RPM Cadence Commences

RPM Cadence commences.

It feels right to be launching this blog at Matariki - the rise of the group of stars known as the Pleiades star cluster or the Seven Sisters. Matariki is about celebrating our place in the world in relation to the land, our spirit, and people we live with. It is about saying this is where we are now in terms of the rhythm that makes us who we are, and it is about looking to the future.

There is also a nice sense of rhythm that as I commence a new blog, it is Queens Birthday weekend. Although not of course the real Queen's birthday. The connection is my blog "nick" is Hebequeen, so it comes up as that on this site. I'm keeping that. I initially used that nick because I had propagated a number of Hebes, successfully translated them to Martinborough for a couple of years and then to Carterton. There was a lot of work and skill in growing and then transplanting the hebes. I have recently had to take a number of those hebes out of the ground because I cut them back to hard and they died. Today I've been cutting up the dead hebe wood and storing it for kindling for next year. I guess they had reached their life cycle. I loved those hebes because of the fact that I had first grown them in Wainuiomata and then transplanted them. Ten years on though, they are in many ways symbolic that sometimes you have to let stuff go. They gave me a focus in a different time. It is not like I don't still have hebes in my garden, and that the self imposed title can be taken from me!

Taking the hebes out from where they were allows me to use that space in a different way. To creates something new. That can be fun and a good thing.

So, why a blog and why RPM Cadence as a title? Well, yeah, I could have kept my thoughts in a journal. But I want to make the commitment of having an audience. I guess I need a little bit of feedback.

The main reason for this blog is I want to document the next five months and journey I travel to get to the cyclechallenge that is known as "Taupo". I've registered to ride the 160km on 26 November. Why? Because I need to challenge myself. I need to create a space that was previously filled by some unhealthy "habits".

This blog will be a mix of anecdote, record of rides, random stuff and reflections all in some way connected to RPM and cycling. I could have called it "a beginners guide to bicycle maintenance" or "the turtle travels to Taupo". Instead I picked "RPM Cadence" because for me Taupo is really just the destination in part of a bigger journey thing. For me it is about finding my rhythm.

One of the definitions of Cadence is "rhythm, the measure or beat of sound or movement".

Wikipedia defines Cadence (cycling) "In cycling, cadence is the number of revolutions of the crank per minute; roughly speaking, this is the rate at which a cyclist is pedalling/turning the pedals. Cadence is similar in some ways to wheel speed but is a distinct measurement. Cyclists typically have a preferred cadence at which they feel most comfortable and on bicycles with many gears it is possible to stick to a favourite cadence at wide range of speeds".

Les Mills defines RPM as "The calorie killer - for the ultimate ride. Les Mills RPM combines cycling, choreography and motivational coaching techniques into one low-impact, aerobic and adrenaline filled ride suitable for all fitness levels".

As for how I define RPM and Cadence. That's what this blog is about.

First few entries will be random until I settle into writing again. I'll also try and improve the format and get some pics and proper links in, although that will take some time.

"Tilt from the hip" and thanks for sharing the journey with me.