At 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 11:

Goal: lose one pound per week for 39 weeks
Starting weight on 5/23: 214.6 lbs.
Goal: 175 lbs.
This week’s target weight: 211.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight: 209.3 lbs.
I am 2.3 lbs. ahead of schedule
This week I lost 1.2 lbs.
Weight loss since 5/23: 5.3 lbs.

Resting heart rate 5/23: 65 beats per minute
Today’s resting heart rate 59 beats per minute.*
* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong is said to be at 32 beats per minute. My lowest was 52 beats per minute many years ago.

I plan to treat myself every time I lose five pounds. This week I went to Hilo Bike Hub and bought myself a bike-mounted speedometer and heart rate monitor combination. It’s okay—I don’t golf, so I’m saving money.

I did a test ride from the farm to the ocean. Decided to go only part way as I am not in good enough shape to smile the whole way. I’ll be working on that in the coming weeks. I’m starting to remember how tough the Kulani trails really are.

At Kulani, the outside perimeter roads are the easier ride. I need to start there and take the inside trails as I make progress. They become progressively harder and more brutal. No matter what, riding over a three-foot log that lies across the trail without unclipping is something that I probably will never be able to do. But the bike is light; I’ll carry (run?) it over.

Your whole body is active, riding over rocks and roots and stumps and making uphill turns with a tree just at the wrong place so you cannot lean where you want to. One should use bike shoes that clip the shoes to the pedals so you can pull up when the other foot is not in a position to push down. But, when trying to put a foot down, it is counter-intuitive to move your heel to the left or right to unclip before saving your life by putting a foot down.

I can remember yelling often, while falling in slow motion, because I thought that I could not afford the time that it would take to unclip in order to put a foot down. So I would be stuck to the shoe, which was clipped to the pedal, while falling over. It’s funny how you always yell when this is happening. But that goes away after some practice. The yelling goes away at the same rate that you stop falling. After you pass through this phase you get to smile when you hear someone yelling in the forest.

In Kulani, you need to go faster than feels safe to get the momentum necessary to carry you over obstacles. In Kulani it is all about momentum. But if you’re overweight you cannot maintain momentum—you can only think about not falling over, because you’re going too slow.

So it is a challenge and great fun to be able to ride the Kulani trails, especially if you’re over 60. I’ve got a long way to go. Not, no can. Can!!!

If I could finish one of the fun rides or races there, it would be one of the most satisfying things that I can think to do.