<p>Yay for idad! Hooray! What a wonderful achievement!</p>
<p>I have been OOS for 2 days for D1’s graduation so not much exercise. My knee was terrible especially since I wore wedge heels! Not a pretty sight of me limping around!
Got up early this morning and went back to my routine. 23 miles on bike and then did some weight machines. Felt so much better! Really shows me how important working out is for my knee. Now if I can just see some more improvement on the scale!</p>
<p>You will, NMinn, you will.</p>
<p>LONG bike ride today. Tired. Trying to make up for indulging in barbecue chicken…and lemon bars…and extra glasses of wine. 2-week kick start diet starts tomorrow. </p>
<p>Congrats to you Idad!</p>
<p>Mirrors…yikes. I also hate cameras at the moment. It’s not like I’m really heavy but I was once thinner…and not long ago. Would like to get there again!</p>
<p>Yeah. I went for a long bike ride, too. Five miles. I’m quite the sight in my helmet. I look more like a kid on the short bus than a bicycle racer!</p>
<p>At least I got the %&$^ toe clips off the bike so I don’t kill myself futzing around with those things. I’ve either gotta trade this bike in on a granny bike or do something to get the handlebars higher and the gears lower. I’ve still got too much belly and too little limber for the Lance Armstrong riding position!</p>
<p>D was visiting for M Day weekend–we went out for several long bike rides (well, the one to the winery probably doesn’t count…) Also much active beach time, and H and I fit a kayak trip in yesterday before coming home. Ate well but not too much because I was just too busy for idle snacking. Great weekend. I’d be in much better shape if I could live like that all the time!</p>
<p>idad…you have such a good perspective on this health/fitness regimen! Thanks for making me smile!</p>
<p>garland…what a fun weekend! It is so nice when the exercise fits in to your life activities!</p>
<p>Back at the gym. Have been able to increase mileage in my hour on the bike. Walked on the dreadmill for another 30 minutes. I am now getting a minimum of 1.5 hrs of exercise 5 to 6 days a week. I am even enjoying it! 
it really has helped me feel better.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, You’ve found a pet peeve of mine. The racy bikes people buy nowadays (and bike shops recommend) have their value, but many people would be better off with completely different, non-race style bikes. Bikes that have higher handlebars and lower gears. Bikes that don’t have expensive, finicky, fragile parts. Bikes you can ride five miles to the park or the ice cream store, without having to change into fancy clothes. Bikes that allow you to carry a jacket and a sandwich-- or a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. Bikes with fenders so you don’t get that ugly stripe up your back when it starts to drizzle.</p>
<p>Most people are not Lance Armstrong, and do not need the bike Lance rides up the Ventoux.</p>
<p>You can put lower gears on your bike and move the handlebars up. But you’d have to put on a new stem, possibly a new fork, new rear cluster and new rear derailleur. It might be cheaper to buy a new bike.</p>
<p>I am off the wagon. Not exercising as much and too many meals away from home. Tonight is I hope the last social occasion for at least the rest of this week that requires eating away from home. I am maintaining my weight and I am grateful for that. Put on shorts this weekend and they are baggy enough to not be comfortable. I need to order a few pairs online.</p>
<p>Finally got my blood results back today. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I can’t remember what is the good stuff and what is the bad stuff, so I knew I could come here, post and get a quicker answer than calling my doctor’s office and waiting to hear back from them.</p>
<p>These are numbers from 2008/2009/2010:
Cholesterol: 181/173/145
Triglyceride: 154/148/60
HDL cholesterol: 43/40/48
Chol/HDL: 4.2/4.3/3.0
LDL cholesterol: 107/103/85</p>
<p>Granted, all this is while I’ve been in Lipitor for many, many years, but I suspect these numbers make an argument for at least cutting my dose in half. </p>
<p>I had a rough weekend. The dog is still not doing well, and I’m very limited in my activity. She’s been having diarrhea about every two hours, give or take a half hour, so I have to be nearby to take her out as soon as I see her stirring. I have an appt. with my personal trainer this afternoon, and am afraid of what I’ll find when I get home (although I was given permission to give her immodium last night, so maybe it will kick in today).</p>
<p>I haven’t done any vigorous exercise for several days in an effort to see if it helps with my mysterious leg pain, which does seem to be waning. I need to get back to it, though. yesterday I shopped for 6 hours with a friend, which may not have been aerobic, but was certainly exhausting!</p>
Tell me about it. I have this lovely mid 80’s Japanese-made Fuji 12 speed road bike, but the handlebars are so low I can’t reach them so I spend the entire time with my hands up on top. The lowest gear is 38 gear inches and I’m getting clobbered on the hills. Meanwhile, I don’t come close to using the top gears because I’m coasting and trying to catch my breath on the downhills. I ride on small rural roads through the woods, up and down, up and down. There’s no need for speed. There’s no level road where you can get in a groove and pedal a higher gear. I spent almost all of my ride yesterday in the lowest four gears. I know that I’ll get stronger, but I’m an old guy. They aren’t going to be handing me any yellow jerseys for winning a stage.
I think converting the front to a 26/36/48 triple from the current 42/52 double and changing the stem to get the handlebars up would go a long way. That would give me three hill climbing gears below my current easiest gear at the expense of the very top gear, which I can only push on a fast downhill when I’d rather be coasting!
It helped to get the toe clips off the thing. These roads are too narrow to be looking down and futzing with trying to get my feet in those things after every stop and start.
<p>On a 1980s Japanese bike, you should be able to raise the stem quite a lot. Have you tried that? It’s a simple adjustment. Don’t worry about riding with your hands on the drops; riding on the tops is fine unless you’re on a downhill and need to modulate braking.</p>
<p>26/36/48 sounds like the right crankset, but you’ll probably have to change the rear derailleur too.</p>
<p>teriwtt…Hooray! Sounds like your numbers have really improved! Your doctor must have given you words of encouragement! </p>
<p>mom60…Yay for baggy shorts! Congratulations! I am heading out in a little bit to shop for a pair of jean capris…holding my breath!</p>
<p>remember, NorthMinnesota - no mom jeans now!</p>
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<p>Yes. I’m at the minimum insertion mark and the top of the bars is still below the seat height. Gotta go with a different stem.</p>
<p>You are right. I might have to change the rear derailler, too. It will shift fine with the triple crank, but I doubt the current derailler will take up enough slack in the chain.</p>
<p>OK…more biking and getting more miles in shorter time. New goal for the week is 115 miles. Talked with a woman at the club this morning who just finished a treatment for her knee. She had three injections of some type of gel in her knee. Supposed to act like a buffer so there is no bone on bone grinding. Has really given her some relief. Any one ever hear about this?</p>
<p>NM, not sure if it’s the same thing, but I have heard of them using some sort of liquid/gel substance out of a chicken. Injecting that into the knee joint to take help sort of take the place of the cartilage that has degenerated in the knee…</p>
<p>You may be talking about synvisc, which as the name suggests is viscous and acts as a lubricant / cushion. You get it in a few shots over some weeks or a month. I haven’t had this and my only experience with it is talking to a couple of people who said they got temporary relief from the shots. My hand doctor told me he feels a problem is they tend to work best the first treatment, like cortisone.</p>
<p>NorthMinnesota, are you riding outside now? As it happens, I’ve ridden my bike in Northern Minnesota. Nice place to ride, now that it’s warm out!</p>
<p>NM, do you live in one of those areas of MN where they’ve turned old RR tracks into bike paths?</p>