My dear compatriots, I have failed you yet again! Following yesterday's failure to bike to work, I once again did not bike to work today. I decided last night that I should take it easy and let my throat get better before I start heaving cold, dry air through it again.
I still have that barking, earth-shaking cough, and my throat is still sore, but it seems the sinus pressure is finally lifting and I do generally feel better than I did yesterday. Perhaps that half-day off yesterday actually did something for me! Today, I got the impression that if I'd been able to sleep in for an extra couple of hours this morning, I would have been able to really kick this cold that has been dogging me. Instead, I got my usual 8 hours' sleep and consequently felt tired and sick (though better!) all day.
To my credit, I wasn't the only one. Just about everyone at work was exhausted and/or sick-looking today. One of my co-workers, who is a disgustingly fit man of nearly 50 who participates in triathlons and routinely goes for 8km runs over the lunch hour, even decided to take it easy and forgo his run today. That made me feel better about not biking.
Then again, I saw some cyclists out there on campus, with their flashing safety lights and their heavy-treaded tires and their tight pants. I felt the familiar pang of jealousy to see them as I guiltily drove past and begrudgingly paid $12 for parking. How I longed to feel well enough to be like them! Except for the pants . I'll stick with non-camel-toe-inducing pants for the time being.
At least I can look forward to studding Mike up. That's right. My 700c studded tires finally arrived, so I'm going to pick them up from MEC this weekend! Seeing as how I'm useless when it comes to bike maintenance, I'll probably pay someone to put them on. Then, boo-yeah, I'm going to have a tall, slender, sleek machine with studded tires to get me to work in safety and in good time! I can't wait to try them out!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wimped Out
I've been thinking about a couple things:
(a) I've been either full-on sick or just under the weather for weeks straight now;
(b) my weekends, the time most people use to rest and practice self-care, are usually just as busy and demanding on me as any given workday (and are sometimes even more so) due to being a single parent to an almost-toddler, so my efforts to rest up and get over my cold on the weekends never really work out so well;
(c) it may just be that I need to reconsider just how committed I am to biking, considering it extends into "if I'm well enough to work, I'm well enough to bike there" territory, which I suspect has led to prolonged illness.
So, today, feeling just as sick as I did yesterday, I decided to stay home for the morning. I called in and got the receptionist to reschedule my morning clients, hoping that an extra couple of hours in bed might make the difference between losing or winning the battle against this cold. I decided not to take a full day because: (a) I need the hours; (b) I get bored too easily when staying alone at home; (c) my daughter was in daycare for the day and as much as that was necessary for me to truly rest, I felt guilty about having her there while I did nothing at home; and, (d), I figured I could handle the afternoon, as I didn't have any clients - just an hour of intake and then a two-hour team meeting. I could handle that.
I didn't bike, though - I drove. And my perpetually sore throat, which gets exponentially worse for every minute that doesn't see food or fluids passing through it, made me eat more than necessary today. And not just more - I also mean worse. There's something about feeling tired that makes me crave sugar, and I got plenty of that this afternoon when I bought a package of sour gummi worms. It's the worst thing I've eaten in a few weeks, so it's not really that big a deal, but it's also not great.
Ugghhhh, between the cold, not biking, eating too much, and eating unhealthy food, I am utterly dreading the November weigh-in. Here's hoping the little biking I actually did this month will counteract all the non-biking and sick-feeling and crap-eating I've been up to!! :S
(a) I've been either full-on sick or just under the weather for weeks straight now;
(b) my weekends, the time most people use to rest and practice self-care, are usually just as busy and demanding on me as any given workday (and are sometimes even more so) due to being a single parent to an almost-toddler, so my efforts to rest up and get over my cold on the weekends never really work out so well;
(c) it may just be that I need to reconsider just how committed I am to biking, considering it extends into "if I'm well enough to work, I'm well enough to bike there" territory, which I suspect has led to prolonged illness.
So, today, feeling just as sick as I did yesterday, I decided to stay home for the morning. I called in and got the receptionist to reschedule my morning clients, hoping that an extra couple of hours in bed might make the difference between losing or winning the battle against this cold. I decided not to take a full day because: (a) I need the hours; (b) I get bored too easily when staying alone at home; (c) my daughter was in daycare for the day and as much as that was necessary for me to truly rest, I felt guilty about having her there while I did nothing at home; and, (d), I figured I could handle the afternoon, as I didn't have any clients - just an hour of intake and then a two-hour team meeting. I could handle that.
I didn't bike, though - I drove. And my perpetually sore throat, which gets exponentially worse for every minute that doesn't see food or fluids passing through it, made me eat more than necessary today. And not just more - I also mean worse. There's something about feeling tired that makes me crave sugar, and I got plenty of that this afternoon when I bought a package of sour gummi worms. It's the worst thing I've eaten in a few weeks, so it's not really that big a deal, but it's also not great.
