A Big Welcome

Last night I picked up my Surly Big Dummy. I brought it home and had some parts waiting for me on my front porch that I ordered last week. Perfect timing!

I started opening my boxes, first was Hardcore Fenders from Planet Bike. Next was my Nashbar order, bar wrap, 2 sided Shimano pedals, Cateye Computer, and...wait a minute I'm missing something. What did I order? Looking at the invoice I saw that my handlebars and Brooks Saddle were missing. They are on backorder. Great! The seat that comes with the SBD is not comfortable (as with most bikes) and the handlebars are boring with one hand position available.

First thing I did was put the fenders on.

There were a few issues getting the fenders on. I'll detail that in a later post since I still have a couple things left to do on them.

After that I put on the pedals and computer and got the racks and bags put back on. I am really bummed that the handlebars were backordered. The Brooks was not that big of a deal since I can use the one off my other bike that is already broke in.

I did get an unexpected upgrade. The back deck was not the standard wood deck. Instead it came with the Flightdeck, which is made from recycled plastic. It has a ton of holes drilled in it for mounting various DIY things. I'm excited about this. I will have fun thinking up things to attach to this.

I'm a Big Dummy

My weight loss has subsided for now so my clydesdale status is no longer in jeopardy. I have also not been riding as much as I like. My running has been hit and miss but has been picking up lately. I'm still struggling to work out consistently. The one thing I have started doing consistently is going on the Thursday taco ride or doing a Friday night ride with some friends. I'll load up my bike with beers, moscow mules, hot dogs, charcoal and ride 6 miles to Margaritaville to grill out and drink all night. Now I love my Jamis touring bike but I'd prefer to have a bike dedicated to doing these trail rides on the Wabash. I want to keep the grime off my touring bike for actual road touring.

So I'm still wanting to get a new road bike but I'm going to hold off on that until next year. I now have a desire to get a "trail bike". I told my wife if I could just get 2 more bikes I'd be set for any type of ride I'd ever want to do. So the search began for a trail bike that was durable (steel preferably), comfortable, and could haul a lot of gear (cooler, camping gear, stereo, food, ect.). I started looking at cargo bikes. The Surly Big Dummy and Trek Transport were the two I'd heard of. I found more, a lot more, but ultimately I kept coming back to the Surly. The Trek was aluminium, the Kona was aluminium, the Yuba Mundo was it's closest competition but although it was steel it had lesser components, v brakes, one size "fits all" frame, and reportedly weighs considerably more.

All things considered the Surly is the best cargo bike on the market. The thing that really gravitated me to the Surly BD was the compatibility of xtracycle accessories. I knew with these cargo bikes being new to the market finding accessories would be an issue. Xtracycle already has a solid line of accessories that I get for this bike. Surly outfitted the bike nicely. It has disc brakes, a necessity for heavily loaded bikes. It has the new Shimano index shifters, which are really nice.

I checked around with a few LBS's and found one that had a demo bike. I went and gave it a test ride and really liked the solid feel of it. It did feel weird at first but after a few blocks of riding I quickly adjusted to its ride. The long wheel base minimizes bumps in the road, it shifted smoother than any bike I've ever had, and it's gearing allows you ride it anywhere.

So the next step was to see when he could get me one. He said Surly was out of stock and would have to call his rep the next day to check on availability. The next day he called and said they had just come in and his rep grabbed him one (the last one left in my size frame) and was going to ship it out. Tuesday it should be in and I hope to bring it home Wednesday or Thursday.

I can't get two

I have narrowed my choices down to two bikes, the Raleigh Record Ace and the Jamis Eclipse.

For my benefit I am going to list some pros and cons that got me to this decision.

Jamis Eclipse
Pros - weight, Reynolds 853, looks fast, Ultegra components
Cons - carbon fiber?, white seat/stem/rims

Raleigh Record Ace
Pros - all steel, Reynolds 520, looks elegant/classic, Ultegra components, Brooks saddle
Cons - lower grade steel, weight, Weinmann rims, geared higher

The next step is to test ride them both and pick one.

On A Steel Horse I Ride

I recently decided that since I lost a ton of weight I should reward myself with a new bike. I want a new road bike, something fast, something light. I really like my steel touring bike and want that ride comfort. I started looking to see if there were any steel road bikes out there that met my criteria. I already had one in mind, but wanted to be a good consumer and see what else is out there. My search started with the one I had in mind. I needed a starting point to base everything else off of. The first is a Jamis Eclipse. This is what Jamis calls a steel performance bike. I'd say, it weighs 17 lbs and has Shimano Ultegra components. The frame is a mix of Reynolds 853 steel and carbon fiber. This would truly meet all my needs and then some. For me this is a bike I would grow in to. I'm not used to having a fast bike and would have to train myself accordingly. It's a sweet looking bike and retails for around $3200.


