So, it's been a mixed bag this week:
• I gave up my Tuesday evening class at Downham Leisure Centre for a variety of reasons but, mainly, their combination made the class feel like a chore. Spinning is a passion for me and I used my justification for leaving my desk job a few years ago: if you dread going into work several times in a row, then it's time to move on (if you can!).
• The next day I was asked to start a new Friday early morning class at Bannatyne's Grove Park. I had been covering the Wednesday 7am class for another instructor for nearly five months and I can only guess that the members must have lobbied for me to lead another early morning class. Thank you, riders, your appreciation and efforts are truly humbling!
• Then, today, the day I'm getting ready to go on a much-needed holiday, I find out that my 7.15am classes on Tuesday and Thursday at LA Fitness are going to be handed over to in-house gym staff. To pull this off, I think they will need to have an extra person on duty at that time of day, so it's a false economy - especially so when several members said that, without my two classes, they'd have no reason to stay at the gym, thus losing more money. I won't be there now until 12 & 14 June, which will be my last two classes...unless my riders are successful in their lobbying while I'm away!
Anyway, as Spock would say, it's illogical to fret about things over which I have no control; I just hope the riders at LA Fitness are as successful as those at Bannatyne's. People power can work, if that power is greater than the pressure from the suits at head office. Just as in any democracy, people are the key - if enough of them vote (with their feet or their voice) then change CAN happen!
Now to enjoy my last day before a well-earned break!
Thursday, May 24
Friday, April 27
Busy as a bee
Hey, long time no see, how are you?
It's been a long time since I updated my blog and not many posts in the last two years, mainly due to other events taking greater priority over my time.
So, what's been happening since then? A mixture of highs and lows: I asked Cassie to marry me, found out that her mother had cancer, brought the wedding forward by a year and organised it in a matter of a few months, a horrid time at Alpe d'Huez for a Marmotte for which I was unable to ride thanks to some meddling ex-friends, pulling out of last year's Jalabert sportive in Mazamet due to a very dodgy and unsafe course, complications with Cassie's mother's treatment that required emergency surgery, having to "get legal" with Cassie's HR manager to prevent them from unlawfully dismissing her, clearing out two rooms to turn one into our home gym and the other for letting out to lodgers for extra income, looking for potential full-time office work to make ends meet, picking up a heap of extra classes (see sidebar for details) that mean I won't need to set foot back in an office after all, and Cassie's shoulder operation a few months ago and subsequent ongoing recovery.
I think that's all... doesn't sound like much when it's written down but it's all stuff that sidetracked me from doing much of anything else, I'm no good at multitasking! Add to that a distinct lack of goals, so that my training fell by the wayside until recently along with my motivation.
So what's changed? Well, our marriage is solid as a rock and nicely bedded down, the extra classes and lodger have given me back my financial safety net, Cassie's HR person was cornered into backing down so that her job is also safe, her recovery is coming along leaps and bounds, and her mother is one operation away from completing her recovery. All this means that my head, for the first time in ages, is clear once again - crap has been sorted and filed, emails mostly answered, new rides mixed, events entered, a sense of purpose and harmony restored.
Much like cycling, you just have to keep going until it gets better; and then you keep going some more. Don't let life get you down - it can drain you, as it did me, but it can only beat you if you quit. As Johnny G used to say, "keep moving FORWARD!!"
It's been a long time since I updated my blog and not many posts in the last two years, mainly due to other events taking greater priority over my time.
So, what's been happening since then? A mixture of highs and lows: I asked Cassie to marry me, found out that her mother had cancer, brought the wedding forward by a year and organised it in a matter of a few months, a horrid time at Alpe d'Huez for a Marmotte for which I was unable to ride thanks to some meddling ex-friends, pulling out of last year's Jalabert sportive in Mazamet due to a very dodgy and unsafe course, complications with Cassie's mother's treatment that required emergency surgery, having to "get legal" with Cassie's HR manager to prevent them from unlawfully dismissing her, clearing out two rooms to turn one into our home gym and the other for letting out to lodgers for extra income, looking for potential full-time office work to make ends meet, picking up a heap of extra classes (see sidebar for details) that mean I won't need to set foot back in an office after all, and Cassie's shoulder operation a few months ago and subsequent ongoing recovery.
I think that's all... doesn't sound like much when it's written down but it's all stuff that sidetracked me from doing much of anything else, I'm no good at multitasking! Add to that a distinct lack of goals, so that my training fell by the wayside until recently along with my motivation.
So what's changed? Well, our marriage is solid as a rock and nicely bedded down, the extra classes and lodger have given me back my financial safety net, Cassie's HR person was cornered into backing down so that her job is also safe, her recovery is coming along leaps and bounds, and her mother is one operation away from completing her recovery. All this means that my head, for the first time in ages, is clear once again - crap has been sorted and filed, emails mostly answered, new rides mixed, events entered, a sense of purpose and harmony restored.
Much like cycling, you just have to keep going until it gets better; and then you keep going some more. Don't let life get you down - it can drain you, as it did me, but it can only beat you if you quit. As Johnny G used to say, "keep moving FORWARD!!"
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