Day 1: 2018 re-igniting my passion for mountain bike racing

This is the start of a new blog series on my 2018 weight loss journey and return to cycling competition.

Me doing what I love. This was taken at a 3 hour endurance race at Garapine, near Gympie in August 2016. I placed 3rd in my category at this race. Photo credit: Kevin Coppalotti.

I used to compete in endurance cross country mountain bike races regularly between the years 2012 to 2014. That period was a good time for the sport around the Brisbane and South East Queensland region with good turnouts at every race event and all the usual larrikins that made competing slightly less painful.

The most common race formats were 3 hour or 4 hour circuit races where you tried to complete as many laps as possible within the allocated time. There were also a couple long distance races of 75km to 100km.

I was never in contention to win, or be at the pointy end of these races, but I could consistently place in the top 3rd of the field of competitors in my age group. I did have a goal to be top 5 finisher.... until I made the decision to return to University to study Physiotherapy. A decision that has been very mentally and spiritually challenging over the course of the study - a big part of me regrets returning to institutional education.

The main problem with the sport of mountain bike racing isn't the dedication required maintain your fitness levels so that you're at least prepared for 4 hours of torture, but it's expensive.

The sport is tough on both man and machine, and you can be guaranteed at least one mechanical failure in a season. Race bikes need to be maintained more meticulously, meaning more trips to the local bike shop for servicing. Good tyres are important for safety as well as speed - they are also expensive and need replacing more often compared to everyday commuting use.

So, being a student, without an income to support my passion and my lifestyle, I lost the motivation to ride and became a big... fat... slob!

No, not really.

But my fitness and exercise tolerance levels are nowhere near what they used to be 3 or 4 years ago.

At 168cm (about 5ft, 6in), I'm of short stature. My current weight being 74kg gives me a BMI of about 26kg/m², which puts me just in the "overweight" category. I know that BMI is not a reliable measure for individuals, but it's an indicator that I'll be keeping a track of.

Excess weight is a killer for cycling up hills. My goal is to reduce my weight to 65kg by winter so that I can starting competing again at the same levels as I used to.

How am I keeping track of my goals? I have a Tanita BC-1000 body composition scale which provides me detailed results of my body fat %, body fat mass, fat free mass, body water % and visceral fat rating. It's the body fat which I'll trying to lose.

I'll regularly post on results from the scale (and yes, I do take the results with a grain of salt) to show my progress. Here's a capture that I took this morning.

I need to back in the green zone with my BMI and body fat % levels.

I'll also be documenting my training activities from Strava to keep track of my fitness progression.