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 I was all fine and good until I got to her daycare and got off my bike, only to find that the sidewalks had been replaced by ice rinks and my shoes could barely get any traction.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!!

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.

Slow Poke

WEATHER THERE: sunny, -5C (-7C with windchill), 5 km/hr cross/tailwinds

WEATHER BACK: clear, 4C, 9 km/hr tailwinds

This morning was chilly. Like, people were scraping frost off their windshields and I arrived at work with numb, bright red thighs kind of chilly. I doubled up on my cotton gloves and wore a turtleneck underneath my waterproof shell, but I was still so under-dressed and cold that I felt like my legs were barely moving. According to my bike computer, I averaged about 3 km/hr less speed today than I have the last few days, barely breaking over 21 km/hr. Hitting that minuscule hill at the end of the High Level Bridge felt like punishment, and by the time I crested the hill and made my way up the stairs with my bike in tow, I was panting so hard I felt like I might pass out. Luckily I didn't, but with another cyclist right on my trail going up the stairs I felt some serious crimson-faced embarrassment over how slow and plodding I am today.

I suspect I am not the only one so affected by the drop in temperature, though. Overnight, the number of fellow cyclists I passed on my journey dropped in half - I only saw six people out this morning, and all of them were on the High Level Bridge and on campus. I didn't run into a single cycling soul out there in the west end or downtown. It's getting to that time of year, it seems - where the sane people start to put their bikes away and opt for the bus or the car. And the rest of us - the crazy winter-bikers - start doubling up on socks, breaking out the winter boots and lobster gloves, thermal underwear and ski goggles.

At least it was nicer on the way home. Still, there's a chill in the air - the chill of impending winter. It's upon us, my friends. The snow is bound to come any day now.

Fighting a Cold

WEATHER THERE: cloudy, -5C (-9C with windchill), 9 km/hr cross/headwinds
WEATHER BACK: cloudy, -4C (-9C with windchill), 13 km/hr head/crosswinds


I'm not going to lie to you, my bikey friends, it's been a rough couple of days. With the first snow of the year coating the ground and turning to fine ice and thick slush in some areas, it generally makes the bike-commuting a little slower and a bit more difficult. Add to that the fact that both my daughter and I appear to be getting sick - we have been since we got back from Mexico. My throat is sore, I have a whole whack of very charming post-nasal drip, and I've got sinus pressure behind my eyes. Luckily, my breathing is fine - no stuffy nose, no throat-so-raw-it-burns-to-breathe. The problem comes more from sleeping - I've had to drug myself with Tylenol Sinus for Nighttime in order to fall asleep at all because my throat is so uncomfortable, and then once I'm finally asleep my daughter is waking up complaining of (in whining/crying voice): "boogers, mommy!" and "ears dirty!" (what does that even mean??). For the past two days, my mild discomfort during the day has turned into fever-like symptoms in the evening - alternating between chills and sweats, feeling achey - and I feel even less capable of dealing with the midnight wake-ups of my daughter than ever.


At work today, I was operating somewhere around 65-70% of normal capacity because I'm feeling unwell but I'm not full-on sick. Still, I'm utterly exhausted, and I'm cold, and I was a bit under-dressed for how cold it really was out there for my bike-commute. And I know from experience that being under-dressed inevitably causes my muscles to feel slow, heavy, and easily worn out - on top of whatever effect being sick might also have on them. All this doesn't help when I'm being faced with the first icy embraces of winter. And it's only October, damnit!! I could maybe accept it more if it were November. We didn't even have a proper dumping of snow last year until DECEMBER! Why, oh why, did winter have to come so soon?



Sigh . . . I'm still hopeful it'll melt and we'll have a few more days of milder weather before winter is here to stay. I just hope this early dip in temperature doesn't mean we're in for a rough winter.

First Snow Day

WEATHER THERE: light snow, -1C (-6C with windchill), 18 km/hr tail/crosswinds

WEATHER BACK: cloudy, 0C (-5C with windchill), 18 km/hr head/crosswinds

The pool at Melia Puerto Vallarta - the all-inclusive resort I was staying at October 15-22

I spent October 15-22 in Mexico, where it was 33C every day, no wind, with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. I basked in the heat and sun like the wild iguanas I found sunning themselves on secluded rocks on the resort grounds. I came back to Edmonton late Friday night, wishing I didn't have to leave beautiful Mexico so soon. But of course, as all good things do, my little vacation had to come to an end. I returned home and spent the weekend getting my life back in order and getting ready to return to work. That included spending part of Sunday getting my bike ready for a week of bike-commuting after being in storage for several days. I was kind of getting excited to get back on the bike - it had been a while, and I missed it. Besides, I had been riding Mike the Bike for the few days leading up to the vacation and I was looking forward to getting back on my fancy new mountain bike.

