I started cycling at the local GoodLife Fitness gym last year. If you’ve ever done stationary cycling you know how grueling it can be. It’s a deep pain and extremely exhausting. That little bike can dish out quite a punch. It’s a fantastic workout if you can get through the whole class.
It’s been over a year now. I’ve been cycling once per week to get into better shape for hockey and it’s worked
When I first started cycling I used to hate climbing. Climbing is when you crank up your gear shift (resistance) on the bike. You crank it so you literally have to jump out of your seat to hammer down those pedals. If you don’t, you’ll come to a complete stop.
It takes every ounce of energy and effort to keep moving forward. It tests your limits, it tests your will and it tests your mind. Walking down a set of steps after this work out is not an option.
I almost fell off the bike once when climbing. It was my fourth week cycling and we were running a climbing circuit. The circuit went like this: Stand up and climb for 5 seconds, down and sit for 10 seconds, up for 5 and down for 10, and so on and so forth. As I was going up and down on one of those cycles I almost spun out of control. I lost my footing and I almost lost the bike too!
Yesterday I was climbing again. When the music started and we were about to start, I got excited!
– All I could see was this massive mountain in front of me.
As I was pedaling all I could think about was every challenge that has ever come my way. I was thinking about every obstacle that has ever been in my path. I was thinking about every time I’ve ever gotten knocked down and how I got back up.
That mountain was, and still is a metaphor for my life. Now, when I start a climb I think to myself,
“You’re mine! I’m gonna eat you up!”
And you know that’s what happens when I leave the gym. After that spin class I know I’m going to face challenges. And when I do, I feel better prepared for what lies ahead. I may get knocked down, but for some reason I know I’ll always be able to get back up. If I can do it at the gym, then I can do it anywhere else.
You see when you get knocked down in life, (and you will) it’s not what you do when you’re down, it’s how quickly you get back up. The last time I was at Goodlife I realized the same thing. I realize that there are only two options when you’re climbing – go back where you came from or love the climb.
To the top!
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