Weight and Truck Camper Drawer progress

Weight loss continues!    Hoping to see <220 before June 11th (when I started dieting at 291.6lbs).   Still even if I say I'm only 6'1 now, i'm only overweight with a BMI of 29.2 (>29.9 is obese).   To be fair, I still feel like I've got a belly, but it's weird fitting into 36" waist jeans.    At my heaviest, I was wearing 44's

Honestly, I wasn't expecting such a low weigh-in today (was 222.9 yesterday), but I think because I took it a little easy the last couple of days, my body let go of the water it retains when I'm training harder.  AND, I've been eating sourdough bread.   Yay!    

Enough of the weight loss crud!    Lets talk truck stuff.   

This week, I rotated my truck tires (including the 5th wheel spare).    Because I added a cast iron rear diff cover, I can jack up the rear axle via the rear diff and drop the rear axle down onto jack stands easily.    Then, I jack up via the frame behind each front tire separately as I move tires around.    I have a nice wide driveway, a cordless heavy duty 1/2" Dewalt impact wrench gun, and a good floorjack.    I bet it takes me half the time to rotate tires myself versus driving to the tire shop and sitting in the waiting room, and I know the tires were rotated correctly.    The nice thing with my Ford Ranger, after you drive a couple miles the computer automatically updates the tire locations so when I'm on the tire pressure screen, the tire pressures are accurate, no need to update the truck's computer manually.    For weight reasons, I run my rear tires at 39-40psi, and the fronts at 35-36psi, so I use the onboard air compressor on the truck to fix that after rotating too.   Something the shops won't do.

 

I also changed the oil, but I didn't bother changing the oil filter for the first time.    I'm changing the oil every 5,000 miles (earlier than needed) and I'm using Mobil 1 oil filters rated for 20,000 miles.   On the Ranger, you have to remove the driver side tire and remove some of the wheel well flap to get to the sideways mounted oil filter.     When you remove the filter, it always leaks some oil.  There's even a drip tray for that, but I can't use it properly anymore after adding a skid plate to protect my transmission transfer case.   That skid plate also has some wing extensions so the crackheads can't steal my catalytic convertor with a sawzall.   So because I can't use the drip tray,  I have to use paper towels to catch the drips, and it's even more of a PITA.    I figure if the filter is good for 20,000 miles, I can safely leave it on for 2-3 oil changes (up to 15,000 miles).  

In the truck bed camper area, I also upgraded some usb charging outlets to new ones that include usb c .   Usb C charges faster than the old USA A outlets, and the usb C plugs go in either way.   These still have a USB A slot for my older gadgets.    https://a.co/d/00buJZGS     Easy change out.

 

First two bags for my kitchen drawer are complete.   See left image below.   I already had a bag for my induction burner, but as you can see the drawer will look way cleaner with everything in bags

Inside the bags I'm using 1/16" thick aluminum angle or flat bar that I rivet together to make framing as needed.   I use an angle grinder to round off any sharp edges.     The aluminum provides structure to the bags and it lets me re-add the plastic dividers.    I think for subsequent bags I'm going to switch to 1/20" thick aluminum to save weight, 1/16" is overkill.   I did buy a metal cutting blade to cut the aluminum and it works great.    Leaves a clean edge that requires almost no sanding/filing. https://a.co/d/0hsRd9Fy

First bag is what I'll call my Eat bag.   Likely to get the most use.    It holds everything I need to reheat or eat my food, but not stuff I need for proper meal prepping/cooking.     

 

In theory, I could have made my Eat bag into two separate bags, but I'm planning ahead for when I'm hanging bags on the rear bumper swing arm.    Attaching the lower bag holding the plates, bowls, cups means it'll take up less room horizontally when I hang stuff on the rear bump arms.   Should have photos of that by next Sunday.   I'm hoping I can hang my eat, cooking, and spices bags side by side on the tire arm.

