r0dman.com

If there’s one thing that will get an office full of government employees out of their seats, it’s coffee.

Recently our social club organised a coffee machine so people in the building could buy cheaper coffee than the cafeteria supplied. While I applaud their reasoning for doing so (the cafeteria jacked up their prices), I can’t believe how much attention the thing has picked up.

I find myself forming strong opinions on things that aren’t really that important to me. For instance, since selling my car and riding to work more often I am in disbelief when I hear about people driving 8 minutes to work rather than riding or walking. I end up labelling them all sheep and just disregarding their opinions from then onwards. Ok so maybe it’s not that bad, but I guess you could say that it “fuels the fire”, the fire being my hatred for lazy car drivers. People that could be walking, riding, jogging, and catching public transport and usually have no good reason not to do so.

Coffee is fast becoming my newest and biggest gripe. I’ve always been in tune with my hydration. Right now as I’m typing this I know that I need more water, even though I’ve had a good 5 pints of water already today. It’s only recently that I have realised the affects that different foods and drinks have on my hydration, and how important it is for myself to be hydrated.

Up until about a month ago I used to have the occasional black coffee. I actually like the taste of it, but recently my “stand” is more important than my need to drink coffee. I’ve quit (until I go to Italy next year). There are a huge number of people in my office, and obviously worldwide that start their day with a coffee, have another coffee for morning tea, then have a coke with lunch, and later have another coffee for afternoon tea. If their body is lucky it will finally get some water with dinner! Living like this is terrible for your body, but it’s so accepted that I’m the freak for not having a coffee in the morning, and for going to the toilet every hour.

Anyway, this is my gripe and I’m sticking with it. Now do yourself a favor and drink a glass of water!

I raced in a mountain biking event last Saturday. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m not that into the competitive side of the racing, but just go out as I feel some sort of obligation to do so.

About half way through the second lap I was really in the zone. While riding at “race pace”, I was still able to take in my surroundings and enjoy what I was doing. Every part of the track was beautiful. Some areas quite wet with beautiful scrub-land around it, other areas almost like forest, and other areas more open and rocky.

As I raced, I thought to myself “there really is no better way to see the world than on a bike”. It doesn’t matter if it’s a road bike, mountain bike, touring bike, geared, single-speed, whatever. If it has two wheels and somehow resembles the original bicycle, I can appreciate it.

Live to ride, ride to live!

Do you ever just need something to get you motivated again after you’ve been in a bit of a rut for a while?

Admittedly I haven’t been in a rut lately, I’ve been much more awake and “with it” than normal really. However over the last week or so it’s been raining a fair bit, and it’s been hard to sneak in a quick ride to get my fix. I made the decision yesterday that after I spend this week getting organised, I’ll be back on my riding schedule regardless of the weather.

This morning I woke up and decided to ride to work anyway. Usually if I’m in a rush I will ride half way, and then jump on the train to get to work as quickly as I can. It’s still enjoyable but it’s all a bit hectic and you don’t get to take in the world around you as much. Today I rode the whole way and just took my time. Got a few “good mornings” from others and said “hi” to a few passers by. It was a nice ride in, and after an hour and 15 minutes of riding to work I was really happy.

Sometimes we plan a lot for the future – major plans. Some people are overweight and want to get completely buff. Others are just finishing school and want to be rich enough to have a mansion and a Ferrari. Clearly these sorts of plans are big tasks and are going to take some time and effort. But what about in the mean time? You might be happy once you’re buff but are you going to be happy in the mean time while you are trying to get there? Will your attitude in the mean time sabotage your long term goals?

The quick wins are the small things that can put a smile on our face.. Even if it is just for 5 minutes! They keep us happy and motivated, and ready to tackle something else.

My example for today is riding to work. I was having trouble getting motivated to ride to work up until now, but on the bike today I’m just so re-energized and ready to go!

Make sure in your life plan you include some quick wins. Who knows what they might be… It could be a goal to cook a new meal. Maybe a challenge to do an extra 5 push-ups. Anything!

Use your quick wins to stay positive and motivated, and keep you moving towards your long term goals.

After convincing four people in the office to start riding a bicycle to work, and with mum coming off of her bike a few days ago, it’s a hot topic in the workplace. I was talking to a co-worker this morning about driving to and from work and how much it stresses me out.

I enjoy driving. I consider myself to be a good driver. Safe, but able to handle myself at faster speeds and what not. With that said, I’m a lot more sensible now that I don’t have a fast car. When you don’t have the power there to use, you simply don’t need to drive fast anymore.

