Friday, June 12, 2009

BIGGEST LOSER "7' WEEK TEN -- C.A.M.A. BIKE RALLY

This week, the challenge for the Biggest Losers was to participate in the 2009 C.A.M.A. Teen Bike Rally. Participants were to choose 7, 25, 40, or 70 miles. If the Biggest Losers weren’t able to get a bike, or had a conflict during the rally, they’re to make up at least the 7 or 25 miles on their own.

I know for sure that three of the BL crew tackled the rally. Linda Kerekguarto and Brittany Cline did the 7 mile ride and Nicole Richardson cranked out 40 miles. There might have been a couple others, but I can’t say for sure, since I didn’t see them. There were also three other gals from the center who all did the 40 miler: Susan Arp, Michelle Vaughn, and Michelle Hall. Great job girls!

As for the C.A.M.A. turn-out, it was a record setting 110 riders, up from the previous high of 80 riders two years ago. 17 riders took on the daunting 70 miler, while 25 riders chose the 7 mile fun ride, and 68 riders were split pretty evenly between the 25 and 40 mile ride.

I like supporting the annual C.A.M.A. event because of what they do in the community. C.A.M.A. stands for the Coalition Against Methamphetamine Abuse. As a police officer, I see close up the ruined lives that come from using and/or manufacturing meth. What C.A.M.A. does is to educate teens about the dangers of drug abuse and to give them different alternatives.

The proceeds from the Rally and other C.A.M.A. fundraisers go to C.A.M.A. teen groups in 4 school districts, including Edgar Co. According to Paula LeRoy, with C.A.M.A., this year’s Rally will bring in a record breaking $4,000.00, due to the outstanding support in the community.

But with the Bike Rally, I get a two-fer. We’re helping keep kids off drugs, and getting some great exercise, which is where I get to put my fitness hat on. In this case, helmet. This year, I chose the 40 miler, since I knew I didn’t have enough “stuff” to do the 70. That’s a goal though—maybe next year.

Since I do more running than biking, I only had a month to get ready, but a little training is better than none, and I’ve got a pretty good road bike. The hybrids are very comfortable, with their upright handlebars and “big butt” seats, but the upright position and larger tires cause quite a bit of drag, especially in the wind.

Road bikes with their drop handlebars, and narrower tires give you a much faster ride due to the lighter weight, and lower resistance, especially when riding into the wind. It especially makes a difference when you’re riding 20 miles or more.

This year I was able to get in 8, 13, 26, 13, 26, and 38 mile rides beforehand, usually on the weekends. That way I knew I had the chops to go 40, although my odometer on the bike said I actually covered 41.6 miles. Some of the other riders said they showed over 41 miles too. We want credit for that extra 1.6 miles!

When we all took off, I tried really hard to stay with the three front runners, but they were too good and kept pulling away. So I adjusted my goal to just keeping them in sight. That lasted about 8 miles. Then I was kind of out there by myself, in between the three studs and the rest of the group.

But then, at the 20 mile halfway mark at Mill Creek, I saw one of the three leaving the park as I was going in. That renewed my spirit and stirred the competitive juices so I chose not to stop for a break, and just kept on going.

It was a risk, because my legs were pretty trashed, but it paid off. After about 8 miles I finally saw the guy way up ahead in the distance. It took another 8 miles to catch him but with 3 miles left, I finally did it.

At that point, the rest of me was trashed, but so was he, so we rode and talked the rest of the way, finishing together in 2 hours and 38 minutes. He was a pharmacist from Terre Haute, but recently had been talking with one of our former Biggest Loser winners at the GNC store over there. It’s a small world.

It’s O.K. with me that I’m not in the same league as those first two guys (who actually trained the pharmacist guy). It’s just nice trying something different and trying to do your best. It was also nice catching the pharmacist guy.

This week’s Biggest Loser was one of our riders, Linda Kerekguarto who lost 3.9% of her body weight and a whopping 7.2 lbs. I’m sure the bike riding had something to do with it. Linda will get a $20 Walmart gift card from Terry Elston and State Farm Insurance as soon as I see her.

2nd Place was a tie between Bessie Rigdon and Vince Porter, both losing 1.5% of their body weight. Bessie lost 2.0 lbs, and is down 10 lbs in 10 weeks which is pretty impressive, since she was just a little thing when she started. Vince lost 3.5 lbs and is now down 47.7 lbs.

Don’t forget to get signed up for Biggest Loser “8” which will be starting the week after this one ends. The first day will be Saturday, June 27th, at 9:00 am. The cost is $50 and you don’t need to be a member here, but you should probably be a member of a gym somewhere. See you next week!

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