It's coming up on a 10 months since the doctor told me to shape up or things would not go well. I was really good for the first three months. Mostly because I think I was scared for my life. However around January I slipped some. We had a huge project at work, and I let the stress of that allow me to slip back in to some bad habits that had gotten me in trouble in the first place. Like handfuls of M&Ms to reduce stress. Don't get me wrong, a handful of M&Ms can reduce stress, but only for about 10 minutes and then another handful is required. A vicious cycle I admit. While I haven't slipped all the way back to drinking three 20oz Coke-Colas in an afternoon. I have been eating too much beef and not enough fish. Also did let other things go, like getting out and exercising. But I am back at it now.

However its a little difficult. The only real exercise I can stand to do is cycling. In fact I love cycling. I have a photo of a 10 speed cassette on my wall at work as art. And around July people are tired of me talking about the stages of The Tour De France (That is Tour of France for those non-french speakers out there). So for me the best way to get  exercise is to ride my bike. Again we run into a problem. I am asthmatic. One of my biggest triggers is cut grass. It takes my breath away faster that Max the wonder puppy can wolf down a hot dog. (For those of you that don't know, that equates to about .005  of a second). So for those that aren't asthmatic with cut grass as trigger, you'll be interested to know that at almost all times, someone is mowing a lawn with in a 7 mile radius of where you are standing. So ride a stationery bike, you say.  Yeah, I can't do that, the futility of all of that work and you're still in the living room just doesn't work for me. So I ride when it's dark. Usually earlier in the morning. Because if you can't see the lawn, you can't mow the lawn.

Now I've learned some interesting things from riding in the dark. First, more people eat breakfast than you think. This morning I passed a house where I could smell bacon, fried potatos and eggs. I almost stopped by for a bite. Secondly doughnuts smell disgusting after you've ridden 5 miles as hard as you can. Third anyone that has gotten up before the sun to exercise, is happy to see another person and will always wave hello. Somehow knowing you aren't suffering alone makes it more bareable. Forth, I really love riding to the east and watching the sun rise as I ride. The sunlight dancing through the leaves is quite breathtaking (but not in a cut grass kind of way). Fifth, there is such an amazing feeling you get when you've ridden to the top of a hill that intimidates you. Sixth, you get a great comfort riding along a road by yourself and there isn't another car on the rode to be seen for miles. Its amazing how tranquil an empty road can feel. Seventh, I actually love to ride when it is misting or drizzlying. After the first ten minutes, you actually warm up, and feel comfortable and feel like you can ride farther than you have before.

 So if you see a guy riding a silver bike, with a silver helmet pedalling to towards the foothills early in the morning, don't pull up behind him and honk, that scares the bejeepers out of me.
Happy Pedalling