Cycling is Amazing and Joyful

Here’s why — a heartfelt missive from my heart to yours

With the current news about people being left outside hospitals in the UK, and the risk for those who are in need of urgent medical attention, I thought this might be a good time to share what I have learnt about heart health with my followers and the readers of ‘Reciprocal’.

My father died of a myocardial infarction in 2017. A myocardial infarction is a fancy word for a heart attack. That is basically what it means. I am telling you this because I once overheard someone on a bus discussing this as though they were unaware that they had had a heart attack. Since that time, I decided to pay attention to my heart and to attempt to learn how to look after it.

Studies have shown that people who cycle have better immune systems than people who don’t. But, does this make us live longer, or keep us healthier than anyone else?

I wonder whether there is any truth in the idea that cycling is healthy, or better than not cycling. Over here, you either love cycling or hate those lycra-clad people.

During the pandemic, which is still raging and affecting the mental health of many of our neighbors abroad, I began an anatomy and physiology course and this helped me to take more care with my fitness journey, and informed me of the workings of my body in more depth and detail, which gave me a renewed respect for my muscles, heart, and blood.

Now, I once read a story from a monk who as he grew older, sat down and meditated, daily, and that story was all about cultivating the habits of the tortoise who plodded along sedately and didn’t rush anywhere. Anyone who likes that story, might rather like daily walking instead, something I have written about, and something I did a great deal of a few years ago when wanting to lose some excess weight I gained through some bad choices in my diet due to the challenges of life.

I do know a person of 90 who used to cycle but doesn’t anymore and seems full of energy and life. Some people say that our date of death is fixed and there is nothing we can do about this. I have read books about this and watched films where these people were told when they would die.

Whatever the truth of these tales, I have certainly enjoyed renewing my love of cycling these past five years and maybe you would too.

I thought some of you might enjoy looking at my blog which shows my ride up Formentor in the summer before the pandemic hit. It was such a steep climb without much of a break that I felt I had achieved something at the end of it. And afterward, I was inspired to try more challenges, like cycling for Cancer Research every year and attempting some cycling in Wales. And I have done this every year for five years now. (Please ignore any advertising on my site, as I am not affiliated and the way the site works is that I am supposed to pay to take the advertising down, which is expensive. You will see what the algorithm deems you personally want to see, so I have no control over that.)

Some more photographs of nature taken in Wales:

As some of you know, I took up cycling seriously aged 50 and at 56 I am still cycling around 3000 k a year. This year, I climbed my highest elevation of 26 000 meters. I would never have been able to achieve this without the five years of practice I have put in after losing my job and getting on the bike that had been languishing in the garage in the summer of 2017.

Did you know that the word Hypertrophy can be split up into several words with interesting meanings attached? I have broken the word down for you below.

Hypertrophy means excessive growth. ‘Regular cardiovascular exercise will increase the size, mass, and volume of the heart muscle, especially the left ventricle. This is called cardiac hypertrophy.’ [1] The opposite of this is atrophy, and we do not want this. We should exercise all our muscles to keep them going, including our minds.

Hyper means beyond exceeding

Trophia means nourishment (Greek)

Cardio — heart (Greek) Kardio/kardia

Keeping moving in the interests of your heart.

I heard, when studying anatomy and physiology during the pandemic and researching quite widely to increase my overall knowledge, that most people have heart attacks when resting, which I thought was interesting.

In the body, we have things called fast twitch fibres and slow twitch fibres. They are part of the structure of our muscles and get recruited to help us exercise, but only when we use them regularly.

Hold the horses!

I know that some of my readers enjoy finding new phrases they have not come across, and the above is one we used to say a great deal in the southeast, along with ‘hold the fort’. Not so much now. Now, I am not suggesting you go crazy and start cycling madly. If you checked out my blog on cycling, you will have noticed that I built up my fitness levels over months and years, and with a regular commitment to the sport. But anything can be achieved through commitment and practice.

I took these stunning photographs in Tintern, Wales, this year. I have been told by some of my readers how heartening it is to see these beautiful photographs of nature which I share on my blog from time to time. Contemplating nature is a meditative occupation that might reduce your stress levels, and we all know that stress can be a contributing factor to many illnesses.

Did you know that after several weeks of cardiovascular exercise, plasma volume and red blood cell mass increase? And, ‘with an increase in red blood cell mass comes an increase in hemoglobin levels, which will enhance the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity? [2] (Ibid., p,13)

Another reason to take up cycling is that it is very cheap. I have been using the same bike for around twenty years; six of those have averaged 3000 k. The bike has needed new tires, cables, and many inner tubes. My father did teach me how to repair my bike when I was ten or eleven, but I am lucky enough to have a partner who does this for me, except on the day when I bought myself a new bike to cycle to the local gardens I work on in my neighborhood and insisted I put the whole bike together myself. The result was that the front was on back to front. Sigh… a lesson in accepting help from those who have more experience, perhaps.

Although I have become a keen cyclist, and at one point managed 1050 k in a month, I have never bought a fancy lightweight bike, but I did find one at a recycling centre which makes me cycle at 20 k per hour on a good day. It’s an old French bike, and I take it on shorter 20-k runs on the local roads.

There is nothing like being able to jump on your bike and be in the open countryside in ten minutes. You can only do this on a bike. Light aircraft might be around the corner soon though, hopefully not in the form of an umbrella, an invention in my recent story, ‘Implode’ updated regularly on Medium. Whatever you do, please look after your heart and keep it healthy. My mum says her cat keeps her calm, but some people hate cats. Ah, well, you cannot please them all.

🚵🏻‍♀️

Hermione

References:

[1] Anatomy and Physiology Level 3 Workbook, p. 13 Lifetime Training, 2020

[2] Ibid

Originally published on the author’s fitness journey Wordpress site as ‘Hypertrophy’, here: