What gets people putting pen to paperor should I say fingers to keyboardsin Vancouver? Dogs, trees, real estate prices and cycling.
A column I wrote last week about trying to whip my pancake butt into shape by getting back on my bike inspired a number of people to email. Each personall cyclists I presumewho wrote had their own comment to add about a bike issue, but they all wished me well in my goal to cycle more. Thank you. The new year was starting off on a positive note.
I was hoping for at least one of the Couriers regular anti-bike lane letter writers to send an email, but no such luck.
After I wrote my column and returned homein my minivanI hopped on my aging mountain bike for the first time in a couple of months. Where did I go? The liquor store. It wasnt raining and my husband was home with the kids so I took the opportunity to get on the bike and pick up a couple of bottles of wine for a New Years dinner with friends instead of jumping back in the minivan. Return distance: A whopping four kilometres. The journey had one short, but steepish incline, which practically killed me. I was out of breath and lightheaded after the two-minute climb. I also felt as if my blood sugar plummeted, which was strange given Id had porridge and blueberries for breakfast and a sandwich, fruit and a couple of post-Christmas treats other employees dump at work for the rest of us to get fat on for lunch. Does your body confuse and confound you as much as mine confuses and confounds me on a daily basis? Im ravenous less then two hours after a big bowl of porridge and two morning coffeesand all Ive been doing is sit on my behind in front of a computer. Who knew my big amazing brain needed so much fuel? Actually, its not so surprising. I think there have been studies done on this phenomenon.
I bought and ate a banana at the grocery store before heading next door for the wine. It just doesnt look good if you pass out at the liquor store.
The quick two klicks home were easy and enjoyableand far too short.
My goal to get back on my bike as part of my commute to work wont start for a while, though. Its not the rain that dissuades me, but the dark mornings and potential for black ice, which has caused me to fly off my bike once before, much like an off-leash dog did once as well. I have all the necessary rain gearexcept for good glovesand I actually like riding in the rain. It wakes me up.
In my previous life as a regular cyclist, I noticed just about everybody out there in bike-lane land was always faster than me. It only bothered me when the other cyclist was clearly two decades older and would sail past me on easy routes such as Seventh Avenue. It has to be my bike.
Its a 15-year-old Giant mountain bike with shocks. The bike and I have had good times on trails in Pacific Spirit Park, Stanley Park, Alice Lake, Penticton, and down in Sedona and Flagstaff, Arizona where if you say youre from B.C. and ride a mountain bike, they assume youre a rock star on trails. I quickly proved those Arizonans wrong.
I have since replaced the big tires with slicks for commuting purposes, but they dont seem all that much thinner. The promise of speed didnt really materialize. Its not so heavy that I cant lift it in out of the minivan, but I know there are lighter, better commuter bikes out there. And I so long for one, but since thats not going to happen, Ill have to work on my thigh muscles to improve my pedal power. A bike fit would also be nice, but that too is out of the question. I have three weeks until the start of February, which is when I hope to get back in the saddle, to tighten the thighs. How I will do this, I do not know. Google will help me. Or not. Find out when I post a monthly update on how my return to cycling unfolds.
