The 2017 Exercise Motivation Thread

[Winchester]

Norachan Might as do it and get it over with!

foxxycat the road in front of our house is dangerous; I got hit while out walking a few years ago (I was way off the road onto the shoulder/berm, but he wasn't paying attention and got me anyway) and, since then, I tend to be very wary. I'd probably take the bike in town and ride on the Rail Trail. I just don't have the money for a bike right now anyway.

jtbo great pictures! I'd enjoy walking there. It looks like a neat place for a good hike. We're probably right around the same stage of autumn as you and Norachan , too. It's just really dry here right now.

 

[foxxycat]

30 min ride. 4 so miles.
got to the public school again. Muggy wet. Rained an hour ago. Sweat like a dog.

 

[Winchester]

Is that you foxxycat ? Wow, it's great to "meet" you! And that's a wonderful picture! Congrats on your bike ride.

Yeah, it's really muggy around here, too. Nasty. And now we're got Nate's rain and tropical breezes. Ick

Sunday -
2 miles on the treadmill
11,040 steps for the day - 5.23 miles

I spent yesterday afternoon picking up black walnuts in the yard. And then I raked leaves. That counts as exercise in my book. The good news is that I think I picked up every single walnut that was on the ground. The bad news is that, as I sit back here at the computer, I can hear more walnuts falling.

 

[Norachan]

Here too! I can't believe I'm still wearing t-shirts in October.

I did a one hour deep stretch yoga routine yesterday. I think I overdid things a bit the day before, so stretching was enough for Sunday.

Today I did a one hour power Vinyassa flow and 40 minutes on my bike. Got to the garden center and bought some tulip and daffodil bulbs.

 

[foxxycat]

Winchester thanks! Yes it's even soupier now than it was yesterday. I nitched the bike ride after work-was like walking into an oven..I went to Walmart to pick up 2 more pairs of these loose jogging pants that don't bind up on the bike...I don't think I will keep the skin tight stuff-these hide the cellulite very well. Called "casual Jogger" in black with silver in tiny threads...they are made of rayon so warm in summer-I am hoping these will give me enough insulation once the cooler temps come. They were expensive considering I can get jeans for a dollar more but they are comfortable and don't look frumpy at all.

It's raining here but I am still going out-because I just love speeding down steep hills-I ride just to feel the wind on my face....I sure wish my right arm worked well enough to get a motorcycle but with tennis elbow and having to turn the throttle all the time puts too much pressure on that arm-I always say if they invented a motorcycle with the throttle on left side=I would be in business!!

 

[jtbo]

jtbo Great trails and great outdoors. Looks like you are enjoying the rides.

I can’t wait to get back out

I hope that you get soon back to saddle, or at least on pedals, not much sitting on these trails


So I broke my bike, no more riding for at least a week, can be two weeks.

I did try to walk for 2 hours then, that didn't worked out too well, blisters after 1 hour 20 minutes, got 1 hour 41 minutes of walking + 40 minutes of pushing bike from woods + 30 minutes of mountain biking, so I guess that is ok for a day anyway, that was almost 3 hours of exercising.

I got sore legs now, hopefully I can get more trail walking done at coming days, my goal was to have 1-2 hours exercise each day for this month, but it might be bit too much, especially now as there is no bike for some time.

 

[tabbytom]

I hope that you get soon back to saddle, or at least on pedals, not much sitting on these trails


So I broke my bike, no more riding for at least a week, can be two weeks.

Yea, but guess it’ll take a little while more before I can be up on the saddle.

What happened to your bike?

I broke my saddle once while I was on trail. Had a fall after a 4 foot drop. So paddled all the way without sitting down to the bike shop to replace a new saddle

 

[foxxycat]

jtbo what the BLANK?! LOL. How did you break your bike?? Did you try driving on those slippery rocks?!!!! BE CAREFUL!

 

[jtbo]

Yea, but guess it’ll take a little while more before I can be up on the saddle.

What happened to your bike?

I broke my saddle once while I was on trail. Had a fall after a 4 foot drop. So paddled all the way without sitting down to the bike shop to replace a new saddle View attachment 199746

jtbo what the BLANK?! LOL. How did you break your bike?? Did you try driving on those slippery rocks?!!!! BE CAREFUL!

Well, I thought it would be fun to ride over some rocks, it was raining, it was slippery and as we all know speed should correct mistakes, however I was not at my best so did go over some roots while sitting on full weight (also I could not make it up to the speed), then some rocks and it was generally disaster, so tire got snake bites (I think that it did hit the rim at least 3 times today and once yesterday), wheel bent a little and freewheel has been on way out for a while now, cassette has little play so I gave it to bike repair shop to fix those things.
Oh, I replace tire myself though, I'm trying to look if I have money for new rubber at the same time, dry weather XC rubber does not do well on rain

Somehow I just did not had it today, HR was really low and riding was quite stiff, despite I did long slow warmup. I guess tabbytom can see how this kind of single track rides when it is raining and 8C (46F), leaves, rocks, you get the picture, even walking is begging for trouble on those rocks

There is actually poor video that is not very interesting, but before the video was the part where tire got punctured.

