Mountain Biking to Football to Casting Couch??

Well with some of the best November weather I have ever seen in my life (yes, I know that’s alot of Novembers!!), I took every opportunity available to get out on a bike, managing a ride every day (until Friday...more on this later).    Nothing of real significance to report on any of the rides; was able to get out on the road bike, and the mountain bike during the week.  The weather was amazing...although a little breezy.  In fact on a 100 km road ride with Fig and Rich (not the band, just a couple of riding buddies), we managed an average of 34.7 km/hr for the first 50 km of the ride...however the return leg was directly into the head wind.  It was a struggle to keep the speedometre anywhere near 30 km/hr, which made for huge work and a great burn; but it is annoying when you really like to go fast.  Anyways, it was a great week to take advantage of the great weather while we have it...then Friday hit.

There was nothing wrong with the weather on Friday; it’s that the Grey Cup is this weekend, so this week was chalk full of related festivities.  Being originally from Saskatchewan, I am a huge CFL fan...specifically, a Rider fan...so at 1pm we (my sister is visiting from Saskatchewan) trundled off to Toronto to attend Riderville.  I can honestly say that I have never seen so many intoxicated people in one place (not even my family reunion!!); but everyone there to have fun and enjoy a great time. 

 

 

 

The problem was...as I am sure you can tell...my caloric consumption control was, of course...out the window.  Anyways, Lois confirmed that even Superman was allowed to have a day off every now and then...and she offered to be the ‘head’ (pun fully intended) cheerleader for Team Riot. 

 

Well can’t have a head cheerleader without a full squad, so somehow it got mentioned that I was looking for cheerleaders for the Team Riot Mountain Bike Race Club (I did not, however, mention that I was the only club member)...and with that the lineups started for interviews.  So, I dusted off the old casting couch, and the rest is history...

 

 

 

Then Lois decided she should also do some interviewing...

That is actually former Saskatchewan Roughrider Lance Frazier.  Then Lois disappeared to the washroom to conduct the interview (I guess it’s quieter there).  I don’t really understand how it works...but she came back with this guy.

I know, I know...too much juvenile humour again...sorry but it could’ve been worse...

 

Or worse...

 

OK...I know I'm going overboard when my own cat Shadow gives me the gears...

 

Anyways...once again...completely off track!  The only bad thing about Friday night...was that I had a Mountain Bike Ride planned with EnglishJim, NewfieSteve, and Fig for Saturday....and when Saturday morning came around I did not feel well.  I am really not that tough...kinda like this guy...

 

Damn!  Sorry Shadow...  Anyways, head pounding, stomach churning, and legs of rubber, I did tough it out and hit the trails.  If fact, it was NewfieSteve that ended up having a near fatal crash...notice the bike seat...

 

It was OK...apparently he has two (or so he claims).  Actually, the worst part of this two hour ride was once done, EnglishJim decided we had to celebrate with a round (or three) of 40 Creek (very good Canadian Whiskey)...yeah...that was just what I needed (a very strong tone of sarcasm here). 

 

 However, NewfieSteve explained to me that it was part of the mountain bike culture to be one with nature...not really sure how that works, but if it made sense to a Newfie it had to be good!

Sunday (today), was the first really cold, snowy day of the week, so I stayed in and rode the trainer to a new Sufferfest video (Angels, followed by a segment of Hell Hath No Fury)...and now I am going to pit in to watch the actual Grey Cup.  So, dang it...I did it again...I apologize for getting so drastically off the rails so often...I promise I will do better to stay on topic.

Next time!  J

Life's Questions Answered

So...as I mentioned in my last post I have been asked a couple of questions (couple = 3 in this case), so this post will be the answer post.  Let us begin...

Questions 1),  "You mentioned in earlier posts your nutrition plan to cut weight...how does that work?"

Answer:  Well, now with my background in kinesiology and biology my first instinct is to give all the details.  So, my challenge here is to take a long boring detailed answer, and make it short and boring...so here it is.  First, I calculate my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)...BMR is the minimum calories you need to maintain the body’s life functions while at rest (just lying motionless...no bad sex jokes here please...).  For me this calculation is 1 calorie x body weight in kg x 24 hours.  For females the calculation is a little different.  The calculation is also different depending on your body fat percentage.  Because this blog is about me (I guess that means I am vain...not vane cuz then I would look like this...

