Day 157 – Jim’s Trek – 21.7 Miles – Bull on The Road

Good Day,

This morning my 21.7 miles on my Schwinn 150 has me headed north in the direction of the town of Russell, Manitoba. My total miles to date – 2,831.9. There is not much to see from the road but flat land, but an advertised road-side attraction is published for the thriving tourist scene – The Bull.

Today is my 157th day on my Schwinn 150 stationary cycle. And the virtual trip definitely assists me to set and reach my physical goals.

Now here is something I really do not understand. Today is Windmill Day and all are encouraged to visit your local windmill and get involved. Say what? I've lived here in the Tampa area for over three decades, and the only windmills that I may have seen are at the local miniature golf courses. Now I can say that my four-times Great-Grandfather John Robertson was a miller and possibly used a windmill to mill his wheat… but that was in the late 1700s. Happy Windmill Day!

Finished watching the second installment of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Nice story… not much to think about. I’m not sure if was a typical love story between two people or a not so typical love story about fish. My next film is Anonymous, 2011. This one seems to take up with an aged Queen Elizabeth I from about where The Tudors left off, politically. Same issue political censorship and pseudo-intrigue. Who actually did write William Shakespeare’s plays?

Check out David Pogue’s 10 Top Time-Saving Tech Tips on TED. Here’s the link to TED.

Work progresses with our Tampa Kaleidoscope quilt. Today Andy is working the half-hexagons, and then I will take the the 456 half-hexagons and manipulate the design of our Tampa Kaleidoscope. This feels like a tennis match, and neither of us play tennis. And I have now found some yarn made of sugar cane. Stay tuned and follow our updates on Quilts SB.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 156 – Jim’s Trek – 21.0 Miles – Over 2,800 Miles on My Schwinn 150

Good Day,

And this morning after my 21.0 miles I am still headed west on the Yellowhead Highway in Manitoba. But the outside temperature has warmed to a great 37° F or 2°C. Somewhat a bit different of the 76° F, 24° C at home here in Tampa. But I continue my Trek on my Schwinn 150, and this morning I now topped 2,810.2 miles.

And I have now dropped 8.8 lbs, about 4 kgs, since I began my Schwinn 150 Trek on December 2, 2012. Believe it or not I am definitely eating more. I must be, I suppose, to make up for the average 600 calories that I am burning each day. I am averaging, since I started, approximately 18.2 miles, 29.3 kms, each day. I am cycling just under 1 hour and 10 minutes, which varies, each day. Also key has been that I have only taken one day off, and that was after I had completed 130 days. My belly measurement has changed from 44” to 35” (112 to 89 cms). I am really pleased with myself that I have been able to reduce by 9” (23 cms).

The following Google map is a direct route mapping of my Schwinn 150 Trek from Tampa to Seattle. The “B” marker pinpoints where I had reached, virtually, and where I started from today on my continuing journey to my final Interlake address goal in Seattle. (I have not included all my 20 reached Interlake goals.)

A real positive side-effect of the self-indulgent Trek, on my Schwinn 150, is that my sleep at night is much more sound and definitely refreshing. I never considered myself an insomniac. I just never need many hours of sleep… but now I feel extremely rested and invigorated after my daily one hour plus ride through a virtual North America and through the various films and serials. (Definite secret – I make sure that there are NO distracting commercials included on whatever I am watching while on my Schwinn 150.)

And today’s movie on my Trek is the 2011 film, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Amr Waked. Also included in the cast is Conleth Hill who plays Lord Varys in Game of Thrones. A fair light-hearted British comedy of the powers-that-be believing that the development of a salmon fishing enterprise in Yemen in the desert would be good for British/Middle Eastern relationships.

And believe it or not I am now remembering my crochet skills from 40 years ago.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim