Beki and Bea
One of Draper’s new wellness programs this year was called “Back on Your Bike.” It was a real success, with many employees meeting the goal of riding 200 miles over the course of the program. Beki Chambers, of our IT department, was one of those employees, and she blogged about her experience for Bicycle Garage Indy, a bike shop who supported the equipment needs for the program. Beki won BGI’s September customer blog contest with her post, and we’d like to share her comments here as well.
“Beatrice”
I named my bike Beatrice, which means the voyager of life. Like many folks my age, (almost 65) I have a sedentary office job and lifestyle, that cause me to feel older than I am. The company I work for has been sponsoring several wellness programs. I have participated in a few, but I just wasn’t motivated until they offered “Back on Your Bike” program. That sounded like fun, even though I had not been on a bicycle for almost 30 years.
I bought a cheap bike (a bike’s a bike, right?) and started riding. The first week, I could only ride 1.5 at a time. It either had to get better or kill me, and I was thinking the latter. After only modest improvement through the 4th week, I consulted with BGI, and met Beatrice, pink Giant Suede. WOW! What a difference! The first full week with Beatrice I logged 62 miles!
With Bea’s help, I finished the targeted 200 miles, with a week to spare. The following weekend, I rode 30 miles in the Cardinal Greenway’s annual Great Greenway Tour. With continued effort, Bea and I will be able to reverse many years of inactivity and couch potato behavior. So far we are down 10 pounds, and I’m pretty sure it’s not her that’s losing the weight.
Shhhhh – Don’t tell her, but I may even get her an indoor trainer for the winter months.