Inside my Eat bag, I did re-use the pvc railings and post sleeves to help keep the cutlery organized and separated.  Lots of riveting to the aluminum framing I adding to the inside of the bag.  I'm probably going to add some of the smaller pvc railing pieces in the lower tray of the upper bag too.   For longer knives and scissors and stuff.     For the upper row, I back-cut them at a 60 degree angle, so I'm not storing forks, spoons knives straight up and down.   I didn't want them blocked by the top of the bag

the plate, bowl, cup/mug lower bag is open at the top when hanging open, but it inverts and threatens to dump everything out when I fold up the bag to put it away in the drawer.   So I added extra straps to keep stuff from spilling out, but I'm not 100% sure they're needed, I can cut them off in the future if I end up not needing them.    I also sewed the black mesh front panel on so I can put them in wet after washing.   I figure they can air dry in the bag.  I may also add a couple half inch grommets in the bottom to let excess water drain.   In retrospect I should have probably made then entire lower part of the bag out of mesh,  maybe I'll do that in the future.      

Next is the bag for my backpacking stove stuff.   I bring it as a backup stove in case my electrical system dies.

 

This bag is 15 inches wide, 10 inches high and only about 5 inches deep/thick.    It was a game of tetris to make it all fit, but I saved a lot of truck camper drawer space with this bag by vertically storing stuff.   in the drawer it was way more spread out.   Probably a subconscious thing because of the fuel 

 

 

 

Truck Camper kitchen drawer redesign

 

I still love the kitchen pullout, but it's a bit messy and wastes a lot of storage space the way I've been using it.    And I find myself having to lift stuff out of the way to get to things when I bring extra food storage containers for takeout leftovers on multi-week road trips.

I'm going to make some rectangular bags like the green one on the right to store stuff more compactly and improve organization in the drawer

• A bag for my white gas backpacking stove stuff, including fuel bottles, matches and windscreens
• A bag for stuff I use to eat.   Plates, bowls, cutlery, and utensils for digging food out of fridge containers
• A bag for cooking/meal prepping.   Cooking utensils and my favorite fry pan
• Spice rack, salt and sugar bag?
• An open top, tote bag for misc pots I don't use often to store them more compactly.
• maybe another tote style bag for air tight food storage/take out containers 

 

I'm not going to add zippers to the bags, I'm going to use coroplast signboard to reinforce the bags so they stay in box shape.  I'll have to sew an inner bag liner to cover the coroplast.   I like signboard because its cheap, light, easy to cut, and flexes a little.   I want the bags sturdy but lightweight, but also have some box-like rigidity, so they keep their shape when pulled out of the Drawer.    Wood boxes would be too heavy, and 3/4" thick wood wastes a lot of space.   

Speaking of wood boxes though, I plan on these bags being a weird mix of my sewing, riveting and woodworking skills.   For the cutlery/utensil bag,   I'm going to reuse some of the hollow patio railing spindles and post sleeve cutoffs in the bags.  I'm going to rivet them in place through the inner bag lining to a thin aluminum strip behind the inner bag fabric.       Unlike the drawer now, there will be an upper and lower row, so i'll have to figure out a clean way to block the bottom of the upper row of hollow rail spindles so the forks and spoons don't fall through.    

The other part of the plan is to hang the bags from the rear bumper swing arms (going to add hooks to the arms), so I'm going to make one large side of the boxes square shape easy to drop down after opening a twist lock toggle holding the side panel in place (like an old school lunch box lid).   

 

The side panel that drops down will also have a mesh sleeve to hold bigger stuff in place when the bag is closed up.   Like plates, bowls, pots or pans.   That mesh sleeve will be upside down when the bag is closed, so when the side panel drops the stuff doesn't drop to the ground.

I might even redo the padded bag I made for the induction plate.   it's just a tad too big, but that will come last.  For now, I just have to push down on it a little to shut the drawer.

The goal is I want to easily pull a bag out of the kitchen drawer slideout, hang it on a bumper swing arm, untoggle the strap holding the side panel in place and drop the panel exposing everything.   Just like a metal lunchbox I used as a kid.    Stuff in the fabric box has to be easy to see, remove, and put back into the bag without everything spilling out all over the place. 

Maybe I'll make some youtube vids as I work on it.   If done correctly, I may have enough room in the drawer to store my half-size 3quart instant pot or blender in the drawer too. 

Right now, there's just a lot of empty space in the pullout drawer most of the time.  Pull out bags will use the space better because it will let me vertically stack shorter stuff better, AND it will keep things better organized.   The trick is making it easy to use the bags or I'll just go back to the open mess approach.  

