Sunday, December 12, 2010

Commuting - Is a light bike faster?


Today I read an article pertaining to one commuter's experience that riding his new expensive carbon fiber 30% lighter bike to work was no faster then riding his old bike. It made me realize that everyone has different expectations about buying bikes. This one was a little misleading and I feel bad that he ended up disappointed with his new bike purchase.

If the person commuting is restricting their speed because their bike has mechanical problems, is sized wrong, has design and construction quality flaws or is not intended to be used as a commuter bike, then fixing even one of these problems will increase the speed or ease  with which you complete your commute.....especially at the distances that this person was commuting. I guess i have to question how bad his original ride was, or ask how hard this person was trying to ride. Was he pushing the limits of either bicycle? It may have taken the same amount or more time because he was riding a bike that required less effort and therefore he rode with less effort.....thus resulting in not feeling as tired when you get to your location. What other important possibilities are there where a higher quality commuter bike results in a higher quality of life? 




This made me want to start writing again. Put out there a more complete viewpoint on cycling, more variables and options to talk realistically about cycling and bicycles.

 







For all my transportation needs for work I ride my bike. My new commutes take me all over the DC area. Mostly riding within a 10 mile radius, my commutes are not as long as the article's author. I ride through dirt paths, grass fields, paved paths, wood bridges, side streets, main streets and 6 lane "oh my goodness" streets.

Recently it came to my attention that my bike needed some serious attention. I break 9speed chains easy and this one was pushing a year. The rear tire had squishy spots where the tire's layers were separating from the fiber cord core. I spent Saturday morning changing the tires and the chain, cleaned all the surfaces and inspected the now aging frame and fork. They are way beyond their 10yr intended lifespan. All good though. No cracks. No flaking paint.




Check out future articles for pictures of the maintenance procedures, 
my innovative  commuter rig, and our adventures.

Ride Hard

Ray

Words by Raymond J. Heinsman
Photos found on the google

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Cycle Ball!

Mix Hockey, Basketball and a Bike?!? - that would be crazy !?>

Monday, November 8, 2010

Hipster Video - Nicely done...

shared with me by my friend Maria


MISSION WORKSHOP IN PARIS from Bicycle Store on Vimeo.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

MoCo Epic 2010


     The MoCo Epic (http://mocoepic.com/) was a great event created by my friend Denis of MORE and sponsored by MORE, REI, Germantown Cycles, Holiday Inn of Gaithersburg, DrinkMore Water, The Bike Lane, ZAdventures, Oasis Bike Works, Darius Mark State Farm Insurance, Michael Bonsby Heating & Air Conditioning,  Trails For Youth,  Fireworks Art Cafe, and of course IMBA.
     Over the course of the summer he spent countless hours with other MORE members creating and documenting a course that would be safe, enjoyable and legal. When there are 160 riders, you have to be sure to have you $hi! together. Starting before sunrise, I was assigned as a volunteer to parking lot duty. We had two parking lots at the nearby Maryland Soccer Complex that held 120 cars. They were full.

      I attached a few pictures to the left from my experience with the wonderful enthusiastic people who participated both as riders and volunteers that day.

What is the MoCo Epic? As per Denis on the MoCo Epic Website:


It is a supported ride. Participants will be given a cue sheet, a GPS track (should they have the necessary equipment to run it), spray painted signs will be on parts of the course, and volunteers will direct riders at critical intersections. Time records will be kept only for the purpose of accounting for everybody.


                           



During the ride, the riders will cross some or all of the    following Montgomery County parks:
- Schaeffer Farms (Seneca Creek State Park)
- South Germantown Recreational Park (SoccerPlex)
- Hoyles Mill Conservation Area (Hoyles Mill trail)
- Black Hill Regional Park
- Little Bennett Regional Park
- Damascus Regional Park (Seneca Greenway trail)
- Lower Magruder Branch Park (Seneca Greenway trail)
- Great Seneca Stream Valley Park (Seneca Greenway trail)
- Seneca Greenway
- Seneca Creek State Park
- Muddy Branch Park

In order to go from one park to the next, the riders will occasionally be on road portions. The total paved mileage depends on the ride you register for. Here is the breakdown of road/dirt in the 62-miler:
- Country roads (very few cars): 12.88 miles
- Neighborhood streets: 3.09 miles
- Paved trails: .75 mile
- Major roads (River Rd, Rt 28, Rt 355, Rt 121, Esworthy, etc...): 2.85 miles
- Trails (almost all singletrack): 44.34 miles

There is a great photo gallery to enjoy on the MoCo Epic Website. Everyone had a great time and there were very few injuries. All in all, it was great publicity for MORE and for mountain biking in general.

