Element One - Cardio exercise

The first thing I thought of when starting on the path towards achieving my goal was to get back on the bike and start exercising again.

For me the best way to make sure I bike enough and therefore get enough exercise to make a difference was to start commuting to work on a regular basis.

Bicycle commuting doesn't take much longer then driving a car and it's stress relieving as well.

By bike commuting I gained 10 cardio sessions a week in little more then the time that it would take me to drive in.

Variety is important so I planned out three different ways to ride in to work.

Different commuting routes

Route One is a very quick and very direct route that takes me on roads right into work. It's about 4.5 km and when I need to be at work right away I can actually get there either the same amount of time as a car or faster depending on the time of day.

Route Two is an extended road and multi-use path route. This one is approximately 10 km long and takes about 21 minutes at this point in my fitness plan. Originally it took about 30 minutes.

Route Three is 95 percent offroad on nice singletrack trails that wind through woods, up and down small hills and alongside a river. This is 11 km in length but it generally takes about 35 - 40 minutes to ride.

The nice thing about three different routes is that it gives me options to avoid concerns about being late, I have variety so that I don't get too bored and when I take the longer route I have a ride that gives me an opportunity to exercise for a longer period of time.

The nice thing about all of this is that even when I take the longest route twice I only end up spending 40 minutes more a day then I would if I drove the car in to work and did no exercise at all. This is less time then an exercise class.

As time passed I added a longer ride about twice a week. This was usually an extension of my normal commutting ride home except I would just keep riding for another 60 to 90 minutes.

Like I've mentioned, variety is important so I also take step and aerobic classes at the gym with my girlfriend.

Have fun!

The most important thing is to make sure that you are having fun!

If you are pushing too hard and too fast you may feel like you are torturing yourself. Sometimes you just need to have a long but slow "take time to smell the flowers" ride.

As time passes you can add variety a bunch of ways.

Switch between road riding on one session and offroad riding on another.
Do intervals with a heart monitor. Make yourself go at one intensity for a set period of time before changing to another intensity.
Pick a distance or a time limit and go and ride until your done.
Ride to a fruit stand, a small town or to an attraction that you've wanted to check out.
Do some walking, jogging, running, swimming or anything else that will give you some exercise.

Remember you need this to be fun so that you will develop a hunger for it. Over time you will likely feel grouchy if you don't get your fitness "fix".

Bike touring content

By improving your cardio exercise level it gets significantly easier to ride your bike! You are stronger and have a lot more energy. This in turn means that you CAN do that extra side path you've always wanted to explore or you CAN go further then ever before on a bike in a day.

Basically improving your cardio level empowers you to be able to do things that you didn't think were possible before.

On to Element Two......

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