They attempted to sell me 29" bike at bike shop, but they stopped when I told them "sure, if someone else pays it", really I'm not convinced of 29", I need stiffness of 26" rims and nimble handling more than train like rolling.

Oh yes, speedometer died yesterday, who in their right mind makes bicycle speedometer that can't handle little rain?

Got new brake pads and grips installed just this morning, ceramic metal pads for E-bike B01S or something like that, they do work better than resin pads, but I still would need more braking power to front brake, 180mm SLX disc and Shimano Alivio combined brake/FD shifter unit, not the best I guess.

With Race King RS at front I can barely lock it on sand, needs better testing with new pads, but I guess I should go for Icetec SLX front brake, however it is enough for slow descents and modulation is excellent, never had surprise front end lock ups.

Update: This was 10% climb on average, steepest parts were certainly more, really hard work, from yesterday:

 

[foxxycat]

30 min bike ride done. Wind was in my face on way out but way back was still windy...couldn't go as fast-got to reset clock on speedometer-someone helped set it to mileage but I want it on clock instead-that tells me whether to book it or rest-I will figure it out-it's a weird combination of pushing buttons together then keeps switching to kilometer...hot out still.

 

[foxxycat]

jtbo keep up the good work-that's definitely out of my comfort zone!! Where did you get the camera? I will get one next month-no money left LOL.

 

[jtbo]

jtbo keep up the good work-that's definitely out of my comfort zone!! Where did you get the camera? I will get one next month-no money left LOL.

I got it from the Chinese, where else?

You are in US, so their shop there is this:
Sport Camera USA Warehouse-Banggood Delivery to USA Sale Online

I did order Eken H9, but I got Eken H9R which has ability for remote control.

Problems with that camera are that it crashes a lot, especially in 1080p60 mode, which is useless because of constant crashing, so I record in 720p120 which works most of the time fine, only has crashed once.
Also when connecting to computer I need to remove the battery or else it might corrupt memory card.

All kind of small quirks, like audio being recorded so quiet, that I need to amplify it in editor.

For the price though, it is quite ok. While it can record 4K it is not real 4K camera, that is interpolated resolution and quite useless.

Get Gitup 2 if you can pay little bit more, but until October 13 this is quite a bargain offer under 37 dollars, should be same camera as I have:
US Warehouse | EKEN H9 WiFi Sport Action Camera DV Car DVR SPCA6350 4K 25fps/ 1080p 60fps/720P

Then you need Class 10 memory card and format that in camera before use, mounting is bit of challenge, not many mounts hold camera well, chest harness tends to creep up, but GoPro mounts should be compatible, so might get something better quality eventually.

For me it is great to see actually how I did really, because what I see from film seems to be different what I have in my memory and I can then try to improve.

Oh and remember, only way to improve is to go beyond comfort zone and fail, fail miserably and there comes improvement

 

[foxxycat]

my helmet came with a camera mount-I just need one to put on helmet...and yes I do know to get out of comfort zone-I just want to build up stamina soon. and butt callous

 

[tabbytom]

jtbo , yea, riding in the wet, rocks , leaves, stones and tree roots are not your friends Totally no grip on the tires.

Forgot to mention after my crash out where my saddle broke, the back brake disc was knocked out of shape too. Went back and got it straightened out by the bike guy.

Also on another ride, down a slight slope, was avoiding some rocks so steered left and did not see a hole as the ride down was very bumpy, front tire went in and I flipped over the handle bar and was thrown 10 feet away

I would stick to the 26ers. Looks like the 27.5 and 29ers are a gimmick.

 

[Winchester]

jtbo I'm really sorry about your bike.

Monday -
3 miles on the treadmill
12/12 hours with 300+ steps per hour
14,225 steps - 6.74 miles

Tuesday -
3 miles on the treadmill
11/12 hours with 300+ steps per hour (I was with the piano guy in there and couldn't walk)
14,189 steps - 6.72 miles

So I'm back up to 3 miles. Now I need to start working on speed and the getting the incline back up to where it used to be. Right now, I'm only at 3.4 mph and the incline is only at 2%. I'll keep working on it. (I just wish it was less muggy! I'm walking on the treadmill now in a long t-shirt and no shorts! Sleeves are rolled up and my hair is in a clip. And I'm still sweating like crazy til I'm done.)

 

[foxxycat]

Forgot to enter my rides- Wed and Thurs got to the school. Drove it in the truck accurately this time- 2.4 miles one way. 1.8 miles to the gas station. The dead end is only another half a mile or so-yesterday the wind WAS horrible!! It kept blowing me back! Some days I have wind on my back-other times it helps push me forward.

