I biked every single week of 2020.
Not that it was my objective. It happened by conviction.
Conviction that the right mix between sitting at my desk in a work from home (WfH) mode and regular sports activity was needed for my mental and my physical health.
I believe I can work 12h a day and limit my steps to below 300 in a WfH situation. Wake up at 7h, 15 steps to the bathroom, standing still in the shower, 15 steps back to the bedroom to dress. 30 steps later I'm at the kitchen for my breakfast and 40 additional steps to my home office. Handling overnight mails from 7h30 to 8h00. Teleconferencing with Teams, Zoom, Webex, Google Meet or any other platform somebody invents. Sanitary break at 10h30. Luckily I have a toilet at 10 steps of the home office... A bowl of soup and a sandwich while I continue to do my work at my desk. Very efficient as I don't have to move. Let's not forget that Mother Nature wants to keep our energy consumption at the lowest level! I'll need another sanitary break in the afternoon - well I'm 56 - and that will cost me another 20 steps. Ending my work at 19h30. 40 steps back at the kitchen - the dining room being for guests and curiously we don't have guests right now - to enjoy a relaxing supper. With some luck I still have the energy to take the 40 steps back to the bathroom to brush my teeth. 15 steps later I'm in the bedroom where a TV with Netflix enabled will give me a glorious binge watching evening. I still keep 65 spare steps for unforeseen emergencies, we never know!
Well, if humans were meant to sit or lie all day they wouldn't have feet and legs!
I once attended a conference in Luxembourg where a french university professor used existing technology examples to envision a possible future society where humans were connected to machines, VR sets, and IV catheters giving them stimuli, nutrients, chemicals and experiences so that they could stay immobile in a 1m by 1m by 2m box with all needs fulfilled.
I don't believe in this kind of world but I see huge threats to humans if they don't react. Technology can and will be abused. It's our duty to keep things in balance to keep our balance. I'm not against technology, smartphones, smartTVs, connected bikes or any new fancy invention. They're fun and bring value to us. I'm against a black and white usage of them.
So my conviction is about grey. In a WfH situation we definitely don't move enough. With the lock-downs we had in Belgium we were still allowed to walk, jog or bike and I took the opportunity by both wheels 😉. Blocking my agenda on Wednesday evening and Sunday morning for a ride. Blocking 30 minutes every weekday for a brisk walk in the neighborhood.
And 2020 became a year of records.
