My first weekend (Day 6 & 7)

Oh what a weekend that was! On Saturday, my wife and I went over to my brothers house for the weekend. She worked late, but I got to see my brother which was awesome. We went for a bike ride and then went over to BJ's Wholesale. I got a lot of stuff for the house, and a little bit of food. I got Clif Bars (which are awesome) and Dum Dum lolipops (which are also awesome). I know, I know... what am I doing buying candy if I'm trying to lose weight? Well, I've found in the past that I do better with weight loss if I find something to satisfy a craving that doesn't have a lot of calories in it. Dum Dum's have less than 20 calories per pop. Instead of eating a bunch of jelly beans or skittles, I can suck on a Dum Dum for 10-15 minutes and be happy.

On the way home from BJ's, my brother and I stopped at the beer distributor and the grocery store to stock up for the BBQ. I got to grill. I ate entirely too much (we had burgers, sausages, hotdogs, and chips), but I stayed under my limit for alcoholic beverages for the weekend. Since I didn't drink at all on Friday, I had 6 drinks available for Saturday. I targeted one of each variety in a Sam Adam's mix pack and only made it through 5. I'm happy with that, although I'm not sure that I needed all 5 beers.

Sunday was also good. I woke up and hung out with my brother. We played some video games and grilled leftovers from the BBQ. Then we went for a bike ride with his neighbor and suffered a whole lot. We started out at a pace that was a little faster than I wanted to because my legs were still sore from the day before, but it was worth it, because we got a great workout in. The first half of the ride was difficult for me because we had a few long hills (although it was nothing compared to Saturday's ride) but it was still a great ride. I wasn't the only one struggling. On the way home, there was a descent that I absolutely love. The road is called Hollow Road, and it's a relatively shallow descent where my brother and I tend to race. Because it was a little wet outside, I wasn't sure that he would make an attack, but he did on a small incline that precedes the descent. I kept it close there and then went for him. I had my bike on the highest gear, went down into my drops (the low part of the handlebars) and started churning my pedals. I got close to him towards the end and then passed him about 100 yards from the finish. I would say that I typically win in this fashion... of course when I pass him at the end I rub it in with a "WOO WOOOO!"

Now don't get it wrong, my brother is a good cyclist. He crushes me on just about every hill climb we've ever done, but he's got nothing on me when we're on a downhill, and it's about a push for a straight away on level ground... although I still think I could pull it out most of the time (Yes, that's a challenge).

Now I'm home and getting myself ready for the week to follow. My wife is going to be leaving me for the week to spend some much needed time with her family who she doesn't get to see nearly enough. I am happy that she gets to go, but I'm sad that I'll be without her for the entire work week.

For those of you who care... here are my ride stats for the weekend:

Saturday:
Time: 1:58:12
Distance: 29.68
Average Speed: 15.0mph
Max Speed: 38.5mph

Sunday:

Time: 1:24:12
Distance: 21.4
Average Speed: 15.2mph
Max Speed: 35.0mph