Whew! Two In A Row? High Five!

No linkdump today, because while I have been spinning my wheels on the internet plenty while I was sick, I didn't find any bicycle links to put up here. However, I will have The Phenomenal Return Of The Friday Linkdump here next week, fo sho. Instead of that, this week I thought I'd have a little fireside chat and catch up with you after my absence.

First, my weight loss; no photo, but when I weighed in this morning, I was rocking in at 197, so thank you Flu virus! I'm keeping it real, however, and am doing more than getting ill in order to trim down. I've been trainering, using the TRX system, and will continue to do so to maintain the weight loss goals I have set. As I'm typing this, it's like 70 degrees outside, so now that I am recovered and well, I have no doubt that we will get a cold snap that will test my commuting resolve/plunge us into a nuclear winter. 

Hardcore! 

Even though I was raving like a madman, I did manage to come up out of my fever delirium for long enough to attend the "Wheels That Heal" benefit on Sunday - I finagled a Chrome bag and some shoes for the raffle, as well as some training time with Josh at A&W Fitness (my trainer - scoreboarding!). The fundraiser was a good time -  I met Hubbard at Mockingbird station, we rode down the Katy trail, made a refuel stop at the Icehouse, and then meandered on to the party. There was a good turnout, the party itself raised a little over $4500 to put towards the offending hospital bills, and the hostess even managed to drum up a lawyer willing to donate his services to negotiate the hospital bills down. Hopefully, between the $4500 raised at the party, the $1400 raised (so far) through direct donations at the FundRazr page, and the services of a No Win No Fee Nobleman, Liberty will not have to face a future blackened by medical debt. I hope she is happy that I came, because I think that my effort to get down there weakened me tremendously and caused my Monday - Tuesday relapse. 

Thanks for bearing with me for my absence - I will keep putting new posts up here, but work time is crunch time right now, so please be patient with me. I would make a quip about quantity and quality, but I think that neither one applies here. However, I will not allow a week to go by again without some notice. 

Luckily for you, there was a photographer at the party, and I love to look at my beard, so I made sure I got some photos taken. This is Hubbard and me in our full bikedude mode. 

Dum/Dee

I am not dead

But I have been ill.

As a result, my weight is down. Look for a full post tomorrow. I apologize for my long absence.

Civil War Style

Weekly Weight Loss Check In and Progress Report.

Here we are at another Monday, and here I go again, checking in. People do read these, even if you are rolling your eyes right now, regular reader.

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I have been counting my calories this week, and exercising, but have not really made any weight lowering type progress. I'm going to assume that is because I am building muscle and burning fat, and just chalk the weight stasis up to that.

I need a pedicure. 

I'm chalking it up to muscle building, because I have actually been working my muscles. The good folks at TRX, in conjunction with A-W fitness have sent me one of their "Pro" suspension systems to help me build up my core and branches. I have used it once already, and think it's a really neat system. Josh at A-W thinks that we should do a before AND after video, so look for two; one with me crying and saying "no, please, I want to die.." and one where I can pull a semi-trailer with my massive lats (and probably eyes) bulging.

"Abby someone..."

Not much to report otherwise on this beautiful Monday, other than to let you know I have actually written a few articles for this week already so you can look forward to some new reviews going up. I have installed the "BikeCharge", and it is fantastic. I have also written my initial review of the 1UPUSA trainer that I have been using. so you can learn more about that this week. 

I'm going to post the link to the donation form for the young lady who had the bad bicycle accident and has no insurance. Please, if you can, donate HERE and help her on her way to recovery. If you are local, please consider coming to the fundraising party as well; there are a ton of great prizes for you to win, and the list keeps growing. 

Details on that party are HERE. I hope to see you there. 

The Coolest Bicycle Shoes Ever Made - Chrome Pro Series.

I like to use clipless pedals for my commuter. I actually built the Bloggipede up with regular flat pedals, and that is fine for running around the neighborhood, but I don't care for unsecured feet when riding any sort of distance. I wear a pair of Shimano "commuter" shoes now, but everyone tells me they look terrible, and I'm inclined to agree. They do the job I need them to do, but they are certainly not stylish in any way. (Much like the dude wearing them.)

Sexxy. 

I did a little research, and I emailed a few shoe companies to see if they were interested in doing a "Shoetout" and letting me compare some more stylish SPD compatible shoes. Chrome was enthusiastic, but I didn't hear anything from Keen or DZR - so I unequivocally declare the Chrome Pro series of shoes the best casual SPD compatible cycling shoe in the world. Without a doubt, these shoes are the best looking "urban" cycling shoe I have ever handled, and they are surely the best looking SPD compatible sneaker I have ever had in my office. I wish I was more graphically savvy so I could make them some sort of digital award to post on their site for winning The Plano Cyclist's 2012 Shoetout. In the very least, we here at the PC offices celebrate their clear cut win.

Hells yeah, guys!!!!!

When I told Chrome about the Shoetout, they were excited about the "long term" part of my testing regimen. I always read reviews on the internets that tell me how nice something is when it's new, but I rarely see a longer term follow up on the item as it wears. I plan to do a long term review of these shoes as well, so you can see what you can expect after riding them for a while. For now, however, I will give you my initial thoughts about the winning pair of shoes.

Chrome Kursk Pro

The shoes I chose to test are the Chrome Kursk Pro model - they are an SPD compatible Chuck Taylor styled low top canvas shoe, with a nylon reinforced sole for better power transfer. This pair is in my size, and having tried them on,  I will tell you that they are very comfortable.

Red Sole

Above, you can see the red sole and SPD attachment bolts. The shoes come with a "plug" for the sole, and as you can see I haven't removed it as of this writing. I have a new set of cleats in my desk that I will install tonight so I can really give these shoes a run. So far my impression is that they look sharp and seem very well made. 

