MFP Spitfires cycling club week 1

Tri_Dad

This is open to anyone of any skill level. We are a group of MFP friend who love to ride and want to share ideas and keep track of goals together. If you want to join just PM me and let me know how many miles you want to ride a week and just PM me every monday with how many miles you rode during the week and I will post everyone progress weekly. Feel free to stop in and share your cycling stories and ask questions and share tips. Lets all get out there and ride the wind!

:drinker:

lynniejones

AND you have to pledge to sing "I like to ride my bicycle I like to ride my bike" for at least one mile every day.









Not really. But I bet you will now.

Tri_Dad

AND you have to pledge to sing "I like to ride my bicycle I like to ride my bike" for at least one mile every day.









Not really. But I bet you will now.

That is the OFFICIAL theme song of the MFP spitfires. lol

Night all. time for me to go to bed!

:drinker:

musicmom04

darn it, lynnie, i just got that song out of my head for like the 10th time! thanks :grumble:

lynniejones

darn it, lynnie, i just got that song out of my head for like the 10th time! thanks :grumble:

Well, you know me. Anything to get in your pretty little heads.

dlestermfp

I just started here not too long ago, so my stats don't really reflect anything all that impressive, but I started down the path of a healthier lifestyle in December of 2006. Back then my change had two major components. They were simple. No more burgers/fries and get off my *kitten*. The burger/fries thing was amazingly easy. Getting active was a bit more of a challenge, especially in the dead of winter.

I started riding an exercise bike each evening while watching The Colbert Report, swapping it out for episodes on the Tivo of Family Guy on those days when Colbert wasn't on.

I did that until early March of 2007 when I took the bike off the hook in the garage, where it had hung for some ten years, cleaned it up, pumped up the tires, and rode it to work one Saturday just to see if I could do it. I have been commuting every day by bike ever since, which is about six miles each way.

I have lost right around 100 pounds so far. I think I have 15 or 20 left before I will be where I want to be. I got started here because I stalled around 230 pounds and just stopped dropping weight. I hadn't changed anything, I just stopped losing.

Anyway, I don't know what I really have to 'add' do this group other than the simple encouragement that getting on the bike really does work. It has changedmy life for the better not only in the obvious ways, but in ways I will never really know.

But, I ride about 100 miles a week when I tack on weekend recreational riding to the daily commutes.

lynniejones

I just started here not too long ago, so my stats don't really reflect anything all that impressive, but I started down the path of a healthier lifestyle in December of 2006. Back then my change had two major components. They were simple. No more burgers/fries and get off my *kitten*. The burger/fries thing was amazingly easy. Getting active was a bit more of a challenge, especially in the dead of winter.

I started riding an exercise bike each evening while watching The Colbert Report, swapping it out for episodes on the Tivo of Family Guy on those days when Colbert wasn't on.

I did that until early March of 2007 when I took the bike off the hook in the garage, where it had hung for some ten years, cleaned it up, pumped up the tires, and rode it to work one Saturday just to see if I could do it. I have been commuting every day by bike ever since, which is about six miles each way.

I have lost right around 100 pounds so far. I think I have 15 or 20 left before I will be where I want to be. I got started here because I stalled around 230 pounds and just stopped dropping weight. I hadn't changed anything, I just stopped losing.

Anyway, I don't know what I really have to 'add' do this group other than the simple encouragement that getting on the bike really does work. It has changedmy life for the better not only in the obvious ways, but in ways I will never really know.

But, I ride about 100 miles a week when I tack on weekend recreational riding to the daily commutes.

Not that impressive??? Goodness!!! You are humble. I'm impressed as heck. :flowerforyou: Thank you very much for your story.

skywalker

I just started here not too long ago, so my stats don't really reflect anything all that impressive, but I started down the path of a healthier lifestyle in December of 2006. Back then my change had two major components. They were simple. No more burgers/fries and get off my *kitten*. The burger/fries thing was amazingly easy. Getting active was a bit more of a challenge, especially in the dead of winter.

I started riding an exercise bike each evening while watching The Colbert Report, swapping it out for episodes on the Tivo of Family Guy on those days when Colbert wasn't on.

I did that until early March of 2007 when I took the bike off the hook in the garage, where it had hung for some ten years, cleaned it up, pumped up the tires, and rode it to work one Saturday just to see if I could do it. I have been commuting every day by bike ever since, which is about six miles each way.

I have lost right around 100 pounds so far. I think I have 15 or 20 left before I will be where I want to be. I got started here because I stalled around 230 pounds and just stopped dropping weight. I hadn't changed anything, I just stopped losing.