I got those bike shorts jtbo they actually FIT! 3X is a tad small for my legs- since men have skinnier thighs than women. I will wear them under my sweats today. Chilly this morning 31. yesterday wore a bright yellow nifty fabric shirts=that wicking material-it let the air through it to cool me off and I wasn't a sweaty mess. I also got some polypropolene and merino blend socks for cold days. So far I can wear my steel toe boots on cold days-they keep my feet warmer than any other boot.

I have a ton of clothes to return-jc penny-jeans, amazon-bike pants, ebay, competive cycler-socks=it stinks I have to purchase so much stuff just to find one or two that fit. This weekend I will print labels and have Jon drop them off at the post office/ups...Still on lookout for a nylon shell to wear over spandex pants-I checked some thrift stores this week and nothing. I will find a pair-hard to explain but most pants are bell bottom and I don't like them on the bike=pain to tape the pant leg up from getting hung up in the chain. I think these skinny stretch jeans are my best bet to stay warm-they have some polyester blend in them-which is a good material. still getting used to skin tight clothing.

Wed 4.8 miles
Thur 4.8 miles on bike.

 

[Winchester]

Wednesday -
3 miles on the treadmill
12/12 hours with 300+ steps per hour
12,420 steps for the day - 5.88 miles

Thursday -
3 miles on the treadmill
12/12 hours with 300+ steps per hours
14,393 steps for the day - 6.81 miles

 

[jtbo]

Forgot to enter my rides- Wed and Thurs got to the school. Drove it in the truck accurately this time- 2.4 miles one way. 1.8 miles to the gas station. The dead end is only another half a mile or so-yesterday the wind WAS horrible!! It kept blowing me back! Some days I have wind on my back-other times it helps push me forward.

I got those bike shorts jtbo they actually FIT! 3X is a tad small for my legs- since men have skinnier thighs than women. I will wear them under my sweats today. Chilly this morning 31. yesterday wore a bright yellow nifty fabric shirts=that wicking material-it let the air through it to cool me off and I wasn't a sweaty mess. I also got some polypropolene and merino blend socks for cold days. So far I can wear my steel toe boots on cold days-they keep my feet warmer than any other boot.

I have a ton of clothes to return-jc penny-jeans, amazon-bike pants, ebay, competive cycler-socks=it stinks I have to purchase so much stuff just to find one or two that fit. This weekend I will print labels and have Jon drop them off at the post office/ups...Still on lookout for a nylon shell to wear over spandex pants-I checked some thrift stores this week and nothing. I will find a pair-hard to explain but most pants are bell bottom and I don't like them on the bike=pain to tape the pant leg up from getting hung up in the chain. I think these skinny stretch jeans are my best bet to stay warm-they have some polyester blend in them-which is a good material. still getting used to skin tight clothing.

Wed 4.8 miles
Thur 4.8 miles on bike.

Hey that is great that they fit, should be improvement in comfort!

I'm getting blisters from all this walking, so went to bicycle shop and asked if I can take wheel back for a weekend as their repair schedule is busy until next week, turns out it is two weeks from ordering the part which has not yet been ordered, so they told me to take it back and they will message when they get the part.

It does work, unless I put some serious power to it, so I have to feather it a bit, you should know me by now, taking it easy is most difficult thing in existence for me, so it was HR at red zone once again:

If you are wondering why speed is so slow, that is single track riding.

Bought cheap Innova brand tire and CST brand self healing tube, really heavy weight stuff (1300 grams tire alone (26x2.25 knobbly), but I think they work well, hit rim to roots and rocks at least 7 times, tire lost bit of air, however it seems to be holding fine again.

However over 1000 grams added weight can be felt (more than 10% increase of total bike weight), not so much on single track, there this cheap tire shines, lots of grip, but any more open path and I'm loosing speed and ability to climb.

Max speed dropped some 15kph, but considering tire cost 1/3 of what Race King on sale would cost, it is not too bad, rubber has nice bite and thread pattern seems to hold on bit better around roots etc.

This was walking/running on single track, climbing rocky steep hills etc. One path was completely covered with water, it has been raining so much that there was no way around of water, good thing I bought Gore-Tex shoes, it is odd feeling when you can see shoes in the water, but feet don't get wet at all. Bit slippery thread though, so have to be quite careful on rocks.

 

[foxxycat]

Got further today, the wind was helping out in the beginning- went 29mph down the big hill-still spinning pedals-normally I bottom out at 21 mph-so went 2.6 miles out turn around and head back. Once on side of highway towards work-wind whipped up like nothing and I barely made it back at 7 to 9 mph!! It was a good workout. Weather cooperated.

30 minutes. even stopped twice for water break-

 

[foxxycat]

oh and the shorts worked good but I find myself sliding forward-got to adjust the seat AGAIN, it seems that I need the seat to go higher-it must not stay locked in or something. aerotechdesigns.com is the site for plus sized bike shorts with some padding..just feels like wearing a diaper!!