Bikes: Episode I

I suppose my connection with bikes begins beyond my memories. My earliest memories go back to when I'd ride along with my dad on the top tube of his green three speed, which had perhaps the first version of "Gripshift". It wasn't a beautiful bike by any stretch but I always thought it was so cool that you could shift gears by twisting the hand grip, like a dirtbike. Dad would take me for rides as I sat on the bar between the seat and the handlebar. I remember vaguely how that bar was so hard and narrow like it could cut into my bony butt as we bounced along the pothole-filled gravel road past our yard. My balance teetered on the edge of falling off but I had faith in dad, and my white knuckled grip on the handlebars. It always seemed like he went a little too fast.

One fateful day we were heading towards town about a quarter mile from our house when in my attempts to keep seated on the skinny bar I kicked my leg out to keep balance and my foot got wedged in the spokes of the front wheel just behind the front fork. Well my foot was the best braking mechanism that bike had ever seen. The front wheel came to a stop before the bike did and as quick as the rear wheel could leave the ground me and my dad hit the ground. The gravel, as I found out, was no place for sliding skin. I remember crying hard, until my stomach muscles hurt from not breathing between screams. I think I cried that whole quarter mile walk home and well after that.

My mom said that I was around 2 or 3 years old and details are a little hard to recall. I do know that my dad felt terrible cause my mom didn't approve of my riding with him like that at such a young age. This story came up just a few weeks ago and my mom still had a little "scolding" in her voice towards dad. Obviously I wasn't hurt severely and learned to trust my dad again but I don't know if I ever rode on that bar with my dad after that. You might think this event would have scared me away from biking but as it turned out it didn't, and I spent many more painful evenings cleaning the gravel out of my skin from similar incidents on that gravel road as I rode my own bike a little too fast.

Soul Connection

This post is in reference to Geez Magazine which you can find to the right under links. I just got edition 1 this week and started reading it today. WOW! This mag. reaches me like nothing I've read before. It's a thick mag. like National Geographic. No ads and tons of thought provoking articles and photos. There's not enough room here for me to explain it all to you and I'm kinda reeling from the pinpoint accuracy that it touched my present state. For the most part it's a magazine exploring the state of Christianity in north america. Challenging everyone to see the truth about faith and our sad state of religion. Here's a paragraph from the intro:

"We've set up camp in the outback of the spiritual commons. A bustling spot for the over-churched, out-churched, un-churched and maybe even the un-churchable. A location just beyond boring bitterness. A place for wannabe contemplatives, front-line world-changers and restless cranks. A place where the moon shines quiet, instinct runs mythic and belief rides a bike (or at least sits on the couch entertaining the possibility)."

There's articles on environment, evangelism, politics, and new angles on "the way we've always done things". I love the one about a man who witnessed an oil spill and stopped using petroleum powered transportation for 22 years. He spent 7 years walking across America while in a vow of silence that lasted 17 years.

I would love to buy all of you a subscription (but I won't). Check it out! It could change your mind.

Note to readers.

I just wanted to make sure I passed on some info regarding the Master Cleanse in case some of you are going to do it. Tooth enamel can be weakened by the acid in the lemon juice. Don't let this stop you but make sure you rinse your mouth with water after each time you finish a serving of lemonade. Also recommended is rinsing with a little baking soda in the water. I did not do either of these things and still I have sensitive teeth while brushing. Be careful. Good luck.

Old Classmates

I've been fighting a bad head cold for the last 5 days, missing work etc. Yesterday as I sat at home sick I found myself at the computer doing research for my bicycle posts I am planning to write. I have Garth's scanner at our house and thought it would be perfect for scanning some older pictures of past bikes. As I went through my old photo albums a few pictures of old classmates made me laugh out loud. Ryan, Garth, Jer, and Chris all were represented beautifully in all their teen glory. Mullets, Afros, and general bad hair were the common theme. I had to scan these and send them to each person. It sparked a short interaction of emails between us and it was a blast to laugh on line with old friends. I won't show all the pictures here but again I'll post the one of myself for your amusement. It's one of my favorite pictures of myself when I was 20. It's taken in Gimli at the airport while I'm awaiting my second Skydiving experience. I've never looked better;)

Bicycle Diaries

The latest in the fleet!

