Latest / Zone2Speak Podcast / No Finish Line Needed: Djura Leon’s Love for the Ride
Transcript
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- 3:20Welcome to Zone to Speak. Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Dura Leon,
- 3:26the inspiring voice behind my cycling lifestyle on Instagram.
- 3:30At 53, Dura has built a strong presence in the cycling community,
- 3:36proving that age is just a number when it comes to pursuing an active and passionate life.
- 3:41From embracing both indoor and outdoor cycling to sharing her personal journey
- 3:46of fitness, motivation, and self-care, Dura's story is all about finding joy
- 3:53in movement without the pressure of strict goals.
- 3:57She's an advocate for cycling as a lifelong lifestyle and collaborates with
- 4:01brands, testing gear, and continuing to push her own limits.
- 4:05In this episode, I will dive into her journey, her thoughts on staying strong,
- 4:11healthy, and motivated as we age.
- 4:13Whether you are a seasonal cyclist or just getting started, Jira's approach
- 4:17is one that anyone can learn from.
- 4:20Let's get into it. Welcome to Zone to Speak. Hi, thank you.
- 4:24Thank you for inviting me. My pleasure. I'm so happy you made the time to be here.
- 4:31So what inspired you to start my cycling lifestyle? I had a normal Instagram account.
- 4:38Normal, like, you know, holiday pictures, but also with a lot of cycling.
- 4:43And yeah, I don't know. I thought, let's make an account with only cycling.
- 4:49I didn't expect it to, like, grow so much.
- 4:53I was making jokes sometimes like, yeah, I'm starting an account.
- 4:57You know, who knows? I will get some free clothes, you know, like this.
- 5:02And then, yeah, it suddenly...
- 5:05Yeah, it went pretty well. It boomed. Yeah, you're quite popular.
- 5:10And I really like, I'm a dentist assistant in my normal life,
- 5:16so that's not really like creative.
- 5:19And I like to edit photos and think about what to post, how to post.
- 5:25So it's also like I can put in my creativity like on the bike,
- 5:30but also on the social media. Yeah, makes sense. Yeah, I worked in the financial field most of my life.
- 5:39So when I had the idea of having the podcast, it's also like medicine to me,
- 5:44you know, it's my creative outlet. And so I relate to that. And I love your content.
- 5:49I found you on Instagram and your content is flawless. Not only like we get
- 5:55a glimpse into your life style, but the content is really good.
- 6:00It's like well thought, it's authentic.
- 6:03It's cool. It's really well done.
- 6:08So you are Dutch. So I guess you have cycling running in your veins.
- 6:14But what's your story? Where did your passion for cycling begin?
- 6:19Yeah, I was, yeah. But like what you say, the normal cycling was already like
- 6:25it's not the first thing, but almost the first thing we learned in Holland.
- 6:30So you know I had to go on my bike to school with wind and rain and I didn't enjoy this at all,
- 6:38but uh and I wasn't that sportive either I was yeah I had a boyfriend and I
- 6:42did some well roller not really roller skating yeah roller skating but then
- 6:47like ice skating but then on the road I don't know you know skating maybe just
- 6:52I think you said just skating Rollerblading, I don't know. Yeah, something like this.
- 6:56And I liked it, but yeah, not that much that I continued doing it.
- 7:02And then I had another boyfriend and he was a cyclist.
- 7:07And I was like, maybe I think it's nice maybe to go with you and see if I like it.
- 7:13And he had an older bike, so he made it like a rideable for me.
- 7:18And yeah I went with him and almost immediately well immediately I liked it
- 7:24so that's how it started actually and at that time I was smoking.
- 7:31And you know even when we go when we go
- 7:34for a longer ride I took a break and
- 7:37smoked a cigarette and now my gosh yeah exactly when I think about it it's hard
- 7:43to imagine for myself like what's this you know yeah well good I love those
- 7:51stories the more you are on the health way.
- 7:57I don't know how to say it correct, but the more you want to be more healthier.
