I can't really explain why, but I started getting serious about exercise and weight loss back in October of last year. I did the Weight Watchers thing and started hitting the gym every day. Nobody wants to do exercise machines every day so I broke out the old bike I hadn't ridden for 10 years and hit the trail on weekends.
I forgot how much fun I had biking back then. I thought I only liked it because I had crushes on guys that were biking and I was trying to impress them, but it turns out I actually just like biking too.
But I still like impressing people (and myself) so I wanted to achieve some kind of tangible goal. The first thing I did was sign up for the Cinderella Classic, as well as the training program for that ride, hosted by the local bike club. It's a 100 km ride, or about 65 miles.
The other thing is that I keep seeing people I know get cancer, and it really bothers me that I can't do anything tangible about that, so I wanted to do a ride that would benefit cancer research. So I signed up with Team in Training, because that's exactly what they do.
The ride I'll be doing with them is the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride at Lake Tahoe, which is 100 miles, and takes place June 5.
So far I've lost 20 pounds and have gone from being able to ride 5 miles (flat) to being able to ride 30 miles (with hills). I still can't take my hands off the handlebars though.
Congratulations on your progress so far! 20 miles on a bike blows my mind - not sure I could even manage 2, it's been that long since I got on one.
ReplyDeleteWhich means it's probably long past time I got off my corpulent arse and did something a little more active, like the cancer ride thing - from a riding point rather than a donating for someone else to ride, I mean.
Keep up the excellent work - we're all pulling for you.