that's cow crud on my glasses...

[stego]

out east of Austin they had themselves a mountain bike race...as part of the Texas state series. I have been racing for about 3 1/2 years. In March of 2004 my wife and I went to WW on the day of the great American weigh-off and I weighed in just shy of 300 lbs. The next year was a journey of weight loss. I joined the ranks of lifetime member in July of 2005 and have more or less maintained. But I caught a tread the other day about having difficulty...and realized that is me! Sure, I've had some "dunlap" but I chalked that up to my lifetime reminder to keep me honest. But the pants have been getting tight...and the old infernal habit of snacking is literally biting me in the...well, you get the idea. I've been racing, but running has become such a big part of my training. Well, approaching mid 40's I've discovered that I am a bit more susceptible to injury and something happened...I got injured...and couldn't run. So my training went down and unhappiness came along and the old habits came back. They always do. But I started going to the WW meetings again more reguarly and for some reason I was motivated to get back on track. I get some really bad hunger pains but don't we all! I see a number of riders trying to lose a few lbs. on their bike when it would be easier to lose 20 on me! What worked before was to lose the 5 then the 10. I've raced 2 races of 6 and the first one wasn't so good but I did better yesterday. The past two years I have been trying to get up to the expert level and in order to do so I need two top 5 finishes...and last fall had two 6th places. I'm close but not there yet. I went to see a specialist and he told me what was wrong...it will take awhile to heal but I can continue to race. I've noticed a number of posts on running events but really hadn't seen any on cycling events and particualrly mountain biking so here it is... so thought I'd share a photo. I've come a long way from almost 300 lbs.

http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/showphoto.php/photo/29955/sort/3/cat/500/page/1

 

[WDWFAN9]

Thanks for sharing your story! There are a few bikers on the team, mostly as part of a tri.

 

[Maherae]

Great job, stego!! On the races AND the weight loss!!

We used to have an adventure biker, but she got a job at a bike store and we rarely see her any more! Like WDWFAN9/Pat said, there are bikers here. We enjoy hearing about the adventure events!! and training is training... so !! Anne

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Welcome to WISH Stego!

It's great to read your story. You have come a long way that is for sure!
Congratulations!

Stop by often and post. We'd love to hear from you.

 

[ironz]

Great pic! Is that at Warda?
Have done a trail run there.
My poor mt. bike is dusty (and not from being ridden outside).

 

[stego]

This Sunday they are having the first race close to Austin @ Reimer's Ranch. I noticed not so many out at Warda this year. I could have sworn there were 50 guys in my age group last year. I have noticed there are a few roadies on the WISH board. Mountain biking racing is a whole other beast...requires techinical skills, short bursts etc. I do have a road bike but it is a TOOL for my training: intervals and endurance. Austin has a very good mountain bike community, and Texas has a great racing series.

 

[wtpclc]

Wow, congratulations! Thanks fro sharing and i look forward to hearing more! We may not share the same sport, but we are all workign towards teh same goal and using racing as our inspiration to get us going.

Maybe we need to change the weekly thread to the Racing CLub? I know you're not a walker or a runner, but you are more than welcome there!!