I shall carry on from where I left off from last time. I went to a LBS to get my bike checked out and fitted. The owner is an old Russian guy and is quite a character, amazingly straightforward, critical yet funny. He said that I put the bike together nicely and that I have mechanic potentials (lol that was a shocker). And complimented the bike, especially at the price I got it for :) He then fitted me on the bike. He made the bike very aero and taught me some techniques, including having elbows at 90 degree angles. Apparently I have a nice seat with a curve on my back unlike many other cyclists. There were rides leaving the shop on Saturdays and I asked if I could join. He said sure, if the weather is good and so we were to meet and ride on Saturday morning.
When I got back from the store, I took the bike for a spin around where I live. I was anxious because it's so so hilly around here. I went down the huge hill where I live and felt that I was going to tip over. In general the bike feels better than my old one. Especially when I stand up to pedal - it is so smooth and seems to move with me unlike my old one which felt very jerky (this might be due to the bike fit too). I finished the spin and was going back home when I missed my turn and was now at a 3 way stop sign. I was waiting for cars to go so that I could make a U-turn. But every one of the cars told me to go first. This is in stark contrast to Australia (lots of roundabouts instead of stop signs), where they never waited for me even if it was my turn to go and I have heard of many stories about drivers running cyclists off the road. Anyway, so off I went back towards the hill where I live. I think the gradient is over 13% ahhhh. I was shifting down and realized that there were no more gears left....gotta get used to the compact crankset!
On Friday, I decided to go for a ride around the area. I'm not supposed to do hills (says my coach), yet it's hard to map a flat ride without hills given it's the bay area. So I ended up going on Canada rd (quite flat), then climbed King's Mountain rd (that seemed like a never ending climb with an average gradient of 9%) and descended on Skyline blvd (a good but bumpy descent). The view was so beautiful around here - all dark green and lush and lively unlike the LA area. On my way back to the carpark, I was at a busy intersection. I signaled to turn left and behold, cars slowed down for me to pass. Once again, such a move would go unnoticed by Aussi drivers.
On Saturday, I was pretty excited to be riding with other people. I drove to the carpark behind the bike shop to meet up with the Russian dude and the others. I waited for a while, but no one showed up. So I found another ride. It's a ride with a bike shop in Pleasanton. Pretty far drive but I wanted to ride with others. That was a 30 miles ride including some climbs. There were only three of us on the ride including the ride leader. The other guy is quite fat but has lots of leg muscles. His ego seemed rather damaged when I could climb faster than him...I don't see how he would think he could be faster than me on the mountains with all his mass. I was still thinking about what happened with the Russian man, because knowing him (after an hour), I knew that he would not not show up. So after the ride, I went over to the shop to say hello. Apparently he was waiting for me inside his shop.....while I was waiting for him inside my car....and since I 'didn't show up', he didn't go ride. Anyways, I hanged out in the shop for a while, talked to a couple of other cyclists who were also hanging around. They told me some nice rides around the area and some clubs to join. The Russian dude then told me to contact his friend who is a cycling coach - he has coached Olympians and world champions.
On Sunday, I was supposed to do a long ride. But I was lazy and actually my legs were sore. So I just did the Bicycle Sunday ride on Canada rd (where the road is closed to traffic). I did 2 laps, admired the beauty of Crystal Springs and felt rather bored. Was going to do a 3rd lap, but sustained a bird poop...ewwww...so I cut the ride short. Upon return to the car and investigation in the mirror, there was nothing on me. It may have just been a wet leaf, less ewwww, but still eww.
I NEED to lose weight. In the holidays I was at 61 kg, gained around 1.5 kg while at home. During the last couple of weeks, there were no food temptations, currently at 58.5 kg. I need to get down to 56 kg by the end of March. It’s going to be easy I think. There are many areas where subcutaneous fat needs to be lost, for instance, tummy (0.5 kg), arms (0.2 kg), legs (0.5 kg), everywhere else (1 kg) and visceral fat too (1 kg). Right now I have 20% body fat or 11.8 kg of fat. If I lose 3 kg of fat, then I would be at 15.7% body fat. But by that time, I would likely have more muscles, so the actual body fat percentage would be lower.
Which reminds me, I was watching the following...
Andy Schleck is already so skinny and had to lose 1-2 kg for the tour?! It looked like he could possibly faint with each step. This video was great to gain a perceptive into the pro life....I want to train full time, work with the best people etc...one can daydream :) And 'I have Frank in the race, when there is a crash I always look to see if he is there....I don't care so much about myself, because I feel safe'...that is so sweet.
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