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after researching it for a while i decided to get a stationary trainer instead of my pedals and shoes. until i lose a bit of weight i think i’ll get the most use this season out of a good trainer for amy and my bike. our recumbent bike is annoying both of us (our arses fall asleep) and we both love to ride. given this and the fact that we can’t ride in the winter the obviously solution is to get a trainer for our bikes.


i looked around at different versions and after much deliberation i decided on the 1up cpr a-2000 bicycle trainer. it has a 100% lifetime parts warranty and if i’m not 100% satisfied with it they’ll replace it with a competitors product. this alone, along with their assurance that it can support my weight would have been enough. they also however have some amazing reviews from owners. i almost got tired of reading all of the rave reviews of their products. the other trainers i looked at varied this one in the quality of the construction and the type of resistance. the 1up trainer is a mechanical resistance trainer whereas a lot of the other trainers are fluid resistance. while fluid sounds cool there are tons of stories about people who had them that reported leakage within a few months and in some cases since it’s oil it destroys whatever it leaked upon. needless to say that isn’t something i felt like dealing with. the fact that the 1up has a resistance unit that i can make more difficult by adding more ball-bearings is key as well.


i placed the order this morning and they said i should have it by tomorrow (they’re only one state away). i’m pretty excited. this is my birthday gift from amy, thanks hun, i love you. now if my rear wheel was only ready. here are some pictures from various angles.

still waiting on my telescope. mars gets closer and i get more depressed.

i had a decent week last week but far from perfect. things aren’t coming together this challenge like they did in the past. i’m having trouble getting both my workouts and my meals in synch, mostly the meals though. i think i may have to try something a bit different to shock my system here soon. i’ve been thinking of dumping coffee during the week like bski did, i wouldn’t want to be a copy cat though. i’ve also been thinking about trying to get up every morning for a few weeks and ride for an hour or so on my bike. get some serious cardio in and then throw in a few light weight workouts for good measure as well. i’ll think on it a little more and try to get back in line here.


i’ve been drinking myoplex and udo’s for the first meals of the day pretty consistently. i still think that udo’s helps me a ton. i really notice differences in my skin, sweat, and hair when i stop taking it for a few weeks. i haven’t been able to do six meals in a while, i usually end up eating five maximum.


things i’m going to work on this week … getting caught up with my sleep, getting consistent with my eating, and rocking in the workouts.


still trying to get this train moving folks.

forever interested if i have my bike configured properly i have been in search of articles and tools to help me determine how my bike should be set up. do i have the right saddle height? am i the right distance from the handlebars? etc etc … here are a few of the tools that i’ve found recently to educate me.

• wrench science — web based configuration tool that will output all of the necessary measurements, very cool.
• how to fit your custom bike — an article on sizing.
• revisionist theory of bicycle sizing — yet another article on sizing.
• how to fit a bicycle — title says it all.
• frame sizing — sizing rivendell bikes, but other good info as well.
• cycle metrics — information on body measurement and lots of links.

not an exhaustive list but it helped me understand better what i need to look for and measure when making my next bike purchase. also important information for adjusting your current bikes configurations to fit your body type.

it’s in the mail on the way to dt swiss for a warranty replacement. if/after it’s returned it’ll be rebuild 3x with 14/15 gauge black spokes. should take a few weeks, i’m hoping to have it by the time downers gets here so i can ride around the race to check out the action.

things are going ok so far. last week work struck on thursday night which caused me to miss my friday workout. that really sucked as i had already missed my thursday workout. needless to say that meant 4 days in a row without working out (thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday). we got our arses out of bed this morning though and had a great cardio workout. i wanted to do spin but i’m tired of the instructor. she does the same routine every single monday and it’s rather annoying. we’re hoping to get a spin class in later this week. i’m in need of some cycling since i don’t have a bike anymore (see older post for details). anyhow, i wrote this weekend off and started new this week. i had made about 8-9 pounds of progress up till last thursday so i don’t plan on throwing that away.


my goals for this week are to break a few physical barriers in my weights and to up the exertion in my cardio workouts. i’m looking for a whole new level of exhaustion. we’re talking about complete and absolute fatigue where i’m forced to nearly stop to catch my breath. kicking my own ass and taking names!

there’s a cool weekend of racing coming to downers grove in two weeks called the national criterium championships. it’s a complete weekend of inline speed skating, amateur, and professional cycling and a host of fun activities. amy and i went two years ago and i plan on checking it out again. i’m hoping to run into my buddy rob there if he’s blading, we’ll see. see ya there …