Reflections on my time away from cycling


Edomondo mileage report by month
Next month will be the one year anniversary of the most traumatic event of my life.  I was cruising the Internet relaxing today and was looking at my mileage for the last few months.  In March 2014 I was on target to break the miles that I rode in February 2014 when I was hit on March 17.  For the next 8 months I hardly rode my remaining mountain bike.  Starting on December 2, 2014 I started bike commuting my new bike.

One of the key successes that I can attribute to my quick recovery to getting my miles back up on my bike so quickly is that my wife +Sylvia Wormley has taken excellent care of me.  I decided to let her manage my diet and health during my recovery from the accident.  She is my crew chief when it comes to keeping me on a path to better health. During the 8 months off the bike I did not gain back the weight that I had lost the previous year.  I cut out all of my consumption of products with corn syrup.  I eat a lot of salads with protein.  I take vitamin and mineral supplements.  I am consulting with a functional doctor.  All of these factors have helped me to remain healthy so that when I am out on my bike I can fully concentrate on the bike.

My new motto for this year is "Ride Like You Mean It".  This is not to say I am not going to enjoy myself on my cycling adventures.  This is to say that I am going to be focused on my cycling adventures. Never again will I take it for granted that I will always be able to ride a bike.  Being off the bike was not a show stopper for my life, things when on and I made it through.  What cycling does do for my life is add the icing to the cake.  Cycling is the cherry on top of my life.  So every time I put on my cycling gear and get on my bike I am going to make sure that I have the best ride of my life.  I am going to ride and leave nothing to be said that I did not do on that ride.

In 2014 I wanted to ride 10,000 miles, I only rode 3,094 miles. Riding 10,000 miles is my goal for this year too, but I am also adding some extras to my cycling goals for 2015.  I want to ride 100 miles with 15,000 feet of elevation.  I also want to do a 200 mile ride and ride for 24 hours without sleeping.  When I set a goal of 10,000 miles in one year I have to add some fun into the miles so that I will enjoy accomplishing my goal.

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