The Retirement Thread

[12boy]

I really should keep my weight at 69.5 kg and 13 % body fat and 42% muscle but I have crept up to 70.g kg, 14% and 41% and will have trouble losing that for the next couple of months. The high winter winds and below freezing temps at this time of year make biking less fun if not outright dangerous so I find myself doing more and more resistance type training. Of course, as my activity drops my gluttony increases....the wind is by far the more challenging as 60 mph gusts can knock me on my keister or move me over into traffic. I will probably drive to pay my storage fee this week and if so, I think I can find room in my garage for my Nordic Track ski exerciser which I stored there. Truly boring but it does provide a different workout than lifting weights or walking.
Tomorrow I will have second vein procedure on my leg, but I can still walk for exercise for the 2 week healing period.
The beef stew with carrot, onion and spuds, avec cheesy cornbread I made yesterday was palatable to Mrs 12, who ate a good amount of it. The chemo she has gives her the heartburn from hell and it is good to see her enjoy her grub.
Be well and safe. And thanks for letting me bitch and moan. Hasta luego.

 

[ColinJ]

Where is everyone? Duvet day is it?

It was for me - I didn't get up until 13:40! I was awake earlier but the roads were wet and rain threatened so I gave up on the idea of going out on my bike for a 2 hour ride. I stayed in bed solving crosswords and playing computer games.

It turned out that a 2 hour ride would not have been a good idea anyway. I was feeling ill in mid-to-late-December and have only ridden 6 km in the 17 days. I haven't done much walking either. Basically I have been stuck indoors feeling below par most of the time. I decided to do my '2 hills, 6 km shopping loop' on my singlespeed bike today just to get out of house for a while. It soon became clear that I had no oomph whatsoever. Worse than that though, the cool air felt like it was burning the inside of my lungs. It was as if I had inhaled chilli powder! Whatever bug I'd had in December seems to have done something to my lungs to leave them very sensitive to even slight cold.

I'll try to get out on these 6 km local loops a few more times until feel up to doing longer rides. I want to be doing more interesting rides again before the end of January, weather permitting.

In diet terms this is my experience. 7/8 years ago I was 88kgs which I slowly whittled down to 76/77 but couldn't reduce further. With some help from a friend with a deep interest in these things I learned the importance of using the correct fuels. As she put it "you think you're eating well and compared to many you are." She taught me how to eat what I needed to have the energy for my lifestyle and no more.

My fighting weight is 71kg though I can squeeze it to 70.5. Today I'm 73.6 which I need to shift and is because I've only ridden 13 times in two months, winter weight gain and Christmas. The fight back has started!!

I am currently about 86 kg. My target weight is around 79 kg. From a cycling point of view I would like to be nearer your weight. I could definitely achieve that, having only been 68 kg at the age of 30, but I was horribly scrawny then. I looked a bit like Bradley Wiggins in this photo of him in TdF-winning shape. Great for winning hard mountainous stage races, but not a good look and not healthy either...

I got down to 76 kg in 2014 when recovering from my blood clots. It was great for hilly rides but everybody kept asking me if I was getting ill again. My skin is too old and stretched now for me to be happy that light - I end up with terrible folds of loose skin and stretch marks on my body, and I develop terribly ageing jowls. 79 kg is a good compromise target for me. I won't win any hill climbs at that weight but I would be pretty fit overall.

Tomorrow I will have second vein procedure on my leg, but I can still walk for exercise for the 2 week healing period.

Good luck with that!

I have managed to avoid surgery so far. The veins in my left leg were permanently damaged by the DVT I had in 2012 so I wouldn't be surprised if they have to be operated on at some point. My leg has actually been feeling slightly numb the past couple of days. I'm hoping that it is only because I have been sitting/lying around too much recently. I must at least get up and walk around the house more often!

 

[Paulus]

Thanks Paul. The finish is superb if a bit old school looking.

I've swapped the saddle to my fave (SQ Labs), changed the stem to shorten the reach by 10mm and changed the bars to reduce the width by 40mm. Saved a little weight with each of those swaps too.

The wheels are Fulcrum and light enough, but the 28 mm tyres weighed 410g each! So they've given way to a waiting pair of 25mm Conti 5000s.

And I've added a 4iiii power meter for good measure. I've got it more to the way I like it. I think for outright pace the Trek Emonda I have just pips it uphills, but it is very close. The real difference is the ride quality - I've never ridden a bike that just doesn't transmit road shock and buzz like the Orro; it just seems to dial the worst of it without any suspension system at all - very plush in comparison. So I'm sure it'll be my companion on longer rides with one coming up soon. I'm planning to ride it to visit my favourite cousin in Frome.

I actually bought two bikes on the same day from different places! I'm keeping both of those, and the Emonda when I get it back from repair.

Not sure I should give this bike female pronouns; I call it Zorro the Orro.

So you haven't taken a hacksaw to any of the frame yet ?

 

[classic33]

It was for me - I didn't get up until 13:40! I was awake earlier but the roads were wet and rain threatened so I gave up on the idea of going out on my bike for a 2 hour ride. I stayed in bed solving crosswords and playing computer games.

