Lets go to the beach..! Vamos a la playa..!

But before we go to the beach we have to climb this…
Pero antes de bajar a la playa hay que subir..

But any sacrifice to get there was worth it.. Pero todo ese sacrificio vale la pena..

As we ride by the beach… Mientras andamos a la orilla de la playa...

As you look inland You can see the mountains.. Si miras tierra adentro puedes ver las montañas

Some activities to do there... Otras actividades para hacer alli..

Some rollers by the beach.. Una suaves subidas y bajadas a orillas del mar..

And then was time to leave the flat lands… Pero ya era hora de dejar lo llano..

It was a looong climb... Fue una laaarga subida...

That kept going after each turn... Que seguia subiendo en cada vuelta..

And our last obstacle before a rolling way home.. Nuestro ultimo obstaculo antes de el ultimo sector para casa.

+Strava tells us we did THIS <---I ese es el enlace a la informacion y mapa de la vuelta de hoy.. I did a bit before.. Yo hice un poquito mas antes..

I hope you like it.. Espero les guste

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Getting to know the flat bits.. What flats?

As you saw this far every time I head out I come back home with a lot of elevation even taking the little man to school and back is like 100 meters of gain in less then 5 km.. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy doing hills.. Enjoy is one thing and fast at it is another one Clear?

Example? I have to climb this one every day to get home..

Today was a little different.. To begin started going down the hill to meet a friend that had a broken hand for the last 40 days and today was his first ride outdoors.. So far so good right? down the hill and meeting a guy that had a broken hand...
OK he picked the route because he knows the area better then I do and probably knows what would suit his rehab better then what I do..

We started heading for the flats, even downhill for the first couple of km.. Fast so far but understandable.. Is downhill or flat... or at least looks that way...
We saw a lot of people riding but since I was at the front sheltering him from the wind I didn't take many pictures... But I did manage to get a shot at out view and this guys coming at us..

After a while we had to start going up since we were going down at the start.. This wall came at us out of nowhere..! Totally unexpected and hard for me to go up specially because I never put the small chain ring on the front.. I swear I did..! But I didn't!!!

By the time we got back into town +Strava  said we did 59 km.. 684 meters of elevation at 26.1 km/h..! Not bad for a guy with a recent broken hand and a fat guy trying to get form..! Now was time for some refreshments..!!

My new riding buddies are not only showing me the new roads and mountains.. They are also teaching me a bit about beers and gastronomy here.. This is a place just down the route from were we live and a point of social gathering here in town..

Here is a picture of La Alameda, Coin about 300 meters from my house.. While I was there with the guys the MTB group joined us after their ride... And soon after then my wife, kids and dogs.. The beauty of keeping everything together in a familiar environment..

Looking forward to the day I could start my B&B and show you guys what all this is really about..!!

Hope you enjoyed and if you like it share the story

See you next time

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

What not to do?

This is part of the weight update series.. So lets say that last week I was doing great..! Was controlling my portions.. Burning more then what I was consuming.. Drinking plenty of water and eating fruits and vegetables...
I was a good boy.....!!! Then Sunday came along...

You know one of those Sundays when you have a BBQ, hell I was the one cooking to begin with..! So how you can stay away from the delicious food?? Specially if it is a BBQ..! that is my weak spot..!!! MEAT..! 

Come on..! Tell me you are not wishing you were there with me last Sunday? On top of all this yummy sausages and meat there was plenty of stuff to go around and snack on.. Cheese, pickles, chips/crisps and who knows what else... So by the time the food was actually ready you were snacking away about 1000 calories..! And now was lunch time..!!?? 

So I was almost full by the time the first piece of meat left my grill.. And the owners of the house never let my cup be half empty.. Every time I turned around someone was filling it with nice Spanish cold beer...

This means that I had at least another 1500 calories just from drinking beer..!!! Are you keeping track of the calories? Good..!!! I didn't..!

In a normal day I am suppose to eat no more then 1600 calories during the day in order to lose my 1 kilo a week.. I am not going to lie to you most of the time I am over that amount but I compensate by going for a walk or riding my bike.. so everything is in check..

But Sunday was a special day and when you are a guest at a party and the food is crazy good you can't be rude and say no.. You have to eat... Well you don't have to but I love to..!!!

Besides these meat is something I really love.. Argentinian Asado..!!!

So my wild guess is that I ate about a kilo or more of that beef.. and is another like 2500 calories.. So I was way over my budget for the day.. And to finish it up there was chocolate cake and other sweets followed by more beer and stronger stuff for the ones that like that sort of thing.. I had more beer..

To culminated today's report let me tell you that the scale said I was 97.9 kilos on Monday morning.. That was an increase of 1.5 kilos from the week before..!!! It only takes one day of eating out of control for me to gain what cost me so much to lose..

Now is time to restart (I did Monday already) the battle and cut back on all the good stuff to reach my goal of 90 kilos at some point in life..

