Bat Fit Update: Summer Cycling

The Curious Professor Z's Bat Fit 2016

When spring started this year I thought I was in the worst physical shape I have been in for years! I was steadily gaining weight and couldn't keep up with my regular cycling club rides this year. I was really worried I would never be able to keep up again. My cardio has never been good but this year it was atrocious. I am a very experienced mountain biker. I've been riding for at least 10 years but that doesn't mean a thing if you're sucking too much air and feel like you're going to pass out while trying to ride up a hill.

Since I couldn't keep up with the fast guys on the regular rides anymore I started posting my own slower rides just to get myself going again. Luckily some of the ladies from my bike club are joining me and we are working towards building up the cardio at a good pace.

We had a special advanced bike skills clinic as well this week working on some technical skills of riding on rocks.  A few of the instructors took on the challenge of teaching some of us girls how to ride down tricky rocky and rooty descents and how to lift our front tires in order to ride over larger log crossings. Most of us girls were experienced riders, so it was interesting to see how we can keep improving on the sport. Even if you think you are really good at something there is always the next level to learn when it comes to mountain biking. 

You see, in the mountain biking community there are two types of riders. Those that like to go as fast as they can on smooth trails and those that like to ride slowly and technical over rocks. The first type is what I like to call the "roadies" or racers. You know the type. They watch everything they eat, they know exactly how much their bike weighs, they use Strava to keep track of their times, and they usually belong to some type of race club. They are the A-Type personalities of the mountain biking world. The second type of mountain bikers are what I call the "good timers". They just like to have a good time on the trails. Whether it's slow or fast. They are easy to spot because they usually have a beer in their hand and a smile on their face after a long ride. They ride heavier all-mountain bikes instead of light weight bikes, they prefer flat pedals instead of being clipped into the pedals, they look for the challenges on the trail rather than riding by them, and they love beer! 

I definitely fit in better with the good timers. My bike skills are pretty good but I definitely need to work on improving them. I need to improve my cardio also so I can keep up to the guys again but I'm not interested in racing again any time soon. I did do some racing almost 10 years ago. But that seems like another lifetime now. I would rather spend my time these days teaching new riders rather than trying to improve my time on Strava. 

What I love about the sport is that I'm out in nature at least three times a week. I love to be in the woods. It's my home away from home. When you are mountain biking you have to focus solely on the trail in front of you. You have no time to think about everyday troubles or worries when you're riding because if you let your mind wander too much you end up crashing into a tree! You are entirely focused on what is coming up ahead of you. How to get over that rock, what line to pick, or looking further down the trail. You will end up in this meditative zone of cycling. It is definitely good for the soul as well as your body. 

This soul healing quality to mountain biking is hard to describe. It struck me the other day during the skills clinic just how much mountain biking perfectly mirrors life in a way that was completely unexpected for me. There we were, a group of experienced female riders learning new skills on a difficult trail. Basically what we were learning was that sometimes it's better to slow down and take on the challenges that come along in life instead of trying to race past everything difficult and take the easy route around the obstacle. Sometimes you have to face that challenge head on and conquer it even though you might crash. Now that's an important life lesson! Even if you do crash, just pick yourself up and dust off the dirt and try that obstacle again and again until it is no big deal anymore. If you never try to conquer your inner demons you will never know your full self on the other side of fear. The best things in life are on the other side of fear so don't let it hold you back any longer. I said to the instructor after the ride that I crashed more that day than I have any many years and he said that's because you tried to do more than you have been doing for many years. He's so right. I had become stale in a holding pattern of only taking the easy route. But not only the easy route on the trails but also in life. The challenge free route might be easy and drama free but it will never lead you to where you want to go in life. 

Hopefully this summer I can finally get my cardio back in shape but I know it's going to take a long time to get there and I'm going to have to face my demons instead of trying to run away from them! Go over those rocks and roots until they become easy and then search for a new challenge! 

Bat Fit 2015

I am joining Franny from The Curious Professor Z in a commitment to nourishment. Nourishment of the soul and the body in 2015. I feel like this year will be a really big year for change in my life. A change for the better. A change towards eating healthy, getting regular exercise, and attaining spiritual balance in my life.

2014 Recap:

2014 was a big year of change for me. I quit a job that was all wrong for me. I took a position at a big box store a few years ago thinking that it would be nice to have regular hours and a steady pay check. Unfortunately the job was all wrong for me. I was not challenged in any way there. It was just mentally exhausting to be that bored all of the time. My mind would wander about other things constantly. I am the type of person that needs to be busy all the time or I get bored easily. Most of my jobs previously were very creative and I love to be challenged every day to come up with new ideas or solving problems. The hours were another problem. The schedule required that I be at work for 6am. I am so not a morning person. I basically just went without proper sleep the whole time I worked there. Being sleep deprived is really bad for your health you know! I quit that job without even having a new one lined up. I just knew I needed a change. Lucky for me a previous co worker and good friend started a small home business sewing bridal dresses. I jumped in with both feet right away and we worked on several weddings together. She is an amazing seamstress and it certainly got my creative juices flowing again. I really feel that things like that fall into place for a reason. One door closed for me but several other doors opened. And I have been very happy to be sewing and creating new things again. Unfortunately I didn't make much money at sewing so I took on a part time job at my local fabric store as well. But this new job still leaves time to sew and I don't feel exhausted all the time. Yay!

Since I started the job at the big box store years ago I had not been exercising regularly. I used to mountain bike on a regular basis. In fact I taught other ladies how to mountain bike. I am the women's coordinator for my local bike club. I ride with some of the best mountain bikers in all of Ontario. But I have let my cardio get so bad that I can not keep up on group rides sometimes. Riding uphill takes some serious lung power! Another thing I have let slide is my diet. I have been a vegetarian for almost 20 years now. But I am a terrible vegetarian! I eat loads of junk food all the time. Chips and chocolate count as vegetarian right? No? Oh well...

Bat Fit Goals 2015:

-Get my cardio in shape this year. I want to be able to pedal up those steep bike trails this year without feeling like I want to collapse at the top! This means I need to go for lots of walks with Bella around the neighbourhood until the snow melts. There is an indoor bike park in the GTA. But it's not exactly close. We plan on going there with friends every two weeks at least. This will help get me into shape for the summer season. We also plan to do more down hill biking this year which is even more physically demanding than riding regular trails. 

-Nourish my body by eating healthy and satisfying meals. This means cooking more meals and passing by the chips, chocolate, and diet coke at lunch time. Become the vegetarian I'm supposed to be! Eat more salads and green stuff in general. 

-Continue sewing and being creative. I want to start an etsy shop selling some of my creations this year so I need to be more organized with my sewing time. I have a long, long wishlist of projects to make. 

-Nourish my soul by spending more time in nature and with friends and family.  I have taken a giant step towards being happy by ditching the wrong job and getting creative. However I still need to get more spirituality back in my life. I want to accomplish this with nature walks and being mindful of the people around me. I need to spend more quality time with friends and family. This means less Internet time and more face time!

-Get organized. The last few years I was so exhausted that I never fully decorated or organized my new house. I still need to hang all my artwork and organize my messy basement including my sewing space. No more excuses. It's time to get organized!