Beautiful

Since dropping off my trusty new(ish) mountain bike, herein referred to as "White Lightenin'" (I know . . . just - I know . . .) for a tune-up, I've been using my road bike, Mike the Bike, and my own short stubby legs to get around. I biked a couple times to work (a 16 km round trip, plus another 2.5 km for dropping off/picking up my daughter at daycare), and another couple times I've opted to walk through the river valley (a 12 km round trip, plus the 2.5 km to daycare). Luckily, the weather's been holding out for this - it has been BEEEEAAAAUUUUUTIFUL the past few days! Even when it rains, the rain is short-lived and doesn't cloud the whole day with grey, dismal skies. There has been some intense wind here and there, sometimes gusting up to 40-60 km/hr, but I just try walking those days instead of biking and I barely notice it.

Even on the days that I haven't had to go into the university, I've made efforts to get out and do some biking or walking, just for the sake of getting some exercise and fresh air. In fact, I've made a deal with myself: I've put a moratorium on dieting - I am no longer allowing myself any kind of restriction, calorie counting, or food group limitations whatsoever, so I eat whatever I want whenever I want without handicap - with the understanding that I also exercise at least an hour a day, at least five days a week. This is my way of trying to break my lifelong cyclical habit of dieting and bingeing, then dieting more and bingeing again, etc. etc. If I can manage to break free of the scarcity model - i.e., eating as much as I can whenever I'm not dieting because I know I'm probably going to start severely restricting right away - perhaps I can start having a healthier relationship with food. I'm just over a week into this new experiment - I'll keep you posted how that turns out!!

In the meantime, I'll continue making a concerted effort to exercise, and that means a whole lot of biking and walking whenever I can. Given the beautiful weather we've had lately, that's turning out to be quite a blessing. It's only when I'm outside enjoying the fresh air, taking in the scenery of our beautiful river valley or cruising through thoughtfully-designed established neighbourhoods in central and west Edmonton, that I fully appreciate the beauty therein. The hum of my tires on the pavement, the rhythmic beating of my heart and legs, the cool spring air breezing over my skin. "Beautiful," I say aloud under my breath. The parks, the beautiful old houses, the bright blue skies, the children playing on elaborate play structures in neighbourhood schools: "Just beautiful". It fills me with pleasure, appreciation, and great gratitude. This is living.

I don't get that in my car.

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

WEATHER THERE: sunny, -2C (-5C with windchill), 8 km/hr cross/headwinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 7C, 11 km/hr headwinds gusting to 28 km/hr

I need to change my tires - BADLY.

My beautiful Myka Pro mountain bike is still wearing her insane Schwalbe Ice Spiker tires. These were the all-time best tires in the history of the world for riding on ice and snow, but now that the streets are largely bare they are simply 5 lbs of metallic rolling resistance. They are the bike tire equivalent of wearing spurs, given that there is no way I could possibly sneak up on someone: from a block out, a pedestrian would be able to hear me coming with the snap-crackle-pop sound of my studs demolishing the road beneath them. It literally sounds like I'm riding over Rice Krispies everywhere I go. I guess that's a good thing for safety - being loud - so I guess there is always a silver lining!

But, man, it does not help my feeling that I'm embarassingly out of shape to be riding on tires with that much weight and rolling resistance. I'm working my ass off to maintain speeds of 20 km/hr - and, sure, maybe that's a combination of me being out of shape and my bike needing a good spring tune-up and whatever other excuses I can come up with - but I'm thinking that these daily commutes would get a whole lot easier if I had my regular tires back on. I'm going to try to take my bike in to the shop to get the tires changed out on Wednesday evening or Thursday during the day because - sadly - I've never learned to change my tires myself. And, maybe even more sadly, I'm not that interested in learning - keeping the chain clean and lubricated is enough dirty work for my taste!

I'm hoping by next week I'll be back on regular mountain bike tires and enjoying an easier, faster ride. In the meantime, if you hear some snap-crackle-and-pop nearby and a whole lot of panting, feel free to wave and give me a sympathetic smile. I could sure use the encouragement!

Sore

WEATHER THERE: sunny, -4C (-7C with windchill), 8 km/hr cross/headwinds
WEATHER BACK: cloudy, 2C, 22 km/hr cross/tailwinds

As my daughter might say: I'm sooooooore!

