Bike Fun - Errandonnee 2018 - Updated

My stomach is still holding me up somewhat, but I heard of Errandonnee 2018 while listening to last week's episode of the Sprocket Podcast at work.

Basically, the goal is to complete 12 errands and 30 miles by bike in 12 days, from March 20th to March 31st. You can read the full rules over at Chasing Mailboxes.

I'm a little late to start, and haven't followed most of the rules properly, like taking a picture of where I went, but was curious how I was doing, even being held back, and definitely not riding as much.

I'm also going to stretch the rules slightly, because several of the trips were on a longboard, since my stomach prefers not being crouched over very long.

Currently, I'm at:

1. 3/21 - A bike ride to the grocery store, 3.7 miles
2. 3/24 - A longboard ride to a coffee shop, 1.2 miles
3. 3/24 - A bike ride to the pharmacy, 1.7 miles
4. 3/25 - A walk to the grocery store, 0.8 miles
5. 3/25 - A walk to a nearby bike shop, for a talk on bicycle touring for beginners, 0.2 miles
6. 3/26 - A bike ride to drop something for medical reasons, 1.4 miles

So there, it's currently the 27th, and I'm halfway there by activities, but only about a third of the mileage done.

Unfortunately, I've got plans that can't include the bike today and tomorrow, so I'll miss out then, but we'll see about Thursday the 29th. It is good though, to see that my ability to be active certainly seems to have picked up, however slight. Maybe I'll have to create for myself a modified April Fool's version, from April 1 to April 12.

--Update--March 29th--

7. 3/29 - A bike ride to a kitchen supply store, grocery store, and drug store, 3.7 miles

Still not entirely close on either distance or trips, but I'm certainly doing something. Although I had some really bad reflux earlier in the day, and it definitely messed with my lungs and their ability to function correctly.

--Update--March 30th--

8. 3/30 - Another bike ride, this time to the bank to deposit a paycheck, 4.3 miles

I forgot this was even going to be a possibility. Surprise paychecks because you weren't paying that much attention to the date are great though. It was nice, sunny, I was still dealing with more reflux problems, and also trying out a new heart rate monitor.

--Update--March 31st--

9. 3/31 - Another grocery store trip, 3.7 miles.

This is the last trip of the group. Another grocery store run.

--Conclusion--

9 trips, 20.7 miles. So far, I didn't manage to meet either the goal of 30 miles or 12 trips. But, it feels good to know that I still made it out on the bike much more than I thought I would.

Food Review - Avocado and Turkey Sandwich

This grew out of an attempt to replace the cheese in a standard meat and cheese sandwich.

Of everything I've done so far, it's definitely my favorite. It's pretty simple too. Just make whatever sandwich you normally make, but with avocado instead of cheese.

Currently, that's avocado, turkey lunch meat, and mustard, all on sourdough bread. It looks good, tastes good, and will 100% stick around for the future.

Food Reviews - Silk Dairy-Free Blueberry Soy Yogurt - Update

Part of my dealing with gastritis is learning that dairy doesn't mesh well with some of the drugs they've given me to help me cope. As such, regular yogurt, while full of lots of good bacteria that could help my gut, became off limits. As such, I've been on the lookout for something to fill that void in my diet. This was one such attempt.

It's a soy based yogurt. I thought it tasted pretty good. In a taste test, without regular yogurt to compare it directly too, I didn't notice much of a difference. This is good, because I still don't enjoy alternative "milks."

So, would I buy it regularly? Probably not. It's not exactly cheap, compared to regular yogurt. Would I eat it again though? Yeah, I'd eat it again.

4/3 Update

I've since also tried their strawberry flavor. I'll stick to the blueberry in the future.

Gastritis

A couple months ago, if I had been asked who my biggest enemies were, I would've probably jokingly said something like cars, or bad drivers, or inattentive drivers. Something having to do with the people I have to watch out for while biking around. For the last month or so, however, I'm going to change my answer.

Why am I changing my answer? Because my current enemy doesn't seem to be a big fan of either coffee, or bikes. I started this blog to ramble about coffee I've drunk, with the side notion that maybe I'd find a way to sneak bikes into it as well. And now, I've got very little to talk about either.

For the last month, I've basically been kept from both by gastritis. Basically, something caused me to develop a hole in the mucus membrane of my stomach causing a bunch of pain and difficulty eating. One big dietary change everyone says is to cut out coffee, so that was gone almost right away. Followed by a nasty few days of more head pain, as I had to force an immediate caffeine withdrawal on myself.

Biking went along with the eating difficulty. Normally, I was eating about 2,600 Calories to maintain weight while cycling. Now, 2,000 is a pretty good day, and 1,800 is average, and 1,200 is survivable, but miserable. The exercise just isn't sustainable. Previously, I was at 20 miles a day, commuting to work, running errands on the weekend, for fun, for transport, and just because I felt like it. Now, if I just feel like it, I have to be prepared to feel tired and exhausted for the rest of the day. I can't physically eat enough to maintain my body, and add the exercise.

So, for now, I'm taking it one day at a time, adjusting everything as need be. Eating the weirdest, and at the same time, most boring diet I've ever had. I'll probably have to pivot to sharing interesting bike content and weird recipes I've found or made work.