275

me at 275lbs

This Article is not recommended reading. If you want to read it go ahead, its your Funeral. --NK


That Number means something to me. That is the single most largest number I have ever seen while standing on a scale. And when I saw it, I was baffled.

Why Baffled?

Well, I have always been an explorer. As a young child, I spent my days walking the woods in my area. I had a 10 square mile radius of woods that I had bushwhacked or made trails and forts in that I called my stomping grounds. I remember the first day we moved into the house I grew up in, I went for a stroll in the woods. I found a clearing. In this clearing, there was fallen trees that had been pruned and arranged.

It was cold that day, I remember cause I was wearing a jacket, I was seven years old. At this place I found a piece of plywood in the corner covering a hole. Inside that hole I found three toolboxes filled with tools. So what did I do, I took them home. My parents were amazed.

As a teenager, I skateboarded everywhere. I didn't have or own a bike, I would cover many, many, over ten miles a day, by skateboard. By far some of the coolest moments that I had in my past.

I went in the Military by age 17. When I turned 18 I remember that day well, I was in the middle of a twenty mile Road March carrying a 70lb ruck sack and my M16 rifle.

I went into the army weighing 135lbs came out a muscle packed 176. I still remember the look on my mom's face. She had to rub her eyes in disbelief how much I had changed in such a short time period.

After the Army, I got caught up in trying to figure it all out and trying to do the College thing and all that. I would skate, but less, I was not as active, but I was not a slouch either. I slowly over time, saw the pounds come on.

I eventually made it to 205 pounds and leveled off. Had my first son, then during the pregnancy of my second son the weight really started coming on. I though for a moment I was experiencing what my ancestors described as the Couvade. Its something that sometimes happen to men, that they experience the symptoms of the wife's pregnancy. I remember these years of my life as being deep and profoundly spiritual. I remember learning and seeing so much in those years and experiences that, In retrospect, are so far off the spectrum of lucidity that I won't bother to mention them.

Regardless.

There I was sitting on the couch after thanksgiving dinner. I had done what I usually did at that time in my life. I had fallen asleep after eating. My brother, at this point, had been ragging on me hard and about my Girth, so when he saw me napping, he snapped a pic. Later, I saw that pic and didn't recognize the person in the photo. Its funny how you look in the mirror and you don't ever see yourself as others see you. Your self image is so affected by your mind its astonishing.

Kailan had been born and I was now 70lbs heavier. OK. Well, I got tired of it and did something about it.

It started in December of 1999, a good friend of mine named Alberto pretty much, single handily turned me into a mountain biker. That's the short story. There were many bikes from here to there, but later I will share.

I started riding, 13 miles a day everyday before work. I counted calories and kept my daily intake to a precise 1800 calories. And, it worked. Each week the pounds were coming off. And after about a year, I had lost close to 40lbs.

At this point in my life, the riding had brutal effects on me. After doing a 20 mile ride at hanging with your buddies trying to kill each other pace, I would get home and pass out for 3 or 4 hours. I thought it was normal and never thought twice about it.

I eventually decided to take it up a notch and get into the fast and furious world of Florida MTB XC racing. Coming from a skateboarding background, I was naturally drawn to urban riding and the whole freeride thing, so at first, I used to stunt alot, still do at times(LOL). My friend Aaron and I were hitting this Jump spot, and I was going to jump down and he was going to jump up it, at the same time, and I figured he would move to the right side; Didn't work out that way. We ended up crashing straight up head on collision.

Sucked so bad. I got hurt, ended up eventually going to the doctor, to check myself up and stuff. Doc calls me three days later, telling me I needed to return right away. I did, they re did the test, called me back and told me that I have Hypothyroidism.

From the way I understand it, the thyroid is like the alternator in the car. The alternator sole purpose is to regulate and recharge the electrical system of the vehicle, the energy manager. Everyone knows what happens if your alternator quits, eventually, your car quits. Same thing with the thyroid. In fact, it was because of the thyroid that I had gained all the weight and because of the thyroid I was having such a hard time coming down from 225.

