We're coming to the last week of the holy month Ramadan and soon we'll be celebrating the Eid Mubarak. During the previous years we used to have night rides on Friday and/or Saturday nights to satiate the addiction to cycling.  This year however we seemed to have chosen to hanged our bikes for a good 4 weeks. That is a one costly long break.

To start back cycling is going to be really tough. The reason being is that when you stop exercising, you are going to lose your muscle, regardless of the amount of hard work and long hours spent on the wheels beforehand. This a one of the common situations that any cycling addicts or enthusiasts pass through at some point in their lives.

While the reasons for long breaks varies and could be due to accidents, domestic problems or just taking a break (while trying to figure out new hobbies), I'm just going to share my thoughts about getting back on bikes after the Ramadan break.

You'll Lose Your Muscle!
When such a hiatus occurs, the body starts to lose muscle mass slowly when it is left without much exercise for a few weeks. This has an adverse impact to your fitness and endurance level which in turn will affect your  cycling speed, stamina and technique. The speed of the degradation depends on your fitness level. Those with low or moderate fitness levels may suffer a quicker erosion of muscle and endurance levels compared to those who regularly do workouts.

According to experts, this natural biological process can be minimised by doing light workouts instead of remaining idle.  In other word you can improve endurance by doing cross training such as swimming, long walk or even aerobics. Or at least until boredom caught up with you especially on bicycle trainer or roller.

While the suggested alternatives might do the work to keep fit,  IMHO,  I strongly believe that there are no substitutes for getting on bike and hitting the open road. Feeling the breeze while cycling through the fresh morning air and exhilaration while coasting downhill from the Sungai Long hills or your favourite cycling routes.

Video: Sungai Long Downhill


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Getting Back on Bike After a Long Break
An article on Livestrong.com suggested that a cyclist who has been on a break will typically need to start gradually in order to rebuild muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness levels in order to avoid the risk of injury or over training. You can read more on the steps here.