o-dog

well, I'll come right out with it. I stopped riding for a while. a while meaning about five months. for a multitude of reasons, some of them work-related, all of them pretty bad reasons/excuses to be honest. what it came down to really was me not having the energy or motivation to ride anymore. the effects have been disastorous... in the five months that I stopped riding, I gained 30 pounds, my cholesterol and blood pressure skyrocketed, and now I feel like an old man in a 25 (soon to be 26) year old body.

I knew I needed to start riding again for a long time, but it seemed the further away I got from it the harder it was to get back into it. finally last Saturday, I said screw it, the weather is amazing today and today is as good a day as any to start. my first ride was about 8 miles to and from the bike shop (4 miles each way) to get my faithful steed, which has held up surprisingly well given five months of neglect, a tune-up. being out of shape as I was the ride was tough even though I tried to take it easy, but I instantly felt a lot better afterward. I tried other exercise routines in my five months of dormancy but none of them really worked like cycling did. I really wish I had never stopped. I didn't get the chance to commute today because of the manic weather over the last couple of days but I'm looking forward to my first commute in 5 months tomorrow.

it's good to be back.

ottawa_adam

Welcome back. At least you recognize the errors of your way and now you're going to make up for it again!