For me it was inspiring. Seeing everyone out there having a great time riding in great weather on great terrain was just, well, great. I really wanted to participate but I was not in shape to do this. I have had a rough time this summer getting into shape. There are no more excuses though. Time to stop whining and start working. I have been riding more lately and it is amazing how much worse shape you can be in when you are older then would normally exist at an earlier age. It is because of this that I now understand how important it is to take the time to exercise your body, especially when you start hitting your upper 30s. It isn't going to get any easier and it is so essential to maintaining a high quality of life,

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Rider Of The Day #34


Life is interesting and you never know what is going to happen. I have a new path in life and it is very exciting. I left my employer and I am now on my own, freelancing as a designer and creating products for my brand "Rays Life Cycle". Summer is over. While trying to figure out how to get out of my stagnant employment situation was an important goal; I have not achieved all the goals I was shooting for this summer. In particular, my desire to improve my fitness and my mountain biking abilities. After my pre-rain ride this morning, before I started working, I was standing on the deck and I took some photos of this guy riding in the rain. Brave soul. It was really pouring out there. How many others of you got caught this morning?

words and photos by Ray Heinsman

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bicycle Fashion


The US is starting to use the bicycle as ordinary transportation. The rest of the world has thought this way since the bicycles invention, but here in the US, the car, bus or train provided transportation for anyone going farther then a few blocks. Now that people desire to ride their bike to the store, or the event, or to dinner; what will they wear? 

Photo courtesy of the NY Times.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Rider of the Day #32 & 33

Next month I start something new. This is a photo of one of my last commutes on this route. There seemed to be more cyclists riding to work this week then usual. This photo was chosen because it illustrates why I perceived this to be the case. There was a train of 6 of us riding into downtown Silver Spring that morning. It is great to see so  many enjoying their bicycles.

Words and photo by Ray Heinsman

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Rider Of The Day #32: Riding in God's Light

When I was a kid, I was told these were God rays. When my phone happened to capture this image this way I knew it was going to be my next rider of the day.

Many people ride past my house to and from work every day and I will start to include more of them as the weather cools and I spend time outside.

Ride On

Words and photo by Ray Heinsman

Prototypes: The Davis Bracelet

Here is another bracelet I created using dérailleur cable and pieces of chain link.
This is the hardest style to create. Cable is not exactly a material that lends itself to small scale usages. The cable going through each link in the opposite direction keeps the bracelet flat and under control.

Product words and photo by Ray Heinsman

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Rider Of The Day #31

I saw this young man riding this classic cruiser in DT SS. Nice cruiser bro.


Words and Photo by Ray Heinsman

Jewelry Prototypes: Earrings

These were the easiest of all the pieces I made. 
They incur the least abuse and they use the least amount of parts.
This is a prototype of my first earing design.


Product, photo and words by Ray Heinsman

Jewelry Prototypes: Bracelet

Progress is made.

My wife has been wearing some items that I have made.

They haven't broken.
People compliment her on them.

These are made from recycled bicycle parts, but I will be making new ones in 8 different colors. 

This prototype is the bracelet.

Product, Photo and Words By Ray Heinsman

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

No Power, No Internet, No Publish

Hi Everyone

It has been a long time since I have had the ability to post to my blog. I really miss it. Work has been crazy and I haven't had time to post here. The power has gone in and out at home with all the storms in the area; and the internet in our house has been almost sporadically available.

As soon as our service is restored, I will be posting regularly again.
until then, please hold tight-  more rayslifecycle will coming your way soon.
I have a lot of things that have been building up.

Until then:
Here is a link that my wife found that I thought was truly interesting
http://www.cmybacon.com/2010/08/strange-bicycle-designs/
I reposted the link below to all these truly unique bicycle designs.