That excitement didn't last too long, mind you, because this morning I woke up to this:

Snow. Snow on the ground. Snow falling in wet icy flakes from the sky. Just . . . snow. Now, granted, I kind of like the snow and I do actually like winter riding, so this really isn't such a bad thing. Still - it's a far cry from reading a Stieg Larsen thriller on the beaches of Mexico in 33C heat. Also, I don't have my studded tires on so I was a bit weary that I might have a very cold, wet crash at some point today. Luckily, I didn't.

The most remarkable thing about today was that I expected the first snowfall of the year would force the belle-weather cyclists to put their bikes in storage and take the bus to work - but that wasn't the case at all! In fact, I ran across no less than 10 other cyclists on my way to work today, which is actually even more than I usually do! It was incredible! Perhaps I'm not the only one who enjoys a nice winter ride.

Still . . . I miss Mexico.

Giving Thanks

WEATHER THERE: clear, 10C, 9 km/hr cross/headwinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 27C, 21 km/hr cross/tailwinds (gusting to 30 km/hr)

A return of warm, sunny weather. A productive day spent working on my dissertation. I even got a few snuggles from my typically too-busy-to-snuggle daughter. Despite feeling fairly beat tonight, I'd say the day couldn't have been any better!

I need to appreciate these days more. Take in the beauty of the fall colours, appreciate the clear roads and warm temperature and the sun on my face. It's the perfect time of year to be bike-commuting because the timing is just so that I'm biking into the sunrise every morning and soon I'll also be biking into the sunset at the end of the day. The weather is perfect for biking - not too windy, not too cold, not too hot. And all the fall colours are out in full force. There is so much beauty to take in, so many things to be grateful for, that sometimes you really have to take a step back and appreciate it.

So - deep breath in, then breathe it out - thank you, world!

First Frost

WEATHER THERE: sunny, -2C, 9 km/hr tailwinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 9C, 9 km/hr headwinds


My breath fogged the crisp morning air and the remnants of overnight frost clung to patches of roads and sidewalks. Frozen dew still encased delicate blades of grass, who undoubtedly shivered patiently as they waited for the distant morning sun to awaken them from their icy brushes with death.


The golf course at the bottom of the river valley below 100th Avenue had lost its rich depth of colour and was now a pale green beneath a cover of frost.

Brittle yellow leaves descended from their branches, whispering their way to the road below. A delicate rainstorm of backlit brilliant yellows, a glowing golden burst of beauty and colour before everything turns white and stark.

Despite wearing new cycling gloves, my fingertips felt cold and numb. It took a few minutes of being indoors after changing into my work shoes before my toes warmed up again. A year ago today, it was 30C outside, a welcome extension of summer. Today, it's a high of 9C and our first morning of frost cover. Winter is on its way.

Fall is always too fleeting.

Week 46 - Day Three: Rained Out/Mechanical Failure

Yesterday I didn't bike because of the rain. When I drove to work in the morning, I felt small pangs of guilt about leaving the bike at home as I saw a couple cyclists out braving the mild rain that was falling. Throughout the day, as the rain turned into overcast skies, I felt worse. Should I have just braved it myself? Then came the drive home: it was raining hard when I first left work, and torrential downpours came in fits and bursts. There were moments when the rain pelted my car sideways because the wind was so strong. There were moments when I could barely see beyond the hood of my car, even with my wipers going full-speed, because the rain was coming down so hard and fast. There were no cyclists out, no pedestrians. I didn't even see people waiting at bus stops. It was insane. That ride home made me feel perfectly justified in taking the car to work.

Yesterday evening, I spent some time on my bike preparing it for a bike-commute for today: I tightened the headset, filled up the tires, and lubricated the chain, as the last rainy ride washed off a lot of the lube. During this preparatory period, I noticed I had a loose spoke on the back tire. I wiggled it, and it came off - another broken spoke. That would be #7 on that rim. Out of 24 spokes. Now, I knew when I bought that bike that one comment in the reviews was "it's not a curb-jumper", and I've tried to go relatively easy on it as a result. A broken spoke here and there hasn't surprised me. But seven?? Come on!!