 

First weight below 220... kind of

UPDATE: [Sunday 26apr2026,  weekly weigh-in of 222.6 lbs / ~ 101kg]

And on a happy note.   I lost some weight over the last week while camping.     I weighed 227.4 lbs/103kg when I left, but I'd been feeling kind of backed up last week.   I think I'd been eating too much high fiber sourdough bread.

So let me preface that my <220lb/100kg weigh-in does NOT technically count.    I weighed myself post-shower after a sauna session after driving home.   The Sauna was great for loosening up after driving 4 hours, but I didn't stop once to pee during the drive home, so I was dehydrated.   I didn't drink much after my morning bike ride, and I didn't guzzle water while driving because I didn't want to get stuck in Hartford rush hour traffic if I had to stop once an hour for pee breaks.    I got through Hartford around Thursday 3p.m.  Only had about a 2mile stretch where people were driving fast bicycle speed (like 20mph).  Not complaining,  traffic was steadily moving; it wasn't stop and go.

Anyhoo.   Drumroll please!    Booyah!   219.8lbs.   Sorry, it's been a dream when I started at 291.6lbs last June to see a weight below 220. 

This morning pre-breakfast, wearing 0.8lbs of clothing.

 

After breakfast was 222.   So I'm getting SUPER close to getting under 220.   Yay!    Ideally, I'd love to be lower 210's so I have a buffer from 220.   I want 220 to be my new max weight.    Fingers crossed, keeping the weight off will be so much easier now that I figured out high fiber, healthy, filling food I like.

 

I think the key to dropping 5+lbs this past week, was that I didn't bring any sourdough bread with me.   I ate my current favorite bean patty recipes (pre made at home).   

https://dishingouthealth.com/chipotle-black-bean-burgers/#wprm-recipe-container-9978 

and this new Indian bean patty recipe I found.   

https://ministryofcurry.com/black-bean-burgers/ 

I'd eat the above in a large, low-carb whole wheat wrap with lettuce, onions, peppers and some sauce (see below)

I worried a little about running out of the patties above, so I bought a frozen bag of bean and cheese burritos from Walmart (210 calories each, I'd eat two at a time).   I'd get them again.  Ate 6 out of the 8 before getting home. 

I also brought a gallon size ziploc bag of broccoli,   and a separate 1 gallon (~4liters) bag of lettuce.   I just stuff a few paper towels in the bag to absorb moisture and change the towels every couple days.    

I had diced bell peppers and red onions and 2 small bottles of siracha spicy mayo and southwest chipotle sauce  

I kept all the burrito making stuff in a plastic shopping bag, so it was easy to pull it out from the Dometic cooler fridge to make a wrap for lunch or dinner.   I usually alternated between Mexican and Indian.

For dessert i had the options of dates, dark chocolate covered almonds, apples, or home made baked beans, https://hunneyd.blogspot.com/2025/11/deconstructed-instant-pot-baked-beans.html 

 For snacking, roasted unsalted peanuts,  wasabi almonds, or the aforementioned dates/ choc covered almonds.

For breakfast I started with protein smoothies with almond/soy milk, but figured out how to use my tiny 1.5 liter hawkins induction ready pressure cooker on my induction cooktop to cook 1/3 cup of steel cut oats for breakfast.    

You have to be careful the pot doesn't start spewing foam after the pot starts venting.   I found medium heat until it vented once, remove the pot from the burner for minute to calm down, then add back to the burner on low for 5 minutes, and then let it naturally cool another 5-10 minutes (it's cold outside when camping).    Too fiddly/complicated?  idk

I'd then add

• 1 scoop Orgain chocolate fudge protein powder (plant based)
• 1 scoop PB Fit peanut powder
• 1 spoon/tablespoon of ground flax seed
• 1 spoon natural peanut butter
• at least 1/2 cup of soy milk

Not vegan, but I like the shelf life of soy/almond milk.    Soy is thicker  and if water consumption is a worry it uses far less than almond/dairy milk during the milk making conversion process.

