Pedaling to Extremes

El Saler beach, Valencia

As I pedal my way out of a winter in which I gained a few kilos and into a summer where I’m trying to reach a level of fitness like never before, I’m using all of the weapons in my arsenal. I have recently dusted off my heart rate monitor which I haven’t used in a long time. I never really used it seriously in the past. I would simply wear it from time to time; it was more of a fashion accessory than a tool for training.  I have strung together a few weeks of spectacular training rides during which I’ve only missed three days of riding and on those off days I was still riding the Valenbisi bikes around town like I was being chased by the police. I’ve also been watching what I eat. Notice that I didn’t say “dieting” as I’m simply trying to eat less of whatever it is I feel like eating. To complete my fitness tower I have decided to do something drastic, even if it’s just temporary.

I am beginning Operation Zero Tolerance in which I will give up drinking beer (and by beer I mean alcohol). Gulp. There, I said it. As I said in the previous paragraph, I don’t know how long this beer-less state of being will endure but it has begun. It’s not like I have seen god but more like I would like to see myself looking better at the beach in a couple of weeks.

I don’t own a scale and don’t really believe much in them but I have definitely trimmed down quite a bit. A scale wouldn’t tell me much as I have also put on a bit of upper-body muscle mass with my routine of pull-ups and push-ups. I'm sure that this isn't news to anyone but as you get older you put on weight like a school bus picking up the kids but getting the little shits off the bus becomes more and more of a problem.

A fringe benefit of so much time spent cycling is that I have gone through more than a dozen audio books in the past month.