Strange Bicycle Designs

The world of strange bicycles and bike mods is full bizarre and unique creations. Below are a few fun bikes that I came across recently. This list only scratches the surface of weird bike designs, so if you know of any other cool examples please post a link in the comments section.
This bike called the Roller Shuttle was what first inspired me to find other interesting bicycles. It was recently being auctioned on eBay by UK seller 31baycliff. (The winning bid was £31)

.
The Forkless Cruiser was Olli Erkkila’s graduation project at the Institute of Design in Lahti, Finland. And yes, it is possible to steer a bike without a fork! Check out Olli’s site for more photos.

.
Michael Ubbesen Jakobsen’s BauBike was presented at the DMY International Design Festival Berlin in 2009. It breaks the traditional triangular frame mold and instead uses this square frame. While it may not be as structurally sound as a triangular frame, it sure looks cool.

.
Although Sergio Garcia’s tricycle isn’t really a functional trike I thought it was an interesting piece of design and worth including in this post.

.
Carriepie made this cool carousel horse bicycle for Burning Man. Such a great idea!

.
This wicker covered bicycle by artist Jarbas Lopes is part of the collection at Arizona State University.

.
The SK Cycle Mower is a pedal-powered lawn mower. Get your exercise and make your lawn look good at the same time! This photo of the SK is from Chris Hausbeck’s photostream on flickr.


.
If pedaling isn’t what you’re into, you could convert your bike into a scooter with the help of this tutorial on Instructables by KoolKat.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

What is this?

Or more importantly, what is it a part of that which will be?
I am thinking about calling it "The Davis" after the person that inspired me to make it and made me one similar using his craft.

Words and Photo by Ray Heinsman

Rider Of The Day #30: #1 Part Deux

Rider of the Day #30 was photographed while I was riding next to him. He may very well be the same rider as my first rider of the day. Compare the photos and decide.

I have been seeing a lot of the same cyclists lately. It has become quite obvious that there are not that many bicycle commuters on my route to work. It is probably because the route is fairly short and there is little variation on what this route can be.....so I will have to start riding to other places to get some new rider of the day action. Everyone likes a little strange.


Words and photos by Ray Heinsman

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Rider Of the Day #25 Through #29

On Saturday, July 31st, my wife 2 friends and I went to the Biketastic Art Show. While we were there we also checked out some of the Friends of the W&OD 10K running race. Here are some cyclists we saw while there.




























Biketastic Art Show @ The Soundry

On Saturday July 31st, my wife, 2 friends and I went to the Biketastic Art Show at a coffee shop/artists studio called the Soundry in Vienna, VA. The show was in conjunction with a Bikes for the World donation event. If you were feeling artistic, the women of the Syn fit Bicycle racing team were also posing for Dr. Sketchy's DC and a few vendors supporting a variety environmental and social justice causes.

The show had that quaint low key vibe that reminded me of the Art Shows we frequented in Buffalo. The coffee shop had some nice smoothies and pastries as well. Behind the shop were the artists studios where the vendors and auction tables were set up. 




A hall lined with various artists work led into the main gallery which contained a stage and a sketching space.








Here are some examples:

Karen Sulmonetti














Megan Taylor

















Brian Joseph Legan




















If you happened to catch it drop a note in the comments section to discuss what you thought. If you didn't, I recommend checking it out next year.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

New Video

From MC Spandex - a new video - on my topic - Mountain Biking!

Rider Of The Day #24- Seth Godin = Inspiration

My Wife and I went to see Seth Godin. If you have never heard of him, he is a marketing and inspirational genius. Especially in this increasingly global and revolutionary time. His blog is linked to mine on the right colum called "Seth's Blog." Go ahead. Google it! On our way I was able to frame this nice shot in downtown DC.


