Looking back it's been a good year for cycling.
190 miles more than last year (the table includes my short lived affair with running). It is just dampened a bit by the last couple of months due to injury.
Drive or Ride?
The figures clearer show which month we got our second car.
In January to March I had little choice but to cycle to work, but in April I had a choice and I'm ashamed to admit it I chose the car more often than I should have. It is mad that I cycled to work more in March that I did in the nicer summer months.
Highlights
The best ride has to be the BHF Goodwood Ride,
check the link for more details, where I got to ride with family and friends around Goodwood race track. They haven't released dates for the event this year, but we're keen to do it again.
The next best was the one around the Isle of Wight. It is my longest ride to date at 85 miles and it was a great day out.
I did manage to go out for a few rides with my brother, one was up in Dulwich Park on Banana Bikes.
This was considerably nicer than the cliff he tried to get me up.
It was a short road in north Devon, I don't know how the tarmac stuck to the hill it was that steep. I had to stop and walk, it wasn't just my legs screaming at me, even my ears were hurting.
And then the wheels came off
In November I decided to do some weight training to help with my power to weight ratio. I started doing the Stronglifts 5x5 program where you add a small amount of weight each workout.
It was all going well till my right knee went wrong, so I decided to rest up to give it a chance to get better. This obviously effected my monthly figures for November and December.
It is still a bit sore but nearly right, and I got bored and started cycling which hasn't made it worse.
My brother suggested trying some yoga, especially the pigeon pose.
This is what it is meant to look like
But this is probably more how I look at the moment.
It does seem to working, but it has highlighted how inflexible I am, especially on my right side.
The scales of justice
I weighed myself for the first time in two months on January 1st and I've gone up to 121kg, from 111kg at my lowest last year.
I wasn't that surprised as I've had a relaxed Christmas, but the build up wasn't helped by being injured.
Now I know I should have kept doing some sort of exercise, it was only my knee that was sore, but I was really enjoying doing the squats and dead-lifts so got a bit fed up and did nothing instead.
2015
I still think getting down to sub 100kg is still possible, it is less than half a kilo a week which is achievable.
I'm going to cycle into work as much as possible, just need to man up more often.
I plan to do a 50 mile bike ride at least once a month.
I will go to the gym at work Monday, Wednesday and Friday as long as I am in the office on those days.
Paleo or not Paleo, that is the question?
Whatever the answer, diet is the most important part of losing weight.
You can't out train a bad diet.
An average cyclist will burn about 600 calories an hour, that is the same as a 6" pizza, and who eats one that small?
If you're ensure the Paleo diet is going back to eating like a caveman, so meat and vegetables. Two people at work have lost a lot of weight but it just feels a bit too extreme for me. I have also suffered from gout so I am concerned about eating too much meat.
I do agree with the basics that we eat too much processed foods, so I'm going to try to cut out bread and pasta, which did make up a large part of my diet. However I am going to still eat rice and potatoes, which aren't on their lists, but much smaller portions. I will also try alternatives like quinoa as it a good source of protein and fewer carbs and calories than rice.
It is more of a change of mindset, I still eat how I did when I was playing rugby and carbs were in fashion.
This year I'm going for a balanced diet of natural foods and be more active.
As always thanks for your comments and support.
I hope that 2015 is all that you want it to be.