Put me in traffic though, and I end up frustrated, and often in disbelief at how terrible other road users are at driving. About two months ago, I sold my car and try to rely solely on my bike, and public transport. I used to work in the city a few years ago, and literally rode every day of the year. Since changing jobs, the distance has doubled and I ride far less than I’d like.

While I do have the soft option of driving (mum’s car, as she doesn’t drive it to work), I try to ride as often as I can.

Why do I ride to work? It’s relaxing. Sure, physically it can be demanding, but mentally it gives me time to think. To me, the ride is a wind down. Plenty of time to ponder my thoughts and figure out what I want from life. I can deal with things in my head so by the time that I get home I have some clarity. It gives me a lot more energy to use too.

Cycling is low-impact exercise (maybe less so when you ride like I do), and it’s great for your health and general well-being. It has been well proven that fitter employees are more productive while at work, and take less sick days during the year. It’s a win win for both the employer and the employee.

Now sure, it’s not as easy as just making the decision one day to go and ride to work. Incidentally I saw a girl riding home from the city yesterday that had obviously made that decision. Wearing a short skirt and knee high boots while riding a bike isn’t very convenient by the looks of it, but it was a sight to see. So it’s not as easy as just jumping on the bike and riding to work, but it’s not that hard to get started either.

A general list of things for riding to work include:

1. Finding a safe place to lock your bike, and getting a good quality lock.
2. Making sure you have comfortable clothes to ride in (very important during winter).
3. Finding a good route to ride (I try and stay off of main roads).
4. Having an emergency kit (multi-tool, pump, tyre levers, spare tube).

There are other things to consider, but usually they are easily fixed. Most workplaces have showers now, and if they don’t I have heard of people using baby wipes or just a sink and towel to wipe themselves down. A comfy backpack is good too, and setting your bike up to suit your situation (mud guards, panniers, lights, seat height, etc) help you to get comfortable, but this is something that will develop over time.

While fitness may be a challenge at first, it really doesn’t take long to “get up to speed” either. After riding to work the first time on a singlespeed I thought I’d made a bad decision. Two weeks later though I was riding it as easily as any other bike.

If you are sick of the rat race and want to slow your day down a little, give it a shot. Commuting by bicycle is a great way to mentally unwind, get some fitness, and save some money too. I love it, and I’ll be riding for as long as I can. Maybe even in Copenhagen next year!

So after being on a bit of a downer yesterday with my “don’t know what to believe in” mood, I got a massive dose of perspective last night.

Leaving work, I decided to ride the long way home to put a smile back on my face. The whole way home I was riding into a head wind which is fairly normal for the ride home. Usually I get about half way home and want to give up, but for some reason yesterday I just powered through the whole ride. While I was tired, I think I was enjoying the challenge for a change.

The problems of my day had been solved, or at least I’d been distracted by the awesome ride home.

My mum also rides to and from work, and we are currently living with her. After having tea with my fiancee, it was dark outside and it had just turned 7 o’clock, although not normal, mum still wasn’t home from work. I went out the front to look down the street to see if she was coming, and as soon as I opened the door she arrived. I threw a smart remark at her as I usually do – she works far too hard and always ends up riding home in the dark, without decent enough lighting (despite me giving her the appropriate lights last year). She didn’t respond like she usually does though. She was hurt.

Sure enough, she had clipped a gutter on the way home that she didn’t see and went over the handlebars, cutting her lip and chin. Obviously in shock, she didn’t realise it was a major injury and rode the rest of the way home.

After being hand balled by the medical system for a while she had the wound cleaned and it was obvious that the cut had gone right through to her jaw. For someone that had such a serious cut, she was coping really well. I was fine at first but after a while felt really tense, like I did when my fiancee was very sick earlier on in the year. My chest was tight and I just thought about the possibilities of what could happen here. My fiancee, some months later is fine, and I’m yet to find out what will happen with mum. Now that I have a clearer head it’s obvious that she will be fine, but she’ll be nursing a fairly serious cut for a while.

At around 10:30pm, I went home to pick up some clothes for her as she was staying the night. Half way home I came across a major car crash. By the looks of it, a car had ran a red light and t-boned another car at speed. Flashing lights everywhere, the bit that struck me as scary was the fact that a police officer was holding a small child. Not a good sign!

It was enough to make me think, “why do I worry?”. I’m not the sort of person that is just going to ignore untruths or corruption, but I can’t let this stuff stop me from living my life.

Last night put me in check. The game of life can be over well and truly before you know it, so we need to enjoy our lives while we can.