I popped into see my mate at his house last week and found him in his front room, out of breath, sweating and hardly able to talk. His Neo Tacx turbo trainer had arrived and he was doing a session ‘in France’. It made me realise that he is serious about getting ready for the two events we have booked this year, so I’d better sharpen up a bit!
With that in mind, I agreed to join him with our normal Saturday group ride, although the weather was looking a bit cold, wet and windy. I turned up at his house at 07:40 to get the bike off the car and get ready to go and meet the group, but when we arrived at the meeting point, no one else had showed up.
We were slightly disappointed but decided to do our own thing and set off. I must admit, after 15 minutes I was soaked and cold thinking “Why, why, why!” and would have liked to stop in a cafe for a coffee instead of cycling into the wind and rain. The weather did clear up a bit and we cycled for a couple of hours but once you are wet, you are wet!
While we were cycling I noticed was that there were quite a few people out cycling, walking and running. The rain didn’t stop them from getting out and doing their exercise, they didn’t make excuses. Don’t get me wrong, I’d prefer perfect weather every time, but as I live in England, it’s unlikely to happen that often. I’d probably not cycle much if I was waiting for the perfect day.
We see people do amazing things, on a daily basis, and the attitude required to get out on a cold, rainy day is something that most of us are challenged by. It is just a choice though!
It’s never too late to be the person you want to be…I don’t know who said that but it does make sense, in context. If you want to be healthier, do healthy things. If I want to be a better cyclist then I need to cycle more and remove the excuses.
The most common excuse for not doing things we know we should do:
- I don’t have time
- It’s raining / too hot / too cold
- I don’t have the talent
- I don’t have the motivation
- It’s not important
There are many more excuses, I know, but most excuses are attitudinal and not linked to ability!
What gets in the way of you doing what you know you should do?
If it’s raining, buy a better jacket!