Maintain, don't gain.

At one of my former places of employment, they were actually proactive in helping their employees stay relatively healthy.  It was a call center, and if you have ever worked at a call center, you know that there is a whole lot of sitting on your can in front of a computer, and not a lot of reason to get up and move that frequently. 

So, aside from mandatory walk breaks (if you weren't walkin' you were still workin') each day, they had a "contest" of sorts around the Holidays. 

They called it "Maintain, don't Gain".  The way it worked, is you would weigh yourself before Thanksgiving on a scale at the office, and they would write down your weight.  After New Years Day, you would repeat the process.  If your weight was the same, or less than your pre-Thanksgiving weight, you would get a gift - movie passes, gift certificate, gas card (this was back when a tank of gas didn't require a 2nd mortgage) etc...

Unfortunately, my current employeer doesn't have any program like that in place (or ANY health program at all.  That may account for the fact that the ambulance shows up in front of our building about once a week.  I am not joking.)

I decided that I am going to give it a go.  I weighed myself before the weekend of gorging - 197 pounds.  My goal is to be less than that by Monday, January 3rd.  I will regularly post my weight on the blog.  I may even try to find a widget to place in the sidebar to have a running weight loss tracker. 

Unfortuately, I won't get any prize or gift for not exceeding my starting weight - unless the wifey wants to pony up something?

Wish me luck!

p.s.  I found something that hopefully will help me with the weight loss over the Holidays:  Elden "Fat Cyclist" Nelson is holding a contest on his site for people to try to loose 10 pounds by Christmas.  I've thrown my name into the contest. 

Post-Thanksgiving musings

I'm sitting at work this morning, nursing a post-Thanksgiving food-hangover.  One nice thing about working on "Black Friday" - aside from not having to deal with shopping at 3:00 AM - is that it is quiet.  It gives me more time to think.

I'm not happy with the current state of my body.  There are things that I feel need to be changed.  Some of those changes I may share on the blog over the coming days, weeks, and months.

Until then, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

On this day of giving thanks, I would like to thank those of you who take the time to visit my blog. I hope you all have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are.

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The Torture Chamber

For those of us who are not fortunate enough to live in a more temperate climate, this is the time of year where our outdoor passion becomes our indoor torture.

We set up our bicycles on trainers or rollers and spin away the hours, waiting for Mother Nature to take pity on us and bring back the warmer weather. 

Some of us spin to music, some watch TV, others will subjugate ourselves to programs designed to make us suffer - to atone for sins we committed during the outdoor riding season such as being too slow, too heavy etc...

The torture chambers are as individual as the riders themselves.  Some are spartan - all you really need to suffer is a bike, and a trainer - others are luxurious, with a big screen TV and other amenities.  Some are in the basement, some are in a spare bedroom, some - by the graces of a very understanding spouse, or not having anyone to answer to - are in the living room.

Wherever your torture chamber is, as you spin out the hours in relative solitude, you can take comfort in knowing that - in the grand scheme of things - you are not alone.  There are many of us doing the same thing in our own torture chambers.  We are together in our solitude, waiting until spring...

my bicycle's home until the Groundhog gives the all clear for spring to return

Sunday funnies

Wanted: Motivation

You may have noticed the scarcity of posts recently. Well, there is a good (not really) reason for this.

I have a serious lack of motivation right now.

This always seems to happen to me in late fall/early winter. It's too wet, dark, cold (yeah, I know. Wuss!) to ride outside before or after work, and I haven't gotten around to setting up the BTC (bicycle torture chamber) downstairs yet. Taking 3 weeks off in early fall with a foot encased in a walking boot didn't help either.

The other problem I have is Newton's first law of motion: A body at rest will remain at rest, until acted upon by an outside force. My body is a firm believer in law, particularly that one.

What I need is that outside force. I need something to motivate me to get moving this winter.

Here's where you, dear reader, come in. I am looking for suggestions to help me get my sorry butt off of the couch and get motivated this winter. I am looking for you to be my outside force.

To help make this interesting, I think I still have something left over from the Outdoor Retailer show that I can give to whomever provides the best motivation. Just leave a comment on this post with your suggestions.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Draper Velopark Master Plan Approval

This is from the Salt Lake Velodrome website:

All I can say is SWEET!!!  This from the drawing of the master plan, this is going to be a "one-stop shopping" style of park. Velodrome, Criterium track, mountain bike area complete with pump track, skills course, and trails.  The best thing is that Draper is more centrally located. I can't wait!

The Draper City Council approved the Draper Velopark Master Plan last night. The Park is to be located near Corner Canyon just west of the Ballard Equestrian Center where there is currently a convergence of bicycle activity with mountain biking, road biking, and cyclocross. The Park will include a velodrome, criterium course, in-line skating, cyclocross, mountain bike zone, climbing wall, kid's park, and new trails. We are very excited to have the support of Draper City for this project and look forward to working towards construction.

Update on Vail, CO Hit and Run

A petition has been started to ask Vail District Attrorney Mark Hulbert to not drop the felony charges against Martin Joel Erzinger, who alledgedly struck cyclist Steven Milo, and then fled the scene. 

Please sign this petition, and forward it on to all of your friends and family. Let them know that money does not talk, and that just because we are on a bicycle, that does not make us any less of a human being.

Sign the petition here.

How to get away with attempted murder

How to get away with attempted murder in 3 easy steps:

1. Hit a cyclist from behind with your Mercedes Benz in Vail, CO and then flee the scene.
2. Be wealthy.
3. Be employeed as a financial advisor for wealthy clients.

Seriously.  I'm not making this up.  A hit-and-run driver in Vail, CO will not face felony charges for striking a cyclist with his car, and then fleeing the scene because a felony charge on his record would jepordize his job as a financial advisor for "ultra-high net worth individuals, their famlies and foundations"

What a bunch of horse crap!  He almost kills a person.  Not a cyclist, but another human being, flees the scene. calls his Mercedes Benz dealership to tow his car because it is "damaged".  He neglects to mention why his car is damaged, and also neglects to notify the police that there is a dying - possibly dead individual a couple miles back on the road.  And he is concerned that a felony might adversely affect his job??? 

The person he struck was a surgeon.  The injuries he sustained might make performing his job impossible in the future. 

I'm going to stop here, because if I continue typing, naughty words will start appearing on the screen. 

Read the full story here.