That’s from editorial cartoonist Ted Rall

Today’s ride … is a ride that no one should do without being in shape and thinking about the conditions. I felt pretty apprehensive before I started.

• The weather forecast said winds from the east at 13mph, temps in the upper 30s. That means headwinds and cool but not cold conditions.
• Checking the temps right before the ride they were closer to mid 30s
• After my first return to commuting commute the fatigue was already in the thighs.

Getting dressed I was thinking of a cold, wet ride with a moderate headwind. No problem, I’ve done plenty of these before. Well, with at least 10 pounds less fat and hundreds of recent miles in my history. Kent’s pessimism for planning translated into warmer gloves, a wish that I’d had time to swap out my studded tires for something smoother rolling and a departure half an hour earlier than normal. How did the ride work out?

• Temps were a degree above freezing.
• Winds from the east at 23 mph gusting to 33. I kept looking to see what was rubbing against a tire. Something had to be making all that drag.
• The extra half hour went into a massively slow ride.
• Hands stayed warm!

The wind forecast is the same for the rest of the week. I hope it gets to be more accurate. As soon as I warm up and get some calories into my bloodstream I’m going to feel a whole lot better.

Today the Coach instructed “it’s better to have a slo go than a no go.”

Next week it’s going to be over 100 (38°+ C) in the afternoons. This lead to an conversation with a co-worker.

That could work well. A backpack full of ice each afternoon and some portable shade could make the ride close to comfortable. I’ve got to give it a try.

A change this month, since the pounds are starting to come off I’ll base each month’s weight target on my weight at the start of the month.
Weight : 240, measured at work on the doctor’s office scale.
Miles : 244, after the morning commute 255 or more by the time I get home

Making this month extra special is that I didn’t ride at all on the 1st through the 12th. The first three days were “relaxing” after hitting weight day on June 29. The next week I got caught up in following the Tour de France and telling myself I couldn’t be late for work so I “had” to drive.

On Monday the 13th however I had a doctor’s appointment. My doctor strongly encourages bicycle riding. No matter what I ride to my appointments. Riding one day, or even for 240 miles in June, does not reverse the months off the bike. Dr. Yates and I talked about the higher cholesterol levels and the weight gain. He asked what was going on.

We talked about the nature of the daily decision and what it was like each day. Then he started in on the big talk.

I’ve been riding every day since.

I look to the left and don’t seen a car coming. I start forward and into the turn and recheck now that my line of sight is better. Oh! Cab coming! Snap! The brake lever bottoms out.

It’s really wonderful that bikes are made with two brakes. I normally use the back one only to trim speed. Now I use it for full stop while I turn into the curb. The cab wizzes by with a honk.

Wouldn’t it be great if all catastrophic front brake failures happened at two or three miles an hour on a flat bit of road in low traffic two blocks from home? This is as good a piece of luck as the bit I had with the flat tire right before the crest of a hill on a street with well tended, grassy medians. The hill with road kill in the bike lane and cars flitting by closely through the S curves. It was great to bomb down that hill with a freshly patched and pumped tire instead of a flat compromising my bike handling.

Good luck doesn’t last forever. I’ll enjoy mine while I have it.

One excerpt to whet your appetite. After commenting on how he was able to eat through the whole ride he describes food at the end in a way that long distance riders will recognize:

Read and enjoy. His photos are also very good.

While you are visiting Joe’s site don’t miss his apologies to Bob Dylan.

Following online has its own pleaseures. One of these is the Velo News commentator Charles Pelkey. In addition to solid coverage and insight his color commentary is a hoot.

You can catch his commentary each morning during the tour on the Velonews Live Feed.

I’d be remiss to not also mention the Bicycling Magazine live blog on the Boulder Report. There’s a bit more gossip there and they post many more comments from readers. You’ll find mine with the screen name Michael “not that one” Rasmussen. The Boulder report is also a plain text blog. Translation: the firewall at work doesn’t block the content type so I can read at my desk. I have to save the Velonews cast for when I get home each evening.

Tune in late next month for the next Weight Day.

Not sayin’ it has to be that way. It’s just a Good Idea.

Postscript: Despite my light attire and the cool temps I still did work up a sweat on the eleven mile, relaxed pace ride.

The endorphin glow does feel nice.

Now today, thanks to a ride or two I have the same feeling in my chest a peaceful easy feeling of being able to breathe enough to fly with the eagles on my next ride. No personality shifting side effects go with this inducement of respiratory relief.

However beyond the natural health effect there is more than a feeling to the benefits from the ride. More than I, or presumably anyone, gets from the drug. During my last bout with Prednisone I set out for a ride. Confidence ran high. With lungs this open I’m going to be able to climb steep grades, go faster than normal and generally be as super of a rider as I can be. It didn’t happen. The feeling in my chest was just that, a hollow feeling. As soon as the ride demanded more oxygen for the muscles I was gasping. Today there was more than a feeling. I climbed. I sped. I enjoyed the benefits of riding a bike as it did more than a drug can do to make my life better.

Two days after my worst bike crash ever I sat on the examine table missing a couple of teeth, a dozen stitches in my face, bruises and scrapes from head to ankle. I asked my doctor “You said to ride a bike to improve my health. You still say that with this?” He had this reply:

The effects of a few days riding vs a few days of Prednisone add another inflection to his statement. It’s more than a feeling.

“Say what?” you ask.

Each year I look forward to the day when I can commute wearing sandals, bike shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. That means, for me, it’s close to 60° (15°C) and not pouring rain. I can ride comfortably, heck even build up a big sweat, when that happens. Today was the day.

I was so enthused I forgot about the weather forecast. Ah, yes, Thunderstorms in the afternoon. At work I thought “well you’ll just get wet, no biggie.” As it turned out the storms included 30mph sustained winds with gusts to 50.

Good thing I made it home before those hit!

In November 2002 I started bike commuting to address my health issues, most of them tied to obesity. In August 2007 I faltered. Through early 2008 I rode in bits and pieces, perhaps once a week. Then in September I quit. Maybe I rode once in December 2008. But, effectively, I quit.

What was the effect? Between August 2007 and this morning I’ve gained 35 pounds or about 1.6 pounds a month. I’m back so close to where I was in 2002 that, effectively, I’m there again.

Not quite there there, but close enough. There are many changes since then. I can ride faster and further carrying the same set of a dozen cans of Crisco in fat on my body. (What a mental image! 12 Cans of Crisco! That’s why the pants don’t fit.) So my muscles, heart and lungs are stronger. Certainly not as strong as they were in 2007. But much stronger than in 2002 – a time when I cursed speed bumps on moderate climbs. In 2002 I’d be in a 20 inch granny gear climbing a 3% (if even that “steep”) grade and come to a speed bump that would almost stop me from continuing. Now I ride those same grades in something much higher than the granny and the bump is a bump. I’m doing an 11.8 mile commute instead of a 4.7 mile one.

Some similarities are present. I’m now working on working up to riding a metric century. 62 miles have gone from “wow? can I do that?” to “nice start for a day” to “oh gosh, can I do it again?” The first one is going to be tough.

And then it will get easier and easier as I do more and more. The only trick is to keep doing the more.

We’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks.