My major preoccupation lately has been cycling and eating better/less.

Last weekend I rode 34 miles in about 2:33. Three or four times a week, I bike to work, which is 10 miles in each direction. I’ve gotten that down to as low as 49 minutes (including stops) when I timed myself on Monday. That means I’m actually averaging as fast as my car commute. (Car commute is only 7 miles, but hilly/more dangerous, and takes me 30-35 minutes. That’s 12-14 MPH. That bike commute is 12.24 MPH. Both including stops.) I don’t expect I’ll get much faster — significant improvement beyond 45 minutes would probably require unsafe maneuvers — the safe improvements possible are better acceleration and better top speed — not many hills in this route. I am having a fun time speeding past tourists going up the hill at Fort Mason.

Weight is down about 1 pound in the past 3 weeks, bodyfat is down about .6% in that time period. I’ve been doing some weightlifting, but not the 4-5 times a week I was doing before I got serious about the bike again.

As far as organized cycling events, I think I’m going to do a 50k on August 2. I’m planning to do a century (100 miles) on October 18. I may schedule a 40 mile ride and a metric century (100km) somewhere in between. Though, the latter is way out in the middle of nowhere and would require staying in a hotel the night before.

I don’t think I have any interest at riding longer than 100 miles and will probably focus at getting faster at shorter stuff (both hilly and flat) after that point. That’s something about the challenge of climbing a hill that’s hard to resist.