Off to the Races! Again!

Last year I had a goal of “showing up” at the New Hampshire Cycling Club oval race at New Hampshire International Speedway Nascar Track to ride. I had a goal to just try to ride a few miles… I think in the end I had ridden almost 12 miles. I remember at the end I thought I was going to collapse and pass out. I was proud I peddled my little sears and roebuck 10 speed so far though. I was so determined to ride last year I borrowed a friends jeep when my car broke down to get to the track.

What a difference a year makes. Last night one of my “training rides” came in just under 14 miles. This time last year I think I was about 8 or 9 pounds lighter, but my fitness level has jumped by a huge margin. This year the “goal” is to actually finish the distance or at least ride 18-20 miles. Next year maybe, just maybe it will be able to keep up with the other riders! Last year I actually won my racing Class, however there is the slight detail of being the only rider actually in “D” class (For the beginners, “A” being serious athletes, “B” being just a bit slower than them) I always joke that “D” class indicates a speed of “D” for dead… how fast dead people can go?

So what’s with the picture you ask? It’s a gift from a friend. It’s an old Peugeot Corbier road bike. This friend knew I was looking for something a bit higher quality than my current road bike I nicknamed “Frankenstein” because it’s built from four parts bikes. This new (well old) French bike is lighter and we will test it by fire at the race track to see how we work as a team!!! I just got it this morning! The friend got it off a Church Auction for $25. It's bigger than my car!!!

Tune in soon for the next post the race results. Well, “race” is a strong word… for the ride results as all the others pass me twice on each lap!

At Fools fitness we just want to know one thing, “Are You Going to Eat That?” - Alan

I'm Hungry!

1 caboose, two cabice? Ca-boos-see'? How about a whole lot of em?!

I wish I could say I have eating right down pat as it’s still elusive. (As Rettakat mentioned if I had that I’d have this weight thing whooped in short order!) My bicycle riding miles have just gone through the roof lately… Nearing 200 miles just this month alone. A ride with a bicycling partner on Tuesday for 19 miles plus my daily miles bumped it to over 30. We ended the ride in the dark with our little blinky lights and headlights on. If you look close I’ve got a new (rather old) teardrop light on the bike I traded for. It’s heavy but it looks just so darn cool! I’m thinking to convert it to LED lights to extend the battery life.

Today I’m riding my racer 10 speed “Frankenstein” for a bit, but it’s too hot to really rack up any serious miles. I chose it this morning just because I’m not wanting to carry the heavy Boba bike up and down the stairs. I unofficially weighed at about 296.5 today this morning mostly keeping an eye out for water drops trying to stay the same weight drinking water. The bank thermometer only said 89 but I’m dripping with sweat.

A rail trail caboose yard in Tilton, NH is one picture and the other is the bridge that spans the river between Franklin and West Franklin NH. I did this ride last week but took the bus again because now I explored I wanted to ride the trail both ways and go a little further out. The ride between Northfield and Franklin is a great one; my only wish was it was longer!

I found another rail trail that went from 140 to the edge of Tilton Main street but be fore warned that if you try it on bicycle that there are *many* areas washed out by draining water, I had to creep along through it and in one spot I didn’t dare drop the tire off the edge through a pot hole but inched over walking it.

You might want to pass on congrats to Lisa at http://inweighovermyhead.blogspot.com/ if I read it right she just past the 100 pounds off mark! WOW!

My current numbers are around 45 off since the start (actually lost the same weight twice now! It’s sort of 80 pounds off?) and roughly 16 pounds up from lowest in blog. I wonder if this picture has anything to do with it… that bike in front of the Chinese food place looks awful familiar?! (Hey, at least I rode there?)
At fools fitness we are always tempted to put on a baseball card in the spokes of our bicycles to get the little clicky sound! - Alan

Am I Reading Your Blog?

We are in this together! Please share a note about your weight or fitness blog in the comment section of this post. We are in this war on fat to fitness together! I’d hate to thinkI was missing checking out your blog. Now the disclaimer if we need one… Foolsfitness doesn’t “endorse” any products (I don’t do any magic diets or super suppliments) nor will I offically endorse blogs per say I don’t think but I do want to share in reading your trials, ideas, adventures, and journey into better fitness and a healthy weight ... I draw a lot of inspiration from you, as well as encouragement and ideas from your comments! So share a link to your weight/ health… even Art blogs! ( But please *don’t* put up links to porn thanks.)



