I HAVE A NEW BLOG.

I AM NOT CONBTRIBUTING TO THIS BLOG ANY MORE. PLEASE CHECK MY OTHER BLOG

WWW.MYTOPDRAWER01.BLOGSPOT.COM

I've been diagnoed with severe AD/HD and I am disabled. I'm still bicycling and as a matter of fact, bicycling has proved to be like therapy for me.

I crashed again.

(You see that image above? Well that is not me. But that is almost exactly what happened to me.)

Thursday night I was riding home from work, I did not get even 3 blocks away when a rock went underneath my front tire and stopped my bike completely. Problem was that I did not stop. I went over my handle bars. I caught my fall with my right hand, landed on my side, rolled over, and my saddle came crashing down on my chest. The fall really knocked the wind out of me. I also pulled the muscles in the right side of my chest. Good thing I'll never ride my bicycle without a helmet. My head also hit the pavement. My chest hurts more now then it did after the accident transpired, and more than yesterday. I've been in constant pain all day today.

I now weigh between 201-200 pounds. Hard to tell on my old scale. My stomach has flattened out a whole lot now too. Is it my imagination, or am I starting to see stomach muscles? If I am, it is for the first time in my life. Not even when I was a teenager did I see stomach muscles.

I won $200 at my company Halloween party. I took Jet Blue into Gregg's Cycle and I ordered a complete make over on my bicycle.

New Steel Cranks
New Steel Pedals
New Front Derailer
New Braking Mechanism & Pads
New Handle Bar Wraps
New Head light
New Speedometer
New Fenders
Two new inter tubes

And the last thing I ordered was...well I do not know what it is called, but I guess handle bars rests. The mechanism that allows one to lean over the handle bars and place their arms in a rest. When I get my bicycle back I will owe another $100. So in total I am investing $300 into that vintage Schwin.

Why didn't I just buy a new bicycle they asked me, and I am sure you must be thinking the same thing? Because I do not want to spend $600 or $2000 on a new bicycle. I love that vintage Schwin, the frame is outstanding. And I do not care if it weighs more than other newer bicycles. I am not trying to finish first, or set speed records. All I want to do is finish a race, and do something that most other people won't even attempt to try. I can do that on Jet Blue. I want to keep that bicycle and restore it. When I am through with it, it will look and perform fantastic.

I don't know if I told any of you this. But Paul talked some sense into me and showed me how attempting to ride The Race Across Oregon, may be a huge ambitious undertaking. I am positive that I could finish the race. But the problem is obtaining a support crew, who will need to make just as much of commitment with me. So I abandoned the idea. I am not going to join a team. I will be a team of one. I am going to make a jersie that says TEAM SHANE. So I am getting my bicycle ready now.

I have to go for now. I'll try to write more now that things have chilled out some.

I now lost 81 pounds.

But other than that I do not have much of anything to report. My job is going well, it is keeping me busy. I haven't gone on any interesting rides at all. So I don't have anything to talk about at this time.

NEW JOB

Well for those of you that emailed me and for those of you that asked. I have not contributed to my blog for over a week now because I have been concentrating on looking for a new job. I got fired from my last position, and I am not making this up, because I was getting dressed for work in the bathroom. I asked my last boss before he hired me if I could change my clothes in the bathroom, and freshen up for work. He said that was fine. Then after I started working there he decided that the bathroom was noit a gym and he would not let me use it in the morning anymore. So for a while I used Tully's (coffee cafe) bathroom. However the more I thought about it, the more angry it made me, so I finally decied to ignore his request and use it anyway. Why? Because he and I had a deal. One of the reasons why I decided to take that job was on the condition that I could park my bicycle in my office, and that I could use the bathroom to freshen up in the morning. His reasons for not letting me use the bathroom were absurd, irrational, and very, very, assinine. So he decided to fire me over it, stating that I made my choice. You're right Stephen, I did make my choice. And remaining fit and thin is far more important to me than working for you. Besides Stephen, you broke our deal, and I did not feel that I needed to adhere to your absurd request.

In a city that Mayor's says he wants to make Seattle the most bicycle friendly in the United States, I get fired because I am riding my bicycle to work. Not riding my bicycle to work was not an option. That is my workout for the day, riding to and from work.

