OK, we all really know that it’s reading, writing and arithmetic, but don’ t be a hater!  I’m reading “Ride your way Lean, the Ultimate Plan for Burning Fat and Getting Fit on a Bike” .  This book is exactly how it sounds.  It focuses on the facts about how calories are burned, how bicycling factors into the equation, and what you can do to utilize this to help lose some weight.

Here are some fun numbers:

600 – This is how many calories I burn every day when I simply commute to work on our local bike trails (give or take, some days it gets closer to 700-800 calories if I ride harder)

2 – The number of years I will live longer if I bicycle to work every day at a moderate pace (the average is about 4 if it’s vigorous)

70 – This is how many minutes I spend total on my bicycle on those days

16 – The average number of people I see on my way to work on the bike trails

0 – The number of people I see with a frown or upset appearance on my way to work via the bike trails

3 – The gallons of gas that I save each week riding a bicycle instead of driving to work (roughly $10-$12/week)

15 – The number of miles I save on my leased car every day I ride a bicycle instead of driving the car

75 – The number of miles I save on my leased car each week I ride a bicycle every day instead of driving the car.

4 – That’s the highest I seem to be able to count when counting my “cadence” or pace, it’s always 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, I blame it on years of metronomes and music classes.

So, on Monday we did it, took the plunge.  Now, we’ve ridden to work not once, but twice!  Each way to and from work is 7.2 miles on our local bike trails (which are over 20 miles in total length).  I thought at first there was no way I could do it, and had a terribly negative attitude about the whole thing.  I’ve changed my attitude accordingly however, and even though it’s kicking my butt, it’s definitely well worth the effort.  The exhaustion that comes at night is well worth the energy I’m now finding during the day.  Monday was 6 miles, Tuesday was 14.3 , today another 7.2 so far and my day’s only half done, and tomorrow is National Ride Your Bike To Work Day.   So that is telling me that there will be riding, even if it is a bit wet (we have a chance of thunderstorms).

The caloric burn each way to and from work is between 300 and 360 calories, so that’s 600 calories PER DAY that I am burning, just by commuting to work on my bicycle, ignoring the fact that I am actually working out and *gasp* enjoying it!  My husband is not challenged by our 13 mph speeds, so he’ll be continuing the stairmaster after our commute, while I’ll be heading home to start dinner.  I plan on adding some gym time after getting into good enough shape to feel like the ride is not challenging me too much (I’m thinking maybe a month of riding to and from work should get me into decent shape).

Next adventure if this takes off?  Longer rides, more adventure, photos of the trails…who knows, maybe I’ll finally successfully lose a pound this way!

What am I riding you ask?  I am riding a Raleigh Misceo 2.0 Urban/Trail bike

This badboy ran me $550.00 (with a $50 rebate) and makes me feel like I can conquer anything.  It is absolutely breathtakingly unbelievable (is that enough adjectives yet?).  It’s a push to get up hills, but once I’m there, there’s no stopping me, and I have to admit, the rider might be slightly at fault for some of the lack of power (OK, I admit it, I’m a wimp!).

Here’s to biking to work, for my fitness and my wallet, and National Ride Your Bike To Work day tomorrow, May 17, 2013.

**Update** 6:22 PM (2 hours later)

It is raining outside, like, raining cats and dogs raining, and of course, in my brilliance of riding TO work, I neglected to have the foresight to think about what it might be doing when it was time to return home.  What started as an “Oh crap it’s sprinking!” Rapidly turned into “I’m singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the rain! With my clothes dipping raindrops I’m happy again!”  Muddy,  soaked, exhausted and happier than I can remember after any commute coming home, I am now waiting anxiously  for my hot ham sandwich to finish cooking.  Crushing 750 calories today by riding bicycle definitely is being felt in my stomach tonight!

Tomorrow we have a chance of more rain, but I plan on riding to work (nice weather) at least, the crap isn’t supposed to come until later tomorrow night.

Saturday morning was crisp, barely above 40 degrees when I stepped out my front door.  My husband and I were on our way to walk in a race against breast cancer (no mockery about me not actually “racing” against breast cancer now!)  To make things more challenging, we walked from our house, all the way…an additional 3 miles!

So, we were off on our walking adventure, along with 2 of our coworkers and their wives.  The day warmed up slightly and the walk took us just under an hour.  Although the walk was enjoyable, what really made the difference was the fundraising I was able to help with.

A total of more than $400,000 was raised for our local breast cancer survivors and fighters, from wigs to gas cards to transportation to therapy etc. these funds will all stay within our community to help the women fighting in our own backyard.

My legs hurt for the whole day, but it was well worth it!

Afterwards, my husband and I stopped by Harlan’s Bike and Tour, a bicycle dealer in Sioux Falls.  They took our measurements and told us what kind of bicycles we would be able to ride.  So, next up, seeing if we can actually still ride bicycles!  The adventure continues!

Yesterday was the definition of a good day!  I woke up, granted I felt exhausted from my great weekend, but still, I woke up and it felt like the day was mine entirely.  I stayed on track for calories, didn’t let myself sneak any snacks, and broke a tremendous sweat on the stair master after 25 minutes of soul crushing climbing.

I finished the night off with *gasp* Taco John’s, but opted for a lighter version of the epic Grilled Burrito (I got some knock off one that was 550 calories).  I shared my potato ole’s with the dogs, tossed out over half the cheese cup, and mentally patted myself on the back for my success.  Today has been just about as good, if not for the tons of sodium I had during lunch, but hey, that’s lunch, this is life, and I’m moving on!

No gym tonight, but I’m hoping to try out one of those “at home DVD’s” … although the list of available workouts is kind of staggering!  Anyone have any good ideas for the at home workouts?  Anyone?  Buhler?…

Anyways, I’ll be looking at the 30 day shred hopefully tomorrow AM, we’ll see, 6:00 seems to creep up way to quickly for my taste, but it’s either that or the definition of hell after work: car wash, grocery store, home , gym, home, dinner, bed.  I hate nights like that!

Well, I am off to to practice my cardiovascular and pulmonary exercises (aka singing) tonight, so this fat lady is singing “I’m out!”

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