family time and fitting in cycling

An anonymous commenter recently asked if I ever spent time with my family. I didn't post the comment, as I suspected initially it was a barb directed at me given recent changes in my personal life this past year. However, after thinking about it more, I realized it could be that the person genuinely was interested in whether I saw my family, given their knowledge of my life is limited to what is reflected here online.

I do see my children often - and I spend time with them more than a lot of fathers, even those who are still living with their kids under the same roof. The parenting arrangement is between their mother and I, not anyone else. Their mother has not given me any indication that scheduling has been unsatisfactory as far as she or the children are concerned, in fact, I have agreed with the plan proposed by her, not the other way around. Additionally, she has requested that I refrain from posting personal details about my life and the current situation.

My kids
Rachel - posed for the pic as she wears a helmet when riding at all times


Lauren


I started cycling because I did not want to end up on a slab at the morgue at 38 years-old, a very real possibility according to my physician at the time. I was overweight (230+ pounds) and had extremely high cholesterol and developed high blood pressure. Medicated and unhappy, and seeing my life ending before seemingly it had ever begun, I happened upon cycling in 2007 as a means of improving my health. This blog, amongst other things, has chronicled this journey. I started with the goal of saving money on prescription drugs, co-pays, and add years to my life. I didn't want to die before seeing my kids through high school and college, and enjoying grandkids.

I am telling you today sitting here at about 165 pounds that my life and health have changed and changed for the better - I eat salads now and enjoy it. There have been some personal struggles and failures I have been dealing with in the past year which are independent of my bicycling activities. I am attacking the future head-on with positivity and zeal. I no longer will tolerate negativity and pointless criticism. I will allow time and expect God to judge me.

A book of inspiration for me was "Heft on Wheels" by Mike Magnuson. I would suggest anyone wanting to make a paradigm shift in their life read this book, especially if cycling could be the answer.

I do not want to see my friends and colleagues, a generation of great men, become victims to their diets, careers, and lifestyles. Refuse to succumb to what society thinks is "good enough" and stretch the paradigm. A medicated, overfed, and undernourished lifetime is not enough for me... nor should it be for you or anyone.



Others who have slimmed down through cycling...
Fatty
Frank Kinlan

...I'll add more as I find them...

cycling stats

* A 200-pound cyclist burns 546 calories while going 12 miles per hour-almost the equivalent of a Big Mac®.

* The Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health said, "Physical activity of the type that improves cardiovascular endurance [such as cycling] reduces the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, hypertension, colon cancer, and type 2 diabetes and improves mental health. Findings are suggestive that endurance-type physical activity [such as cycling] may reduce the risk of developing obesity, osteoporosis, and depression and may improve psychological well-being and quality of life."

* According to the National Sporting Goods Association, consumers bought 18.5 million bicycles in 2003.

* Some 42.5 million Americans ride bicycles, according to the National Sporting Goods Association’s 2000 study. This is more than the numbers that participate in other leading sports (29.4 million basketball players, 27.5 million golfers, 22.5 million runners, 13.2 million soccer players, 11.2 million tennis players, and 7.7 million downhill skiers).

Information pulled from the League of American Bicyclists' web site.

3,200 mile mission

A group of med students are planning a 3,200 mile cross-the-US bike tour to raise funds for Heal Africa and World Bicycle Relief.

World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005 in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami and provides bicycles to villagers to make it easier for children to get to school, help adults carry more goods to market, and provide an easier method for health-care workers to travel to villages where they educate the people on disease prevention, such as HIV/AIDS.

Ride for World Health (R4WH) is a national, nonprofit organization which advocates for improvements in the quality and accessibility of global healthcare. Each year, by utilizing a cross-country bike ride as a vehicle of communication, R4WH addresses this issue through political advocacy, fundraising and its unique Coast-to-Coast Lecture Series.

Safe Routes to School

Today I attended a workshop put on by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, taught by staff from the national (USDOT-funded) SRTS program.

The emphasis of the SRTS program is on improving physical barriers to having kids walk or bicycle to school and enhancing safety through education. The reasons for the program (i.e. why it is good for kids to walk or bicycle to school) are many: reduce traffic congestion, improve physical health of kids (combats childhood obesity), improves the environment (improved air quality), and more.

I'll have more to post on this, but it was nice to see a lot of staff from various Washington school districts, King County DOT, Seattle DOT, WSDOT, and advocacy organizations like Feet First and Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

"It keeps me alive"

This morning, the temperature may have dipped into the upper 20s or lower 30s. I was pretty well covered in a basic commuter jacket, wintery (but still too thin for very cold weather) neoprene-like full-finger gloves, a full face (bank robber style) acrylic stocking cap, a Polartec acrylic fleece jersey, and wool (German Army surplus) knickers over Hincappie bib shorts. Note: I didn't wear (or even own?) a tall wool or wool blend sock, so about 6 inches of my lower legs were chilly...

While checking my bike in the midday today (I thought maybe I left my auxilary headlight turned on) a non-cycling coworker saw me and said something like "it's too cold to ride that today!"

My quick (but not necessarily well-thought-out) response: "It keeps me alive!"

I was expecting a reply back from her challenging or questioning how the bicycle keeps me alive, but there was none. It was an interesting but silent elevator ride back up to my floor. The whole time, of course, in my head, I'm trying to come up with a list of how bicycling keeps me alive.