I'm right back to that point where I have a serious dilemma on my hands, just as I did a couple weeks ago that last time a spoke broke on me. Do I replace the spoke, as I eventually did last time? Do I refurbish the whole bike (i.e., replace the chain, replace the back rim, give it a tune-up and a thorough wash, etc.)? Do I replace the whole bike with a better, more expensive one, especially if I'm going to continue bike-commuting for the foreseeable future? Or do I give up on bike-commuting for the time being?

This dilemma is more complicated than it might seem. Starting in September, my internship will be over and my time will more flexible because I'll be exclusively working on my dissertation. Given that flexibility, I'm planning to walk-commute to school instead of bike-commuting because I no longer need the time-efficiency of the bike and I prefer walking as a form of exercise. Further, I *may* be moving to another city as soon as January 2011, and I'm not sure whether I'll be able to bike- or walk-commute wherever I end up. ALSO, I'm facing the expense of having to buy a laptop so I can work on my dissertation from a school-based office, so I'm not sure how feasible it is to buy an expensive bike and a laptop around the same time. After all, I'm still a student and a single parent, so money is always an issue.

I need to consider this more thoroughly. As much as I'd love a new bike, I don't think I can justify an expense like that at this time. Even good used bikes are not cheap. Should I repair my current bike and finish off my year of commuting with it, even if it might cost a couple hundred dollars to do that and I might not use it much anymore beyond the end of August? And what if I can bike-commute wherever I end up after I move, then shouldn't I wait and just invest in a better bike?

Any thoughts, my faithful readers?? Your input would be most helpful!

Week 46 - Day One: Rain, Rain, Go Away

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: a few clouds, 17C, no wind there; raining, 15C, 24 km/hr head/crosswinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie (waterproof shell on the way home)
NOTES:

I woke up this morning and could barely keep my eyes open. They were grainy and red from a lack of sleep that accumulated over the weekend from two late nights in a row and no afternoon naps to compensate for them. Huzzah for having a social life! Jeers to the consequences!

All morning I forced myself through my morning routine as a nagging voice within me insisted that I drive instead of bike. The nagging voice was bolstered by the epic tantrums that were thrown by my over-tired daughter at every turn. I try to brush her hair - tantrum. I try to change her diaper - tantrum. I offer her some milk - tantrum. I offer her some cheese - she throws her milk on the ground, then tantrums. Come on!! All of this charming activity made us run late, and that voice in my head kept pushing me to take it easy today and just drive, right up to the last moment that I got on the bike and headed out.

During my ride home today I started regretting that decision. It rained on and off throughout the day. By the afternoon I kept taking every bathroom break as an opportunity to find a big window facing the outside world to see whether it was raining or just cloudy. It was just cloudy as of 3:00 pm, but by the time I left work at 4:00 it had started raining. Sigh. I reluctantly pulled on my waterproof shell and headed out into the wet and cold after a long, busy, tiring day. Somehow, this was easier in the winter.

I arrived home 26 minutes later, drenched and harbouring a chill deep within my bones that didn't leave my body until a hot shower scared it off three hours later. It has been raining ever since. It's supposed to rain up to 65 mm in the next 24 hours, with some crazy wind tomorrow. Methinks I will opt to drive.

I have to say, I preferred winter biking to all this rain biking. At least snow never trickled down the back of my neck and made my underwear wet!

Week 41 - Day Four: Rain or Shine

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: (had drinks with co-workers after work, got a ride home)
WEATHER: light rain, 8C, 7 km/hr cross/headwinds there
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell
NOTES:

I feel like I've been a bit of a pansy when it comes to riding in the rain. For some reason, I was able to battle my way through heavy snowdrifts and slippery ice patches for the great majority of the winter season, and since we've turned the corner into spring I've become far less resilient in the face of bad weather. If it's windy or rainy or, well, for any ridiculous reason, really, I've sought out rides home or talked myself into driving so that it seems I've been missing more bike-commutes in the fine spring weather than I did all winter. What gives??

At least today I can feel good about myself for being able to say that "rain or shine, I'm a bike-commuter!". The rain fell quietly and clung to the exposed skin on my hands, pooling and dribbling off the rim of my helmet. As I splashed through puddles with no front fender and a fairly useless rear one, muddy droplets and a couple tiny pieces of cut grass collected on my face. I arrived at work with damp hair that quickly dried into a frizzy mess, feeling refreshed and cleansed by my wet commute.

There is something wholly pleasant about biking in less-than-ideal weather. I miss that about winter-biking: how alone and accomplished I felt as one of so few cyclists out there in the cold and snow. When I'm one of many, and I'm not one of the fastest or fittest or most fashionable ones, when I'm just another girl on a bike, it loses its romance. I'm not special anymore.