I did use an insulated Yeti bowl for the first time while eating and during cold mornings 40-50F/5-10C   it kept the oatmeal nice and warm while I ate.    In a normal bowl, it will somehow get grossly too cold to eat by the time it cools enough to start eating it.  It's like you get a 30 second window to wolf down the whole bowl.   With the yeti bowl, you'll have to blow on each spoonful the first minute or two, but then you can just start slurping the oatmeal down and it stays warm until you finish in my experience.

Yeti bowls are overpriced, but I would recommend a double-walled, insulated stainless steel bowl for camping.   I got the big 2quart/liter size one and it's big enough to use as a small dish sink, so the hot soapy water stays hot as you clean up.   Win win. 

 

 

2026 April OhioPyle and Promised Land PA State Parks

Monday I drove from Hampstead Md to Ohiopyle PA.   Ohiopyle is in spitting distance of the famous Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright house.    Jacqui and I saw it way back in 2003 during our weird honeymoon.   "Who goes to Pittsburgh for a honeymoon?"    Jacqui was still working on her PhD and we didn't have time to go do the warm Caribbean thing.   Jacqui got to visit the Andy Warhol museum and I got to try a Primanti's sandwich for the first time.    We even stayed at the Seven Hills Resort for a few days, which is also super close to Ohiopyle.   Mid October, it was nearly empty.  Anyway, enough reminiscing.

 This blog is more about biking.   So going back to Hampstead, here are some photos from a local 8 mile loop I rode Saturday and Sunday from Mark and Teresa's place.     Lots of super pricey horse farms.  Mark said a lot of the land nearby goes from 150k per acre.    Still beautiful, rolling hill country, but pricey, Woof.

 

 

I would've taken more photos Sunday, but the fields I biked passed  the day before had just been plowed.   Oh well.   Out of practice at thinking about taking pretty shots  Hopefully did a better job biking on the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage) bike trail.   It's on my list of future bike tours.    I biked from Kentuck campground to Confluence and then doubled back, with some side trips, I bike 25 miles Tuesday.   Beautiful weather,   70F, 21C 

 

 

From Kentuck campground to the GAP trail there's this short 0.3 mile hike.   Super steep, so you have to walk your bike down and push it up.    Totally doable though.   It's not rocky

 

 

Weather was crappy Wednesday.   Cold (below 50F/10C) and Rainy all day.     I was originally planning on just driving 3 hours to Poe Paddy State Park in Central PA, but their forecast had rain Thursday too, so I pushed on to Promised Land State Park near Greentown PA.    A 5 hour drive.   No biking Wednesday.    I got there 3:45p.m. before the park office closed at 4p.m.       Sadly, the Ranger put me right next to another couple, the electric RV sites are open year round.   Probably a 100 sites, and only like 10 were used.  I felt bad for intruding on the other campers, but it was too late to fix.    

Pennsylvania State Parks have a few weird rules.   No alcohol and quiet hours are 9p.m. to 8a.m.    I think it's because the sites are so close to each other.    Have to keep the peace.    On the other hand, the Ranger ladies in the office at both Ohio Pyle and Promised Land said you can usually get a site during the week during the Summer.    Not like NY where everything gets booked months ahead of time.   With the PA campgrounds you can pre-book via Reserve America, but you should still swing by the office because they'll printout a sheet, and there's a strip of paper showing your checkout day, you attach it to the site post of your campsite so when the Rangers go around, they can keep on eye on people trying to overstay.

I guess I recommend PA state parks if you just want a base camp, but you'll be off hiking, biking, or whatever during the day.   If you mostly are going to sit at camp to enjoy being in the woods, I can't recommend Ohiopyle or Promised Land unless you're super social. 

Anyhoo, the PA Promised Land park is huge and seems to completely surround the lake.  I did a 16.5 mile ride completely on the park roads (except a short half mile on the state road 390 that goes North/South through the park)  You can rent cabins and cottages there too.

 It was a nice Spring Day.    Sunny, probably about 50F/10C, but it felt like someone left the fridge door open when I was near the lake.   The water was definitely cold, and sucked the heat out of the air.

 

 

 

First truck camping trip of 2026, Maryland and PA

Mark and Teresa invited me down to a weekend get together of various overlanding friends they've made.   They have a nice little horsefarm with a couple small fields set aside for camping.  

About a dozen rigs were there, and about 20 people at one point i think.

