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"Pennsylvania: Making 35 Miles Feel Like 100"

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  "Pennsylvania: Making 35 Miles Feel Like 100" June 13, 2026 Even with the headache, the heat, and thinking Pennsylvania was a lot hillier than it should be, it didn't really matter. The feeling of freedom you get when you start a bike ride is like nothing else in the world for me. The only thing I can compare it to is the deep breath before you plunge into a pool and take your first lap. There is a sense that nothing else really matters — there are two wheels between you and the road and it is total, complete freedom. Over the course of any ride, that freedom starts to melt away your worries, your anger, and any feelings of loss you might be holding onto. All that really matters is moving forward. Seeing where the road takes you. Last Saturday it took me to the 7th state I have done a bike ride in. It took me up and down in some serious heat. It tested me mentally and physically, which is what we do it for, I guess. In the end, nothing else seemed to matter — just me an...
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Eating the Rainbow: Because Boring Beige Food Was Never an Option

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  Our Weight Watchers topic for this week was Eat the Rainbow and of course that came with a joke from me about whether we were talking about Skittles. Then again, I think that is  taste  the rainbow — semantics. I have been thinking about eating the rainbow since Jentz, the old guy from the swimming pool who rocked the Speedo every day back in California, told me how he ate and how beautiful his plate was each day. I miss Jentz — there wasn't a woman at the pool he didn't hit on. Anyway, he told me he would go to Costco and load up on the chicken breasts and then make this beautiful plate of veggies that had all the colors in it. He went on and on about it being gorgeous. So, yesterday in our workshop we went through all the colors of fruits and vegetables and what nutrient values they brought with them. It was cool. I know greens are good for the heart. Yellow and orange are good for the eyes, and so on and so forth. It got me thinking about how I could get some rainbow...
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The Journey, Captured in a Single Image

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 And sometimes, no words are needed—the image says it all.
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Release the Weight — All of It, Including Your Wardrobe

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Darth Sidious: "Wipe them out. All of them." I wish something cool would have gone through my head — like the profound words of the Dark Lord of the Sith — when the urge to purge came upon me. It did not. I just realized, before I left for Terre Haute for race weekend, that my closet was overflowing with stuff I wouldn't be wearing anytime soon. My journey has been remarkable since last year when I joined WW. I have lost 89 pounds, bringing my total journey to just about 250 pounds. Let me say that again: bringing my journey total to just about 250 pounds. Shall we take a moment to put that into perspective? What are some things that weigh about 250 pounds? How about a newborn baby elephant. A king or queen size mattress. A mature lioness. Of course, most standard washing machines would also be in this range. So, when I was struggling to recover from two ear infections and couldn't ride on Monday, the only urge I had was to purge all the 4X and 5X stuff that was in my...
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**No Extensions Required**

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Have I told you how much I hate to fly?  I never really liked traveling.  I am a creature of habit and I love to be in my habit. Traveling takes you out of habit.  I am not with my dog.  Then, last August I went to Albuquerque and the plane did the shake, rattle, and role the entire way from Denver and now I am stuck with PTSD from it.  The turbulence was bad juju magumbo and every flight for my stupid fucking job since, has had me white knuckling it the whole way there and back.   Hell I even almost assumed crash position on one flight at take off.  However, as a big man, there were other reason I also hated traveling.   Have you ever walked onto a plane and read the eyes of every passenger.  Looking at you and thinking omg, I hope I don't have to sit next to them because they are so large?  It lead me to only flying first class, or getting two seats on the plane.  I am not lying those eyes that are haunted whether you are seated o...
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Under 300—More Than Just a Number

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  Saturday May 2, 2026: It was probably the most nerve-racking drive to a WW meeting I’ve ever had. I’ve made that trip in the late ’80s, again in the ’90s, the 2000s, the 2010s—and now the 2020s—but I don’t think I’ve ever felt nervous.  I was not nervous when I went in August of last year for the first time in a long time, I said I was going and I went.   I kept telling myself that it didn't matter, it was just a number.  I kept telling myself that my self worth wouldn't change regardless of the out come.  It didn't and it hasn't.  However, even as I told myself it was just a number on a scale and weight was a fickle thing that can hinge of so many things besides just what you eat.  We are talking sleep, mood, what you drink, when you drank it, restroom breaks and regularity, it all goes into the end result.  There was a nervous tension in my car and no matter how much I tried to lose myself in the podcast I was playing, my mind was thinkin...
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Maiden Voyage on a Ship of Fools....

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Sunday April 26, 2nd Voyage   Maiden Voyage on a Ship of Fools....  I can hear it in my head crisp and clear, well as crisp and clear as a Jerry recording could be on any given night at a Grateful Dead Show, and the lyrics just kept pumping through my head on Friday afternoon as I was out on Phantom for her Maiden Voyage: " Ship of fools sail away from me It was later than I thought when I first believed you But now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools" It didn't start that way, but it sure became the way really fast.  Rule number 1 of riding a bike with electronic gears.  Make sure your gears are charged.  Crazy we have come to a world where it is hard to be smarter than the bike you ride.   The gearing is quite sophisticated these days and power is required to make them work.  I was lucky, I was doing a thirty minute easy ride, and that I was doing low power, low HR, and high cadence and my bike was stuck in the granny gear.   F...
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