Riding along on my pushbike, honey

Who knew I would end up having a love-hate relationship with cycling?

Before the foot injury, I posted in passing about how I had signed up to Brisbane's public bike hire scheme, CityCycle. Fortunately, I'm now at a point in my recovery where I once again commute to or from work by bike. At first, I'm recommended to only do a couple of bike commutes a week and slowly build up to my plan of 6-8 commutes per week. It's a short trip by bike - less than 20 minutes, but for the most part I enjoy it.

What I love is the feeling that I ma actually exercising. My heart rate increases, I get sweaty and I'm tired at the end of the trip. I push myself as much as I can. Admittedly some days I'm faster than others, but I always feel like that short trip has done me good. At my current weight, a 17 minute trip that I did tonight burned around 180 calories.

While on the bike, I'm stress free now. I don't worry about falling off like I did to begin with, the only thing I concentrate on now is going as fast as I can.

There is one thing I hate about bike riding. It's my giant jelly belly. Apart from jiggling all over the place uncomfortably, there is also the repeated smacking sensation I get as my belly and thigh connect. It's gross. But it is also a reminder that I need to lose weight. It's helping to get me focussed. There will be a day in the future when I realise that the slap no longer occurs. It motivates me.

Start small, dream big.