Day 17 of my 30 day challenge and I’m still going strong!

I have to admit, though, I preferred Day 16 to Day 17.

Day 16 consisted of the sort of sunny weather that made me sing quietly to myself as I pedaled into work. Day 17, on the other hand, brought grey skies, strong winds and a slightly hesitant little me!

But the brilliant thing about this challenge is that it makes me get on my bike even when I have a little wobble in the morning. And as soon as I’m on that bike and spinning my legs, I remember just how good cycling makes me feel. There’s something so freeing about being on a bike, instead of in a car, and I love how my mind wanders as I make my way down the cycle path. On the way home today I started thinking about all that I love about cycling. Here’s what I came up with:

1. It makes me feel good. I get to work feeling like I’ve already done something good in my day, instead of feeling riled by traffic.

2. It fills my lungs with fresh air, which is something I really don’t think any of us gets enough of normally.

3. It’s saving me a lot of money. I can’t believe the difference cycling those few miles each day is making to my bank balance (although I think we all know that I’ll be spending the spare cash on bikey bits!)

4. It helps me separate work and home time. It gives me that bit of me time between leaving the office and getting home, which helps we detach myself from work life and brings more balance into my day.

5. It fills me with energy, so I want to do more with every day.

6.  It’s making me love my body. I mean that in terms of the respect I now have for my body. It’s an amazing thing, which can get me from A to B and can take me up hills, and get me down black runs, and it can cope when I fall off. In return, all I have to do is give it a little bit of TLC – some good food and some complimentary exercise (hello pilates!).

7. It helps me to challenge myself, whether that’s facing a windy commute, doing battle with a wibbly wobbly road bike, or scaring myself on drop-offs on my mountain bike. It all feels so good!

So, so far so good! 30 days of biking is a brilliant thing and if you’re not doing it this year, you should definitely give it a go next time around.