Anyway, I don't know what I really have to 'add' do this group other than the simple encouragement that getting on the bike really does work. It has changedmy life for the better not only in the obvious ways, but in ways I will never really know.

But, I ride about 100 miles a week when I tack on weekend recreational riding to the daily commutes.

When I don't get out early enough, I quite often ride while watching The Daily Show and Colbert. I love those shows!!! :laugh: :laugh:

dlestermfp

Not that impressive??? Goodness!!! You are humble. I'm impressed as heck. :flowerforyou: Thank you very much for your story.

Just my stats here aren't that impressive. I started MFP when I was already down to 220, so if I added my ticker it would say I had lost 7 pounds or so. I started at 313, which scared the hell out of me. I hadn't weighed myself in a long time. I knew I had gained, but really had no idea it was that much.

There really isn't anything more motivating that sheer horror!

I would like to get down to 195-200 or so and see how things look. I don't really know what my target weight is. Oddly enough I am below what I thought it would be already (original target was 220). I just want to be sans the ponchy gut. Definitely not there yet, but slowly getting there. Even my overall weight loss, when you look at the time it has taken, it isn't anything that gets most people excited. That is too long a time frame for a culture that is into instant gratification.

But, I have never referred to what I have done as a diet, and still don't. I just changed the way I am living my life, and just like the bad decisions I used to make gradually put pounds on, making better choices is gradually taking them off.

Where I work they actively encourage participation in the annual Gold's Gym Challenge. We always have a couple of regional winners, and they get pretty impressive prizes. I have had some people, particularly coworkers, tell me I should have been doing that and I could have won some money. But, that would have ruined the whole thing because I would have had to push myself to lose maximum weight in a specific time frame. Generally the people who do that end up gaining it back, with a cushion.

Today the temperature was just under 100 degrees when I left the office. I still rode home. In the winter, when it was sub-freezing, snow falling, six inches of fresh snow on the ground, wind chill to the bone, and pitch black dark outside, I still rode home. I have three different bikes, and they all have their purpose. Together they have one purpose, to keep my butt moving!

I happen to think a bicycle is one of the greatest exercises anyone can do. Aside from it just being good for you, it provides efficient transportation and is nearly zero impact. Some people also tout how you can save money because you aren't driving your car so much, and that would probably be true if you worked hard to keep it cheap, but I buy too much crap to really save much money. Maybe in more subsequent years it will start to be cheaper, but I doubt it.

Tri_Dad

Not that impressive??? Goodness!!! You are humble. I'm impressed as heck. :flowerforyou: Thank you very much for your story.

Just my stats here aren't that impressive. I started MFP when I was already down to 220, so if I added my ticker it would say I had lost 7 pounds or so. I started at 313, which scared the hell out of me. I hadn't weighed myself in a long time. I knew I had gained, but really had no idea it was that much.

There really isn't anything more motivating that sheer horror!

I would like to get down to 195-200 or so and see how things look. I don't really know what my target weight is. Oddly enough I am below what I thought it would be already (original target was 220). I just want to be sans the ponchy gut. Definitely not there yet, but slowly getting there. Even my overall weight loss, when you look at the time it has taken, it isn't anything that gets most people excited. That is too long a time frame for a culture that is into instant gratification.

But, I have never referred to what I have done as a diet, and still don't. I just changed the way I am living my life, and just like the bad decisions I used to make gradually put pounds on, making better choices is gradually taking them off.

Where I work they actively encourage participation in the annual Gold's Gym Challenge. We always have a couple of regional winners, and they get pretty impressive prizes. I have had some people, particularly coworkers, tell me I should have been doing that and I could have won some money. But, that would have ruined the whole thing because I would have had to push myself to lose maximum weight in a specific time frame. Generally the people who do that end up gaining it back, with a cushion.

Today the temperature was just under 100 degrees when I left the office. I still rode home. In the winter, when it was sub-freezing, snow falling, six inches of fresh snow on the ground, wind chill to the bone, and pitch black dark outside, I still rode home. I have three different bikes, and they all have their purpose. Together they have one purpose, to keep my butt moving!

I happen to think a bicycle is one of the greatest exercises anyone can do. Aside from it just being good for you, it provides efficient transportation and is nearly zero impact. Some people also tout how you can save money because you aren't driving your car so much, and that would probably be true if you worked hard to keep it cheap, but I buy too much crap to really save much money. Maybe in more subsequent years it will start to be cheaper, but I doubt it.