No wonder my motivation for biking lowers as the weather improves.

Week 39 - Day Four: Lazy Afternoon

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 23 min.
TIME BACK: n/a
WEATHER: partly cloudy with light rain, 6C, 11 km/hr crosswinds there
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell
NOTES:

Yesterday when I checked the Weather Network, it was calling for some snow and rain throughout the day today. With a little more glee than I should admit to here, I decided with the risk of snow I wouldn't bike today. However, when I woke up this morning and looked out the bedroom window, I saw nothing but puddles and rain-soaked streets. No snow. I sighed to myself, lamenting: "I guess I will bike today after all."

At work, I had a very busy day. I even spent most of my lunch hour running around campus getting my funding for next year in order, so that by the time I finished with my last client in the afternoon I was exhausted on many levels. On a whim, I decided to text a friend of mine who has given me rides home in the past to see if she'd be willing to pick me up. Remarkably, she did! Sure, I could have biked home - I wasn't too sick, it wasn't too windy, and the rain had even stopped - but for whatever reason I just couldn't fathom another cold, windy, wet ride home.

Thank God for friends like her!!

Week 38 - Day One: Blisters

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: clear, 15C, 11 km/hr tailwinds there; a few clouds, 26C, 9 km/hr crosswinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, tank top, zip-up hoodie (hoodie in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:

Oh, Mondays. Back to work, the daily grind, waking up to the sound of the alarm and never really getting as much sleep as I really need. It helps to wake up and know that I'll have a nice bike ride into work, especially with the weather as nice as it's been lately: by the time I mounted up this morning, the temperature was already in the mid-teens and there was hardly any hint of wind. It helps to feel the sun on my skin and get my body working first thing in the morning. It helps me to shake off the residual laziness of the weekend.

Actually, I wasn't lazy this weekend - not at all. I ended up doing at least a couple hours of yard work each day, trying to work around my daughter as she played on her new slide in the backyard ("Mommy, watch, mommy, watch, watch, mooooommmy - SLIDE!"). I was weeding and planting and digging and hauling, mowing and watering and playing with my daughter in the sprinkler - at least until she realized she was wet and cold and started crying. It was nice to stay active over the weekend while at the same time being able to rest my thighs - those large and ever-growing muscles in my legs that get so tired by the end of a biking week. It means that I was able to continue burning calories over the weekend, then get back on my bike this morning without my legs protesting. It was pretty nice.

The downside to all that gardening is the blisters. I have blisters on each thumb that are perfectly aligned so that they have full contact with the grips on my handlebars and end up stinging for the whole ride. Awesome. I tried repositioning my hand in different ways, but nothing allowed me a comfortable amount of control without the damn blisters getting in the way. Ahh, well, I've fallen off the bike and had to get back on to complete the ride, even when an entire side of my body was bruised - I'm sure I can handle a little blister or two.

Week 37 - Day One: The Pleasure Rider

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: 27 min.
WEATHER: clear, 4C, 6 km/hr crosswinds there; partly cloudy, 14C, 6 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt
NOTES:

Is this what spring/summer bike-commuting is like? Wiping dew off my saddle before setting off, feeling the sun on my skin, running into three fellow bike-commuters within three minutes of starting off, not being yelled at by drivers, arriving at work more glowing than sweaty? I could get used to this. Having started my bike-commuting adventure in the fall/winter, I have to say: this spring riding is just lovely!

One of my colleagues loves cycling and does it as a hobby. He doesn't bike-commute, but he does try to take some time every evening to go for a nice ride through the city. It's how he relaxes and gets a bit of exercise into his day. I know someone else who bike-commutes and also rides for pleasure, spending his weekends touring the river valley because his commute is all road. I bike-commute, and I rarely ride for pleasure. In fact, I think I may have done it once, when I recently took my daughter out for a bike ride on some weekend morning and we toured around our surrounding neighbourhoods. She fell asleep in the trailer, and I had a really nice ride without thinking of what time I'm making or what I'll have to do when I get to work.

I daresay I need to do more leisurely, pleasurely riding. Perhaps this weekend, weather permitting, I should pack up a little picnic and ride my daughter into the river valley and spend some time playing with her there. That would make for some really nice mommy-daughter time. And it would get me out on the bike for something other than the utilitarian reason of getting to work. Perhaps if I (re?)discover the pleasure of cycling for cycling's sake, I will come to appreciate the commute more. Wouldn't that be even nicer than it already is? Believe it or not, that IS possible.

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!

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.

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!

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!!

Week 35 - Day Four: F** That!!

