Almost another year under the belt and a change in lifestyle.

Time for and update and a lot has happened so this will be long.

I go through phases and I guess I am a bit of an obsessive compulsive. When I get interested in something I am all in and often to a fault.

February I got on the scale and it showed 240lb. Heaviest I have EVER been. Looking in the mirror and I was pretty disapointed in what I saw. Fact is despite the weight I was the healthiest I had been in many years. Not being in a desk job anymore was a big part of that. That said I worked with a bunch of guys that like a GOOOOOOD Lunch. I had become one and we were packing in 2000 calorie lunches a couple times a week.

As I stared at the big old gut I had created the warnings of my Cardiologist, Dr. Crisco (what a name for a Card!), last check up echoed in my ears: "If you don't take off some weight and start getting regular exercise you are going to get diabetes and die a slow death or have another heart attack." It finally clicked.

Dieted the stupid way to start but it did get 10lb off quick. Basically starve and have diet shakes twice a day. After getting sick of Ramon noodle lunches I shifted to portion control. I literally cut the meal in half if a light meal is not available. The second part goes in a dogie bag and is lunch another day or dinner.

I plateaued out after 1.5 months and quit loosing weight with any speed. It was time to get the exercise going.

I'm a cheap guy by nature and I am tight financially becasue of being the only income for our family so that my wife can be home with the kids as both of us had as kids. Paying to go to a gym and then having to make time to go just didn't set well with me. I had to make permanent changes in my life that would incorporate exercise. We were coming up on bike to work week and I ran across some bicycle posts on Expedition portal of others that were participating. Decided that may be my solution.

I had a Walmart Schwinn mountain bike I had bought to ride with the kids not long after I had the MI. I also had my old Peugeot P8 from the late 80's that I use to ride the snot out of.

The Schwinn was not really a bad bike. It had ok parts for the price. It was reliable. My work was 4.3 miles away and sidewalks the whole way and even a bike lane for 1.5 miles of the route. I decided "I can do this" and I did.

The more you ride, The more you can ride.

Not sure who said that but it is 100% true.

First couple rides were hard! I have several good steep hills between me and work. Wobbly knees out of breath, thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest a few times was really common the first couple weeks. 25 minutes to make the ride. After a couple weeks of 2-3 days riding it started getting easier but I realized I had a problem, My knees hurt. I started researching why and came across Sheldon Brown's (RIP) extensive bike writings and quickly realized after reading Sheldons site that the Schwinn was WAY to small for me at 18 inches. I'm 6ft and have a 34inch inseam. Box store Schwinn for for somebody around 5ft 6.

I dug out the P8 that was 22 inch frame. You can see the difference in the top tube height between the pictures.

Peugeot was big in the US in the 70's and 80's before some bad buisness dealings drove them out of the US. Really they were pretty good bikes for the money. The P8 being a mid level model had OK parts. Shimano derailleurs Weinman brakes. Its down side is Mallard Helicomatic hub in the 80's.

Poor thing spent the better part of 20 years being neglected including living on the back porch for a while. Tried to sell it a couple times but tires were shot so the couple people that had interest were put off by it's current condition. I decided to clean it up and throw some tires on it and see how I did with it. It was fast..very fast... on the flat. It has tall gears and with the steep hills and my still weak legs it really wore me out to ride it. The lowest gear was still way higher then the gear I was riding on the Schwinn. I also found that in the 20 years of not riding it and getting fat that the Drops and somewhat tight riding position was painful for my old body. The skinny 90psi tires really transmitted a LOT of painful jolts on the concrete from my still very bad habit of riding on the sidewalk till I got to the bike lanes (I have since pulled my head out of my sphincter and ride the road now).

The more I looked at the P8 the more I realized that it had some problem$. The Helicomatic had a bent shaft, a common problem for them, that coasting you could feel the wobble. Brakes and cables were shot. The positions of the bars really aggravating my wrists, the gearing for my weak legs, my dislike of the position for my achy body. It all started adding up and though I loved the P8 it was going to take some money to get it up to snuff.

Early on I had promised myself if I can commute 3 days a week or more for 3 solid months to show real commitment to a lifestyle change that I would buy myself a new bike that was going to be my dedicated daily driver. That went out the window before the first month was up because of my fit problems with both of my bikes.

I started watching Craigslist like a hawk to find a inexpensive bike since anything NEW was out of the question and I still was not sure I could maintain riding daily. A 1998Cannondale M400 kept being posted in a 22 inch frame size. First post was $180. I researched the bike. It was the mid-line rigid mountain bike Cannondale had out. Aluminum CAD2 frame, Shimano STX derailleur TekTro V brakes. The owner kept posting the wrong for number for WEEKS. He did not answer e-mail requests for info or better contact info. Others were posting in CL for the guy to please contact them. Week after week this guy posted this bike and the price kept coming down from the lack of calls from the bad number he kept posting.

One Saturday 5-6 weeks after the first posting of this bike I was working in the yard. I came in for lunch and scanned Craig's as I ate. Saw a fresh post for the M400 was put up about 20 minutes earlier. Clicked on it and immediately I noticed a different phone number. I called...he answered! I got directions, put the carrier on the truck and I took off after it. He called me as I was in route asking "if I was coming? Got three other calls people want to come get it today". "I'm half way there" I assured him and he said he would wait for me.

Love at first sight. $120 and it was mine. Here is the picture from the ad.

Threw the wheels from the Schwinn on it (better tires for the street) and I was off! I Loved it! It is a very fun bike to ride. I couldn't wait to ride this bike to work in the morning every day. I Ride it in everyday that it doesn't rain. After getting street friendly tires for the M400 rims I sold the Schwinn to one of the guys at work that I had inspired to start riding some. The bike was a better fit for him then me.

Here is what I look like after loosing 25-30lb on 8/20/08.

Now anybody who knows me knows I just can't leave anything alone. So 5 months into my venture of Bicycle commuting here is what the M400 looks like now with commuter gear and swag.

What I have put on:

Specialized Flak Jacket tires, Hemisphere front and Crossroad rear.

Freddy Fenders to keep me dry. Topeak MTX Rack and trunk bag.

Plannet Bike Blazer headlight and Superflast tailight

Topeak Road morph pump Pitbull Ulock to keep it safe. Cateye cyclocomputer with cadence. Nashbar Trekking bars. AirZound Air horn to wake up cagers.

I have stacked stems to give me a place to mount lights and my GPS. I have drove this to work this year more than I drove my trucks. My commute takes 15-16 minutes now (full 10 minutes less then when I started). That is only about 5 minutes longer then it takes to drive in. I go on regular 15-20 mile rides on the hilly streets around my home. They are no problem these days. On the Silver Comet trail I can knock off 30+ miles pretty easy. Honestly I don't know what my upper limit is now. relaxed pace I can proably put 100 miles on in one shot. Not bad considering I almost landed in a box 5 years ago. Dashboard shot.

If you look close the Odometer reeds 999.4. Thats how many miles I have rode this bike in the last 3.5 months. I took this picture today for this post 11/5/08.

As of this morning I am 203lb. Thats the lowest I have weighed in about 12 years.