Took a courage to cycling at the big road
It’s been 4 days since last Monday when I woke up early intending to cycle again, but ended up back to sleep again. There's always a phase when it feels so hard to even get up to do exercise. But on Thursday morning, when I felt the same way, I told myself: “tomorrow you will say I’ll do it tomorrow again, and the week will go by without you moving your body at all.”
So, I got out of bed, put on my shoes, and went cycling.
First, I passed through my favorite neighborhood area. I've written about it before, how this specific neighborhood makes me feel at peace every time I pass by. There's something calming about the atmosphere itself, but also because many of the houses in that area have some shady plants in front of them. So the greenery view somehow helps to clear my mind a little bit.
Also, there weren't as many people bustling around in the morning as in some neighborhoods I'm familiar with. But I didn’t take any pictures (I’ll include a short video below to show you the atmosphere)
Instead, I took a picture of the street where I usually buy plants-related items. I can’t tell how long the street is, but it’s full with plant shops throughout. I've never actually cycled on this street, usually I ride my motorcycle to get there. So, it was nice to see what the area was like in the morning.
From my photos above, the street might look quite empty, but actually it was pretty crowded. I think there’s a high school and elementary school nearby, which is why it was already busy at around 6.30 am.
And then, that long street led me to a fairly big road. It's like a main road where there are so many vehicles already out and about. My phone camera is not good, but I subconsciously took that previous photo where it somehow captures the brightest sun in front of me.
I'd also never tried cycling on this big road until last Thursday. This road actually will lead to the west area of my city where I've been wanting to cycle. I'd tried cycling in that area once a long time ago, but now I'm still apprehensive about doing it again because it’s where one of the biggest malls in my city is located–that gives you an idea of how busy it can be.
So, instead of going there, I chose to turn to a quieter residential area. There's like a spot where elderly usually jog, so the atmosphere is also nice in the morning. There are also lots of shady trees, as you can see from the picture I took. I don’t know how many kilometers I cycled, but I did take a break there while watching some Youtube videos haha
I just sat randomly on the side of the street. There were a lot of motorbikes passing by, but they didn’t bother me and I’m pretty sure I was in the right spot so people weren't bothered by me either.
That’s it for my cycling blog this time! Someone recommended Strava in the comment of my previous cycling blog. I’ve downloaded it but haven’t tried it yet haha, maybe next time.
But I just want to know, does using an app help you be more accountable or does it sometimes even make you anxious or something if you don't seem progressive at times? Please share your thoughts and experiences :)
Thanks for reading as always, have a great day! xx
anyway, here's the footage of my favorite neighborhood I mentioned earlier!
Nice ride and pretty pictures too! I think it was me telling you about Strava - I only use it to keep track of my total distance weekly / monthly / yearly. Strava tracks this without me having to do anything else than just start to record before I leave that's all, everything else, average speed and all that I ignore because you are right they can ruin your experience wanting to get faster every time and beat your previous times.
What I hear from cyclists in podcasts in my country is, many want to get home with a 30km/h or higher average but this gives stress and a feeling of 'I need to deliver' instead of just enjoying the time on the bike.
Keep it up and keep sharing those pictures please!