My next endeavor is to tell the stories for each bike I have owned in my life. Sounds easy but there are a few. I'm hoping those who love bikes and those who don't can appreciate the people, places and events surrounding this passion of mine. Above is my most recent purchase from today. I'll give you the story later. For now good night and stay tuned.

Results and SCARY pictures

Start laughing already! I can't believe I'm posting these pictures. Talk about an exercise in humility and setting ones self up for blackmail. Anyway, I wanted to give the before and after results of the Master Cleanse to my faithful readers. Sorry it took so long. First off this was intended for health reasons and secondly for achieving a leaner body.

My biggest hope was to see an improvement in my psoriasis and I would say I've seen some improvement but not a cure. Although I can still see that the skin on my elbows and knees isn't "normal" the white flaking skin is gone. I'm glad for that much.

I am 5' 11.5" tall and my weight before was 173lbs. Afterwards my weight was 162lbs. 11lbs total which translates to just over a pound per day of liquid diet.

Now about the pictures... The one on the left was taken first thing on the morning of day 1. The one on the right was taken first thing on the morning of day 10. I was relaxed and there was no stomach bulging or sucking in for either picture. The things I noticed were my stomach of course then my chin and lastly my neck. I never noticed the last two until now.

The aftermath

Turns out the first day after the fast is worse than any day during. Who would have guessed? My energy level were at an all time low and I just couldn't seem to drink enough orange juice to get sufficient calories. All day was O.J. only. I barely had enough energy to go to small group at Gord and Bec's house. I pretty much sat there with my head in my hands trying to conserve my strength.

Today was day two post fast and it was better but still low in the energy levels. All day I looked forward to supper where I could eat solids for the first time in nearly 10 days. At lunch I put the ingredients together for the veggie soup I was going to eat after work. Dar bought me some organic vegetable broth and rye wafers to go with it (she's awesome!). I had one bowl of soup and 4 wafers at 6pm and man was it good! Dar tasted it and wondered why I liked it so much. To her it was very bland. I think my sense of taste has been heightened along with my sense of smell. My stomach handled it like a trooper! Then at around 7:30pm I had another bowl and 4 more crackers. At that point my stomach said "enough and too much". There was some discomfort and a feeling of being too full. No serious side effects yet but the full feeling is sticking around. Sure is nice to chew on something again.

It's over...early.

There's been a big change in plans. I've decided to end the fast at 9 days instead of 10. I could mention many reasons but the big ones are as follows. After careful consideration I've come to the conclusion that I cannot properly end the fast in time for a family Christmas gathering on Saturday if I go 10 days. I had hoped I could, but after doing some research and seeing how hard it was for Dar's digestive system after 4 days, I decided to end the fast safely. The coating on my tongue is going away. My mind has been working over this decision repeatedly today. It's hard because I take pride in finishing things that I start. I'm finding consolation in Dar who supports me either way and the fact that for a first multi day fast 9 days is still substantial. Other sources recommend 3 days as a first fast. I've also lost a lot of weight and don't really want to loose much more. I will still continue to lose weight for the rest of the week though. Tonight was volleyball again and I felt great. I could also notice that my vertical improved! A few times I was looking over the net to where I wanted to hit the ball. What a cool feeling! I plan to post results like my weight before and after as well as a picture or two. I want to thank all my fans...ha ha. Hope I haven't disappointed anyone. Keep in touch and hopefully I'll continue finding motivation to blog here. Let me know what you think of what's been discussed so far. Bye

Day 8

Today started off rough with low energy and a brutal head wind as I cycled to work in the morning. I had to stand and pedal in some areas which brought me to an anaerobic level that I could feel in my lungs. Dizziness also came with the bike ride to work. To top it all off I had washed/rinsed my hair in the morning and it wasn't totally dry. The saltwater had less effect on me today for whatever reason. Maybe 3 trips to the throne instead of 5 or 6. No flax seeds this time in the bowl. Instead the new symptom was a "burning ring of fire" all day. I don't have roids so I wasn't sure what was happening. When I told Dar about it, she said that other people were reporting the same symptom online and it's just another sign of detox. I also checked for the sensitive teeth issue I've been having and it is common as well. Sounds like the lemons may be eating at my teeth. So I'm supposed to rinse my mouth with water after each dose of lemonade. I sure hope it helps cause brushing my teeth is very painful at times. Two more day of this and I'm off. Yahoo!