My First Spin Class

Which happens to also be my first true experience with fixed gear (oops!).  Oops because I OWN a a fixed gear but haven't really yet ridden it.  Anyone want to buy it off me?  It's nice.  Anyhow, it was a little boring and a little intense, but I also sweated a hell of a lot and walking upstairs to my apartment was a little more noticeable than usual, so I guess it was also good.  

On an entirely different note:

Businesses I'm interested in, in the future:

Green Energy Sources.  My role?  Learning to be a business person and get into that business.  OBVIOUSLY, other smart people would do actual engineering of goods to be provided.  

Honey.  Bee keeping.  This may be a personal thing, if not a full fledged business.  I may see about investing in a box if not this year than the next.  I recall reading that one should order bees in February?  Cause they sell out.  So maybe 2009 is about learning how to do this, and 2010 is actually DOING it.

Life coaching.  Something between 'advice giver' and psychotherapist.'  Someone to help people (YOU! perhaps) recognize and move forward to the life you want to be living.  This is one of those things that, when I first heard about it, I thought, YES!, that sounds like something I'd like to do.  Assisting people with figuring out who they want to be, and inspiring them to do the work to get there.  

Concrete.  Eric suggested it.  Businesses owned by women would get get lots of contracts, so I'll keep it on the list.

Yea, so I'm loving my business classes.  YES, the texts are slightly boring to read but they're SO APPLICABLE that it's exciting.  It's like, OH! I want to write a strategic plan for my life!

 

back on the bike, again

Today was the third time this spring I biked to work, though there have been a few more days when I said I would bike and I didn't. I'm such a slacker. I have yet to get back into any biking routine. I'm still heavily [emotionally?] dependent on my car. Why is it so hard to get out of one's automobile?!

Anyhow, in honor of Vanessa, I'm doing this blog quiz-style.

What is your favorite thing about your bike? I LOVE how light weight it is. I forget if it's 15 or 17 pounds, but it's just heavy enough that pressing it up military press-style is mildly satisfying. But it really is very very light weight, which, if you don't know, creates the sensation that I AM MY BIKE. I move and it moves and we are one. This is sweet.

Also, I very much enjoy my clipless pedals. 1) I feel very much connected with the bike. 2) Pulling up on the pedals when I'm going uphill makes me feel really strong and powerful and I like that. 3) Putting more of the work in my psoas and hamstrings and taking it out of my quads makes me feel good about creating more of a balanced musculature.

Also, I very much enjoy my hip angle on this bike. I like how more of my downward force can come from my glut max and less from my quads (as is the case on my mountain bike) which seems like a much more efficient way to ride. The gluteus maximus is, after all, the biggest muscle in the body--make it work! (AND, hopefully, it aids in the development of nice butt.)

What do you like least about your bike? My handlebars are freakin' uncomfortable. I have the thickest biking gloves I could find, but sometimes my hands still go numb sometimes. I feel like I'm constantly moving my hands around, looking for a more comfortable position and I never really find one. (Any ideas, boys?) I suppose it's time to try out those aerobars, but navigating city streets on them makes me nervous.

What's the hardest thing about getting out the door and onto the bike? There are a few things. Time is one of them. It takes me roughly 32-35 minutes to bike to work. To drive there, now, with Ridge and various other pockets under construction, I need to allow 30+ minutes. So the time in transit is virtually equal. But as biking makes me SWEATY, because I'm the kind of girl who sweats, I have to shower at work. And move my bike to the basement. And eat something. And maybe stretch. And so I have to leave an hour before work. But if I shower at home, I can wait 15 more minutes........ So the schedule would look like this:

If biking:
8:30 leave on bike
9:03 get to work
9:05-9:30 shower at work, eat, stretch, move bike, etc
9:30 massage

-OR-

If driving:
8:45 shower at home
9:00-9:28 drive to work
9:30 massage

It's only 15 minutes, but it trips me up! Because I'm in the middle of doing something and I don't want to quit doing it 15 minutes early. Of course, as I'm writing this, I'm aware of how perfectly ridiculous this reason is. It's absurd! I really SAVE time by biking to work because then there is one less workout I have to do. Absurd, I am, truly.

Also, there are things like figuring out what is the proper attire for the weather conditions. Checking the weather forecast online. Gathering the inner fire and determination and strength of will to battle with the elements and disgruntled drivers. It does involve a bit more planning and...well, strength of will.