 

Or maybe more like this...

Anyways as an example I am using my numbers.  If you are interested in having your own numbers calculated send me a smoke signal and I will respond.  If you have forgotten how to smoke signal comment at the bottom of the post or email me at riotonracing@gmail.com otherwise contact me through the Justice League.  (That is a Superman reference in case you missed it)

Now in addition to the BMR, calories are also burned by doing daily activities.  For me this is mostly working at my computer and walking to business meetings (also those more personal activities, that I don’t blog about here) which all together, in my case, burn about another 30% of calories.

So, here is my calculation to total my calorie requirement per day, not including excersise:

Weight = 195 lbs = 88.45 kg.

1calorie x 88.45kg x 24 + 30% = 2760 calories per day. 

This means I require 2760 calories per day just to maintain my present weight.  However, I am attempting to reduce my body fat so I reduce this caloric goal by 1000 which brings it to 1760 calories.

Now I also exercise (cycling, lifting, hockey) so I calculate the calories burned by each activity (using a heart rate monitor, or a website like My Fitness Pal) and add those calories to my nutrition intake for that day.  So if I burn 1200 calories cycling one day I will  try to keep my caloric intake under 2970 calories (the 1760 calories above plus the 1200 burned cycling) for that day.

Sorry about all of the math...I have tried to minimize it here.  If you are like Lois, you hate math at least this much...

Or

Now this wonderfully intoxicating story does not end here (spoiler alert...the butler didn’t do it).  I just can’t go eating 2970 calories of anything each day.  If I eat 2970 of ice cream and peanuts every day, I may look happy, but I will be a fat mess...and spend more time than I care to on the can.  Getting all of my daily calories from whiskey may sound good too...but I don’t think I would remember much of the rest of my life...and there is the occasional day I prefer not to forget.

Speaking of peanuts...since we started putting peanuts on our back deck for the squirrels we have ended up with a veritable menagerie.

 

 

And yes they continue to drive our cats nuts...to where the cats are plotting revenge...

 

 

Anyways, I am getting way off track here again...although I am sure you are happy that there are no juvenile half naked pics this time.

 

 

Ooops!!  Damn!!  Sorry...that one slipped in.  (yes another juvenile reference...for your enjoyment)

Anyways...back on track.  It is necessary to get a proper mix of nutritional macronutrients, so I try to get one third of my calories per day from each macronutrient...protein, carbohydrate, and fat.

I also try to keep my food organic as much as possible, I avoid anything processed, stay with low glycemic carbs, and try to minimize saturated fats.  I do however really like good Canadian whiskey.

 

As mentioned, I track all of my nutrition and exercise on the website www.myfitnesspal.com If you want to check out my food/exercise diary you can find me on there as RiotMTB.

Anyways...this question and my digression have taken so much time, that I will have to answer the other questions (one regarding why I race at my age...jerk!!...and the other why I blog about it) in a future post.

So, stay posted!

Mountain Bike Post...Eventually

OK, my apologies for so long in between posts.  Between, riding, work, saving the universe and attending to Lois’ every wish, time has caught up to me (OK, I’ve just been lazy).  In case you are new to the blog, and don’t get the ‘universe/Lois’ references, let me fill in the gap.  Lois (aka Heidi, aka my spouse) referred to me as her Superman after me and NewfieSteve managed a tag-team podium in an 8-hour mountain bike race...and the rest is history.

Here is an artists rendition of me in my Superman garb.

Actually Lois doesn’t like when I wear the Superman outfit...it reminds her of the circus, and she is terrified of the circus ever since the time she was attacked by a mime, who did unspeakable things to her.

She isn’t the only one in the family who isn’t overly thrilled with the Superman thing...

I don’t know why cat’s always have that FU look on their face...but it makes for great pics.

Almost makes you forget how stupid cats can be...

 

Because I often use these pics a loyal follower of this blog (there are two of you, you know), sent me this pic...

So I tried this on our cat Max while he was sitting on my lap...the lacerations on my thighs should heal in a week or so...but then Max plopped himself down, and gave me this...

