That's not me. Not yet at least. Source

Hey, friends!

I have recently got a bit more into cycling and trying to lose weight. Here I am trying to keep myself accountable by posting some, if not all of my workouts.

Backstory

COVID-19 has put a real toll on me, both mentally and physically. I can almost deal with the mental part, however the physical part has always been quite tough for me. I was overweight in primary school, but as I started playing volleyball, I lost a lot of it – I almost felt good about myself. Looking back, that was the best condition I had ever been in.

Two years of COVID took a real toll on me physically. I stopped playing volleyball in high school due to my other interests (spending more time with friends, two orchestras etc). I also still have a knee and right shoulder injury. The knee injury is fine, but whenever I wanted to start volleyball again (tried on my first year of uni, which was three years ago) I had severe shoulder pain. After visiting the doctor, they said that all I need to do is exercises and it'll get better. It didn't.

Next to volleyball, my one true love has always been cycling. I have never really considered it as a sport, but rather just a fun activity that just happens to include losing a few kilocalories. On my second year of university, I finally moved back to the city from the countryside, which meant that I was finally able to ride my bicycle to school (living in the countryside meant a 25km ride to the city in the morning, which was on the highway, and 25km back from the same road – needless to say, I would've constantly been drenched in sweat).

However, my bicycle got stolen. I know, it sucked for me too. At first I thought "what the heck, what happens, happens", but soon I started looking for a new bicycle. A few weeks ago, I found one that I love.

It's a fixie. But not really.

"Fixie" is short for fixed-gear, which means that the bicycle only has one gear, no brakes and the only way to stop the bicycle is by "skidding" (putting your back wheel in front of you… you probably know what I mean). The pedals also constantly keep circling when the back wheel is moving – so when you're going downhill… you better either pedal or keep your feet away from the pedals.

My bicycle only indeed has one gear, but mine also has front and back brakes and the pedals don't turn when the back wheel is moving. This means that I can rest my feet while driving.

The bicycle. I bought it used, but the last owner said it was almost brand new. It really does ride like a brand new bicycle.

Workout #1

I have rode this bicycle for about a hundred kilometers in the last two weeks. However, my latest workout was about 18 km as a whole. I only stopped once to cross the road (as it was quite a dangerous point), but otherwise I rode the whole way. I use an Apple Watch to track my workouts, here's the route it drew:

My goal is to ride all around the city!

Some data

Current weight: 120kg / 264lbs
Burned calories (according to Apple Watch): 624kcal
Average heart rate: 155BPM
Average speed: 19,3 km/h / 12 mph
Total time: 56 minutes and 11 seconds

See you next time!