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Strong. Fast. Ready.

Lisa Eirene

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.

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12 Comments

  1. Lori

    Woo Hoo! Awesome ride! I wish I could commute by bike 😀 I wouldn’t go very far LOL. We do love biking for breakfast on Wednesdays, though. I also like to get in a quick ride on non gym days with a 7 mile loop before breakfast, which should start happening as better (hopefully) weather moves in. We got rained on this morning on our way home from breakfast, which wasn’t in the forecast.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s too bad about the rain. The weather is a little iffy still here–there’s some rain in the forecast later this week. My hope is that I can commute again next week. If not, back to spin class for a bit.

  2. Sarah

    I’ve thought about biking to work before but I’m a chicken about it. For some reason I have no problem running down the roads but put me on a bike and I feel like a total idiot. I think this stems from the fact that I’m really afraid of wiping out or getting hit. I may still be scarred from running into a peach tree on my bike when I was 8.

    I scoped out a bike route for me and it’s about 13 miles. I might have to put some more effort into researching it!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I TOTALLY get what you are saying, Sarah. I wrestled with that same fear about biking on the streets too. It was really, really hard for me to overcome. I have to make a conscious effort to not be scared and just do it. Part of it is that some drivers are really aggressive towards cyclists, or just don’t see them. It’s scary out there!

      I got used to riding on the streets while I was training for Reach the Beach but honestly, the bulk of the training was on bike paths. I think you just have to decide you’re going to do it, and do it. Eventually the fear lessens.

  3. Becky

    That’s incredible! What an awesome way to start out your commuting season. You biked a lot of miles! I’m impressed. By the way, after my recent road trip to Oregon/California I am totally in love with your state. GORGEOUS!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thank you Becky! I was so happy that my first commute was the whole loop–22 miles is a good first step. I thank spin class for keeping me bike-ready all winter long.

      Come visit Oregon again and I’ll be your tour guide. 🙂

  4. Courtney

    My commute would only be about 3 miles, but even that seems like a lot for an inexperienced biker. Any tips/tricks for a new biker?

    1. Lisa Eirene

      6 miles roundtrip? That would actually be a really good starting point–not too far that you get sore or super sweaty.

      I’m actually working on a post right now. You can check out this old post though: http://www.110pounds.com/?p=17441

  5. Crystal

    Can I commit to getting a bike and riding it 3x a week to start? I want to build up my stamina and confidence first before tackling the 16km ride to work with a massive hill each way on the busy streets.

    Do you find spin classes in the off season help keep you going?

    I absolutely love that you bike to work and found this post super mtoviating and exciting!

    Keep up the biking 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Even once a week is a great committment. If 3x a week is hard, start small. Right now I am only going to commute once a week (weather permitting) and hopefully in June I can move it up to 2x a week.

      I think that spin class helped a lot during the off months. It kept me saddle ready. I had no saddle soreness from Monday’s commute, my body did not feel sore in anyway afterward either. I know that doing spin even just once a week made an amazing difference compared to last winter.

      I am so glad you found this post motivating!!!

  6. Jess

    I think commuting by bike is an awesome idea! I wish I could, but since I am a teacher I have a tonne of stuff that needs to go too and from school. Most mornings I have my laptop, my book bag, gym bag, lunch bags and handbag. I sometimes have to make 2 trips to my car! I’d actually LOVE to run to work, but again, the luggage issue… and there is no shower at work and I sweat like a pig!

    BTW, I love that you reply to every comment! It makes your blog so personalised and accessible 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That does sound like a lot of stuff to transport and I’d probably skip biking to work too. Can you run or bike during the lunch hour?

      Thanks, Jess! I try my best to respond. I appreciate comments and readers and I remember being disappointed when other bloggers didn’t respond.

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