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 So It Begins Again! Sort of . . .

WEATHER THERE: clear, 10C, 17 km/hr tail/crosswinds
WEATHER BACK: a few clouds, 14C, 11 km/hr head/crosswinds

What has two thumbs and biked to work today? THIS GAL!! (pointing at self with said thumbs)

Despite having a terrible night's sleep (thank you, daughter, for your multiple overnight snack attacks and at least one bad dream), despite the weather calling for rain today, and despite wanting to be lazy for these last couple days of my internship, I biked today! Yay, it feels good to be back! Well, let me rephrase: it feels like an accomplishment to get back on the bike. And that makes me feel gooood. Here are some pros and cons to my ride today:

Pros:
- the exercise and fresh air really woke me up this morning
- I felt really good about myself
- having recently attached a computer to my bike, I was able to track my speed and ride time, which was really interesting
- I got to put my new bike through its paces for the first time - and the disc brakes are amaaaazing!!

Cons
- more pre-bed prep time required: I not only have to make my lunch for the next day, I also have to lay out my cycling clothes, pack my panniers with my work clothes, and transfer everything from my purse to my panniers
- I had to wake up earlier to give myself more time for the commute
- I'm so out of shape that after climbing the hill at the end of the High Level Bridge I genuinely felt like I was going to puke
- being on a new, unfamiliar seat hurt my ass bones (owwww!)
- my right hand got really numb during the ride - I hate hand-numbness
- when I confessed to my co-workers how much money I spent on my new bike, they were shocked and horrified that I would bring such an expensive bike on campus without first getting it insured against theft, and that left me feeling anxious for the rest of the day about whether my bike would be stolen while I was at work

After riding it for a somewhat extended period of time for the first time today, I have to say I'm a big fan of this bike. The shocks on the front fork make a huge difference in riding comfort, the wide knobby tires make me feel like I can more easily and confidently negotiate the rocky-sandy-dirty piles of crap that coat the edges of the roadway, and it's light enough that I didn't notice a significant difference in efficiency from my road bike. All in all, it seems like an excellent purchase for commuting!

However, I feel like I need to get more prepared before I can really get back to full-time bike-commuting. I will need to:
- invest in a reflective leg band to keep my pants from rubbing against the chains/gears
- move the bell from Eastwood (who is remains broken and unfixed) onto the new bike
- invest in some riding gloves to avoid continued annoying hand numbness
- alter my homeowner's insurance to include my bike so I can insure my new bike against theft

I have to pick up a newly-fixed Mike the Bike from the bike mechanic directly after work tomorrow, and on Friday I have a half-day that involves some moving of things out of my old office, so I won't be biking for the rest of the week. It was nice to get a flavour for what it's like to get back on the bike today, though, and perhaps I'll get back to full-time commuting again next week feeling more prepared, better insured, less ass-sore, and fully motivated! I'm looking forward to it!

New Wheels

Hello friends! Have I got news for you. I am the proud owner of a new BIKE! While I haven't yet named this new addition to my bike family, I must say I've been pleased as punch since bringing her home form Revolution Cycle on Saturday. Oh, and she's a girl - a welcome change of pace from my boys, Mike the Bike and Eastwood. Here are her first pictures:

My new bike: a Specialized Myka Pro hard tail mountain bike.

Accessories include a Topeak rack, front and rear fenders, and a water bottle cage.

Features disc brakes and some front-end suspension that was sorely missing from my previous commuter bike.

Yesterday I went into Revolution Cycle with one purpose in mind: spend more money than I'm used to, and get a bike that's going to handle some rough riding. The sales guy who helped me - Rob - asked me what I was looking for, and I said, "I'm a year-round commuter, biking 16 km a day, sometimes in the river valley but often not, and I want something under $800." He considered this for a moment, then responded, "I can help you with that."

Now, let's not kid ourselves here, I did not end up spending $800. The bike I was originally hoping to get my greasy paws on - the Specialized Ariel - was only available in extra large frames, and I need a small. That wasn't going to happen. He showed me a couple hybrids, but the frames were too big. Then he brought me to the mountain bikes, and that's where I met my new baby. I checked out a couple of the mountain bikes, and this one was out of my price range - marked down from $1,500 to $1,099 - but when I took it for a test ride I fell in love.

