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I have been eating healthy for weeks now. My original plan was to be able to drop at least 10 pounds before I left for a 9-day bicycling trip to Washington State with several friends.

Being on a bicycle for 5 to six 6 hours per day is enough to make anyone wish they were lighter, especially when you are riding up hills. To make the trip even more challenging, the other ladies in the group are so hard core that they carry all their clothes and gear with them in packs on the bicycle, like real cross-country bikers.

Considering the difficulty I faced, eating food just didn’t seem as important to me as it once was, even if this was only a temporarily state of mind.

My serious bicycling friends are Dorothy, Cindy and Kim. They ride frequently around this area, and a couple of times a year they plan trips where they ride long distances from town to town. This might be a trip in Texas or it may be to a faraway place such as New Mexico or California.

They don’t ride from Texas to those other states. They ship their bikes ahead of time, and then fly to the starting point. However, those three ladies are such awesome bikers that I am certain that given enough time they could easily pedal to another state.

Their plan this year was to bike around the area north of Seattle and up into Canada.

This year, I somehow convinced them that I was an experienced cyclist and could accompany them on the trip. They made their adventures sound so fun that I thought it would be great to go. I don’t guess that I remember them mentioning that they would be riding 30 to 60 miles a day up and down hills.

I do ride my bike often. In fact, several mornings a week I ride for about an hour and a half. Before you begin to think what an intense athlete I am, I must admit that often during the heat of the summer, I only pedal on my ‘trainer’ in my air-conditioned den while I watch TV.

A bike trainer is a piece of equipment that clamps onto and elevates your rear wheel so that it will function like a stationary bike.

I decided to hook my bike to the trainer after one hot Sunday afternoon when my friend, Janet, and I decided to ride to our country place, which is over 30 miles away. We gave up after about 11 miles because we had consumed at least one liter of water each and still thought we were about to succumb to a heat-related illness.

The temperature on the highway was 101 degrees and we were beginning to feel like rotisserie chickens by the time we reached the Nursery Trading Post. That summer Texas afternoon ride convinced me that if I intended to increase my stamina and endurance for the trip, I would have to ride in air conditioning.

After all, the Seattle summer outdoor temperature is about the same as the air-conditioned indoor temperature here.

I began to watch almost all the calories I consumed. For breakfast, I would have granola and yogurt with fruit. For lunch, I might only consume a turkey sandwich. For my evening meal, I would have a small serving of fish or chicken or maybe just a can of diet supplement drink. I did not give up any meals (or special desserts), but often times just reduced my portion size.

With exercise and diet, I began to see amazing results within about two weeks. My clothes were loose, my calf muscles were defined, and I had more energy.

I kept up this regimen for about two months, riding at least twice a week in the den. Most mornings, I looked forward to the exercise since I watched previously taped episodes of CSI-Miami while cycling. I suspect that Lance Armstrong never trained by this method, but I’m not planning riding in the Tour de France.

I lost about 12 pounds and one dress size. I was thrilled with my weight loss and increased stamina on the bike. The real test would occur on the bike trip, when I packed my 45 pounds of gear in my panniers.

Panniers are bags which are mounted to the front and rear of a bicycle. The bags are light weight and made of synthetic fabric. They hook to the racks mounted on the bike and are removable. They are filled with essentials like energy bars, energy “gu” carbohydrate gel, a toothbrush and toiletries, rain gear, biking clothes and ‘off the bike’ clothes, tire tubes and pajamas.

It was impossible for me to get the feel of the loaded panniers riding in the den so I occasionally rode outside with these bags filled with 45 pounds of cookbooks. I’m certain that looked a little strange.

I was looking forward to the trip with these athletic gals, but I was also a bit fearful. They are all much better riders and experienced touring cyclists. I knew if I was along, we would have good food, so I spent a lot of time researching good restaurants in the areas we would ride. Maybe that is why they asked me to go along in the first place.

This talent of mine, “finding good food” is counterproductive to my exercise regimen, but essential for our trip. Kim continued to promise me that I would not gain an ounce on the trip, since we would be burning up so many calories.

I printed page after page of restaurant recommendations from the Internet and directions to get to each place and put them in my panniers.

I did not want to miss even one opportunity to savor the flavors of the Pacific Northwest.

I realize now that I should have had more granola and yogurt on my trip and less salmon benedict with hollandaise sauce, but more food stories later.

Myra Starkey lives in Victoria. Write her in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901, or e-mail myra@vicad.com.