Perhaps you’ve already read this?
“The solution to obesity is not that everyone should run a marathon,” said Michael Earls, co-author of the study. “It’s the little things that begin to
make a dent in the problem, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator
or riding your bike to work.”
Yup, I’ve been riding to work…
Why do I talk about bicycling so much?
I find it fun and challenging. It meets my need to do something physical and be practical. I can attach a basket to the back and get some groceries a couple times a week. Or if I have some heavy duty shopping to do, I can attach a trailer and crate to get a full load of groceries. It gets me to work without having to wait in traffic, pay for gas (Premium @ $2.76), or pay $6 for parking. I’ll ride it to a friend’s house to return some DVDs. I’ve actually had a couple of periods where I didn’t drive my car at all for 2 full weeks or in one case, 3 weeks.
I started riding seriously in 2000/2001 while getting ready for the Montana AIDS Vaccine ride but partially because I was starting to worry about my health. The years of a sedate lifestyle of gaming, watching movies, drawing, working at a desk and driving everywhere was leading me to gaining weight and I started to get winded walking up a single flight of stairs.
At my heaviest, I was 175lbs.
I quickly dropped that weight while training for Montana and got down to 155lbs. After the 7-day, 575-mile torture ride through the plains of the “Big Sky” I was at 150lbs. Of course, I had relaxed my riding a bit, ate like a starved man and gained it back up to 160lbs in a couple of months.
I’ve since flucuated between 160-165lbs. There was one exception when I had dropped down to 150lbs in one month due to the antibiotics I was taking and the dental work that made it difficult to eat. Of course, I gained it back when I was healed-up, regained my appetite and could digest like a normal person again.
Right now, I’m 163lbs +/- 2lbs due to water gain and loss from working out. I actually feel thinner, my clothes are fitting a little better, and I see quite a bit of definition in my legs and back. I hope to get down to 150lbs but realise that I just won’t be able to get below that without some drastic measures that I’m not willing to take.
I LOVE Chocolate and Pizza. I have to eat something chocolate at least once a day. I have to eat pizza at least once a week. They are my guilty pleasures, my vices. I cannot give them up. Now watch as I smack my arm like a crack-addict.
I have to say that I’m in better shape now than I was at the end of last summer. By next summer, I will ride that 200-miles in one day. I will ride back-to-back 100-mile routes in 2 days. I will ride that 12-hour and 24-hour endurance mountain bike races as a SOLO rider.
Now, I just need to work on my upper body for rock climbing, again.
-TQ
Soon you’ll be one personal tragedy away from assuming your rightful place as a highly-conditioned and ruthless vigilante.