On my bike

I’ve been exercising. Yes, yes, I know. Also, I’ve cut right back on the mid-week drinking though I confess to a couple of glasses of red last night. This has been going on for just a little over three weeks now.

I’m not sure of how or when I made the decision to do this but I do know that I have been reflecting in recent months upon the sedentary nature of my daily life.

I get up in the morning, wash and dress, climb into the car and drive to work. I sit at my desk for the required length of time and then do the same in reverse excluding the un-washing. Then I put on something more comfortable and relax back into family life. We chat, make dinner, eat and do general family stuff until the little one goes to bed. I would call him the Little Englander but he is quite expansionist in nature and would, I feel, prefer a reborn British Empire to the current state of affairs. Then there is a little wine (sometimes more than a little), a bit of TV, a bit of computer time and maybe some gaming. Or whatever takes our fancy. Usually there is very little in the way of traditional exercise except once every two weeks when I spend 6 or 7 hours running around the woods, hiding in bushes, and crawling through the undergrowth.

So, one day, I got back from work and hopped on the bike and I have been doing this each weekday for three weeks. Only about 20 – 30 minutes an evening but that’s something, at least. Enough to make me feel a little more energetic and a little less wasted during the occasional high energy withdrawal from my low energy resources.

I know what you’re thinking. The government made him do it, he’s been listening to their propaganda. Turncoat. Sweet mother, he’s one of THEM!. I assure you that’s not the case. The recent government campaign for regular exercise had only one effect and that involved the shouting of expletives at an unfortunate radio only doing what it was designed to do. No, this has been a long time coming, in the same way that my waistline has.

So there it is. Like so many have advised me to do in the past I am finally on my bike. It won’t last; I know myself well enough to say that, but for now it is something that I do. Slowly.

Tom, over at The Trout Also Rises does cycling properly. 215 miles in June alone!