What's the best thing about biking? Passing stupid ass people who are locked up, alone in their metal boxes, polluting and killing the earth. Yep. That's number one. But two is: I have HUGE road rage when I'm a stupid ass people locked up, alone, in my metal earth killer...and being aware of the contrast of how I feel on the bike--happy and strong and powerful and knowing I'm transporting myself with my own energy--is AWESOME. Knowing my chickpeas and apples and spinach are my fuel. That's a good feeling.

Also, showing up someplace pumped up and energized and full of life--that's better than how I feel when I roll in somewhere in an automobile--sedate and half asleep.

What's the worst thing about biking? It can be cold. It can be wet. Driver's can be mean and scary.

What's your favorite stretch of your commute? Green Bay Road in Wilmette. Wide shoulders, relatively smooth pavement and lots of cars stopped at lots of lights. I think I passed 60 cars this morning that never caught up to me. It was definitely faster to ride than drive.

What's your least favorite stretch? Kenilworth and Winnetka upset me because there are so many bumps and potholes my head hurts. There's a stretch on Asbury that has no shoulder going south, there's aways at least one car here that pisses me off. And the bit of Howard I jog over on sometimes distresses me--lots of scary drivers there.

And one final question, what do you recommend for people who are considering biking to work for the first time? (Heehee, this is fun.) Set a goal. Come up with a workable plan: give yourself a timeline, figure out what you're going to wear, come up with a contingency (if you bike breaks, what will you do, can you hop on a bus?). And write me if you're interested or want to be talked into it...apparently, I'm VERY convincing. :)

The New Triathlon: Run, Bike, Eat Falafel

Exercising makes me ornery. And it makes me need more sleep. But it also makes me feel good, so I keep doing it.

Today/Yesterday I was pulled from my slumber by a "party line" phone call from e&m. So Matt and I biked down to Eric's. We ran 6 miles or so in the hot hot sun. Salt rolled down my forehead into my eyeballs and it burned and stung. I need a headband for next weekend, I think. (International distance triathlon next weekend). We ate Falafel Sandwiches from Old Jeruselum. ($6.15 + tax and not worth it except I was hungry). And then biked down to 53rd and ate Falafel Sandwiches from Cedars. ($4.50 + tax which includes TWO halves of pita, 6? balls, french fries, and a little salad. Very cool). Then we biked back...stopping to watch some people at Ohio St beach...30 miles or so total bikage. Not that far, really, but we spent many many hours in the hot sun.

And so at 8:30pm or so I was ready for bed. Now here I am, it's 3:45am and I'm just waking up. It is the perfect hour for watching Perseid meteors burn up on their way through our atmosphere but it is cloudy here in Chicago and I can hear waves of rain falling outside my window, to say nothing of the light pollution. What would it take to convince a city to have a voluntary blackout (or at least brownout) to facillitate shooting star watching? Would that be possible? Such things could happen by accident in the event of a power outage. Intentionally in the case of...you know, like during WWII. But to see some shooting stars? I wonder if Mayor Daley likes shooting stars... If I were running for mayor.......

Anyhow, maybe I'll straighten up my kitchen and make a salad for tomorrow and try and get some more sleep before the sun comes up.

I've not been posting, or writing at all because...I just haven't had any time. Well, okay, really, I've been watching Seasons 1-4 of Friends. But ALSO, when you're exercising everyday and sometimes multiple times a day, you need a lot more sleep. And if you're not eating enough spinach, you get extra ornery (that's me) and you really just don't want to spread the bad vibes around.

Our last Triathlon is next weekend. Then it's just the Half Marathon in September...and then it's chill time until Marathon training (for the marathona di Roma) begins.

And I realize I still haven't posted about any Triathlons OR the Muddy Buddy so sometime I'll have to catch up. Or maybe not, and I'll just say this:

Triathlons totally kick ass. Single sport? Bah. That's for the wintertime.

My Bike-Affair!

Event: Bike
Total mileage: 18.8 miles
Ave speed: 13.2 mph
Max speed: 19.5 mph

Today I biked to work for the first time since the triathlon (which I still have to blog about). I need to/want to take my mountain bike in for a tune-up, and the road bike...well, we were having difficulties in our relationship. The problem? Well, first we were having derailer tension problems, then I was thinking it was too small for me, then the toe cage straps were on upside down... But I woke up early today. I started putting away laundry, and thought, this is stupid, do this later and bike to work! It's a beautiful day! So I rethreaded my cage straps and hit the road.

