In the last two weeks I dropped 3 pounds.  Per week.  Six pounds, gone, in two weeks.

I’ve been riding big miles for five weeks now.  Meaning I went three weeks before the needle moved… down.  I actually gained a pound in the first three weeks.  Then all of a sudden, BAM!   

It would have been very easy to give up hope and opt for drastic measures but I felt that if I just hung in there, good things would happen, and they did.

Dropping six pounds off of my current 16.8 pound bike would cost…. um, carry the one….  About $15,000.  The cost of a brand new, top of the line, H1 Trek Emonda – one of the lightest production bikes available at a shade over 10 pounds (minus pedals and cages of course).

I’ve been managing my weight for six years on two wheels and I thought I’d present some of my experience in the form of little nuggets.

• Losing weight in the first two or three years is easier.  Once my body got used to the mileage I put on it, it became more efficient at the exercise.
• Age sucks…  The older I get, the more carefully I have to manage my diet.
• The bike makes it more fun.  I’d ride a leisure bike if I had to but I wouldn’t like it as much as what I ride today.
• I ride the bicycle equivalent of a McLaren and it is good.

The bike matters, bro. Even when it’s photographed backwards.

• Cycling hard enough to really burn the weight is more enjoyable on a bike I respect and love to ride.
• The faster I am willing to go, the easier the weight slides off.  
• It took three years to get my cycling legs.  Three years and more than 15,000 miles of busting my butt on the road before I really felt like I could be comfortable putting in big miles on both weekend days (50+ a day).
• Unfortunately, when I got my cycling legs, losing weight became a little more challenging.
• My bottom line has always been, ride hard, ride happy.  Riding slow burns half the calories.  
• I don’t count easy effort calories against my diet.  I ride so much I have to use active recovery rides to keep from burning out.  I don’t count them.