Author: Michel McDonald

I live in Bakersfield with my partner of more than 30 years. I enjoy reading, crafts, sci fi, video games, and writing in my personal blog.

11 Miles

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

Wow I thought 9 miles yesterday was awesome but today I surpassed that by going 11 miles.  I was riding for 62 minutes total.  That’s awesome.

My legs aren’t getting as tired as fast as they usually are.  I mean there were some points where I had to stop because I was going slower and so I knew if I stopped, got off the bike and drank some water and gave my legs a rest for a minute or 2 that I would recharge and it worked.  I’d get back on the bike and go 12-14 mph again.

I don’t know where I was this time.  I will have to look it up on google map.  I saw a bunch of mobile homes.  There was a stop light ahead.  I just looked at the google map website and it was Manor st. where I stopped and started going back.

Anyway, here are the stats from the computer.  11.231 miles, 29.7 max speed, 10.9 average speed, time 1:01:54, 536.2 calories and 53.5 fat calories.

Tomorrow is my official weigh in day and I will update the image on the Spark page but I weighed myself and I was 236lbs.  I was 244lbs.  But it isn’t official until I weigh in tomorrow after my bike ride.

Frustrated

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

I’m probably checking my weight too often but it just doesn’t seem like I’m losing any weight.  This has been my problem though, I check my weight and I don’t lose then I get frustrated and then stop exercising/dieting and go back to my old eating habits and idle behavior.

I do realize that since I’m building muscle with riding the bike that I probably am losing fat but just building muscle.  And since muscle weighs more than fat then that is probably why I haven’t lost any weight.  I just have to stick it out for a bit longer and just not think about my weight.

9 Miles

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

These are what the cyclo-computer says.  9.014 miles, maximum speed reached (mxs) 27.0, average speed (avs) 10.7, time 50:35, calories 436.6, fat calories 43.5.

Boy are my legs swollen lol.  9 miles is the longest I’ve gone so far and I plan on breaking that record too.  What I did was I rode to Beach Park which took about 16 or 17 minutes (not including the times I stopped at the lights and had to stop to drink water) then once I was there I sat on a picnic table and rested my legs for about 10 minutes.  Then I got up and went on the bike trail and rode for about 9 minutes.  I was going to do 10 minutes but my legs were just killing me.  So what I did was I stopped and stood there for a few minutes and watched the 2 people on the 2 horses and waved then watched them pass me.  Then I got back on it and went back to Beach park where I sat on the bench at the trail entrance before going back home.

I just can’t believe that I finally started riding my bike again.  I think this is so cool.  When I was a kid all I had was the bike, I didn’t have the helmet or water cage with bottle or the frame bag with the tools or the computer.  It was just me on the bike.  Not even any protective gear.  And I also didn’t have the extra baggage that I do now with all this weight.  That’s one reason why I don’t recall having any pain and swelling in my thighs.

Well, I just have to wait until I can do this all over again tomorrow and just hope that I go further.

It’s Too Cold

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

I’m waiting for the heat to kick in lol.  I just went to my bike to the cyclo-computer to find out the temp outside and it says 49.5 degrees.  Hell to the no.  No freakin way am I going out bike riding when it’s this cold.  But I’m dying to get it over with lol.

Why is it either too hot or it’s too cold?  It’s never in between!  The only time of the year that it’s in between is 1 month before the summer heat which usually starts in May and 2 weeks after the heat is over in the end of September to the beginning of October.

Now, keep in mind that I love the cold.  I can’t wait for the cold every year but when it gets this cold and I have a purpose for being outside then I’m not so sure about it anymore lol.  I do know one thing is for sure, I’m gonna need some bike gloves.  I didn’t get them because they were a little much and I have bills to pay but now I think they are really important for my ride.  Especially when it becomes really cold and it hurts to hold the rubber grips on the handlebars.

Normally when I go bike riding I wear a regular t-shirt and a pair of shorts.  I don’t wear pants or a jacket because it gets too hot for that.  Even when it’s cold outside I still sweat in them.  And the ride is so long that my head is usually soaking wet.  Which is also not good when it’s this cold outside because it could cause me to catch a very bad cold.  I’m going to have to wait until it’s at least in the 60’s outside.  That’s what the temp usually has been the last few weeks that I’ve been riding and that’s ok.  And perhaps if I have to wait until noon for the temp to be up that high then so be it.  I just don’t want to miss out on riding because it’s too cold.

Presidential Election

On By Michel McDonaldIn Political

I was not going to post anything that has to do with the president at all because people get so uptight when it comes to discussing who our president is.  The Democrats always fight with the Republicans and vice versa and there is never a common ground.  They just get so mad and so this post is not going to spark up a debate.  At least here it’s not because comments are disabled.

The point of this post is to show you how as of this very minute the votes were calculated from the whole USA and of course my county of Kern.  Ok so all you have to do is click the little image and it will open up to full size.