Ugghhhh, between the cold, not biking, eating too much, and eating unhealthy food, I am utterly dreading the November weigh-in. Here's hoping the little biking I actually did this month will counteract all the non-biking and sick-feeling and crap-eating I've been up to!! :S
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Week Nine - Day Three
BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 28 min.
TIME BACK: 29 min.
WEATHER: overcast, light snow, 1C (-3C with windchill), 15km/hr wind there; overcast, 3C, 11km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, turtleneck, waterproof shell, scarf, double gloves
NOTES:
I'm not sure if I'll go to work tomorrow. It depends on how well I sleep tonight and how well I feel tomorrow morning. Holy moly, I may actually take my first sick day from work! I would drop my daughter off at daycare, and then come home, and instead of picking up my bike and riding to work as I do every morning, I would just go inside, snuggle into a fleece blankie, and rest. Just drink tea and read all day. Mmmm. Oh, screw this - I'm taking a sick day tomorrow whether I'm sick or not!! This sounds too good to pass up!
In all seriousness, I really do dislike missing work. I genuinely enjoy it there, and I know which clients I'm seeing tomorrow and I'd hate to not be there for them. On the other hand, maybe all I need is a good day of rest - a day when I can take an eight-hour break from both my jobs: the internship and parenting. The whole time I've been fighting these colds, I haven't really had a single day to truly rest like that, and maybe that's all I need.
I'll see. Here's hoping that I fight off whatever is infecting me as I sleep tonight! But if I don't, and I'm still feeling sick tomorrow, I am staying home. Pajama pants, here I come!
TIME THERE: 28 min.
TIME BACK: 29 min.
WEATHER: overcast, light snow, 1C (-3C with windchill), 15km/hr wind there; overcast, 3C, 11km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, turtleneck, waterproof shell, scarf, double gloves
NOTES:
Sicko
I do believe it is official: sometime between yesterday afternoon and this morning, the feeling of being under the weather officially turned into a cold. No amount of vitamins, supplements, cold remedies, or sinus rinses have managed to stave off the impending doom. Alas. Now my eyes are perpetually watery and staying at half-mast because of the sinus pressure behind them, my throat is sore, my breathing is wheezy, my ears feel blocked, and I have a barking cough that rattles the earth every once in a while. I still biked to work today, and my breathing was okay the whole time, but I just felt gross. Sore, tired - everything you might expect to feel when biking in the cold when you have a cold. I wouldn't recommend it.I'm not sure if I'll go to work tomorrow. It depends on how well I sleep tonight and how well I feel tomorrow morning. Holy moly, I may actually take my first sick day from work! I would drop my daughter off at daycare, and then come home, and instead of picking up my bike and riding to work as I do every morning, I would just go inside, snuggle into a fleece blankie, and rest. Just drink tea and read all day. Mmmm. Oh, screw this - I'm taking a sick day tomorrow whether I'm sick or not!! This sounds too good to pass up!
In all seriousness, I really do dislike missing work. I genuinely enjoy it there, and I know which clients I'm seeing tomorrow and I'd hate to not be there for them. On the other hand, maybe all I need is a good day of rest - a day when I can take an eight-hour break from both my jobs: the internship and parenting. The whole time I've been fighting these colds, I haven't really had a single day to truly rest like that, and maybe that's all I need.
I'll see. Here's hoping that I fight off whatever is infecting me as I sleep tonight! But if I don't, and I'm still feeling sick tomorrow, I am staying home. Pajama pants, here I come!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Week Nine - Day Two
BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 30 min.
WEATHER: overcast with very light rain, 3C, 28km/hr wind there; overcast, 7C, 20km/hr wind (up to 30km/hr gusts) on the way back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, turtleneck, waterproof shell, scarf, running gloves (scarf in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
My daughter is just about 18 months old now and she's in daycare. If you have children yourself, or know anything about children, you must know that children are essentially carrier monkeys in adorable fur-less packages. Even during my pregnancy - a time where just about no over-the-counter remedy is safe for the baby - I had one viral sinus infection after another. I could do nothing but gargle salt-water and try to get as much rest as I could, but since I was simultaneously rushing through the last of my coursework and preparing for the candidacy exam that was scheduled 3 weeks before she was born, the rest thing wasn't happening. So, salt-water, my friend, you were the only one there for me.
I was still suffering from the latest sinus infection when I went into labour. This, to me, is sign #427 that there is no God. Throughout the first year of my daughter's life, she and I bonded over the various illnesses we caught and shared together. For a time, my daughter and I spent more time sick than healthy - two weeks of a cold, one week healthy, then three weeks with a sinus infection, then one week healthy . . . the pattern went on something like that for months. Again, if you're a parent, you'll understand the agony of being devastated by illness and still having to take care of a baby - especially if that baby is also sick and therefore more needy than ever. All I wanted was a break, some rest, the freedom to take a long, hot bath and then go directly to bed. I was grateful for the help my Mom gave me when she could outside of working full-time, but she could not protect me from the grave realization that parenting is one job that doesn't allow for sick days.
