This could be my story from this year... I am hovering around 130kg mark and in December I said no more. I have always loved riding but the last decade really just saw my bike gathering dust and me gathering kg's. My biggest issue is I could never find the time to ride... Life as usual always got in the way with work, kids errands and any other excuse I could find. Then in December I thought what if I tried cycling to work... its not far (4km) and although there is mostly uphill, going home would be reverse. So I spent some of my December break just riding around my flat block to try get fit enough before I work up the courage to try the work run. First once, then twice... then a few more times. Eventually late in december I figured I was ready to try the future work run... I gave it a go and yes stopped a couple of times to catch me breath but I thought... do-able just. So I made myself a challenge. Ride 1000km in a year. Doesnt sound like a lot to other commuters who do that in a month but given I had probably had averaged riding 1km a year it was a leap and easily doable if I commute most days. Maths told me I just have to do a minimum of 125 days of commuting to reach my goal. I decided to install strava really just to document my distance and so I started commuting in Jan. The first two weeks were tough. I would arrive at my office out of breath and sweating like a dog in a Chinese restaurant... and there were no showers. So I mastered the basin wash and packing the bag. You learn the hard way when you forget to pack a work shirt. I also set myself challenges... first it was try to only stop once on a hill... then try make it a bit further until I have to stop and finally make it to the top without stopping. Man alive, the first day I did that was glorious... if I could breath I would have whooped. Since then it has just been getting better and faster. I see on my commutes when I check strava im getting personal records quite regularly which means Im slowly getting faster and less out of breath. Im still 4000 people away from KOM but as long as im doing equal or better than I did the day before im happy. Then last week something clicked... Id been doing pretty well but it had always been about getting to the office/home. But on one ride (probably one of the first not riding straight on into a 40km/h south easter) I just had the best time riding home. The cycle itself became fun and the thing I looked forward to the most. Ive even started investigating small detours on the way home to get a bit more in. And Just like CHRISF Im in a much happier mood these days leaving the stress of contractors behind, having a job and then going home all smiles to see my family. (Geez hey... the building industry!) Ive even had my wife question me about why im so happy coming from work these days. I still need to lose a ton of weight but Im hoping if I cycle more and eat better then im probably doing a whole lot better than the last decade. Im also hopeful because my kids are now just old enough to start cycling which means one day in the future I might have an opportunity to use a bike other than commuting and also be dad enough to join them. They see me leave and come home on a bike and now thats all they want to do. Thank you ChrisF for the great post and I echo your sentiments... So what have I learnt - Commuting by bicycle is GOOD for me !!