- 8:03You know what I mean? When you start with something, it's like,
- 8:06hey, it doesn't fit in this. And it's also with alcohol.
- 8:10It's not that I don't drink, but I don't drink a lot. And you want to be healthier.
- 8:18I don't know. Yeah. Maybe it's an age thing also.
- 8:21Or you are more conscious about life.
- 8:25That it's still it's shorter the older you
- 8:28get and you want to be in good shape and you
- 8:30want to feel good not everybody thinks
- 8:33like this but yeah no
- 8:36but i i understand what you're saying and relate
- 8:39that you know once you start the health path you start cutting what it doesn't
- 8:46fit into your life anymore you just yeah and and and yeah a lot of us you would
- 8:53be nice if it was most of us But that as we age,
- 8:56we start seeing what really matters and feeling good. It's really important.
- 9:00And you have mentioned that you don't set strict goals in cycling.
- 9:05Why is that? Because when I start doing that, it is something that I have to do.
- 9:14I don't, now I need it just to feel good.
- 9:18But if you say to me, like you, you go for a goal, like I want to ride like
- 9:25300 kilometers, for example, I need to train for that or I have to train for that.
- 9:32And so I have to go on the bike and I don't want to, I want to go on the bike,
- 9:38but when I want to, if I have to, you understand what I'm saying? Yes, yes.
- 9:42It's the same like I was at the end of last year.
- 9:46I was almost cycled 10,000 kilometers and I was like, I don't mind,
- 9:52you know, 10,000 for who?
- 9:53And then I was so close. I'm like, well, I'm going to try. And I was on the
- 9:57swift ride and suddenly I was like, what am I doing? I'm not enjoying it.
- 10:04I want to reach this 10,000, but I'm not enjoying being on this bike now for
- 10:09like 70 kilometers and I need to do another 90.
- 10:13So I stopped and I was like, this is not what I want to do.
- 10:17And that's what's happening to me when I'm setting a goal.
- 10:22Yeah, yeah, no. I understand that because I guess you feel like it's an obligation
- 10:28and you have to do it and there's no fun in that.
- 10:31While some people feel the fun in setting those goals and having to do.
- 10:36Yeah, it's true. Or maybe they need that, you know?
- 10:38Yeah, it's true. And they like it. Yeah. Yeah.
- 10:44I'm more on your boat. I mean, I like setting goals and I like racing.
- 10:49But when it starts to be, I have to do this, I have to train today,
- 10:55then it's not fun. I think there is a difference between discipline and joy.
- 11:01I have discipline, yeah, that's true. It's different, yeah.
- 11:06For me, it's different. Yeah, likewise.
- 11:10And what does a typical week of cycling look like for you?
- 11:14We're talking about the 10,000 goal, which would be almost about 800 kilometers a month.
- 11:21What would your week look like? Do you have a training plan or you go by feel?
- 11:29It's not it's talking also about
- 11:32the goals you know of course sometimes I feel
- 11:36like I have to cycle because it's like a
- 11:39crazy addiction and if you
- 11:42do if you cycle like four times a week and the next week it's three times you
- 11:46feel I feel a bit like oh shit I wanted to do four you know and it feels it
- 11:51maybe feels even a little bit like a failure and in a small way so there there
- 11:57There is a pressure anyway, a little bit, of course.
- 12:00Oh my gosh, we put these pressures on ourselves, don't we? Yeah.
- 12:05But it's, you know, I feel better afterwards. So that's also,
- 12:08of course, why I'm doing it.
- 12:10But okay, I try to cycle four times a week and I want like one long ride or two long rides.
- 12:18And long is for me like 70, 80, 90 kilometers.
- 12:22And two short ones like 40 or 50. or yeah 40 is I think the shortest,
- 12:29In indoor, it's a bit different because, yeah, you probably know. Yeah.
- 12:34And it's not really a plan, but I try to ride also in my zone too,
- 12:40you know, and sometimes to do some interval.
- 12:43And I try also to keep it like fun to not always do the same.
- 12:49Yeah, something like that. And do you cross-train at all or do you focus on cycling?
