BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 28 min.
TIME BACK: (went out with co-workers after work, so I got a ride home later)
WEATHER: clear, 4C (0C with windchill), 22km/hr wind gusting up to 33 km/hr there.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, running gloves
NOTES:
Every morning this week, I woke up arguing with myself about whether I should bike or drive to work. Every evening I would fervently hope to wake up to snow cover on the ground the next day so I had a good excuse not to bike. The lazy voice inside my head thought up all sorts of excuses for me - it's too windy, it's too dry, my throat still hurts, my nose is still too blocked, I'm too tired, I deserve a break, I'm sick and I need to sleep in, etc. Somehow, I managed not to talk myself out of it, and I've gotten through a week of bike-commuting while sick (with the exception of Monday, of course).
There will always be reasons not to bike. And that lazy part of my brain will always throw them at me to convince me not to bike. The point is to ignore it. Sure, there are times when it makes perfect sense not to bike - when I have to go to a meeting or appointment directly from work and wouldn't have the time to bike it, or when the weather makes it too dangerous, or when I'm just barely well enough to drag my ass to work but too sick to function as a human being. All legitimate reasons. But it's been a while since I've had a good run of multiple weeks in a row when I didn't miss a single day of biking. Maybe not even since January! That trend needs to stop. I need to get back into the habit of bike-commuting.
The good news is that it's getting nicer and nicer out, which means that fellow bike-commuters are coming out in droves. Whereas in the winter we were an elite, exclusive group of hardy winter-cyclists, I am now a part of what can only be described as a horde of cyclists that now includes the belle-weather bikers. It's nice to see everyone out, some on dreamy-looking retro cruisers and others on expensive road racers. Some decked out in flowing hippie-chic or urban-cool attire while others are in cycling jackets and spandex shorts, and others are like me in casual comfort clothes that are functional and just a tad slovenly. It's hard to talk myself out of biking when so many people are out doing it, when it's so nice outside, and when driving feels so wasteful.
There will always be excuses. I just hope I can always rely on my will power to rebuke them.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Week 33 - Day Four: Delighted!
BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 25 min. (daaaaaaaaamn!)
WEATHER: clear, 1C, no wind there; clear, 16C, 24 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, running gloves (gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
What a beautiful day, oh my God!!! For for the first time in AGES (or so it seems) I was so happy to be out on the bike today! My ass bones didn't hurt! The sun was shining! It was beautifully mild! There was no wind! At least not on the way to work! And on the way home it was a crosswind rather than a headwind so that was kind of okay!! Could it possibly get any better than this?? Well, I suppose I could be breathing normally instead of with this lingering huskiness caused by excessive throat-and-sinus mucous. Nevertheles . . . I was one happy camper to be out on the bike today. Gooooooo BIKE-COMMUTING!!!
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 25 min. (daaaaaaaaamn!)
WEATHER: clear, 1C, no wind there; clear, 16C, 24 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, running gloves (gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
What a beautiful day, oh my God!!! For for the first time in AGES (or so it seems) I was so happy to be out on the bike today! My ass bones didn't hurt! The sun was shining! It was beautifully mild! There was no wind! At least not on the way to work! And on the way home it was a crosswind rather than a headwind so that was kind of okay!! Could it possibly get any better than this?? Well, I suppose I could be breathing normally instead of with this lingering huskiness caused by excessive throat-and-sinus mucous. Nevertheles . . . I was one happy camper to be out on the bike today. Gooooooo BIKE-COMMUTING!!!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Week 33 - Day Three: The Halfer
BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: --
WEATHER: overcast, 1C (-4C with windchill), 20 km/hr wind there.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, running gloves, scarf.
NOTES:
I managed to get to work this morning. I managed to get through two sessions of clients, a backlog of cases, and some depressing work-related news. I simultaneously celebrated and grieved with my closest colleague over today being her last day of work. I ate comfort food of a burger and fries for our celebratory lunch. I even ate cake in the afternoon, and it was very good.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. And although I'm still sick, every day I'm feeling just a little bit better. Still, by the end of the day today, I was beat (this seems to be the story of my life!). I checked the weather to find that I would be battling headwinds gusting up to 40 km/hr. I seriously contemplated just taking a cab home.
