I never use one word when 1,000 will do

I started to write this long post about my rides this weekend and the mishaps therein, but then I got about 3/4 of the way through and even I lost interest in the play-by-play. So let's just say that instead of riding 42 miles on Saturday and 13 on Sunday, I rode 20 on Saturday and 32 on Sunday. Saturday's ride was ended by a flat, Sunday's had seat problems and was called when I was overtaken by darkness.

The good news--I learned to change a flat! After I got home Saturday (thanks to the Giant, who came and picked me up because Rob was across town), one of my first errands was a trip to Barnes & Noble for a bike maintenance book. I evaluated about 6-7, and chose the one with the most detailed pictures.

Several hours and a trip to the bike store (for tire levers and tubes) later, my flat back tire--why does it always have to be the back tire?--was changed. I had to enlist Rob to help me with getting the last bit of tire back into the rim, and also getting the wheel back on the bike, because the mechanics of the derailleur/chain/cog relationship elude me. The whole process took somewhere between 20 minutes and an hour...several small tantrums were thrown, hands were washed several times, but no blood was shed. I'm reasonably confident that I can at least START to change a tire by the side of the road now, though I may need to fall back on my standing-around-looking-pathetic-and-helpless skills in order to get someone to help me finish the job.

Other than that, nothing exciting. I was at work from 11-1ish last night, so I'm sort of tired and I don't want to walk today. I'm also sort of achy in the calves, probably from walking 3/4 of a mile in bike cleats on Saturday. I'm going to walk anyway, though, because I've got a new sports bra, my freshly-laundered favorite workout clothes, and nothing better to do with my lunch hour. Sometimes, that's all the motivation I need. :) No, it's not enough. I don't want to walk today, and that's that. The fresh clothes will keep till tomorrow.

Hello

I just stumbled across your site while, oddly enough, i was looking up the number of calories in a plum....you came up somewhere in the top three in the natural search.

Noticed that you are training for a century? that's awesome, good luck.

Your site is very inspiring. I am in the midst of my own battle of the bulge (5'7" - 200) -- having come down from 235 about 8 years ago to 175. I gained back about 10 within the first 2 years. Sat there for about 5 years and gained another 15 in the past year and a half or so. Working now on stopping the madness. Hence the need to look up the number of calories in a plum.

It looks like you've plateau'd recently, but are also working your tail off on the bike, and thought i'd share a similar story

I trained last year for almost 4 months for for a bike trip, riding from San Francisco to San Diego. In the end the trip averaged 50 miles/day for 14 days with no days off. In the end I did not lose 1 pound.
In the end my thighs got huge and bulked out from all the riding.

I felt incredible and definitely looked the best i'd ever looked weighing 191 pounds. but still. I thought for sure that commiting to such a huge undertaking and riding so many miles day after day and week after week that I would just HAVE to lose some weight. But no ma'am.

Not sure why I felt compelled to share. Mostly because in the end, I was frustrated by the lack of weight loss. The trip was incredible and I take a lot of pride in saying that I did such a thing. I am sure you will too when you complete your century. But if i had to do it over again, I would have REALLY watched what I ate and added strength training to make the most of all that cardio training. Because it felt like a missed opportunity.
I gave myself alot of latitude to eat more, because I was SO hungry all the time, and justified it because i was burning so many calories. But i wish now that i had just knuckled down and done the extra bit required to really get in slammin' shape.

Good luck with your training and your century. Your site is VERY inpiring.
keep writing and i'll keep reading.