I don't really have any hobbies, sadly. Ever since grad school, and especially since becoming a single parent in grad school, I haven't had the time or money to really be able to do much of anything fun. I go out to movies whenever I can, and I read whenever I can, but for the most part I have ceased to be a remotely interesting person. That kind of sucks. So I decided to change that - I decided to join a recreational dodgeball league! It was either that or softball, and since I don't really know how to play any team sports and never have in my life, I figured the learning curve would be more manageable for dodgeball. Also, it seemed like a lot more fun!

My first game of the season was last night. Turns out - I suck! But there is a lot of room for improvement, and by the end of our one-hour match I made a couple good catches and got a few people out. It might take a while, but I'll get better with more and more practice. Nothing but better from here, I say!

The downside is that even before the end of the game I was sore. I threw out my left hip because of the weird way I throw the ball with my right hand, and by the time I got home from the game last night I was limping and feeling pretty stiff. It only got worse overnight, as my right shoulder started to seize up as well. This did not bode well, especially since I had planned for today to be my first day back to biking since that short spate of nice weather we had in mid-March. Despite waking up with aches and stiffness all over, I determined I'd stick to the plan, and I biked my daughter to daycare with the trailer before biking to work this morning.

Ultimately, I'm sure the exercise actually helped with my soreness and stiffness, but man did my commute-time suffer from my stiff-and-out-of-shape-ness! It took me a solid 30 minutes from daycare to work, and although there weren't a lot of bike commuters out this morning, I did get blown past by a cyclist on campus who put my palty 16 km/hr to shame. And I was working for that! Blargh! Ahh well. The more I bike, the easier it'll get. And the more I play dodgeball, the better I'll get at that - and less sore, too. The point is that I'm becoming interesting again - I officially have a hobby! Hell, maybe even two if you count biking! Despite the soooooore, this is turning out to be a mighty fine personal development . . .

The Fuzz

WEATHER THERE: cloudy, -5C (-9C with windchill), 9 km/hr cross/tailwinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 5C, calm wind

I haven't been on the bike for quite some time, between my three-month-long lung infection and the frigid temperatures and the epic snowfall this year. However, this week is supposed to boast above-zero temperatures every day, so I thought I'd break out the old bike and get back in the saddle again. A couple things about that . . .

FIRSTLY - today is the first time ever - and I mean EVER - that I was actually pulled over by a cop. I'm talking the flashing lights and everything. I've never been pulled over while DRIVING, let alone while on a bike! My infraction? I rode my bike across a crosswalk instead of getting off and walking it. Make no mistake - I understand that this is technically a bylaw infraction, so I guess I can't really fault the guy for calling me on it. Still - I get pulled over for THIS?? At least he didn't write me a ticket! And I guess I'll be a lot more careful that the next time I happen to bike across a crosswalk when there are no pedestrians around and only one car within sight: I will make sure that the one car within sight is not a COP CAR.

SECONDLY - I am out of shape, my friends. I've been trying to lose the weight that I put back on when I stopped biking consistently way back in July, and lately I've been making great strides on that, but it never happens as fast as I want it to. Besides that, because I'm losing weight mostly through diet rather than exercise, when I tried getting back on the bike again today I couldn't believe how much of a workout it was. It was a bit tiring on the way to work, but on the way home it was BRUTAL. You see, all those inches of packed-down snow that evenly coat the residential streets are still frozen in the morning and relatively easy to bike on. However, by the time I ride home at the end of the day they are sloppy and mushy and I sink to the bottom while inches of dense snow pack around my tires. On the main roads I was coasting along at 20-25 km/hr, but as soon as I hit that messy slop my speed dropped down to 12-13 km/hr and even at that speed I was working for it. By the time I got home from work today, I was ready for a big dinner, a hot shower, and a nice nap. Instead, of course, I made a mediocre dinner and messed around on the internet while procrasti-mastering my way out of studying for a big licensing exam. I'm living large and in charge!

What a day!! Here's hoping that's the last time I get pulled over by The Fuzz . . .

Ice Spiker Indeed!

WEATHER THERE: clear, -4C (-6C with windchill), 6 km/hr cross/tailwinds

WEATHER BACK: sunny, 1C, 13 km/hr tailwinds

All hail, Oh Mighty Ice Spiker tires!!

Wow. Just . . . wow. Seriously. With all the snow we got in early January, then the perpetual melt-and-freeze cycling we've been going through since then, roads and sidewalks are left covered in ice. For the first time in ages, I took advantage of the mild weather and hooked the trailer onto the bike and rode my daughter to daycare today. I was all fine and good until I got to her daycare and got off my bike, only to find that the sidewalks had been replaced by ice rinks and my shoes could barely get any traction. I walked her into the building with ginger baby steps, trying not to fall down.