I got on the meds and overtime I got down in weight, eventually my lowest was like 195 or something like that, but it fluctuated(at times all the way to 215 back down to 200, avg 205). I raced and did my thing off and on. In 2006 I was able to have a breakthrough season as a result of a philosophical shifting in thinking; the regimen had stayed the same. After doing well at XC, I totally got over it. It had become pointless and a waste of time and money. So I started thinking ENDURO.

I dedicated myself to it, like I do everything else. I'm still working on it. After many rides and many events I have learned to do well. I'm not the fastest, not the strongest, but I am Capable.
Since I got into Enduro, I have had a chance to really test myself and I still was finding that something was off.

Eventually it all came down to nutrition as being the key element that I was missing. In fact my entire philosophical shift has altered in 2008 because of this. I totally understand what is happening with America's health and can see clearly what is going on with the human condition when it comes to health and weight issues. With the guidance and leading of my lovely spiritual partner and wife, I was able to finally lose the 30lbs I had been fighting for 8 years to lose. All thru diet. My cholesterol was the lowest ever, blood pressure, all my numbers were like the numbers you would expect to see on a chart for a man half my age. Even my thyroid medicine came down in prescription and I anticipate it will come down even more. It all came down to nutrition. If you really want to get yourself in shape. Really want to feel good, really want to stop getting sick or even loose a health condition that you have had for years, get a hold of me, we can help you do it and its simple.

BUT, there was one thing WAY wrong on my chart, my hematocrit levels were way below the acceptable level. As I understand it, the hematocrit reflects how many red blood cells you have available to perform important tasks such as carrying oxygen throughout your body. Actually, people who have this condition where traditionally given EPO (the infamous and evil word in cycling) to help improve there levels. I apparently was slowly, bleeding to death.

How and why I was bleeding to death is not hard to explain. I was having a problem with an internal vein in my lower area, that when I did a certain thing at a certain time it would bleed. And usually that was my only symptom. But in the recent year, things had gotten worst, and I will not even go there to describe the new symptom, but it was awful and painful. Not only that, but I was going to Endurance races with the opposite of EPO going on in my blood. And I got everyone smoking me and I'm sitting here trying to figure out what was going on and I was pissed.

All is grand in my world. The family, the wife, the bikes, I got directions and goals, I am very satisfied. Even my physical is were I want it, I feel great, I don't get sick, but now this, I had to get it fixed and the only way was surgery.

I have spent about a week and a day walking a pain filled path of mind numbing intensity. I have shed tears and felt despair, I have suffered hard, but finally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And I cant wait for the day when I show up to represent and battle on the field of fun, and show up able to put in 100%. I anticipate this next year to be a great year.

Looking forward to it,

Laters,me at 175lbs

LOS

DayDreaMin!

I got way too much time on my hands.....

Quickly becoming my favorite time of the year!

One of the most adventurous races is going on at the moment. I have every intention of doing this in 2010.
Get Caught up in the Fun!!!
mtbcast, listen to their call in's and the pod cast, good stuff!!

Tour Divide.

The Great Divide Race.

RattleSnake Phase 3

On Wednesday I finally made it to rattlesnake island. Wow.
The Naked Indian is on a mission. A mission to innovate and further take the possibilities to explore the natural wonders that our own state has to offer. To the individual who reads this blog, this is nothing new to you.
I took this "trip" or "mission" thru the appropriate phases. I first researched it extensively via google maps. Then physically drove to the spots I could to get a glimpse of what the terrain looked like, basically soft sand insurance. Finally, the execution phase came along.
Executing was taking longer then all the other phases combined. Right now is the season for the Taino Spirit of Thunder, Guatauba, to come out and play;so each afternoon, you know the deal.
The original team to conquer this loop was the Bird and I, but things didn't get to play out that way.
Circumstance being what it is, I enlisted my team mate to join me on my ride.
My planning and measuring via google earth was spot on. My maps and cue sheets were "rainman" accurate.