While testing it out, I hit as many potholes as I could, rode it off curbs, and tried to reach my top speed along flat, straight roads. I found that it was a fantastic all-around bike for whatever my commute might throw at me. It's MUCH lighter than Eastwood and features a wide range of gears with trigger shifters that got me through the wide range of 24 gears without issue. Because it's light and the tire pressure is high it is quite efficient, which means it can reach decent speed without an epic amount of effort on my part, while the front shocks make it a smooth ride that's much easier on my hands and arms. To top it all off, if I ever do want to try out mountain biking (and I've been thinking about it for a while because it seems like it would be really freakin' fun!!) I've got a really good bike for that. It's versatile, it's built to withstand a rough ride, and it's awfully pretty too. I am VERY happy with my new ride!!

Rob gave me a good deal - we wasn't able to lower the price of the bike, but gave me some deep discounts on my accessories (that were installed without extra charge!), gave me a longer stem for free, and didn't charge me tax. I couldn't be happier with the outcome! I'll have to invest in some studded tires for the winter, as the ones I have currently are 700cc's and my new baby is rocking 28" tires. But at least now I can outfit both Mike the Bike and my new girl for winter riding and get to choose day to day which one I want to ride - the road bike or the mountain bike! Win-win, methinks. Choice is a very good thing.

Update

This is me taking a MEC "Desire" bicycle out for a test drive. Can't say I was a big fan.

It's been too long, my friends! It's been far too long.

Now that it's nearing the end of August and I haven't written a blog entry in weeks, I thought it's about damn time to give you a little update about what's been going on in HealthyBiker Land. The truth is, HealthyBiker hasn't been so healthy lately.

First of all, Mike the Bike has been out of commission since the last blog entry I wrote. So has Eastwood, my $50 mountain bike. I've been hemming and hawing about whether I should get one or both of these bikes fixed, or just buy a new and much better bike, or whether I'd even be biking again come September. A lot of those decisions couldn't be made until I knew what my plans were going to be for the upcoming school year - how much money would I be making? Would I be working full-time? How much time flexibility would I have? All of these factors would impact whether I was biking or walking and what my bike budget might be.

The truth is, it's August - fucking - 24th and I STILL don't know what's going on! I had an interview today for a potential job, I have another one scheduled for next week, I've already had two others (this is all on top of working full-time and being a single freakin' parent to The Tantrum Queen). And as of this moment I am no closer to knowing the answers to any of those pressing questions. This, despite the fact that September is ONE WEEK AWAY.

I can't say that I handle this uncertainty well. In fact, this is the kind of thing that causes me to stress out so much I develop Irritable Bowel Syndrome (that's a fact, my friends: I did actually develop a one-time, months-long bout of IBS while I was waiting to hear whether I was accepted into the PhD program a few years ago - which is, I guess, marginally better than having an intestinal parasite).

This is also the kind of thing that causes me to overeat . . . and by that I mean binge. Hard. That utterly useless coping mechanism, combined with a complete absence of biking and any other form of exercise for that matter, has left me feeling like all the health benefits I gained from the hard work of the past 11 months of bike-commuting has been completely erased by the last six weeks of shitty living. I know I've gained weight - a distressing amount, in fact, given the short time I've gained it in. I feel remarkably unfit. I know all this has to stop - I need to get my eating habits back under control and get back into some kind of exercise routine, like, say, getting back on the freakin' bike already!!!! At the same time, I feel just as stuck about my decision-making abilities today as I did six weeks ago.

While waiting for time to provide me with some much-needed answers, I've been dragging my ass slowly and bitterly to the finish line of my internship (which has been a truly fabulous experience, and also utterly exhausting). Today I spent some time cleaning out my office in between seeing some of my clients for the last time. It's kind of sad because I have to end these relationships, yet it's also kind of triumphant because so many of my clients are doing so much better than they were before that it feels like I'm watching formerly wounded birds fly back into the wild again after a full recovery. It's emotional, and rewarding, and altogether stressful.

