The Bike

I started researching routes long before I got my bike - the routes even factored into where I bought my house when I moved in June. Should I get something near the east end of Whyte Ave, where my entire commute would be along a busy commercial-residential-university corridor, or go with something a little farther away from the university in the west end with a commute along less busy roads? I opted for longer route, less busy roads, mostly because I die a little inside every time a car speeds past me while I awkwardly pedal away at 20 km/hr in the curb lane.

I bought my bike - a Schwinn Circuit XT 700C - a few weeks ago from Canadian Tire. I know, I know, it's not a proper bike store, and when I had to get a tire replaced within a couple days of buying it, the poor service reminded me why so many people opt for a more expensive bike at a bike store - the service, the expertise, the selection. I also briefly checked out my options at BikeWorks, aka Edmonton Bicycle Commuter's Society, where they sell used and donated bike components at very reasonable prices. While I admired the price points (about $100 for a full bike), the work I'd have to put in to building one myself was too daunting for a first-time bike buyer like myself.

So I went with Canadian Tire, a compromise between easy and cheap. I ended up with a bike that probably doesn't fit me very well (I have basically no clearance between my vajayjay and the bike frame when I stand with my feet on the pavement) and doesn't appear to have adjustable handlebars (which really, really sucks given that I could use another inch or more in stem height, leading to neck and arm strain). At least a stem extension can help with the handlebars - I'm stuck with the size of the frame.

The bike was advertised as a hybrid - having the thin, fast wheels of a road bike but the more upright riding position of a mountain bike - which my web-research suggested was the kind of bike I should be looking for. However, some web-reviewers of the bike suggest that it's more of a straight-up road bike, given how frail it is. No curb-jumping for this bad-boy! Especially since I'm at the very top end of its recommended weight limits, I'm very cautious about any curbs, potholes, and cracked pavement I encounter on it.

The Schwinn was within my meagre budget - I got it on sale for $240, regular $320. It came with no fancy goods - no fenders, rack, or any of those useful accessories that will make daily bike commuting a realistic option - so those are things I'll have to spend extra for. The saddle is not the softest thing I've ever sat on (that would probably be my cat) and has caused some serious ass-bone bruisage, but my ass bones are developing some nice callouses so daily riding is becoming less like barebacking an old curmudgeonly donkey through the Grand Canyon. That's a technical term, by the way.

So far, I really have no complaints about the bike. It's light and fast, which is nice for someone new to biking and horrendously out of shape because it allows me to cruise along at fun speeds without lung-puncturing effort. Unless I hit an incline, in which case, I inch that much closer to death.

Having read some other useful blogs about commuting year-round through brutal Canadian winters, I've determined that my skinny little whipper-snapper of a bike will be useless once the snow starts to fall. When that happens, I intend to wrap it up and put it in the basement to hibernate through the cold months while I grind out my winter commutes on a well-equipped mountain bike. By well-equipped I mean front and back lights, full-length fenders, tire chains - oh yeaaaah, tire chains, I'm going all out dollface - and whatever else I might need to survive.

So, that's my bike! I wonder if I should name it. It only seems right. I'll think about it. Any suggestions?

Preparation - Finding the Best Route

My commuting challenge begins along with my internship on September 1st. In the meantime, I've been busy preparing to meet this challenge head-on!

First of all, what kind of academic would I be without conducting some research? I have spent some time over the past few weeks mapping out different routes I can take to get to school. The first route, a 6 km scenic jaunt through the river valley, was the shortest I found. Once I found a suitable bike (which I'll comment further on later), and once my daughter started daycare, I tried this route out for the first time last week. I wanted to see how long it would take me, how difficult it would be, etc.

The river valley route was absolutely beautiful, and remarkably difficult for me. The first 3 km there is either flat or downhill, which lends itself to easy coasting up to 40 km an hour depending on the grade of the decline. The remaining 3 km alternates between flat and ascending steep hills. There is a particularly brutal hill going up to the university from the river valley that kills me, and I have to get off the bike and walk up, panting so hard I feel like I'm going to vomit. I know it sounds really fun, but it's actually not. On the way back, going down that brutal hill doesn't lend itself to high-speed coasting because it's curvy and is a multi-use path for bikes, rollerbladers, pedestrians, etc., so one can't just barrel down the hill without being a massive liability. The 3 km that was an easy coast on the way to school is now a low-grade but constant uphill battle. Having done this route round-trip twice, I can say that it is a great physical challenge and gets me to school in about 31-33 minutes, but I dread the hills and I arrive at school looking and feeling like a complete mess. I also feel the need to collapse in bed at around 9 pm, exhausted.

