After riding my cheap mountain bike that I bought at Walmart I had outgrown it. It was time to invest in a bike that would help me meet my fitness goals. I was off to Cyclesmith in Halifax to speak with Mark Beaver.
My new Trek. The investment on the front end is big but if you consider how much you use it the price per year or for me per Km is worth it. My first year I did over 5,000 km. (that averages out to 20 cents a Km. An average ride being 40km that's only $8 a ride.) I'd say that's worth it.
I have to say that everyone at cyclesmith was a great help and enthusiastic about my fitness goals. Being short and carrying a lot of weight in my midsection Mark did his magic fitting me with my new Trek. I needed stem extensions and shorter crank arms on a 43cm frame. A bike computer was essential for logging my progress. I also bought a small notebook and started logging my rides. My log started out pretty simple with ride route, max speed, average speed, distance and time. As I got more familiar with riding I started putting information about the weather, wind speed, temperature, how the ride felt, my weight and nutritional information. I also noted my accumulated Km’s despite the bike computer doing this. This one was important because I had joined Velo Halifax ( the cycling club in HRM). One of my goals was to get the distinction of being the Rookie of the Year which is won by having the most Km’s as a new member. At 5,000 by the end of the season I fell short of this by several thousand to another lady who was doing the same thing I was. It was a great incentive and comforting to know that I was not alone in my weight loss journey. I lost 50lbs in the process, well I shouldn’t say lost because that might indicate that I am actually going to find it back. NO WAY! I also competed in the First World Outgames in Montreal that year. I was inspired by Mark Tewksbury when he came to Halifax to talk to the GBLT community about the games. He was generous enough to share his olympic medals by allowing us to hold them. Something he does routinely as you could see because the medal were scuffed up and well handled. I will post more about my journey to the Outgames. Setting goals is what kept me on track. I wouldn’t suggest that anyone set this many big goals when starting out but I am a all or nothing girl and was ready to get fit. I also ran the MacPass Bridge Mile the previous year with the intension on having a marker to chart my progress. Unfortunately I was unable to run it the next year because it was at the same time as the Outgames. I completed the Bridge Mile in 10min. 45sec. the first time and beat that mark by 2 minutes the next time.
Trail Vision 
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