I am so glad I just found this message board. I knew the fitness and exercise board existed, but never heard of this one! I'm almost 11 months post-op and down almost 90 lbs. My "low" weight pre-op was 242 lbs., and even at that time I could ride about 30 miles before my butt would go so numb that I coudn't ignore it! One of the things I looked forward too was riding my new bike post-op. I have a Specialized Dolce Vita road bike, which is body geomety specific for woman. Man! I can't event begin to explain how good it feels to ride now -- You just don't realize how much you were carrying before until you're not carrying it anymore! T then I'm sure most of you know that by now. I just completed my first event, the Tour de Pink. I registered for the 47 mile ride, but had my very first-ever dumping episode the morning of the race. Scared, I opted for the 25 mile ride -- I thought it safer. I have always eaten cream o' wheat post-op, but I was out of my high-protein, lactose free milk, so I used regular skim.. let's just say they're right when they say... NEVER CHANGE ANYTHING RACE DAY! I guess the carbs/surgars were too much and caused and insulin response that left me dry heaving and "foaming." Given that experience, I'm sure you can imagine how happy I was to see some discussion on fueling for longer rides. I started training for the Danskin Tri in Disney for 2008, and I was a little worried about that aspect. Anyway, I'm no worse for the wear and glad to find you all! Donna

I'm feeling guilty for not riding more than every other week or so, but I've been fighting a bum knee and doing swing dancing, which is slightly more social than cycling. But nowhere near the same amount of exercise. 40 miles is an awesome goal. Do you ride with a heart rate monitor and bike computer? I highly recommend it. Helps to really focus in on the type of riding that improves one's stamina. I don't have a problem with peanut butter, but it's always high in fat/oil, and if you use the commercial stuff, it has a lot of sugar too. Cytomax is a fluid replacement drink in powdered form. All the bike shops around here stock it (I don't recommend the cranberry grapefruit flavor!). I use about a scoop and a half of powder for 48 oz (two 24 oz bottles). Perhaps a bit more to taste. http://cytosport.com/products/cytomax.html I too am sad at the lack of activity in the bicycling forum. It's very odd, as it's not listed on the main forum list. One has to go through the exercise forum and know the link is there. 30 seconds of thought should reveal that fostering healthy activity groups is a good thing.

Nice job! Have you been riding since? I generally eat a small bowl of oatmeal before a ride. I've never used gu or even the cliff-shots that I pack. Too scared. I have taken a protein bar, the Premier Nutrition 30g protein bar they sell at Costco. But I know that I don't dump on it. I use Cytomax at half strength instead of water. It gives me some carbs while riding. I too would like to do a century this year, but my mileage has been terrible in these first 2.5 months.

Rode from Chapman Ave in Orange to Huntington Beach on the river trail again. As per mentor's direction, I kept it under 15mph on the outbound ride, and pushed it only on the return. Also dealt with a nasty headwind on the outbound ride. I should -really- try to ride in the morning and avoid all the wind. On the return, I paced a guy for a couple miles (to the first bridge****il he left the trail. Rode at 16mph or under until two tandem couples passed me, and I paced them for a while at 18mph. They left the trail, and my legs fell apart. Then they passed me again! This time, I hooked on to the draft instead of just pacing, all the way back to Chapman Ave. Awesome to make it to the beach again, but I realized at my car as I was packing up that my front tire was deflated for the whole ride (I have a Geax Tatto frestyle tire and it's hard to tell sometimes). Damn! Fatigued at the end, but not in the muscular distress that I was in last Wednesday. Stopped at the beach and sent a few text messages of the "guess where I am" variety. 13:19 Exe Time: 1:42.27 Mean HR: 139 Max HR: 171 HR Zone: 138-151 In Zone: 39:05 Above Zone: 17:33 Below Zone: 45:49 Kcal: 1043 Distance: 24.5 miles Mean Speed 14.3 mph Max Speed: 26.5 mph Mean Cad: 89 Max Cad: 114 Ride Time: 1:42.24 Outbound Time: 57:22 Mean HR: 134 Max HR: 158 Mean Speed: 12.8 mph Mean Cad: 89 Return Time: 45:04 Mean HR: 145 Max HR: 171 Mean Speed: 16.2 mph Mean Cad: 89

Excellent job, John! I like your ride write-up as well as the ride specs. What kind of cyclometer/heart rate monitor are you using?Keep up the great work and come on over to the men's board for more exercise/biking chat.