeling like I fell off the bus a bit and got a bit sloppy with my portions. Still no daily cheesecake, but I did have two trips to Chipotle in there, and on Wednesday I do believe I consumed 3 dinners. Yes, 3. Luckily I think my whoopsies weren’t too bad, and I’ve continued to drop the weight! I was down to 146.6 this morning. I was 155.8 on December 28th, so I’d say January has gone quite well in the weight loss department! I’m feeling really good, and probably most important to me is that I like how I look again. I know, HUGE TABOO to say in today’s society, especially as a person who wasn’t definition overweight to begin with. I’ve always had great self esteem when it came to my body, until about this fall when I felt like a lumpy oomphaloompa in my skinsuit during cyclocross season. I’d sit around and just eat to deal with it. I’m happy I made the change to reel in my eating habits. And naturally it has really been helping on the bike. The fact I can go out and do 50 miles rides and not be utterly destroyed by them in a sign (of both consistent training and getting on track with nutrition). Cyclists love to chase the newest and lightest bike components, but look, I just lost 9 pounds off my bike/rider combo, and it didn’t cost me thousands of dollars! In fact, it’s saved me money as I’m not buying tons of food every day at lunch! 😀 The goal was 145 pounds originally, and at the time I thought it would be pretty unachievable and that I would settle for 150 pounds. Now that I’m almost there, I want to readjust my goal to 140 pounds. I weighed 130-140 pounds most of my adult life, so I know it’s not something crazy or dangerous to set a goal for. So here’s for one month down of eating better, and many more to go!
24 Hours in the Old Pueblo continues to creep closer! Today I cleaned up the Fate and degreased the drivetrain. On Friday I swapped out to a Fast Track Control tire (my SWorks Fast Track had been fine, but I decided to try a slightly thicker tire) and refreshed the Stans. Most likely I’ll be shipping out the bike on Tuesday afternoon to Tucson. Eek!
I decided to register for the 100km long course of the Old Man Winter Bike Rally next weekend in Lyons, CO. I debated this event for a long time, originally thinking of doing the short course. Now that I have some longer rides under my belt already this year, I decided to see what 100km on a cross bike could feel like! Seems like it’ll be a fun event! I know I won’t be vying for the top 3 podium, but still looking forward to seeing how I do, and of course my socks in the swag bag. I love socks!
So yeah… January. What a big month for me! I feeling good, riding strong and I’m assuming it only gets better from here!
Heidi Rides Bikes 