Cycling

In November 2009, I decided it was finally time for me to embark on a life empowering fitness programme. Certainly, I would be starting from a very low base level. I determined that cycling should take up a significant part of the exercise regime and thus set about getting a bike.

I walked into the local cycling megastore on a Saturday afternoon and was simply overwhelmed by the vast choice of bikes available and the huge price range. Things had certainly changed since I was regularly riding as a teenager in the early 1970s. How was I supposed to work out which bike would be suitable for me?

I thought reading some cycling magazines might help, but they only confused me further. So that night I asked for advice from my brother Paul, who is a regular cyclist. He replied that he thought the most important thing to do was to seek out somewhere that would do a seriously proper bike fit. Not just measure me to select the right size bike, but to then measure me on the bike and adjust the bike to suit me.

I found two highly credentialed places offering this service not far from the office. One of them, Kathy Watt Cycling, focused on fitness training with cycling as one means, not just selling bikes and gear. I thought this should be a much better fit for me to achieve my goals.

So I paid them a visit Monday lunch time, hit it off with Carey Hall, got measured, selected and ordered a bike, plus signed up for a 3 month training programme. Later that night I supplied Carey with the answers to a wide range of questions he'd asked of me as the first input to determining a start for my fitness training.

Friday afternoon I was measured on the bike and adjustments were determined and tried. Some accessories, clothing and safety equipment were selected. My brother suggested some other things I'd need, so I ordered most of them online that weekend.

• Bike Gear - details of my cycling equipment

On the following Monday evening Carey briefed me on what he wanted me to do for the first few weeks — two 30 minute rides a week — which seemed too easy. I then headed home with my bike.

I had a first slow, unsure and very wobbly ride that night. I managed two laps of the area and just 15 minutes before I was totally stuffed.

The next night I managed to last 20 minutes and complete 3 laps. The fun had begun!