I couldn't take the waiting game anymore. I contacted BikeWorks, the awesome do-it-yourself bike shop run by the Edmonton Bike Commuters Society, to see if they would be able to fix Mike the Bike for me. They said they don't operate like that - that a volunteer mechanic could help me fix Mike, but that I'd have to do the work. Since I work full-time and have my daughter on my hip every moment I'm not at work, that's something I just don't have the time to do, but the lovely and helpful Anna from BikeWorks got me in touch with one of the volunteer mechanics who would be able to fix Mike the Bike for a much more reasonable rate than a bike shop service department would charge. So, daughter on my hip and Mike the Bike stuffed into my trunk, I drove Mike out to this mechanic's garage and got a quote - the $300 fix-up quoted by the bike shop was now going to cost me $100. Done deal!

So, Mike is now officially in repair. My front porch seems so empty without his presence. In the meantime, my fingers keep drawing me to the new and improved Revolution Cycle website where they have a list of bikes on sale. It is a very good time of year to buy a new bike, isn't it, my fellow bike-commuters? I have a very good mind to say "fuck it all!!" and just get Mike repaired for use as a beater bike and invest some money on a brand spankin' new general purpose bike. When it would appear that I can get a pretty decent bike for under $800 at Revolution Cycle right now, why the hell not??

I wish I could tell you something about the job situation for the coming year. I wish I could tell you more about what bike I'm going to get. I wish I could tell you when I'm even going to get Mike back. But I can't. So I'll check out the bikes on sale at Revolution Cycle, I'll keep in touch with the awesome bike mechanic, and I'll keep trying to get my life in order for September. And I promise, after that several week hiatus I just inflicted upon you, I'll be very sure to keep you posted from now on!!

Week Twenty-Five - Day One: Junk in the Trunk

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 28 min.
TIME BACK: ?? (forgot to check time before leaving - I do know it was definitely less than 30 min. though, given the time I left work)
WEATHER: clear, -10C, no wind there; clear, 0C, 9km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: fleece pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, double gloves (cotton mini-gloves under running gloves), balaclava
NOTES:

I was packing some serious junk in my trunk today. This is what I packed into my panniers this morning:
- breakfast: a small container of dry oatmeal
- lunch: a medium container of chili, an apple, small bag of carrots, All-Bran Snack Bites, string cheese, small can of diet pop
- 500mL milk (for coffee and oatmeal for the rest of the week)
- makeup bag
- business-casual grey pants and purple button-up blouse to change into at work
- wallet
- glasses
- pack of gum
- cell phone
- lip balm

I had the pleasure of going to the movie store over the weekend without my daughter, just being able to hop on the bike and go without panniers or a bike trailer or a screaming toddler riding behind me. I was amazed at how much lighter the bike was without panniers. I'd completely forgotten what it was like to ride without them, and it was amazing how much of a difference that loss of junk-in-the-trunk weight made in how easy and fast riding became. Who knew it would make such a difference??

I stopped by the university's student-run sustainability office today at lunch, as a helpful HealthyBiker blog reader told me about the drop-in bike mechanic hours held there. I took Mike in and watched him get a really good cleaning, one I've never been able to give him so far because I've lacked the proper equipment (mostly, a brush that looks vaguely like a hoof pick). I learned how to clean him up properly and take care of his chain and the importance of a good lube that's properly suited to the weather (apparently, the lube I've been using this whole time is not a great one for winter because it tends to freeze in cold weather!). I also asked how to change his brake pads, as those will need replacing pretty quickly, and got some great advice from the mechanic on site. It was really educational, and what a delight to know that this resource is on campus - even in my building! - and that I can stop in whenever I need to for advice or help or whatever I might need to keep Mike healthy and happy.

I'm learning - slowly. It's nice to have a hobby, something aside from work and parenting towards which to direct my attention and effort and capacity for learning. The sad truth is, I haven't really had one in a very long time, probably not since starting university. So it's nice. I don't even mind the greasy fingernails that inherently come with it. :)

And, of course, the added bonus: I'm losing my junk in the trunk. This time, I'm not referring to my panniers.

Week Three - Day Two

TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: clear, 12C, 7km/hr wind there; clear, 26C, 13 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt (sweatshirt in panniers on way home)
NOTES:

Zen and the Art of Wearing Makeup for Bike-Commuting

I have struggled with three very practical issues in regards to bike-commuting: what to wear, the makeup question (what to wear and when to put it on), and what the hell to do with my hair. Maybe these are things people with short hair who don't wear makeup don't have to worry about, but they have certainly been issues I've been working through the good ol' fashioned way - by trial and error. Whatever meager victories I've made in this area I'm happy to share with you.

First of all, what to wear: so far, dress pants are completely out of the question. I've tried, and failed, then tried again just to make sure, and failed some more. The pants are at constant risk of being torn and ruined by the bike chain, they get grease on the cuffs, and end up getting dirtied by road dust, among other things. Also, the material wasn't made for use during physical exertion, so the fabric doesn't breathe which inevitably causes clinging to hot legs, and the motion of my legs forces them to stretch out of shape. It's just not a good idea. There are probably ways around this - tucking said pants into socks (I refused to leave the house like that, but others may not care about that as much), or using tape/velcro to tie the cuff around the ankle, and other ingenious solutions. My solution - to wear yoga pants and a t-shirt and just bring a change of clothes to work - isn't ideal. It involves bringing a lot of stuff to work and remembering to pack my work outfit into the panniers the night before (I do this the night before because in the mornings I'm tired and liable to forget). But it's the best solution I could come up with, given my refusal to wear pants that taper to the ankle.

Secondly, there's the issue of makeup, and this one has been tricky. I do get sweaty during the commute, especially on warmer days, so I'm tempted to forego any makeup at all and just bring a cosmetics bag to work and apply my face there. There is a downside to this, though: I'd have to bring my makeup bag to work, which is just more added weight and bulk to my panniers, and I'd have to spend additional time in the morning locked up in my office getting ready. I feel like I already spend enough time in the morning getting changed into work clothes, stretching, and de-helmet-heading my hair, so I don't want to put on makeup too. I could put on all my makeup at home and then ride to work sans makeup bag, but the downside to this is that when I get to work I'm sweaty and a lot of the makeup has come off. So what to do? Compromise! What I've been doing is putting on foundation, eye shadow, and mascara (waterproof - MUST be waterproof, especially if your eyes - like mine - enjoy watering when the wind hits them) at home before leaving for work. I put on more eye shadow than I would typically do if I weren't biking, preferably enough to give the impression that I'm a prostitute bike-commuting home at the end of a long night in the morning. Then I bike to work, and I arrive looking flushed, sweaty, and with a large red pressure mark on my forehead from my helmet. Thankfully, the mark fades. I blot at my sweaty face with Kleenex (always on hand in a psychologist's office!), then I apply a bit of cover-up on problem areas and top it all off with some powder. Et voila! I only bring a compact powder and a small cover up stick with me, and I end up with all my makeup in order. Maybe you have a system that works better for you, but this one seems to be the best bet for me.

Finally, we come to the hair. That I haven't had much success with. My hair is long with a natural wave in it that gives it a bit of texture on a good day, and gives it a fluffy, messy, 1970's-style feathered look on a bad day. I wear my hair in a low ponytail while biking and take out the ponytail at work. Once I arrive, my hair is usually pretty flat on top from the helmet while the rest is frizzy from the wind. At the office I keep a travel-sized bottle of hair gel, two bobby pins, and an elastic (strangely, no brush), so I have some accoutrements with which to style my hair, at least in a very minimal way. I usually finger-comb my hair out a bit and apply a bit of gel to the frizzy parts, and sometimes I tie back a couple pieces with the elastic or the bobby pins. This works well enough, though I wish I had a haircut that was more helmet-friendly. Maybe something really short? I don't know, I think longer hair looks best on me so I'm reluctant to cut it too much. Also, I'm not sure if a fully helmet-proof haircut even exists. I'm open to suggestions, though!

I suspect that anyone just starting to commute will have the same challenges that they will have to sort out through their own trials and inevitable errors. Nevertheless, I do hope that my errors may have helped you make one or two less of your own along the way.

