BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 32 min.
TIME BACK: 27 min. (leaving from a building a couple blocks farther along my route than usual)
WEATHER: light snow, -14C (-22C with wind chill), 15 km/hr wind there; clear, -10C (-16C with wind chill), 11 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: fleece pants, turtleneck, fleece jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
Fat fluffy snowflakes cascading off my eyelashes and down my cheeks, dusting the front of my black fleece cycling gear in a pillowy white layer from neck to ankles. It's harder to see as I cringe into the blowing snow and blink away the frozen precipitation - I really should have worn my goggles - yet somehow it still feels magical.
Working lunch today. I eat the snacks I brought, but not the actual meal, there's just not enough time. I don't even feel hungry. But then I start biking home, and I just feel worn out. Not even tired, really, but like I'm running on empty. No surprise there. But the good news: I'm not getting yelled at by passing motorists! Not even once!
Go out for dinner with my daughter. It's really nice for the first 15 minutes, and then she gets bored. Let the gong show begin! This is why parents, especially single parents, rarely eat out.
At home. Daughter's in her crib upstairs, listening to her musical aquarium toy. My belly is full of delicious vegetarian curry and coconut rice. I am so full and content I just want to fall asleep at the keyboard right now. Mmm. Right now, life is good.
They're just the little things, but taken together, they're everything.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Week Twenty-Three - Day Four: No Love
BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 30 min.
TIME BACK: 28 min. (woot!)
WEATHER: overcast, -9C (-15C with wind chill), 13 km/hr wind there; overcast, -9C, 9 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: fleece pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
Oh, fellow Edmontonians, can't we just live in peace?
Yesterday on the way home from work, I got a "Try using the bike lane!" yelled at me from a passing car. This morning, a black Escalade (I can only assume it was driven by a drug dealer and/or pimp) drove past and someone - a passenger-side woman, just like yesterday - verbally assaulted me with "Get off the road!" Perhaps she was just frustrated with her work as the pimp's #2 Bitch (there are hierarchies everywhere, collaboration be damned). Still, that kind of behaviour isn't necessary. Especially along Stony Plain Road, which is wide and generally clear of snow and upon which I'm able to ride so far to the right that cars can pass me without even moving out of the lane. Come to think of it, the woman who yelled at me from the Escalade was actually driving two lanes over from me, so I really don't understand what caused her to release her inner demons on me. Anyway . . . I was still reeling from this when, further along in my ride, I was crossing at an intersection when a bus that was not yet at the intersection in question honked at me as though I'd somehow cut it off - which, by the way, I hadn't.
Oh, President Barack Obama, we have so much more in common than you might think. You're trying to get beyond bipartisanship and bring in policy that works for your country regardless of which party it represents. I'm also straddling the line between two opposing groups - I am a cyclist, and I'm also a driver. I love both methods of transportation, do my best to follow the rules and stay safe regardless of my vehicle of choice, and can appreciate both perspectives on whether cyclists should be allowed on roadways or not. I would love to bring together the drivers and the cyclists and engage in some meaningful debate about policies that affect the safety and efficiency of how everyone gets around, whether they're in a 6000 lb Hummer or riding a 20 lb road bike (though, I must state my bias: anyone who thinks they need to own and drive a Hummer is probably an asshole). But the two sides are so divided! Is it even possible to share love between cyclists and drivers, or is this a lost cause?
After days like yesterday and today, I'm feeling pretty doubtful that we'll ever see eye to eye. And all I'm thinking as I'm cycling along is, "Come on, drivers: where is the love?"
TIME THERE: 30 min.
TIME BACK: 28 min. (woot!)
WEATHER: overcast, -9C (-15C with wind chill), 13 km/hr wind there; overcast, -9C, 9 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: fleece pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
Oh, fellow Edmontonians, can't we just live in peace?
Yesterday on the way home from work, I got a "Try using the bike lane!" yelled at me from a passing car. This morning, a black Escalade (I can only assume it was driven by a drug dealer and/or pimp) drove past and someone - a passenger-side woman, just like yesterday - verbally assaulted me with "Get off the road!" Perhaps she was just frustrated with her work as the pimp's #2 Bitch (there are hierarchies everywhere, collaboration be damned). Still, that kind of behaviour isn't necessary. Especially along Stony Plain Road, which is wide and generally clear of snow and upon which I'm able to ride so far to the right that cars can pass me without even moving out of the lane. Come to think of it, the woman who yelled at me from the Escalade was actually driving two lanes over from me, so I really don't understand what caused her to release her inner demons on me. Anyway . . . I was still reeling from this when, further along in my ride, I was crossing at an intersection when a bus that was not yet at the intersection in question honked at me as though I'd somehow cut it off - which, by the way, I hadn't.