It was good to hangout with people.   Good practice for my social skills.   I do get yappy, and way too nerdy for normal folks, but c'est la vie.   The brain that gave me a somewhat cool career in lab robotics and digitizing labs (getting rid of paper),  limits the old social skills.    What's funny to me, is that I remember being the ambassador for my nerd friends in college.     It's all relative I suppose.   

My theory is that whatever makes you good at math/physics/chemistry  quite often eats up the part of the brain good at socializing with people.    Pro's and cons to everything I suppose.   As I told Mark at one point.   My brain doesn't really throttle down.

Anyhoo.   most of the rigs were geared towards more off road capabilities than I'll ever need.  

Mark had the good idea to write everyone's names down.  i snapped a photo and it came it clutch a few times.

Duane had one of the most interesting rigs to me.   he built an electric system off a 100amp hour/48v golf cart battery.   that's the equivalent of four 12v 100 amp batteries.  he went with the golf cart battery because the manufacture uses all metal in everything.   it's built for golf cart abuse, so well suited for riding in a truck on rough forest roads.

upping the voltage from 12v to 48v means you can use  thinner copper wire,   To downstep to 12volt power he has the 48v battery going to the mppt/solar input on a separate 12 volt powerstation.    genius.

here's some Dan Nerdiness for you

watts = volts * amps.

so if a light bulb needs 100 watts, you just need a tick over 2amps at 48volts.   at 12 volts you're up to 8 amps.   more amps means more heat or thicker wire.

or maybe another way to look at it.   if you use a garden hose to clean your car/truck.   it's a high volume of water and a lot more scrubbing by hand to get the job done.   but if you use a pressure washer, you can use a lot less water and it takes less elbow grease.   more pressure is kind of like more volts.    you waste less water.    higher volts means you waste less electricity creating heat . 

downsides of high volts, more zappy zappy danger risks.   just like if you use a pressure washer to clean your car, if you use a nozzle that's too narrow you'll wreck your paint job.   I like that analogy.

amps vs the amount of water needed for the job.

volts like water pressure.

but mostly the big advantage to switching to 48v IMHO is 

it's way more efficient to run an Air Conditioner off 48v batteries, which is more of a camper van problem.

at home, most window AC units pull 15 amps at 120v.   using a 12volt AC you'd have to pull 150amps at 12v to get the same amount of cooling.    you waste more electricity to heat UNLESS you use HUGE copper wire runs.    Copper is going to keep getting more and more expensive, so i think we'll be forced to go to 48v as the new standard.  

Ford's F150 lightning EV truck replacement is going to be 48v based.   They're going to have a f150 with just an onboard gas generator and the drivetrain will be electric motors and batteries.   but the battery pack will be smaller, just a 100 mile range.   Great for local errands, easy to keep topped off via a regular power outlet in the garage.  If you do a highway trip; the gas generator will provide a 500+ mile range.  No recharging station worries.     

Ford explained switching to a 48v-based wiring harness for everything cuts expense and weight a lot.   and it's easier for them to invert off a 48v battery system to 120v outlets they'll have on the truck to run power tools.   which will make it SUPER easy for guys to convert FORD EREV trucks to campers.    Those same 120v outlets could run a small microwave or induction cooking plat.e    Hint Hint   (erev, extend range electric vehicles)

Anyhoo.   Cong had a cool rig.  The chinese made DirtBox camper is far more solid than the GFC, lots of cool options too.   i had to add all the lighting to my GFC myself.   with the Dirtbox, stuff like that are factory options. GFC needs to up their game imho.   let the best man win.    viva la competition!    Let the Market decide.   If US manufacturing can't compete because China's government is supporting Chinese businesses, we can do the same thing on our end.    it's not rocket science.

Cong also had a ton of cool led lights on the front of this truck when driving offroad, but he's a young guy that still works.   so i bet he's often arriving late at night to camp somewhere.   squeezing in quick overnight outings inbetween his work/father/husband duties.  

I'm a spoiled old fart that can just go camp during the week while everyone else is working.   So far since having my camper built out since Fall of 2021, I only remember one time needing the aftermarket front lights on the truck, when I was arriving after dark to meet up with Jeff in NY at Wakely Dam.    Even then it was just to make it easier for me to look for deer while driving 20mph on a dark forest road.