- 12:54I do yoga once a week because I want to stay flexible.
- 12:59And i just started as well once a week you know
- 13:01i don't want to overdo it that i i stopped doing i'm really trying to be consistent
- 13:06this time so once a week it is yeah yeah yeah i i would love to do that more
- 13:11often as well but you know if there's no time no exactly if you do four times
- 13:15a week yoga you know i do need some sometimes to see friends or Exactly,
- 13:20work, husband,
- 13:23friend Exactly And then I do It doesn't You can give it the name strength training
- 13:33But I do a little bit with Dumbbells,
- 13:36Also try to do that Once a week Because they say it's also very important If
- 13:42you get older to do strength training But for me it's not so fun.
- 13:49Yeah it's more something like that i need to do
- 13:52besides the rest yeah and
- 13:55from yoga from yoga you get stronger as well it's also a
- 13:57bit a bit strength training i think depends which
- 14:01yoga you do but i agree like doesn't look
- 14:03like it but when you are holding a position you start to
- 14:07feel that lean mass burn yeah
- 14:10exactly so you are
- 14:13an ambassador for zwift and you
- 14:17have the beautiful indoor bicycle trainer so
- 14:21you use that on your when you're training indoors and
- 14:24how how is it tell me a little bit more about the
- 14:27indoor bike yeah i was very like
- 14:30honored that that i was approach for
- 14:34i was like no it's really oh wow and i
- 14:38think it looks like it looks already gorgeous you
- 14:41know i really felt like oh wow i have a new bike but it
- 14:44was just well just but it's just an indoor bike nobody
- 14:47will see it except for me or all
- 14:50the people on instagram but thousands of people on instagram
- 14:53are seeing it i was
- 14:56like i live in an upstairs how do
- 15:00you say upper upper apartment yeah upstairs so yeah so i had to if i go outside
- 15:05i need to go with my bike stairs and up and down and if it was dirty first i
- 15:11had to clean it before i had to take it off so now this bike is always there
- 15:15i can jump on it whenever i want and.
- 15:19Yeah i love it and it's like not so noisy.
- 15:23That's a plus. That's a big plus. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah,
- 15:28and the only thing is maybe the saddle, but you know, the saddle is a problem
- 15:33more often also with normal bikes.
- 15:36And I didn't take the effort to buy a new saddle.
- 15:42Oh, so you can change the saddle if you want. You know, I don't even really know.
- 15:49I thought about changing it, but I don't know if it's possible.
- 15:53Well you can let us know yeah yeah let us know and on your instagram stories yeah.
- 16:02No but i'm really really happy with it yes yeah i would love to have something
- 16:06like that i mean i'm lucky i have more than one bike so i keep one bike pretty
- 16:11much steady on my wahoo trainer,
- 16:15and i don't like to take it out it's just i know it's so simple but i don't
- 16:19know why i have this mental block that I'm like, I don't want to be taking it out and put it in back.
- 16:24Yeah. So I just leave it there. Yeah, but I think it's logical to have this
- 16:29mental block for these things.
- 16:33One day I'll get this with the bike.
- 16:37What are some of the most memorable rides or locations you have cycled?
- 16:43I mean, I've seen a lot of your local rides look beautiful.
- 16:48They are normal for me, of course.
- 16:51I think the most impressive environment where I ever cycled were the Dolomites.
- 16:59Wow, yeah. Italy never disappoints. No.
- 17:03It was last year. And yeah, it's like, I don't know.
- 17:08You know, I never went skiing or anything because some people know this from skiing.
- 17:13And so they know already that it's beautiful.
- 17:16But for me it was really like a new world yeah
- 17:21i have this story about i thought it would be
- 17:23nice to tell in the french alps you have to
- 17:26call the croix de fer and it's
- 17:30a pretty long one and we went up with
- 17:32a group and it was like i don't think five degrees it
- 17:35was raining but when you climb you know it's it's not
- 17:38so bad because you stay warm and everything
- 17:42and then we were
- 17:44at this point like we were cold and that we needed to go any further but i was
- 17:50like okay i'm done i'm going back here you know so we went back it was like
- 17:55the most horrible descent i ever had because i was so cold and i we i didn't
- 18:00have gloves with me because i thought oh you know it'll be okay.