The red markings on this map clearly show the successful completion of the ride.
This opens up my next ride concept an overnight. This will be executed in August or September. Take off round midnight. Ride to RattleSnake and camp out.
Then ride an approximate 13 to 20 miles either across to New Smyrna or into Edgewater, OFF ROAD the whole way.
Then. Have breakfast somewhere, that can be calculated. We continue to the Spruce Creek MTB trail aka the Secret Trail. Ride that sucker, then take the roads to the cabbage patch, grab a snack and a beer.
Then we make our way via more road, cutting thru Lake Helen at some point, chewing up some dirt in Cassadaga back into De Land for Dinner and Camping at Lake Beresford park putting us at the start of the second section of the Naked Indian loop.
Wake up Sunday and finish the loop, barbecue at my place.
Sounds like fun?
You know what to do if you want a piece of this action.

Ladies and Gentleman, and now in its next phase of existence, I present to you Black Beauty, aka, the Stiff Bitch, aka the Bitch, aka the Beauty, aka the Mamasita. I slapped on a Vassago Odis fork. That fork is the single most bad ass upgrade I have done on this bike, I want a white one for the War Machine!!!
Jason's ride. Bad ass, I dig it, we were all lit up too when we went. The ride was an ass kicker. We got caught in a storm like 7 miles into the ride. Luckily I spotted and abandoned trailer and we made for the porch. We took cover at this abandoned trailer on this abandoned porch for nearly an hour as the storm carried on like a child's temper tantrum around us.
The Roads leading out to RattleSnake are in perfect condition and have signage. The Hunt Club out there does an excellent job of taking care of that place. They are on point. This place has as much potential as I anticipated it would and the wildlife was amazing.
I saw 5 deer, 1 bob cat, 1 Otter, 1 coon and 1 owl that was only ten feet away on a post giving me the usual salutations.
It rained the whole time. The Back section of Pell road was a mess. And it turned into a lot of work, everything was so wet that small lakes had formed. I was able to ride 90 percent of it only having to hike a bike less then a quarter mile. It was hard work, but fun regardless. There is something Seriously wrong with Black's drive train, I got to get it looked at. Bad ass ride, will be doing it again, and I look forward to really sinking my teeth into this place. I see a local hundred miler being easy and the ride I have planned I think will be over 100 miles.

Who's in?
Self supported, Over nighter.

Enjoy,
Laters,
LOS

Decisions, decisions!

I'm trying to finish putting together my bike packing overnight kit and I would like some input.

Should I get this.

Or

This.

Feedback?
Comments?

Let me know,
Laters,
LOS

FatherS DaY 2008

I have been a Dad now for 14 years. What a blessing it is. To share and impart knowledge and experiences and care and nurture my children. Got up too late to take a stab at the rattlesnake, but we went and saw Imax(if you dont know what Imax is, its a 60 foot tall 80 foot wide movie screen, ya I know, were cool) Kung Fu Panda and had some dinner and had some dairy queen, just everything I wanted to do I did.

Great day, thanks Kids and Mom, you know I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Happy Father's day out there to all the daddies that do their duty!

Laters,
LOS

PaisLeY WooDs

My wife and I seem to be in the long off road single speed ride business. The shop opens mainly on weekends and we start rides and end them when we want and were always in for some fresh dirt. Today, after careful pondering and a super late start I decided to finally go and check out the Paisley woods mountain bike trail located in the town of Paisley and part of the black bear capital of Florida aka Ocala National Forests.
The trail was exactly as advertised at 22 miles according to Garmin and all his normal forestrial miscalculations. We decided to ride all the way to Alexander springs. The gate fee was ridiculous so we didn't fulfill the fantasy of a swim but the ride was pleasant enough.

If you have ever ridden croom, then you would recognize the flaura and fauna of this trail. I would say this is the lake county version of croom. The terrain even rolls just like croom, lots of climbing, I was surprised, some long downhills and uphills, this place was a real treat.


At this point, is where you do a small out and back and basically turn around.
Part of the reason of riding this trail is to get a look at the forests service roads, this one in particular is in prime condition. I saw some others that were not so nice. Yea, the wheels are turning in my mind.

There were some long climbs that added up out there today. There was some super buff areas, that had you diving into the bushes head first. The Bird made almost every climb today, this one was one of the ones she didn't. It doesn't look like much, but it was hard. My out of saddle skills have improved so much, I was riding real good, I like the War Machine.
The trail was clearly marked and there was only one or two spots that we stopped and had to look around for the blazes.

