Had a good Christmas this year. Most of the family came into town from several different states to meet up at my mother-in-law?s house to exchange gifts and for dinner. My wife and son took off to the celebration in our electric car (a Leaf) and I took off to it in my electric bike (an Optibike). It was a nice ride out there on that day. I actually arrived there about 10 minutes after my wife did even though we left at the same time. I was able to take a shorter route since I was able to cross over the American River on a pedestrian bridge while she had to take the car an additional 5 miles to get over the same river. Later that night, after we had dinner and exchanged gifts, I rode back home on the bike. It was really cold out. I think it must have been close to freezing as my gloves were not keeping my fingertips warm at all. Next time I try that I will be using much thicker and better insulated gloves. Hope y?all stayed warm and had a very Merry Christmas!

Odometer Miles: 2875

Now that Christmas is around the corner there have been an increased influx of goodies into the office. Not only is there a table that I must walk by every time I go into the office but I have even been delivered all sorts of Christmas cheer directly to me. I even asked if the goodie table could be moved to another location far from me to keep the temptations down. After all, I am in a fitness contest and they know it!  Here is one of those tables just loaded with Christmas cheer:

I have been good at avoiding this table for now but when somebody approaches me and says ?Here, have a cookie.? or ?Take some of this candy that my mother-in law made.? I usually try to be nice and take a few samples. I usually end up taking them home though for the rest of my family to enjoy. I have been continuing on my lower carb diet and the glucose results are looking better now. I?ve have been continuing to ride to work this past week even though its been getting into freezing temperatures now. I can?t do it without wearing my thickest head sock ?Balaclava? and my ski gloves. It sure makes a difference between getting frostbite and riding comfortably.

Merry Christmas!
Odometer Miles: 2819

It’s been just over 4 weeks since my surgery. Even more than expected, the surgery literally kicked me in my rear. I am finally feeling close to normal again, yet limiting my sitting. I get to sit on a padded cushion when I do sit. It looks like it will still be a few more weeks before I am back on the bike. The lack of activity has caused me to put just a few pounds back on. I am looking forward to when I get more active to help me get back to normal. This has been a great year so far, and looking forward to finishing strong. Merry Christmas to each of you and your families.

Now that I?ve started monitoring what I?ve been eating more regularly and my activity for each day I?ve been learning even more how my body reacts to what I take in. I?ve been advised to control my glucose levels better and that I will need to maintain a low carb diet. Stay away from the breads! They cause my glucose levels to skyrocket. I did a good job with our Thanksgiving celebrations and kept myself under control. I?m sticking to more vegetables and plenty of protein.

Going forward I?ll be monitoring my glucose levels daily and the weight loss to determine how I am reacting to the improved change in my daily eating plan. That will be combined with an increased activity level riding my Optibike, more aerobic workouts, weights and the fitness ball. Stay tuned for my results over the coming weeks and months!

Odometer Miles: 2765

Because of Type 2 diabetes I have to be careful about what I eat. Too many carbs and too high the glycemic index (GI) and my glucose levels can shoot too high. I have been writing down what I have been eating to help track what the GI is for the foods that I consume. After researching further I have found out about Glycemic Load (GL) measurements as well and how they differ from Glycemic Index ones.

The Glycemic Index (GI), which was developed back in 1981, has been used by diabetics for these many years to track which foods they should be eating and how it affects their glucose levels over the 2 to 3 hours after they eat them. The low GI foods are those like meat and fish while the high GI foods are like potatoes and pasta. The higher the GI the more it causes glucose levels to rise. My blood glucose levels should be maintained at around 100 mg/dL.

The GI scale goes from 0 to 100 and a low GI value is under 55 while a high value is above that. The GI compares 50 gram portions of the same quantity of carbohydrates for the different food sources being measured. But since food in a meal is rarely ever served in equal carbohydrate portions so a different kind of of measurement is needed for real world serving conditions. That is where Glycemic Load (GL) comes into play. The GL measures the effect of the GI of a food times its available carbohydrate content in grams in a standard serving. The GL is calculated by multiplying the amount of carbohydrate in a given serving of food by the GI of that same food and then dividing that number by 100.  A low GL is considered < 10 while a high amount is > 20. For example 1 cup of brown rice has a GI of 55 but its GL is 24. A medium carrot has a GI of 71 while its GL is only 6. Fellow diabetics and hard training athletes should consider using the glycemic load to help in making the right carbohydrate food choices.

Last week my blog post “Now you see me” was about how I was able to be seen better riding in the dark because of the extra lights I put on my spokes. Well now since last week the fog has been very thick around here especially in the morning and evenings so it made sense that I should title this posting as “Now you don’t”.  I find it to be very unsafe to drive along some of the roads I normally take now that I can’t see who’s coming and even worse they probably won’t see me. Can you imagine trying to take the road below in such heavy fog?

Odometer Miles: 2633

Its been pitch dark now in the early evening when I?m riding my bike. I?ve decided that now it would be safer if I became even more visible to the traffic on the road so I?ve picked up some spoke lights to put on it so that I become even more visible to the drivers out there, especially to ones coming from either side of the bike. The twin halogen lights that come on the Optibike are good for covering the front and I?ve put on a flashing rear light so it was time that I add some lights that can be seen well from the sides. These lights are mounted to the spokes and I?ve put one on each wheel. They can be set to cycle between 4 colors as seen in the shots below or just set to flash red.

Looks even cooler when the wheels are spinning around at 25mph! Nice addition, don?t you think?

Odometer Miles: 2574

Spotted a Red Tailed Hawk perched atop a street light on one of my rides this week. I?ve always been a bird watcher so this was a great opportunity to get a shot of one.

Looks like it was carefully looking over the field that was across from the light waiting for its next victim, a field mouse (vole) or a rabbit which are seen often in these fields. I love wabbits too. Check out my APRIL 26, 2011 blog posting ?Call me crazy!?  where I had fun chasing one on the Optibike.

Odometer Miles: 2525

Hi all! It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. I have continued to travel a lot this year on business. I am so thankful for my lower weight and better fitness. That makes the travel so much easier on this old body.

Time to face the music and talk about a subject that is not exactly the most fun to discuss. I have been suffering with hemorrhoids. Earlier this year, I tried to get them taken care of with a series of banding procedures. Unfortunately, that didn’t do the trick. As you can imagine, my riding has been limited due to this problem. However, the bike gives me more motivation than ever to get this taken care of once and for all. This Friday, I am going to have the full hemorrhoidectomy surgery (if I spelled that right, I should enter a spelling bee! spell check doesn’t believe it is a word.) I understand it is a very painful recovery for a few weeks. The good news is that this should take care of the problem once and for all.

I see my primary Doctor for my six week checkup today. I am hoping the news is still good. The last few times I’ve seen him, he told me to refrain from losing any more weight for a few months. That is a first for sure!!!!  I have been able to keep the weight off by continuing to eat well and staying much more active. I hope to report back in soon.

I love reading the other blogs. Keep up the good work all!

 

Its been cold around here lately. For a California guy, that means it is somewhere between 40 to 50 degrees. When the temperature gets down this low I find I have to wear heavier gloves for riding. I don?t wear the open fingered ones during this time as that tends to be too cold on the fingers especially when travelling at the high 20+ mph speeds. When it gets even colder and drops below 40 then I put on my head sock as well to keep the wind from chilling my face. It seems that on the days it rains it is always warmer. Whats up with that? I prefer to remember riding along the path around the lake, in shorts, with clear sunny skies. Yes, like this picture shows from the summertime:

Odometer Miles: 2435