Hub On Wheels

We had a great time at the Hub on Wheels this year.  This is our third year riding a tandem at this event.  We did the 10 mile route the first year, the 30 mile route last year and the 50 mile route this year.  We were a bit confused at the beginning, though, because it wasn't raining.  This is our first year with decent weather and we thought we might have been at the wrong ride ;-)
We got there very early.  Stef had not received her registration packet in the mail so we wanted to get there before the lines got too long.  We've found that it's much easier to ride over there in the morning rather than make Jonathan drive us.  We had ridden the tandem down here last Thursday.  We left here while it was still dark and got to see the sun come up as we crossed the Longfellow Bridge.  I love being on a bike as the sun comes up.

We got there in plenty of time and actually had some time to hang out before the ride.  I, fortunately, had brought my knitting so I got to combine my two favorite pastimes!  I have no idea why I look so cranky.  I was having a lovely time!
The ride got started with a wonderful trip up Storrow Drive and back.  They close it for this ride once a year and I wish they'd make it a bikeway permanently!  It is so much fun to ride there.
This is Stef at the first rest stop.  I took a picture of her eating Fig Newtons.  She never eats this kind of thing except on bike trips.  I just wanted to have photographic evidence.

About six miles from the end, we managed to get a rear flat.  We were riding on a section of the Emerald Necklace that is kind of like a double-wide side walk and I think the rear tire got caught in the one of the ruts as we were going around the corner.  One of the things I usually like about this ride is that it's a bit of an obstacle course.  It really challenges my bike handling skills.  The downside of it is that it's a bit of an obstacle course and we end up riding over a bunch of stuff that can give us a flat.  We managed to change the flat with just a little help from a passing biker.  There are three things that I've learned from this.  The first is that the tandem is just going to get flats on long rides and I'm going to have to get used to it.  The second is that I'm never buying tubes with tiny, short valves since it's really hard to pump them up from flat  The third is that our pump sucks and I'm getting us a new one.

All in all, though, the ride was a great time and we'll look forward to doing it again next year!

BTW, this is us last year, slighty soggy and me 30 lbs heavier.

Saturday Stats

Miles ridden this week: 52
Average calories per day: 2002
Pounds lost: 0
Current weight: 242.5 lbs (110.2 kg)
Total weight loss since 3/26/10: 48.5 lbs.

I'm done with the cleanse now.  On the one hand, I'm pretty irked that I haven't lost anymore weight in the last two weeks.  On the other, I'm just glad that the 5.5 pounds I gained from celebrating my birthday has come back off.  I met with the nurse practitioner yesterday and we're changing my diet back to pretty much what it was before (protien, fruits and vegetables).  I got my first look at the allergy testing and I'm ragingly allergic to all dairy and, oddly, soy.  I'm moderately allergic to kidney beans, cherries (sad face), cilantro (seriously?) and safflower oil.  I have low reactions to a whole laundry list of things including a lot of meats and all gluten bearing grains.  The nurse said that I can eat the low reaction foods.  I just have to not eat them daily.  I'm leary of the grains, though.  I showed up as mildly allergic to them even though I haven't been eating them for months.  Also, the whole I ate a piece of birthday cake and gained five pounds thing is probably a strong indicator that I shouldn't eat wheat.
I'm going to spend some time rethinking my diet and trying to work out how I can cut down on the low reaction foods, many of which I eat daily.  I'm also going to start ramping up my biking again.  Stef and I are riding the Hub on Wheels 50 mile route on Sunday and really looking forward to it!

Bloated

To celebrate my birthday, I gave myself a little over a day off from most of my dietary restrictions.  I didn't go entirely off the wagon.  For example, there was no eating Nutella with a spoon but I did eat a whole lot of sushi, some cake, a few french fries and possibly a brownie sundae.  Just for shits and giggles, I decided to weigh myself this morning to see what the damage was.  My weight was up five and a half pounds!  I'm back on program today as planned and remembering why I don't eat a lot of that stuff on a regular basis.  It is good to remind myself how I used to feel all the time and why I made changes.  Meanwhile, my hands are stiff and my pants are tight.  Hopefully, the puffiness will go down in a day or two.

Zoom!

Since the cleanse, my average speed cycling seems to have jumped!  Stef and I now consider 13.5 mph average for a ride to be a bit on the slow side.  Last week, we rode 15 miles at an average of just over 15.5 mph.  My city riding speed has jumped from just over 10 mph to 11+.  It's pretty exciting!

Saturday Stats

Miles ridden this week: 50 Average calories per day: 1715
Pounds lost: 0
Current weight: 242.5 lbs (110.2 kg)
Total weight loss since 3/26/10: 48.5 lbs.

I've been doing the second week of the cleanse where I get to eat actual food and I've been feeling a lot better.  I've even been adding back some riding, though I'm going to have to take it easy until I can eat more.  The 1600-1700 calories per day on this program aren't enough to support much riding.
I'm not surprised that I didn't lose weight this week.  I've lost 11 pounds in the last five weeks and my body was due for a week off.  We'll see what happens next week.  If I don't lose weight by next week, then there will be whining.  Meanwhile, I have another week and a half of the cleanse.  I'll be interested to see how I feel at the end of it.

Saturday Stats

Miles ridden this week: 47
Average calories per day: 1862 (I ate a lot over the weekend)
Pounds lost: 3
Current weight: 242.5 lbs (110.2 kg)
Total weight loss since 3/26/10: 48.5 lbs.

Phase 1 of the cleanse is over and I'm really glad.  I'm dying to eat food I can chew!  I'm also looking forward to my brain coming back on line.  I've been having some chicken every day so that there wouldn't be dizziness and falling down but now I get to add rice cakes, fruit and vegetables to my shakes and chicken.  I can't even tell you how excited I am about crunching on a rice cake. 
I do three days of a combination of shakes and food and then two weeks of fewer shakes and more food.  All the foods I'll be eating are ones that have a reputation for being non-allergic.  Hopefully, my bloodwork will be back soon and we can figure out what I actually should be eating.
I hope I'm less dopey and uncoordinated today.  I was planning to ride my bike over to the Common Cod Fiber Guild meeting last night but had spent the day knocking over so much stuff and forgetting things (like how to spell) that I thought it would be a better idea to stay home :-(

Lighter

Today, I feel better.  Thanks everyone for your encouragement.  Tuesday and yesterday were tough but I felt the love. 
I'm still a little loopy which is why I haven't replied to any email.  Hoping to get to it tomorrow.  The only way I can describe how I feel is lighter.  Not lighter like I weigh less but like something that was pushing down on me has lifted.  I still had the afternoon sleepies but nothing like the past couple of days.  I'm also not as hungry which is nice.  I have one more day of having mostly shakes to eat then Saturday I can start eating real food again.  I'll keep you posted as things progress.