Hope you enjoyed the what not to do post.. Share if you know someone struggling with this..

See you next week?

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

A quick spin + Photos

When you are short of time there is little you can do.. But you always can do something.. So we met earlier then usual and headed out with the guys...

The weather was certainly different then our usual sunny sky.. El tiempo estaba diferente..No habia un cielo soleado..

With the low clouds everything looked different.. Con las nubes bajas todo se veia diferente.. Our target was the white building at the top.. Nuestro objetivo la construccion blanca en lo alto

And we were getting closer.. Y nos acercabamos mas..

Primero a cruzar por Tolox... But first we had to cross Tolox

Do you remember Tourbecco? This is Vueltecco!? Se acuerdan de Tourbecco? Este es Vueltecco..!?

The start of a good hard climb. El inicio de una buena y dura subida..

Y al llegar a la cima... And when we reached the top..

Thanks to our +BELGIUM  friends for taking the picture. Gracias a nuestros amigos Belgas por tomar la foto.

After the las picture was a fasts downhill to our homes.. No more pics...For now.. Despues de la ultima foto era hora de descender hacia nuestras casas asi que no mas fotos.. por ahora..

+Strava dice que hicimos esta VUELTA/RIDE according to Strava. Not bad for a day in a hurry.. Nada mal por un dia a los apurones..

Hope you guys liked the short report. Espero les alla gustado el corto reporte.

Thanks for reading and sharing - Gracias por leer y compartir

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

The Weight Update.

It has been a hard week for me... The beginning of a journey is never easy.. To break the routine and bad habits is hard... To get away from those things that bring us comfort is even harder.. With all this in mind let me tell you that I managed to drop some weight..!!!

Seems proper to post a picture celebrating this achievement 

How much weight did I actually lose?

2.1 kilos in a week..!!! It was not easy... Took a lot of self control.. And exercise.. As I started last week I was at 98.8 kilos and was doing my eating the wrong way when it comes to numbers.. After a quick look at the numbers from previous days I knew something was wrong..Something had to change..!

So I went to +MyFitnessPal and checked all my numbers... Soon after that I realized that I had the wrong set up..!! I wanted to lose 250 grams a week instead of my (high) goal of a kilo a week.. So as you can imagine I was eating way too much and not moving around enough to burn all the calories I was taking..

Once that was changed it was time to have a talk with myself.. This has to stop..! You have to control the way you eat..And so I did...No more of 1600 calories a day was the goal... And to be honest I don't think it was a single day I was able to eat only that many calories.. I really enjoy eating.. And most of the days I was just under 2000 calories a day...

Wondering why...????

But that was already a treat after a long day in the saddle..(I really love riding bicycles) So are you seen what I did? You need a bit more of explanation? OK is coming.. But believe me most of my lunches during the week looked like this...

In order to eat as much as I do and still lose weight I was really active last week... And here is a short list of my physical activities:

Monday to Friday I walked an average of 10 km a day.. dropping and picking my son from school walking has a huge impact..! I burn close to 1000 calories with these walks.
Saturday and Sunday are my long ride days..Or at least I try to make that happen.. So I rode between the 2 days close to 7 hours...

So you see is simple to lose weight you have to eat only what your body needs.. Do you do that or you eat what you want? First do that and then you will see the body get all the extra weight off by itself..

Thanks for reading and sharing (?) 

See you at the next weight update

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

The MTB debut

I am not going to explain much today... I will let the pictures do most of the talking.. But lets set something clear... It was a truly different day on the bike..

My ride for the day?? Que bici use hoy? Gracias/Thanks to Juan from Zurich's bar in Coin..!!

What did the routes look like? Las rutas de hoy??

And there was a river crossing.. Y cruzamos un río..!! I think this is my favorite shot of the day. Mi foto favorita del dia...

And we also went across a tunnel.. Y tambien pasamos por un tunel..

The view heading to the mountain in the back.. La vista camino a la montaña alli atras..

We even saw some farm animals... Y hasta vimos algunos animales en el camino..

And then the serious climbing started.. At least to me was serious Y luego empezaron las subidas serias.. Bueno por lo menos para mi fueron serias..

And now my friends started to leave me behind... Y ahora mis amigos comenzaban a distanciarme.. But always keeping an eye on me... Pero siempre mirando donde estaba..
But as they ride away it creates shots like this... Pero cuando se alejan crean estas fotos..

And the climbs got worst..! Y las subidas se pusieron peor..! At least for me.. Por lo menos para mi..

With some of my companions at the top of El Santo.. Con algunos de los compañeros en El Santo

The view from the top.. La vista desde arriba..

Coming down.. Bajando... I was slower then climbing..! Estube mas lento que subiendo..!

Stairs into a cave.. Escaleras a una cueva..