Shopping Spree

UPDATE: After spending hours of labour and $200 accessorizing my bike, I took it out for a short spin yesterday, biking my daughter to daycare in her fancy-pants bike trailer. She hates the trailer - actually, she hates the HELMET, trying to pry it off her tiny head the whole time and screaming the whole way there. Being a self-conscious cyclist, I'm not a fan of having so much attention called to us, but she doesn't yet understand the importance of discretion. The good news is that everything fits properly - the fenders, bike rack, and panniers have the proper clearance so they're not rubbing against the tires or restricting the movement of my pedalling. The bad news is that the bike is noticeably heavier. Even when I took the trailer off to carry the bike up and down the front steps, I could tell it felt heavier than before. This is understandable, but for some reason my crazy little brain didn't expect that. In relation to the whole bike, I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference, but starting with a light bike to begin with, it appears that it did! So I'll have to see how noticeable the weight difference is over 8 km sans bike trailer when I start going to school with it next week.

Now for something completely different . . .

Ahhh, the inevitable back-to-school shopping! Normally this involves backpacks and pencil crayons and rulers, but for me, it was far more sinister - a whole wardrobe of business-casual clothes. I already find it difficult to find clothes that fit properly, are flattering, and in my price range, and added to that was my desire to find clothes (at least work pants) that I can bicycle to school in. So, perhaps more accurately, you could say I was looking for business-casual-cycling clothes.

I've always been impressed with my friend (the public school teacher)'s clothes, and every time I ask her where she got that sweater or those pair of pants, she always says Ricki's. I went to the one in the Kingsway Garden Mall and was helped out by Desiree, who was fun and helpful and awesome, and blew a huge wad of cash getting pants, blouses, tops, a vest, and even some accessories (I now have a fashion scarf, ladies and gentlemen - a fashion scarf - and I'm not even a gay man). I feel the need to state two things here: I don't care much for fashion, and I HATE shopping. So this whole shopping spree might sound like a great time to a lot of people, but it was a special kind of torture for me. I stood in front of full-length mirrors under unflattering fluorescent lights, noting that I should have washed my hair and worn makeup and for the love of God, what possessed me to wear that horizontal-striped t-shirt today?? I vowed in the dressing room to burn it immediately upon returning home.

The good news is that I was able to fit into clothes they stocked and not have to go to a specialty fatty store. I also found some fantastically flattering, well-fitting, and comfortable pants that I will be able to cycle in - though I may have to tuck the remarkably wide cuffs into my socks lest they get caught in the bike chain (and we all know how sexy that'll look). I just hope I'll remember to un-tuck them before I walk into the counselling centre every morning.

My worry is that I may have spent a lot of money on clothes that will no longer fit before the winter's out. If I do successfully lose weight over the coming months, it won't take long for these now-flattering clothes to look bulky, ill-fitted, and unflattering on me as I change shape. But what is a girl to do? I needed work clothes, and I need them now. Maybe I'll consider the investment worth it when I'll be able to hold up these pants as an example of how big I used to be, once I'm smaller. We'll see.

The point is, I'm getting closer and closer to the start of the internship, and getting more and more prepared to become a bike-commuter. I'm already excited and nervous about it all!

Accessorizing

I had a free half-hour between finishing my work for the day and having to pick my daughter up from daycare, so I ventured over to the local bike shop, Revolution Cycle, just a few blocks away and did some accessorizing. I don't mean girlie-girl shopping for shoes and fashion scarves, I mean accessorizing my poor naked bike. Who I shall name Mike.

My poor naked Mike has had nothing but his birthday suit since the day I brought him home, and it was about time I finally got some of those things that'll make commuting easier on me. Here's a breakdown of what I bought:

Something to raise my handlebars = $25
A bell (it's the law in Edmonton) = $6
A set of front-and-back fenders = $50
A bike rack = $25
A pair of panniers = $80

All told, with tax, I spent just under $200 accessorizing. The good news is that I can use the bike rack and panniers to store my stuff so I won't get as much of that sweaty-backpack-back going on. It'll come in especially handy when I actually start work and will be hauling a change of clothes, lunch and snacks, water bottle and coffee mug, and whatever else back and forth every day. I'm also really excited about the fenders, because I've had the pleasure of riding in the rain twice already and it left . . . unpleasantness . . . up the back of my pants and all over my backpack. Good thing I wasn't going through a field of manure (luckily, we don't have too many of those in downtown Edmonton).