 

But back to the weekend gathering.   Most of Mark and Teresa's friends arrived early Saturday afternoon.  

Sat night (technically Sunday early a.m. hours) it did rain and Sunday morning was a bit soggy.  rain let up around 11a.m. but most had left by then.   so I missed out on touring a few rigs.   but i don't get FOMO  (fear of missing out).    I like leaving stuff for next time.   I often do that biking/kayaking.   Rather than stress myself out trying to see/do everything, i like to leave reasons to go back again.   

Hung out with Mark Sunday night.   We had a nice fireside chat and went to bed around 10p.m. in our respective campers.   I had a good sleep and headed out late Monday morning.    Got a few things at the nearby Walmart, grabbed a veggie sandwich from Subway and headed off for PA.

Monday afternoon i drove to Ohiopyle.   At one point i was on a back road that took me past a national park in Maryland.   Something starting with a C .   will look it up later.  (Catoctin)   nice views of a boulder'ish heavy brook/stream.    Also notable was i-68 west.   The first rest area heading west was very scenic. up on the first mountain pass the old settlers used to go over by horse and wagon.

Ohiopyle State Park in PA includes a small town i think.  lots of small restaurants and stuff.   I'm staying at Kentuck campground.    It was cold last night, down to 30F for a few hours before sunrise.   There's literally no one else camping on my little street/wing of the campground.     Too early in the season for the showers/bathroom to be open may help explain that.

   but I have all that stuff.  My campsite #82 on Fir road is right by a hike a bike trail that will take me down to the GAP trail.   I have to walk my bike down a steep quarter mile trail to the GAP rail trail.    Going to wait until 11a.m.  it'll be 50 by then.   oh and it cost a tick less than $30/night after fees and everything.

before leaving for Maryland last week, i saw there'd be one cold night per the forecast, but i figured i could just layer up instead of bringing lots of winter stuff. and I was right.   survived no problem

on my feet i'm wearing wool ankle high running socks with calf high wool hiking socks over them.   while sleeping i wore my enlightened equipment synthetic down booties over the socks and their separate hoodie on my head.   The separate hoodie works well because it stays put no matter how much you twist and turn while sleeping.

There's a nearby train, so you do need ear plugs to sleep well here.  I did bust out my single ear muff to wear over my ear not on the pillow.     At night they dont' blast the horn like they do during the day, but i think I heard it at 4a.m.   Be ready.

To stay warm I wore my thin polyester sweats,  my lightweight jogger shell pants over them, and the new camping pants i got from BJ's.    the pants are like a thick cotton with some other stuff woven in to make them weather resistant. kind of like jeans, but made for camping.  I can see why they were cheaper at BJ's they stretch and get super loose, but turns out that was good because i can wear them over other layers.

to keep my hands warm, i've been wearing my fingerless bicycling gloves.  i have full finger bike gloves too, but the fingerless ones make typing, using a phone, cooking etc, easier, and they keep my hands warm enough.

On my torso, a polyester shirt, a thin long sleeve sun shirt,  my goose down jacket with hood, my llbean gore-tex shell, and a thick cotton flannel over top in case any embers fly out of my mini solo stove.  Perks of losing a lot of weight, my old gear is loose enough to layer up like that. 

 

The mini stove is only 9inches wide on the outside, maybe 1 ft tall.  but a tall 5gallon bucket (7 gal technically) with pellets lasts me the week.   you can sit close to it, and keeps your lower legs warm, and you can hover hands over top.   I like it will burn out in 1.5 hours max.   I don't get stuck waiting for everything to burn down before leaving or going to bed.   or having to waste good water to put the fire out.    and usually after a couple burns, i've used enough pellets i can pack everything into the bucket so it takes up no room.   I tried a propane lava box, but the propane doesn't last nearly as long as a 7gallon bucket of pellets in the small stove.

$33 bucks right now, normally $44,.

https://a.co/d/0gXih1La

 

 

i also use my shower mat to keep my feet off the ground and warmer.   works well.   good for standing at the end of the tailgate when cooking/doing dishes.

enough for now, going to go get ready for biking.

i think i'll publish this , and do another blog as i do more biking stuff. 

