Before And "In Progress"

It's not easy to share this, or even look at myself at my old weight, but I'm going to be brave and share a before and "In Progress" picture. Not after, not yet, I have a long way to go. I've come pretty far though, 115 lbs to be precise.

Route 66

So, first of all, no post about Route 66 would be complete without at least one Kerouac quote...

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!” -- Jack Kerouac

Ok...so, now that that's out of the way. I wanted to post a few pictures of my journey training for the metric century I have coming up on Oct 4th. Just this summer I started cycling. My first ride was just 5 miles. I thought I was going to die the first time I rode 20 miles. Now I'm getting ready to ride 64 miles for the first time.

Part of my training routine has been a long ride every weekend, gradually increasing to 40 miles, which used to be a very long distance for me, but now it's just another Sunday ride! Here is a recent picture of me before my last trip. I know of at least a few people that will enjoy pointing and laughing at my cycling helmet, but that's ok, I can take it. :)


And here is the famous Route 66, about 10 miles south of Bloomington, Illinois near funks grove. Much of the ride borders Interstate 55 South, but when you can get far enough away from the highway the scenery really is something.