It started off so promising. An icy Monday morning I hopped on my commuter bike with new studded tires. They gripped through ice and wet leaves. I felt so bad ass.
The ride home was equally wonderful. A bit chilly but it felt like a win.
The Tuesday we got a good amount of snow.
Wednesday the ride in was terrible. I shared an honest video recounting how the road plow had filled the bike lane with snow banks, that it was garbage day and we still had piles of leaves in the lane too.
I felt deflated. Defeated really.
The snow has since melted.
I’m feeling positive about trying it again next week. Fingers crossed the weather is on my side.
A short video showing black painters strapped to a blue step through bicycle. There are neoprene sleeves over the handle bars.
Friends who live north of me are posting pictures of snow to their social media accounts.
It’s not quite snow season yet in my part of the world. However, it is the start of the dark, cold, and damp season.
The overnight lows are approaching freezing. There is a week of single-digit highs and rain in the forecast.
This morning I was sleepy, not my usual perky Monday morning self. I’d been at a conference all weekend. If I were a regular faculty member, I would have felt okay sleeping in on a day like this. But I’m not. Many meetings await, and so I needed to get to campus.
The real question is whether or not to ride my bike or get a drive.
I have learned from past experience that I must keep riding. If I don’t get used to riding in the sort-of-cold, it will be impossible when it gets to the really-cold. Start as you mean continue! If I want ride my bike through most of the winter, I can’t skip the first wet, cold mornings.
It’s late summer in little London, Ontario. The nights are fresh, the mornings crisp and the days are warm.
It’s the kind of weather where I’m comfortable on my commuter bike Myrna. A light sweater and the morning trip is easy. A bit of rain? No problem. It’s still warm. Easy.
It feels a bit like cheating. Getting a 10 minute ride twice in the day with no effort.
Lately I’ve been appreciating the difference between activities and workouts. They both involve using my body and are part of my lifestyle. Thanks to having a smart watch for a year I’m seeing those two things come together in a surprising way.
Apple watches have an “Active energy” metric that calculates the calories one burns with movement.
I was surprised that my workouts only account for a third of my active energy.
Huh.
While I record my cycling commute I do not consider it a workout. I am wearing my office wear. The goal is to take it easy and not get too sweaty. I like recording so I will have my total distance cycled this year. I think it will be more than last year.
The weather will change. Fall is a couple weeks away and sometime in the next 4 months we will get snow. But for now it’s gorgeous outside and it’s easy to keep to my cycling commute.
A white bicycle symbol painted on asphalt with a dusting of golden leaves.
There’s no new bike fever in my life at the moment. Wow. That’s because I have the perfect fleet! I wrote my last “thinking of new bikes” post in 2022 when I was wanting a gravel bike but now that I have one, I’m pretty happy. (And given the effect tariffs may have on bike prices, I’m glad I’m happy with the bikes I have.)
I bought it six years ago when my ability to walk anywhere when I traveled was declining and I wanted a bike that could come with me on the road.
It’s bright pink and it’s terrific, not just for traveling, but for days when I want to be flexible. It can come into most restaurants and theatres when folded. And it’s always allowed on public transit and fits easily into car trunks.
I can wear it with regular clothes and I own a sparkly pink bike helmet to match.
My bright pink Brompton always makes me smile.
Pink Brompton
2. My adventure road bike, 2017
See One bike? in which I blogged about this being the bike I’d choose, if I could only own one bike. It’s my everyday bike, probably the most ridden (in terms of days, not kilometers) of the fleet. It’s outfitted with fenders, lights, and panniers.
The one non-everyday feature? SPD pedals so I either wear my cycling sandals or bike shoes. The one change I’m tempted to make is installing pedals that are flat on one side and with spd clips on the other. Maybe. We’ll see.
This bike was one I got in a swap for my cyclocross bike. The cyclocross bike was my bonus thyroid cancer bicycle. I used it some but not enough to justify keeping it. At the same time I was renting fat bikes and loving it. So I decided to sell the cyclo-cross bike and buy a fat bike but instead found someone who wanted to trade. Perfect! Sarah now has a fat bike too and I love bombing around in them on local trails and taking them on weekend adventures. Right now they’re at the farm for riding there. Looking forward to it!
