Well I thought it would probably be best by starting off this blog with a little information about me.
My name is Andy and I'm 37 years old (38 is approaching though) and I live on the Lanacashire Cumbria border.
I used to do a far bit of cycling (mainly mountain biking) until 1998 when I had an accident practicing for a downhill race and damaged the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee.
11 years later and after a suffering from depression, stress and high blood pressure my weight had ballooned to 23 stone. After moving from the Wirral to my current house my head was finally in the right place to get my life and health back on track.
The first step was buying a wii fit and then the shock of finding out that actually I wasn't 17/18 stone but 23 stone - I have to be honest I was pretty upset with myself but at the same time I realised that the only person responsible for the state I was in was me and no one else.
My wife also decided to lose some weight as she had put a few pounds on over 10 years so along with the wii fit she decided to take up running (why do you never see a smiling runner?).
After a month or two of using wii fit and seeing my weight come down I decided to get my wife's mountain bike out of the garage and go for a ride - my god that first half mile ride completely killed me.
Gradually I built up the mileage until I could ride 5 miles, then 10, then 15 then 20 - 20 miles was a point I was aiming for to go on a ride with cycling mad brother in law in Dorset. After two weeks in Dorset I had got up to riding a 32 mile ride.
After returning from Dorset in September 2009 I joined a gym and on my first session with my trainer I fainted from the effort and came round on the floor with everyone staring at me - it was so embarrassing.
In May 2010 I progressed from the wife's bike and bought myself a cyclocross bike figuring I was still too big for a road bike. My first couple of trips out on it were really painful afterwards as the muscles used were different to those on the mountain bike and also the cyclocross bike fitted me.
My main aim for 2010 was to get up to a 50 mile ride at a decent pace and I reached this target and started going out with a group of like minded cyclists once a week for a good ride.
My one mistake was not watching what I was eating and falling foul of the 'I've worked out and am hungry so will eat' mentality with the result being that I didn't lose much weight at all.
In September 2010 I put my name down to ride Lands End to John O'Groats with a group of people to raise money for Water Aid. This means I have a real goal to aim for and at the end of November I started watching my calorie intake and am now down to 17 stone 13 pounds.
This blog is the story of my attempt to get on the team for the Lands End to John O'Groats challenge which has been named "Blazing Saddles".
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