Large Fella on a Bike

Last Post from the Coast...

Not much time lately for anything but packing, stressing, more packing, more stress, riding as much as humanly possible... oh, and more packing & stress.

3 days from now, we hit the road with everything we own in this entire universe packed into a truck: Us, bikes, musical instruments, some clothes, some toys and a couple books.

As of yesterday, we are officially going to be residents of St Paul, Minnesota.  Found a nice crib with the massive help of Bob [and his incredibly righteous wife, Beth] Brown.  Speaking of Beth, through her connections Amy was able to score a great gig at Regions Hospital as well.  "Solid Rock" to both of you Beth & Bob!

To try and alleviate some Pre-Moving Stress, I got the brilliant idea to do some bar swapping on my steed.  Not a great idea... 3 days of riding 'Stache Bars, and then [now, currently] riding Noodle bars, has left me stressed in an entirely different way, plus with a sore back and neck.  Cool.  I'm smart that way, unfortunately.  Add to that, wrapping the Noodle bars was super fun: when I ran short of black cloth tape and had to unwrap them, find a new color, wrap again, mess that up, and do 3 more rewraps... they're finally finished, but not before blowing a huge Shit-Fit where I flew my Freak Flag loud-n-proud around the house yelling every expletive I could think of [Chloe & Amy were at the supermarket, thank all things Good].  In the end, I think the blow out did me good [cleared some tension-and a few vocal chords], and I got the bars done too.

So, that's that-as I sit here typing this from the kitchen floor [all the furniture has been sold off].  Sometime tomorrow the internet + cable goes Dark... so I shall return, but not before making our way to Minnesota and digging in.

I hope folks out there like me and us, Amy & Chloe are sweet and likable, me...

well, to quote Chloe, "Daddy you have enough opinions to fill up 4 or 5 people".

What a strange trip this has all been: it all began, as these things often begin, with an idea, a thought, an act, and that act was me getting on a bike and riding...

And then WHUMP, everything was different, everything is different.  I don't think it'll ever be the same again, and I suppose that's the point.

Life, what a Trip.

See Scott?  Told ya so.  [that part is for me, pardon it]

3 Out...

Almost Gone...

We move out on May 29th and things are crazy around here.  No matter how much we do, there seems to be three times as much left to do.

It's endless.  Endlessly endless.

I may have time to post one or two more times between now and then, otherwise... my next post very well could be from the Twin Cities [I say "Twin Cities" because we still don't know which of The Twins will be providing us with housing... yes, it's getting that close to the wire for us].

The BIG 2...

Today was "Weigh-In Day" around here, another 18.0 pounds of me... gone.

Amazing how these Milestones can be: 
When I started this I waited for the scale to start to fall, and it did.  I set my eyes on 475, and then 450...

dropping into the 3's at 399.9 would be a big one as I hadn't seen a 3 in front of my weight in years, and it came, and went.

And then 375.  To be below 350 pounds, even at 349.9, was going to be profound.  It was.

But the one, THE ONE, that I've been waiting on is The BIG 2.  I hadn't seen a 2 on the fore-side of my weight since... since, I'm not sure.  Amy and me discussed this earlier today, and the best I can recall is somewhere between 1980 and 1982.

My last weigh-in, prior to today, was March 23rd and I came in at 309.0 flat.  So close.  Almost disappointing until Amy wanted to slap me for not acknowledging where I was and where I'd come from.  I had to agree with her, she was right.  She's always right.

Generally we like to go somewhere between 7 & 8 weeks between checking in on actual scale numbers.  Reason being: they are really just a gauge.  We know what we are doing is right.  How we eat and ride, it works.  So, in the end, the numbers just allow us a glimpse into the facts.  It's a "Nod" really.  But this time, it was hard to wait for those 7 or 8 weeks... I just knew I'd break into the 2's.  It was hard to not keep thinking about it.  But time ticked on, like it does, and I baby-stepped it, like I do... and today came.

Current Stats:

Starting Weight- 501 pounds
Weight as of Today- 291.0 pounds
Total Weight Lost since Nov. 2005- 210.0 pounds

Amy and Chloe took off to run some errands a minute ago, but before they left I grabbed them both up into my arms.  They smiled and looked surprised.  When Chloe said, "Dad, what's that about?  We're just running a couple errands!"  I said, "I just needed to do that".
...sometimes I just need to do that.  All of this, sometimes it just steps up, the reality of it, and snaps back onto me in a moment of absolute clarity. 

After they walked out the door I realized...

they fit better in my arms these days.  Much better.

Here's lookin' at ya...

Blessings Everyday... Keep Riding, Always.

Trip to ANT-->>

Amy, Chloe and me went north a few days back to visit some dear friends for the last time before embarking on our move out west.

We started in Vermont, and then spent a day and night with some other friends in Massachusetts before heading home.

Realizing that we'd be a few minutes from a frame builder who does work I dig a lot, and whose philosophical inclinations mirror mine, I thought it both wise & good to stop in and pay him a visit.

So we did...

Yep, Mike Flanigan of ANT Bikes.

We were graced with a beautiful day for a visit, and as we rolled into the mill that houses his shop, he was standing outside putting some barrels onto a truck with a fella.  He waved at us and smiled big, it made us smile too.

I fired up the camera as he had a chat with Amy:

...and then Chloe wondered through looking for some cool bikes...

After that, we went inside and talked bikes, builders, cars & bikes, lugs & TIG welds, kids, blogs, people and life.

Amy & Chloe needed the Ladies Room and Mike showed them the way, but not before looking over his shoulder at me and saying, "If you want to take some pics of my personal ride, it's the one over there in the corner, go ahead and grab it and roll her outside".
And, I did...






The color of this bike is beautiful, a deep rich midnight blue... great metallic clarity.

Smartly appointed with a Gilles Berthoud H-Bag-

...and a gorgeously brazed rack w/dual headlights.

What more could one possibly need for practical, stylishly-understated beauty in a ride?

Perhaps two?

Yes, two would do just fine as well.

After taking some bikey photos, we adjourned into his shop and after another nice chat I took some snaps of his work area...

No trip to ANT would be complete without Mike's latest Road Find... a lime green-coiffed "Bratz" doll:

Or, the infamous "Eyeball"...

Some fortunate person was getting close to taking delivery of a very nice looking ride too...

The time was getting long, Mike had work to get back to, and we had another 6 hours before we'd be home... so it was time to go.

Thanks Mike, we enjoyed the hang:

Keep Riding, Always...