Half-Assing it to the Halfway Point

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I got on the scale this morning, and discovered I was down 25.6 pounds for the year. I did a little victory dance in the bathroom. My plan was to lose 1 pound per week this year, for a total of 52 pounds for the year. It’s only April, and I’m just a hair shy of the halfway mark. Hooray!

I haven’t even been following the cave-man-diet thing very well. It seems to work OK, even if you half-ass it like I am.

I took the Cross-Check out for a 20 mile ride on a local Rail Trail yesterday. One thing I noticed is that with the 5-speed sturmey hub, sometimes the ideal gear just isn’t available. If the gear I’m in is too high, the next one down is way too low, and you just sort of have to pedal a gear slightly higher than you want. Hopefully, this will make my legs a little stronger. I’d like to attack both the numerator and denominator of my strength-to-weight ratio.

Blurry Cell-phone pic of my CC on the LVRT

The other thing I noticed (or rather, didn’t notice) is that my butt didn’t hurt. Normally, I end my rides not because I’m too tired and just can’t go on, but because my butt hurts and/or my junk falls asleep. The Brooks B.190 I’m rocking on the Cross-Check gave me NO TROUBLES the whole ride. Yeah, it weighs like 5 pounds, and costs a fortune, but I think it may have made me faster, because I didn’t have to get off every 5 miles to let the blood flow return to my nethers.

I’ve only put maybe 35 miles on this saddle so far, so it isn’t even broken in yet. I can only assume it will get even better in the future.

Brooks B.190

It looks silly, I’ll admit, with all its springs and whatnot, but who cares? It makes my butt happy. It soaks up the bumps like nobody’s business, too. All those springs serve a purpose. I’m almost tempted to get one for my road bike, too.

I also figured out a route that’s pretty much the longest possible ride from my house without having to deal with too much crazy traffic. It’s about 13 miles long, with a nice climb, and I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to ride it at least 2 or three times a week. At least that’s what I’m going to shoot for. The weather is finally starting to get spring-ish, the days are now long enough that after-dinner rides won’t be in the dark. It’s time to get my shit together and start riding again.

No more dick-monkeying around!

6 thoughts on “Half-Assing it to the Halfway Point

  1. Congrats on the weight loss!

    The Cross Check looks awesome. It must be a blast. I’ve been doing a little bit of single speed/fixed riding, and even with just a little of that I notice I feel stronger when back on the geared bike.

    One thing with the saddle is, it may or may not work as well on your road bike. I find the different postures on my different bikes require different saddles.

    I have a hard time believing you’re going to give up dick-monkeying around, though. Don’t do it, man!

  2. I’m wondering if there might be a relationship between your weight loss and the saddle comfort. Not to take anything away from the saddle, but you might want to see how you feel on the road bike now.
    Either way, your on a serious roll and some more biking will only motivate you to keep it up. Well done.
    BTW, what kind of gear inches are you getting with that hub; and would a different chainring get you that perfect gear?

  3. Yeah, I considered that the weight loss might have something to do with it. I’ve ridden the Trek this week, and it doesn’t seem much / any? more comfortable than I remember it. Of course, I am just coming out of my winter hibernation, so we’ll have to see how it feels in a few weeks. I’m not going to drop $170 on a new saddle anytime soon.

    The gearing on the hub is:

    1. Gear 1 – 33.3125″
    2. Gear 2 – 39.975″
    3. Gear 3 – 53.3″
    4. Gear 4 – 71″
    5. Gear 5 – 85.25″

    For the flat rail trail, I’m generally in the 71″ gear, which is a little higher than I’d like, but I’m hoping to make myself stronger instead of gearing down. The chainring/cog ratio I’m running is at the absolute limit for what Sturmey recommends (i/e don’t go lower). So, this is as low as I can take it without risking damaging the hub.

  4. dreamlet

    Good for you on the weight loss! Which “cave man” diet are you referring to? Or which book did you read I guess I should ask. I’ve got a Sturmey Archer 5 Speed Hub on my new Pashley and I find I have the same problem. Gear 4 is just a bit too high but it’s the closest thing to being “right” on the flats. Gear 3 is sooooo much lower than Gear 4. I can hardly imagine having to use gears 1 or 2.

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