So the current adventures have me off with the Granite State Wheelmen for a ride a couple of days ago for 23 miles with them. After I casually did another 4 to cool down and stretch. (that tank picture was taken along the ride)The day after I tried doing a rail trail in Derry NH I had done last year.


If you’ve followed my blog somehwere last year I think I posted a picture of this little tunnel from the other side. I always think of a hobbit hole. The pond area was also taken along that ride.
Things I learned on a group ride. I need to bring extra-extra water! I’m thinking having a gallon jug in the car might not even be over kill. Of course over these couple of days I did see temps at 95 degrees at 4pm too (OUCH!) My first ride with the GSW was good. I even held my own with the “Turtle group” (Slowest group), didn’t come in last, and even helped someone fix a double derailed chain.

Right now I’m unoffically hovering about 4 lbs up from last weigh in… I’ve been extremely active but not watching what I eat at all. I’m attempting to get back on track with that. In the last 7 days I think I went over 80 miles total. Of course for “real” bicycle riders that could be a day but I think it’s a pretty big accomplishment. I’m also slowly repairing and upgrading my 12 speed frienze whioch now is a ten speed because the used rear hub was 5 cogs and not six. I’m nicknaming the blue bike “frankenstein” as it’s got three other bikes parts on it now. I bought a new tire but am trying to build up the courage to take the other one off.

Don’t forget to leave a comment and mention your blog, leave a link (I think they let you?) if I find it goes to spam I’ll try to restore it. Maybe this post can be an unoffical link hub? Again please no links to something you wouldn’t want your mother to be seeing!

Foolsfitness… the emerging cyclomaniac!? - Alan

Fools Fitness Adventurer Extraordinaire

As promised the picture with the tiger written about in last posts, but now on to the next adventure! Firstly, some neat number’s lately. Last official weigh in 298. Last weeks bicycle riding over 60 miles with the biggest single total over a day ride (lots of stops and breaks though) over 31 miles! My weight still fluctuates in such a large range so I think I can really only say that I am flirting with the 290’s. I actually got stopped on the street today by someone who said, ”I’ve been meaning to tell you that you have dropped a lot of weight and are looking good.” As odd as it sounds sometimes those compliments make me a bit nervous. I’m not totally sure why.

(in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s this area was known for being a mill town area getting it’s power to the mills by waterwheels… this I think was what was left of a paper mill that burned down long ago) I love old places and things. Maybe thats why I love old bicycles? It's like I can almost hear whispers of the past.

This is not just about a number on a scale though. It’s about gaining the ability to be able to do new things… and sometimes the courage to do them. I found a local bus that you can take a bicycle on and rode it as far away from my home as I could. Then I took about riding through three towns for an 11 mile or so ride, popping into a couple of flea markets, a library, and then to the main event of the trip… a river bike/pedestrian trail that was an old railroad bed. I didn’t factor one thing though… I was traveling upstream!!! Most of the hills were very mellow but for future reference if you’re following a river downstream might be a bit easier! But if you’re anything like me with dealing with weight you might chuckle as it’s symbolic as it’s an upstream battle getting more fit and healthy. I didn’t ride completely back home on my own peddle power, the last few miles I got a lift back into my town as there is a patch of road that is very busy, narrow, twisty, and has zero shoulders on the side of the road. I’m not sure if I will ever try that stretch, if I did I’m thinking there is small a chance I would end up a hood ornament for a tractor trailer.

If you are out there and are just starting out or on your way in this journey of weight loss and getting fit I hope I can encourage you with this. I have a long long way to go. But in a couple of years even with the ups and downs I’ve gone from barely being able to ride a bicycle for 3 miles to over 30 miles in a day, and over 40 lbs (actually twice). My only special superpower I’ve found so far is the ability to strike fear in the owners of Chinese Food Buffet restarants… If I can do this, just maybe you can too!!! Do it safe and all (have a doctor check you out) but don’t miss out!!! Life isn’t in the fridge. Life is out there, go and see.