Sam’s fat bike
4. My go-fast road bike, with di2 shifting, 2019
This is my speediest bike and the one that I use for long, endurance road rides. It’s done the full version of the bike rally and lots of other long rides as well. It’s definitely the lightest bike I own. Whee! Zoom!
Sam’s black Cannondale
5. My new green gravel bike, 2024
Sarah did all the research and she initially bought this bike for herself, but once she decided to buy one bike that does everything, I bought this bike from her. It’s a carbon gravel bike with a single front chainring (1x drive train). You can read here about some of the advantages of this set-up. It’s a lot of fun to ride and it was the one bike I took with me to New Zealand this year. It’s good for climbing and does well in the gravel, including some rides where we ought to have had mountain bikes.
Sam’s green gravel bike
6. My time-trialish Cervelo, currently being used for Zwifting, 2017
Cervelo on the trainer
This is my sexiest and speediest bike. I used to ride it on the road when I was riding shorter distances, solo, and aiming for speed. Now it’s the road bike that I lend to friends and let hang out on the trainer.
I bought this bike used because I was wanting something more aero, good for solo riding. It’s a fun bike. It’s not particularly comfortable but it’s great for distances under 50 km.
These days though it’s pretty much a dedicated Zwift machine.
Confession: I do own one more bike, a track bike, which I would sell but Sarah wants me to keep in case she decides to go ride at the velodrome in Milton in her spare time. That’s a bit of a joke because she is the busiest person I know. It’s in the shed but I’m not counting it as part of my fleet.
How about you? How many bikes? Which is your favorite and why?
So the other night I posted to Facebook, “During the summer, on the evenings I have physio, I’ve been going into my office a little later and then going straight from work to 7 pm physio. Tomorrow that ends and the academic year 830 am meetings begin. I’ll leave the house on my bike at 730 and return on my bike at 830. Wish me luck! Also the bike light charging station is all set up.”
As a result, I’ve had some questions about why I ride my bike to school and to physio. People get my recreational/fitness riding, but many non-cyclists puzzle about the everyday riding.
Here’s some of the reasons I’d rather ride my bike:
♥ I love the time between things.
♥ I enjoy the movement.
♥ Love the outdoor air.
♥ There’s a freedom that comes with having my bike. I can leave when I want and come home when I want. I’m not dependent on the plans of others. I think about it every time I’m waiting for a drive. I should have just ridden my bike!
♥ I don’t pay for parking on campus, and I like the frugality of riding to work. Not having a parking pass is a definite nudge towards biking. But of course, I could get a drive to work. I do that on some days. My mother and I share a car, and she’s happy to drive me to campus. That brings me to my next reason.
♥ More and more, I’ve been thinking about the environment. For short distances–and in Guelph they are all short distances, Guelph is a small town–we should all walk or ride bikes, if we can. I love that Strava now tells me, on rides I tag as commutes, how much carbon I saved by riding instead of driving. Here’s my ride home from physio the other night.
The carbon saved info is part of a recent update to Strava. On activities tagged as commutes, Strava will calculate the estimated carbon saved as compared to completing that trip in the average personal passenger vehicle, based on this 2021 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report.
I shared the info Bixi shared with me after biking around the city recently and complained about the calorie counting.
Why on earth do they share calorie information?
Friends chimed in and we had an interesting conversation. Why do I care about calorie info? Can’t I just ignore it? What’s my objection?
Nicole wondered if it motivates some people to bike maybe it’s not such a bad thing, as long as they don’t obsess about it. While they are thinking about calories, they are still getting the bigger benefit of movement, after all.
I’m still not a fan. Why? I think this covers the main points.
First, I hate calorie counts because they’re part of the association of exercise with weight loss which I really hate. I’ve had a go at this topic many times here on the blog but probably the best version is here.
Second, there’s no way it’s accurate. Thanks Miles for that point.
