Why am I finding excuses not to ride? When I know I have a day off from work (it is not always the same day each week), I plan my day: go for a ride, clean the condo, do the washing, update the blog, tidy the garden, go shopping and sometimes do some work for my little administrative business. Increasingly I am finding that I am making excuses not to ride. It is too hot, it is too cold, it is too windy, I have work to do blah blah blah.

We have a tiny condo, it takes about an hour to clean. The garden takes me about half an hour. The same with other menial tasks I need to do around the condo, I have plenty of time to ride. Why am I not riding?

I love riding but I think for me I have to be going somewhere. The out and back training rides, head down and go rides are not for me any more. Especially cycling on my own which is more often the case as Ralf and I often are working at different times. Ralf has the week-ends off and I work most week-ends.

I have always loved riding my bike to work, my bike has always been a great mode of transportation for me. It is away to prepare myself for the day and unwind on my way home. However, if I am on the late shift – I do not ride. At closing all the staff wants to do is get out of there. They don’t want too have to wait for me to get changed and load the bike. I think that will have to change, as more of my shifts are on the late shifts. I will cycle home in my work gear so that I can ride to work more often.

Well I have to get my fat arse in gear soon as I am now planning the next part of the Grand Adventure.

My work at the Greenhouse will end the middle of December and Ralf’s contract at The Source, will end the first week in January and then we will be flying away to sunnier climes – Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, S. Korea and Japan. The planning is easier because we will not be taking camping gear, we will be staying in hostels and guest houses and of course warmshowers hosts again.

I need to get on the bike to train to do the distances again, although I have realistically set our distances at 60 kms a day. So much to see in these countries and the roads may not be as good as we experienced on the Grand Adventure Part One.

The weather is changing in Ontario, cooler mornings and more rain-showers. We will soon have to get our bikes set up on the trainers, so that I can stay motivated and train indoors to keep the muscles and body toned.