I changed things up a little bit on Tuesday’s commute to work. I parked on the other side of Sellwood, to lengthen my bike ride a little bit. I knew it would only add a few extra minutes, but I was okay with that.
Because I was lengthening my ride, I didn’t stop at all. I peddled like mad and my heart rate definitely increased. At one point there was a guy right on my tail while I road through the detour around OMSI. It was rather annoying. I wanted to yell at him to pass me. I knew he was drafting off me, but I don’t know you dude, stop drafting off me. It was just creepy. I mean I’m a girl riding all alone the last thing I want is some strange guy riding my tail.
I eventually lost him because I started peddling really hard. He just made me uncomfortable. If it was Michael drafting off me, or a stranger in a race, that’s one thing.
I crossed the Hawthorne Bridge in no time at all and was on my way to work.
I somehow shaved almost 8 minutes off my time! I’m guessing it is because I didn’t stop at all and I pedaled faster than normal because I was worried about having a longer ride and being late.
Ride Stats:
Time: 30 minutes
Calories Burned: 255
Miles Biked: 5.9
Almost 6 miles! It was a great ride in, even being a little bit on the cold side. I wore my new gloves too.
They have extra gel padding on the palms, which is nice because my old gloves were losing their padding.
For lunch on Tuesday I had a Trader Joe’s frozen Indian food meal. I’ve had it for a few weeks but I didn’t realize when I bought it that it had 500 calories in it! The package was deceptive: at first glance it said 250 calories but there’s two servings in it! It wasn’t larger than the other Trader Joe’s frozen meal I bought, so I didn’t think it would be two servings.
Sneaky! I brought it for lunch on Tuesday because I could justify eating 500 calories for lunch after riding twice in one day.
It was a yummy dish but I wouldn’t buy it again simply because of the calorie count. I’ll stick with the chicken one I usually buy because it’s around 330 calories for the whole thing.
It’s a beautiful, sunny day in Portland. I hope my ride home is nice and easy!
QUESTION: Do you think there’s etiquette in regards to drafting? Would you ever draft a solo rider you don’t know, or am I being weird about it?
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About Lisa Eirene
Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.
I hate when I get tricked by the serving size!
I would never draft a stranger! (that sounds funny)
What is the watch you use? Garmin? Do you like it? Can you send me info on it?
Thanks!
Jill
It’s a Polar Heart Rate Monitor. I wrote about it here: http://www.110pounds.com/?p=16513
I think anonymous drafting is a no-no. Reminds me of tail-gating.
Jane~
Keepingthepoundsoff.com
jane Cartelli recently posted..ZERO CALORIE Cupcakes by Jane
Haha! I like that. It WAS like tail gating!
Drafting off a stranger on a random bike ride? Weird!
That would have creeped me out a bit.
Love your new gloves. I did my long ride this weekend without mine. OUCHIE.
Julie recently posted..Dog Mountain
They are on sale this week at REI! How long was your long ride this weekend?
72.5 somewhat hilly miles. My longest ride ever!
Dog Mountain should be really pretty in a couple more weeks. The flowers are still not nearly ready for ultimate viewing pleasure.
Julie recently posted..Dog Mountain
Dog Mountain is in the top 5 of my “I need to hike this trail” list but I just never do it. I do want to see the wildflowers.
I don’t know anything about drafting. Your name written all over your frozen lunch was amusing to me! Do other people bring the same type items for lunch or is there a lunch thief?
Hehehe yeah…it’s a communal fridge/freezer at work. I just do it out of habit.
That’s awesome you’re getting in all kinds of quality biking to get to work. It keeps raining here and I’ve only done it once!
I don’t see much biking in my future. It will be raining for 10 straight days here in Portland! Boo.
Wow Lisa, just stumbled across this site looking for ‘cycling for fitness’ – what an inspiration you are! Congratulations on your fit and healthy new lifestyle!
Leigh recently posted..Training for a charity ride
I used to live right off of Hawthorne at Salmon and 21st!!! Miss that place…
You should move back….