Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my doing the Montauk Century bike ride. This is a 150 mile ride from Manhattan to Montauk, at the far end of Long Island. When I did that ride last year, I was in tip-top shape; I'd had a really productive spring as far as bike training had gone, and was just generally really strong.
Sadly, somehow I spent the time between then and now getting out of shape, fat and lazy. And given the fact that it was the one-year anniversary, it was a great day to contemplate that fact.
One culprit is the weather - it was too yucky to get out and do a lot of biking. Then again, I could have gone to spinning classes in the gym, and run on the treadmill, or hunkered down, put on a lot of layers, and gone biking in the cold.
But the bigger culprit was the fact that I was burned out and depressed. Not fun, but now I'm depressed about the fact that I was depressed. Is that a Catch-22 or a vicious circle? I know it's a sad example of cause and effect.
The other effect that it's had is to cancel my summer vacation plans. I don't know if I mentioned or not, I was planning to go biking in the Alps of France this summer, be around the Tour de France, all that good stuff. But I know I'm not in shape for it, so I got my money back (except for the non-refundable deposit part). I'm sad about that, too, but relieved, because there's no way I could have been ready in time. Maybe next year.
But now I have to figure out something else for my summer vacation. I may go back to the family home in Ohio for a bit. A family friend is getting married, and I have been invited (though she was always my sister's friend more than mine, so I found it odd to be invited to her wedding, but it should be a nice wedding, so why not?)...
Posted by Jon at May 19, 2003 12:50 PM | TrackBackIf biking has ceased to be fun for you, you are in no way obligated to continue doing it. Get your exercise another way and bike when you want to and when you feel like it.
Posted by: Jere at May 19, 2003 02:12 PM