My new job, is the exact same distance each day. What am I going to be doing? I am going to be customer service rep for an adult webcam company. That is all I can say and keep my Blog Family friendly.

I lost 80 pounds now. Paul and me did a ride around Bainbridge Island 2 weeks ago. Yesterday Paul, me, and our mutual friend Wendy, decided to ride across I 90 floating bridge, over Mercer Island, Factoria, Issaquah, Redmond, Woodinville, Bothell, and back to University District Seattle. We actually picked Wendy up at her house in Bellevue and she joined us on our Trek. Our course went around 3 lakes and was a whole lot of miles. My legs hurt very, very, much as I am writing this.

Paul took some pictures of our Bainbridge Island, and Wendy took pictures our ride together yesterday. I am going to get a copy of these photos and post them on here. My dumbass forgot my camera both times.

Well anyway, since i no longer have to worry about finding a job. I'll be blogging more again.

I let myself down

(I couldn't find an image of "let down.")

For those of you have privately emailed me. I am more upset that I didn't even try Saturday. That I got so intimidated, I got so scared, that I didn't even try to ride with that group. I was so afraid of being embarrassed, so afraid of what people may think of me, that I let it bother me and prevent me from even trying. I let myself down.

I suppose that that is what upset me the most. That I said I would let nothing stand in my way of making this team. Then when the moment of decision came, I got scared. I can hardly stand to look at myself in the mirror now. I am so disgusted with myself. All of my hard work, all of my getting my ass kicked by Paul on our rides, all of that sweat. When the moment came, I got scared, I decided to quit even before I tried. That is what really bothers me the most.

I don't know what I am going to do about this. I've developed a plan, but I am so undecided. Duane the guy that wrote me that email, he still wants me to go on a ride and join the team. But how can I? I absolutely have nothing to offer that team. I want to give them an edge of winning. Those guys are so accomplished bicyclist. Visualize world class athletes like the Lance Armstrong in person. Imagine looking at their legs muscles and seeing solid steel. Rippling muscle beneath their spandex riding shorts. Sinews of protruding muscle down their calves. Now bring your eyes up and look at their waists, not an inch of fat to be seen.

Now look at me and see somebody who has over 25 pounds of fat to lose yet. It is so damned intimidating.

I am a coward.

That is how I feel right now. Like a big fat cowardly lion.

I showed up early a meeting place today to get something to eat. When I came outside I saw this guy who I found out later was named Michael sitting in his uniform. I told Michael that I was there to join the team on a ride today, I tried talking to him, but he just brushed me off. He decided to talk to somebody else, and listening to him, he has an enormous EGO. Then when I was listening to some of the women talking I over heard them say he was a team captain. I have a big ego, one has to to do what I do for a living. However Michael's ego far surpasses mine.

I was 108 pounds over weight. I was morbidly obese. I changed my eating habits and I worked hard all winter long, and all summer long, to just finally reach the point where I can be officially removed from the obese classification. I rode hard, rain or shine, I was riding. Then when I discovered needed to shoot for maintaining 25 miles per an hour to compete. I worked up to the point where I could maintain an average speed between 18-20 miles per an hour.

I still have over 25 pounds to lose yet, and when I saw all of those fit bicyclist show up I got very, very, intimidated. After the way Michael treated me, and seeing all of those accomplished bicyclist, I am not about going out there and embarassing myself. I worked hard to get to the point where I am now at, and I do not want to feel badly about myself.

I decided to leave even before I tried.

Bicycling in the cold.

No that image is not me. That is just an image I found of winter bicycling.

Yesterday while commuting to work I froze my ass off. When I first started bicycling 7 months ago it was in the middle of winter. However I was only commuting 8 miles a day at an average rate of 8 miles per an hour. I did not sweat that much because I only rode 4 miles at a time. I wore very warm clothing and I remained very dry even in the rain.

It's a whole new ball game now. I needed a coat that was light enough to allow me to sweat, because I sweat a lot. I mean I sweat so much that about the time I get to work my clothing is soaked. So I need a coat that will keep me warm even when I am sweating. But will also keep me dry in the rain. So the coat must be light weight, but keep me warm.

Lst night at used sports wear store I found the exact coat that I needed. Even used it cost $50.00. But this morning when I gave it its first official test, it performed fantastic. I stayed very warm, even though I soaked the shirt I was wearing underneath in sweat.