"I'll drive you!" my colleague said, the one whose last day it is. She was vaguely desperate to prolong her last day of work, and I was vaguely desperate for the ride - and of course, the company was most welcome. We managed to shove Eastwood into the trunk of her little German car and she drove me home, even spending an hour with me and my daughter once we got back. It was really lovely to extend our socializing into the ride home like that, and even into my typical alone-with-daughter-time. And looking out the car window, watching the tree boughs bend in the wind, I didn't feel remotely sorry for getting a ride!
Did I mention that the saddle on Eastwood is demolishing my ass? Really. Demolishing. I think I'm going to have to go back to Mike tomorrow, because my seat bones can't handle another Eastwood ride. Yet another reason to love my friend for giving me a ride home today. It's a damn shame it comes at the cost of losing her companionship at work for the next four months. Alas! Somehow, I'll survive . . .
TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: --
WEATHER: overcast, 1C (-4C with windchill), 20 km/hr wind there.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, running gloves, scarf.
NOTES:
I managed to get to work this morning. I managed to get through two sessions of clients, a backlog of cases, and some depressing work-related news. I simultaneously celebrated and grieved with my closest colleague over today being her last day of work. I ate comfort food of a burger and fries for our celebratory lunch. I even ate cake in the afternoon, and it was very good.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. And although I'm still sick, every day I'm feeling just a little bit better. Still, by the end of the day today, I was beat (this seems to be the story of my life!). I checked the weather to find that I would be battling headwinds gusting up to 40 km/hr. I seriously contemplated just taking a cab home.
"I'll drive you!" my colleague said, the one whose last day it is. She was vaguely desperate to prolong her last day of work, and I was vaguely desperate for the ride - and of course, the company was most welcome. We managed to shove Eastwood into the trunk of her little German car and she drove me home, even spending an hour with me and my daughter once we got back. It was really lovely to extend our socializing into the ride home like that, and even into my typical alone-with-daughter-time. And looking out the car window, watching the tree boughs bend in the wind, I didn't feel remotely sorry for getting a ride!
Did I mention that the saddle on Eastwood is demolishing my ass? Really. Demolishing. I think I'm going to have to go back to Mike tomorrow, because my seat bones can't handle another Eastwood ride. Yet another reason to love my friend for giving me a ride home today. It's a damn shame it comes at the cost of losing her companionship at work for the next four months. Alas! Somehow, I'll survive . . .
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Week 33 - Day Two: Back To It
BIKE: Eastwood (coming out of retirement, it seems!)
TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: 28 min.
WEATHER: overcast, 2C (-1C with windchill), 11 km/hr wind there; overcast, 4C, 11 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, mini gloves, scarf (scarf and gloves in panniers on the way home, which was a mistake because it was coooold)
NOTES:
Hello, Eastwood, my old friend. You've been cooped up in my living room all winter, attached to my bike trainer, once in a while being ridden but - let's be honest, here - very rarely. And now, today, my first day back to bike-commuting after a pretty brutal illness, I can't think of a better guy to bring me back gently than you, my dear Eastwood (that's right, Mike the Bike, I said EASTWOOD! Deal with it!).
Eastwood is a much gentler, smoother ride than I'm used to with Mike, what with his shock absorbers and softer, wider tires, and that was pleasant. It helped me feel slightly less hard done by as I bike-commuted with a heavy sickness lingering in my lungs and sinus cavities. My travels went something like:
pedal -- pedal -- pedal -- haaaaack -- pedal -- pedal -- haaaaaack (wipe nose on back of glove, hope nobody witnesses) -- pedal -- pedal -- pedal -- (etc.)
Biking right now is not pleasant. In fact, it's vaguely dreaded. My throat hurts. My lungs hurt. My head is in a fog of sinus pressure and infected mucous. And by the time I left work at the end of the day, I was so exhausted I wondered how I'd even get home. I managed . . . but just barely. But you know what's even less pleasant than biking while sick? Paying $14 a day for parking.
Bike: 1. Car: 0.
TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: 28 min.
WEATHER: overcast, 2C (-1C with windchill), 11 km/hr wind there; overcast, 4C, 11 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, mini gloves, scarf (scarf and gloves in panniers on the way home, which was a mistake because it was coooold)
NOTES:
Hello, Eastwood, my old friend. You've been cooped up in my living room all winter, attached to my bike trainer, once in a while being ridden but - let's be honest, here - very rarely. And now, today, my first day back to bike-commuting after a pretty brutal illness, I can't think of a better guy to bring me back gently than you, my dear Eastwood (that's right, Mike the Bike, I said EASTWOOD! Deal with it!).