Here is a blog post of his. This topic was a good chunk of the talk we went to see.
words and photo by Ray Heinsman

Getting unstuck: solving the perfect problem

Blog Post By Seth Godin: July 27 2010

The only problems you have left are the perfect ones. The imperfect ones, the ones with a clearly evident solution, well, if they were important, you've solved them already.
It's the perfect problems that keep us stuck.
Perfect because they have constraints, unbendable constraints, constraints that keep us trapped. I hate my job, I need this job, there's no way to quit, to get a promotion or to get a new boss, no way to move, my family is in town, etc.
We're human, that's what we do--we erect boundaries, constraints we can't ease, and we get trapped.
Or perhaps it's your product or service or brand. Our factory is only organized to make X, but the market doesn't want X as much, or there is regulation, or a new competitor is now offering X at half the price and the board won't do anything, etc.
There's no way to solve the perfect problem because every solution involves breaking an unbreakable constraint.
And there's your solution.
The way to solve the perfect problem is to make it imperfect. Don't just bend one of the constraints, eliminate it. Shut down the factory. Walk away from the job. Change your product completely. Ignore the board.
If the only alternative is slow and painful failure, the way to get unstuck is to blow up a constraint, deal with the pain and then run forward. Fast.

Fitness Week 3 - what happened here?

Well - it has been a while since I have posted - I got a little bummed at some work things that happened last week. This mindset made it hard for me to work at my health or want to share much. Has this ever happened to you?

So here is a synopsis of where I am at.

On Thursday July 15th I was bummed that all this hard work had not resulted in a higher level of riding. As a matter of fact - it was one of my most disappointing rides ever. There are many reasons why this is but they sound like excuses and I am not going to sit here and whine.


On Sunday I made an awesome Salmon Salad with cucumbers, jalepenos and greek yogurt.

I was supper psyched on Monday July 19th that I had lost 2.4lbs. I planned to blog about this, but then I didn't.

The week of July 19-26 was a bad one for exercise - I didn't get up and do any; and I had a few beers each night; I did however eat well and cook some delicious meals from the Farmer John Cookbook. If any of you get a chance to get this, there are wonderful seasonal recipes in here to create awesome side dishes and main courses. I made a beat salad as a side to my swordfish steak and on another night a stir-fry with rice noodles and bok-choy.....all good stuff.

My ride on Thursday July 22, went surprisingly well. We rode for a long time in some intense heat and our group while the slowest, rode the longest.......I wouldn't be surprised if the other groups covered more distance though.

Then the weekend came and I was all set to get back on track. Erica and I went grocery shopping at 1pm on Sunday. At 3pm we got hit with an intense Thunderstorm. It left half a million people in Mont. County without power including us. There are still close to 10,000 without power today. We got power on Monday afternoon but our fridge's perishables had perished and the freezer items that were not yet frozen also didn't make it. I then got food poisoning or a virus on Wednesday from something I should have thrown out but didn't.....booooo

I may have been down - but not out.

Rock On

Ray

words and photos by Ray Heinsman

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

DC City Ride to Brunch

On Sunday, my wife and I rode to brunch in downtown DC at a restaurant called The Heights. It was a nice 15 mile ride that was similar to the one we did on the 4th of July. We went south on Sligo Creek Bike Path and then rode up Maple Ave through Tacoma Park. After that long uphill it was a nice ride on 3rd Ave to Kansas Ave which is pretty much all bike lane. 14th street also has a bike lane but the church traffic was all parked in the bike lane. On that stretch I took the lane.

After brunch we went to Best Buy and picked up a DVD of Anchorman with Will Farrell. Every time we go to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles play, they have a skit on the big screen where they ask each player which Will Farrell character they like better; Ricky Bobby or Ron Burgandy. I like Ron Burgundy, but I had only seen Anchorman once and it is so often played on a commercial channel with heavy editing.....no way to watch a movie.

I am getting off topic.

After Best buy we Rode home. On that ride she captured some video of me on Sligo Creek with my phone. Enjoy!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Fitness Day 6 - Are we going to be good today?

Well, I should be getting back to eating well, but there is leftover temptation from yesterday evening.

I got up in the morning and went for my run. Because i had some beers the night before and I was feeling a little out of sorts, it was only the same length as my last run on Tuesday. I also did all my shoulder stabilization exercises using dumb-bells.

After my morning routine, I opened up the fridge.

This is where things went a little downhill.
For breakfast I had leftover potato salad and a slice of leftover pizza from Sunday.

For lunch I ate almost all the leftover hotdogs. That would be a whopping quantity of 3! They were delicious and I was overly full.

Then we went grocery shopping and got some good fruits and vegetables. I will be using these to make a combination of wonderful foods over the next week.
Last night we went to the Orioles - Blue Jays game in Baltimore. While there I had some good ole' fashioned BBQ. It was sliced pork on a roll with BBQ sauce and horseradish. I also had two beers while at the game and a piece of my wifes pretzel, one of the best tasting pretzels ever.