Yes, this bike isn't fitting me right, I concluded. How so? Like my center of gravity was too high, like I felt cramped behind the bars but uncomfortably thrust over them, like the angle in my knees wasn't quite right. And then a miracle happened--it is father's day!--and only my first 3 appointments were booked so I got out of work early--on a beautiful Sunday day when I had my bike--what joy! So I road down to Turin in Evanston and inquired for assistance with sizing my bicycle.

Mark helped me. I love Mark. He was patient and knowledgeable, and he smiled at my not-so-funny-Mary-style-jokes. He spent an hour and a half with me and his conclusion was that I didn't need another bike, but that I should ride this one, at least for this season. Incredible! I was so ready to be talked into buying a new bike, and said as much, so... Mark at Turin in Evanston is great.

Mark used a bunch of tools to measure my body. My inseam is shorter than the tool so we had to improvise that one. :) My arms are the same length. My torso is abnormally long for my legs, but this of course I already knew. Which means that I'm NOT a good candidate for a Women Specific Design bicycle because those are tailored to women with longer legs and shorter torsos. So it's a good thing I didn't win that Trek contest (I didn't, by the way. I finally found out).

He locked my bike into some contraption that allowed me to pedal. He adjusted that seat height, I had it set on the high end of acceptable. He measured my knee angle, and used a plumb line to figure out if my patella as over the pedal. He adjusted the angle and front-to-back of my seat. But the biggest adjustment was his suggestion of the removal of the handlebar extension that Deb, the women from whom I bought the bike, had had installed.

The problem with the handlebar extension was that it raised the handlebars above the level of the seat AND brought the handlebars back as the bar is on an angle. NOT GOOD. Because I needed them further away, and having them higher up was doing funky things to my mechanics. So for $10 the guys in the shop took them out. So much better! Then he watched me pedal and gave me advice on mechanics:

-Flatten the low back, as if I'm almost sticking my butt out.
-Support with the low back and core, not the shoulders and arms

Okay, so this bike fits me okay. It's on the small side, I'd probably perfer to stretch out a bit more, but it shouldn't cause me any injury. The main reason I want a different bike is that I'd like one with bigger wheels (so I can go faster, because fast is fun). The problem with my body is that I need 28" tube clearance or 48"/71-72cm frame, but I need 60cm in the horizontal direction and typically frames are made with the same measurements up-down and front-back. So I have a bike now with smaller wheels (which allows for the crotch clearance) and with the 10cm handlebar neck it's roughly 60cm horizontal. But...

Specialized makes bikes that have an angled horizontal bar, allowing for short leg-gers like me to straddle it, AND frames long enough to fit my long torso. After discussing with Mark my recent Triathlon, my biking history, and where I was thinking about going with this, his recommendation was to ride this bike this season (with the adjustments we made), then maybe next season consider getting a Tri or Multisport bike--with the bigger wheels! A "Multisport" bike is by Specialized that is basically a road bike with aero bars, which makes it more comfortable for long rides AND more maneuverable and easier to handle than a Tri bike. Tri bikes have a different geometry that put the rider more forward over the frame, supposedly putting more of the load on the hamstrings and less on the quads.

Mark and I walked around the shop and he told me lots of stuff about the geometry of different frames and the trends from one brand to another. It was awesome! He wasn't selling me anything! And he was super nice! (Unlike those Johnny Sprocket snotfaced-assholes). For the record, the guy who worked on my bike was super nice too. They weren't scornful in the way that so many Chicago-hipster-bicycle-shop-workers are.

So...basically, I'm ready to buy some shoes with clips and to get riding!!

Fun Rain Run

Ooh. Now Blogger saves my drafts automatically. How fun!

Anyhow, I have totally not been keeping up with this. Perhaps I don't need it anymore? But that's how it begins, isn't it, the slide into inactivity? When you start thinking you don't need the universe keeping you accountable.

Tuesday I biked to work. (8 miles) It was a beautiful beautiful morning and I couldn't resist though I knew it was supposed to rain in the afternoon. It was beautiful ALL day until about 30 minutes before I biked home. (8 miles) But it was actually great. I figure you don't know if you would do something, you don't know what your limit is, until you do something and decide not to do it again. But I would definitely do it again.....