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For years I had this unresolved dilemma: How come guys don't gain weight as most women do, or how come that men stay generally leaner in this sport of cycling than women. So every time I would see a skinny guy, particularly a bike rider I would just assume that they are riding so much that they dissolve all the fat and everything they eat in no time. This same characteristics kept appearing in both women and men pro riders and also in very many male riders who however weren't pros or weren't even particularly competitive. So there I still I wondered how is it possible to ride for the extensive amount of time every day when one has a family, an everyday job and many other responsibilities to attend to on daily basis. I would come up to the lean looking guys at the races and pose this unresolved mind boggling matter of mine in front of them. Most of the time I would get smiles or funny comments or thanks for expressed compliments. I kept asking to no avail (not every race, but from time to time).
I finally resolved this unperpetuated mystery :) This past weekend November 7th, 2009 I went to a MTB race in Michigan (Iceman Cometh Challenge, you can read about it in the next post). I shared a ride with a 4 male riders. One of them is my very close friend and a great man and we have debated this oven on several occasions before. The plan was simple, rent a van (which didn't work out) and ride to Michigan (about 6 hour ride). Since the plan A was gone, plan B was to get into 2 cars which should nicely hold 5 people and store 4 bikes (one of them tandem). I was picked up at 5.00 AM sharp on Friday morning before the race. “The show had begun.” As we are riding through the cities of Illinois and Indiana the time kept passing by. For me I usually try to eat every 3 hours so I am not shock treating my metabolic system. Since I had a breakfast right before 5.00 AM, I ate a banana and some pancakes at somewhere between 7-8 AM. The time kept passing by and we were moving along towards our final destination in Traverse city in Michigan. The other 2 guys in the other car were following and so we made a stop at the gas station to fill in. At the time which was noon at that poitI was already nagging Ray, who was driving, for a good 30 minutes to stop somewhere because I was hungry. So we stopped and we all met inside the Gas store which happened to have Subway inside. Not my everyday choice of food but will do. Me and Ray were obviously hungry so we turned to other 2 guys and asked them when were we going to stop for the food...they shook their heads and said they had apples. WOW. I told myself, wow! Apples! These guys are 6 feet toll and only a few pounds heavier then me and they eat apples for lunch? I thought they were so lean because they rode a lot not because their lunches had 0.002 calories! Mike stayed in a car, and unfortunately he didn't get anything because he wasn't aware that this is our last stop before the destination (well we weren't either untill than but we took the oportunity by the horns). So we had 3 guys who I now call “THE DIETERS” . Every time I think about it, it's so funny. I resolved my dilemma and the findings of the resolution were further imbeded on the way back home. I had to suffer through 5 hour period of hunger till I finally got my mouth full. At that point I guess everybody was happy, I that I had food and guys that I stopped talking. Thanks to Ray for taking care of many bike realted issues for me, to Mike, Todd and Glen for a great weekend. It was fun. And remember galls: IF YOU WANT TO LOOSE WAIT, SKIPP LUCH OR DON'T EAT AT ALL. THIS IS ONE OF THE MEN'S BEST HIDDEN SECRETS! TREAT IT WELL! |
