A F Baker

I looked out my front door this morning and saw a large group of cyclists getting ready for a ride through my town. Each person who met across the street this morning was wearing a jersey, they each had really expensive road bike, and almost every person generally looked good (not that I noticed) in lycra. So I started thinking about my own attempts at becoming a cyclist. I don't quite feel comfortable wearing a jersey, I have a hybrid bike that I ride about 60 miles a week, and although I have very strong legs and not a lumpy butt, I wouldn't dare wear lycra.

I've only been riding daily for about 5 months, and my daily commute to work is less than 10 miles. I've lost about 25 pounds, dropped my resting heart rate by about 20 beats per minute, and I feel much better since I've been riding every day.

So why should I be discouraged that I don't look that those cyclists who met in front of my house this morning? Why should I care that I probably wouldn't be able to keep up with those guys who ride 150km every weekend (due mostly to the type of bicycle that I have)? Maybe someday in the future I'll want to ride ride with the road warriors (I'm sure that's not what they call themselves), and if I continue to ride everyday I'm sure I'll start to look more like them than I do right now.

I can justify my low mileage every week by saying that I'm only doing it beacuse I enjoy it and I'm getting healthy, but for some reason I still feel discouraged.