Oh, President Barack Obama, we have so much more in common than you might think. You're trying to get beyond bipartisanship and bring in policy that works for your country regardless of which party it represents. I'm also straddling the line between two opposing groups - I am a cyclist, and I'm also a driver. I love both methods of transportation, do my best to follow the rules and stay safe regardless of my vehicle of choice, and can appreciate both perspectives on whether cyclists should be allowed on roadways or not. I would love to bring together the drivers and the cyclists and engage in some meaningful debate about policies that affect the safety and efficiency of how everyone gets around, whether they're in a 6000 lb Hummer or riding a 20 lb road bike (though, I must state my bias: anyone who thinks they need to own and drive a Hummer is probably an asshole). But the two sides are so divided! Is it even possible to share love between cyclists and drivers, or is this a lost cause?
After days like yesterday and today, I'm feeling pretty doubtful that we'll ever see eye to eye. And all I'm thinking as I'm cycling along is, "Come on, drivers: where is the love?"
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Week Twenty-Three - Day Three: Release the Beast
BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 30 min.
TIME BACK: 33 min.
WEATHER: overcast, -7C (-13C with wind chill), 15 km/hr wind there; overcast, -6C, 9 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
With a belly full of dinner and my toddler tucked away in bed, the events of the day take on a very different perspective. I feel calm now, content, at peace. Not every second word of my inner dialogue is a swear. However, earlier today, such was not the case.
It started when I was biking home on-road along 100th Avenue, along the northern ridge of the river valley. With the recent snowfall and mild weather, the terrain has been fairly treacherous - what snow exists on the ground is either slushy, mushy, mousse-like, hard-packed, or some combination thereof. This makes for some difficult biking because I never really know when I'm going to be able to plow through, get stuck, or end up sliding in any given patch of snow I have to go through. So I'm cautious: I bike slower than usual, take turns and curves at low speeds, and I "take the lane", which means that I bike as far to the right of a road lane as is safe, but sometimes that means taking up half the lane to bike in a tire rut.
I was doing my usual cautious riding today when a red minivan pulled up beside me. The passenger side window rolled down and all I heard was a woman yell at me: "Try using the bike lane!" before the minivan sped past without allowing me to respond. This woman's adorable little gesture of intolerance infuriated me.
A couple of blocks away, I ended up catching up to the minivan at a red light, and I was very tempted to knock on the window, ask her to roll it down again, and offer my reply. I would have liked to say something like, "Excuse me, ma'am, please allow me to retort. There are TWO reasons I am not using the bike lane: first, the only designated bike lane on this road is a contra-flow bike lane on the left side of the road, which is designated for cyclists traveling against traffic on a one-way street; second, the contra-flow bike lane is currently covered in snow. I understand that you don't like being held up behind me, but I have just as much of a right to be on this road as you do, so a little more courtesy would be most appreciated."
However, I didn't do this. The reason I didn't assert myself in this most informative way is because in the moment, I realized that there was no way that I would say anything like that. In fact, if I actually had confronted that woman, it probably would have been a lot more like this: "Fuck you, you ignorant, entitled bitch! You don't own this fucking road! Who the fuck do you think you are yelling at me from your tinted fucking windows - on a minivan?? what the fuck! - telling me how to ride when you don't even know what the fucking rules are. I have RIGHTS, mother fucker! AND I know your license plate number! So don't fuck with me!"
It's probably a good thing I bit my tongue.
TIME THERE: 30 min.
TIME BACK: 33 min.
WEATHER: overcast, -7C (-13C with wind chill), 15 km/hr wind there; overcast, -6C, 9 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
With a belly full of dinner and my toddler tucked away in bed, the events of the day take on a very different perspective. I feel calm now, content, at peace. Not every second word of my inner dialogue is a swear. However, earlier today, such was not the case.
It started when I was biking home on-road along 100th Avenue, along the northern ridge of the river valley. With the recent snowfall and mild weather, the terrain has been fairly treacherous - what snow exists on the ground is either slushy, mushy, mousse-like, hard-packed, or some combination thereof. This makes for some difficult biking because I never really know when I'm going to be able to plow through, get stuck, or end up sliding in any given patch of snow I have to go through. So I'm cautious: I bike slower than usual, take turns and curves at low speeds, and I "take the lane", which means that I bike as far to the right of a road lane as is safe, but sometimes that means taking up half the lane to bike in a tire rut.
