The Other Don Kelly

There have not been too many morning weigh-ins posted here lately, but that does not mean my obsession has abated. Far from it — I actually started keeping a log of my daily weights as a spreadsheet, and set up an R script to analyze and graph the results. Behold my weight loss since late June:

The blue dots are my weight measurements, the black dotted line represents a “linear best fit,” and the red curve represents a smoothed, “LOESS best fit.” My target weight is 167 pounds, which is the weight I need for a BMI of 25, the highest “normal” BMI — I get to 167# and I am no longer overweight.

I used the linear regression to figure when I’ll reach my target — it’s not shown here, but the black line is set to cross that green line on October 19th. The red curve is kind of showing me hitting a wall near 170# though, so we’ll see…

Anyway, today was the group ride with Sights for Hope. Anne arranged for a bunch of tandem bicycles, and sighted captains to pilot them, to give sight-impaired people a chance to go for a bike ride. Scott S, Brian S and Ben (who came up from Philly with his sight-impaired friend William) were the captains, and one couple came with their own tandem, so there were four tandems in all. (Ann, Sara A and I rode our regular bikes in support.) We went around the loop of the Ironton Rail-Trail, about 5 miles or so, then had a lunch break before calling it a day. A very pleasant ride, and a very interesting group of people.

I did a ride and two walks yesterday. The ride really boosted my civic pride, but the walks, especially the second one, left me feeling deflated and outraged.

The ride was in the morning, and was a collaboration between CAT and the Bethlehem Historical Society. We rode around town, visiting various historic places (the original Moravian residence halls, the Colonial Industrial Quarters, Sand Island, Burnside Plantation) while our guide Keith told us about what we saw at these places. Some of it I already knew, but plenty was new to me and all of it was interesting. All in all it was a pretty good way to spend an autumn morning.

In the afternoon I decided to go get my flu shot, so I walked over to CVS on 8th Avenue. It’s just under a mile through our neighborhood, and a very pleasant walk, up until I had to leave the neighborhood and walk a short section of 8th Ave that’s basically a highway. What an unpleasant, noisy, and dirty mess! I almost got hit too, when I had to cross the road (at the walk sign) and someone making a left almost ran me down — his green light coincided with my walk signal, a classic WTF design, and I don’t think he saw me, or even looked, until he was practically on top of me.

The second walk was with Anne, a longer version of our evening stroll: we went up Broad and down Main, then crossed the Fahy Bridge, walked through Southside on 3rd and returned to the Avenues via the Hill-to-Hill Bridge. There was a rotting garbage smell in all sorts of odd places, possibly from the most recent “WhateverFest” last week, and overflowing garbage cans (and public drunks) along Main Street from whatever the current circus is; we managed to see — and hear, from really far away — parties or concerts at several public and private venues. On the Hill-to-Hill Bridge we negotiated a gauntlet of broken auto glass, garbage and dog poop while dealing with the obnoxiously noisy traffic just yards away. (Meanwhile, the big bright animated billboard had an ad shining down on us, touting the Lehigh valley as a great place for happy farmers and cyclists.)

It was all a bit much.

Anyway, the quartet is getting together this afternoon, for the first time in maybe a year.

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 13% BF

I grabbed the road bike yesterday and went out for a hilly ride through Freemansburg, but something was wrong with my front shifting, and when I stopped to look at the situation — just in front of the Freemansburg Hill Climb entrance, ironically — I saw that my front derailleur was pretty messed up, like it had shifted its position on the frame and the chainrings were grinding into it. Not an easy roadside fix… I turned around and managed to limp home, but once I had access to my tools and a bike stand I was able to get the derailleur back in place pretty quickly. I’m still not sure what happened, but the bike is working fine now.

So today Anne and I went out for a morning coffee ride, out to Taylor Roasted in Northampton. On the way we passed our favorite bakery (La Luna), so we stopped in there to pre-game with a cup and a donut, then continued on — a two-cafe day! But, when we got to our destination we found Taylor Roasted closed, and not like we were there at an off hour or day either: closed closed. We were a bit put out but hey, at least we got some La Luna… We took the Nor-Bath trail home.

At home I looked up what had happened to Taylor Roasted, and it was a doozy: there is a small park next to the shop, and one night someone took a garden hose from the park, stuck it in the shop’s equipment exhaust pipe, and turned on the water. The place was flooded out and ruined, and their roasting equipment was wrecked; they’re temporarily closed now while they do repairs. According to Facebook there has been an outpouring of community support, but man, people can be awful.

This afternoon was cello duets with Donna H, where it seems we have upped our game lately: we’re playing a lot of new and more difficult pieces, feeling more confident about them, and playing them unexpectedly well.

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 15% BF

Rest day today. The rest of the week is supposed to be rainy, so I did towpath rides yesterday and the day before, and in the heat they took a bit more out of me than usual. It’s so nice out right now, despite the heat (and the rainy forecast), that I’m starting to rethink my decision…

We were scheduled to go camping in the Finger Lakes this week, and canceled because of the weather forecast: rain and more rain. I just checked the current forecast, and it looks like staying indoors will be a good idea hereabouts — we even have a flash flood warning for this afternoon — but the Ithaca forecast is starting to look much less severe. Oh well.

UPDATE: We got some rain, and I expect we’ll get some more in an hour or so. Meantime, enjoy this view of LANTA’s routes and stops, suitable for framing on refrigerators everywhere. The routes are blue lines, the stops are green dots, and the municipalities are color-coded white to red based on how many routes and stops are within their borders. I did this to just see which municipalities are not served by permanent routes. Some, like outlying farmland, make sense, but there are other municipalities, centrally located and with sizeable populations, with no bus service. Huh. (LANTA does run a shuttle service in some of these areas, but it’s available by appointment only, and has no permanent routes or stops.)

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 12% BF

I’ve been trying to lose weight again lately, and to clean up my diet in general, trying to bring down my cholesterol, triglycerides etc. Nothing major, but I cut back — not stopped, just cut back — on meat, cheese, certain fatty foods, and beer, and now I’m starting to notice a difference. My weight has dropped some more, and I seem to have a bit more energy. I thought the beer would be harder to give up, but that was easy compared to, say, cheese.

I’ve also been putting a lot of road miles lately, which I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying. (I’m also surprised at my surprise, if you know what I mean — I love riding the road.) That has also helped with the weight loss, and the hill rides especially have noticeably improved my fitness. The extra road miles have also revealed a whole slew of mechanical issues I’ll have to deal with: one of my pedals needs replacing but can’t be removed from the crank, the chain/drivetrain is starting to feel worn, and while I was trying to track down some other problem I discovered that the entire cassette/hub is loose, like “wobbling like a loose tooth” loose, and that’s bad — I might have to replace the wheel. Oy.

Both of the other bikes are also showing signs that they’ll need more love before they get much more use: I had to tighten the Iguana’s headset (which I replaced just a year or so ago) , and I’m trying to track down yet another squeak near the bottom bracket on the Santa Cruz. The bike work area could also use some love, or at least a good straightening so I can find my tools…

I got in a nice towpath ride this morning, before the day became too hot.

Speaking of towpaths… I’m back volunteering at the Canal Museum again, currently working through their fleet of rental bikes and making sure they’re seaworthy. Nothing major, the majority just need a few minor adjustments and a little air. There’s probably plenty of other work waiting after the bikes get done.

And finally, I’m playing music with others again. I played with Donna H this afternoon, and we’ve been getting together for duets for a few weeks now. The quartet (minus our viola, at least until until she gets back from England) has been playing a bit as well. There’s even been some recent talk of getting the cello/oboe ensemble back together.

My days are getting full.