It's hard to get back into something once the habit is broken. They say it takes three weeks or so to form a new habit, but at this point I'm pretty sure "habit" is not the word for this. After all, if a so-called habit can be broken so easily, doesn't that disqualify it from being considered habitual? I'd think so.
Anywhomst, my point is I'd like to get back on my bike for the first time in two years. I didn't buy it all that long ago, somewhere during our collective Plague Times or perhaps a bit before, and I rode it a moderate amount. Not particularly well or powerfully, and I was scared to ride on any roads that had painted lines due to vehicle traffic, but at least I was out there doing something.
There was a time only a few years ago where I was almost in decent shape ⸺ for a lazing-about sort of person. I found myself losing my Casperly complexion if only in a Farmer's Tan sort of way. My heart rate adjusted itself downward as my heart got noticeably stronger; I even hit a resting BPM of under 60. Turns out the human body wants to move and be outside. Surprising, eh?
Once I bought a house, however, I stopped biking. It was fall and then it was winter, convenient excuses for "I'll do it later". While I did start riding again when it warmed up, the hook that had somehow forced me to ride 2-3 times a week wasn't there anymore. The "track" I'd laid out for myself, a specific path through several neighboring neighborhoods, was gone. I didn't stick with it and rides got increasingly sporadic in frequency.
By now my bike has become part of my living room's decoration. It's just there gathering dust and slowly losing air pressure day by day. I walk by it, and the cats play around it. I'll have to move it occasionally, at which point I'll notice the flat tires, so I pump 'em up and make a mental note to ride it soon. But that ride doesn't happen for one of many excuses.
I recently bought and installed a wider and more padded seat (without testing because Amazon, of course) to hopefully entice my bony ass to get back out there. It hasn't happened yet… 🙄