We're glad to have you around! Don't worry about MFP stats. what really matters is how far you've come. We both have travelled similar roads. I started at 319lbs and am just over 209 lbs now. While you started riding a while ago I have been doing alot of running as my chief form of excersice. However I just got my bike last week and am loving every min of it! Thanks for sharing your story! I wish I could ride to and from work but my commute ranges from 10 miles (which I will do on bike) to 270 miles which I won't. lol

:drinker:

lynniejones

Not that impressive??? Goodness!!! You are humble. I'm impressed as heck. :flowerforyou: Thank you very much for your story.

Just my stats here aren't that impressive. I started MFP when I was already down to 220, so if I added my ticker it would say I had lost 7 pounds or so. I started at 313, which scared the hell out of me. I hadn't weighed myself in a long time. I knew I had gained, but really had no idea it was that much.

There really isn't anything more motivating that sheer horror!

I would like to get down to 195-200 or so and see how things look. I don't really know what my target weight is. Oddly enough I am below what I thought it would be already (original target was 220). I just want to be sans the ponchy gut. Definitely not there yet, but slowly getting there. Even my overall weight loss, when you look at the time it has taken, it isn't anything that gets most people excited. That is too long a time frame for a culture that is into instant gratification.

But, I have never referred to what I have done as a diet, and still don't. I just changed the way I am living my life, and just like the bad decisions I used to make gradually put pounds on, making better choices is gradually taking them off.

Where I work they actively encourage participation in the annual Gold's Gym Challenge. We always have a couple of regional winners, and they get pretty impressive prizes. I have had some people, particularly coworkers, tell me I should have been doing that and I could have won some money. But, that would have ruined the whole thing because I would have had to push myself to lose maximum weight in a specific time frame. Generally the people who do that end up gaining it back, with a cushion.

Today the temperature was just under 100 degrees when I left the office. I still rode home. In the winter, when it was sub-freezing, snow falling, six inches of fresh snow on the ground, wind chill to the bone, and pitch black dark outside, I still rode home. I have three different bikes, and they all have their purpose. Together they have one purpose, to keep my butt moving!

I happen to think a bicycle is one of the greatest exercises anyone can do. Aside from it just being good for you, it provides efficient transportation and is nearly zero impact. Some people also tout how you can save money because you aren't driving your car so much, and that would probably be true if you worked hard to keep it cheap, but I buy too much crap to really save much money. Maybe in more subsequent years it will start to be cheaper, but I doubt it.

You can start your ticker at the beginning of your weightloss. I have actually considered adding the 10 lbs that I lost before MFP on here, because when I get down about my small amount of loss I remind myself that there really is another 10 lbs on top of that which makes it almost 50, which is pretty awesome considering I'm under 5 ft tall.

I've been worried how I am going to keep this up through Ohio winters but I've decided to buy an indoor training stand for my bike before incliment weather arrives. I am trying to imagine how long it would take me to ride to work (I have an hour commute by car.. lol lol) I'll see you in 3 days, work!

jessmomof3

I'll join in! I'm training for an Olympic tri (bike distance 40K/ 24 miles) on July 18th and planning to bike a day of RAGBRAI (biking across Iowa) the week after. So... not putting a number on the mileage but I'll be riding like the wind, Bullseye (Toy Story 2 reference for those w/out kids. :laugh: ).

Happy riding! I have a Giant OCR-2 road bike and love it!

Tri_Dad

I'll join in! I'm training for an Olympic tri (bike distance 40K/ 24 miles) on July 18th and planning to bike a day of RAGBRAI (biking across Iowa) the week after. So... not putting a number on the mileage but I'll be riding like the wind, Bullseye (Toy Story 2 reference for those w/out kids. :laugh: ).

Happy riding! I have a Giant OCR-2 road bike and love it!

Welcome to the spitfires Jessmomof3!
You must be so excited about your tri! I am hoping to do one someday. I love to run and just got into cycling. I picked up a Trek 7.2 FX hybrid as an intro to riding however I get the feeling I am going to be looking into a road bike next year. lol

:drinker:

Girlmom282109

Hey spitfires!

I'm joining this group too. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my bike!! I try to get about 15 miles in 3 to 4 days a week. I hope I can keep that up even though I just ordered a jogging stroller.

Tomorrow is bike day so I'm off to mow the lawn.:bigsmile:

lynniejones

Hey spitfires!

I'm joining this group too. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my bike!! I try to get about 15 miles in 3 to 4 days a week. I hope I can keep that up even though I just ordered a jogging stroller.

Tomorrow is bike day so I'm off to mow the lawn.:bigsmile:

Yay Sam. Told you I didn't forget about you!