So today was more of a day off instead of being a good healthy day. The baseball game was excusable because I want to allow myself to do these things, but I could have done a lot better for the first two meals instead of letting temptations overtake my sensibilities. I am not going to beat myself up over it anymore though and focus on doing better in the days to come.

Fitness Day 5 - Day Off

So how bad was I on my day off?

I did not do any exercise besides my daily ride to work.
I ate a breakfast burrito from Qdoba for Breakfast.
This had egg, potato, queso, chorizo, habanero salsa, and cheese.
For lunch, a cheese steak and fries.
For dinner we had a little grilling action with Salens Beef Hotdogs and Jalepeno Burgers with Cheese. Being that we had a few people over we also served a spinach dip with tostitos scoops.
While we ate our delicious grilled food, I washed it down with a variety of IPA beers from Dogfish Head.

There is nothing here that is considered healthy, but the weekend is here and we went grocery shopping yesterday. Good eating ahead.

Friday, July 16, 2010

log riding is Fun

Here is a video of me riding a log on my mountain bike at Schaefer Farms in Gaithersburg MD.









Words: Ray Heinsman
Stunt: Ray Heinsman
Camera James Casey Corbett
I would like to thank my bike, MORE, and everyone who has always encouraged me to ride harder.

Fitness: Day 4 - Wings and Beer

Yesterday I had wings, french fries and beer at the dogfish head alehouse after riding my mountain bike with MORE following a lunch of water, vegetables and spaghetti succeeding a delicious breakfast sandwich which was the same as the day before.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Fitness: Day 3; Rest and Eat Well

Yesterday I awoke sore. All my muscles hurt from my neck to the bottom of my feet. Because I am going riding tonight and want to be strong and confident for that event I decided not to run or lift yesterday morning.

I got out of bed and got started making breakfast which was delicious. I used leftover fajita innards from Sundays dinner and made an egg sandwich on an english muffin. 1 slice of american cheese and some hot sauce was the topper.

It was soooooo yummy

Then I rode the 2 miles to work. For lunch I had the casserole leftovers from the night before and I was happy I made a meal that worked so well as a reheated lunch. I also drank a lot of water. I have been using water as a substitute for everything else: Coffee, Beer, Soda.

Last night, Erica made a delicious dinner.

The Numbers:

Fitness
Rode the bike to work and back - 4 miles.
Stretched that night to work out some of the soreness.

Nutrition:
Egg and cheese sandwich on an english muffin with small bits of chicken peppers and onion topped with Franks Hot Sauce
1 Cup of Coffee
6 pints of Water
1 pint Pomegranate Green Tea from Trader Joes
Crackers and Goat Cheese - quite a few 
Dinner was made by my wife Erica - she was very creative:
First she stir fried up some vegetables - corn, carrots, green pepper, garlic and onion and made a very thin sauce using sesame oil and soy and some spices....then she made some spaghetti and added that to the stir fry.
In a separate pan she seared some Ahi Tuna steaks and placed those on top of the stir fry on the plate and topped that with a wassabi dill hot sauce we got at Peppers in Key West.....we got quite a few of those as that place is awesome......I am sorry I did not take a picture. It was a work of art.
Words Actions and Photos by Ray Heinsman

Rider of the Day #23: Ahhh Someone cut off my wheels!

Todays rider of the day looks like he had his wheels cut off. 
Perception is 90% of reality and often misleading.
Words and photo by Ray Heinsman

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fitness: Day 2.....Moving along

Yesterday was a good day. I awoke feeling pretty good and I felt strong through my morning run. Even though I was winded at the top of the hill again, I made the decision to push it harder and then went 1 block farther. Each day I hope to go another block. When I got home it was time for some push-ups and crunches. I didn't do many push ups, but my shoulder didn't pop out behind my shoulder blade either. Success!

I was a little stressed at work. After waiting for a week to get the info I needed, I got it on the day the project was due. After being good for 2 days, I felt it was time to have a couple of beers. This is where I want to re-emphasize that I am nudging myself in the right direction; this is not a makeover. I am trying to find a healthy sustainable lifestyle. The beers hit the spot and I look forward to my next couple after tomorrow nights ride with MORE.

