Cycling Saved My Life

Eleven month ago at the age of 48 I gave up cigarettes and decided to get fit. I had smoked for 35 years and given up several times before (my longest stretch was 6 months), but I always went back. A friend who quit many years before advised me that I needed to put something in the place of cigarettes and acting on that advise I took up cycling.

Optima City

I bought a city bike, an Optima City made by Falcon Cycles in the UK. It’s a heavy steel framed bike with a three speed Sturmey Archer hub gear. In the early days I took it out everyday for a run on a hilly five mile circuit. The run was paced, I pushed just until the point where I began to pant and then stayed just under that point. The first time round I done the circuit in exactly 33 minutes. But as the weeks went on the time dropped.

After six weeks I bought my Raleigh Oakland and my wife and daughter started to use the city bike for short local journeys. In the eleven months since I continued to cycle mainly on the Oakland, but I also bought a road bike and started to do a Sunday morning ride with a local cycling club.

Last Saturday I was giving the city bike a full service and was curious to know how fast I could complete the five mile circuit after 11 months of cycling and 11 months without cigarettes. Away I went and was back in 24 minutes and 40 seconds. Over 8 minutes faster than 11 months ago. This is a good measure of how 11 months of cycling and 11 months without cigarettes has improved my cardio vascular performance.

In 11 months cycling has transformed my life. I am no longer as dependent on the car as I once was. I am teaching myself to be bike mechanic. I have broken my addiction to cigarettes. Cycling has literally saved my life.

Optima City on Falcon Cycles Website