Eastwood is a much gentler, smoother ride than I'm used to with Mike, what with his shock absorbers and softer, wider tires, and that was pleasant. It helped me feel slightly less hard done by as I bike-commuted with a heavy sickness lingering in my lungs and sinus cavities. My travels went something like:
pedal -- pedal -- pedal -- haaaaack -- pedal -- pedal -- haaaaaack (wipe nose on back of glove, hope nobody witnesses) -- pedal -- pedal -- pedal -- (etc.)
Biking right now is not pleasant. In fact, it's vaguely dreaded. My throat hurts. My lungs hurt. My head is in a fog of sinus pressure and infected mucous. And by the time I left work at the end of the day, I was so exhausted I wondered how I'd even get home. I managed . . . but just barely. But you know what's even less pleasant than biking while sick? Paying $14 a day for parking.
Bike: 1. Car: 0.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Week 33 - Day One: Still Out of Commission
Oh, the hypocrisy!!
I am neither HEALTHY nor BIKING right now, so how dare I refer to myself as the Healthy Biker? Really, the travesty . . .
Over the weekend my fever peaked on Saturday at 102F. It broke overnight between Saturday and Sunday - I know this because of the several times I woke up drenched in sweat. Good times. By Sunday, my throat was still sore but the fever was gone, and I was presented with a deluge of nose-runnings. I laid low and took it easy, mostly allowing my brain to rot as I watched Celebrity Apprentice online (don't judge me, I was sick and couldn't handle any sort of mental stimulation!).
When I woke up this morning, I found that my throat was still pretty sore and my whole head felt kind of foggy and blocked up, but the fever hadn't returned and I wasn't coughing or sneezing. So I went to work. I drove because I couldn't imagine panting in this cold, dry air when my throat still hurts so much, and I cringed as I paid $14 for parking (the prices went up April 1st). My co-workers shunned me, some looking at me with sympathy and others with horror. One colleague looked at me and gasped, saying, "You look like SHIT!" Almost everyone told me to go home. But I just can't - I need these damn hours.
So I put on makeup to hide the "gray circles of death" that ring my eyes, rescheduled my individual clients so I can do as little talking as possible today, and asked my colleague to take the lead during a meeting with another student service we have scheduled today. Sure, it's not nearly as restful as staying at home for another day of recovery, but what can I do? As a single mom, full-time student, and resident grunt at work, there is no such thing as sick days. The only rest I can afford to give myself is to lay off biking until I'm better.
And that, my friends, really sucks.
I am neither HEALTHY nor BIKING right now, so how dare I refer to myself as the Healthy Biker? Really, the travesty . . .
Over the weekend my fever peaked on Saturday at 102F. It broke overnight between Saturday and Sunday - I know this because of the several times I woke up drenched in sweat. Good times. By Sunday, my throat was still sore but the fever was gone, and I was presented with a deluge of nose-runnings. I laid low and took it easy, mostly allowing my brain to rot as I watched Celebrity Apprentice online (don't judge me, I was sick and couldn't handle any sort of mental stimulation!).
When I woke up this morning, I found that my throat was still pretty sore and my whole head felt kind of foggy and blocked up, but the fever hadn't returned and I wasn't coughing or sneezing. So I went to work. I drove because I couldn't imagine panting in this cold, dry air when my throat still hurts so much, and I cringed as I paid $14 for parking (the prices went up April 1st). My co-workers shunned me, some looking at me with sympathy and others with horror. One colleague looked at me and gasped, saying, "You look like SHIT!" Almost everyone told me to go home. But I just can't - I need these damn hours.
So I put on makeup to hide the "gray circles of death" that ring my eyes, rescheduled my individual clients so I can do as little talking as possible today, and asked my colleague to take the lead during a meeting with another student service we have scheduled today. Sure, it's not nearly as restful as staying at home for another day of recovery, but what can I do? As a single mom, full-time student, and resident grunt at work, there is no such thing as sick days. The only rest I can afford to give myself is to lay off biking until I'm better.
And that, my friends, really sucks.
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