We started on the East side.

And came back on the west side. Nothing but flavor and I look forward to riding out here some more (moonlight night ride anyone?). The Bird took a Lil beating from this trail today, but she just doesn't realize how good she truly is. We rode 22 miles through rolling terrain, with not a single break. I can think back to my beginner days and I dont think I would of been able to do that then.

Tomorrow, the rattle snake!

Laters,
LOS

RattleSnake Phase 2

We spent a couple of hours driving around yesterday evening.
All I have to say is WOW!!!
I discovered the area I was looking at is privately owned by a local hunting club.
This place has so much potential its ridiculous, I have no Idea how many miles total the system is, but I am planning to go forward with what I find to be the currently the most manageable and easily navigated route to the Island.
stay posted!
Laters,
LOS

The RattleSnake Phase 1

There is a portion of dirt roads that link up close to my house that I have ridden a couple of times. Well, I have been looking to add some mileage to my already sizeable dirt loop.
Upon suggestion I started using Google earth and discovered a network of dirt roads out towards the Osteen area.
I have a plan to connect it to a section I am already familiar with and explore to an area labeled on the map as RattleSnake Island.If you look at my image from the Google Earth program, I have put thumbtacks marking key locations. My plan is to print this, then while looking simultaneously at Google maps make notes on the map of roads that are labeled and the intended route with alternates.
The only section of this ride that appears to be Buff is the powerline trail that takes you out to the Snake.
With that in mind, this course lends itself to phase 2 which I will do tomorrow and actually attempt to drive the course to "Scout it Out".
From experience you have to be very keen when chasing images from satellite photos. You have to learn to recognize the subtle changes in the trail, cause sometimes the location is not very clear.
You sometimes come across sand pits or gates and fences, or natural obstacles like creeks and marsh land. That's when its good to have more then one route to reach or complete the route desired.
The plan is to ride it Fathers' day early, thirty miles is my guess, could be more could be less. If its nice; I plan to use it as a good place to ride to and camp just to test my overnight kit.
Stay tuned!

Laters,
LOS

HeR FiRsT 50 :O !

Paloma wanted to do the NK ride ever since she knew that I had connected the loop.

She has been pedaling a lot more lately. She is a natural if such thing exists.
On this day she did the entire ride, abridged, but just as fun.
It took us 10 hours to do the entire ride.
6 of them were spent riding a mostly off road loop with BUFF single track, BuFf double track and dirt roads.
Lots of climbs; I ended up taking a detour that gave us some of the longest sickest climbs I have done in a long time. Funny part is those climbs have been there for the longest time and I never knew.
4 of the hours were spent smelling the roses.
She has never ridden 31 miles let alone 50, but she was in to win. My plan was simple. Break it into sections, stop, post up, relax and enjoy, time, is not an issue or a factor; a true Off Road Tour.

Mr. Turtle met us on the road heading into Cassadaga. Its the funniest thing, as I sit on the machine doing cadence riding and chatting with my lady, I see the turtle in the road, Identify it outloud and take off in a chase after it similar to the crocodile hunter from back in the day. Plus I wanted to make sure he didn't get hit, but brother must cross the road here alot cause he was hauling ass.
The first mostly off road section of the NK ride was in good shape save for the last mile. The last mile was rough and you had to ride on the shoulder of the road where the grass is still growing. Its rough riding, cause at times you lose shoulder so you have to speed up sprint across the soft sand and bridge the gap to the other side where the shoulder is rideable.
Amazingly enough, its a great workout.

When we got to Cassadaga, I decided to hang a right and head into the "downtown" area and check out some of the sights and shops.

Here is where we took a slight detour from the regular NK ride. We took the road out of Cassadaga to MLK to Orange camp for 5 miles of back road and sidewalks. It was nice had some leg burning steep climbs on this progressive Urban slither of singletrack.

Great thing about riding for me. Is if I ride, the effort affords a cold one if I chose to do so and today I did. They made my belly feel warm.