- 18:04And i had not the dish breaks but the other before you know how do you say rim
- 18:11breaks rim In brakes, yeah.
- 18:12So I didn't have the power in my hands anymore because they were too cold to
- 18:17squeeze my... Brakes, yeah.
- 18:20Yeah, so I was really like... And at the end, I was like in the shower for half
- 18:25an hour and in bed to get warm. Try to warm up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 18:29So it's a beautiful environment. It was like a memorable ride, but not in a good way.
- 18:35Wow. Yeah, it's funny how...
- 18:39Those descents become very memorable. I have a couple of descents also ingrained
- 18:45in my memory because my fingers were locked.
- 18:49Yeah. Yeah, and I learned later how to break better on long descents.
- 18:55And one of them was on the French Alps.
- 18:57So I'm also a victim of the French Alps descent.
- 19:05Yeah, if it's cold, it's not nice. Yeah, and also the environment around Stelfio
- 19:11in Bormio in Italy, and of course, Mallorca is also nice.
- 19:16It's really nice, usually good weather as well, so beautiful, beautiful views.
- 19:23How about pros and cons from training indoor versus outdoors?
- 19:31Because I know you do a lot of both. Of course, I think we all prefer to be outdoors in nature.
- 19:36Yeah definitely but we try to make
- 19:39the indoor as pleasant as possible because of weather or
- 19:42because life is busy yeah for you
- 19:45what are the pros and cons of each well of course
- 19:48outside what you say it's like yeah that's
- 19:52why i cycle yeah but unfortunately
- 19:55i live in a country where like it's eight months pretty
- 20:00bad weather and if we're lucky we have two months on and
- 20:02we were lucky for these two months April and March or
- 20:05March and April were great but that
- 20:08aside what I what I think is
- 20:11a pro for me to do indoor is you
- 20:15don't have wind or I don't know the words in
- 20:18English when I go outside and I want to do for example a
- 20:21Z2 training it's not always
- 20:24possible because there's wind force five or six and I'm
- 20:27going my heartbeat is going up so I
- 20:30can do that for example better indoors but the
- 20:34same maybe with interval because you don't have traffic and yeah
- 20:38so also sometimes in in
- 20:41in summertime also when i don't have so much time i say like oh i go for one
- 20:45hour or 45 minutes and i do a training on swift and you know you have you you've
- 20:52done something and it feels good and doesn't take too much time and you you
- 20:56could train also your for For example.
- 20:59VO2 max training or your Z2 training.
- 21:02So I think that's a big pro for indoor.
- 21:05And that's, for me, more difficult outdoor. And I live next to the sea,
- 21:10so here it's almost always windy.
- 21:13So that's also why it's a bit hard to do some trainings outside.
- 21:19Yeah, very good point. Yeah, wind and traffic are the cons of the outside, unless it's tailwind.
- 21:26Yeah, I love tailwind.
- 21:29But yeah, there are a lot of pros of riding indoors, for sure.
- 21:34Oh, go ahead, go ahead. Yeah, when I'm riding with my boyfriend,
- 21:38I'm always like going in the front when we have tailwind. And then I'm going
- 21:43very fast and he's always like, why don't you do this where we have headwinds?
- 21:48Yeah, if you were that easy, we would. Yeah.
- 21:52But I'm sorry, what did you want to ask? If you have ever considered doing some
- 21:57of endurance events like bikepacking or any other cycling challenge. No.
- 22:07No no no yeah i'm thinking like how do how do you how do they call this right
- 22:12in the dolomites the you have saw you have this right,
- 22:16it's 135 kilometer right
- 22:20yeah yeah i don't remember the name i forgot the name yeah
- 22:23but that's you know it's the same thing when i
- 22:27do that i need to train and i go there and for example it's like five degrees
- 22:31and it's raining or snowing i don't enjoy it yeah well you found what you like
- 22:36and that's good yeah that's good yeah yeah and well what what what maybe what
- 22:42i would like to do in my life,
- 22:45for sure one time, is going on a holiday with a bike.
