Garmin Ride Out 2026 - More than 83.42km

On the 30th of May I took part in Garmin Ride Out 2026, and thanks to the generosity of many, I raised £725.00 for Action Medical Research. If you know me, I probably sent you my campaign page a few times 😜.

While for experienced cyclist this might not be much, it was my longest ride ever:

## Thank you!

I thank warmly the 16 legends that decided to contribute to this cause with me: Antonio, Chintan, Borna, Nick, David, James, Darrell, Adriano, Osama, Phil, Michael, Marcello, Artem, Brian, Tobias, Aniello. Know that we have put together such an amount, that Zoë Westerman (Action Medical) reached out:

I wanted to send you a quick thank you! On behalf of everyone at Action, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for your amazing fundraising efforts by taking part in the 2026 Garmin Ride Out. […]

We are still tallying up, however, the event has surpassed £60,000 raised already, which is a fantastic amount, with more to come! We don’t see too many people taking on individual fundraising at this event, so yours really stood out to us and we are so very appreciative of it.

And then, I need to thank the guy that took the time to shepherd me through it all: Mathieu Davy. A dear, long-time friend of mine, gifted with a bubbling personality, incredibly sharp all-round engineering brain, a long time athlete and someone that is never, EVER standing still. A ride like this one for him was pretty much like a little stroll down the road - but he saw how important it was for me, and he immediately said yes when I asked him to join m.

While at it, check out his bespoke furniture and wood craft business: l’Atelier - by Matt. Mathieu is a perfectionist, a craft’s man, and he always makes hard look easy, being it for wood work, model air planes, bike building or software engineering.

And of course, a big thank you to Alessandra 👰, Leonardo 🧒 and Riccardo 🧒: they have been my cheerleaders since I started spending hours every other evening sweating on Zwift. Without this, I would have never grown the confidence to see the initial Garmin email invitation and though: “maybe I can do this?"

New Forest: an amazing location

If you’ve never cycled through the New Forest, it is hard to describe just how unique the landscape feels. Going into the Garmin Ride Out, I knew I was in for a beautiful route, but I wasn’t prepared for just how magical the setting would actually be.

The defining moment of the entire ride wasn’t a challenging climb or a fast descent (well, it was when cramps arrived)… it was the locals. The New Forest is famous for its free-roaming wildlife, and sharing the asphalt with wild ponies, cattle, and donkeys completely transforms the cycling experience. One minute you are focused on your pacing, and the next, you are gently braking to let a mare and her foal cross the road. They aren’t fenced off in a field; they wander the open heathlands, ancient woodlands, and village streets completely at peace.

Riding past these animals in such an open, pristine environment made the event feel a bit like an expedition through a hidden pocket of the UK. It felt genuinely special. I kept thinking about how much my kids would love it. While the Garmin Ride Out was an amazing personal achievement, I know my next trip back to these ancient woods will be at a much slower pace, with the family in tow, introducing the kids to the free-roaming magic of the forest.

Tip for fellow riders

The animals always have the right of way! Keep a safe distance, expect sudden movements if they are crossing the road, and enjoy the excuse to slow down and take in the view. Also, look out for the cattle grids everywhere!

Science of a Milestone

Crossing the finish line at the Garmin Ride Out wasn’t just a victory for my fitness; it was a physical manifestation of a journey that completely reshaped my life over the last few years.

For most of my life, I’ve been a heavy guy. But when my career as a software engineer really took off, the reality of sedentary lifestyle caught up with me. I didn’t smoke, and I didn’t drink, but staring at screens for hours on end took its toll. My weight crept up until it peaked at nearly 120kg.

The turning point came during my 40th birthday medical check-up. I was seen by a Scottish 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 nurse 🧑‍⚕️ who didn’t mince words. She was authoritative but incredibly kind, delivering a dose of direct, honest truth that I frankly needed to hear. She looked at my stats and said bluntly:

“With this high blood pressure, and the extra weight, you are hammering your organs!”

(she said that while making a gesture: her hands, one punching into the other)

It was a massive wake-up call. My first step was immediate harm reduction: tackling my caffeine addiction. At the time, I was fuelling my working hours with upwards of eight (8!) espressos a day ☕️. But while cutting the caffeine helped my blood pressure, the weight remained stubborn.

I tried. I really tried. I had been training on and off for a couple of years, but running was taking a toll on my back and knees at 116kg. I attempted to diet more times than I can count. But life comes at you fast: deadlines, production bugs, and daily stressors would hit, my willpower would deplete, and I’d give up the attempt. I realised that white-knuckling my way through weight loss while managing a high-stress life just wasn’t sustainable.