I was doing my usual cautious riding today when a red minivan pulled up beside me. The passenger side window rolled down and all I heard was a woman yell at me: "Try using the bike lane!" before the minivan sped past without allowing me to respond. This woman's adorable little gesture of intolerance infuriated me.
A couple of blocks away, I ended up catching up to the minivan at a red light, and I was very tempted to knock on the window, ask her to roll it down again, and offer my reply. I would have liked to say something like, "Excuse me, ma'am, please allow me to retort. There are TWO reasons I am not using the bike lane: first, the only designated bike lane on this road is a contra-flow bike lane on the left side of the road, which is designated for cyclists traveling against traffic on a one-way street; second, the contra-flow bike lane is currently covered in snow. I understand that you don't like being held up behind me, but I have just as much of a right to be on this road as you do, so a little more courtesy would be most appreciated."
However, I didn't do this. The reason I didn't assert myself in this most informative way is because in the moment, I realized that there was no way that I would say anything like that. In fact, if I actually had confronted that woman, it probably would have been a lot more like this: "Fuck you, you ignorant, entitled bitch! You don't own this fucking road! Who the fuck do you think you are yelling at me from your tinted fucking windows - on a minivan?? what the fuck! - telling me how to ride when you don't even know what the fucking rules are. I have RIGHTS, mother fucker! AND I know your license plate number! So don't fuck with me!"
It's probably a good thing I bit my tongue.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Week Twenty-Three - Day Two: Better
BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 33 min.
TIME BACK: 33 min.
WEATHER: snow, -9C, 4 km/hr wind there; overcast, -8C, 7 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
Really, Johnson? Really? You didn't bike yesterday because of how much snow was on the streets, then did bike today, while it was snowing? Really, kiddo, what were you thinking??
It was just one of those days where for more than half the ride - even along the busy roads that are the first to be cleared by snow plows and get additional clearing from the heavy traffic - I cringed as I went over moussy loose brown snow and hoped it wouldn't throw me into the path of a car speeding past. Luckily, I never did fall today, nor did I ever really feel like I was in danger of it. There wasn't much fishtailing or getting tossed around by shifting snow beneath my tires. Still, it was a white-knuckle-grip kind of ride this morning while it snowed. At least it was a bit more clear on the way home . . . barely.
I felt good today. It felt great to be back on the bike after four days without it. It felt good to wear one of my new shirts, something that fits so much better than the pre-biking-weight-loss outfits I've had to wear this whole time. It felt good to be surprised every time I caught my reflection in the mirror because I look so much better than I remember myself looking. My face is slimmer. I look brighter, healthier, happier, just generally better. I'm in a better mood. Even when there's snow on the ground, even when the ride feels a little dangerous, even when I'm swearing in my head at the cars that pass too close to me and the drivers who glare at me for taking up half a lane to myself - everything is just better! Who could possibly ask for more?
TIME THERE: 33 min.
TIME BACK: 33 min.
WEATHER: snow, -9C, 4 km/hr wind there; overcast, -8C, 7 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer jacket, lobster gloves, balaclava
NOTES:
Really, Johnson? Really? You didn't bike yesterday because of how much snow was on the streets, then did bike today, while it was snowing? Really, kiddo, what were you thinking??
It was just one of those days where for more than half the ride - even along the busy roads that are the first to be cleared by snow plows and get additional clearing from the heavy traffic - I cringed as I went over moussy loose brown snow and hoped it wouldn't throw me into the path of a car speeding past. Luckily, I never did fall today, nor did I ever really feel like I was in danger of it. There wasn't much fishtailing or getting tossed around by shifting snow beneath my tires. Still, it was a white-knuckle-grip kind of ride this morning while it snowed. At least it was a bit more clear on the way home . . . barely.
I felt good today. It felt great to be back on the bike after four days without it. It felt good to wear one of my new shirts, something that fits so much better than the pre-biking-weight-loss outfits I've had to wear this whole time. It felt good to be surprised every time I caught my reflection in the mirror because I look so much better than I remember myself looking. My face is slimmer. I look brighter, healthier, happier, just generally better. I'm in a better mood. Even when there's snow on the ground, even when the ride feels a little dangerous, even when I'm swearing in my head at the cars that pass too close to me and the drivers who glare at me for taking up half a lane to myself - everything is just better! Who could possibly ask for more?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Week Twenty-Three - Day One: The Drive
I didn't bike today. FOR SHAME!!
