As I have made brief reference to in an earlier blog post, one of the life changes / choices I made at the end of 2022 was to stop drinking alcohol. I'm conscious that this subject might not be the most obvious in connection with cycling, but I found myself at the end of 2021 drinking more than I would normally and as I was contemplating the other life choice , to cycle to and from work and therefore stop driving my daily commute, I kept coming back to a desire to make a decision about drinking.
As with the cycling, this is a deeply personal choice I made, and after one last day of enjoying drinking, Christmas Day 2021 I stopped. This decision in combination with an increased level of exercise and therefore fitness has seen me trim my overall weight by around 1 1/2 stone / 9 1/2 kilograms, and cutting out the consumption of what could easily at times be a few hundred calories of beer each day clearly made a difference to my weight. It also allowed me to greatly improve my quality of sleep, and overall mental wellbeing, again in combination with the cycling.
My decision felt right, and still does, but it hasn't been plain sailing. A family wedding in early September 2022, the week after cycling to Liverpool became a time that I gave in and had a few beers, although in all honesty after the first few sips I realised I hadn't missed it at all.
Away on holiday the following week and I had a few more beers, but in combination with feeling dreadful (later confirmed as being covid!) the experience all round was pretty rubbish. Towards the end of the year I felt I needed to satisfy an urge to enjoy a few beers and a mulled wine or two......and again being totally honest this last experience has confirmed that I really do not need to drink alcohol. I can say with a degree of confidence that the decision is finally final, and I am now alcohol free for the rest of my life , or at least that is my aim.
Drinks totals for 2022 - a couple of mulled wines, a couple of gin and tonics and a small number of pints of beer. My first run of days being alcohol free was around 268 days, and I'm not looking to count going forwards as my decision is made. Alcohol gives me no pleasure and I realise that I am in a place where I don't miss it (I thought I did, but I didn't) and I'm very comfortable with the decision.
More importantly as I type this just before Christmas 2022 I have cycled 3397.2 miles / 5467.2 kilometres so far this year, and with the chance of a ride or two over Christmas I might get over the 3500 mile mark.....not bad compared to my earlier goal to cycle 250 miles per month, which would have been a target of 3000 miles, and thanks to some annual leave and being struck down by covid I lost in excess of 5 weeks of available cycling time. I also drove to work on 5 occasions in 2022, and my aim for 2023 is to cycle more and drive even less!
Its a short blog this time, just a quick reflection on my decision to stop drinking alcohol. I should also add that finding substitutes has been a bit of a journey in itself; alcohol free lager has been good especially chilled, and I have been shocked by the Gordons alcohol free gin (I think it might taste too similar to gin, and I'm not sure how I feel about that ?) but what I have found is my love of water, especially out on the bike, and definitely on my longer rides. Nothing comes close to the thirst quenching qualities of good old fashioned water, both literally but also psychologically.
Next stop - more blogs about cycling. Thanks for reading.