Solo Sunday 20 EZ Ride HORSEPOWER DUCK SUCKS !!!

 Solo 20 miles15.0 average speed. Ez Ride. Tried staying around 120 heart rate but wind made sure it wasn't too easy. Got close, 127 average HR. Easy ride powered by the usual 2 eggs and turkey sausage 😋 Of course thanks to TC, found a new joint since all ours have closed. Tepeyac in City of Industry. Munched out last night for some good nutrition. 😄 But again today, another cyclist I haven't seen in a couple months said, "wow you look really good, I wasn't even sure it was you". Heck, I'll take it! Trying to be really good but you gotta munch once in a while. 😁

Crazy, been watching my diet really well being older and knowing what happens when people gamble with their health and diet. Haven't actually been dieting, more like watching what I eat. Been eating plenty of cucumbers, salads with vinegar as a dressing. Couple eggs now and then, small amount of meat, small amount of potatoes. Being type 2, again not wanting to take meds feeling like a sell out, I'll do it the right way. Diet and exercise is key.

So I am really surprised just going along my bidness and having 3 dudes tell me in the last couple of days that I look really good and they can tell that I have lost weight, maybe toned up is more like it. I haven't weighed myself but maybe once in the last year and that was going in for a colonoscopy. Which came out healthy by the way, so my butt is good ha ha ha!

Mike said I look about 200 lbs or less. Nah, more like 235 I'm guessing but I'll take the 200 ha ha ha! I did run into some dude at the Pico golf course parking lot that hadn't been around for a couple of months working out of state. I parked next to him not knowing he had a new car. I parked on the opposite side this day so it through him off seeing me park on the other side for the last couple of years. He rode up finishing as I was getting ready to ride. Started chatting when he asked if I was the same guy that always parked on the opposite side, yup that's me.

He said he didn't recognize me saying I looked like I lost weight and he said, 'YOU LOOK REALLY GOOD!". That's really cool when GUYS tell you that you look good because you know they ain't lying and it takes a real man to compliment another without feeling like a sissy. I remember years ago when I worked out, some coworker who also worked out told me that I looked good and he wished he could look as good. Saying you know you look good when other men can honestly compliment you. I always appreciate honesty from other dudes who are confident enough to give honest feedback.

So this dude and I started chatting about people we know who try taking the easy way out making excuses. I told him that I'm at a point where I am too old to lie to myself, only one way to go about it, eat right and exercise, simple as that. No tricks, no special diets, no special supplements, just eat good stuff and ride your bike ha ha ha! Spoke of people we know, coworkers, family, that all fool themselves thinking taking meds is going to cure everything. Seems we know many of the same people, the ones that say it's just bad luck while they eat Taco Bell everyday. Let me just say, I ain't no fool!

So don't let all the food pics fool you, I eat good stuff and cheat a little here and there now that I think I have a good head start. I eat good all week, ride my bike then eat something bad on the weekends. And even then, when we go somewhere bad, I don't eat the crap I used to eat. Like the Mexican food, I eat the main dish and only very few chips to taste the salsa. Mongolian BBQ, the stirf ry and a piece of bread. A couple shrimp but I don't have to worry about wasting the rest because Gina and Cecee are surely going to polish it off ha ha ha!

But the dude was really cool. Always been friendly and always hello but never really chatted with the guy. Pleasantly surprised when I shouldn't have been knowing he was friendly, we had a few good laughs. I heard things I had never heard before talking Mexican restaurants and food with a White guy ha ha ha! I had to really think about the dishes he was trying to pronounce at times ha ha ha!

I told him about some moron at work that looks like a fat bellied Kenny Rogers reject who is always trying to tell me how to get into shape, like him! Uhhh OK ha ha ha! He found out I had changed my diet avoiding sugar and trying to eat more natural things so he tells me how I can get into shape the way he does. He says he and his wife walk everyday after work. OK, if that's what it takes to get into shape like you, I'll pass ha ha ha!

I'll ride my bike 40 to 60 miles, another 20 then maybe another 20 during the week. Eat well topping it off. The dude it on diabetes meds, hearing aid, big beer belly and pure white hair, and limps like a mofo! So I'm thinking, ok the dude is old, I'll give him credit for walking after work. But he keeps insisting that I get into shape his way. BUT then I ask his age thinking he's like 75. He tells me that he is 62 and I'm like WHHHHHAAAAAT THE FFFFFFF!!!! He's only 5 months older than I am ha ha ha!

I hate to bag on anybody that tries but he's a One Upper. Everything I do, he does better and his way is better. He told me that he walks up the stairs everyday a few time that helps him stay in shape. Umm, ok, I walk up 2 flights of stairs to get to the breakroom as well. I even sometimes walk all the way up skipping a step just for a workout. Maybe not on Mondays after a bike ride weekend but the mid week. But funny seeing the guy get up halfway and stopping to catch his breath when he doesn't realize I can see him ha ha ha!

Anyway, we exchanged some good funny stories of people we know who make excuses and expect results or wonder why things don't improve for them. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY AND IF YOU'RE TO WEAK TO TAKE THAT ROUTE, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. That is my thinking and I'm sticking to it with NO EXCUSES.

That tricky little turn, steep grade thingy. Always tricky and a challenge to get up after a sharp turn. Made it every time so far even while pushing the remote shutter button ha ha ha! Seen so many walk up or dismount. As the dude in the pic. Even seen a couple of riders crash on group rides I've been on with forum members.

Walking it up!

My pre ride meal, 2 eggs and turkey sausage. 40 miles, water only. 60 miles water and a protein bar maybe. I think too many people take in too much stuff for what they do. Maybe just me but breakfast and water on the ride gets me through just fine.

Enchiladas with egg, rice and beans.

Mongolian BBQ. Really good waitress here, first time serving us. Really nice too offering to take our pic as we were exiting. She saw me preparing to take a pic of the gals so she asked if she could take the pics for us. I was hesitant as I like to get it from certain angles but OK, I let her seeing she was so nice and meant well. I could tell when she was taking them, they would be a challenge to edit. But!

She was nice so I didn't want to say no and she did take like 6 pics from different angles, good effort!

As we looked at the pics at home, Cecee said she was a very good waitress but maybe she shouldn't change occupations and stick with waitressing. Ha ha ha, funny but I have to give the gal credit for offering in the first place and she meant well.

Gina's plate was done first on the grill and she waits for no one ha ha ha!

This thing sucks! OK for vacuuming the keyboard on my laptop. Maybe a light suck job of the couch after I drop crumbs. Maybe a quick light sucking in my truck of the carpet console and very little of the floorboards. Then it's full or gets hot and won't run for an hour or so. Cute but the thing actually sucks in more ways than one ha ha ha! $39 for a POS duck.