I'll post this as a catch-all intro post. You can skip to the part that you find interesting.
The Early Days
I'm a fairly normal human male, now hovering on the high end of middle age.
Weight has been a struggle all my life.
Growing up, the polite term was "husky" or "big boned" but I leaned out in high school and was finally called thin/lanky. Through college and into my 20s, weight crept on but the rate was slow and I really didn't notice or much care.
In 2008, I had a wakeup call at my brother's wedding. At the event, I had many family members ask me if I was "okay." I felt fine and didn't understand the concern.
But, when the wedding pictures came back, I understood. I was 285# at that point and quite pudgy. A few weeks later, finding inspiration in those pictures, I knocked the cobwebs off of the old mountain bike and rode around the subdivision. Thought I would die. But with Mrs. Zoxe's help, did it again.
She joined me and we began riding after work a few nights a week. Biking as a hobby took shape, and we upgraded our rides and started doing charity events.
Triathlons
In 2010 my brother challenged me to a Triathlon. By now I was around 250# and the distances involved were do-able. I was not fast but I finished, and it became the first of many such races from 2010 through 2017.
I lost weight naturally (no set diet) and started 2013 at about 235#. In January of 2013, the doc challenged me to lose 40# or go on meds for life - and I did it. I was also faster on the bike and pushed distances. For triathlon, we were doing several sprint races a season, and one or two Olympic Aquabike (I like running least and enjoyed swimming 1800 and having more bike distance).
In 2016, I did 100 miles at Tour de Cure Indy around the infamous Brickyard (Indy500) track. Training that season meant many long hours solo on the road and pushing into some uncomfortable spaces mentally. But I checked the box on a goal that had eluded me - the Imperial Century.
From the modest start described above, Mrs. Zoxe and I became endurance athletes. Never the fastest, rarely the slowest. Metric centuries, triathlons, and a year round commitment to staying fit. Each year, we biked thousands of miles, swam tens of thousands of yards, and ran our asses off.
Weight: From 2013 to 2015 I stayed under the magic 200# and then started sneaking back up. I stayed 203/205/207 for many months but couldn't crack under 200 again. That's been 5 years already.
In 2015, I switched jobs. It was the right thing at the time, but my schedule became less predictable and time at the gym became harder to do.
Turning Point
In the early months of 2017, we were out for a shakedown ride 2 nights before an early season triathlon, and we had a near miss from one of the neighbor's kids.
I think he was texting while driving - he was coming at us head on, at speed on our narrow county road. He came across the center line and then darted at the last second. (I thought it was intentional until our eyes met as he passed). I was behind Mrs. Zoxe about 50 yards and while I was safe, she was in the line of fire and was basically run off the road. In that moment I thought she was going to bounce off his windshield.
I've heard the "get back on the saddle" analogy from many. "It's too bad," they say. "You should have gotten back up."
You Should is one of my least favorite phrases.
I can do a lot of things and take risks with myself, but seeing her almost get critically hurt was a pivotal moment. You can "you should" all you want, but so much crystalized in that moment for me. The roads by us are far more busy than they were in 2010, and the increased traffic has left them lumpy and borderline unsafe for bikes. The tipping point of "not worth it" was tripped.
We completed that tri and hung up the bikes. Continued to spin at the gym but have not ridden on our roads since. My race number is still affixed to the Bianchi almost 4 years later.
Pandemic and COVID
Fast forward - here we are in the pandemic. My weight is now 240# (up 20# from a year ago). We are working from home full time under COVID, and while I haven't gained weight I have definitely put on size.
I am not a first responder but the national situation has caused 10-11 hour days most days and all but killed any after work exercise and zero trips to the gym.
However, the spring of 2020 we carved trails through our 10 acres and attempt to walk at lunch. I threw some knobbies on the ol' Surly Cross Check and attempted to ride but it was overly brutal.
Around Thanksgiving, I splurged on a 29er MTB from Twin 6 with the intent of breaking in the trails right.
After the holidays, I realized that the idea of spending meaningful time on the MTB during our cold weather was overly optimistic. The spirit is willing but my lungs revolt under 35 degrees. I procured a Tacx Flux S smart trainer and mounted the old Surly on it for some indoor miles. I'm quite smitten with Zwift at the moment, and thus the reason for this blog.
Will keep me off the roads; hopefully I can find my lungs again.
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