Why the hell can I barely walk when biking was such a non-issue, you ask? Because I have the all-time greatest tires in the world on my bike! That's right, my friends! These Schwalbe Ice Spikers, man, I'm telling you - they are intense! I encountered many serious ice patches, some literally as smooth as an ice rink, and I didn't so much as waver - not even when pulling the trailer. I even stuck to my preferred residential route, which has much more ice cover than the main roads but makes up for it with virtually no car traffic, and there wasn't even a hint of lost traction.

By the time I got to work, I kind of wanted to make out with my tires. That's how much I'm in love with them. When it comes to icy roads, there's nothing I'd rather be on than my studded-out bike - my car has nothing on this puppy!

Why, Yes, That IS Sweat Pooling in my Underwear

WEATHER THERE: clear, -7C (-11C with windchill), 9 km/hr cross/tailwinds

WEATHER BACK: clear, 3C, 6 km/hr cross/headwinds

Ahh, it's good to be back indeed! It's relatively mild out, so all I have to wear is a hoodie over a thermal turtleneck, some thin running gloves, and a scarf covering my ears. The days are already getting noticeably longer, inspiring sweet hope in my heart that the long, dark days of winter are over.

The downside to the mildness is that the epic dumping of snow we had earlier in the month is getting mushy. Not slushy, which squishes away as cars go over it and quickly melts into nothing. No, it's mushy - the kind of "brown sugar" (a far too kind euphenism, in my humble opinion) that cars sink through to the ice sheets underneath, and that packs into even the knobbiest of tire treads and turns everything heavy and slick. My tires turn into heavy fluffy caterpillars when I bike through that stuff, and it's often difficult to maintain control because as I sink through the snow it tends to push me this way and that. Cars fare no better, really - just last night, I saw a City of Edmonton 1/2-ton truck spinning its tires and sliding around on the road right in front of my house. That big truck was stuck - in the middle of the road, where it's the easiest to get around - for several minutes before it finally got out and made haste to a busier, clearer road. I haven't tried moving my car out of the parking spot in front of my house since Saturday, and I suspect that when I try to go to a movie tonight with a friend I won't be able to get my car out at all. This should be interesting.

The good news - I guess - of this mushy terrain is that it's one hell of a workout to try to bike through, especially for someone who hasn't exercised in three months. These first two days of getting back on the bike have been killer! My muscles ache, I pant until I can taste iron in my mouth, sweat runs in rivulets down my back (hence the title of this post), and by about 8:00 pm I'm ready for bed - though, by the time I actually try to go to bet at 10:30 I'm wide awake! At least I can take comfort in knowing that if I keep this up, I'll be back to my bike-riding fitness heyday in no time. Goooo cardio!!

My First Snowy Commute of the Year

WEATHER THERE: mostly cloudy, -2C (-7C with windchill), 17 km/hr crosswinds
WEATHER BACK: Sunny, 0C (-3C with windchill), 8 km/hr crosswinds

Bike, my friend, it's been a while. It's awfully nice to see you again.

The view from my office window at my lovely new(ish) bike.

I've been planning to get back to biking for a couple weeks now, but I've had to wait until the streets were clear enough to make it safe for me to do so. All the snow we've had this month - and the city's inability to keep up with its removal, especially as you get farther away from the city centre - has made for a whole lot more driving than I've cared for this month. But over the weekend, temperatures mercifully rose. The snow began to melt and be pushed by traffic off to the sides of the roads.

I walked my daughter to the grocery store on Sunday to survey the conditions of the roads and sidewalks up close, trying to gauge whether it was safe to get back on the bike. The sidewalks were in utter chaos - some people haven't even bothered shoveling at all, and others shoveled just enough to create a treacherous narrow walking path through a valley of hip-height snowbanks. Not exactly stroller-friendly. Other sidewalks were well shoveled but with the melting and overnight freezing of the surrounding snow, these were often overcome with sheer ice patches. I also encountered some impressive, 2- and 3-foot high windrows blocking the sidewalks where snow plows had cleared a path through laneways then managed to dump half of the cleared snow onto the sidewalks that intersect them. I can't say these were easy to scale with a stroller. It occurred to me as I struggled to push my daughter's stroller down the sidewalk that I was eternally grateful for being able-bodied. I cannot imagine what a person in a wheelchair must have to deal with in a poorly maintained winter city like this.

So, my reconnaisance mission determined one thing: if I stuck to major roadways and didn't even think about getting up onto the sidewalks, I could absolutely bike to work this week.