 

Anyways....I am so fricken off track here!!  This is an MTB blog dammit!  So...mountain biking... we have been so lucky with the weather for November (après Sandy), that I have managed to get 9 good rides in during the 9 days since my last post (did not ride every day…had a couple of 2-a-days).  Also managed to get in regular lifting (strength) sessions. 

Nothing overly exciting with the rides.  Plenty of trees down on the trails last week after the winds.  One ride was with BicycleWorksPaul, who wanted to test ride a brand new carbon Kona HeiHei.  We rode the Dump Run.  It’s called the Dump Run cuz it runs by an old municipal dump…not because it used to scare the living crap out of me…there are a couple of nasty sections...now it just scares me, so I am progressing.

The most intense rides were this Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday I managed two separate rides on the Dump Run, with two separate groups of guys.  I was exhausted!!  But Sunday had me on a road ride with Rod, Centurion (his nickname is Joe), Rich, and NewfieSteve; a group of damn fast guys...especially after the Saturday rides!!  We went for a total of 99 minutes at an average pace of 34.1 km/hour!!!  What I can’t believe is Centurion...this was only his second ride since the summer and he still kicked our asses.  And he is the oldest one of the group...he is what we call...a machine!!

Finally, as I mentioned in the last post, I am attempting to cut the weight I had gained since the end of race season.  So to keep myself accountable, last weekend I weighed in at 200 pounds....this weekend 195...so on my way.

I have been asked what kind of nutrition plan I follow to do this, but since I have already wasted so much time and space on this post I will cover that, and a couple of other questions that have been thrown at me next post.

 Stay tuned.

 

Happy Hallowcane

Well Hurricane Sandy is past, but left us with a few days of nasty weather.  In fact, we have been a week without the sun!!  All the rain has meant riding the trainer, Sufferlandrian style.  As I mentioned in my last post, I am using the Sufferfest videos when riding the trainer.  They are great!!  They almost (almost!) make riding the trainer fun.  And it is important that I stay active through the poor weather.  Since racing season ended I have been eating so badly…having to eat and drink everything I wouldn’t when training.  And of course, this week was Halloween…the candy really helped my dilemma.  If you didn’t notice this year Halloween somewhat coincided with a full moon…which made for some ‘squirrelly’ behavior around our house.

If you have pets, you may notice how they tend to go a little nutty during a full moon.  We have a couple of cats, and a local squirrel decided to torture them through our patio door this Halloween (OK maybe it was because I tossed a stash of peanuts outside the patio door).

A couple of blue jays also got in on the action.

Anyways once the cats realized that I was getting a good laugh out of their torment they got me back. 

It wasn’t only the animals that the full moon and Halloween were having an effect on.  For some reason my friend DickBall (aka Richard…yes this is the same Richard that lent me his bike to race with while mine was ‘gone’…Thanks again Richard!) thought that it was not at all inappropriate to send Lois (aka my wife) this fancy pic of him in his Halloween costume.

 

So of course, I had Lois take a pic of me in my costume, and promptly sent it to Christine (aka Richards’ wife).

 

It wasn’t so much a costume, though, as it was my ancestors’ traditional garb.  I probably, still shouldn’t have handed out candy in that costume though.  Ah well, it was all good since I think the display on our front step kept most of the kids away.

 

Anyways…I am getting so woefully off track here!!  As I mentioned, due to the weather this week was all on the trainer…until today (Friday).  With no rain today (and the sun actually peaking through!), I managed to get out for a real road ride.  I chased my friend Rod around on his new S-Works Venge.  That man can ride a bike!  He is a bodybuilder turned cyclist; which means he is a powerhouse!!  Anytime he stands up to go, you have to be ready…or else he will drop you!  It made for an excellent workout.

As I mentioned earlier, I have not been training with any structure, and have been eating whatever is in front of me (or beside me...or anywhere near me)…and I have been getting soft (as you can tell by my Halloween pic above).  So I weighed myself this morning.  200 lbs.  That is my trigger that it is time to get back on the discipline. 

So this is my plan; I will not yet start a structured training plan at this early point…I will just continue to ride as often as possible, and lift weights at least twice per week.  However, will start a cutting nutrition plan, to lose the bulk (fat) and get back as lean as I like to be.  My plan is to get down to 190lbs in November and down to 185 by Christmas; and maintain that into the new year when I will start a structured training plan.

I will keep you posted on that progress!!