Looks pretty good doesn’t it?
New Picture of bike after all modifications
Category Archives: Fitness Training
More bike work done
I changed out the mirrors and seat. The seat because I was having so many problems last weekend and the mirrors because the ones I had ordered were do cheap.
New mirrors are nice and sturdy, the other would change positions with the wind while riding and they kept coming out of the handle bars.
The new seat, unlike the old one stayed in the position I placed it when the clamp was tightened. I also added some loctite between the pressure plates in the clamp as well. Hopefully ensuring the seat doesn’t’ move while riding. The seat also holds my anti theft alarm much better as well.
I also purchased some riding shorts, loose fitting that I can use my padded shorts with. I ordered the largest size they had, triple ‘X’, based on their size chart should have fit but they will still too freaking tight. This morning, Monday 10-21-2019 I ordered another pair of shorts, this time getting 5x. Waist size, miniumu 42 and max 57. These should fit. By the time I finally got the shorts and the mirrors put on it was too late in the afternoon to ride. The temp had also risen to a point where it would have been uncomfortable riding in my jeans.
I also made some lateral adjustments to the phone holder allowing better access to the Osmo Action camera. In its previous position, the access door for the camera mount would rub against the phone holder. Not bad but moving it made everything that much better.
Better luck next weekend. The weather looks great and I am more than ready!
On another note, I tried to call Dad yesterday afternoon before bed and he still didn’t answer. He called back about 10:10pm, well past my bed time. Well, talk to you soon Dad.
Lectric Bike Arrived
Tuesday afternoon:
On Monday of last week thought about and created a list of accessories to purchase for my Lectric bike when it arrived. On Tuesday I had the feeling I needed to place my order now and at the same time I added a couple additional items. I changed the seat I put on the list and added an anti-theft alarm, a Rockbros bike rack trunk w/pannier, slime anti-flat tube sealant and an action camera mount.
Hopefully the handlebar extender I ordered will hold the phone holder and camera mount and possibly add the remote for the alarm as well.
When I got home on Tuesday I was making a salad for dinner and I received a phone call from the office asking if I was currently at home. Fedex was there and going to deliver a ‘big’ box. Whoo hoo! My bike has arrived! Since I had not heard from Lectric Bikes I was expecting an email from them tomorrow letting me know the tracking number and then delivery on Monday.
That’s why I had the feeling to order everything. At is stands most items will be arriving tomorrow with the balance coming on Thursday. After checking the weather for the weekend I think I will be doing some riding!
I am very excited. (I can’t believe ‘I’ actually said that).
P.S. I actually held off on opening the box until Wednesday afternoon when I can plan the location to film the unboxing and assembly. Total time should be about 30 minutes. 27 minutes to unbox and take off all the wrappings etc. and 3 to unfold and display.
Total time was about a half an hour to set unbox, unfold and set for proper display.
I spent almost the entire day Saturday adding all of the accessories I purchased. It took the entire day because of some fit issues. First the extension tube mounting bracket did not fit well. The handle bar tube seems to be on the small side and the width is quite narrow as well necessitating the use of the extension bar. I added a wraps of packing tape to increase the diameter of the handle bar for the extension bar which worked fantastic.
The Battery Bank phone holder and Action Camera holder were placed on that.
The cute little bell was moved to the other side of the handle bars finishing up the additions there. See the pics below for the final product.
Here are all the attached accessories.
This bike, even though I have problems with the seat post and seat was so much fun to ride.
Bike should be here soon
I delayed the delivery of my Lectric Bike XP and can’t wait for delivery. I think by early next week. Monday I hope.
Today I made a list of accessories to purchase for the bike and the list is:
Smart Helmet
Phone Holder (With Charger)
Handlebar Extender
Bike Lock
New Wide Seat
Water bottle holder
Handlebar mirrors
Action Camera Mount
This list should do it for now. Can’t wait to get out and put it all to the test.
20,000+ steps with consequences
A good friend of mine, Jeff Pritchett challenged me to a step challenge this past weekend and of course I accepted. Knowing it was going to be very cold this weekend starting Saturday afternoon I decided on a strategy.
The strategy was to get up early Saturday morning before the cold front hit and start walking and walk until I was to tired to walk anymore. I walked for 7.72 miles at approximately three miles per hour, give or take and 20,000+ steps taken. I figured with the rest of the day and Sunday coming up I was a shoe in to win the challenge.
As luck would have it, my feet were so swollen I could not walk even a small step for the rest of the day. I was in such pain all night sleep just did not happen. I got up Sunday morning, hobbling into the kitchen to make some sort of breakfast and sat on the couch wondering what the heck I did to my feet. Part of the way through the day I felt my left foot getting better and I continued to walk around on it hoping they both would get better for work on Monday as I had no intention on calling in. Jasmine and Terry are both out all week and I did not want to leave Dan and Jeff alone.
Monday has come and my left foot is doing ok but I was seriously worried I would not be able to get my shoe on my Right foot. As it is, both shoes went on with more than a little pain on the right side and after some ibuprofen I have in my desk along with some continuous walking around my feet are doing better. Needless to say, my strategy was not too sound and I’m quite sure I won’t be doing that sort of walking again. I may but not quite that fast and when my feet say they are tired I’m going to listen.
Yes Angie did send some stupid messages blaming me for them being evicted and out on the street as of the 27th of the month of February. I did send them 500.00 to get their rent paid but then followed up with ‘Go Away’. I never got a single thank you or any kind of response after sending that money so after that, if there is any additional contact with her or her family they will have to be blocked for good.
