We’ve just setup a cycling group in our local community. Initially it was called the Ida Valley Cycling group but we’ve injected a bit of fun into things and renamed it “Riders of Rohan” since scenes from Rohan in “The Lord of the Rings” were shot here. We’re also making use of www.mapmyride.com to help schedule and keep track of rides. If you’ve never checked out mapmyride then you should.

If you’ve got a young family then everything you do for yourself is a juggling act. However the worst thing you can do is not “juggle” so that you get time to move your body. Carol and I have organised it now that we ride independently.  For example at the end of the work day, one rides 6-7 pm and the other 7-8 pm.  one is feeding children, bathing and the other gets back and puts them to bed/reads stories before a long shower!  Yesterday Carol rode from our house over Crawford Hills Rd down to Galloway.  I went via Omakau in the car with the kids and baby to Galloway and we then swapped over and I rode home.  Carol had a climb from 400 to 600m and I had 200 to 600!  She had a head wind and did it in 1:15 and my time was very similar.  Today we are both feeling our bodies but poor old Carol also had in her training programme to do her full duathlon in training (4km run/10 km bike/2km run) and she did it in 57 min with flat legs and an accident with her camelback mouthpiece halfway and a solid drenching!

Well it has been over a year since the first post and our cycling adventures had been virtually non-existent as the reality of a new baby and busy working lives kicked in.  However, we now realise that this no excuse for not getting out and exercising. Saying that you are “too busy” or “too tired” is just an excuse for not being organised. So we’re making time for our cycling adventures and finding that it’s making a massive difference to life. I’ll write more about this in coming posts.