You may be asking why I didn't bike today as you cluck your tongue at me in disapproval. After all, it was a fairly mild day today with a high of -8C and very little wind. However, it did snow all day yesterday to the tune of 10 cm or so of fresh powder. Right up until the last moment this morning I was debating furiously in my head if I should risk riding on potentially snowy, sloppy, slippery streets. Either that, or I could wait a day and see if the car traffic and snow plows make it a safer ride for me to head back out on Tuesday.
The question of whether or not to ride was further complicated by the fact that I forgot to set my alarm, so I woke up a half-hour later than usual. At this point, I was tortured by the decision-making process - I was sure I could bike, and I did want to, but I would have to ride very cautiously (read: slooooow), and I simply wouldn't have the time to do that today. So should I try to rush it along the snowy/slushy/slippery streets, or should I just drive and hope the streets will be clearer by tomorrow?
I ended up driving. I felt some pangs of regret as I saw other cyclists out braving the slippery streets and sidewalks. Then other times, as my car was tossed to and fro by the mousse-like ruts, I was grateful not to be going over those roads on my little bike. I'll just have to get back in the saddle tomorrow. After four days without biking, I can't wait!!
You may be asking why I didn't bike today as you cluck your tongue at me in disapproval. After all, it was a fairly mild day today with a high of -8C and very little wind. However, it did snow all day yesterday to the tune of 10 cm or so of fresh powder. Right up until the last moment this morning I was debating furiously in my head if I should risk riding on potentially snowy, sloppy, slippery streets. Either that, or I could wait a day and see if the car traffic and snow plows make it a safer ride for me to head back out on Tuesday.
The question of whether or not to ride was further complicated by the fact that I forgot to set my alarm, so I woke up a half-hour later than usual. At this point, I was tortured by the decision-making process - I was sure I could bike, and I did want to, but I would have to ride very cautiously (read: slooooow), and I simply wouldn't have the time to do that today. So should I try to rush it along the snowy/slushy/slippery streets, or should I just drive and hope the streets will be clearer by tomorrow?
I ended up driving. I felt some pangs of regret as I saw other cyclists out braving the slippery streets and sidewalks. Then other times, as my car was tossed to and fro by the mousse-like ruts, I was grateful not to be going over those roads on my little bike. I'll just have to get back in the saddle tomorrow. After four days without biking, I can't wait!!
MONTHLY CHECK-IN
WEIGHT LOSS THIS MONTH: 12 lbs
WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE: 36.5
DAYS COMMUTED: 18
POTENTIAL COMMUTING DAYS MISSED: 2
BREAKDOWN OF EXCUSES BY COMMUTE DAYS MISSED:
Stayed home to take care of sick daughter: 2 days
Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! TWELVE pounds this month!! That's a personal record!
To celebrate, I bought two new tops and a skirt over the weekend because the new work clothes I bought in August are starting to look pretty bad on me now that I've lost all this weight. Now, I've always hated clothes shopping, and it's still not fun for me, but this weekend's shopping extravaganza sure felt better than any shopping experience I've had in a LONG time! It was awesome to discover that my waist is a solid two dress sizes smaller than it was in August. It was even a pleasure to know that I'd only gone down one size around my hips and breasts, because it reminded me of those deadly hourglass curves of mine that have been buried beneath layers of shapeless chub this whole time. It's slow work, to be sure, but I'm breaking those curves out of their prison, and when they come back in full they'll be just as awesome as they ever were when I was 20.
I'm feeling good. I needed to feel good after an emotional-roller-coaster of a month that was January, and I'm very glad I do. Three cheers to a good month, and here's to the start of what will surely be another good month!
WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE: 36.5
DAYS COMMUTED: 18
POTENTIAL COMMUTING DAYS MISSED: 2
BREAKDOWN OF EXCUSES BY COMMUTE DAYS MISSED:
Stayed home to take care of sick daughter: 2 days
Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! TWELVE pounds this month!! That's a personal record!
To celebrate, I bought two new tops and a skirt over the weekend because the new work clothes I bought in August are starting to look pretty bad on me now that I've lost all this weight. Now, I've always hated clothes shopping, and it's still not fun for me, but this weekend's shopping extravaganza sure felt better than any shopping experience I've had in a LONG time! It was awesome to discover that my waist is a solid two dress sizes smaller than it was in August. It was even a pleasure to know that I'd only gone down one size around my hips and breasts, because it reminded me of those deadly hourglass curves of mine that have been buried beneath layers of shapeless chub this whole time. It's slow work, to be sure, but I'm breaking those curves out of their prison, and when they come back in full they'll be just as awesome as they ever were when I was 20.
I'm feeling good. I needed to feel good after an emotional-roller-coaster of a month that was January, and I'm very glad I do. Three cheers to a good month, and here's to the start of what will surely be another good month!
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