Weigh-In Day, today.
Freshman year of college, 18 years old, September of 1982, had to have a physical, distinctly recall going "uuuuurgh" when the slider on the ol' Health-O-Meter read 221.00 pounds. That always stayed somewhere in the dusty confines of the back of my brain...
Weight: 219.8 pounds
Weight on Last Weigh-In [February 8th, 2008]: 232.2 pounds
Loss Of: 12.4 pounds
Total Loss Since November, 2005: 281.2 pounds
...feels good to undo the past, while living in the present, and heading toward the future.
In other news:
More &%#^@$@$@!!)*&^%$^#&@ snow, and a boatload of new bike bits to be upgrading/changing over to, it's not entirely fair. But until Spring is here, officially kissing me with consistent sunshine, I'm keeping my ride dirty, mucky, filthy-and Nokian-Ready. The naysayers can kiss my carbide studs.
I leave you with this...
A couple local guys are working on a new High-Perf composite bicycle stem. They're hoping to release it at Interbike later this year. They wanted my honest opinion. I say, "Good Luck"... for me, and I don't usually say this, not enough Reach.
Okay, I'm outta here: I'm going riding.
Keep Ridin'... Always
I saw your article on startribune.com and linked your slide show to my blog. I am a rider from champlin mn. and was totally inspired by your story and your riding. Thanks for the inspiration.
Erik
Posted by: Erik Johnson | March 22, 2008 at 02:11 PM
Holy crap - sub 220 lbs!
I see you received my photo - a nice image of you for Easter Sunday.
Peace.
Posted by: mark | March 23, 2008 at 09:49 AM
The photo's very... clockwork orange?
(and under 220? sladky! that's real horrorshow!)
Posted by: chiggins | March 24, 2008 at 08:51 AM
Congrats on your progress! That's fantastic!
Posted by: Beast1624 | March 24, 2008 at 09:21 AM
You are so inspiring, makes me want to start right this minute shedding excess baggage. You are a real person who has been there, no whining you just did it. I am so sick os skinny people advertising weight loss products on TV, and only skinny people modeling outfits for toothpicks.
Hope to meet you someday when I am in the cities visiting.
Posted by: Connie | March 24, 2008 at 11:26 AM
...feels good to undo the past, while living in the present, and heading toward the future.
This is beautiful.
Thanks to internet magic, I came across your newspaper article and blog yesterday and have to say, you are made of awesome.
Three years ago, I decided to do a 140-mile charity ride for a cause I really believed in. When I made that decision, I didn't even have a bike, and I was easily 100lbs overweight. My first training ride was 6 miles long; I had to stop 3 times to rest and use my asthma inhaler.
Now, 60 pounds lighter, I'm training now to do that same ride for the third time. Last summer, in the middle of a week-long bike tour of Oregon, as I crested a section of the coast range mountains after a 6-mile climb and saw the Pacific Ocean come into view between the pines, I realized how literally I had changed my life. Those words of yours that I quoted above perfectly describe what was in my heart at that moment.
Thanks for sharing your story. Although I love all of the things I am able to do now, there are some days when it's still hard to remember that even a sluggish bike ride is better for me than just sitting on the sofa (especially when I know that there will always be some tool in an SUV ready to let me know just how he thinks my ass looks in lycra). It's tremendously helpful to read the words of someone who's been down a similar path. Keep riding, and keep writing.
Posted by: Rebecca | March 30, 2008 at 04:55 PM
Arrrrgh! That be a white whale you've got there... watch out!
Posted by: Ian Hopper | April 28, 2008 at 11:06 PM