LET'S DO THIS!!!

Stony Plain Road was quite clear - wet and mushy, but clear enough to ride on easily. Jasper Avenue was also very good - mushy and slippery off to the sides, but clear everywhere else. The bike lane along 100 Avenue was completely covered over by a big snowbank that narrowed the one-way street to barely more than one lane, so I took to the plowed-but-not-clear sidewalk there for safety's sake. Despite exerting the same or more effort, my top speed suddenly dropped from 24 km/hr on the clear roads to 13 km/hr on the dense snow packed sidewalk. Luckily, east of 116 Street the roads were clear and wide enough for me to ride safely again, so I took to the streets once again. The High Level Bridge had some ice patches, but nothing to cause any concern until I hit the hill on the south end of the bridge. That was completely covered in ice. I dropped an f-bomb under my breath, dropped down a gear, and dug in. My Ice Spiker tires chewed up the ice like crazy and I got up the hill, panting hard but none the worse for wear.

It's been a real joy being able to look out my window at work and see my trusty steed out there waiting for me. As much as a part of me dreaded getting back to riding again (I mean, let's not kid ourselves, it's a lot easier to sleep in and then drive to work, singing along to the radio with the heater on!), I am SO glad I did it. I feel accomplished. I DID something today, something good for myself and for the environment, and for my bank account too ($15 a day for parking is obscene!!). Since my Mystery Illness blind-sided me and left me unable to do much exercise three months ago, I've been looking forward to this day when I could finally get back into the healthy routine I started last year. I've really gotten out of shape over the past three months, between the illness and the holidays, but I'm determined that today is the first day back to being a Healthy Biker.

A nice healthy dinner upon my return home - a simple baked salmon filet with lemon and rosemary. I'm trying to be a better example for my daughter!

Yay, biking! Yay, life! Yay, everything!! Ahh, what a beautiful day . . .

And Then . . . And Then . . . And Then . . .

This blog mocks me. Healthy Biker is a cursed moniker that has rendered me neither healthy nor a biker. Now, I am The Car-Dependent Invalid.

Okay, okay, perhaps that's overstating the point. Nevertheless, it seems like every time I vow to get back on the bike something happens to interfere with those plans. For instance:

Despite still suffering remnants of a mysterious illness that no x-ray, ultrasound, or blood test has yet found a name for, I vowed to get back to bike-commuting after the Christmas holidays. I was out of town for two weeks and - as per tradition - put on about 10 lbs of holiday cheer. As such, I felt pretty motivated to get back to eating like a human being and exercising regularly in January. This is something I haven't done for a while, actually, because of the aforementioned Mystery Illness. So, for my first day back to work on January 10th, I was all ready to hop on the bike and go.

AND THEN . . .

Photo by John Lucas, edmontonjournal.com

Snowmaggedon. Snowpocalypse. Whatever you call it, it was quite the snowrdeal. 30 cm of snow fell the weekend of January 8-10. I didn't leave my house at all except to shovel for three days. When I did try to take the bike out on Tuesday to see if I could get through the accumulation, I couldn't get farther than two blocks without getting off my bike THREE TIMES to walk it through impassable snow drifts. FINE! I'll have to delay bike-commuting for another week or so while I let the city clear this up a bit. So maybe I can get back on the bike on January 17th.

AND THEN . . .

Ed Kaiser for The Edmonton Journal

More snow!!

This past weekend we saw another 20 cm or snow. For you metrically-challenged out there, the 50 cm accumulation that we've seen over the past two weeks means we've had about 20 inches of snow. That means I've been spending most of my free time either shovelling, staying indoors and going stir-crazy with my daughter, or enlisting the help of neighbours to help me push my car out of wherever it's stuck. The roof of my house is collecting ice dams that are causing major ceiling leaks. I can't bike because even the main roads are so icy, snowy, and laden with snowbanks that there is no safe way to get to work. There might not be for quite some time. My car just spent 30 hours of the past weekend stuck in deep snow because I fish-tailed into a part of the road that hadn't been cleared, and that's how long it took for me to wait for a tow truck to arrive. All this had led me to the same question I ask myself every winter, but now more than ever:

My ceiling leak - the first one.

WHY THE F%&* DO I LIVE HERE?????

As soon as I'm actually able to ride again, I will post more. Until then, I'll wait impatiently for the city to clear the roads and people to clear their sidewalks so that maybe, just maybe, I'll actually get a chance to ride this winter.