I needed help from science

That help came in mid-2023 when I introduced a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication into my routine. If you look at my weight tracking data below, you can see the exact moment the science kicked in.

The chart shows years of volatile ups and downs, but right in the middle of 2023, the line hits a definitive cliff. For me, science provided the missing puzzle piece. It didn’t do the work for me, but it paired beautifully with the training workload I was already trying to establish. Suddenly, managing food and weight didn’t require an exhausting, constant battle against life’s daily stresses. It leveled the playing field, dropping me down to a low of nearly 86kg. And I’m still working on it: my target is sub-85kg.

The physical changes allowed me to increase my training load without destroying my knees, which ultimately led me to the starting grid of the New Forest ride. But the mental transformation has been even more dramatic.

Losing the weight and reclaiming my health has made me a better person in every facet of my life. I am a more present, energetic husband and father. Professionally, the confidence I’ve gained has completely shifted my stance; I carry myself differently, and it has fundamentally upgraded how I interact with my colleagues and leadership.

Reaching the Garmin Ride Out wasn’t just about finishing a bike ride. It was a celebration of how far science, structure, and a bit of honest Scottish advice can take you.

Fuck the Stigma: Science isn’t “Cheating”

When you share that you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, the reaction is almost always positive. But the moment you mention how you did it - that science was the catalyst - the atmosphere in the room sometimes shifts. There is a persistent, underlying stigma that using medication to conquer obesity is somehow “cheating” or taking the easy way out.

It’s an attitude driven entirely by people who have never actually faced the problem.

Why I don’t care

Frankly, I don’t care about the judgment. My priority is my health, my life, and being there for my family. When I was sitting at the doctor, talking about how my weight and blood pressure was going to kill me, nobody else’s opinion mattered. What mattered was finding a way to not just survive: to thrive. If a tool exists that protects my health and allows me to be a more present husband, an energetic father, and a more confident colleague, I will use it proudly. I’m the one judging the results, and the results speak for themselves.

Why You shouldn’t care either

The “willpower-only” crowd views weight loss as a moral test rather than a medical reality. They believe that if you just suffer enough through starvation and exhaustion, you earn your health. But that is an incredibly antiquated way of thinking. We don’t demand that people with high blood pressure or clinical depression rely solely on “willpower” to cure themselves. We give them medicine. Using a scientifically proven treatment to fix a metabolic issue isn’t a moral failure; it’s just smart health management. No one should feel pressured to choose the hardest, most inefficient path to health just to satisfy someone else’s outdated ideology.

Say it with me: Fuck the Fucking Stigma!

Genetic Reality

Obesity is not a character flaw; it is a complex, chronic disease with deep genetic links.

For many of us, our biology is wired to fight weight loss. When stress hits, deadlines loom, and life gets chaotic, a biologically driven appetite system can make long-term calorie restriction feel nearly impossible.

It is only logical and mature to recognize our biological limitations and use human ingenuity to overcome them. Science is a force for good. We readily support medical research when it comes to other areas of life - think of organizations like Action Medical Research, which funds groundbreaking medical studies to help sick children. We celebrate the science that gives those kids a fighting chance at a better life. Applying that exact same scientific rigor to metabolic health is no different.

Utilizing the fruits of modern medicine to improve our lives and extend our time on this earth isn’t “cheating.” It is a triumph of human progress. And it’s time we started treating it that way.

Wegovy or Mounjaro?

If you ever thought about this stuff, and you read up to here, you probably are thinking:

Are you taking Wegovy or Mounjaro?

I started with Wegovy (Semaglutide), but then I switched to Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) to save some money. To my surprise, Mounjaro has been more effective. Don’t need me to provide links: just search and you are going to find plenty of research on the subject: Tirzepatide guarantees better results.

I wouldn’t bother you with the details here, but in short: Mounjaro has added to the “hunger control” also a perceivable acceleration of metabolism. Not “I’m 20-again” metabolism, but definitely an improved one.

The folks I buy it from in the UK, Rightangled, have a discount-code link that they keep emailing me about. I’ll leave my discount link here: do with it what you please.

Not the end, but the start

As Mathieu told me at the end of the event:

Welcome at the 80km club! 🏆

Next stop, 100km club! 😮‍💨

That, plus a bunch of advices in regards to my saddle height, my sodium intake during long rides to help with cramps, and other great advices (I did say he is a great dude).

I don’t intend to stop: I’ll keep training and challenge myself on longer and longer rides. But I will keep it simple: I live in a very beautiful area, and the loops I usually do can become “time challenges” as well as “double loop challenges”.

But if I had to put down a specific challenge for my self right now, it would be: on my first 100km ride, I want to finish it without any cramps. That would be pretty grand!