BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: overcast, 3C, 7 km/hr tail/crosswinds there; partly cloudy, 8C, 9 km/hr crosswinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, running gloves (gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
This always happens after any kind of hiatus from biking: it's very difficult to motivate myself to bike again. When I get used to being lazy and taking the car, I find it takes a while of consistently biking before I wake up wanting to bike again. So, of course, this morning when the alarm went off I started dreading the ride. "Maybe you can just drive today. You're so tired. Don't you deserve a break?"
I forged a compromise with myself: "Okay, tell you what, you can drive your daughter to daycare instead of taking the bike trailer, but then you have to come back home and bike to work from there." Sigh - FINE! I don't get to be entirely lazy . . . just a little.
The good news is that the ice that remained on the bridges yesterday had fully melted by this morning, though in one place it left behind enough of a pile of sand to make me skid a bit as I went over it. That got me thinking: I am terrified of falling in the summer. Sure, I fell a few times in the winter, but I was always dressed head to toe in impact-cushioning winter gear. If I fall in the summer, I'll probably hit the ground harder since I'm travelling faster and don't have any snow or ice to cushion the blow. Also, with more exposed skin I'm likely to earn myself some road rash: a wound I might actually have to clean with a wire brush (please, pause to imagine how painful that would be) in order to get the embedded stones out of my skin. Ridiculous! I hope that never happens to me.
Anyone out there have any good stories about bad non-winter falls?? I'd love to hear them!! Post them in the comments!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Week 36 - Day Four: Back To It
BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: overcast, 0C (-4C with windchill), 13 km/hr crosswinds there; cloudy, 4C, 7km/hr crosswinds back
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, running gloves
NOTES:
The planning started last night: as long as no more snow fell overnight, I would bike today. I bravely ventured into my murder basement (that's what I call the dungeon-like dirt floored pit of death beneath my house) to get my fleece jacket out of storage. I checked the tire pressure and brakes on my bike to ensure that everything would be in working order. I packed my panniers and laid out my cycling clothes for the morning. By the time I went to bed last night, I was set: there was no way I was not biking today!
As expected, I did hit a couple patches of ice that remained unmelted since Spring Storm 2010 blew into town on Tuesday. Mostly these patches were found on the two very high bridges I have to bike over on my way to the university. I have to say, crunchy-slushy-slippery ice patches and very tall bridges make me a nervous rider now that I don't have my trusty studs to rely on. I was very cautious about keeping well balanced right in the centre of my bike and trying not to slow down, speed up, or turn while going over the ice. Luckily, I managed not to fall - woo hoo! Advantage: Johnson.
After not biking for three days this week, the two-day weekend, and last Friday, I was feeling a little bit rusty today. I still made decent time, but I suspect it's because there was a major light that I normally get caught at that I managed to get to while it was still green, so I feel like I can do better. I have to remind myself that this ain't no Sunday stroll, mofo - this is a bike-commute! I need to get my ass to work on time! And if I'm not breaking a sweat, working those thighs and breathing heavy, then I'm not doing what I should. Keep it up, Johnson! Keep it going full-steam!
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: overcast, 0C (-4C with windchill), 13 km/hr crosswinds there; cloudy, 4C, 7km/hr crosswinds back
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, running gloves
NOTES:
The planning started last night: as long as no more snow fell overnight, I would bike today. I bravely ventured into my murder basement (that's what I call the dungeon-like dirt floored pit of death beneath my house) to get my fleece jacket out of storage. I checked the tire pressure and brakes on my bike to ensure that everything would be in working order. I packed my panniers and laid out my cycling clothes for the morning. By the time I went to bed last night, I was set: there was no way I was not biking today!
As expected, I did hit a couple patches of ice that remained unmelted since Spring Storm 2010 blew into town on Tuesday. Mostly these patches were found on the two very high bridges I have to bike over on my way to the university. I have to say, crunchy-slushy-slippery ice patches and very tall bridges make me a nervous rider now that I don't have my trusty studs to rely on. I was very cautious about keeping well balanced right in the centre of my bike and trying not to slow down, speed up, or turn while going over the ice. Luckily, I managed not to fall - woo hoo! Advantage: Johnson.
After not biking for three days this week, the two-day weekend, and last Friday, I was feeling a little bit rusty today. I still made decent time, but I suspect it's because there was a major light that I normally get caught at that I managed to get to while it was still green, so I feel like I can do better. I have to remind myself that this ain't no Sunday stroll, mofo - this is a bike-commute! I need to get my ass to work on time! And if I'm not breaking a sweat, working those thighs and breathing heavy, then I'm not doing what I should. Keep it up, Johnson! Keep it going full-steam!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Week 36 - Day Three: Spring Storm Day 2
After Spring Storm 2010 yesterday, I wasn't convinced it was safe enough to bike with my studless tires due to the slowly melting snow leaving patches of ice on the roads and sidewalks, so I drove again. Geez, three days in a row of driving. How lazy!
Around campus, I saw numerous people riding bikes. Not as many as usual, mind you, but still enough to make me second guess my decision to keep my bike at home. The moment I'd feel guilty about driving, though, I would look over at the sidewalks and notice the accumulation of ice and snow there, and I'd scan the curbs of the road to find ice and puddles and puddle-covered ice, and I would be assured that I'd made the right decision.