Third, some people find it triggering. If there are people that the calorie info attracts, there will also be people with a history of disordered eating who avoid Bixi for its calorie counting talk. Thanks Audra for this reminder.
Also, it might just completely miss the mark. As my friend Daniel, the only Montrealer in on the conversation pointed out, people use Bixi because it’s convenient.
“For the most part, Bixi has just become a vital part of Montreal’s public transport infrastructure. There are tons of trips for which Bixi just is the most efficient choice…I think a lot of people have adopted them just to have that extra degree of flex in their public transport palette.”
I think it might be cool to share info on the effect of your bike ride on your carbon footprint. How much less carbon did you use biking instead of driving? Yes, it’s not always doing to be accurate but likely not less so than calorie counts. It might not be motivational for everyone but at least it won’t put anyone off.
Things to know about me: I am a rule following kind of person. It’s hardwired. It’s what I do.
But I confess that until today, I didn’t have a bell on my commuting bike.
I mean, I had one, years ago, but it broke, and I never replaced it, mostly because I only had it to comply with the law. I rarely, if ever, used it.
Why not? Well, it startled people. And I was finding that either people have headsets on, in which case it doesn’t matter what noise I make, or they seemed less startled, and more appreciative of a cheery “Good morning.”
To be clear, our gravel paths along the river and through the Arboretum are wide and not at all crowded so my bike commute is pretty stress free. So far even the off leash dogs have been well behaved and my only near collision was with turtles the other morning.
Here’s some scenes from my long commute:
Sam’s ride to work
But last week, as I was cycling through the Aboretum on my long way to work, I passed an elderly man with a small dog and my “hello, good morning” wasn’t enough. “Don’t you have a bell on that thing you could ring?” he yelled back.
The pink bell clashes. I think it was a stocking stuffer meant for the Brompton which also doesn’t have a bell. Will remedy that too, get a new one for the commuting bike and put the pink one on the Brompton.
In the meantime, cyclists and non-cyclists alike, which do you prefer, bell or no bell? “Good morning, hello,” or “bring bring”?
Shortly after coming home from my work commute the other day, I found that my partner (and cat) could barely stand to be around me. I was being a total grump—tired and irritable. Why?
I had spent the last two days commuting by car (an hour each way, plus more travel between sites), then sitting for hours at desks that were not my own. Being vehicle- and desk-bound used to be my work-a-day norm. But, after only a few days back at work, and despite all the travel, I felt unusually sedentary and yuck.
A woman hunched over her laptop at a desk. Posture posture posture!
I have worked from home during most of the COVID-19 pandemic. This means I’ve had the luxury of walking or exercising before or after work (most days!), and taking short stretch breaks anytime I’ve needed to in a private and comfortable space of my own. More control over how, where, and how much I sit.
You may be thinking—with all this privilege, 5 hours in the car over 2 days is not, relatively speaking, a big deal. Boo hoo, Elan. (At first I thought that too.)
Yet, because I am trying to be mindful and notice things more, I realized maybe I hadn’t prepared myself sufficiently for what back to work would feel like for my body.
Reminders are for people who need reminding. Here is a brief list of reminders for how I might show up more prepared for my return-to-work days a (and be less of a grump around those I love afterwards).
Leave 15 minutes earlier than I need to and park at the far end of the parking lot to have time to walk and stretch before sitting in the office.
Bring more water and veggie snacks than I think I will need in order to stay hydrated (and avoid the snack machine).
Schedule in-person meetings to end 10 minutes before the hour, and use that time to get up and move around, perhaps reacquainting myself with the buildings and their outdoor spaces.
Assess the ergonomics of my seated position in my car and in my hoteling office work spaces—try to notice my posture and pack what I need to adjust myself.
Make time to stretch before getting back into my car near the end of the day.
That’s me, third car on the right.
What else could help me to manage feelings sedentary and grumpy during return to work? Please share your ideas in comments below!
