The other Fat Cyclist

So, I swore that this time I had a baby I wasn't going to wait until she was a year and a half to start exercising! I was like, "I'm going to start exercising at 6 weeks and get back to my pre-pregnancy weight by 6 months." Um, whatever! I did better with my second pregnancy, only gaining 25 pounds instead of 40, so I was a little better off going into post-partum. Here are some photos comparing the chubbiness level between my pregnancies. Let me preface this by saying that you have to be pretty crazy to post your fat pictures. I do it all for you; it's worth the sacrifice to bring a smile to your face!

(Cami, that last one is for you! Complete with C-section ice pack and triple chin. Can you say Heifer?!) Alas, I have not returned to my pre-pregnancy weight. For the past several months, as always seems to be the case, exercise got pushed down to the bottom of the totem pole as I was busy with a new baby, work, etc. Well, I'm finally getting back into it now that Amelia is 8 months old (on Saturday). I just finished my third week of exercising 3 times a week (can I get some ding-dings?!)

I ventured out with the girls in the bike trailer last week. It was a gorgeous day and Amelia's first trailer ride.

I was feeling motivated by my days at the gym so I decided to bike Lily to school, something I had previously decided was not ever going to happen because of the huge hill leading up to the school. It is a ravine that runs on 1200 East in Lehi (leading up to Micron) and Lily calls it "The Big Ditch."

This picture really doesn't do it justice. Not only is it steep, it's a pretty narrow road and you get a little nervous on it even driving in a car (the road used to be bordered closely by trees on both sides until about 2 months ago when they ripped a bunch of trees out to build new houses.) So in a fit of overzealous athletic psychosis, I headed for the Big Ditch. We cruised down the hill with shrieks of delight from Lily, but as I feared, I could not make it to the top of the hill, even in my granny gear. If I were by myself I may have made it, but pulling a 20 lb trailer with 65 lbs worth of kids was more than I could handle. I had to get off and walk the last 1/3 of the hill. As I got off the bike and pulled into the dirt on the side of the road, gasping for breath, I looked back and to my horror, there was a line of about 6 cars waiting to pass me on the narrow hill. Ugh! I gave the "my bad" wave and trudged up the hill. After depositing the 50 pound Lily at school, Amelia and I cruised back down the hill and this time, I was able to stay on the bike all the way to the top.

I talked with Dan about my technique going up the hill and he suggested that I get out of the saddle and stand up to pedal on the hill to get more power. So this week I determined to conquer the Big Ditch. This time I did the ride picking Lily up instead of dropping her off, so I had a lighter load on the steeper part of the hill, heading south. I thought that if I had more speed built up as I approached the hill, I wouldn't have to pedal as far. So I booked down the hill, but as the bike started to wiggle and I heard Amelia (who had previously been sleeping) whimper from the trailer, I knew I had to hit the brakes. (Grandparents, breathe deeply. I got a freebie on that one and I learned my lesson!) I stood up to pedal up the hill and made it about 2/3 of the way up before I had to sit and pedal in granny gear. Despite the fact that the pedals were barely turning over and I wheezing like an old smoker, I made it to the top. Yay, me! My heart rate was 174, the highest I've ever recorded.

I was feeling good, but a little spooked by the over acceleration on the descent, so I decided to take it easy on the downhill going home. Lily cried "wheee!" as we went down at a much safer speed, and this time I was able to make it up with both girls in the trailer. I almost quit a couple times as I was sure I was going to keel over, but I kept glancing at my heart rate monitor and it only said 168. I said, "if I could make it at 174, I can make it at 168." I cleared the top, and luckily there were no cars waiting behind me this time. I paused to photograph the hill and continued home. I gotta tell you, after you've climbed a hill like that, riding along with a few gentle hills at a heart rate in the 140's seems like a piece of cake! On the ride home I glanced back and saw Lily riding with her feet dangling out of the trailer. I had to get a picture!

(2nd note to grandparents: we are going to buy Amelia a helmet this weekend, although it's going to be a nasty fight getting her to leave it on!) Here's a picture of the 3 girls in our rig.

Speaking of biking, Dan did a 100+ mile mountain bike ride (all in one day) in Southern Utah this past Saturday. Sue, wasn't that when you were in California? you ask. Why, yes, yes it was. A HUGE thanks to Grammie for watching the girls from 4:00am to 11:00pm on Saturday! I don't have a picture (I sent Dan down with a camera, but of course he hardly used it) but Dan did a guest blog entry on Fatty's blog. You can read all about the ride or you can go here to see some video footage and be really impressed! Let me take this opportunity to tell you that Dan has come a long way in his sense of humor since I married him. For those of you who know me well, you know that a little bathroom humor goes a long way with me! When Dan and I were first dating and married, he thought I was pretty uncouth. I remember specifically one incident when we were at Jim & Jacqui's house before we were married. We were watching TV with Jacqui and I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came out I said, "I must be dehydrated. My pee looked just like Gatorade." You should have seen the looks of disgust on both of their faces! I was mortified! Never before had I realized that comments like that weren't normal (Jacqui, I hope you're smiling!) Over the years, Dan has learned that all it takes is a good fart joke to get me giggling, so imagine my pleasure as I read his blog entry. Not only did he impress with his vocabulary (I had to look up gibbous) but it was potty humor at it's finest! My favorite comment said, "geez cacophonic, gibbous and gelatinous in the same blog, Botched. For a minute, I thought that I was on the PBS Fat Cyclist blog. Then you added three poopy references, and I knew I was home." Nice work, Bin!

Well, I better close for the night as I have surely proven Dan correct. When I told him I was starting a blog, he said, "Oh, no! It's going to be the blog with the longest entries in history!"