Prop 8 Undecided

On By Michel McDonaldIn Gay, Gay Rights, NOH8, PoliticalLeave a comment

I’m still waiting to find out about prop 8.  I heard that it’s 55% for yes and 45% for no which is not good news but they said that it would probably end up in court again.  This issue is never going to die.  The christians are going to constantly be against us and it just shows gay people that we are still very much hated and we have so many more years before we will ever be accepted.  It just makes me so sick to my stomach that the people that I thought liked me ended up voting yes on this issue.  It let’s me know who really like me and who doesn’t and I will never look at them the same again.  I will also never step foot in a church again as long as I live knowing every single one of them voted yes on this.  A yes vote on prop 8 is a vote against gay people in general.  You can argue with me all you want but you know it’s true.

Todays Ride

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

I decided that since I got a new cyclo-computer that I would go out today even though I went out yesterday.  I like to give my legs a day’s rest normally but I was too excited not to go out.  I wanted to see the exact amount of time I would ride along with the exact miles per hour and the exact amount of miles that I rode.  Before I would have to go to google to map out my ride so I can get an exact number of miles that it takes to go from the house to there and then back but this tells me all that information.  Also google maps doesn’t let me map out the ride on the bike trail so when I start riding on the bike trail I won’t know how many miles I went.

Well, today when I got to Beach Park the ride was only 16 minutes.  Normally with my other stop watch the ride is like 22 minutes but that’s because whenever I pull over to get a drink of water or to rest my legs for a minute I don’t stop the timer.  This new computer turns the timer off when you stop riding so I’m getting an exact reading of how long it takes me to get there.

I’ve been putting in the SparkPeople website that I’ve been doing 14-15mph and I was riding 12-15 mph today but it showed my average speed at 10mph so where it shows my calories that is reflective of me going 10mph.  So, when I added todays bike ride to SparkPeople I had to tell them I went 10mph.  I want to be as accurate as possible.

Instead of riding every other day I’m going to try everyday.  I figured maybe I could do 2 days on, 1 day off but I think that my legs are getting used to it enough that I can start going everyday.  This is my 4th week of riding the bike.  My first week I only rode to California ave and back which was 4 days in that week.  My 2nd week I only rode to Oak and Truxton and back and that was 3 days.  My 3rd week I made it to Beach Park and rested then came back and that was only 2 days.  Now my 4th week I’m getting to Beach Park and without resting going straight onto the bike trail but I only went a little distance before deciding to go back to the park and resting for 10 min before going home.

Now that I’m getting better I would like to spend 20 or more minutes on the bike trail (maybe 10 min out then 10 min back) then resting before heading home.  I’m actually really excited that my legs are getting better and getting more used to riding because as I’ve said before, I’d eventually love to ride for 2 hours a day.  The weight will definitely melt off when I’m riding for 2 hours a day.  Also I’d like to get to the point where that is 2 hours straight.

I’m actually excited about losing weight for the first time in a long time because I know that if I ride the bike on a daily basis I will definitely lose the weight a lot faster.  Now I just need to start eating better to make this weight loss go faster.  I’m trying my best.

Edit: Yes, I realize I was rambling lol.  I edited out some of the redundancy lol.

Rawhide Sticks

On By Michel McDonaldIn PetsLeave a comment

When we went to Target today I bought some Rawhide sticks for Flower because she has been chewing everything in sight.  She has chewed so many holes in my comforter and pulling the stuffing out so I wake up most mornings with all this stuffing all over the bed.

Darrin was afraid of giving her rawhide because she is such a small dog and he was afraid that the rawhide would splinter and she would get it stuck in her throat.  Which is a valid concern but this stuff when chewed becomes soft and it doesn’t splinter.  He just hasn’t had any experience with giving rawhide to dogs and so I can understand why he was worried.

But since I gave her one when we came home she’s been chewing it and he holds it for her hehe.  It’s so cute to watch him holding it for her.  She just loves it too.  So now I know what she will get for Christmas.  Now hopefully she will stop chewing everything including my shoes.

Cyclo-Computer

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

Well I bought a Cyclo-computer today at Target with 20 functions.  Some of the functions are Odometer, speedometer, how many calories I’m burning, how much fat I’m burning, timer and many more.  The way it works is I put a magnet on one of the spokes on the front wheel and I attach a sensor to the fork then the wire goes up to the computer.  The computer is also removable so nobody will steal it when I go to the store.

I also bought a new lock while we were there.  It’s a much better lock and it came with a bracket that attaches to the frame.  This new lock has a key so I don’t have to worry about a combination and the spare key is in a drawer just in case I lose my first key.  If I lose both keys then I will probably lose my bike forever because this is the type of lock that you cannot open easily.

Raining

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

Well I was so looking forward to riding my bike today but it’s pouring rain outside and I can’t afford to get sick.  I’d rather be safe and dry and not get sick and be able to ride tomorrow as opposed to going out, getting sick then incapacitated for a few days or longer.

I remember as a teenager riding my bike home from school and the cars passing me would just drench me.  No thank you.