JustinVoelker.com

There I was, heading down US-10 on my normal half hour drive home with my arm across my stomach. “Well this was not always this squishy” I thought. “Maybe I’ll go home and get back on the bike since I haven’t done that in a while. Nah, it’s a little chilly so I’ll just do it tomorrow.”  It was at that very moment that I knew something had to change.  At that rate I would never make any progress on my squish removal and my dad’s voice kept ringing in the back of the head saying “You can find a way to say yes or a reason to say no.” Each day that I did not want to ride I found a reason to say no–an excuse to not go for my ride. Well, I was tired of it and something had to change.

Starting that night, April 8, 2010, I began biking with a new goal–300 miles of bike riding within 30 days. Yes, it is only 10 miles a day which may not seem very far to some but the idea is to continue for 30 days, no less than 10 miles each day without missing a single day. So, in actuality, I should end up with more than 300 miles after the 30 days.  In fact, after only 4 days of riding I am already on track to hit nearly 400 miles.

In my first few days of riding I have learned the following:

1. My iPod Touch has a “shake to shuffle” feature that does not like potholes.
2. Little kids are incapable of riding a bike in a straight line.
3. Little kids can take up all 10′ of a 10′ wide path.
4. Little kids don’t listen to parents when they are told to “get over to the side.”
5. Men need to walk with their wives.  She has he hands full with the stroller, 2 kids on bikes, and the dog.
6. The wind will change direction precisely when you are changing directions.
7. Little kids with sidewalk chalk are funny (drawing arrows to piles of dog feces and writing “poop”).

What is the point behind this post you ask?  Simple.  If you want something (in my case to be more fit) get off your butt and do something about it.  Nobody is going to look out for you except you and nobody cares as much about your success as you.  Also, stop making excuses for not doing something.  It is really easy to say “I’ll do it tomorrow” but you know that won’t happen so just get out there and do it.  No more excuses–make it happen.