The B5 Challenge

Fellow cyclist, big guy, and sometimes fixie rider Al Maviva came up with a neat idea for some of us that would like to loose some weight, but do so in a healthy way that doesn't detract from our cycling. He is calling it the Big Bulky Biker Bodyfat Biathlon (or B5) Challenge . I'm not a competitive guy, but this seemed to me to be something I could take part in, so I signed up. The two parts of the biathlon are weight loss and a three mile cycling time trial. The bathroom scale held the ugly news Friday morning at 275. Ouch, Christmas wasn't as good to me as I thought. My goal for June 1 is to loose 10 pounds a month and be down to 225. Sunday I rode my first/baseline TT. The stretch of MD 194 between MD 550 in Woodsboro and the light at Daysville Rd. is exactly three miles, according to both my bike and truck odometers. It also has a good shoulder and is pretty quiet on Sunday mornings. Finally it is mostly level, although I think it is a gentle climb over the whole three miles. I rode my Fuji fixed gear, with a newly installed rear 15t cog to give me a 75 inch gear. That is big for me, but I'll get used to it. 10:17. I suspect that that is pretty slow, but I don't have any yardstick to compare it to. We'll see what happens.