Los on the phone. My phone is a bad ass on board assistant and entertainment machine. I got to say, I am into gadgets.
After lunch, drink, and desert at Angelina's, we rode another 3 miles to Lake Beresford park. This place has potential and I plan to do some approved trail building out there and hopefully build or inspire someone to assist. The Buff single track we rode looped perfectly in the direction on the paved spring to spring trail that we take that leads us into Debary and further down along the NK route. It was mostly uphill and really primitive, we totally dugg it.

I loved the detail in this log,





Great sights along this trail. I cant wait to get out here and give it more, I predict great things for this spot with some time and effort.






I found the sweetest connector off the spring to spring trail to the rail road track trail that involved a 20 foot steep off camber descent to a technical tight transition at the bottom. Also realized how nice the climbs are on this thing. This place is definetely going to be incorporated in my training loops I do out here.

LOOK FOR THE GHOST IN THE PIC

Once we left Lake Beresford the next Oasis was the Gemini springs trail head at Lake Monroe. We got there at 10pm and posted up. Used the spout to refill all our water, we had ran out about 4 miles back, we wet our hair, cleaned our legs, laid on the benches and relaxed.
We had some of the coolest experiences that I have ever had on a bike.
We saw a family of raccoons crossing the rail road tracks.
One sprinting deer.
3 owls. One sat with us for almost an hour sitting in the tree making chirping sounds like I have never heard coming from such a bird.
The best part was after this spot, when we were making our way across the Gemini springs trail and we hit the marsh land area.
There must have been close to 1000 lightning bugs flying around in unsynchronized movements. For a moment I thought I was having some sort of psychedelic rerun, but NO, what my eyes were witnessing did indeed exists.
It was beautiful and priceless.
Lights just flashing and floating in no particular pattern for yards and yards, breathtaking.
We finished up around 1am. She says it was great, best she has ever felt after a long ride. Man, those Ergon Grips sure do help.

Enjoy,
Laters,
LOS

The Santos 70: ThE GrueLeR!

Here is the Garmin data.
I had planned to do a Lil day before epic with the wife. I was going to take her on an abridged version of the NK ride, get lunch, stop and smell the flowers you know make a day of it.
But Friday night, my head felt real heavy. I was still feeling the effects of Thursday nights efforts. All day Saturday I pretty much just laid about, watched TV, read, relaxed, we both did my wife and I, we never even touched the bikes.
Well we did. We put on her Ergon Grips and new stem and bars to get her a better fit on the Fetish.
I went to sleep around 6pm Saturday evening and didn't get out of bed till 4 am Sunday morning. I was well rested, got up excited. Heck I was the first person in the parking lot.
I had my concerns about the ride. Being a guy who loves to explore and plan, after a couple of awful exploring experiences I can get a bit apprehensive. But, one good conversation with Rob(pictured here) and I had changed my tune about the ride and was excited to get out there.
The kit was the most important part of the day for me. I really want to get into super long extended self supported epics and figured this was a great enough adventure into the unknown to be able to really put the kit through its paces.
Full On epic Kit includes:
1 lighter.
1 roll of electrical tape.
1 tom tom navigation system.
1 spare cell phone battery.
1 set of music headphones.
1 topeak mini bike pump with pressure gauge.
1 Light and motion Stella light with headmount.
1 map.
1 camera.
1 phone.
1 Leatherman multi tool.
2 tubes.
2 16 oz co2
1 compatible c02 inflater.
1 multi tool.
2 Sram Powerlinks.
For nutrition, I had it calculate at 9 hours so I took 4 packets of almonds and 1 packet of mixed nuts, plus one packet of salmon.
For hydration I went with my 200 oz camelback bladder. I brought an extra bottle with the plan of using it to pour water over my head. Turns out I never needed it.
All this fit neatly and compactly into my Ergon BD1 pack.


Ron is a bad ass dude nuff said. Don't believe me, check out the trucker hat, this guy is no joke.

As well I was excited to see Luis, love riding with this guy, there is no slow with Lou and I dig it.