(This is not part of the miles you count when you take your bike out for a ride!)

Foolsfitness will sign off for a bit and see what next adventure awaits!- Alan

I Joined the Circus!

I couldn’t resist a photo of my race bike with the side show booth. You got to admit a 300 pound guy on a road bicycle might just be a bit of an oddity?!

My trip to the circus included me being daring enough to get my photo taken with a real live tiger… Hopefully I can post a copy of it soon (I need to figure out a way to scan it). That tiger and I looked into each other’s eyes, and I was pretty excited, I mean how often to you get to stand next to a tiger less than a foot away?! It was odd. I thought about fear and how it holds us back from so much… sometimes it can protect us, but it also needs to be managed like a adviser, taking it’s suggestions and considering the options.

It was odd in the end that the fear was overcome with excitement, at least for me with the tiger. It’s almost like after we had locked eyes he looked away deciding something. I’d like to think that I had established alpha male or he understood I was no longer a slave to fear but becoming a wild eyed predator of life too! Of course in reality it was likely just bored by all the people for so long over the night and just wanted a cat nap!

As I mentioned to briefly in last post I actually sat in one of those plastic one piece lawn chairs. At the circus you could “upgrade” your ticket for $2 and get ring side. I sat in the bleachers for a long while and saw an empty chair right in the front row… just under the 300 pound mark I decided on courage instead of fear. During the show I was concerned as it wasn’t feeling totally rock stable but it held with no crack or bang or anything.

It was a sweet success to sit in the plastic chair, face a tiger, and just smile and say “no thanks” as vender after vender guy walked by trying to convince me of the need for popcorn, cotton candy, or peanuts.

I think tonight with be an “official” weigh… not sure, I’m thinking over the last couple of weeks I’ve gained and lost again… I predict somewhere around the last weigh number.

At Foolsfitness the circus is always in town!- Alan

Laconia Motorcycle Week Pictures + MORE (Part II)

Happy 4th! As promised some more pictures from Laconia Motorcycle Week are below. As we celebrate July 4th (Independence Day in the U.S.A.) I’ve been thinking about the freedom from about 45 pounds of fat I am experiencing. It’s all about freedom. It’s called “weight” for a reason. All that extra baggage weighs you down and you just can’t experience some things at certain weights. I think about this new freedom of zipping up a flight of steps, bending over tying my shoes without being completely dizzy, and *YES* riding my bicycles!!! I wonder what the next 45 pounds off will let me do?

Several people have pointed out my evolving love affair with the bicycle. It’s a new freedom, I remember that first time going up one of the steeper hills in my town and having to stop. I couldn’t even keep up with a lady pushing a stroller up the hill… I’ve got a long way to go but I’ve already traded in my double chin for sort of a turkey gobbler neck! Finding bones here and there that are starting to emerge from under all the excess…

Yesterday I did something daring. I joined the circus! Well, not exactly… but in my next post I hope to share and incredible experience of the emerging freedom to be able to do things I just couldn’t plain do 50 pounds heavier. It ends with a real live tiger, (yes I’m serious) that I will tell next time but let me start with this…

Anyone who is big knows the horror of seeing one of those plastic lawn chairs. I’ve even broke one in the past. But not yesterday. I wanted that seat and a little nervous I sat… and… it held. Wait till next time to hear about the real live tiger! Oh, and also my obsession with bicycles that continues!

Yes, at Fools Fitness we bought *another* bicycle! (One was traded as a swap and one was given away to a person in need… now the “fleet” is at 4, that’s two functional and two very close to functional!) Details next post!!!

But now on to those promised pictures of motorcycle week...enjoy! Happy 4th of July to all!!!- Alan
Don't you love it?! I want an M+M motorcycle. Some folks get so creative and the motorcycles are real art
It's hard to really show how many people are in the area... But's it's really elbow to elbow in places. They have rows of motorcycles on both sides of the street and two rows of them right down the middle of the road, (the road is closed to cars in places)
Amazing airbrush paint work on many of them the murals are just incredible!
Again, Happy 4th to everyone!- Alan