Burning hands

My pride and joy: My new 2012 Merida Crossway 20 MD

It's the aftermath of my first 11km ride.

Not as bad as I thought it would be. Muscles aren't feeling significantly weak.

Just two things today I think. One - getting on the bike again was hell on my crotch. We men weren't designed to have something as small as a sliver of a bike saddle jammed up our crotches. It just isn't cricket.
To help with that - invest in some padded cycling shorts.

Done that. Delivery 2-3 weeks time. From China. That's all good.

Now the one that isn't so hunky dory - Two - my carpal tunnel has started screaming at me to stop the torture I have been meting out since yesterday. It has started burning again, and people who suffer from CTS would know what I'm talking about. People who don't - imagine if you will a numb sensation, like when you wake up after sleeping on your hand; and add a pinch of being stung by a fire ant. That's probably where I am today. It hasn't hurt like this for quite some time. My carpal tunnel will probably be the undoing of my biking, but that still remains to be seen.

But I still want to push on. I am committed. No one buys a bike worth NZD800 just for the heck of it.

And speaking of which, I now understand the difference between a bike worth NZD850, and a bike worth NZD100 (which is what my old bike was worth). It rides like a dream. Every movement is like poetry in motion, as long as my muscles aren't protesting too much and my lungs aren't gasping for breath. And I can't get over how comfortable it is, at least when I don't feel the saddle crushing my sore buttocks. And it doesn't crush my wrists as badly as my mountain bike did! Woo hooooo!!

I am averaging a few kms a day at the moment, and I know that is not nearly enough for serious cycling. But it's probably the best thing to do at this stage of my journey. However, I can't deny that I can hear the trails of McLeans Island calling me... whispering... come... come...

Man... I gotta get out more.

Actually, I gotta get more writing done. This PhD isn't going to write itself.

The PhD Fat Cyclist

My name is Abdullah and I am a PhD candidate at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Oh, did I mention that I am fat?

Muscular body of an athletic youth gone down the drain. That pretty much sums up how I look like.

That's me in the picture up there with my two boys, Adel and Adam, taken slightly more than a year ago.. And as you can see, I am a bit of a train wreck. But looks aren't really what I care about at this stage. I know it sounds cliche, but I want to be healthy enough to play with my children (I have another one on the way, and it's a he too!). I want to have enough energy to at least keep up with them full speed, at least for a full hour of all out playing. I want to be able to run without feeling like I was hit by a double decker bus. I want to live to see my boys grow up, and have children of their own. I want to enjoy my children, and my grandchildren, as my father is enjoying his golden years as a doting grandfather.

To do this I need to lose weight.

A lot of it.

I've tried diet fads before. Some have actually worked for a few years, but the weight always manages to find its way back. Doing a PhD doesn't help much either, sitting for hours on end, reading, writing, researching. All that sitting. Day in and day out. Something somewhere has to give.

And so, I decided - this is where it ends.Today I bought a new bicycle. I invested in a good one, which I hope will be worth the years I will add on to my life. And to strike while the iron is hot, upon getting the bike, I started on a bike ride that I had not tried in years - to go further than just going round a few blocks. I got on the bike and I rode. I rode and I saw the sun setting, shining its last golden rays into a magenta sky. I rode and I saw the world slow down, and not just whizz by like when I am driving my car. I rode and felt the fresh summer breeze on my face, heart pounding, feeling alive.

But it wasn't all a bed of roses. My muscles were not used to the punishment I was meting out. My lungs were not used to having to pump so much oxygen in and out of my body. I was out of shape, and my whole body was screaming this fact out at me. But I held firm.

Oh, and did I mention that I have carpal tunnel syndrome as well? Basically I can't apply too much pressure on my wrists, otherwise they get numb really quickly, and many times I would feel a burning sensation tingling through the hand and fingers. I am now wondering how much riding my wrists would allow before then pack it in.

But I am committed.

So this is me trying to undo some of the damage caused by my weight by shedding the pounds - and trying to write up my PhD at the same time. This blog will document the trials and tribulations, and I hope the successes that I will face in my journey, whether I manage to do what I set out to do, or fail in the attempt. I invite any reader who comes this way to leave a comment or two, or perhaps even share their own journeys with me. It would be an honour and a pleasure to have you as a reader and a contributor.