Fascinating Study

Study: Soccer beats jogging for fitness













LONDON - A friendly game of soccer works off more fat and builds up more muscle than jogging, new research shows. Danish scientists, who conducted their research on 37 men, also found the soccer players felt less tired after exercising than the joggers because they were having more fun.

"This is good news for men who prefer to play football (soccer) with their mates," said Dr. Gary O'Donovan, a sports medicine expert at the University of Exeter who was not connected to the study.

To measure how hard the men were working out, the researchers strapped heart monitors to their chests and compared blood samples and muscle tissue before and after matches and jogging sessions.

The researchers selected men with similar health profiles aged 31 to 33 and split them into groups of soccer players, joggers, and couch potatoes — who not surprisingly ended the three-month study in the worst shape.

Each period of exercise lasted about one hour and took place three times a week. After 12 weeks, researchers found that the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7 percent, compared to about 2 percent for the joggers.

The soccer players also increased their muscle mass by almost 4.5 pounds, whereas the joggers didn't have any significant change. Those who did no exercise registered little change in body fat and muscle mass.

"Even though the football (soccer) players were untrained, there were periods in the game that were so intense that their cardiovascular was maximally taxed, just like professional football (soccer) players," said Dr. Peter Krustrup, head of Copenhagen University's department of exercise and sport sciences, who led the study.

The soccer players and the joggers had the same average heart rate, but the soccer players got a better workout because of intense bursts of activity. Krustrup and his colleagues found there were periods during soccer matches when the players' hearts were pumping at 90 percent their full capacity. But the joggers' hearts were never pushed as hard.

Unlike the soccer players, the joggers consistently thought their runs were exhausting.

"The soccer players were having more fun, so they were more focused on scoring goals and helping the team, rather than the feeling of strain and muscle pain," Krustrup said.

Health officials were unsure how much impact the study results might have on the wider population.

Nick Cavill, a research associate at the British Heart Foundation at Oxford University, said it's hard enough convincing people to exercise moderately, let alone engage in a high-intensity sport like soccer.

"There might be enormous benefits to telling people to play football twice a week," he said. "But if they're not going to do it, then that message may be useless."

This is not really bicycling related, but it is exercising related. Its not hard to figure out why soccer players are burning more fat and building more muscle. They have more recovery time than joggers and can there for utilize the full potential of their muscles more often.

I thought this was a fascinating study.

Wines of Washington Meet The Team Ride

I got an email from the cycling team I was making inquiries to.

(Subject: "Wines of Washington Meet The Team Ride")

"Hello all,

Each of you has contacted us at some point inquiring about joining the team or participating in our Meet The Team Ride. Well, it’s nearly here!

We’re preparing for a big event and look forward to seeing you all out there. Here’s what to expect:"

Bla, bla, bla, you guys don't need to know the rest. Just where we're meeting and where we're riding to.

I am really, really, nervous about this Saturday. I've been training and working hard to prepare myself for this. I don't know what else to say about this.

Floyd Landis

Doesn't surprise me that he lost his Doping case. He has been stripped of his Tour de France overall winner title, and banned for the next two years. He maintained his innocence and spent over a millions dollars on his defense. Had no idea world class bicyclist could make that kind of money.

I was going through some of the photos taken of Landis and the above image of him caught my eye. Why? Because my chest and arms already look like that. My forearms are that small now. I've lost so much upper body mass, I had no idea that that would happen to me. I read that it could in a book about the science of fitness. But the author said that happens to elite athletes. I do not consider myself an elite athlete. According to my sports nutrition book I am reading, I am considered an elite athlete. According to that book anybody who rides 20 or miles a day and 150 or more miles a week is an elite athlete. Bicycling that is, I am assuming everybody reading knows that I am only talking about bicycling.

Well if I am an elite athlete, then my friend Paul who rides with me is an extra, extra, elite athlete. Because he kicks my ass on the hills and in the head winds all the time.

What am I going to do about my upper body muscle mass? NOTHING. I am not bitching about it. I just wish that it would not happen to me. But now that it has happened, I am not going to do anything to get it back. I figure that there will be a point that it stops and and I will maintain what I have achieved. Besides I need to lose as much weight as possible to be a better bicyclist. Losing upper body mass and having it deposited in my legs only makes me a better athlete. I do not want to beef up.