- 22:49I think that would be... But maybe this will not be a road bike, but more, I don't know.
- 22:55A gravel bike. Yeah, something like that. You can do both. Yeah, yeah.
- 23:00I think that will be a really special experience because when you're on the
- 23:05bike, you come on places where you will never get by car.
- 23:10Absolutely, and you see so much more. Yeah. You see more details than going
- 23:15as fast as a car, and you see much more than walking because you can go further.
- 23:19I love taking my bike on holidays. Obviously, not the bike travel itself.
- 23:25Usually, it's a little bit nerve-wracking, but when you hand your bike bag to
- 23:31an airline, it's always a little bit stressful.
- 23:35But once you get to the destination, everything is in one piece. It's super, super nice.
- 23:41Yeah. yeah yeah yeah so let's talk
- 23:43a little bit about brands collaborations and
- 23:47gear you started collaborating with brands like whoop shocks zwift ghc helmets
- 23:54how did those partnerships come about well the whoop just on their site you
- 24:01can ask if you can be an affiliate affiliate yeah.
- 24:05So I filled in a form or some questions and they, how do you say it?
- 24:11Approved, yeah. Yeah, approved. I was saying approach, but approved me.
- 24:15I think that's nice. Nice.
- 24:18AGC helmets there is there is this shop
- 24:21Busy B-Bikes in the Netherlands and yeah I've
- 24:24seen Busy B-Bikes yeah yeah and they were are
- 24:27working with AGC and so they needed ambassadors for the helmet and I really
- 24:33love the helmet and yeah it looks good yeah and it's really it's really light
- 24:37it's yeah most helmets are light lately but it's really like you don't feel it on your head.
- 24:45Yeah i mean i have a few helmets different brands and
- 24:48and some i don't feel it like you
- 24:51said and some like leave a mark on my forehead and
- 24:54i hate that yeah yeah yeah it's so
- 24:57hard to know you know it's just like a saddle you have to buy it
- 25:00and it's even though you try it
- 25:03in a shop you can try better a helmet than a saddle in
- 25:06the shop you still don't know after you know
- 25:09a couple of hours on the bike how it's going no no that's also
- 25:12that's true yeah yeah and you have to also try with sunglasses
- 25:16because it has to you know feel good with
- 25:19both on i have a really small head
- 25:22so not all the sunglasses are are good on me sometimes i look like a fly i like
- 25:30that look though i love big because i don't want any any dust on in my eye so
- 25:35yeah i had to get used to these big ones because,
- 25:40I think I'm talking about 10 years ago, but then the glasses were smaller.
- 25:44That was like, in the beginning I was like, oh, these big ski sunglasses almost,
- 25:51you know? But now I'm used to it.
- 25:53I think the smaller ones are going to come back. Let's see. Yeah,
- 25:57everything's coming back.
- 25:59Everything from the 90s is coming back.
- 26:04What are some of your favorite pieces of
- 26:07cycling gear oh my god i think everything i'm really uh i i like the shoes i
- 26:14like the helmets the socks the clothing i yeah it's like a candy store if i
- 26:19if i'm going to a cycling shop,
- 26:23yeah so it's not not not one particular thing
- 26:26actually it's the whole look head to
- 26:29toe i always want everything every color i
- 26:32like helmet matching the shoes and yeah it's
- 26:36it's a bit of a sickness i think yeah to
- 26:40to want yeah to want and i lived in
- 26:43dubai for 10 years so everything most of everything i had was summer and now
- 26:48i'm in spain so now i'm i'm having to have more things because i need winter
- 26:52as well it's a good excuse yeah it's a good it's an expensive excuse to get
- 26:59yeah that is really true yeah,
- 27:03And speaking of, again, back to Zwift, that you collaborate with them,
- 27:08what is your favorite Zwift ride?