I still have to accessorize further once the colder weather hits - I'll need good gloves, probably some waterproof pants to wear over my work pants, front and back lights for the bike, and I'll probably invest in some studded tires, too. Then I'll get to deal with the fun-times awesomeness of changing bike tires. The skinny ones, at that. Sigh!

The easy part was buying the stuff, especially with help from the good employees at Revolution Cycle. The hard part was putting it together. It wasn't physically difficult, it was that I had no idea what it all was supposed to look like, and whatever instructions I had (just for the fenders, nothing else had instructions) didn't include pictures of the whole bike. So I was running back and forth between the front porch, where Mike lives, and my living room, where my computer is, constantly looking up pictures of what fenders and bike racks look like properly installed and trying to recreate that on Mike. It took me two hours to do everything, and by the end my hands were very greasy - somewhere between chips and KFC kind of greasy (though I suspect that dipping one's hands in a large vat of oil will still result in slightly less greasy hands than after eating KFC).

My camera is broken so I can't take a picture of Mike, now that he's all dolled up and rarin' to go. As soon as I've got a picture, though, I'll be sure to post it here! Now I can't wait to try him out tomorrow . . . yeeee-hawwwww!

UPDATE: A helpful person at BikeWorks suggested I check out Mountain Equipment Co-op next time I need to buy something for the bike, as it's less expensive there. Also, in lieu of a photograph, here's some video of Mike accessorized.

The Bike

I started researching routes long before I got my bike - the routes even factored into where I bought my house when I moved in June. Should I get something near the east end of Whyte Ave, where my entire commute would be along a busy commercial-residential-university corridor, or go with something a little farther away from the university in the west end with a commute along less busy roads? I opted for longer route, less busy roads, mostly because I die a little inside every time a car speeds past me while I awkwardly pedal away at 20 km/hr in the curb lane.

I bought my bike - a Schwinn Circuit XT 700C - a few weeks ago from Canadian Tire. I know, I know, it's not a proper bike store, and when I had to get a tire replaced within a couple days of buying it, the poor service reminded me why so many people opt for a more expensive bike at a bike store - the service, the expertise, the selection. I also briefly checked out my options at BikeWorks, aka Edmonton Bicycle Commuter's Society, where they sell used and donated bike components at very reasonable prices. While I admired the price points (about $100 for a full bike), the work I'd have to put in to building one myself was too daunting for a first-time bike buyer like myself.

So I went with Canadian Tire, a compromise between easy and cheap. I ended up with a bike that probably doesn't fit me very well (I have basically no clearance between my vajayjay and the bike frame when I stand with my feet on the pavement) and doesn't appear to have adjustable handlebars (which really, really sucks given that I could use another inch or more in stem height, leading to neck and arm strain). At least a stem extension can help with the handlebars - I'm stuck with the size of the frame.

The bike was advertised as a hybrid - having the thin, fast wheels of a road bike but the more upright riding position of a mountain bike - which my web-research suggested was the kind of bike I should be looking for. However, some web-reviewers of the bike suggest that it's more of a straight-up road bike, given how frail it is. No curb-jumping for this bad-boy! Especially since I'm at the very top end of its recommended weight limits, I'm very cautious about any curbs, potholes, and cracked pavement I encounter on it.

The Schwinn was within my meagre budget - I got it on sale for $240, regular $320. It came with no fancy goods - no fenders, rack, or any of those useful accessories that will make daily bike commuting a realistic option - so those are things I'll have to spend extra for. The saddle is not the softest thing I've ever sat on (that would probably be my cat) and has caused some serious ass-bone bruisage, but my ass bones are developing some nice callouses so daily riding is becoming less like barebacking an old curmudgeonly donkey through the Grand Canyon. That's a technical term, by the way.

So far, I really have no complaints about the bike. It's light and fast, which is nice for someone new to biking and horrendously out of shape because it allows me to cruise along at fun speeds without lung-puncturing effort. Unless I hit an incline, in which case, I inch that much closer to death.

