The Great American West

A memory that has haunted me is part of what has me wanting to do something about these extra pounds.

A few years ago I took 2 of my girls out to an amusement park. Some stuff kept them from going to camp so we did this trip instead, and it was a really great time. There was one ride though that, it looked like fun, so we decided to do it together, as we could sit 3 across.

We waited in line, and the girls were both excited and scared. It looked like fun, but it looked scary too. The ride was called The Great American West. The line moved along, and we passed these signs saying things like "Westward Ho" and "Go West Young Man." Cheesy stuff, but it did add to the anticipation of the ride. The time came where we could board the ride. The girls got in and were all set to go, but... for me it was a different story. I couldn't fit into the seat. I tried pushing and stuffing and squeezing and everything to get into the seat so they could close the safety device. Finally the attendant shook his head, and I had to get out and let the girls ride on their own. They looked so sad as they pulled away, and I was humiliated.

As I walked away, the attendant says, "Sorry Dude. No West for the Reary."

(pause for dramatic effect)

Okay, there was no ride called the West and no zinger line like that. But it did happen with a standup rollercoaster at Elitch's (back then it was a 6 Flags), where they couldn't close the safety hatch around me. It WAS embarrasing.

When you get this big, you get a lot of those moments. It's good to have a sense of humor, that's for sure....

So this past week wasn't a great one. I lost the momentum on exercising with the snowstorm last week, and wasn't always real good on the diet. But today was just too great out, and was a good chance to get back into action. My bike ride was shorter today, mostly because I had to take less time so I could take my daughter to her basketball tournament this morning way across in Parker. I rode 6 and a half miles then did a shorter 2 mile ride, but the part I liked about it was, I rode down to the Platte River trail, and then coming back was actually able to ride up the hill coming out of the valley without getting off and walking. For me, that's a good accomplishment.

My goal is to get to a point that when it's a bit warmer I can start commuting to work on my bike. It's about 15 miles, and there are some logistics to work out to make that work, but the best way I can see at least for now is to follow some trails so there's not the complete killer hills, except coming off the trail near home, so this was actually a good exercise because it was away to find out for sure that I can do this, especially once I'm really up to speed... So.... the future is bright. I did a couple miles later just to the store and back, and then took the 40 mph couch potato out for a walk, so overall it was a pretty decent day.

Hoping the scale starts to show that progress again soon....

Bike: 8.7 miles today, 31.2 total
Walking: 1.0 miles today, 6.65 total