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Like a lot of people I normally get the urge to lose weight and get a little bit fitter in early January. The festive excesses culminating in a New Year resolution to live a healthier lifestyle which, in my case, lasts just a few days...a couple of weeks at most.
This year my guilt trip has started a little earlier and it’s all the fault of social media. Perhaps I should give that up instead in 2012!  For those of you that aren’t devotees of sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, let me explain.  The latter, in particular, allows you to see what your friends, relations, work colleagues and frankly some people you’ve only ever met for 10 minutes are up to. They use their mobile phones to check in somewhere, and a message duly arrives up on my mobile phone to tell me that little bit of ‘fascinating’ news.  I do the same of course, so when I pop into the local supermarket, I can triumphantly inform the waiting world of my heroic domestic endeavors.

Of course it’s quite easy to become obsessed by this ‘travelogue’. Some have even described it as a bit sad. It’s apparently massive in the US, where arrival at certain places can lead to discounts and ‘in store’ incentives. It’s nowhere near as big here yet, but give it time! That’s my excuse for being sucked into this phenomenon. I just want to be ahead of the game (which is just what it appears to be)

Unfortunately several people I follow on Twitter and Foursquare are keen gym members, so while I’m tucking in to a fast food lunch, or slouched in front of the TV, you can put money on a message arriving to tell me that they’ve just arrived at a well known local fitness centre to embark on a two hour ‘body pump’ or similar ‘sweating buckets’ type workout.
I’m sure that they must realise what a demoralising effect this has on the rest of us normal mortals. It’s the modern day equivalent of the ghost of Jacob Marley telling us in a non too subtle way that we need to rethink how we live our lives.
As far as gyms go, i’m a lost cause. It’s ‘Bah, humbug’ to them as far as i’m concerned !

So with that in mind, I’ve decided to dust off my old bike, and wheel it out of the garden shed. I’ve taken inspiration from Devon County Councillor, Stuart Hughes, who tells me, via Facebook, on a seemingly daily basis that he’s just pedaled twenty miles at some ridiculously early hour around the roads that he’s in charge of maintaining for the rest of us ! As a former member of the Monster Raving Loony party, Stuart is known to have the occasional crazy idea, but when it comes to cycling he’s talking a lot of sense. I interviewed him for Exeter FM radio last week about the official opening of the fantastic new pedestrian and cycle bridge in Topsham. It’s a lovely wooden structure near the Bridge Inn that takes away the danger of crossing the River Clyst on the narrow old bridge.  It links into the Exe Estuary Trail, and reinforces a commitment to give us all some joined up routes for leisure, and a viable and healthier alternative to commuting into Exeter using our cars.

I made Stuart a promise that I would use my bike a lot more in the lead up to Christmas and lose a few pounds in advance of devouring the Turkey this year. I’ll let you know how I get on and what I think of some of our local cycle routes. By the way, i’ll be using this website and the pages of the Express and Echo, rather than those social media outlets !