January is a time for resolutions, but making one is the simple part – the difficulty is actually fulfilling your goals.
For me it is often a psychological problem. I can easily come up with a hundred excuses to not go out and ride my bike: I’m too tired; I don’t have enough time; the weather’s too bad. Then I get caught in a downward spiral where I can see my goals becoming more and more unattainable and before I know it half of the year has passed me by and I’m looking to the following year to be THE year when I get my act together, get fitter and leaner.
January is a strange month. It’s hyped up with the prospect of a new you, but in fact seems to be the proverbial nail in the coffin for many who are seeking to motivate themselves towards a healthier lifestyle. Those excuses I mentioned above, including many others, seem to be intensified by the cold, dark winter days in January and it often seems easier to sit down and switch the TV on rather than head out on your bike.
There are many ways to motivate yourself towards getting out on your bike. I find preparing my kit and having it sitting there waiting for me when I get up, or get home, always helps and means I’m ready to roll whenever I want.
Keeping a diary and logging your miles is also a great way to track your good work and progress, whether that is on electronic sites like Strava, or in a good old-fashioned paper training diary.
Another more controversial form of self-motivation is retail therapy. I say controversial because one of the joys of cycling is the ability to get out and enjoy the sport with the minimum of kit making it very accessible.
But if buying a shiny new bit for your bike, or indeed a shiny new bike, or even just some new bit of cycle clothing is going to encourage you to get out on your bike then surely it is worth it. I have never paid for a gym membership, preferring to enjoy nature’s gym on my doorstep. So if sometimes buying some nice new kit renews my enthusiasm for participating in nature’s gym when it less than welcoming outside my door then I see no problem with that.
There is, however, a balance to be sought and I have been found teetering on the brink. On occasions my well-intentioned enthusiasm for buying new kit has become more enjoyable than actually using said kit. If you find yourself sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in hand flicking through the pages of a cycling magazine, looking at all the cool bikes and great places to ride as the mega-expensive waterproof jacket you bought last month still hangs in the wardrobe with the price tag, on then you know you it has tipped too far the wrong way.
Perhaps the only way to balance that equilibrium again is go and buy some more kit to gain extra motivation.
Join the Blazing Saddles Strava Club at: www.strava.com/clubs/BlazingSaddlesWeekendCourier
Where to Ride? Kintyre Ultra Cycle Race – Off road cycle event
What is it? Off-road cycle event
Distance: 73 miles
When? Saturday 6th May 2017
Enter at: www.entrycentral.com/KintyreWayUltra
Info
The Kintyre Ultra Cycle Race is a new amateur event for 2017 that runs coast to coast on the Kintyre Peninsula.