- 27:11Can't say Tempest Fugit, because everybody does that one.
- 27:18Guilty. That's funny, yeah, because it gives you the most kilometers where you ride for an hour.
- 27:28And I really choose that one quite often, to be honest.
- 27:36But when you look at the environment, I like the Scottish world, Scotland. Oh, nice.
- 27:44Yeah, it's really nice to the environment where you're riding.
- 27:48Cool. Have to check that out. Yeah, do.
- 27:52So jumping now to lifestyle and wellness, what role does nutrition play in your
- 27:59cycling and overall health?
- 28:00Also, that is something that I became more conscious of than when I started cycling.
- 28:08But my boyfriend then had diabetes since a child.
- 28:12So he learned me pretty in the beginning how important it is.
- 28:21So he was the one who was saying to me like, yeah, you need to eat a bar like
- 28:26every hour. You need to do this and that.
- 28:30Because my boyfriend now when he started cycling he went for a ride for three
- 28:35hours and he didn't get anything with him and then he was like tired I was like yeah of course,
- 28:42So now when we are cycling, I'm like, hey, eat your bar, eat your gel, eat your dish.
- 28:48Did he start cycling because of you? No, no, he was already cycling,
- 28:52but he doesn't cycle as much as I do.
- 28:56But it's nice because when you go on holiday, you can, of course...
- 29:00You can do it together, yeah. Yeah, but even, I think even when I,
- 29:05because of my account and you see other cyclists,
- 29:09you get even more aware about the food and the nutrition and drink and how to use it when you cycle.
- 29:17Because I also sometimes were
- 29:22a bit easy like with eating like I
- 29:24don't know no but then I when I was
- 29:27in Mallorca in April with also with Swift I really
- 29:31ate like every hour and if I
- 29:34yeah I was really focused on doing it well and I
- 29:38noticed that my ride like it was more than 100 kilometers that
- 29:41I felt pretty good after you know so then I know that I
- 29:45did it good for nutrition yeah you know it's not just during the ride it's afterwards
- 29:50as well yeah yeah yeah you know if you feel really destroyed of course some
- 29:55rides you're going to feel destroyed because you yeah it's really it's really
- 29:58hard in your limit but a lot of times you shouldn't feel that way most times.
- 30:04Yeah exactly because a lot to do with nutrition before I never took for example
- 30:10protein shake after but now I am not doing it always but when I have a really
- 30:15hard ride I certainly do it and also like with my breakfast I,
- 30:21wanted to put in touch words,
- 30:26when I eat breakfast and I know when I go for a ride now most of the time I
- 30:30take like oatmeal with protein powder, peanut butter and banana and like a big bowl so I know a good.
- 30:41Yeah I do the same and actually you're the
- 30:44one who introduced me to my favorite Proteino New Zest I love that love love
- 30:49love love love the vanilla taste is for me the favorite I like the chocolate
- 30:56too not on my oats but I mix with Greek yogurt and it's like a chocolate mousse yeah,
- 31:02that sounds nice good yeah because during the midweek I I'm a bit artistic with,
- 31:09this I think in the midweek I eat Greek yogurt and in the weekend I always do
- 31:15my oatmeal and porridge thing,
- 31:18yeah no you mix in the Greek yogurt like a dessert it's very yummy.
- 31:25Yeah I'm going to try that,
- 31:28And how do you balance cycling with the rest of your life?
- 31:32You know, you just mentioned you're a dentist assistant and you have a busy life.
- 31:38How do you balance everything? And then managing, obviously,
- 31:41the account, because I know it's not easy to create content and edit the content and choose the music.
- 31:48Yeah, I think I put too much time in it sometimes.