Many years ago I was chatting with an Old South neighbour who also worked at Western University in London, Ontario and who aspired to commute by bike. We agreed that the bike path to campus along the river was was beautiful and safe and that many factors (no stressful traffic, no expensive parking, time in nature before and after work, environmental reasons, and daily exercise) made biking the obviously best choice.
But, she said, what about the big hill out of the park up to the bridge?
What about it?
I confess though it’s short I was annoyed by the hill out of the park because at the time I was riding a fixed gear bike. I had to take a run at it and sometimes there were people walking on the path and slowing down on the fixie was problematic. But even on the fixie it wouldn’t stop me commuting by bike.
The neighbour was worried she’d need to walk the bike up the hill. I don’t think it would be necessary given that her bike had gears but even so, it’s a pretty short hill to walk up if you have to. But the thing is she was embarrassed by the idea of walking her bike up the hill and that alone was possibly enough to keep her from riding. She felt she wasn’t in good enough shape to ride to work if she couldn’t make it up the hill.
I also think most casual cyclists don’t learn to use their gears. I see people struggling and have to resist yelling, “Shift!” at them.
The biggest factor though isn’t either of these things. It’s that hills intimidate us. I loved Julia’s recent post about hills.
The same is true for commuting to the University of Guelph from the Northside of the city. People comment all the time that they’re impressed I ride up the Gordon Street hill. I don’t quite say “what hill?” but it’s true it’s not much of a hill. I slow down for it but even my Brompton easily makes it up Gordon. It’s annoying but as hills go, it’s not much of a hill.
Here’s the Gordon Street hill:
So my standard view on hills and bike commuting is a)use your gears, and b)if you run out of gears, it’s ok to walk your bike.
I guess my view about hills and urban commuting changed a bit when I lived in Dunedin, NZ for a term while on sabbatical visiting The University of Otago. There the hills were steep enough that some routes just didn’t make sense by bike. I lived in an area that people referred to as the city rise. That meant I had a long set of steps up to my house from the street below and my bike commute would have been a very fast downhill to work and likely walking the bike uphill for at least part of the way home. Needless to say, I walked.
Getting around town in Dunedin it was never enough to know how far away anything was. Distance wasn’t the most important measurement. I once set out on my road bike to get to the velodrome in Mosgiel–just 20 km away. I gave myself an hour (normally fine on the road bike) neglecting to see that something aptly called Three Mile Hill was between me and there. I was late, obviously, and too tired to do much riding when I got there. And after that I drove like others riding at the velodrome, which felt all wrong to me.
Other than gearing, or e-assist, what would help make cycling more accessible in really hilly cities?
Cork is considering a lift like the one in Trondheim
See here, ‘Bicycle lift’ proposed to help cyclists climb steep 14% street.
Here is the story of the lift named Trampe,
What’s your opinion about hills and bike commuting?
A turtle, a wet cyclist, and a tree fallen across the bike trail
My normal bike commute here in Guelph is a little too short. It’s just a couple of kilometers. I’d walk it except I can’t because of my knees.
I’ve also been missing my London commute along the river on the bike path.
Guelph has a river and a river side bike trail but it’s not the most direct route to work. This past week I put all these facts together and starting riding the long way to work. Up the riverside bike path, and then down through the Arboretum to my office. It’s about 5.5 km. That’s still shorter than my 7 km London commute but it’s enough to make it feel worthwhile getting on the bike.
Today I saw a turtle and a giant tree that fell on the path. That’s much more interesting than my neighbourhood route.
There’s also a very pretty wooden, covered bridge on my route.
Sam, the bridge, and her bike
It was a good idea anyway. It’s a much nicer ride. But it’s part of getting ready to ride the Friends for Life Bike Rally in August. I’ve always thought that the hardest part of the rally isn’t the distance you ride each day, it’s getting up and doing it again. So daily riding is definitely part of my training plan.
I’m increasingly nervous about getting enough riding time in. I don’t want to struggle with both knee pain and fitness. Every weekend from here on in, rain or no rain, I’m going to be training.
I’m also struggling this year with fundraising. You can sponsor me here. Please, any amount helps. I’m about a third of the way to my goal.