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 22 min. (fo' real????)
TIME BACK: 28 min. (damn wind)
WEATHER: overcast, 2C (-4C with windchill), 28 km/hr tail/cross-winds there; overcast, 8C, 39 km/hr hour head/cross-winds gusting to 50 km/hr back
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, turtleneck, waterproof shell, running gloves
NOTES:

All day, I've been sitting at work contemplating the headwinds I'll be facing on the way home. I've checked The Weather Network website obsessively and cringed as the wind increased from 28 km/hr to 39 km/hr gusting up to 50-60 km/hr. I am tired of this damn wind, and I have no intention of battling it the whole way home. I've seen more wind over the last couple weeks than I saw all winter, and my thighs are aching in protest.

So f** this business! I'm taking a damn cab home today. I have no idea how I'll get my bike home, or how I'll get to work tomorrow. Maybe I'll drive tomorrow and shove the bike in the trunk on the way home? Who knows. I just know that I'm tired, my eyes are bloodshot from riding into the wind (I'm serious, I actually get bloodshot eyes from this crap!), and when I woke up this morning my running shoes were still damp from my ride home in the rain yesterday. I'm taking a damn break!! I'm sure my thighs will thank me in the morning.

Oh, come on, Johnson. Are you really going to wimp out because of the wind after biking through -25C weather in the winter? Are you really going to let a stiff breeze stop you? It's just a half-hour ride home, you can manage that! And the wind won't even be blasting you in the face the whole time because of the twisty turns the route takes. Besides, do you really want to be stuck driving tomorrow, even if the weather is nice? And are you actually willing to leave your bike on campus overnight, and possibly over the weekend? Just deal with it! You got here in one piece, it won't be that bad just to get home!

DAMN YOU, BRAIN, AND YOUR STUPID EXCUSES!! Ignoring the plans I was making all day to take a cab home, I just bit the bullet and got on the bike and rode home. Yes, it was mostly into the wind, and yes, that wasn't pleasant. But I got home, didn't I? And I feel good that I didn't wimp out. But man, am I tired . . . I'm definitely hoping to wake up to snow on the ground tomorrow, as the Weather Network is saying is possible. That way I'll have the perfect excuse to drive my lazy ass to work!

Week 35 - Day Three: Worried

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 30 min.
WEATHER: overcast, 5C, 20 km/hr headwinds there; overcast, rain, 6C, 28 km/hr cross-winds gusting to 39 km/hr.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, sweatshirt,waterproof shell, running gloves (gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:

Today, bike-commuting felt slow. It was cold and windy and raining, my leg muscles ached, and even though I went to bed at 9:30 pm last night I still could have easily slept in this morning. I think it's all the fault of the wind. I've learned that at a certain level of windiness, it really sucks to face the wind, but even if it's a cross-wind or tail-wind it still feels damn windy and makes me bike slower. Does anyone else notice that? I figured having a good tail-wind would whisk me home faster and with less effort! But at a certain point, wind from any direction just feels like a really windy day and there's no relief.

Today we had a Staff Appreciation Lunch, during which we were provided with fabulous sandwiches and accompaniments from the Italian Centre, plus a beautiful array of fruits and ice creams for dessert. Yummm! The bad news about a fine spread like that is that I ate more than I should have, and along with too many other days this month of overindulging, I'm left pretty worried about my weight loss for this month. In February I lost very little weight, and in March I gained back what I lost in February, so even if I lose the weight I gained in March that means I've been hovering around the same damn weight for three fricken months. And I don't even know if I've lost any weight this month! My eating has been inconsistent, and my motivation for biking has been low. I'm worried about the weigh-in on Saturday. It really doesn't help that Friday is a colleague's last day, and we're probably going to get a cake for that - and, really, should a weight-conscious lady be eating cake the day before her monthly weigh-in? In response to that, another part of me rises up and says, "Who gives a shit?? You're really going to withdraw from the celebration and deny yourself a piece of good-bye cake? That level of weight-consciousness is pathological, my friend!"

SIGH! The addition of exercise through bike-commuting into my life has helped me make some wonderful lifestyle changes. At the same time, I do want to lose weight, and I want to do it in a healthy way. Denying myself the occasional treat - especially in a social context - doesn't fit with the losing weight in a healthy way goal. It's just straight-up restriction, which isn't healthy (certainly not psychologically). Then again, I really do want to lose weight, and I'm worried that when I step on the scale on Saturday, what I see really won't be something I'll like.

Should I give a shit? Should I not? That is the question . . .

**the following video contains mature language - viewer discretion advised!*