RunRideRay

I'll jump in too. I am a bike addict, that's the best word I think? 4-bikes and 2 legs, hmmm ... that's a good ratio. Just like skywalker I started with a hyrbid bike and now I have a garage full of em. It's a great hobby. I live in Iowa and actually am crazy enough to ride in the winters too, why not?

Tonight my buddies and I are doing a 100k trail ride at night, I guess just to be crazy.

Hopefully I have not scared anyone yet..... but I'd love to join the group and vow to sing "bicycle race" from Queen each day!

Raymond

Nlongenecker

I would like to join this group. I am a very new beginner at this whole thing. I watched DH complete his 1st tri sprint on Saturday. It was very contagious and I told him I would get in shape to do it with him next year. I don't even run yet, so I am alternating days of Couch to 5K training with biking. I was going to do some spinning classes and some road riding. But there is no way to tell my miles when I do spinning class.

Yesterday I rode 12 miles in 56 minutes. I know that that's pretty slow, but to me it was quite the accomplishment and I will only improve with time.

lynniejones

I hope it stops raining soon. My hubby is leaving for the weekend and I have all day off today. I think I am going to try a pair of bike shorts. I'm just afraid my stuff will ooze out the top like a muffin. Think I can find a pair to come up to my bewbs? heheheh

lynniejones

I have to tell you that I *love* the Spitfire name. My regional manager tends to forget my name (he has a lot of employees) but my district manager always tells me whenever they talk about me the RM says "Is that the little spitfire that works in .."
So I guess it is fitting. And it's way better than the Areolas like Andy wanted *snickering my butt off*

junkgypsy

Yay, my name stuck! Haha.

I'm excited to get out on the bike tomorrow! It's too hot and windy out today. Overslept...

But yay to there being a biking challenge!

lynniejones

Yay, my name stuck! Haha.

I'm excited to get out on the bike tomorrow! It's too hot and windy out today. Overslept...

But yay to there being a biking challenge!

I wish it was hot it is freezing cold here in the big O. I'm going to go buy some cycling shorts and brave it tho.

Tri_Dad

Hey spitfires!

I'm joining this group too. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my bike!! I try to get about 15 miles in 3 to 4 days a week. I hope I can keep that up even though I just ordered a jogging stroller.

Tomorrow is bike day so I'm off to mow the lawn.:bigsmile:

YAY SAMANTHA!!!!!!

I am having issues choosing between runnin and riding so I think I will alternate days too. lol

Tri_Dad

Welcome Rainman and Nlongnecker!

Nothing too formal going on just a great place to talk riding. That night tim trail ride sounds awesome! Have fun!

:drinker:

junkgypsy

Trade ya.

junkgypsy

Yesterday I rode 12 miles in 56 minutes. I know that that's pretty slow, but to me it was quite the accomplishment and I will only improve with time.

That's good! I manage about 10-11 miles per hour, generally. Just imagine what you'll be up to with more practice! :bigsmile:

jessmomof3

Welcome to the spitfires Jessmomof3!
You must be so excited about your tri! I am hoping to do one someday. I love to run and just got into cycling. I picked up a Trek 7.2 FX hybrid as an intro to riding however I get the feeling I am going to be looking into a road bike next year. lol

:drinker:

Thanks! I'm often called a spitfire or spunky so I think I fit in here. :bigsmile: I also have a Trek Hybrid, love it! It was a good intro bike for me before I got the road bike last year. I love the tri's, they are so fun!!

Jess

skywalker

I'm so glad we got this challenge/bike club going. I'm already feeling more motivated :happy: :drinker: :happy:

lynniejones

Okay. You beginning bikers. (Myself included). Take the advice of more advanced riders and just buy the darn biking shorts already. I FINALLY broke down and bought a pair this evening. Sure, they looked like I dropped a load in my drawers, but the comfort they provided to my ladybusiness was the worth every penny of the 30 bucks and then some, mkay? Listen up, I've not steered you wrong yet. Just buy them if you can!

terraskye

I'd like to join this club:)

Are we pledging miles per day or by week?


TIA
Fiona

jessmomof3

Okay. You beginning bikers. (Myself included). Take the advice of more advanced riders and just buy the darn biking shorts already. I FINALLY broke down and bought a pair this evening. Sure, they looked like I dropped a load in my drawers, but the comfort they provided to my ladybusiness was the worth every penny of the 30 bucks and then some, mkay? Listen up, I've not steered you wrong yet. Just buy them if you can!

I love my biking shorts!! I have TYR shorts, and hate riding w/out them! :bigsmile:

lynniejones

I'd like to join this club:)

Are we pledging miles per day or by week?


TIA
Fiona

I think we are going by the week to make it easy for Andy to keep up with Fiona. Welcome aboard.