Random bits...

Variety hour (minutes?)... Just a bunch of random bits/confessions/rants about me, my bike, my body...

-Since I bought this new bike about a month ago I have put 473 miles on it. If I mapquest my apartment to New York City, it's supposedly 231 miles away. I could have gone to NYC and back by bike in the last month. During that time I have put more mileage in my bike lately than I have in my car.

-A lot of days I get lazy about biking to work. But the thought of waking up, showering at home, running for the bus, makes me even lazier. So sometimes I bike because I'm lazy. As weird as this may sound...

-I installed clipless pedals on my bike and I'm still getting used to them. Because of them, I have already fallen 4 times. The first, was within seconds of using them for the first time, I came to a complete stop, then attempted to remove my foot from the pedal. That caused me to fall sideways, in complete and total slow motion. Into nearby bushes. There were cars at the light, and I'm sure they were wondering "why doesn't she just put her foot down??" And yes, I was laughing the whole way through -- I didn't get hurt (yay bushes!) and I realized I looked completely ridiculous. The worst fall was in DC, on 18th street, on my way to work, within that first week as well. Traffic slowed in front of me, I started losing my balance, so put my foot down. Forgetting they were attached to the pedals, of course. Blood was gushing down my leg, and I now have a scar on my knee to show for it.

-Despite all the falls, I love the pedals -- since installing them, I have yet to encounter an uphill where I had to stand in order to pedal my way up. Since both legs are moving the pedals, I am much more efficient.

-I am much slower than most bikers out there. I don't care if others on a road bike zoom past me. I get ashamed when the people on hybrid or mountain bikes do. One day, when I was dealing with a very strong headwind, a guy in rollerblades passed me. He disappeared from my view within minutes.

-Technically I am only 6.5 miles from work. By bike? I do a half-circle to get the trail and end up riding 11 miles each way. The first week I rode to work it took me one hour. Now it takes me no more than 45 minutes. On a really good day it takes me 41 minutes. Today I took the bus, got stuck in terrible traffic into DC, and my ride was 50 minutes long, as opposed to the usual 30 minutes. I could have biked faster.

-I am terrified of stopping, due to my recent falls. I slow down as much as I can, to wait for a green light up ahead.

-On Monday, I tried carrying my volleyball in this nifty little bag, attached to the back of my trunk bag by its nifty little clip. Within a mile of leaving, going at a steep downhill, the clip broke, the ball got caught in between the wheel and my trunk rack, and I came to a complete stop. Somehow, at the very last second, I was able to remove my foot from the pedal, and jump down. I have been so freaked out by the experience, that I did not bike back home on Monday, so biked back last night, and opted for the bus today. That was a close call, and I definitely would have gotten seriously hurt. (Stupid inertia. And yes, I cannot believe I had to link inertia here, in case someone didn't know what it means... Sorry!)

-For whatever reason, on bike trails, pedestrians completely ignore things like the freaking yellow line dividing the lane, looking before crossing, strolling on a single line with 5 people across, and letting their kids roam free, without any care in the world. They wouldn't drive that way, so why do they walk that way?? Joggers tend to have common sense. Bikers, even beginners (and you can always tell who they are), tend to have common sense. But people freaking walking the trail? Act like a bunch of retards. Seriously, if your 3 year-old is running around in a zig-zag and jumps in front of me and I hit him, don't you think that he can be seriously hurt??? So why in the world would you not tell him to stay within the lane. Or let him run on the grass along the trail? Idiots.

-The bell warning that we're passing, coming through, etc? Always noticed by bikers & runners. Very rarely gets attention of someone walking the trail, it goes completely ignored. "On your left" or "passing on your left" usually also leads them to stop and go left, or look left, etc. They very rarely move out of the way, even when they are, in fact, blocking the way, both ways.

-I always say thank you when someone moves out of the way, or when a car gives me the right of way, slow down or waves me through. Even when I had the right of way to begin with, I'm always thankful that they decided not to ruin my day and were against running me over, or making me run into them.

-For some reason, in these last 3 weeks or so, going down the Mt. Vernon trail, right after passing under the Memorial Bridge, geese started showing up everywhere. They're all over the trail and grass. I have to be careful with geese crossing the trail. There's geese crap all over the place. It's only for about 100 yards. It's freaking hilarious, and I'm not sure why only there?

-I have not lost a pound since I started biking to work. It's been over 3 months. Depending on weather, I bike 80 to 100 miles a week. I am not eating more than before. Calorie counters estimate I burn about 800 to 1000 calories (depending where you look). And I still look like a couch potato with jiggly legs.

-Talking about jiggly legs, my legs are incredibly muscular -- always been. So are my arms. But for the life of me I can't get rid of the fat that surrounds these muscles. I am rock hard to the touch in most places, but I look like jello. A boyfriend once said that he loved my body because I was muscular but I had that initial softness to the touch. The description couldn't be more true.

-Yes, I have been to the doctor to make sure I don't have a problem. It makes no sense that I exercise as much as I do, and though I don't diet, I eat healthy, am not a big drinker (I drink about 0 to 4 beers a week), and I look the way I do. The doctor recommended a diet, did not believe that I exercise as much as I said, or that I eat the way I do. She said if the diet is too hard, she can give me appetite suppressants. I never went back there. And I still don't know how can someone do what I do, and still look like a couch potato. When I talk to my friends, they sometimes mention something of the sorts, and give me that look, like they too think that I'm eating pints of ice cream hidden in my bedroom at night. (And for the record, no I don't.) I'm tired of hearing "what do you eat???"

-I love my bike ride to work, I always look forward to it. I hate my ride back home, totally dread it. The Mt. Vernon trail always has a strong headwind on my ride back, and the last 3-4 miles are mostly uphill. There are two stretches where I ride on the street, right towards the end, that I cringe at the thought, those two are the most unpleasant parts of my ride, and when I get lazy, that's all I can think of.

-I always stare down the cute guys jogging along the trail. Thank god for sunglasses!

-I have worn bike shorts all my life and refused to wear padded shorts, because hello, I have enough padding of my own, in case you haven't been paying attention. After so many people recommended I give them a try, I sucked it up and bought those shorts. They make my legs look like sausages, and my butt look retarded. But I didn't notice a difference from my usual shorts. I guess that I have been right all along... I have enough padding as is.

-I hate wearing helmets, and resisted them until I started biking to work. I miss the wind running through my hair, and it always freaks me out when I have an itch, go to scratch my head, only to hit the helmet with my fingers.

-I cannot ride without my camelbak. I look ridiculous when drinking from it, but it makes drinking water on the go soooo easy.

-The outdoor courts I play volleyball at are halfway on my ride back home. It's a great way to relax, take a break from my ride, and not let biking interfere with my volleyball obsession.

(What a self-indulgent post, I know. But I'm supposed to be cleaning my place. I needed reasons to procrastinate. This was convenient.)