This is an Aglet

A great example of the build quality is seen in the the aglets; they are not the standard plastic ones you see on most shoes. The kind that split and fray under hard use. Instead, Chrome went the extra mile to make sure the aglets on the laces will last for as long as the shoes themselves. That small detail shows the thought that went into making these shoes worth the dollars you spent.  

Midway Left, Kursk Right

The photo above shows the other version of the Pro shoes that Chrome offers; the Midway Pro. The Midway has all of the same details as the Kursk, but they fit a little higher on the ankle and don't have the full toe cap that the Kursk has. I have both pairs because the Midways were sent by accident, in the wrong size. I haven't tried these on, but I assume they are as comfortable as the Pros. I'm not a mid-top guy though, so I will stick with the Kursks. 

I am kind of glad for the mix-up, because the good folks at Chrome have agreed to allow us to raffle them off to benefit a local cyclist who had a bad accident and needs money for hospital bills. In fact, after I presented my case Chrome even sent a bag for us to add to the raffle because the shoes are only one size and might have limited interest. All the same, if you are a women's 9.5 or a men's size 8, then you should plan on coming to the party to win these. As an added bonus, I will be autographing the box they come in. I'm guessing that alone will make these a hot raffle prize (and a commodity in the underground "blogger autograph" market). 

I will install SPD's on the Kursks soon and report back how they walk with the cleats installed as that is obviously an important part of the functionality of these shoes. I will also try to go play a round of basketball once I have them installed, per reader request. Look for a fundraiser to bail me out of jail shortly thereafter. 

Monday Check in, Mea Culpa, and a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

First, the weight "loss" check in.

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I am still lower than I started (even though it's not reflected above), but I have stalled out a little. This is no one's fault but my own; I have not tracked my calories the way I should have, and I did not exercise at all last week, with the exception of a few halfhearted spins around the neighborhood.

This is the result of all of my hard work. 

I haven't fallen off of the wagon, but I was set back by rain and an intense work week. You will see lower numbers next week, because I did ride today (and plan to ride all the way home) and am counting what I eat very carefully. Mostly. And I am out of beer.
In addition, I am going to be working with Josh over at A&W Fitness to keep me honest and to take what I am doing to the "next level". Soon I will be slow AND have very little muscle definition. This agreement with Josh comes with another review opportunity. Josh and Paul are big believers in the TRX system, and have convinced them to send me a Rip trainer to use at home to increase my core strength. (I'm pretty sure my core is hollow like a rotten tree at this point). I will be talking about the TRX a couple of times, and will even do a video. I'm thinking something with soft focus, mostly nude, but artistic for sure. Keep your eyes out for that (or poke them out, whichever you prefer).

So that's my weight loss check in for the week. I guess I should address my lack of posts last week, but I've got nothing to say other than "sorry". I have been working hard at my real job, and as such just haven't had time to write enough posts for here to get ahead. If you want to read new words from me, go here. While I can generally knock these bicycle posts out fairly quickly, the insurance ones take considerably longer to research and make compelling. (If I have even succeeded at that.) There will be more posts here this week, though it may only be a three day schedule - unless I can squeeze more in. I'll try, but I do have to make some dough to pay for this dumb hobby.

Now for the big announcement.

You need to make the effort to get out to this benefit on the 29th of this month. Once again, the story is here. I am not going to go over it all here (because you can read) but in a nutshell, a girl who has a way cooler nickname than I do crashed her bike and she has no money to pay for hospital bills. While this sucks for her, certainly, some of her friends have put together a benefit at a gorgeous loft. This benefit includes free beer, live music, and one of the longest raffle prize lists I have seen. Since no one has put it out officially, as of today this is the list of prizes being raffled off at the benefit,

1. 4 Sessions with a personal trainer at A-W Fitness
2. A Chrome bag
3. A pair of Chrome shoes
4. A Custom Hula Hoop.
5. A gift certificate to Nova Gastropub
6. 1 night stay at the Belmont
7. A gift certificate to The Libertine
8. VIP treatment at Absinthe
9. A gift certificate from Red Hot + Blue
10. A professional photography package from Can Turkyilmaz
11. A custom leather from Chateau Nifty Pop
12. Scuba Classes from Blue Sea Adventures
13. A pin up photography package from Twisted Tiffany
14. $100 gift certificate from Richardson Bikemart
15. A family pack from Dallas Diamonds Football
16. Gift certificates from Boyd Massage
17. Private circus lessons from Circus Freaks
18  Art from Stephen Snow

I'm sure that there are more prizes as well - this is just the list I was able to glean from the Facebook page for the party. The beer will be provided by Franconia, and there will be live music by the The Bhakti House Band.

This is going to be "off the chain", like the kids say. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more details, but you need to come. If you are local, come and help someone avoid years of crushing medical bills.

If you aren't local, you can still help; donate a couple of bucks here. I encourage you to do so.

I really do hope to see you there. I feel bad for Liberty Kat, but I'm glad to go partay my face off to raise money for her. I assume she would party for me if I needed it.

Though I assume I'll have to put in extra workout time to burn off the Franconia.

Well, I Blew It.

I had posted every day for a while, but I didn't even manage a pithy post like this one yesterday.

Shoot.

I have a bunch to write about, but little time to do it. However, I thought I'd put some links up ahead of my bigger articles I have planned for next week. Chrome has sent me some shoes to review, but they sent me the wrong size first. They have since sent me some other kicks, but I talked them into donating the first pair they sent to the "Wheels that Heal" benefit for a local cyclist who suffered a crash. Then suffered even more for not having insurance. I know a fair bit about insurance, but little about health insurance, other than knowing you have to have it before a crash.