Having read some other useful blogs about commuting year-round through brutal Canadian winters, I've determined that my skinny little whipper-snapper of a bike will be useless once the snow starts to fall. When that happens, I intend to wrap it up and put it in the basement to hibernate through the cold months while I grind out my winter commutes on a well-equipped mountain bike. By well-equipped I mean front and back lights, full-length fenders, tire chains - oh yeaaaah, tire chains, I'm going all out dollface - and whatever else I might need to survive.

So, that's my bike! I wonder if I should name it. It only seems right. I'll think about it. Any suggestions?

Preparation - Finding the Best Route

My commuting challenge begins along with my internship on September 1st. In the meantime, I've been busy preparing to meet this challenge head-on!

First of all, what kind of academic would I be without conducting some research? I have spent some time over the past few weeks mapping out different routes I can take to get to school. The first route, a 6 km scenic jaunt through the river valley, was the shortest I found. Once I found a suitable bike (which I'll comment further on later), and once my daughter started daycare, I tried this route out for the first time last week. I wanted to see how long it would take me, how difficult it would be, etc.

The river valley route was absolutely beautiful, and remarkably difficult for me. The first 3 km there is either flat or downhill, which lends itself to easy coasting up to 40 km an hour depending on the grade of the decline. The remaining 3 km alternates between flat and ascending steep hills. There is a particularly brutal hill going up to the university from the river valley that kills me, and I have to get off the bike and walk up, panting so hard I feel like I'm going to vomit. I know it sounds really fun, but it's actually not. On the way back, going down that brutal hill doesn't lend itself to high-speed coasting because it's curvy and is a multi-use path for bikes, rollerbladers, pedestrians, etc., so one can't just barrel down the hill without being a massive liability. The 3 km that was an easy coast on the way to school is now a low-grade but constant uphill battle. Having done this route round-trip twice, I can say that it is a great physical challenge and gets me to school in about 31-33 minutes, but I dread the hills and I arrive at school looking and feeling like a complete mess. I also feel the need to collapse in bed at around 9 pm, exhausted.

The second route I tried out last week was through the city, riding along major streets, going over a bridge across the river (no in and out of the valley for me!), and landing at school approximately 8.5 km later. What it lacks in scenery it well makes up for in scariness for having to bike so close to fast-moving cars. The good news is that it's pretty flat the whole way! Despite being a longer route, I biked it in 29-31 minutes, making it more time-economical (a meaningful consideration since my daughter's in daycare that much longer every time I take a longer route). I also don't feel like I'm dying a horrible death when I do it, though wth the proximity to traffic I fear I may very well meet with a horrible end anyway! I definitely need to gain confidence as a street rider, stop worrying whether the people in the cars are judging me as they go by, and perhaps take a course on street riding to learn how to properly change lanes and signal with my arms and all that. When I'm riding right beside cars, I don't feel confident enough to take my hands off the handlebars long enough to make a proper signal! I suspect this will be my route of choice, particularly because I can ride it in the winter (as the river valley route will not be plowed but rather used instead for cross-country skiing).

I've done the city route a couple of times now and have experimented with different variations on the route, taking as many side-streets as possible and avoiding the major roads as much as I can. Though I will indeed have to ride on the busy streets for part of the journey, I can still take side-streets for much of it, leading to a less stressful, more scenic ride. I must say, though, I now understand why street-cyclists sometimes ride in the middle of the road - the closer I got to the curb, the more gravel, pot-holes, and ashphalt cracks I came across, some being quite dangerous to run into. I imagine this will be especially treacherous in the spring when pot-holes grow to super-villain proportions and are covered by melting snow and puddles. I also wonder what I'll do about riding on the side of the road when snowplows leave massive heaps of snow along the sides of roads precisely where I plan to ride. Hmm. This will definitely not be easy.

I must say, after only a few days of practice-commuting, I'm already feeling the difference in my thighs, which are getting noticeably more muscular. Not thinner, mind you - muscular. I'm perfectly happy with that now because just about any physical change aside from gaining more fat around the mid-section is welcome! I do wonder, though, how I'll feel about having a cyclist's thick, muscular thighs when I've lost a significant amount of weight. I've always been quite curvy - wide hips, large breasts, and the lot - so I imagine thick thighs will fit in with my body type just fine. I am most certainly not built to ever look like a model, but it would be nice to eventually say good-bye to friction burns on my thighs!

Well, one can dream, anyway . . .