2020 Fitness Adventures

[DJ]

Yes, hope that new water heater arrives tomorrow, Blzer. Middle of summer in AZ is about the only time I would go out of my way to have a cool shower.

In my exercise adventures, I went for a bike ride over the weekend and yeah, it was pretty awful. Definitely glad I went, but about halfway through the ride my legs just decided to get heavy and tired and it was a slog to make it back home. First time in a while that's happened to me.

[bhurst99]

So I kept sane this year by cycling and then pushed myself to the brink of insanity by cycling some more. I cycled a personal best 4,160 km in 2020 over 102 rides, according to Strava. My previous personal best was like 2,020 km last year so its quite an increase. All on a cheap $400 mountain bike that I purchased in 2019.

Quite frankly it wasn't all positive. My wife got upset with me a few times during the summer when I went out for day long rides. (The rides might not take all day but if I bike for six hours, yeah, I'm not doing anything after that). It can be a little selfish biking this much but there were times when I was really driven.

I worked full time through the year (mostly from home due to the pandemic) and I would go out after work or before work and weekends. When I wasn't biking, I was thinking about where to go next. It was a bit of an obsession. It was my lockdown/Covid escape. There were a lot of times during dicey weather where I just said f-it, I'm going for a ride. I chased Strava goals like 600 km a month like my life depended on it -- other things got cast aside.

The most frustrating thing is despite all my efforts I really didn't get any faster and I certainly didn't lose much weight. When I was cycling on the road, I got passed all the time by other cyclists. Of course, most of them had better rides than me but at the end of the day I'm not convinced a better bike would make me that much faster. I can't see myself hitting 30 km an hour over a long ride like others I see on Strava.

The positives were that my stamina definitely increased and I became a better climber. I discovered a lot of areas and back roads around my house that I didn't know existed. I really saw the beauty of the regions around my house that I never would have discovered from a car. I live on the edge of a city but I'm like a minute away from rural farm country. It makes for some interesting rides and I found a lot of cycling urban trails I didn't even know existed. I cycled farther than I ever though it was possible for me to cycle.

In the past I might take my bike in a car and drive down to Lake Ontario and cycle along the lakeshore. This year I simply biked down to Lake Ontario and cycled along the lakeshore. I would never have thought of doing that in the past. I cycled distances and uphill climbs I had no desire to do before this year.

It's the first time in 10 years I didn't go to Europe for a week or two of casual tourist cycling. I won't lie. I missed that. Small problem compared to people who got sick or lost their jobs.

I also don't know how I top this next year. Is there any place around me I haven't discovered? I'm not prepared to do 4,000 km next year on a mountain bike again. Not sure I have the motivation to do it again but I'm proud I was able to set a personal best during such a s*** show of a year. That was my personal fitness adventure in 2020.

[DJ]

Just get out and ride. I say this to people all the time and well, bhurst, you lived up to it. Wow! Impressive the distance you covered in 2020.

I've had a good December riding outdoors; really happy with my Mukluk and the cold-weather gear I purchased. We had a good amount of snow fall today, so will be getting out on the Mukluk tomorrow for my last ride of 2020.

[doubledeuceR6]

Damn nice work bhurst!

I second what DJ said "just get out and ride".

I need to follow that advice. I've found a ton of excuses not to ride this year especially after Hurricane Laura came through and wrecked my local trails. I absolutely despise riding on the road and while I can tolerate an occasional gravel ride I get bored with it fast. I just love being in the woods on the trail.

[daflyboys]

Anyone have or tried one of these X-bikes for in home use and compact storage? Just wonder if they're worth the money.

[Fiddy]

Week one in the books, 238 down to 232. Let's gooooooooo!!