The beginning of rebuilding my commute discipline, of old, aiming for twice a day, 5 days a week. 80% e-assist so, 478kCal - 135kCal (200W/45mins Wh converted to kCal) = 343kCal burned by this human. Or an average continuous human output of ~530w over 45'. Why "Quick & Dirty Commute Simulation In The Wild"? Because, when I worked, I was a pretty disciplined cycle commuter, I had to be, I often started work before the trains and, when I lived in Hobart, The buses didn't start early enough for 8am starters, let alone 4am starters. The radio station I worked at charged for staff parking. (Which is fair enough, but I had a choice, so I chose riding because the bike parking was free and secure.) Cycle commuting kept my basal fitness at a point where, if there was a weekend away happening, I never needed to train for it. In Hobart, I often rode from the east over the Bowen Bridge fro a 20+km commute to the CBD, and my last year was from out past the Cadbury Factory and 13km each way. When I moved to Melbourne, My commute was 15km, then 12, then 15 when I felt confident enough to find my way through Elwood and get off the s**thole that is Brighton and St Kilda Roads. Even today, with the "protected" bike lane along a good distance, the noise and stink of exhaust, makes me prefer residential back streets and a few extra km rather than the most direct route. Melbourne is gifted with these alternative routes everywhere. So, back to "commuting" almost 7 days a week, to build strength and fitness to the highest level I can realistically maintain on 4 cardiac meds, a neuropathy med and insulin. I'm 65 later this year, and I accept it's getting harder to maintain fitness, let alone build it because I've had 5 years of struggle to get back to the promise of this level of fitness, let alone enough to plan for 60 riding days in Europe before I'm 68 - this latter not being set in stone. Age, health and medications are hard ducks to get in a row! Especially when on the literal opposite side of the world! Therein is the point of these "Tricycle Diaries." To document my proof-of-work for my GP, so that he can prescribe enough of everything to carry with me, so that he can be satisfied I have the fitness. I have potential routes racked up, marked as private, so you can't see them, so that I have a reason to do the ride, not just to tick boxes, but to prove to myself and the wife that I have a chance of not needing medical evac back home... or worse.... This is my riding blog. This is my record keeping. I also hope it inspires others like me to not accept illness or disability, arising from misfortune, as the only possible state of being. I am working with my GP and specialists. My cardiologist, when I told him about my recent 50km milestone, he enthusiastically congratulated me. From a heart attack that was minutes from killing me, to a 50km in a sitting, well a 20 minute lunch break in the middle was never an expected likelihood when I first returned from the cardiac ward. So, dear friends, one day at a time, trust your medics*, or change them if you don't trust them. Eat well, rest well, ride within your limits stretched a little. Assess every stretch. Did it feel good, did you feel you pushed a little too hard? If you feel you pushed a tad too hard, you did, especially of you have a chronic condition or are in recovery from an illness like cancer. Listen to your body means, if you already feel like tomorrow's a rest day and you only just got off the bike, take that f***ing rest day! *Listen to your body!!!* But whether you ride, run or climb, keep trying to get that fitness back. Keep trying to hold it. Don't blame yourself if you can't meet goals as quickly as you used to, that's age, be realistic. Unless you "sport" for a living, you don't have KPIs to meet, you are simply trying to improve yourself and misery isn't self improvement, it's self flagellation. Be proud of achievements, check how you feel against goals that you're struggling to reach and forgive yourself for not reaching them as quickly as you could in your 20s. Grow old disgracefully, not miserably. That is all. *And, by "medics" I don't mean chakra practitioners, herbalists or reiki. If these things make you feel good, great, but they can't cure cancer and they can't cure heart disease. They can't, they never could and they never will, because that's not medicine. Trust the doctors and if you don't trust one of your current ones, talk to your GP about it, or change GP if it's the GP you're not happy with.