We rolled out, Tony, Rob, Ron, Luis and I. Ron and Tony were only planning to get out to the Landbridge and then head back, admittedly I wanted to get to the task at hand, but once we got going thru them woods I was caught up in the moment and didn't care what we rode. I was having some technical difficulties. My seat bag fell a couple of times. My pack wasn't working right. Turns out I had the front buckles way to tight for that type of design. Once I loosened the front buckle, the pack worked fantastic. Making my way thru vortex coming down a long drop, I hit a soft mud patch with the front wheel and did a little locked up with the bike slide on my side, smacked my knee and hip into a tree trunk right in the middle of the trail.
It hurt, and I cursed.
But got up and kept going. The rest of the ride out to the near end of Nayl's was super nice and it was nothing but smiles on my face.

At this point, Ron parted ways and we started making our way into what we would call the Unknown section of the trip.




The Start of the unknown was limestone road in fact I would be safe in saying that 85% of the track heading out to Pruitt Trailhead is of such composition. The terrain was rolling, which was a great workout in some parts, in others it was flat which was fine as well.We found a water source, the water looked so clean and it was so cold. But the sign says dont drink it, for those who would like to venture to the Pruitt trailhead this would be a good spot to filter water, there is another at the actual trailhead.

This is a shot of the little pavilion thing they put at the trail head. Not much out there just a lot of wide open land.


From looking at the map, early, Rob had mentioned that we could make the river. I pictured clear clean flowing water and a nice refreshing dip. In fact I thought about it a lot the entire way out there. Well we found it, and sat down and it was nice, but I wouldn't jump in the water. Still, it was a nice spot and it was interesting all the terrain we had covered, we had seen lots of animals and even had a little rain up to this point.
We rolled out hoping it would be a nice smooth ride back out. Well, I had thought once I got out there that it might rain. And sure enough it did, but then, it came back. As I was making my way thru the pasture like double track, the storm started creeping in from behind.
The lightning was ripping the sky above my head and very close by, definitely breaching any agreements I have ever had with Lightning and proximity. But sure enough I came around the corner to find Rob and Luis discussing. Rob suggested we seek shelter in the tree line since it seemed like our best bet.
Well I start looking around and immediately spot a cave like pocket in the brush. Seemed to me like animals had laid there before and sure enough that's where we took cover.
For one hour, the lightning was as bad as I have ever seen it. There were proximity alarms going off in my head. Things were looking bleak at this moment.
Then.
The Rain started coming down like blankets of sheer water being shed from a wheeping God. I was drenched 20 seconds into the ordeal and it didn't seem like It would let up.
Then.
I saw a piece of Ice hit the ground and I mentioned it to the Guys. Well, Not even 10 minutes after the ice was falling and falling. I had a good spot under a tree but we were all getting hit. Funny how many people can say that their bikes have been hailed on.
Then.
The wind started whipping. So I decided to go deeper in the brush for more cover, from the rain, the wind and the ice. I pulled my arms in my shirt, zipped all the way up, took my ergon pack and sat it up in the direction that the wind was facing, curled up on the ground and waited. The wind got so bad that I started telling the guys to listen for something that may sound like a train, cause it could be a Tornado.
We waited and waited...
Eventually, the wind died down.
The ice stopped falling.
The rain started slowing.
The lightning started moving away.
And a FuLL HoUr had passed!!!
Wow!
We got on the ball and rode back a completely different feeling trail, then the one we had taken out. It was flooded in some spots, and water everywhere, but it was good to be moving, and alive and no longer pinned down by a storm.
There was one 1/2 mile to 1 mile section of the trail that you had to improvise your line choices in order to keep traction. It was part of the challenge.
On our way back, we finished Nayl's and Robert and Luis who had been riding now for several miles without water stopped to refill and I kept going figuring they would catch me eventually.
I actually made it back to the lot, with just 200 oz of water. It was a good test to see how my kit would work and it worked perfect.
I felt great too. No pains, no aches, I truly felt like I could ride forever, I rode 70 and felt like I had ridden 40, it seems like everything is starting to come together for me.
I think anyone and everyone who likes to ride off road should go out and pedal the Grueler, I think you may enjoy it as much as I did.


Laters.
LOS.