Winter motivation – I’ve entered the Cheshire Cat 2012

I’ve come to recognise a pattern in my behaviour of flitting from one hobby or interest to another. For weeks or even months, I can be consumed by something , only to drop it in favour of something else. When Alanis Morrissette sang “Do you long for the next distraction?”, she was singing to me. It does tend to be cyclical though. My musical output for instance, is very prone to this. I’ll occasionally go for weeks or even months without picking up the guitar. Same goes for a less productive ‘interest’, the xbox, but that’s a story for another day, probably to be entitled “Perfect peurile procrastination”.

Anyway, I digress. The flavour of the month, indeed year, has been road cycling, and having built up a solid foundation of fitness, I am now reluctant to let it slide away over the winter and succumb to Christmas over-eating with the inevitable weight gains that would bring. Because that’s exactly what happened last year.

Blame it on the weather, or more accurately perhaps, a genetic inheritance which sways us towards fattening up and hibernating, but last year I put over a stone back on, and resumed cycling in February feeling like I was starting from scratch with a large bag of lard taped around my middle. This year feels different though, as though I’ve not only developed my interest in a hobby, but made a significant and lasting lifestyle change.
We shall see.

So what better way to ensure that I keep going through the winter, than to enter an event in spring 2012? The Cheshire Cat provides just that, 100 miles of rolling Cheshire countryside including some noteworthy climbs such as Mow Cop, teasingly referred to as “the killer mile”. Bring it on.

The event comes in three flavours, with 100 miles being the chewiest. There’s also a 74 and 45 mile variation for those who still retain shreds of their sanity.

There’s plenty of time left to enter the event. Visit the official site here.

Are you riding in this event too? Drop me a line in the comments.
Always interested to join others for training rides etc.