Belt Drive Betty's Blog

Riding Gear – The down side of being a female long haul rider.

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<span lang="EN-US">I don’t know about the rest of you, but I
know that when I am on the road for extended periods of time, I put weight on and
not just a little bit either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Normally a day on the road would involve me
getting up at about 4 am, having a coffee, answering emails, doing stretches
and yoga for 20 minutes to a half hour, having a shower, heading for breakfast
and then getting video, photos etc. tagged and dealt with before heading out
about 8-9 am and riding upwards of 600KM’s then riding more with the locals in
whatever community I was in and being in bed by 10pm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPsoTJmIBjia61lRKFlrduI70sFYuiThHgf644bz8zKbTK1mxAXjFpmgdg27_D3FW6bk3C19Uc5DgopvU3s3ki5FHN7pWF07CqN_aUlCJwK4ATjk3-N9hX5so3jFI1OtfXlD0/s1600/Being+asked+to+inspect+the+guard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPsoTJmIBjia61lRKFlrduI70sFYuiThHgf644bz8zKbTK1mxAXjFpmgdg27_D3FW6bk3C19Uc5DgopvU3s3ki5FHN7pWF07CqN_aUlCJwK4ATjk3-N9hX5so3jFI1OtfXlD0/s1600/Being+asked+to+inspect+the+guard.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Fredericton NB for the Changing of the Guard</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">On my 2013 Conga, it didn’t take me long to
fall out of a good healthy routine. Many a night I didn’t get to bed before
midnight and that meant slow starts to my days. Some days I had to skip my
routine completely because I had slept in, and had to be somewhere at a
specific time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Over a 92-day period of being on the road,
I put on 30 pounds, and I was already about 15 pounds over weight! I did not
like what I was seeing happening to my body at all! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I did not like how I felt or how I looked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I am used to being about 130-135 pounds,
170/5 is just a bit out of my comfort zone!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I am 54, soon to be 55 years old, gaining
that much weight is not only unhealthy, but it becomes harder to take off the
older we get!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This past summer, I had stayed with my sister
in-law for about a week while I was in that Salmon Arm, Sicamous BC country
last summer. While I was there, she got me hooked on having smoothies for
breakfast. In just that short period of time, a week, I started feeling better
than I had in ages. I was HOOKED!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">When I parked Doc at the end of the riding
season this year, I was determined that I was going to loose some weight and
tone up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I began taking the smoothies that my sister
in-law had hooked me on in July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Packed
with super greens, yogurt, flax and hemp oil, calcium, vitamin D and fruit
among other things, this smoothie is a full meal replacement and I don’t get
hungry for about 3 hours after having one! (I will be carrying my new Magic
Bullet with me this season)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nptU__s9SconDk1PHkW3LdsxS4Bc_adszUNFLWNsJDdY3xo6fafOQq_bWjSojV3KRhJOIQSOs1hy_4PwUqGVj3pmMg7YNP50-KZUmXD5FfiemXrSKhSkAI6tShSYrp-gi-fG/s1600/IMG_2174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nptU__s9SconDk1PHkW3LdsxS4Bc_adszUNFLWNsJDdY3xo6fafOQq_bWjSojV3KRhJOIQSOs1hy_4PwUqGVj3pmMg7YNP50-KZUmXD5FfiemXrSKhSkAI6tShSYrp-gi-fG/s1600/IMG_2174.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The same jeans I wore in Fredericton</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">Because of the car crash I suffered many
years ago, lifting weights, using treadmills or elliptical trainers etc. is not
something I can do without injuring myself so I began doing my favorite workout
regimen again, one that is comprised mostly of stretching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In the work out area of our basement, we
have a wide variety of tools to use to stay fit. </span>We have a DZT whole body vibration machine, which is great for toning and 10 minutes on it does what an hour of weight training does for females and their bone density.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-RJCv2TZkqjB7Df-2B5XSGRxhl481BU7g3ztohWkWQFCRbjuG5EAMFMtAqwe60kU9RGUFw3Rruda3O0IJg6NHMj2rcgqelOHGJAlNkkKJlFrjtXZvefn_tValC6QxQPf7kEp/s1600/IMG_2175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-RJCv2TZkqjB7Df-2B5XSGRxhl481BU7g3ztohWkWQFCRbjuG5EAMFMtAqwe60kU9RGUFw3Rruda3O0IJg6NHMj2rcgqelOHGJAlNkkKJlFrjtXZvefn_tValC6QxQPf7kEp/s1600/IMG_2175.JPG" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US">I have a gym bar that is portable that I can take in my saddlebags, a twist disk for toning up the waist, a few physiotherapy balls for stretching and balance and some free weights, yoga DVD’s and mats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My favorite exercises are the stretching and using the gym bar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">These are exercises I can (and usually do) while I am on the road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My friend Sara and I have been working our faithfully 5 times per week since early October.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The result is that I have dropped 4-5 jean sizes. I have gone from a 14-12 to a 8-7 depending on the cut in the last 12-13 weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">No more old lady bat wings, no more back fat, just a little gut roll and a bit of a muffin top left.  By the time riding season comes around I will be back in six 6-7 clothes. I am determined. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">And you know what that means right? Yes I feel so much better!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">BUT REMEMBER: No good deed goes unpunished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I now need all brand new riding gear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Yes, there is always a downside/trade off to improving one’s self!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Whether you want to admit it or not, we know that good gear can mean the difference between walking away from a crash reasonably unscathed and being wheeled away in an ambulance or worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">New riding gear is going to be my celebration present to me when I can finally get in to my favorite jeans again, (without having to lay on the bed to do them up) and there is no muffin top created by wearing them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Nothing like weight gain or loss to make that riding gear that fit you well at one time a useless dust collector!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It’s the one reason I miss wearing chaps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">With chaps, if you had a good meal, you could let the belt out a notch. If you found you had put on a few pounds, loosening up the laces in the back and letting the belt out a few notches had you covered. If you lost some of that weight, you just cinched up tighter…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What the hell do you do with Kevlar jeans?  I’ll tell you – they become dust collectors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The same goes for most riding pants, at least the ones I have tried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">If safety gear doesn’t fit properly it’s effectiveness becomes greatly reduced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I am attending the Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver Motorcycle shows and you can be guaranteed that I will be on the hunt for the newest and best in riding gear and I will share what I find out!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In the meantime, I want to ask you what your favorite “prevent the weight gain while long haul riding” tip is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Check out the entries in the Beat the PMS Blues Online Show n Shine over at <a href="http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/">www.beltdrivebetty.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We have fantastic prizes from our presenting sponsor <a href="http://www.bigblueincanada.com/" target="_blank">BigBlueInCanada.com </a>and our category sponsors <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/336979573072100/595375473899174/?notif_t=group_activity" target="_blank">Strip ClubChoppers of Canada, East & West</a>!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We are also running a little written contest this year – we are asking people to share their tips on how to combat PMS and for the non rider – how they cope with the PMS of someone they love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/pms-how-bad-is-it-contest" target="_blank">Enter the contest here</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I have PMS so bad that I am like a snarling Sabre Tooth tiger and I am so grateful for all the bike entries in our Show n Shine so far! Here is the Pinterest Board of the entries:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20data-pin-do=%22embedBoard%22%20href=%22http://www.pinterest.com/bdbetty/beat-the-pms-blues-s-n-s-2015/%22data-pin-scale-width=%2280%22%20data-pin-scale-height=%22200%22%20data-pin-board-width=%22400%22%3EFollow%20Belt%20Drive's%20board%20Beat%20the%20PMS%20Blues%20S%20n%20S%202015%20on%20Pinterest.%3C/a%3E%3C!--%20Please%20call%20pinit.js%20only%20once%20per%20page%20--%3E%3Cscript%20type=%22text/javascript%22%20async%20src=%22//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js%22%3E%3C/script%3E" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20data-pin-do=%22embedBoard%22%20href=%22http://www.pinterest.com/bdbetty/beat-the-pms-blues-s-n-s-2015/%22data-pin-scale-width=%2280%22%20data-pin-scale-height=%22200%22%20data-pin-board-width=%22400%22%3EFollow%20Belt%20Drive's%20board%20Beat%20the%20PMS%20Blues%20S%20n%20S%202015%20on%20Pinterest.%3C/a%3E%3C!--%20Please%20call%20pinit.js%20only%20once%20per%20page%20--%3E%3Cscript%20type=%22text/javascript%22%20async%20src=%22//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js%22%3E%3C/script%3E" target="_blank"></a><a data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-do="embedBoard" data-pin-scale-height="200" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="http://www.pinterest.com/bdbetty/beat-the-pms-blues-s-n-s-2015/">Follow Belt Drive's board Beat the PMS Blues S n S 2015 on Pinterest.</a><script async="" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js" type="text/javascript"></script></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Between the Beat the PMS Blues Online Show n Shine and all the eye candy it offers up and the Motorcycle Shows, I might make it to the end of March without ending up in jail!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I look forward to seeing a number of you at the Calgary Motorcycle Show!</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I hope you all have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Belt Drive Betty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Editor & Writer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><i>Disclaimer:</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. The Belt Drive Betty Blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.</span></div>
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