It also helped that today was my daughter's SECOND BIRTHDAY!!! It was helpful because by driving I had the time to let her sleep in, then make her a nice birthday breakfast without being too late for work. I was also able to transport the two-dozen cupcakes that I had bought to her daycare so she could have a little party there - something that would be pretty difficult to do by bike. I dropped her off late at daycare and picked her up early, and that seemed just right for her birthday. God, I can't believe it's been two years already. Two years ago I went from being a single person to having a family overnight. Two years ago my life changed irrevocably. Two years ago, the most perfect human being in the history of the world was born. And ever since, I have been so lucky to be her mom.
Around campus, I saw numerous people riding bikes. Not as many as usual, mind you, but still enough to make me second guess my decision to keep my bike at home. The moment I'd feel guilty about driving, though, I would look over at the sidewalks and notice the accumulation of ice and snow there, and I'd scan the curbs of the road to find ice and puddles and puddle-covered ice, and I would be assured that I'd made the right decision.
It also helped that today was my daughter's SECOND BIRTHDAY!!! It was helpful because by driving I had the time to let her sleep in, then make her a nice birthday breakfast without being too late for work. I was also able to transport the two-dozen cupcakes that I had bought to her daycare so she could have a little party there - something that would be pretty difficult to do by bike. I dropped her off late at daycare and picked her up early, and that seemed just right for her birthday. God, I can't believe it's been two years already. Two years ago I went from being a single person to having a family overnight. Two years ago my life changed irrevocably. Two years ago, the most perfect human being in the history of the world was born. And ever since, I have been so lucky to be her mom.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Week 36 - Day Two: Spring Storm Day 1
I woke up this morning to the sound of my cell phone signaling the arrival of a text message. I groggily checked the message: "You should drive in today. It's nasty out there."
Willing myself out of bed, I stumbled towards the window to find a strong wind bending the trees and what looked like a dusting of wet snow on the ground, with more falling from the sky. "Okay, no biking then!" I thought to myself with relief, glad to know I'd be traveling in my warm car instead of facing down another windy ride. "Besides," I figured, "it'll probably be gone by the afternoon." After all, The Weather Network had called for a measly less than 1 cm of snow today, surely nothing that would linger on the ground for any length of time.
Oh, the naivety! By mid-morning, enough snow had accumulated to make it look like the dead of winter outside:
Posted by "trevor" on The Weather Network at http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/620/2463205/5/caab0103
By mid-afternoon, The Weather Network had issued a "Snowfall Warning" for the City of Edmonton and some communities to the west, noting that the combination of snow and high winds could produce zero visibility in some areas. So, it definitely worked out in my favour that I didn't bike today. Still, I'm going to have to drive home in this mess and that will take me a while. Also, now that I've retired my snow studs for the season, it might be at least another day or two before the snow melts away and I'm able to bike again. It'll be interesting to see how long the biking hiatus lasts because of this (apparently typical) spring storm.
Yes, it sucks that I'm having to pay $14 a day in parking through all this, but it sure beats skidding across the asphalt and under someone's tires. So - no biking it is!
Willing myself out of bed, I stumbled towards the window to find a strong wind bending the trees and what looked like a dusting of wet snow on the ground, with more falling from the sky. "Okay, no biking then!" I thought to myself with relief, glad to know I'd be traveling in my warm car instead of facing down another windy ride. "Besides," I figured, "it'll probably be gone by the afternoon." After all, The Weather Network had called for a measly less than 1 cm of snow today, surely nothing that would linger on the ground for any length of time.
Oh, the naivety! By mid-morning, enough snow had accumulated to make it look like the dead of winter outside:
Posted by "trevor" on The Weather Network at http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/620/2463205/5/caab0103By mid-afternoon, The Weather Network had issued a "Snowfall Warning" for the City of Edmonton and some communities to the west, noting that the combination of snow and high winds could produce zero visibility in some areas. So, it definitely worked out in my favour that I didn't bike today. Still, I'm going to have to drive home in this mess and that will take me a while. Also, now that I've retired my snow studs for the season, it might be at least another day or two before the snow melts away and I'm able to bike again. It'll be interesting to see how long the biking hiatus lasts because of this (apparently typical) spring storm.
Yes, it sucks that I'm having to pay $14 a day in parking through all this, but it sure beats skidding across the asphalt and under someone's tires. So - no biking it is!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Week 36 - Day One: Drove
Today I had to drive to work because I had an appointment at the bank in the afternoon. I already had to take some time off work to get there even if driving, and I'd have to take off twice as much time to bike there, so I just drove. By driving and working through my lunch, I managed not to lose any hours at work. By biking, I would have to work through my lunch today AND tomorrow, and that's just not worth it for me. On top of that, I wouldn't have made it to pick up my daughter from daycare in time before it closed. So it was a no-brainer: today was a driving day.
I'm worried, though: I heard on the radio this morning that there could be up to 5 cm of snow on the ground by tomorrow afternoon. If that's the case, I won't be able to bike tomorrow, and probably not again until the snow melts off because I have my slick road tires back on my bike instead of the studs. If it snows, when am I going to bike again?? I've vowed to make May a really productive month for weight loss. Please, weather, don't conspire against me on this!!
I'm worried, though: I heard on the radio this morning that there could be up to 5 cm of snow on the ground by tomorrow afternoon. If that's the case, I won't be able to bike tomorrow, and probably not again until the snow melts off because I have my slick road tires back on my bike instead of the studs. If it snows, when am I going to bike again?? I've vowed to make May a really productive month for weight loss. Please, weather, don't conspire against me on this!!
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