The Beginning of My Primal Journey

I recently spent a lot of hours alone in the car while driving back from Colorado and I discovered podcasts about the Paleo/Primal way of eating and living.  For 9 hours I listened to podcasts from Fat Burning Man, Latest in Paleo and Rob Wolf.  This idea was planted in my brain when my cousin Wallace at Hike Bike Dale made a few posts about fasting and how it worked.  I was intrigued so I did what I always do, dive right in head first into the research and learning process.

I started to eat healthier when I was in college and I watched the movie 'Super Size Me.'  Over the years I have been eating more and more healthy, transitioning to organic and grass fed foods just in the last few years.  In the last year I have reduced my meat intake and focused a lot on vegetables.  Along with cycling I have lost a little bit of body fat but I still retain more than I want to carry.  So, I plan to document my journey as I adjust my diet to a more primal way of eating and living.  This is mostly for myself and a few others but I think it will be good to write down what I am going through.  The types of food I eat will change, the frequency of food will change, my workouts will change and eventually I will try Intermittent Fasting.  So, here we go!

Here is what I look like as I start out.  I admit most people would look at me and think I am crazy for wanting to change.  But my goal has always been health and keeping myself fit.  I race bikes and lift weights and I would like to be faster and stronger while maintaining a lower body fat percentage.  Obviously I want to gain muscle while losing fat.  My starting weight is 146.2, I am 5'7" and 30 years old.

This is my journey...

New Parts!

So, after a lot of emails back and forth with Sean at The Bike Way (and even a phone call from around the world) I think the parts list is finally done and almost ready to go onto the bike. I am still not home yet but should be there soon. Hopefully around the 20th of March.

Here is the plan. Items in blue are items not replaced.



As you can see almost everything was changed. With this setup I am estimating the final weight between 21 and 22 lbs. I am happy with that. It is going to be a whole different experience on a bike this light the first couple of times. I am confident the SRAM XO drivetrain will perform flawlessly. I am anxious to see how the new 2x10 setup works too. It should be perfect for the flat terrain in Nebraska. The Roval Carbon wheels are a new product for this year and a super value for the price. I will write my thoughts on them after they see some trail time. I went with the Specialized S-Works Fast Trak LK because of the slightly wet conditions I am expecting to ride in the early spring. Once the ground hardens up I will probably put the S-Works Renegade on there.

Parts accumulating...



Can't wait to get back home. The first place I am going is to The Bike Way. Well that and Whole Foods for some good stuff to eat! Hopefully next time I talk about the bike it will be put together. Thanks again Sean for the help putting this together!

Gear changes

I reported earlier that I purchased a 2010 Scott Scale 29. This has been a great bike for me and it treated me well. I weigh about 150 lbs and that is a weight I am comfortable with and will be trying to maintain. My bike however weighs a svelt 27.4 lbs which isn't exactly light for a XC hardtail race bike, especially for someone my size. So, I am in the process of making a few modifications. My goal is to have a much lighter bike that will give me a better power to weight ratio and better gearing for XC racing. More information to come later but for now I will leave you with this...

Training with one hand tied behind my back

In December I departed Omaha with the intention of training all winter for the spring mountain bike season. I was going to run, swim, bike, and lift weights for 3 months in hopes of improving my physical abilities on a bike, particularly a bike that goes up and down hills and rocks. I even upgraded my USA Cycling license to a Cat 2 mtb rider and a Cat 3 CX rider; definitely high expectations. Well, I am in Qatar and while my access to gym equipment is by no means very limited I am without a bike to ride. This does present a few obvious problems but by no means is a sever setback. I should be able to work around it.

The gym here is very nice. Here is what it has.

25 yd lap pool
Free weight room
Machine room
Ellipticals
Treadmills
Fitness room w/ various types of equipment
Spin bike room
Row machine

I definitely have many options and I have been using most of this equipment during my time here. I have been lifting weights since college so I do have a decent grasp on most of the basic movements. However, when it comes to cycling training I really don't have a clue. So, I did what I do best. I scoured the internet reading articles about cyclocross and mountain bike training attempting to get a grasp on what lay ahead of me. Eventually I came across something called the Mountain Bike Strength Training System


This system was developed by a guy named James who owns a gym in Grand Junction, CO. On his website he has a lot of great information for training, all of it directed at mountain biking. He has a few different systems and I decided to go with the Ultimate MTB Workout. It includes strength workouts, cardio, warmups, stretching and even nutrition. It covers everything you will need to ride faster and stronger. James has developed a Vimeo.com page with video demos of every movement in the system so it is very easy to learn. James even has podcasts where he covers gear reviews, nutrition tips, does interviews and bike skills training. Overall it is a very informative site and James even makes a point to contact you directly to follow up with your progress. I have been doing this program for about 6 weeks now and I am more flexible, have less pain, and I feel stronger. The strength workouts focus on the core; all of your power and stability on the bike come from your core. This is an area that I have not put a lot of effort into in the past so it is a welcome change.

Obviously I haven't been able to practice any skills training or get any time on a mountain bike but I am confident that this system will prepare me physically to jump right back on the bike in late March and hit the trails hard. The first race is the Jewell Park Time Trial on April 2nd. I will post an update on my training before the first race.

How it all got started

In 2010 I rediscovered mountain biking. I had done a few summers as a mountain bike instructor back in 98 and 99 at Camp Thunder Canoe Base and Training Center Boy Scout Camp in Georgia. I also had a bike when I lived in Colorado and did a few rides there. Somehow it never stuck and the interest just wasn't there. I have had a bike for the past few years that I dragged around from place to place that was desperately in need of an overhaul and last spring I finally got around to getting it looked at. Turned out it had a cracked head tube. I wanted to ride and I had no bike. So, I had to buy one. I shopped around Omaha and with the help of Chris Gardner settled on the 2010 Scott Scale 29.


This was Scott's first foray into the 29er market but it was a nice bike and I was ready to hit the trails. I got a few rides in, did one race and even bent the front rim.

I was really starting to enjoy the riding. I even did the Urban Assault Ride in Des Moines, IA and Gnome Fest in Wisconsin. I also want to mention that there is a pretty good little bike culture in Omaha and getting involved into that really got me even more interested in cycling. Love those Taco Rides!! Going into September there was a lot of talk about this thing called Cyclocross. What the hell is that?

Looks painful right? Well, good thing I enjoy some of that. A cyclocross bike is a little different than other bikes, it has a road bike type frame, rim brakes and knobby tires. You can do cyclocross on a mountain bike so I decided to try it out first on the Scott. The great guys over at The Bike Way started holding cross practices so I jumped right in. It was a blast and decided it was time for another bike, crazy right?! I got lucky and found a Surly Cross Check on Craigslist for a great price and Chris and I built it up with some nice parts.

I raced Cat 4 in all the Omaha area CX races. I also raced Spooky Cross in Des Moines, IA. I even joined The Bike Way racing team. Needless to say the bug had me firmly in its grasp and going into the winter months I was already making plans for the 2011 season... Big Plans! Unfortunately the Air Force didn't want to help me with those plans and decided I would be better served in another country. This is great for skipping the Omaha winters, not so great if you are training for a bike race.

Test, Test!

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want." ~Margaret Young