And so, as the last of the leaves fall from the trees and the cold wind blows wintry omens in from the northwest, I pin my daughter to the floor and torture her with the administration of antibiotic eye drops before I bike to work with a sore throat and a dry, hacking cough. Once again, we are sick, and I can't recall a single day of feeling perfectly well since the last time I was sick over Thanksgiving weekend two weeks ago. So far I've been convinced that the biking helps boost my immune system - helps me fight off the colds and sinus infections that threaten me at every turn. And yet, today as I rode home directly into the westerly wind - felt my lungs burn with the cold air, my ears ache from the wind rushing past them, my head pound from the sinus pressure building up behind my eyes - I wondered if biking may not be helping. Maybe I need rest, relaxation, and warmth more than fresh air and exercise right now.
Then again, maybe - just maybe - all I need is a good night's sleep. Here's hoping I finally get that tonight.
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 30 min.
WEATHER: overcast with very light rain, 3C, 28km/hr wind there; overcast, 7C, 20km/hr wind (up to 30km/hr gusts) on the way back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, turtleneck, waterproof shell, scarf, running gloves (scarf in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
The Carrier Monkey and my Constant Disease
My daughter is just about 18 months old now and she's in daycare. If you have children yourself, or know anything about children, you must know that children are essentially carrier monkeys in adorable fur-less packages. Even during my pregnancy - a time where just about no over-the-counter remedy is safe for the baby - I had one viral sinus infection after another. I could do nothing but gargle salt-water and try to get as much rest as I could, but since I was simultaneously rushing through the last of my coursework and preparing for the candidacy exam that was scheduled 3 weeks before she was born, the rest thing wasn't happening. So, salt-water, my friend, you were the only one there for me.
I was still suffering from the latest sinus infection when I went into labour. This, to me, is sign #427 that there is no God. Throughout the first year of my daughter's life, she and I bonded over the various illnesses we caught and shared together. For a time, my daughter and I spent more time sick than healthy - two weeks of a cold, one week healthy, then three weeks with a sinus infection, then one week healthy . . . the pattern went on something like that for months. Again, if you're a parent, you'll understand the agony of being devastated by illness and still having to take care of a baby - especially if that baby is also sick and therefore more needy than ever. All I wanted was a break, some rest, the freedom to take a long, hot bath and then go directly to bed. I was grateful for the help my Mom gave me when she could outside of working full-time, but she could not protect me from the grave realization that parenting is one job that doesn't allow for sick days.
And so, as the last of the leaves fall from the trees and the cold wind blows wintry omens in from the northwest, I pin my daughter to the floor and torture her with the administration of antibiotic eye drops before I bike to work with a sore throat and a dry, hacking cough. Once again, we are sick, and I can't recall a single day of feeling perfectly well since the last time I was sick over Thanksgiving weekend two weeks ago. So far I've been convinced that the biking helps boost my immune system - helps me fight off the colds and sinus infections that threaten me at every turn. And yet, today as I rode home directly into the westerly wind - felt my lungs burn with the cold air, my ears ache from the wind rushing past them, my head pound from the sinus pressure building up behind my eyes - I wondered if biking may not be helping. Maybe I need rest, relaxation, and warmth more than fresh air and exercise right now.
Then again, maybe - just maybe - all I need is a good night's sleep. Here's hoping I finally get that tonight.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Week Nine - Day One
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 1C, 6km/hr wind there; overcast, 11C, 6km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, scarf, running gloves (scarf and gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
Dear Jack Ass . . .
Hmm, no, that won't do, that's far too crass. Let's start over.
Dear Mr. and/or Mrs. Ass,
I would like to delicately remind you that I exist. I know my "vehicle" is laughably lighter and slower than yours, and I appreciate that sometimes you may not expect to see me on the road alongside you because there aren't a whole lot of us cyclists out on the streets in this town. Still, I exist, and I'm following the rules of the road, so I respectfully suggest that you do the same.
For fear of being unclear about what I mean, please allow me to elaborate. When I am riding on the right side of the right lane, I would appreciate it if you didn't speed past me and then make an immediate right, cutting me off and forcing me to brake hard lest I slam into the side of your car, t-bone style. I would also appreciate it if you did not speed up behind me, slam on the brakes so as not to run into me, then honk and shout expletives at me because I happen to be going slower than you in your Hemi-outfitted truck. I assure you, this rudeness isn't necessary, as I leave plenty of room to pass me without swerving into the adjacent lane (at least I would if your obscenely oversize truck didn't take up an entire lane in itself - which reminds me, have you ever heard of overcompensation?).
