Amazing how 1 ride can change your life ...
Discussion
It all started in 2010 when for some strange reason I deceided to do a 200 miles in 2 day charity ride here in Canada ( Toronto - Niagara Falls ) went out to buy a new bike and instead of getting what I thought I wanted, I walked out with a Madone 5.2. I wanted a triple and ended up with a compact and so it went on. Love the bike and every penny spent on it to date including a set of Zipp 404's. The one 200 mile ride suddenly ended up being 4 century rides last year and I found myself joining the local club, going out and doing a 120 k ride on a Sunday moring became the norm !!!
This year my claendar is full with the first big ride next month in Palm Springs California another century ride! Followed up in March with the Argus cycle race in Cape Town plus my local Crit series starting in April ( 1 learn to race session and 1 race session per week ) club rides on weekends and if money allows the start of my TT racing not to forget the cancer charity ride in June again and a stunning Grand Fondo between Vancouver and Whistler in September it is a busy year for me and my bike
The benefits have been huge - heart rate come down, weight has dropped pretty nicely and fitness has increased, borderline high cholestrol has come on down and all round "joy to be alive" has increased. Who would have thought that finally taking a challenge and actually doing some serious distances on a bike instead of just talking about it, would lead me down this path. So to everyone who rides keeping churning and to those yet to start .... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR !!!!!!!!!!
This year my claendar is full with the first big ride next month in Palm Springs California another century ride! Followed up in March with the Argus cycle race in Cape Town plus my local Crit series starting in April ( 1 learn to race session and 1 race session per week ) club rides on weekends and if money allows the start of my TT racing not to forget the cancer charity ride in June again and a stunning Grand Fondo between Vancouver and Whistler in September it is a busy year for me and my bike
The benefits have been huge - heart rate come down, weight has dropped pretty nicely and fitness has increased, borderline high cholestrol has come on down and all round "joy to be alive" has increased. Who would have thought that finally taking a challenge and actually doing some serious distances on a bike instead of just talking about it, would lead me down this path. So to everyone who rides keeping churning and to those yet to start .... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR !!!!!!!!!!
Similar thing to me, I bought my bike on the cycle to work scheme to genuinely just commute on....
I now ride around 150-200miles a week, entering sportives left, right and centre and plan to buy a new bike and start racing next year!
I have already dropped 10kgs and am focused on losing 10 more, Cycling is the best thing to happen to me!
I now ride around 150-200miles a week, entering sportives left, right and centre and plan to buy a new bike and start racing next year!
I have already dropped 10kgs and am focused on losing 10 more, Cycling is the best thing to happen to me!
Edited by hullbilly on Thursday 20th January 08:54
:thumbsup:
Thanks all, it has been a fun ride so far. I dabbled with riding for years but never had the motivation to really get into it until the ride to conquer cancer last year and since then it has been fantastic, as I live in Canada winter is not very outdoor cycle friendly so bought the Kinetic rock n roll trainer and a set of Spinerval dvd's yet another learning curve but a fun one. Coach Troy is a bit nuts but his training sessions are awesome
Great stuff very inspirational
I wagged work today and took myself off to Llandegla for what turned out to be an inspired decision and one of my best rides ever.
I only did one circuit of the red/black but I didn't stop once. Just kept pedalling and popping the reverb up and down as necessary. The ground was dry, just some patches of ice, so found good grip and the frost that the area had overnight stayed around a while making the place quite atmospheric. So it was cool, visibilty was great and I was all wrapped up with plenty of layers and my leggings on. I put my iPod on for the first time as well, just popped one earbud so I could listen out for others and just rode.......on my own.
I came home, picked my kids up from school, we've had some pizza and I'm going to have a glass or two of malt tonight.
Today's been a good day.
I wagged work today and took myself off to Llandegla for what turned out to be an inspired decision and one of my best rides ever.
I only did one circuit of the red/black but I didn't stop once. Just kept pedalling and popping the reverb up and down as necessary. The ground was dry, just some patches of ice, so found good grip and the frost that the area had overnight stayed around a while making the place quite atmospheric. So it was cool, visibilty was great and I was all wrapped up with plenty of layers and my leggings on. I put my iPod on for the first time as well, just popped one earbud so I could listen out for others and just rode.......on my own.
I came home, picked my kids up from school, we've had some pizza and I'm going to have a glass or two of malt tonight.
Today's been a good day.
Edited by anniesdad on Thursday 20th January 18:15
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