Recently I did my first road ride since keeping away from the roads for a couple of years.
If I’m honest, I think it was my first ride in about two months.
Apart from the mountain bike ride I did the day before, but that was with a friend who hadn’t ridden since August and admitted he’d had to go out and buy new clothes because she’d put on quite a few pounds and none of his clothes fitted him anymore.
It was a chatty ride and a very gentle introduction to exercise, which suited me fine.
So the next day a more committed cycling friend suggests a road ride which before we go out I am feeling a bit excited about but also dreading because I know I’m going to have to work a bit harder to keep up – not so worried about the balancing skills.
It was a fresh, beautiful sunny day and the route was a quiet back road loop that took us through the stunning landscape and pedaling along enjoying the scenery and the banter I felt great and realized I was doing something that made me happy.
My main excuse is, of course, the terrible weather, riding in bad weather is fun for the first few times then it’s just tiresome and impossible, a bicycle is no substitute for a dog on a walk.
So once the bad weather went then I found another excuse – I had the flu over getting cold, which saved me from eating and drinking to excess which in hindsight was great.
It saved me from having to buy new clothes (I have got to the ‘this used to be a bit loose’ stage). But it left me in a place where motivation had deserted me. I knew having been inactive for so long it could be painful getting exercising again, and I began to imagine a life where my bicycle wasn’t my ‘raison d’être’-although I’m not quite sure what I would do with myself.
Then I watched a documentary on the fattest man on earth where he laments desperately about letting himself get to that point and how unhappy he is, and I thought when did he start down that road?
I put down the box of chocolates, downloaded a Cycling Log app and planned a training programme to get me through the next 90 days until I have to participate in a race. Can’t wait.
It’s Never Too Late
