Thursday, August 27

8/27 weight loss thoughts: To bike or not to bike?

Why don't I want to bike?

Those of you who have been reading my weight loss posts know the bike issue appears pretty often, especially in the form of 'do I pay for a 75$ + parts tuneup or not?'

This morning I got up at six, did some work, and could have gone biking, but I did not want to. So I went back to bed.

One reason I'm wary about biking is that I don't like to ride in traffic. I'm not sure whether living in SC has anything to do with that or not. I doubt I'd want to ride in traffic in a more bike-friendly city, but maybe. We certainly have very few bike lanes.

We do have some new bike lanes about four miles away. I even drove over there one Saturday to start from a different place and try them out. But that route was a little more hilly than what I want right now.

So, anyway, the way I've been dealing with the traffic issue is to bike early and try to stick to four-lane roads as much as possible so there's plenty of room for cars to move around me.

And that was working pretty well for me. But now school is back in session and there is more traffic first thing in the morning. Plus, the sun is rising later, so there's less time to get in a ride before the traffic picks up. My easiest route (and therefore a staple for me) goes by 3 schools on the way out and 3 on the way back! (Though it is possible to route around one of them.)

Furthermore, it's going to be getting colder in the mornings, and I'm not going to want to bike before work.

I don't think biking has a good future for me, do you?

Are all of these reasons just excuses? I don't know. But I'm probably going to go with them and not fight them too hard.

Then I started thinking: about a hundred dollars for a tuneup for my road bike. That's probably about half-way to a decent stationary recumbent bike. And before that, my neighbor has one I can use that I need to try.

I could try to marshal my will-power and just go ahead and bike, but I don't think I'm going to do that. Lots of people say find exercises you enjoy, and I'm inclined to believe them. Believe it or not, I'm more inclined to mix in running with my walking than to make this biking thing work much longer. Crazy, I know...

3 comments:

Jim said...

Hey Sean...You probably know all this already; however, I'll share something from my biking days. I remember the tune up is worth it (check cables, clean chain ring, adjust chain, true wheels)...I did that once a year...the bike will just ride noticeably better. Second, it is worth it to get to places away from traffic. Cycling is dangerous, and that is one main reason...Is there a club that sponsors rides? I almost always coordinated my rides with the club. Last, investing $100 (maybe less used) for a stationary rider is worth it, if it's cold/rainy or whatever. I would put a movie in and ride the stationary while I watched. Press on!

Jim said...

I mean get a stationary to hook your road bike to, not a whole new bike...FYI...in case that didn't make sense.

Sean Meade said...

thanks,Jim!

one of my hangups i forgot to write about is not wanting to drive to get out of traffic, especially on a weekday.

there are clubs around here but i'm pretty sure i'm not in good enough shape to ride with them.

i figured out that you were talking about a stationary trainer (or whatever the proper terminology is). but thanks for the clarification effort!