"The Blob" and His New Workshop

   After a long break, I’m finally back out on the road – not that I haven’t been exercising regularly. I have been hitting the windtrainer and occasionally running a few miles, but this was the first day warm enough, dry enough and relatively free of the accumulated salt and cinder piles that make cycling at this time of the year very dangerous for rider and machine. I did a little over twenty miles, experiencing really fresh legs as I rocketed up my street and then completely lacking fitness after about five miles. Both feelings were pretty expected since I took an intentional one month break away from the bike, after being on wheels pretty much non-stop since March of 2011.

   Recently I found myself paying attention to my weight far more than I usually do, and became puzzled with my inability to stay within a reasonable range from which it would be easy to get back to “cycling shape”. I had looked into some offseason upper body workouts for cyclists, and my original plan when I stopped riding in late December (at about 167 lbs.) was to lift weights, putting on maybe 5 pounds of muscle that would fairly easily be shed over the first few months of cycling in the spring.

   I was feeling very strong and fit, within my goals, when I left with Sue’s family on a ten-day Christmas vacation to Grand Cayman Island (see photo below of me “roughing it” on a sailing trip). Now, I have great discipline when it comes to exercising regularly; however, I have NO willpower to avoid sweets during the holidays. It’s usually not an issue because I am burning off the calories, but the sheer quantity of foods (all delicious, of course) and its constant presence around the table all day long, every day, really took its toll. Although we were snorkeling, kayaking and hiking during the trip, it had nowhere near the intensity of my regular workouts, and let’s face it – we were on vacation!
   Not that I really was a blob, but considering where I was in midseason, seeing myself at just over 180 lbs. was disappointing! And it was WAY too early in the winter to have put that much on so quickly. It wasn’t really too hard to drop a few pounds when we returned home to a regular eating schedule (and healthier food), but I couldn’t figure out why, weeks later, I was stuck in the mid-170s. Finally it hit me – meal proportions. I had gotten so used to fueling my body for long bike rides, eating what I needed and burning it off, that when I stopped riding I forgot to adjust my intake. Being back on the road again will certainly help me get back to “normal”, but being more conscious of what I’m putting into my body is important, too.

   I was able to put the finishing touches on my reconstructed workshop last week, after a LONG basement waterproofing project. An inspection of our basement confirmed that the foundation our 100+ year-old house showed deterioration of the mortar between the stones due to ground water combining with the acidic soil and leaching into the walls.
   First we had to remove much of what was stored in the basement and move the freezer, washer/dryer and other furniture to the center to allow access around the perimeter. We were grateful for a large garage for most storage, but in order to keep food stocks, etc. within reach, we were required to leave some unwelcome piles around the house.
   Next, the cabinets and the few sections of existing finished walls had to be ripped out in order to expose all surfaces. We did the "destruction" ourselves, before the contractor put in the perimeter trench/perforated pipe/sump pump system. I then took on the ridiculous job of chipping out the deteriorated mortar around all the walls and hauling out TONS (really) of material by the muck-bucketful, for several weeks - quite a workout!
   I originally intended to re-mortar everything myself, but a few collapsed sections of wall and window wells, where water really seeped in over time, convinced me that I was in WAY over my head, and we called in a professional mason to finish the pointing. We wanted to have the dusty portion of the project cleaned up before decorating for Christmas.
   The masons were able to finish rebuilding/repointing our walls while we were away on Cayman, and then we were finally able to buy some shelving, and move our stuff back into place. Reorganizing our storage and getting rid of some unneeded items actually freed up more space downstairs. In addition, the removal of the cabinets and wall sections allowed me to insulate and seal some spaces that had previously been out of reach, which will hopefully show a difference in our heating bill.
   I still needed to rebuild the stud wall that supported my bike repair clamp and reassemble the large shelf adjacent to that wall for work space. I do have an architecture background, and This Old House is a favorite program, so I was confident in my abilities to put it all together, but I lacked some of the needed tools. I had everything cut and set in place, so when favorite brother-in-law Jay showed up one evening with a pneumatic frame nailer he had borrowed from a friend, we made short work of the construction.
   I put up some peg board to give everything a finished look and some ¼-round molding to cover the small gap (nothing is straight in our old house) between the shelf and backing. The sign in the left of the picture below once hung from the front of an old shop in Phoenixville that closed a while ago. The bike had a front wheel that spun and legs that were articulated to simulate the pedaling motion, but the weather took its toll on the moving parts. I do have one of the legs to make a pattern from, and putting it all back together shouldn’t be too difficult. Stay tuned for the results - I’m waiting until it gets warmer so that I can work outside. Don’t want to mess up my wonderful space with a lot of sawdust!