- 31:53Yeah, really. because you know yeah well let's start with with the i work four days a week,
- 32:01wednesday is my day off so nice midweek
- 32:04day off that must be so good yeah yeah
- 32:07yeah so i i always want
- 32:10to do a ride on wednesday of course and when it's good
- 32:12weather i want to do a bit longer one during my
- 32:16midweek i'm not yeah i'm
- 32:19also very when i go when i
- 32:22come home it's like half past four four
- 32:26thirty yeah and i jump on my swift
- 32:29or i go for a quick ride outside then i eat and we do we always walk after dinner
- 32:34my boyfriend and me every every dinner we do a walk nice and then it's like
- 32:39eight now seven thirty and yeah i can enjoy then like on the couch and just
- 32:45watching a bit of netflix and uh things Yeah.
- 32:49And then you have your social life, of course. But I'm a person that really
- 32:54needs to reload also on my own.
- 32:58Of course, I can get energy from having a good conversation with friends.
- 33:04But if I have to go to a birthday party with people that I don't know so well, it also costs me energy.
- 33:15So I really need to have my time for myself.
- 33:20But I noticed that for example when we're on
- 33:23the couch I'm on my phone and I'm like scrolling like
- 33:26Instagram and thinking about what post to make and
- 33:29maybe also there is a bit of a
- 33:32pressure sometimes like I
- 33:34have to post something and yeah that's
- 33:37that's that's what I feel a bit and sometimes I
- 33:41feel and that's maybe the same as
- 33:43with the goals in cycling and this pressure
- 33:46I put on myself like okay i want to grow and i
- 33:49want to yeah you know
- 33:52what i mean i think or you know what i want to say a bit yeah absolutely
- 33:55i understand what you're saying that yeah it's a
- 33:58balance of yeah am i enjoying what i'm doing
- 34:01because i have to keep this going yeah exactly like that because it's true i
- 34:06enjoy it too but yeah that's exactly what how you say it yeah yeah well but
- 34:13i think It's about doing it and testing it out and finding our own balance.
- 34:19Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 34:22Life is all about balance. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And it's okay to take it back. It's okay to...
- 34:30Do more, you know, as long as we are in peace with this until we find what works. Yeah, exactly.
- 34:38And what advice would you give people who feel like it's too late to start cycling
- 34:45or an active lifestyle? I think it's never too late.
- 34:50No, it's really. And if we're talking about cycling, I think it's like the easiest
- 34:55way maybe even to start moving.
- 34:59Because it's not like when you start running and you are a bit older,
- 35:03you maybe get knee pain or, you know, other, how do you say it in English?
- 35:10Like your knees, your elbows, these are joints.
- 35:16So you, yeah, with cycling, there will not happen a lot with your joints.
- 35:21Well, you can get knee pain, of course, but you know what I mean.
- 35:24Yeah, no, cycling has no wear and tear unless you fall off the bike.
- 35:28Yeah, yeah, that's true.
- 35:30That's true. If you're older and you fall down, it's not so good maybe.
- 35:34No, no, I'm joking. But yeah, even walking, you know, when I walk after dinner,
- 35:40sometimes it's 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour, sometimes it's an hour.
- 35:42And we're always talking about how many, how we don't see many people walking.
- 35:49Most people, when they come from work, they go to eat and probably sit.
- 35:55Yeah, and of course, I don't have children and many people have children,
- 35:59so they have to do this first and before they are on the couch,
- 36:02they're probably like, oh, I want to be on the couch.
- 36:05If you start with a little walk, you know, I think this will be such a difference
- 36:10if you do that every day. Just a walk.
- 36:13Instead of sitting down or go to your work by bike instead of car,
- 36:18if it's possible, of course.
- 36:20But I think you can already put it in your life like in little steps.
- 36:26I think those are great tips. And I think if you can change.
- 36:30Like you said, the way you commute.
- 36:31I remember I worked in the past. They had such a cool program that if you rode
- 36:35your bike to work every day, they would give you money a month for like bike
- 36:40maintenance and stuff. but it was like something sizable, like $200 a month.
- 36:46I thought that was a really cool initiative. But anyway, it's just small steps, you know.
- 36:50And also, I have a dog, so sometimes I am also tired, and I just want to sit
- 36:53down, but I have to walk my dog. Yeah.
- 36:56And it's amazing how good you feel. Yeah.
- 36:59You just need to, you know, push yourself a little bit.