Also, and this may come as more of a surprise to you, I would really appreciate if you would treat me like any other vehicle when we both approach a four-way stop. If you arrive at the four-way stop before me, please stop at the sign and then proceed through the intersection without politely waving me on ahead of you. When you wave me through, both of us end up hesitating at the intersection while we each try to figure out what the other is trying to do, and you'd be surprised how often I can't actually see you waving me on due to glare or other issues. When both of us are confused about what the other is about to do, this leads to the potential of both of us starting through the intersection at the same time and having a collision that both of us were trying to avoid in the first place. Besides, sometimes when you do this I end up having to come to a complete stop when, if you just went through before me, I may be able to "hesitate" at the stop sign and therefore not lose all my momentum. Starting and stopping is not that big of a deal when you're in a car, but when you're cycling it takes a lot of effort to get back up to speed after coming to a complete, feet-on-the-ground stop.
My dear Mr./Mrs. Ass, I speak to you as a fellow car owner and driver. Believe me, I love driving - I love it. I love road trips - I was even once the sole driver in a Toronto-to-California road trip a number of years ago, in an old car that didn't have cruise control or even a radio, and loved the whole trip! I now have a car with a manual transmission because I attend more to the road and the act of driving this way, and I like that. So when I say I'm a driver, I really mean it, I love it. So I'm not your enemy, I'm not morally or philosophically opposed to you, nor do I judge you for driving a car. It's just that when I'm not driving, when I'm riding my bike, I would appreciate a little courtesy, a little attention, and a little more following the rules of the road. That's all I ask. And hopefully this way I'll get through the next year of bike-commuting without being run over by you! Wouldn't that be the best situation for everyone involved?
I'm sure my daughter would think so.
Love always,
The Healthy Biker
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 1C, 6km/hr wind there; overcast, 11C, 6km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, scarf, running gloves (scarf and gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
An Open Letter to the Drivers in my Fair City
Dear Jack Ass . . .
Hmm, no, that won't do, that's far too crass. Let's start over.
Dear Mr. and/or Mrs. Ass,
I would like to delicately remind you that I exist. I know my "vehicle" is laughably lighter and slower than yours, and I appreciate that sometimes you may not expect to see me on the road alongside you because there aren't a whole lot of us cyclists out on the streets in this town. Still, I exist, and I'm following the rules of the road, so I respectfully suggest that you do the same.
For fear of being unclear about what I mean, please allow me to elaborate. When I am riding on the right side of the right lane, I would appreciate it if you didn't speed past me and then make an immediate right, cutting me off and forcing me to brake hard lest I slam into the side of your car, t-bone style. I would also appreciate it if you did not speed up behind me, slam on the brakes so as not to run into me, then honk and shout expletives at me because I happen to be going slower than you in your Hemi-outfitted truck. I assure you, this rudeness isn't necessary, as I leave plenty of room to pass me without swerving into the adjacent lane (at least I would if your obscenely oversize truck didn't take up an entire lane in itself - which reminds me, have you ever heard of overcompensation?).
Also, and this may come as more of a surprise to you, I would really appreciate if you would treat me like any other vehicle when we both approach a four-way stop. If you arrive at the four-way stop before me, please stop at the sign and then proceed through the intersection without politely waving me on ahead of you. When you wave me through, both of us end up hesitating at the intersection while we each try to figure out what the other is trying to do, and you'd be surprised how often I can't actually see you waving me on due to glare or other issues. When both of us are confused about what the other is about to do, this leads to the potential of both of us starting through the intersection at the same time and having a collision that both of us were trying to avoid in the first place. Besides, sometimes when you do this I end up having to come to a complete stop when, if you just went through before me, I may be able to "hesitate" at the stop sign and therefore not lose all my momentum. Starting and stopping is not that big of a deal when you're in a car, but when you're cycling it takes a lot of effort to get back up to speed after coming to a complete, feet-on-the-ground stop.
My dear Mr./Mrs. Ass, I speak to you as a fellow car owner and driver. Believe me, I love driving - I love it. I love road trips - I was even once the sole driver in a Toronto-to-California road trip a number of years ago, in an old car that didn't have cruise control or even a radio, and loved the whole trip! I now have a car with a manual transmission because I attend more to the road and the act of driving this way, and I like that. So when I say I'm a driver, I really mean it, I love it. So I'm not your enemy, I'm not morally or philosophically opposed to you, nor do I judge you for driving a car. It's just that when I'm not driving, when I'm riding my bike, I would appreciate a little courtesy, a little attention, and a little more following the rules of the road. That's all I ask. And hopefully this way I'll get through the next year of bike-commuting without being run over by you! Wouldn't that be the best situation for everyone involved?
I'm sure my daughter would think so.
Love always,
The Healthy Biker
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