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

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.

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.

In Fredericton NB for the Changing of the Guard

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.

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!

I did not like how I felt or how I looked.

I am used to being about 130-135 pounds, 170/5 is just a bit out of my comfort zone!

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!

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!

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.

I began taking the smoothies that my sister in-law had hooked me on in July.  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)

The same jeans I wore in Fredericton

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.

In the work out area of our basement, we have a wide variety of tools to use to stay fit. 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.

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.

My favorite exercises are the stretching and using the gym bar.

These are exercises I can (and usually do) while I am on the road. 

My friend Sara and I have been working our faithfully 5 times per week since early October.

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.

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. 

And you know what that means right? Yes I feel so much better!

BUT REMEMBER: No good deed goes unpunished.

I now need all brand new riding gear.

Yes, there is always a downside/trade off to improving one’s self!

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.

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.

Nothing like weight gain or loss to make that riding gear that fit you well at one time a useless dust collector!

It’s the one reason I miss wearing chaps.

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…

What the hell do you do with Kevlar jeans?  I’ll tell you – they become dust collectors.

The same goes for most riding pants, at least the ones I have tried.

If safety gear doesn’t fit properly it’s effectiveness becomes greatly reduced.

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!

In the meantime, I want to ask you what your favorite “prevent the weight gain while long haul riding” tip is.

Check out the entries in the Beat the PMS Blues Online Show n Shine over at www.beltdrivebetty.com

We have fantastic prizes from our presenting sponsor BigBlueInCanada.com and our category sponsors Strip ClubChoppers of Canada, East & West!

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.

Enter the contest here

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:

Follow Belt Drive's board Beat the PMS Blues S n S 2015 on Pinterest.

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!

I look forward to seeing a number of you at the Calgary Motorcycle Show!

I hope you all have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Writer.






Disclaimer:

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.