A New Excuse

For the last 2 weeks, I've been felling rotten. At first, I thought it was the flu, what with the fevers, chills, sweats, no energy - classic flu symptoms. Then, it started to go away. Until yesterday, that is> I was going to head out for a mountain bike ride, but I could barely get the bike off the wall hanger in the garage. I went back in the house and laid down. Didn't feel to bad, just tired. Then the rashes started. Light red areas that itched like crazy. This afternoon, my back felt all itchy and puffed up. Linda took one look and we called my doctor. He told me to get to his office pronto, so off we went. He took one look and said what I had thought - Lyme's Disease. Caught in the early stages, I just have to take antibiotics for a couple of weeks. A friend didn't know she had Lyme's for 20 years. Now she is on pesticide therapy. Glad I acted quick!

Itchy!!!

Here's a study that proves what I have said all along. The more you exercise, the more the effect on blood sugar. Just getting back to a regular work out and ride schedule has helped me cut my insulin intake dramatically. And, for me, the longer the duration, the longer the effect lasts. In my humble opinion, the first thing doctors should prescribe to a new type 2 diabetes patient is exercise, and plenty of it. Lower the carbs, move your butt, and keep a positive outlook. Just what the doctor should have ordered, but the first thing seems to be pills. I guess there's no money in  prescribing diet and exercise, so this is what we get!

Not Quite So Fat!

This is the standard Body Mass Index chart that is used by most folks concerned with such thing. Doctors, nurses, diabetes educators, etc. all use it show where you fall in according to industry standards. 17-25 is considered healthy, 25-30, overweight, 30 to 35, obese, above 35, you better push away from the buffet and get some help.

At an appointment at the diabetes center a few weeks ago, the nurse/educator said she couldn't figure how I did what I did as far as exercise.
Her - Your BMI is 35.1, you should really lose some significant weight before doing such intense cycling efforts.

Me- I don't feel super obese, my heart rate monitor tells me when to cool it off a bit. I don't worry about it.

She - Let's use our new super-duper electronic BMI machine and see where you're really at.

Me - Cool.

Down the hall, into a different area of the center.

She- Step on this machine. Hold still while I hook up theses self stick pads and hook the leads to them

She - Hold your arm straight out.

The nurse hits the buttons, enters data, sends a current through me, and gets the reading.

She- This can't be right, let me do it again.

She- It reads the same. 29.3 Weird, can't be right. (implying I'm a certified fat bastard and somehow the machine can't figure it out.) We'll try another day.

Yesterday, Linda and I went and had our BMIs' check and protein levels evaluated. I'm up first for the BMI test. My weight was down 21 lbs. My BMI is at 28. The gal doing the test can't figure it out, either. She thinks her machine is also FUBAR. So, she tested Linda. Right on the money. She gets out the calipers and tape measure. She finds the machine is right! Now I only need to drop 58 more to be on low side of healthy. Piece of cake!

Fitness Flown

Just as the weight comes down, the fitness goes up, the fickled finger of fate gets you: the flu. Rode last Thursday, felt good, but a little lacking on power. This got worse as the ride progressed, so I cut it short and headed home. The blood sugar was OK, if not a bit high. Just an off day, or so I figured. The next morning, I had an Herbalife shake for breakfast, good to go, or so I figured. A couple of hours later, the sweating started. Then, I felt like I was in the deep freeze. Soon back to roasting with intermittent freezing, no energy, no appetite, cold sweats, hot sweats, weird dreams, no sleep. Sounds like drug addiction withdrawals, doesn't it? So, it's been the couch or bed with some fluid intake, but up until today, food was off the board. I think it will be gone tomorrow, with any luck. At least Versus has bike racing on every afternoon!

The Sky!

This sure has been a summer of dramatic sky's. I seems like every day we have some weather that presents great opportunities for fabulous photos. The lower shot was featured on the local television station's (KBJR) Saturday night news cast. Pays to always have a camera at hand. 

Great Hawk Chase (on the right day)

Niner Air 9 Carbon. I'd love to have one!

Here's some shots from Sunday's Great Hawk Chase. I had mentioned I was going out Saturday afternoon to check it out. Glad I didn't, because it rained hard. Then I checked the Website for the MSMBS and saw it was on Sunday.

Women's Expert winner, Sarah Kylander-Johnson

Women's 4th Overall, Kari Gate (517)

Men's 2nd Overall, Josh Tesch (one of my college instructors)

Ian Nancekevill's unique downhill style

Local favorite Charlie Farrow

Local endurance racer (and blogger) Tim Ek.

Great Hawk Chase

I think I will spend some time out at the Great Hawk Chase mountain bike race this afternoon. Get some pics and watch the top level riders on the single track to see how they tackle it. Could help my technique so I can get faster. Should be a good time.

Storm birds

The eye

Blue sky disappearing

Why these pictures? I just like them, snapped them during a recent storm. We may be in for more of this later today and tomorrow.

A Pleasant Day...

Took the MTB for some gravel road exploring, along with a bit of single track (path through the woods?) exploring. Lots of rolling terrain was covered in the lakes area just north of town. A few hours of cruising around, a few pictures, a few bugs, lunch on a bench in the middle of nothing? Nice.

Had lunch on this bench off the side of the road. Saw a few in the area.

Lots of wild flowers.

I didn't see a car on most of these roads.

East Cook Lake Road.

A quiet little inlet.

I could look at this type of scenery all day.

Island Lake

A ride-able path  to nowhere. Good for developing log and root riding.

 With the current cash flow cut back due to being laid off, one austerity measure was on food - including cycling grub. I thought back to the old days, and remembered riding strong on a diet of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, bananas, fig bars, and sweetened ice tea or Gatorade. That's what I went with, and it worked out just fine.