Next on my wish list is a Raleigh International. This is a new bike in 2011 for Raleigh, but has a great heritage. The International was produced back in the 70's and was phased out in the 80's. Don't quote me on that but you get the idea, old bike making a return. This bike has a great classic look. It comes loaded with Shimano Dura Ace everything, and a Reynolds 853 steel frame. It is new enough that there is no MSRP listed on it yet, but I checked with my LBS and they told me $5995 will be the list price. No way I'm thinking about dropping 6 large on a bike. There is also no weight listed.

The next one is another Raleigh. This time is is the Raleigh Record Ace. It comes with Reynolds 520, and mostly Shimano Ultegra components. I never thought I'd like a white bike, but this one has a classic elegance about it I like. MSRP is $1949, no weight listed.
That is as far as I have gotten. There are a ton of steel bikes out there, but they don't all fit what I'm looking for. I like what Raleigh and Jamis are doing with their steel bikes. I hope to see more manufacturers following suit.


The Dude

If you can loose the weight, you must motivate.

As I described in my last post I have lost a ton of weight (45 lbs as of today). Most of it came off with out having to workout. Some might think that is awesome. I do. However the end result is a near skinny guy with no habit of working out. In other words I'm a previously fat and lazy guy, that is now almost skinny and just as lazy as the day I started. Some might be OK with that, I'm not. I want to keep this weight off the rest of my life. Over the last 8 years I went from 215 to 270+. I don't want to get over 215 ever again. I need to work out regularly in order to make that happen.

I have a free gym membership through work that I have yet to use. I have a bike set up on a trainer in my basement that I have ridden. I have free weights, a sandbag, and kettlebells in my basement that I have not used. I'm really hoping February will be the start of a new habit for me. I keep telling myself that literally overnight I went from eating what I want to eating a very strict diet. I need to find the motivation to do something active every day. I have numerous tools I just listed to get me active, I just need the motivation to use them.

I'm usually not big on resolutions, but i just decided my resolution this year is to workout consistently. I want to be healthy, not just skinny. I want to ride my bike a ton this year. I want to run a half marathon this year. I want to have a nice physique as a result of lifting weights. I believe this is possible, but only if I consistently work out.

Clydesdale Status in Jeopardy?

So after an 8 year battle with my weight I decided to really commit myself to a weight loss plan. I had heard through work that a lot of people were loosing weight on one specific program. The weight these people were loosing was significant, like upwards of 90lbs. These were people that were married to their jobs, had no athletic background and seemed to be the last people you'd expect to loose a significant amount of weight. I had to find out more, if these people could make this diet work, I sure could.

The program is run by Metabolic Research Center (MRC). It is like Weight Watchers, but more effective. You go in talk to a counsellor and weigh in 1-2 times a week. They track your progress and give you advice. They have supplements that you have to buy and take along with your food. They have different plans depending on how much you weigh and how much you want to loose. The plan itself is pretty simple and you get to eat real food. The best way to describe it is it's like The Atkin's Diet but with some carbs. It is high in protein and veggies, but allows yo to eat some carbs throughout the day. The Atkin's diet causes you to go into ketosis, which is the process where your body burns fat for energy instead of carbs. The problem with Atkins is it puts you into a deep state of ketosis, which is bad for you kidneys. The MRC plan gets you in ketosis, but at a safe level with no harm to your kidneys.

I started MRC on 10/27/10 and I weighed 272lbs. As of today I have lost 41lbs. I'm averaging just under 3.5 lbs loss per week. The diet alone works. I have not had to work out, though I have been working out. I'm doing low intensity things like walking, and weight lifting. I'm going to start cycling on the trainer soon as well. I now have a map, a key, to loose weight and keep it off in the future. My goal weight is 200lbs. Although I have been thinking about taking it below that. For now the plan is to get to 200, enjoy it this summer, and then reassess if I want to take off another 10-20lbs in the winter.

It goes without saying that I'm really excited about this. The weight I'm at now is so much more comfortable than where I was a couple months ago. My clothes are falling off me and I'm in the process of buying new intermediary clothes. Once I get to 200lbs I'll need to buy new clothes yet again. That is a good problem to have. Being able to finally wear cycling jerseys, and look good in them, is something I've been wanting for years. Hitting my goal weight is like waiting for Xmas. This summer will be one of the best I've ever had.

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny" Kate Moss

The Dude