I made a delicious casserole for dinner. Each serving was about a 1/4 lb of meat and the rest of the food was potatoes and vegetables....which I added a few more then are listed in the recipe below. There was probably a bit more cheese then is "healthy" but it was so delicious. I cannot wait to have it leftover for lunch today. The one thing that is great about cooking for yourself is you know where the ingredients come from. The zucchini were locally grown without pesticides or genetic modification. The potatoes were mass produced/organically grown in California which is OK. The bison was grass fed without antibiotics or steroids in Wyoming. Grass fed bison and beef have more omega-3 then fish. Most beef eaten in this country is corn fed. Corn fed beef is bad beef. The food chain is important to human nutrition.


The numbers:

Fitness:
Ran 1 more block then yesterday including the park and the hill.
3 sets of 5 pushups
3 sets of 10 stomach crunches
3 sets of 10 curls with 12 lbs
Bike 4 total miles to and from work

Nutrition
Breakfast: Pumpkin seed and flax granola with skim milk
1 cup of coffee
4 pints of water
Lunch: Leftovers from yesterday
http://rayslifecycle.blogspot.com/2010/07/fitness-day-1run-lift-eat-ride-cook.html
Rainier Cherries snack at work
4: 1" x 2" stone wheat thin crackers with a small spread of herb goats cheese while waiting for casserole to bake
Dinner: Bison potato and zucchini casserole
http://www.bisonbasics.com/recipes/casseroles/bison_potato_casserole.html
3 dogfishhead 90 minute IPA.....mmmmmm

Words actions and photos by Ray Heinsman

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

What is this a picture of?

Fitness: Day 1......Run, Lift, Eat, Ride, Cook

Yesterday morning I got up at 6am and went for a run. Not a long run, just around the large block through our little park. It includes 1 very large and very steep hill. I was out of breath pretty bad after the hill and almost slowed to a walk, but after cresting the top pushed it a little bit and was able to really feel it by the time I got home.

After I got home I did a series of shoulder strengthening exercises with dumb-bells. I have some serious shoulder problems and my left one is especially unstable. Using 12 pounders, I did a military press, a front lift and a side lift. Afterwards I did a bench press using elastic bands attached to the railing of the stairs. I did each of these in series, 10 reps, 3 sets.

You may be saying to yourself, "12 lbs isn't much".
You're right.
I have some serious shoulder issues though having dislocated them many times and had broken collar bones and yadayaydayada......The list goes on, but I am determined not to let this continue to hinder me any more. First stabilize, then strengthen.

I'm using all the knowledge I have ignored over the years to send myself on the right path.

After finishing with my shoulders, I made breakfast. This consisted of a Trader Joes English Muffin, a schmear of Cream Cheese, some smoked salmon, black pepper and a cup of Green Tea. This meal could use a fruit of vegetable.I will see what I can do about that tomorrow.

Then I rode my bike to work which is 2 miles almost all up hill.

For lunch I walked over to whole foods and got a few items for tonight's dinner as well as some lunch.
Lunch consisted of 2 bbq ribs, a bunch of roasted potatoes and a vegetable medley of  carrots, onions, broccolli and peppers. The vegetables were the majority of the content of this lunch.

After work I rode home. What goes up, must come down....but this trip down I peddled hard and braked hard and I had a huge bag of dog food and a bag of groceries in my trailer.

Dinner tonight consisted of 2 mahi mahi fillets with a blackberry hot sauce that Erica and I bought at Peppers in Key West. I also made a blueberry, carrot, banana pepper, green onion, lemon juice, seaseme seed and red pepper salad that I roasted slightly before serving. It was delicious.

Good day. Got a lot done. Felt good about doing it.
Now for my next magic trick..........

Words actions and photos by Ray Heinsman 

Monday, July 12, 2010

Fitness Article 1: The Plan

     This is my first article on my fitness. In life, I have partied plenty hard. It is now time to prioritize and treat my body with the respect it deserves. In the past year I have gotten married which included an intense series of fun events which surrounded this wonderful moment in my life. I have also participated in birthday celebrations, beer pong competitions, anniversaries, sports event celebrations, BBQs, flip cup competitions, happy hours, pub crawls, and general festivities. Sure it is a great time to eat burgers & wings and drink whiskeys & beers; and I am not saying that I will never do this again. What I am saying is that I am going to sway my day to day lifestyle in a healthier direction and not make this my way of life.

