Yikes. Did the inaugral ride of the season – a short ride into Sechelt and back – probably about a 12 or 14 km round trip. The cycling wasn’t the problem, it was the workout when I got to the gym. The fitness trainer, Mr. Phil Sera, seemed like a nice guy when we did the initial visit and assesment last week. Apparently that was all part of his clever ruse to lull me into thinking this wouldn’t be so hard.

“Listen”, he says, “you did 10 push-ups last week, let’s see what you can do today.” So, I throw myself into 15, only to find out that we’ll be doing four rounds of this – after – I do the crunches with the medicine ball, the plank poses and, well, you get the drill.

Still, I don’t think I’d feel quite this beat if it hadn’t been for my morning header over my bike. This did not happen while it was moving. That would make it altogether too simple. No, this was while the bike was lying on the gravel in our driveway. I hooked my right ankle on the pedal that was sticking up, stumbled forward and planted my knee with my full-body weight onto my bicycle pump…trashing it and my knee in the process. Brilliant start to the big fitness day.

But here’s the best bit out of all of this self-abuse. When I finished my ride home from the gym, I sat in our little greenhouse in the rocking chair, listened to the water fountain splash, watched the plants grow and just felt completely grounded in my body. It was a full body reminder of how good I feel after some serious exercise. It’s a great type of exhaustion.

So I guess Phil Sera IS a nice guy. Thanks Phil. Gotta go. It’s time to ice the knee again…