Yesterday evening I gave a talk, along with Andrew, for SciTech North here in Fort St John. It was for one of their Professional Development Events; the turn out was small, but the conversation was good. Before we were at the SciTech event though, we went for another bike ride.

We went around the new hospital again, but this time we did it in reverse from the previous night. As you can see I went 0.40Kms further this time and I also was about 5 minutes faster. I didn’t expect to see this kind of result in the time, but it certainly felt quicker. I’m attributing the quicker time to the fewer times we stopped.

It wasn’t all easy though this time. As we did it in the other direction this time there was a bigger and longer incline and this was tough for me. I admit I could not bike the whole way up, but I didn’t stop. At the point where I knew I couldn’t bike any further, I jumped off my bike and started power walking myself up the hill. I could still feel the burning in my legs, but just kept pushing myself to move. This time around I also tried to focus more on the breathing, making sure it stayed under control. If I could just figure out how to breathe properly I would be less likely to stop so often.

I’m taking a break this Friday night though, going to relax this evening and then go for a ride on Saturday.

Tonight was the second night that I went for a bike ride with Andrew. This time established a good route. The route basically goes around the new hospital here in Fort St John.

Now Andrew makes fun of the fact that it took us 40 minutes to go about 8km, but I am proud of myself. Last summer I use to ride 7kms to work and back everyday and it normally took about 25 minutes. So for only the second ride of the season I don’t think that is to bad, plus this route has more hills and inclines.

Thanks to a neat little iPhone app we just got called Cyclemeter, I can now track all the rides. It times the ride and uses the GPS to track the speed and where I go.

I really like the route we took this evening. I have decided to, instead of going further each time, to try and improve my time on this route. I am hoping that this will strengthen my legs, which then take me further.

Well maybe my bike isn’t out of shape, but I still am. I did go for a quick ride around the block the other week on my softail, but nothing like tonight.

Tonight was my first time riding my new (to me) hardtail I got from a friend a couple month ago. It has been many of years since I had a hardtail bike and I must say at first I wasn’t quite use to it. I so use to the feeling of floating on a cloud and not feeling all the bumps on the road.

This evening Andrew and myself drove the bikes down to Fish Creek here in Fort St John and set off west on the trail. The path was straight forward and flat and yet I still was out of breath 10 minutes in. I have a hard time gaging how far I go on a bike, but I believe we went 2 or 3 kms one way, at which point I was extremely out of breath. Props to Andrew though who seems to be in much better shape than I and even conquered the Fish Creek Hill while I slowed my heart rate.

It was really apparent that I am really out of shape. Judging by the ability to breath this evening and my general appears I think it is now a known fact, but I want to change this. Every year when I start riding again this happens, but I need to be careful this time to slowly work my way into going faster and further. To start I am going to be riding once a week. Although it doesn’t seem like much, I was to get comfortable with it again and then work into a daily routine.

I really enjoyed myself this evening. It was good to get my blood going, even when I got really light headed and it was also good to go with someone, especially if we keep each other accountable.

So this is the start of my journey. A really journey to work my way into a proper routine of better living. I hope you keep my accountable. Click this TWEET link to ask me if I have gone for a bike ride yet this week or just leave a comment below and I’ll get a email notification.