Body broke down
Ended up sick this weekend, Monday and Tuesday. Have to keep the body in shape and healthy. I know what to do but not doing it is wreaking havoc.
This morning vitals
- Resting Heart-rate: 73 (Not bad)
- Blood Pressure: 99/53 (After Walk – Not bad)
- Weight: 236 (Bad, mostly water), 1lb less than last week
This weekend went really well. During the week I was not in the mood to work out at all, when I did I felt great but I could not get that motivated. All vitals look good with the exception of weight but now, with time that will align itself as well. Holidays will be the hard part.
Regroup and start over
I screwed that one up. After a great weekend of doing nothing and having a fantastic time doing it, I arrived at work and found a chocolate bar and hostess cupcake on my desk with a birthday card.
It was a nice gesture from my boss but I don’t usually eat milk chocolate (dark 86% cacao yes) and have not had a hostess cupcake since I was about ten years old. In a nutshell I ate the bar, before breakfast mind you and having nothing in my stomach. About 10:30 or so I ate the cupcake and then my breakfast, one hard boiled egg.
After an hour it all started to go down hill. I went for a short walk down stairs and on the way up I felt very dizzy and had an funny feeling in my chest (heart). My heart beat started racing to roughly 185+ beats per minute and would not stop. By 2:00, sitting at my desk getting ready for a conference call my heart rate went down to about 110.
I packed up to leave for home and was taking things slowly but when I started walking ‘down’ the stairs my heart started racing again and I was praying I would make it to the car.
When I got home I started eating anything I could get my hands on that was not sugar and drinking some water etc. and was able to get my heart rate down to less than 100 but still over 90. I took my vitamins, super greens drink and went to bed.
Upon getting up in the morning I found my resting hear rate to be 78 which is not bad but a number I consider high for me and after a morning walk my heart rate was still high and my heart rhythm was so irregular my blood pressure cuff kept cutting off with an error. After a few hours and another short walk my body seemed to rid itself of all those toxins from the day before but I still could not ride the bike.
I feel really good now but need to put my body back on its regular diet and get back to normal so, the experiment officially starts today, one week late.
Take note: Do not mess with your body especially when you feel good!
This morning vitals
- Resting Heart-rate: 75 (Not bad)
- Blood Pressure: 106/56 (After Walk – Not bad)
- Weight: 237 (Bad, mostly water)
Day one of my experiment
Today is the start. I’m still on vacation today but the ‘no alcohol’ rule starts now. Actually it started when I had my last drink on Saturday night. Sam will be quite surprised when I don’t want to go to the liquor store on the way home Thursday. That will be the test, if I can do that or not. I am looking forward to these results I’m quite confident in my ability to do this.
I’ll be doing this experiment for at least three months, through the middle of November. During that time I will be posting graphs of my resting heart-rate, blood pressure and weight. I believe all of those will be affected by this experiment, to what extent we all shall see.
What I think is my weight will be affected by a significant amount followed by hear-rate to a certain extent and then my blood pressure. I’m sure I’ll see a big difference in the fluctuation I normally see during the weekend when I drink the most (Friday night and Saturday) , I never drink during the week or if I may have to work the following day.
Helping me out will be the large number of courses I have purchased on Udemy that have not been started yet. This will give me plenty of time to work on those courses as well as start setting up the outline for my courses as well. The outline for my book for SharePoint and maybe some SAP courses geared toward manufacturing. I need to look around and see what might be available for that topic (that just came to mind).
- Resting Heart-Rate: 78
- Blood Pressure: 112/73
- Weight: 237
Resting Heart-Rate is higher than I like but to be expected with what I ate this weekend and I drank a bit more than usual weight is what I expected also with what I ate and how much water I drank the last couple of nights.
Let the fun begin, I am looking forward to this but will need some will power.
Physical Body Experiment
I am going to experiment with my body after my birthday Aug 10th and the duration will be at least 3 months. I will start off with the post on the following Monday with my weight, resting heart-rate and blood pressure after my morning walk. Those values should be, in order, 234-230, 78-80 and 116/65 (I’ll compare these values to the actual values on that Monday and see how accurate I was).
I have been struggling with my weight loss for about a year now and can’t seem to leave the 227-230 mark. I can, at times get to around 224 and then the weekend hits and I blow up again or some vacation days etc.. The single item that I’m sure and effect on every one of those measurement points is the quantity of alcohol I consume between Friday night and Saturday. This quantity will seem staggering to most but I am quite sure has me unable to breach this wall with regard to weight and keeps my blood pressure and resting heart-rate higher than I like.
With all that said, my plan is to, starting the Monday after my birthday, I’m giving myself one last hurrah, I will completely shut down my intake of alcohol. This will markedly reduce my calorie consumption for the weeks while maintaining my workout schedule. I am very much looking forward to a healthier me and can’t wait to see the numbers. I think they will be fantastic and I just might see my goal weight of 180.
Last Friday after my morning walk my numbers were:
- Weight: 230
- Resting Heart-rate: 73
- BP: 102/55
Those number are after a week of working out and normal weekday eating habits, no alcohol. The numbers always decrease during the week and then explode again on the weekend. I’m trying to remove the explosion and initiate a downward trend.
Wish me luck!
Edit:
That post was created at the end of last week. This is Monday 7-30-2018 and my numbers this morning were a little supurising:
- Weight: 233 (What I thought)
- Resting Heart-rate: 71 (Much lower than I thought)
- BP: 112/62 (Better than I thought)
Those numbers are not all that bad. I did cut out items I usually eat during a weekend like pasta and white rice with some delivery items like pizza or Mexican, none of which passed my lips this weekend.