Today (Tuesday) it's explore the GAP trail that goes up to Pittsburgh,  it connects with the C&O rail trail that goes down to Wash DC.     It's very popular with bike touring folks.   many feel it's more scenic than the eric canal bike trail between Buffalo and Erie.   Less road noise too.

tomorrow/wednesday it's going to rain a lot here, so even though i don't have to leave until 3p.m., i'm going to leave after breakfast.   

if the weather forecast doesn't change, I'm going to the promised land state park along i84 east of Scranton PA.   5 hour drive from here.   I was going to go to Poe Paddy near State College, which is only 3 hours away, but they're getting rain tomorrow AND thursday.   So will skip it and go more east.  Per my ride with GPS app there's a nice 20 mile ride around a lake there and it'll be 70F thursday near Greentown with no rain forecast there.      I'll drive home later Thursday after I finish the ride.   It'll only be a 4hr drive home from there instead of 6.5hrs from Poe Paddy.   win win.    Just have to time the drive to avoid rush hour through Hartford Ct.

Still stuck at 226-227lbs

Didn't eat salad for dinner this week.    Had healthy based lentil dishes for dinner most often.    Also, was hitting the roasted, unsalted peanuts hard this week again too.   Probably too much snacking or bread

Since March 19th, I've been bouncing around 226-227.5, but on the other hand, I don't feel like I'm starving.   How I'm eating feels sustainable, so if this is the bottom of my weight loss so be it.    It'll be 65lbs lighter than where I started last June.

On the other hand, I do want to try less snacking and more salad with a protein for dinner this week and see what happens.    The one night I just had a 3 egg omelette, I had a really low weigh-in of 225.8 the next morning.   The lowest ever!    And the omelette was plenty filling.

 But in general, I'm coming to terms that weighing 220 something may be it, and I'm ok with that.    The main goal was to get lighter so biking, hiking, and kayaking are more fun.   Mission accomplished.     I don't want to do fasting or anything that's not sustainable to drop more weight.     Assuming my blood work improves, which it should, no more changes.   

 

Little bummed I ended up at 227.4lbs for my weekly Sunday weigh-in, but I did eat home made pizza yesterday, and I think I'm retaining water from the long ride Friday still.    

Friday I did the first long ride of the season.  30 miles, in 3 hours.   Very happy with that.   Didn't take any long breaks anywhere.   Just kept trucking.    Figured out this loop around Wachusett reservoir last year.   Avoids heavy car traffic.   I used to do the roads closer to the reservoir, but the traffic has gotten too heavy to make that fun.   I only do it in the Summer, early in the morning on the weekend when everyone is sleeping.

 

The new seat and suspension post seems to work better than what I had on my touring bike during the Erie Canal trail.   I've tweaked the angle down a little, so I'll try one more long ride before saying it's good for my next trip.    I'm debating if I need their slightly narrower seat.    I did make one silly mistake and wore the bike shorts inside out, so that probably impacted comfort a little, and I didn't use any chamois cream, or butt balm.    So i'm thinking if I don't forget those basics, next time may get the official thumbs up.    No idea how I put the chamois short inside out.    Rushing to get going I guess.

 I did switch to underwear style bike shorts, and I wear lightweight joggers over the chamois underwear.   I pronounce chamois american biker style, "shammy"     Just FYI.     Thicker chamois pads aren't always better, things need to breathe down there.   Hot and sweaty gets uncomfortable too.     I'm  hopeful this style clothing wont' be too hot as Summer comes.   Blends in better than the biker spandex shorts and white leg tights I used during the Erie canal ride.

 I also bought a plastic snap kit and I added a couple to the bottom of the jogger pants so I can tighten up the lower leg to keep the pants away from the chain

 

 This afternoon, I'm going to go do some rougher trail biking on my fat bike.   Suddenly realized that a suspension seatpost I bought for my fat bike years ago (over a decade at least) can now be used.   When I got it, i was 260 something, just a few pounds from its max weight of 255.   

Then I put on way more weight, so it's never been used.   Going to try it out this afternoon.   Should make trail riding more comfy.   This style uses springs and it's not meant for touring, it's meant for harsher bumps on rougher trails.