March 2nd

With the first 60 days of the year done, I feel myself lagging a little bit behind.  I haven't put as many miles under my wheels as I would have liked, but I feel much better this far into the year than I did last year.  I'll be honest. I didn't get any bike rides done in January, but I did get 5 bike rides done in February for a grand total of 31.71 Miles.  That leaves me 468.29 short of my 500+ goal for the year.

A little part of me is a little disappointed that I only did a little under 32 miles in February, yet I feel good about the possibilities for this year.  Two of the trips in February was me going to work and coming back from work.  The first commute is done. The hurdle has been jumped. The cat is out of the proverbial bag. I know it's do-able. I biked to work and I didn't feel particularly fatigued ,tired, or lacking concentration. For the remainder of the week, I had a sense of accomplishment.  Sadly, the weather has taken a cold turn around this parts, and I am not yet acclimated to riding in anything bellow 50 degrees.  It's warming up though...  and warmer weather brings me and other cyclists to the roads.

2013 Mile total: 31.71 Miles

Be Safe and Be Green.

What's your excuse?

If you need inspiration, I hope you find it here...

Being Healthy, Part 1 (17% Body Fat)

     "Be more healthy." I don't think I could have have been more vague if I tried.  Shortly after my new year's resolutions post was up on this blog, my lovely wife asked me to explain myself.

     Well.  Here it goes, and I hope it makes sense.  My health has slowly deteriorated since I moved to San Antonio.  The two main culprits were my allergies and my sedentary lifestyle.  The allergies kept me from going outside a great deal, and I've never really liked going to the gym.  Being on a treadmill gives me images of a hamster running in a wheel, and stationary bikes make me sad because they remind me that I could be outside on a real bike.  To satisfy my wife's and my need for some relative privacy, specially when it comes to medical stuff, I'm only going to say that I'm getting my allergies taken care of.

     With my allergies under control. I felt I finally had the opportunity to go on walks around my neighborhood.  I was free to explore the trail system in the closest city park on my BSO.  In the past 21 months since we got our first set of bikes from a LBS, I feel I've been more physically active than the previous 10 years in San Antonio.

     While trying to find some direction on how to be healthier, I stumbled upon several indicators and tons of different points of view.  The one that has been stuck with me the longest is the inaccuracy of weight as a general measure for health.  I've known from my own research that Body Fat Percentage (BF%) is a much better indicator.  In addition, in my own humble opinion, it is a less daunting number.  I find it a lot scarier to hear that I have to loose 50 pounds of weight than having to loose 10% Body Fat.  Also, I believe that BF% accounts for the fact that muscle is more dense than fat.  I have seen several people in my life get really discouraged when they loose a little bit of weight through exercise and then gain some of it back due to muscle gain.  Something tells me that if they had been looking at their BF% instead of their weight, they would still be exercising on a regular basis.

     With that said, my ultimate goal is to have 17% Body Fat.  It is the maximum allowed for men to be in the "fitness" category, and I plan to achieve it through both exercise and eating better.  Notice I didn't say diet.  Diets are evil (and yes, I'll explain later)!  Also, I don't plan to achieve the magical 17% goal anytime soon.  It took me 12 years to get where I am now, It's only fair that I take my time getting there.  For my new year's resolution, as long as I finish 2013 with less BF% than when I started, that will make me happy...

Be Safe and Be Green.

New Year's Resolutions

     Talking about biking alone, 2012 was a far better year than 2011.  I got to take part on a couple of critical mass rides, and I got a chance to participate on three massively organized rides.  Also, I doubled my milage in 2012, in comparison to 2011.  Thinking about all the great things I accomplished in 2012, led me to thinking about the things I want to get done in 2013...

1. Be more healthy
2. Do more miles than in 2012 (500+)
3. Do Conquer the Coast again
4. Do Trek Breast Cancer Awareness ride again
5. Do 2013 SA Marathon Bike Tour again (if offered)
6. Do Tour de Cure
7. Learn how to adjust derailleurs (front & back)
8. Learn how to replace and adjust shifter & brake cables
9. Begin a bike restoration project
10. Commute twice a week to work for at least a month

      As an unofficial #11, I would like to continue updating this blog and hopefully meet more people in the cycling community.  I hope everyone had a great 2012, and like me... looking forward to a great 2013.

Be Safe and Be Green.

A Small Rack for Bikes...

One Giant Leap for the Cycling Kind. Otherwise know as "ask, and you shall receive."  That is the lesson I learned yesterday.

Ever since the school year started, back in late August, I noticed that our new building was missing something. Something that should be in every new building, specially if said new building is designed to be a "green" building. A bike rack.  Bicycles simply promote a healthier lifestyle, but if you are reading this blog, then you don't need to be schooled on the benefits of commuting by bicycle.

I know it's not the biggest bike rack. It's technically designed to hold six bikes, but it's installed in the wrong direction, thereby cutting the amount of bikes it can hold by half. The biggest point; however, It's that is there and it is still functional.

The roads around my place of work are bike friendly. Bike through here in the mornings on the weekends and you are liable to see at least a dozen cyclists zooming up and down this humble country roads.  The roads are well kept.  They are straight -ish.  The hills are tough, but not unforgiving. And as far as my experience goes, the motorists around these parts are respectful and aware of cyclists.  These are a lot of the reasons why I asked to be moved to this new location, so I could commute by bicycle from time to time.  You never know, It could become a habit.

Early in the school year, I asked my manager what would it take to get a bike rack installed at our location. His answer "I don't know. I'll ask."  From then on, every time I bumped into him in the hallway he would give me a quick one or two sentence progress report on the bike rack.  Progress felt slow, but he had an awesome way of letting me know that the idea and the project had not stalled to a standstill.

Yesterday when I got to work after lunch I bumped into him as I was coming in the front door of the building (almost as if he was waiting for me), and with a smile in his face he told me: "That bike rack you asked for was installed a little while ago on the back entrance of the building."  Astonished. All I could reply was "Cool. Thank you, I'll go check it out."

When I saw it, I couldn't help but smile.  An overwhelming sense of hope came over me and I thought "build it, and they will come."  The presence of the bike rack should give people that have been thinking about commuting a little nudge towards the right direction. I for one... can't wait to lock my bike there while I work.

Question is... which one first?

Be Safe and Be Green