A Bump in the Road

I have been trying to lose some weight, having gained quite a lot over the last 10 years or so. I'm not really into specific diets, but I have been eating more healthy food and carefully logging what I eat along with my exercise on myfitnesspal.com, looking to run at a caloric deficit most days.

 

I have been successful in losing a few pounds over the last few weeks. My progress is slow, but that is OK since I'm trying to learn new habits that will serve me over time rather than achieve some quick weight loss that won't last.

 

Lots of people have tried myfitnesspal at one time or another, so I'm guessing this food diary screen may be familiar to few of you:

 

 

 

 

 

The Rantwick clan has a serious problem. The other three members in it don't really care for apple pie. They are insane. Anyway, there were apple pies ON SALE just when I had a yen for some yesterday.

 

That's what was censored from the list above:

 

 

 

Hey, at least I didn't consume the whole pie. Only 75% of it. Nobody else wanted any, damn them! Plus I diligently logged it. Then I confessed here. Perhaps it is not the other members of the Rantwick clan who are insane. Perhaps.

 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Just One Day Ago - Snow!

I had been debating with myself whether or not to put away the bike with studded tires and start riding Summer (the awesome (as in best in the world) fixed gear) again, until two days ago when it cooled back off and we got a few inches of snow. It was great though! The paths had melted clear before it came and so were totally ride-able after, making for some of the most pleasant cycling I've done in a long time.

I felt sorry for the robins. I swear those little harbingers of Spring don't like standing in the snow, because there were abnormal numbers of them hanging out on the bare patches of the path. They seemed to be asking me for some explanation...

Sorry, gotta zoom in. Robins don't speak human very loudly, because they're, like, small and, like, birds:

I don't know why the little jerks were blaming me. All I could say was, "I know, right? Snow? This suuucks!" I was being insincere with the robins, however, because in actuality I was enjoying the snowscape a great deal.

The snow liked me a lot too, sticking to whatever it could. The bike ran surprisingly well considering all the crud that was frozen to it:

That snow is mostly gone now. Hope you're happy, robins*.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

* italics in this case are meant to denote a sarcastic, sneering tone. Is that how you took it?

Curses!

I have a video I would like to share, but be warned that I take JC's name in vain and drop an F bomb in it. At the time I'm cursing at a flatbed driver that startled me by driving very dangerously. When watching the video, however, I curse myself for my bad lane position instead. Riding where I was riding doesn't make dangerous passes OK, but it does leave the door open for them to happen in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

My guess is that this guy was hauling ass (there I go, cursing again!) at the end of the work day and had no hope of slowing down to anywhere near a safe speed, which meant he had to thread the needle between that oncoming car and me.

 

I was riding into the wind and was moving pretty slowly and I'm always tempted to get right rather than slow the cars down. I KNOW I shouldn't give in to this feeling: here's a quote from something I wrote about controlling the lane just last September:

 

"The point I'm trying to make is that ticking people off for a short time is often better than keeping them happy, despite the basic and strong human desire to be liked. It took a shift in thinking that was a little difficult, but now that I've experienced the reduction in risk (and therefore fear and stress) it creates, I'll never go back".

 

Turns out I'm full of shit. Curses!

 

 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Smorgasborg

borg image source -- background image source -- plate of food image source

Yep. Somebody in my house, I forget who, accidentally said "smorgasborg" the other day. Might have been me. Anyway, Word To Form (WTF) syndrome kicked in hard. And here we are.

Are you disappointed that there is nothing about cycling in this post? I would hate for that to happen... I don't want to be a poor host, given that you've come all this way...

image source - a review of tire pictured above - that be cycling content right there, uh huh!



Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

SO CLOSE to open bike paths - Can't Wait.

Note: Fooling people is against my new found Spirit Guide's* teachings, so here's a straight-ahead normal post despite the date.

I am aching to get off the dirty crowded pot-holed streets of London Ontario and get onto the dirty uncrowded more peaceful MUPs that run along the Thames river.

 

I did a test run through a short section yesterday. SO CLOSE. Urgh. If I had fat tires, I might have even tried to stick it out. On my current winter bike, however, it was just a little too much hassle to do for longer than necessary:
 

 

 

 

 

Some say the City should plow the MUPs in winter. I go back and forth on that one. Right now I say the stupid Sun should finish its work on the paths and let me use 'em. Get crackin', ya damn life-giving local Star! I mean, I'm waiting here! Jeez! 

 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

* I don't have a new found (or any) spirit guide! Fooled ya, suckas! Hah!