It turned out that a 2 hour ride would not have been a good idea anyway. I was feeling ill in mid-to-late-December and have only ridden 6 km in the 17 days. I haven't done much walking either. Basically I have been stuck indoors feeling below par most of the time. I decided to do my '2 hills, 6 km shopping loop' on my singlespeed bike today just to get out of house for a while. It soon became clear that I had no oomph whatsoever. Worse than that though, the cool air felt like it was burning the inside of my lungs. It was as if I had inhaled chilli powder! Whatever bug I'd had in December seems to have done something to my lungs to leave them very sensitive to even slight cold.

I'll try to get out on these 6 km local loops a few more times until feel up to doing longer rides. I want to be doing more interesting rides again before the end of January, weather permitting.


I am currently about 86 kg. My target weight is around 79 kg. From a cycling point of view I would like to be nearer your weight. I could definitely achieve that, having only been 68 kg at the age of 30, but I was horribly scrawny then. I looked a bit like Bradley Wiggins in this photo of him in TdF-winning shape. Great for winning hard mountainous stage races, but not a good look and not healthy either...

View attachment 624822

I got down to 76 kg in 2014 when recovering from my blood clots. It was great for hilly rides but everybody kept asking me if I was getting ill again. My skin is too old and stretched now for me to be happy that light - I end up with terrible folds of loose skin and stretch marks on my body, and I develop terribly ageing jowls. 79 kg is a good compromise target for me. I won't win any hill climbs at that weight but I would be pretty fit overall.


Good luck with that!

I have managed to avoid surgery so far. The veins in my left leg were permanently damaged by the DVT I had in 2012 so I wouldn't be surprised if they have to be operated on at some point. My leg has actually been feeling slightly numb the past couple of days. I'm hoping that it is only because I have been sitting/lying around too much recently. I must at least get up and walk around the house more often!

You mean you never got yer Monday Metro!

 

[numbnuts]

It's gone ever so foggy here

 

[classic33]

It's gone ever so foggy here

30 foot visibility or less?

 

[ColinJ]

You mean you never got yer Monday Metro!

It's a Bank Holiday so there aren't any today! I did actually go up to the station anyway because I like sprinting up Rise Lane on my singlespeed bike. 100-or-so metres at 10-or-so percent is hard enough on singlespeed to be worth doing, but easy enough to be doable without strain.

On the way to the station I rode past the guitar shop that I got my bass from. The shopkeeper was just leaving the shop so I called out a greeting to him. It was pretty clear from his reaction that he didn't recognise me wearing my cycling clobber!

 

[monkers]

So you haven't taken a hacksaw to any of the frame yet ?

Not too much wrong with your memory.

No, I managed to find the bike I wanted in the right frame size (54) this time. The Emonda frame is in for a repair, and that left me without a bike ~ a most horrible feeling! So I bought a bike in the morning which is now a spare bike for either of us to use, it has mudguard eyelets, and otherwise it sits on the turbo. I bought the Orro the same evening thinking that I might keep it or might not when the Emonda is fixed up.

I've now decided that I'm hanging on to all three, and all are getting further little upgrades. It helps to keep me busy.

 

[12boy]

ColinJ.... I feel your pain with the skin thing.... my skin never shrunk, especially on my bulging gut sack and love handles. Got 36 inch waist skin and a 30 inch waist. The waist would be good except I am so damn short. Sure sounds like you may have a little Covid with the chili in the lungs thing. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[ColinJ]

ColinJ.... I feel your pain with the skin thing.... my skin never shrunk, especially on my bulging gut sack and love handles. Got 36 inch waist skin and a 30 inch waist. The waist would be good except I am so damn short.

I had got up something huge like a 45+ inch waist. It is still too big at around 37 inches but that is already 8 inches of looseness. I'll probably get down to 34 inches and not go any further. It was 32 inches when I was slim but I would end up with well over a foot of loose skin if I got that slim again!

At least I have the advantage of being fairly tall - 1.86 m/6' 1" so it is spread out better than if I were short!

Sure sounds like you may have a little Covid with the chili in the lungs thing. Hope you feel better soon.

I took a couple of Covid tests at the time but they were clear. Maybe I should take another one to be on the safe side...

 

[numbnuts]

It's gone ever so foggy here

It's all gone now, very strange

 

[classic33]

It's all gone now, very strange

Maybe it wasn't really a fog...
Maybe there was something you weren't supposed to see...

 

[Tenkaykev]

Maybe it wasn't really a fog...
Maybe there was something you weren't supposed to see...

Welshies bloomers?

 

[numbnuts]

Maybe it wasn't really a fog...
Maybe there was something you weren't supposed to see...

Yeah..... maybe my glasses were steamed up

 

[ColinJ]

My old HTC One M8 was a top phone in its time. It was around £500 new, and £80-odd to me on eBay when 2 years old. It is still a very nice phone but the camera could be better and it is a bit slow to load certain complex webpages, e.g on The Guardian and Amazon sites, so I'm looking to buy a replacement. I had intended to give the phone to a friend when I upgrade, but my network (Giffgaff) just offered me an AMAZING trade-in offer for it.

They are prepared to pay me ... (You'll need to sit down for this)... Are you ready?






£0.55... Wow, where do I sign!