Goal: A Thousand Miles By Spring


Finally broke down and bought an indoor bike so I can ride through the winter. Decided on a goal of 1,000 miles by the first day of Spring.

O.k., I finally broke down and bought an indoor stationary bike. Nothing fancy. Not a lot of bells and whistles. Just something to get myself through the next three months or so of snow and icy pavements.

It's not as exhilarating as riding outdoors, of course. And dreadfully boring. (Wouldn't it be great to have virtual reality goggles you could wear that would simulate the experience of riding outdoors!)

But there are some advantages. For one, because it's so boring, I do it only 15-20 minutes at a time. That means I don't have to find a big chunk of time all at once. Also, I don't spend a lot of time tracking down my gear (ok, that's an ADD thing -- I know if I would just put it all in one place, that would not be a problem, but...). I can just hop on my bike, whatever I am wearing, whenever.

Another advantage is that I can use small hand weights to add an upper body dimension to the workout, burning more calories and also tightening the muscles. You use aerobics type moves with them. With small weights you can keep up the same rhythm as the speed of the ride.

And I am finding that doing 15-20 minutes at a time is really helpful for my chronic pain and fatigue. If I start to feel tired and/or achy, I get on the bike, and within a few minutes I'm feeling better.

My goal is to do 1,000 miles in 100 days -- around March 21, the first day of spring. That's an average of 10 miles a day between now and then. I'll have to work ahead of that average because there will be a couple of weeks I'll have to be off my feet due to the foot surgery I'm likely to be having come mid-January.

I knew that a gym membership (even if I could afford it) just wasn't going to work for me. The big thing about the bike (outdoor or in) is that I don't have to plan and I don't have to spend any time traveling, finding parking, etc. That's especially important in the winter, when just getting my car going (after removing the snow and ice) can be a major chore. And with the gym you have to set aside a big chunk of time -- an hour at least, not counting travel time.

And anyway, the bike is cheaper in the long run.

We'll see how well this works. I'm pretty jazzed about it now.

Posted: Mon - December 12, 2005 at 10:54 AM          

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