Day 3

weight: 216lbs
days left: 44
today: 13.5mi
total: 16.5mi

what a beautiful day! slept in really late for no reason at all, but it was so nice. called Hodson's Bay about a tune-up. a full tune-up costs about $50 and there's a waiting line, so i made an appointment for July 8. wow. but i put my bike on a bus and went to the shop to get new brake pads, air in the tires, and the seat raised a little bit. the whole thing cost $9.26, which is great, but seeing how easy it is to change brake pads, i'm mad that i spent $5 on labor when the pads were only $4. could have done everything myself, i'll have to remember that for next time. luckily i didn't have them install my computer, i know i can do that myself and it would have cost like another $10. now i'm wondering how much money i've been spending on this endeavor. since i figure that my followers may want to know the cost of things in case they want to start cycling too, let's see what it's racking up to be:

Idiot's Guide: $8.21 (Half Price Books)
Time-Crunched Cyclist: $7.09 (Borders Marketplace, used)
Woman's Guide: Free (Library)
Bike Computer: $10.66 (Wal-mart)
Brake Pads & Install: $9.26 (Hodson's Bay)
TOTAL: $35.22

eh, i guess that isn't so bad, yet. there are still some other things that i'll eventually need to get: essential tool kit (tire levelers, all purpose tool, wrenches, spoke wrench, etc), chamois butter, maybe a small pouch, a headlight, a new seat, new jersey or two, and of course the tune-up. so the bill can add up quickly, especially if i spend too much time in the shop. i'll want to buy everything!

some things that i already have that a new cyclist may want to consider are: a functional bike, helmet, camelback hydration system, spare inner tubes, gloves, cycling shorts, cycling jerseys, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. so yea, this isn't a cheap sport, but it's sure worth every penny!

so anyway, RJ was more cooperative today and i got to ride a lot. after Hodsons i rode over to the library to pick up the Woman's Guide that i had on hold, then i biked all the way home. it was such beautiful weather, i'm so glad that i took advantage of it. hot, but great cool breeze. when i got home i threw on my volleyball clothes and biked over to the corec, and then back again after playing for 2hours. it was great that the salisbury hill didn't kill me like it usually does and i accidentally found myself going up the grant st hill, which i thought would be horrendous since going down at 20mph is scary enough, but it actually wasn't that bad. when you're going down, you don't realize that there is a nice flat spot. i enjoyed it. so overall i was able to cycle 13.5miles. cool!

food was actually not enough today. since i woke up late, i had a slim-fast shake for lunch. then a fiber-one bar before heading out. i drank so much water that i wasn't hungry enough for food. i definitely felt it during volleyball though. i was like a slug and couldn't concentrate. i'll remember not to do that again! right now i'm trying to enjoy a bowl of chili, but not really liking the Great Value version. nothing beats Hormel! it would be better if i had cheese, onions, and crackers, or at least some cream cheese. i do have onions, but that wouldn't taste right by itself. oh well.

but look! 116lbs!! could it be? maybe that slim-fast shake i had yesterday really does slim fast! either that, or all the zumba-ing! actually, i think it's more because i was more careful when calibrating the scale this morning. yesterday i just stepped on without paying attention. it's not digital, i have to make sure it's zero-ed all the time. so maybe i've just been lying to myself, maybe i never weighed 220lb and it's my mom's scale that's messed up. but we can't be sure yet, have to see what comes tomorrow. watch, my luck will show me that i actually gained weight, over 220. haha hope not!

if i have time tomorrow, i'll go check out the spin class at 5:30pm (there's a 5:15AM class, but noooo way!!!!). i'm planning on having friends over for dinner (a healthy dinner), so most of the day will be spent making my apartment presentable. weather's supposed to be great, no excuse not to ride.

tonight i'm just going to do a little clean up, dishes and garbage, and then curl up with the idiot's guide. i'm learning about components now, it's really interesting. have a good night!