     Am I on a diet?
                                                         No

     Am I training for an event?
                                                         No

These things are temporary. When people "go on a diet" or "train", if/when they reach their goals they usually stop. What I am doing is making my health a more important part of my life.

Here are some numbers:
Weight: 223.8 lbs
Height: 5'-11"
Age 36 
Blood Pressure: 130/90

These numbers are not good.
Over the next few months I will be cataloging what I eat and what I do each day in this blog thus hopefully resulting in changes to my weight and blood pressure.

I will post two different types of Fitness articles.
1) Nutrition Related
2) Activity Related

If you have been following my blog you have probably read a couple of articles about my re-entry into mountain biking and the results of this effort are marginal at best. The reason for this is my lack of commitment to my health.

I feel tired, fat and old.
There is way too much life ahead of me to constantly feel and look this way.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Illinois Passes Law To Protect Cyclists

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7538674&status=ok

Click on the link above to read the comments. It is amazing how hostile people get when they are hiding behind a keyboard. Would they really talk this way face to face?

Article from WLS_TV:

Quinn signs bicycle legislation into law
Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn signed new legislation Monday aimed at making Illinois roads safer for bicyclists.
The signing took place at Campbell Street Bicycle Shop in suburban Arlington Heights.
Under the law, it is illegal for drivers to crowd or threaten bicyclists by driving too close to them.
The governor says the new law will also remind drivers to be alert for those riding on two wheels.
Governor Quinn said he wants "to make our state the number one state in the union when it comes to bicycling and having fun on a bicycle and participating and having trails that are well done all across Illinois."
A second piece of legislation will create a new 'Share the Road' license plate. Proceeds will go to fund education efforts.
(Copyright ©2010 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

My comment to this:

Everyone needs to learn to obey traffic laws as I see most users (bicycle and car) behaving too aggressively everyday. The world would benefit greatly from some understanding and compassion. Roads are there for everyone; not just automobile drivers. The comments submitted here are extremely aggressive and hostile. It is this attitude that pushed your governor to pass this legislation. Be safe. Be calm. Share the road. Share the world.

If you feel as strongly as I do that everyone needs to calm the heck down when using the roadways, please let it be known. 

July 4th Ride

Sorry for the long span between posts. After going strong for a few months, I decided it was time to take a small hiatus to celebrate my 1 year wedding anniversary, my birthday and the 4th of July; but now I am back and will be posting regularly again.

My wife and I went on a fun ride the July 4th. It was my first time on the bike in a couple of weeks. The sun was hot with temps in the high 90s. We rode to the Wonderland Ballroom to meet up with some friends in the evening for some food and drinks before heading farther downtown to watch the fireworks. It was a great day and I really enjoyed spending the evening with my wife riding around DC.



For our route, we took the Sligo Creek bike path to the town of Tacoma Park on the border of Maryland and DC and then continued on 3rd Ave to Kansas Ave. These streets had intermittent bike paths and were easily navigable through the city. Because of the high temps, we had to take a little breather in the shade after climbing a couple of larger hills on Kansas in the blazing sun. Once we cooled off a bit, we continued on looking forward to the cold beers that were in our immediate future.

Sitting at the table on the sidewalk facing 11th ave, we saw dozens of people riding down to the mall to watch the fireworks. We ordered some BBQ wings which were saucy and well cooked with a fairly decent blue cheese dip. Then I ordered a foot long chilli/cheese dog and my wife ordered a sandwich and fries. Pretty decent food, good service, great beer selection and a real chill atmosphere is how I would describe this off the beaten path establishment. Having heard good things, we were happy we made this our hangout spot to celebrate our countrys break from Great Britain.


We then went to Cordozo High School to watch the fireworks. It was a great view. To the left is an image I made of our trip up 14th street which was exploding with fireworks everywhere. Every block there were people having fun and celebrating. Below is the short video excerpt of the show from Cordozo High.



Happy Fourth of July Everyone.





words, video and the last photo by Ray Heinsman