It’s been about a month and a half since I reported that I had lost 20 pounds so it’s coming off a little more slowly now. I guess that’s not really surprising, once Amy got out to Colorado, I cut the duration of my daily rides from 121 minutes to 90 minutes (so she’d still want to marry me) but I hoped to make up for that by taking the dogs on a 2 mile walk every night.

In any event, I’m still on track to be 199 by January 1st and that’ll give me about 7 1/2 months to hit my target goal of 159 on 7/23/08. Why is it going to take me that long? I want to lose the weight but not any of the power, that would defeat the whole purpose of this exercise.

I’ve noticed a few interesting things:

1) I’m very, very good at riding right near my anaerobic threshold for long periods of time but terrible at medium paces or variable paces. This explains why I did so well in time trials but got my ass constantly kicked in criteriums when I raced.

2) Rest days are killers. Not the day you rest, but the day you come back. I’m currently on a 7-1-7-2 (7 days on, 1 day off, 7 days on, 2 days off, repeat) program and if I’m relatively inactive on that rest day, the first day back is always a killer. Counterintuitively, day 7 is ALWAYS my best day performance wise. I’ve set every average speed record on the 7th day.

3) I perform best between 66 and 68 degrees with 60% humidity or less.

4) Maybe it’s the altitude but I’m producing more power than I ever have in my life. Ever.

I’ll try to start posting more often but right now, it’s all about the bike.

I’ve never been a fan a big of Coldplay but I did appreciate my rediscovery of this awesome song at just the right time. The lyrics couldn’t be more perfect if I had penned them myself.

Amsterdam by Coldplay

Lyrics:

Come on, my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
If i, if I’d only waited
I’d not be stuck here in this hole

Come here, my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
And I swear, I waited and waited
I’ve got to get out of this hole

But time is on your side
Its on your side now
Not pushing you down and all around
It’s no cause for concern

Come on, oh my star is fading
And I see no chance of release
And I know I’m dead on the surface
But I am screaming underneath

And time is on your side
Its on your side now
Not pushing you down
And all around, no
It’s no cause for concern

Stuck on the end of this ball and chain
And I’m on my way back down again
Stood on a bridge, tied to the noose
Sick to the stomach
You can say what you mean
But it won’t change a thing
I’m sick of the secrets
Stood on the edge, tied to a noose
You came along and you cut me loose
You came along and you cut me loose
You came along and you cut me loose.

I’m not sure what is stranger, inmates in a Filipino prison doing an incredible rendition of this routine or me recognizing the dance when I didn’t have the sound turn on.