… that I’ve just been out on the bike and cycled 8 miles. Before breakfast.
It’s a shame I have to go to work on a day like today!

Went out this morning and bought a pump, a water bottle and a trip computer for the bike. So I can tell you with great confidence that I’ve just come back from cycling 16.3 miles, at an average speed of 10 miles per hour. On the hottest day of the year so far. I’ve just got out of the shower and I still haven’t cooled down!
Right, well, dinner should be just about ready and then I’m off to see my son this evening. He’s just come back from a week in Spain so I’m sure he’ll have lots to tell me

Last night I cycled somewhere between 14 and 15 miles. The weather was perfect, I was in the mood for a ride (first one for a week, slacker) and I felt really good doing it and wasn’t too out of breath at the end. At one point I looked down and saw lots of insects caught in the hairs on my arms, which made me think, if I’d managed to catch that many on my arms, how many had I caught with my teeth??
Here’s a summary of the weight reports over the last few weeks. It’s not looking too good, and I’m not going to put them in a chart because it would only look like a big “V”!
17 April 228
26 April 227
11 May 226
18 May 225
01 June 227
8 June 228
Looks like I either have to do a lot lot lot more exercise…. or I have to eat a lot lot lot less. Personally I’m in favour of upping the exercise, as I don’t like being hungry.

H’mmm…… first day of June, and guess what? It’s raining. Been raining all day, so far. If it’s not too breezy out later I might get the waterproofs on and do a few miles, although nowhere near as much as yesterday. I feel like I’m on a roll and don’t want to let up at the moment. If it’s too wet for cycling I’ll lift some weights at home instead.
This morning’s weigh-in came in at 16stone 3lbs (227lbs), so I’m still not managing to lose anything. I do feel good though, so I’m going to keep on convincing myself that I’m turning fat into muscle. If I keep this up then I should be able to see a visual difference in the size of my gut by the end of the summer (which, according to the length of the typical British summer, was this morning!)
Sorry I can’t think of anything more interesting at the moment – I’m a bit obsessed with my weight it seems! And you don’t want to hear about the tedium that is my job, do you?

Tonight’s bike ride: 10.8 miles, 75 minutes, 2 miles by road, the rest over paths and tracks. Lovely evening, no breeze, sun shining, only swallowed a few midges. The best bit is, I wouldn’t even say I’m out of breath, which considering I’m asthmatic is quite an achievement!
Oooooooooo I hope the weather stays like this, it was ab-so-lutely perfect out there this evening.

Monday was good. I exercised in the morning, was awake and alert all day at work, and got to bed before midnight.
Tuesday wasn’t so good. I was awake at 7:00, which meant that I didn’t have time to exercise but still got to work early (he said, finding the silver lining everywhere). Didn’t quite manage to get to bed before midnight.
Today I was awake at 6:15, 6:30 and 7:45. Bugger. Still early for work, which is good enough for me. But not good enough for losing some weight. I was thinking in the car on the way to work about how I was going to write a post along the lines of how crap I am, how I say I’ll change my life for the better, and then do something once and never do it again. So to prevent myself from writing that sort of post I forced myself to go out on the bike when I got home. Two minutes after I left home it started to drizzle. “Oh how wonderful,” I thought to myself. But I pressed on. The rain didn’t last, and I ended up cycling for an hour, following the same route I walked on Saturday morning.
It’s only when you’re cycling along a route you’ve previously walked that you realise just how far it actually is. I couldn’t believe I’d walked all that way and still had feet at the end of my legs instead of bloody stumps. Yay me.
I’ve done today’s exercise. I feel good, and can post here in confidence without fear of receiving comments saying “You’re crap. Just do it, you lazy bastard.”
By the way, this morning’s weigh-in came in at 16 stone 1 pound / 225 pounds, which ain’t bad going.

There’s a saying which goes “the only surefire way to catch a train is to miss the previous one”, and I’d like to add my own version, which goes: “The only surefire way of getting up early in the morning is to not go to bed the night before”.
Consequently, I looked out of the window at 4:30 this morning and noticed it was getting light. Blimey, I thought, it only got dark 5 minutes ago. So at 5:20am I left the house and went for a walk. There were a few clouds in the sky, fluffy white with red tinges where the sun was trying to get through. A bit chilly, a bit breezy, but very very quiet (what do you expect at that time of the morning?)
I walked and walked, down the Irwell Sculpture Trail which follows the path of a disused canal and a disused railway line. I stopped after a few miles, sat on a bench and smoked a cigarette. I looked at my watch. Still only 6:30am. “This is marvellous”, I thought to myself, “the day’s hardly started yet and here I am enjoying every moment of it.” The path, as expected, was quiet. On the walk out I saw two cyclists. I know it was very early on a Saturday morning, but I live in a city of several (well, a few) million people – you’d have thought more than three of us would have been up and about and getting away from it all.
I walked about 5 miles to the bridge over the motorway. I’ve no idea how far it was because I didn’t take my GPS with me (flat batteries). I didn’t take my camera either for the same reason (muct charge them up some time) so I missed the opportunity to take a photo of my long early-morning shadow, or the sun lighting up the tops of the trees and leaving the trunks in the shade. Of course, I can get similar pictures if I go back there when the sun is setting, but it’s not the same.
After standing on the bridge over the 8-lane road (and thinking where all those people are going at 7am on a Saturday), and feeling the bridge wobble a bit in the breeze, I turned round and headed for home. On the way back the trail got decidedly busy. I saw a cyclist and a lady riding a horse at the same time. Any more of this and I’ll have to fight my way through the crowds.
My legs started aching after 7 or 8 miles, and the last few miles back home were not quite torture, but a bit achy to say the least. I got back home at 8:45am, three and a half hours and probably somewhere in the region of nine or ten miles after leaving.
And boy do I feel good. Mentally, that is. Physically, I’m a wreck. There’s a massive blister on my right little toe, and my legs ache all over. But at least I can enjoy the rest of the day in the knowledge that my good deed to myself for the day is done. Hopefully I’ll be able to stay awake until a reasonable time this evening and get a good night’s sleep at the same time as everyone else (for a change).
You never know, I may feel like going out on the bike tomorrow!

I forgot to post an update on my weight loss yesterday. That’s because I stepped on the scales and was decidedly underwhelmed by the reading. I think in future I’m going to remove my glasses before weighing myself, because a) it will remove a couple of ounces from the reading and b) I won’t be able to see the figures anyway.
It’s a lovely evening tonight, perfect for a walk or a bike ride. But here I sit, too tired/lethargic/lazy (delete as applicable) to get off my arse and do anything. Maybe I’m still eating all the wrong things. Maybe I’m burned out and need a break from work to recharge my batteries. Maybe I am just intrinsically lazy.
I’m off work the week after next. It’ll be the first break from work (Christmas and public holidays excepted) that I’ve had since last August … or was it September? Far too long, at any rate. I’ve not got anything planned yet, I don’t think I’ll go away anywhere this time, but I’m definately going to use the time to relax, recharge, refresh, recouperate and reinvigorate myself. Really.
Oh by the way, my weight? In case you’re wondering it’s 3616 ounces