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As the days passed, the gods of physiology and biomechanics cut me some slack, little by little. I could eventually pedal without coasting every 3-4 strokes and I could make it to the top of small rises while still seated. It was time to put a goal out there and I decided that the Sonoma Waves to Wine would be a good one. Monique and I could train together and arrive at the event in roughly the same physical condition.
It was early August now, and I had ridden every day since my showdown with the mirror. I had sworn off pizzas and hamburgers and I had cut my alcohol consumption down considerably. I had an occasional beer or glass of wine, but no hard stuff, and no multiple-drink nights. Doing just that much helped me feel better and I noticed improvements in my cycling. My regular cycling workout was a 26-mile loop to Nimbus Dam and back, riding along the American River. I would ride that at a high tempo in the heat with my heart rate well into what I would find out was my threshold. The first time I rode that route, it took me 1:45. By the beginning of August I shaved off 4 minutes. In cycling time, that's pretty good, especially for a guy who was learning to crawl again.
Monique started riding with me on the weekends to get ready for the Waves to Wine tour. At first we would ride to Folsom and back, stopping at a small novelty store in Folsom for a lemonade before turning back home. Later that month we would ride together to Nimbus Dam, a full 10 miles longer than the route we started with. Monique has the body of a cyclist; strong legs light upper body. But she doesn't like the physical suffering associated with training. I've ridden in her draft through the Palo Alto hills where she's averaging 18-19 MPH. And then there were rides where 12 miles an hour on the flats seemed like a huge effort. It was frustrating at times, but its still fun to ride with her. We had to make a deal - when I felt like my spring was coiling and I needed to go fast, I would sprint out ahead and meet her at an agreed-upon point on the course. This arrangement worked out fine and we both got to go at our own pace at various times in our rides.
By the end of August, I had dropped 10 pounds and I was cycling regularly to Goethe Park and back, a 42-mile loop along the American River. After two months I was starting to get the feel for the bike again, and I was enjoying my rides more than ever. I was still riding every day, gong all-out as much as I could - that's how I had always ridden, since I started cycling seriously in 1989. Go out for an hour and a half and stomp on the pedals. Now I could do that for two and a half hours and I could see gains in both my weight loss and my cycling performance. Cycling also has its psychological benefits and I did my best thinking on the road. I was less anxious during the day and I felt like I had more energy, even into the evening hours. My bandmates in Tao Jones started noticing too, and they were extermely supportive and encouraging with my new fitness "kick".
For the first time in a long time I felt like I had momentum, that things were falling into place for me and that someday I could fit into size 30 pants again. That was pretty lofty at the time, but not a bad goal to have. I lost another 4 pounds in Septemeber through a combination of cycling and better portion control. I still let myself have sweets, but not to the extent I allowed myself before July. In two and a half months, I had learned to crawl again - and even to walk - and I started becoming more and more curious as to how far I could take this. I was about to find out.
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Author's Note: I wrote this article in the Fall of 2004 and since then I have received great feedback and a request to make it more available. Since then, I've lapsed into some old (bad) habits but I'm on my way back. A new "Re-Reinventing the Cyclist" is in the works. For now, I hope you can find some nugget of usefulness from this archive. - Carlo