During university I became very much a part of the "uni lifestyle", blowing out to a massive 125kg. I felt unhealthy, lethargic and frustrated... I decided I needed to do something so I bought a Road Bike. It was a Giant CFR Cadex - Tour de France Edition. It came with Shimano 600 componentry (which I still love) and cost me $800. I was pretty happy with my full carbon bike :)
My First Ride:
I stood in my driveway kitted out with gear my dad gave me, and shoes that had previously belonged to my little brother. It was 3pm in the afternoon and I had finished uni for the day, I clipped one foot in and pushed off, remembering what Dad had told me, "just don’t let the bike stop, if you do that you'll come off". I managed to get clipped in and off I went.
I rode my bike to and around the local lake, totalling 10km. This ride I came across head and crosswinds, no fun at the best of times, but even less fun as a 125kg guy, built like a brick wall on his first ride.
I got home and I had averaged 18kmph, pretty dismal effort knowing that my little brother had just done a race the weekend before and averaged 38kmph. I knew I had a long haul to try get myself up to racing speed and fitness...
The first few months:
The first few months I got out on the bike as much as I could, I started by doing 2 x 10km rides per week, then I built that up to 3 x 10km rides per week, by the end of the first month I had built those 3 x 10km rides up to 3 x 16km rides with a longer ride included on the weekend, usually around 25km.
The longer ride was done with a few hills, I can tell you now I am not the strongest climber and never will be but at this stage I was around 120kg and attempting to climb small sharp hills. I started by giving myself the goal of getting to the top and once I had achieved this I was entitled to get off my bike and rest for a minute, take a drink and get going. This ride had 5 of these hills. Each time I rode this course I would find it had become a little bit easier. It taught me the importance of finding the right gear to climb and descend in, and showed me an instant progressing to the last time I trained on it. It was in climbing the hills that I started to really lose the weight...
Over the next few months I got down to 110kg and I felt like I was flying, I was now riding my usual rides and completing them in quicker times, finishing 25km rides in around about an hour (a big change from the 18kmph that I had started at for only 10kms. I decided it was time to start with my first group.
I found a group ride with my local club; I had picked a slower one that I was told averaged around 26kmph. I met with them and took off together, 6kms later they dropped me. I was told this was a group that would ride as slow as the slowest rider... I was pissed off and disappointed at the same time. I had thought I was going quite well. It now became obvious to me that I still had a long way to go...
I started training more often and in the mornings before I started uni. I would get up, stuff a muesli bar in my back pocket and get out on the road. I found this was a great way to lose weight as it kick-started my metabolism early. I used this regime to start my day for the next 6 months or so, eventually ending up much fitter as I progressed through to doing 300km weeks.
I'm now racing; I progressed quickly through D grade and spent a few months in C grade at my local club learning the craft of racing. I'm learning my strengths and weaknesses and learning to listen to my body. I'm racing both on the road and track at a B grade club level these days and loving every minute of it.
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