Coming out of the cave..(barely) Saliendo de la cueva..(apenas)

My friends were doing downhill MTBiking... I was hiking with a bike.. Mis amigos estaba haciendo descensos por la montaña en bici.. Yo estaba descendiendo "con" una bici...

But at least there is a picture of me riding.. Pero por lo menos hay una foto mia en la bici..

I am beat..! Estoy molido..!

STRAVA said we did this.. +Strava dice que hicimos eso.. A different day for sure.. Un dia diferente seguro..!

Thanks for reading and sharing... Gracias por leer y compartir

See you next time... Te veo la proxima vez

Pablo

The Weekend Repor Guy

Getting better... Mejorando

Today was a day where I wanted to go longer but then as I started riding I changed my mind... This late starts are not good for me and my life style since I don't really like to be home much later then noon... 

Number one reason is because I like to spend some time with the family all together since during the week everyone is busy with school and work.. 

And number two is that now that the Summer is getting closer the temperatures start to raise really quick after 12 o'clock... With that said I cut my ride a bit shorter then what I had planned...

What did I have plan? I wanted to do a 100 km ride since we moved to Spain this is a "pending" matter.. I do not like pending matters..!But today wasn't the day to set the score right... Maybe tomorrow..

So today's ride looked like this.... I mean the view..

As I took the picture above I could not help but to think of what life over there would be like.. 

The traffic was a bit heavy today as the motorcycles love to go all out around the bents of this twisting roads going up and down the hill... But it got heavier at some point.. And made for a great view..

And around the time I took the previous picture I heard some voices coming behind me... So I got company for the last 2 km of the climb... And they passed me with 500 meters to go on the climb.. But I was the winner because I could take this pic..!!

But remember I said I heard voices... So there was more then one person.. Here is the rest of the "amigos" that passed me on the climb and kept me company for a little while.. The shot is a place where I took a few pictures before..

We talk for a few minutes asked them where they were from and what they had planned for the day.. Our plans didn't match and I turned around to start my journey back home... 

As you can imagine most of the way home is all downhill so I put the camera away and enjoyed the speed and view around me... 

Here is another one of those houses that belong to a fairy tale history...

Then I stopped somewhere to take a few pictures...Stopped the GPS took the pictures and got back on the bike... Something missing?? Hmmm no, not really... All downhill for the next 10 km or so.. In my head I was good that will bring the average speed of the ride back up as going up was a drag..

After 10 km I looked at the GPS and I saw that the average speed was stuck on 22.7 km/h... Dammit..! Forgot to restart the GPS..! Lost about 10 km of the ride and a good portion of high speed downhills.. Oh well.. Lesson learned.. Leave the computer alone..!

After all the ups and downs of the ride including stops and pictures..... The numbers of the ride in  STRAVA 

Thanks for reading and sharing another story

Hope you liked the story and pictures

See you next time. 

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

My weight loss journey...

Remember a few months back I was posting about this journey and then I just stopped doing it... Why did I stop? Simple..! I got comfortable... I was happy..!! I got down to my so call normal weight of somewhere around 92 kilos...

So me at 92 kilos? Something like this...

Why the picture in a cycling kit? Various reasons.. #1 there is no place to hide..! The moment you accept that you are having a problem is easier to tackle it and start doing something about it..  So me at 92 kilos is not the image of a ballet dancer or anything close to it but at least I am light and able to move around easier...

Me at 99 kilos? This picture was taken yesterday by one of my cycling mates..

Well people tell me that I carry well my weight but that is not the point... After living with my body for 38 years I know signs that is time to start losing weight or at least try to do so..

Examples:

- When I am over weight I snore at night... This is a problem because not only I had problems resting... It makes my better half complain about it as well...
- Hard to get up the hills on the bike... And if you look around this blog you will realize that is a big part of what I do in my life.
- Is not healthy for my joins... Specially that right knee that got in an accident a while back.. Also is post about that in the blog if you like to know that story.

We could keep going all day naming all the issues that carrying extra weight in you r body brings and we all know that this change with each person since each body is different and reacts in different ways to carrying extra weight.

Eating a lot is something I love to do..! I really enjoy a big meal but we all know is not healthy for the body or the wallet either..! So it is time to start doing something about this again...

What do I do to try to keep this under control? How do I manage to lose weight? Or I better say how do I try to lose weight...

I am sure you read or hear about portion control before... Well this is what I do... Now how do you keep track of your meals? I have a partner to do this.. A virtual friend that with today technology is always with me... There is hundreds of them but I use +MyFitnessPal to keep and eye on what I eat and how many calories I burn.. The calories part I do with +Strava  and they are both linked so it is very easy.

So keep and eye on  My weight loss journey... as I will be posting updates with the journey numbers.. Remember I started at 99.1 kilos... Today I am at 98.8 kilos..!! this is after the first week..!

Thanks for reading and if you need some help losing weight join me in this journey..!

See you next week..!

Pablo 

The Weekend Report  "Fat" Guy