tcpip | Fitness Update: Cycling and Measurements

In lieu of an actual pushbike (my last one fell apart) I've taken up the exercise bike in the past month. Almost every day, across two cities and four different devices (fortunately, all a Matrix U1XE), I've smashed out 40km, which is the Olympic-distance triathlon bike leg, which sits in the middle of the standard course (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run). Of course, the real challenge is doing these in succession. Nevertheless, ever a keen cyclist, my first times were around 70 minutes, which is pretty good, especially for an old bloke. After a few days and a bit more pushing, I found that I could regularly get around the 65-minute mark, and I was pretty chuffed when I got it down to 62 minutes.

Since my return to Melbourne from Darwin, I've continued the activity, and since then, I've even managed to get 60, 59, and 58-minute levels, all of which are extremely good. My method is pretty straightforward; get my speed to 40km/h and stay at that for an hour. In case you're wondering, yes, it is quite challenging, to say the least. Indeed, on a 58-minute run, I realised that my eyes were incredibly bloodshot. Apparently, I was experiencing a subconjunctival haemorrhage; that is, when blood vessels have burst and are haemorrhaging into the tissue under the white of the eye. It sounds and looks a lot more dramatic than it actually is, and one recovers fairly quickly. But by goodness, it really caught my attention!

Ever a data nerd, I have a bit of a rough habit of tracking some core measurements, albeit with a rough cut. I'm pretty happy with these results. But there's still some work to do.

October 1st, 2024: 117cm chest, 114 cm stomach, 112 cm waist. 105.7kgs. WHtR 0.62
February 8th, 2025: 118cm chest, 103 stomach, 102 waist. 94.9kgs. WHtR 0.57
August 20th, 2025: 110cm chest, 92 stomach, 96 waist. 84.8kgs. WHtR 0.47
September 11th 2025: Heart and Blood Pressure 118/75 46bpm