The year is coming to and end, reflections……
5December 27, 2012 by welshcyclist
What progress have I made on this cycling journey of mine?
Short answer, very little.
But that being said, I feel great, am tens of times fitter than when I began, my resting heart rate is in the high 40’s, and my blood pressure is better than perfect for a man my age.
However, I look in the mirror, and there’s still this fat man looking back at me. It hurts!
Not enough, though, to goad me into actually losing those unwanted pounds. I love my food, Christmas is a bad time for anyone to worry about their weight. I have to confess I have eaten a shade too much, but compared to past years, alot less, as Tootlepedal suggested, perhaps I’m now old enough to enjoy it.
Sadly, I don’t record staqtistics about my cycling, my commuting etc., far too disorganised for that. I’ve had two cycle computers attached to my bikes over the years, which I consistently forgot to set, reset etc., and anyway, both broke down irretrieveably, so I haven’t bothered since.
Not much to review or reflect on there. Of course, the biggest plus, is I’m still really enjoying riding the bike, and can’t imagine not doing so. The old Pioneer is running very well since I managed to get Halfords to pull their finger out and live up to their BikeCare plan/agreement.
Before that cycling was a much more dour affair, but even through all that, I still couldn’t stay away from pedalling.
Christmas has seen the arrival of new gear. My youngest son bought me a pair of expensive Oakley sunglasses for my bicycling, from Go Outdoors, in Swansea. Well, I have a pair of Bloc cycling glasses with exchangeable lens’, plus a pair of Tifosi’s, so I decided to exchange them for other kit.
I didn’t really fancy the idea of using Go Outdoors, somehow, I’d got it into my head, that, as they cater for all sorts of outdoor pursuits, they, as a retailer wouldn’t be quite up to the mark. A bit of inverted snobbery there I think!
Despite these snobbish feelings, I went, and was happily and pleasantly surprised. I exchanged the sunglasses for two pairs of Dare2Be undershorts and two pairs of very expensive hiking socks, which I find perfect to cycle my commute. So I was well pleased.
On top of that, I still had £20 of gift vouchers, given to me, by Halfords, as compensation for their abyssmal servicing of the Pioneer. I used these to order, on line, a new pucture repair kit, and a Topeak bicycle survival gear, 20% off over the internet. Both are in situ on the Pioneer, already. The puncture kit in my pannier, and the survival gear attached to the down tube via spring clips and velcro (both provided).The latter looks very nifty.
Meanwhile, my Jamis Sputnik singlespeed languishes in the shed. I’m annoyed to say that, because I want to use it more. Just not enough time in the weeks, not enough playtime at any rate.
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I envy you your resting heart rate. The secret to the weight loss is to eat a hardly noticeable fraction less of what you usually eat. Don’t diet, don’t change your food just eat a tiny bit less. If you eat less and do the same exercise, you have to lose weight. It worked for me. I have just done half my usual mileage this year and sustained my weight at the same level just through slightly reducing my portion size. It can be done without too much if any pain. Sorry for preaching (once a teacher, always a teacher). Have a great new year.
Looking forward to a great new year, hope you and all your family have the same. I’ll try to take a positive approach to portion size, I gave up smoking my pipe 5 years ago, just stopped one Monday, never smoked since. The medical people say if you can give up an addiction like that your brain is wired wrong! Don’t think they’re far wrong in my case. My addiction to food is so strong, cups of tea and mince pies while I type this doesn’t help either! Never mind, 13 is my lucky number, so roll on 2013!
Good luck.
You sound like you need a target, set one, an easy one, then compete against yourself, whether that be miles, speeds, different routes found per week or something else like saving up for a Rohloff 🙂
I’m an excellent target setter, but fall off the rails far too quickly. I take your point though, my New Year resolution will be to take small chunks of my targets at a time. Thanks for your encouragement.