Cycling Challenge......get set, go

Brigitte Bardot via the blog Riding Pretty

We got more than a tease this weekend with some warmer temps, some sunshine, and with it comes my annual spring lecture. I am using you right now. I am going to suggest you try something, but I want you to know I am really talking to myself. So if I sound overly stern, just remember.............I am really lecturing myself.

This magazine ad was sitting on my reading chair yesterday. My husband ran across it while reading a travel magazine and thought I might like the image and I do think it is one of the best ads for a travel website that I have ever seen. I also think there was a subliminal message there as I had amused him the night before telling him how I understand the "zone" that athletes reach when they find a sport or activity that they just love. In other words...........get going. I saw his little smirk and I think it's time to get my "zone" back. Let's see who will be smirking now.

Photo by Rita Crane ~ Flickr

I once walked every day for one whole year, 60 minutes a day in rain and snow at a fast speed and I did not lose one inch or one pound. The summer I took to cycling I lost 16 lbs and about 6 inches in my hips and I never felt better in my life. I did not change my diet in any way. My legs were strong, my mind clear, and my hips the smallest that I remember. I had found my "zone". Though no one, and I mean this with all my heart, no one would even remotely consider me athletic in any way, I had surprised myself and everyone around me and I admit........that was the part I liked the best.

Anyone can cycle. On any bike. There is no excuse with cycling, even for the non-athletic ones. It is simply a no-brainer and it works. I simply think it is one of the best forms of exercise for a woman. This is my bike, it is the only inanimate thing I have ever kissed and said " hello friend" like I did yesterday. It was my surprise upgrade last summer, the one where I didn't quite clock as many outdoor miles as I had hoped. Not nearly as many as the 1,000 km I had the summer before, the season of slimmer hips and clear mind. Someone has to hold me accountable, it is that simple. Guess what? I am going to use you again......... but in the best possible way.

photo by Carter Smith via Dust Jacket Attic

On my sidebar will be a a photo of my bike. Beside it I am going to update my weekly cycling total in kilometers/miles, a cycling challege if you may. Yes, I am going to hold myself publicly accountable. March will be slow and erratic, the weather and winter weight may hold me back but by April I should be limbered up and close to feeling those endorphins again. Want to ride with me? Up for a challenge and some slimmer hips? Send me your first name and I will list your mileage along with mine. If I have to I will cycle alone, but it would be nice to have some virtual company. Absolutely no smirking allowed. Just enough to get you going again.

Top photo bia the blog Riding Pretty/2nd photo via website Bon Vivant/3rd photo via Rita Crane on Flickr/4th photo from Gary Fisher Bikes/5th photo by Carter Smith via blog ~ Dust Jacket Attic