The second route I tried out last week was through the city, riding along major streets, going over a bridge across the river (no in and out of the valley for me!), and landing at school approximately 8.5 km later. What it lacks in scenery it well makes up for in scariness for having to bike so close to fast-moving cars. The good news is that it's pretty flat the whole way! Despite being a longer route, I biked it in 29-31 minutes, making it more time-economical (a meaningful consideration since my daughter's in daycare that much longer every time I take a longer route). I also don't feel like I'm dying a horrible death when I do it, though wth the proximity to traffic I fear I may very well meet with a horrible end anyway! I definitely need to gain confidence as a street rider, stop worrying whether the people in the cars are judging me as they go by, and perhaps take a course on street riding to learn how to properly change lanes and signal with my arms and all that. When I'm riding right beside cars, I don't feel confident enough to take my hands off the handlebars long enough to make a proper signal! I suspect this will be my route of choice, particularly because I can ride it in the winter (as the river valley route will not be plowed but rather used instead for cross-country skiing).

I've done the city route a couple of times now and have experimented with different variations on the route, taking as many side-streets as possible and avoiding the major roads as much as I can. Though I will indeed have to ride on the busy streets for part of the journey, I can still take side-streets for much of it, leading to a less stressful, more scenic ride. I must say, though, I now understand why street-cyclists sometimes ride in the middle of the road - the closer I got to the curb, the more gravel, pot-holes, and ashphalt cracks I came across, some being quite dangerous to run into. I imagine this will be especially treacherous in the spring when pot-holes grow to super-villain proportions and are covered by melting snow and puddles. I also wonder what I'll do about riding on the side of the road when snowplows leave massive heaps of snow along the sides of roads precisely where I plan to ride. Hmm. This will definitely not be easy.

I must say, after only a few days of practice-commuting, I'm already feeling the difference in my thighs, which are getting noticeably more muscular. Not thinner, mind you - muscular. I'm perfectly happy with that now because just about any physical change aside from gaining more fat around the mid-section is welcome! I do wonder, though, how I'll feel about having a cyclist's thick, muscular thighs when I've lost a significant amount of weight. I've always been quite curvy - wide hips, large breasts, and the lot - so I imagine thick thighs will fit in with my body type just fine. I am most certainly not built to ever look like a model, but it would be nice to eventually say good-bye to friction burns on my thighs!

Well, one can dream, anyway . . .

The Beginning

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Healthy Biker blog!

Let me tell you a little something about myself. I am a 27-year-old single mom, entering my last of TEN YEARS of post-secondary while pursuing my PhD in psychology, and I am currently in the range of 100 lbs. overweight. My BMI is 39.5 (if you put any stock into that), putting me into that fabulous category of "obese". Everyone wants to be there, but only a select (though growing, in more ways than one!) few of us get to be. I am one of those lucky few.

I just bought a bike - like bicycle, not motorcycle (I'm not that cool). I haven't ridden a bike since elementary school, when I rode on sidewalks and didn't wear a helmet and didn't go more than a few blocks to my friends' houses. Those were the days! But then I learned how to drive and got a car, and have been lazy ever since.

The reason I bought a bike is because I've put on a lot of weight from the sedentary, stressful life of being both a graduate student and a single parent. It is my intention to spend this last year of my PhD - my internship year - bike commuting to my internship site (which is about 8 km away at the university's student counselling centre) in an attempt to graduate a healthier, happier person. Because, really, who wants to have a psychologist who's 100 lbs. overweight and unhappy about herself? More importantly, who wants to have a Mom like that? I need to set a good example for my future clients, but more importantly for my daughter. I have struggled with weight problems since early childhood, and I hope my daughter won't have to do the same.

I'm facing some particular daunting challenges. For one, I'm pretty self-conscious about the state of my body right now, and it takes a lot of courage to get on a bike and jiggle around in public while nervously and sweatily biking alongside cars on my daily commute. Secondly, I'm not used to biking and I have bad hips/knee joints - one of the fabulous consequences of being so overweight for so long - and I wonder how long these weak knees will hold out. Lastly, I happen to live in one of the coldest major centres in Canada, so my dedication to bike-commuting will take me through approximately six arduous and dangerous months of winter cycling. For a novice, that's a very scary proposition.

This blog will document my bike-commuting successes, failures, and HOPEFULLY resulting weight loss. I acknowledge that exercise alone won't help me lose all the weight, so diet will undoubtedly come into play, and I'll document efforts/challenges in that, too. It's my hope that by putting my effort out there into the blogosphere, I will feel compelled to stick with my commuting challenge, and I would love it if others felt inspired to challenge themselves similarly. There are so many reasons to do it - the physical and mental health benefits, the eco-benefits, the financial benefits - that I hope some of you out there will join me!