- 37:03Yeah, you have to push it.
- 37:06But now, you know, now I cannot imagine sitting on the couch after dinner, really.
- 37:11Then I'm like it's like it's kind of a habit now like after dinner,
- 37:19we don't even discuss it we just go yeah no it becomes second nature you know
- 37:25when it becomes a habit it becomes your lifestyle and that's it yeah and what
- 37:29I say you know I wasn't really that sportive,
- 37:34When I was a child, I did different kind of sports, but always like for two
- 37:38years, for half a year, for a year.
- 37:40And then I was, okay, this is not for me, you know.
- 37:43So when I really get into cycling, I was, I think, 36.
- 37:48And I would never expect, I mean, I know people from 20 years ago and they're like, Jura? What?
- 37:57You know, Jura was smoking and drinking and partying and everything, you know.
- 38:04And even now when I'm talking, people say to me, oh, yeah, you're like so sportive.
- 38:09I'm like, I'm so sportive. Oh, yeah.
- 38:11It's hard to believe. Yeah, but if I'm watching from their perspective, I'm like, yeah, I am.
- 38:19But it's a bit, yeah, it's a bit weird. But I think I'm happy that it happened
- 38:24to me, that I really enjoyed it.
- 38:27And it's become a kind of, it became an addiction.
- 38:30But I think it's a good one.
- 38:34Yeah and it must be nice to look back and see
- 38:36your evolution yeah yeah yeah and i
- 38:39hope uh that that people who are like
- 38:43even i mean i was then 35 but even
- 38:46if you're now 50 55 or whatever yeah just
- 38:50start i had a podcast with a
- 38:53gentleman i met in a ironman race and
- 38:57his first ironman or triathlon
- 39:00was at 70 years old wow so
- 39:04anyone can start anything at any age really really
- 39:07yeah wow that's really impressive yeah yeah
- 39:13you know and if you keep telling to yourself i'm too old for this i'm too old
- 39:16for this you are too old for it because yeah but then what are you doing for
- 39:20the rest of your life how many years you have like yeah you start to believe
- 39:24that you're too world for everything
- 39:25i agree yeah yeah it's all in your mind at the end of the day yeah,
- 39:32And what's next for you and my cycling lifestyle? Any exciting plans or projects
- 39:38on the horizon that you can share?
- 39:40Also, in this, I don't have really big plans, but I'm not really a planner, actually.
- 39:48No. Well, in some kind of things, I am, but not really with my future.
- 39:54Strange enough, maybe. That's okay. Go with the flow. So then,
- 39:57that's it. But we always plan for our summer holiday somewhere where we can cycle, of course.
- 40:06And we go to, my stepfather lives in a part of France where you can cycle very nice.
- 40:12It's not like the high altitude mountains, but it's really, it's like maybe
- 40:17a bit like Mallorca, this kind of.
- 40:19And we also, of course, go to the French Alps and I'm going to Girona for the
- 40:24first time in my life. Oh, that's where I'm based. Oh.
- 40:30We've got to get a coffee and go for a spin together. Yeah, because first of
- 40:35all, I'm really curious about Girona.
- 40:39I don't know, maybe because I also see it on Instagram so many times and everybody's
- 40:43going there for cycling, so I need to go there too.
- 40:47Oh, you'll love it. You'll love it. It's really nice. Maybe it's a bit warm in July and August.
- 40:54Yeah, well, but then you can ride to the coast and go for a quick swim and get
- 40:59back. Yeah, that's a good idea.
- 41:02But I will keep you posted when I will be there. Yeah, it would be amazing to
- 41:07meet up. Yeah, yeah, it would be.
- 41:10Well, thank you so much for your time. I'm so glad you're part of Zone to Speak.
- 41:15And I hope to see you in Girona soon.
- 41:17Yeah, it would be nice. And thank you very much. I really enjoyed the conversation.
- 41:23Me too. Thanks.
- 41:26And that's all for today's episode. I want to thank the listeners for tuning in.
- 41:31Your support means everything. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider
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- 41:41Music.