Among big-bearded men, my beard really isn't that big. At about four seven inches, I know it's close to terminal length already (11-12 inches, based on past experience). Among the general population, however, where scraping the face with a cold steel blade in the morning is the norm and the most common facial hair is a closely trimmed goatee, it is big. Big beards are more often associated with bikers, not cyclists, so here's to big-bearded cyclists!
Hi, I'm Abram. I live in Hamilton, Ontario but commute to work in Aberfoyle, a small town near Guelph, 39 km from home. There, as a manager in a busy transportation office, I spend my days, cubicled. This often intense but sedentary life, it would seem, is having a negative impact on atmospheric pressure and the earth's gravitational field. How else am I to explain the softening and expansion of my midsection and the increased gravitational pull I'm experiencing?
Given the gravity of the situation, I decided to take concrete action to reduce my impact on the planet's atmosphere and gravitational field and steer us clear of most certain disaster. My health will surely benefit too. While it isn't realistic for me to leave the car home altogether and commute to work by bicycle, I've begun taking my bicycle along for a brisk cycle during my lunch hour. (Aug. 2010 Edit: While I did for some months commute to work much of the way in the morning and all the way back, this is no longer feasible given the long hours and demands at work).
Health/Weight Goals
My weight, when I began cycling again was 187 lbs. For a small guy like me, standing at just under 5' 9", with a medium build, that is about 30 lbs too much. That would put my BMI (body mass index) at 27.6. In 2009 I made some good headway, losing more than 10 lbs, but over the winter the cubicled existence and lack of exercise brought my weight nearly back to where it was at the beginning. I fluctuate now around 180 lbs, give or take a couple. Hopefully, with sustained exercise throughout the year, and a trainer to use in winter, I can slowly get to my goal of 160 lbs.
Cycling Goals
Short-term:
- Cycle at least a metric century every week while temperatures remain above freezing. On the current route during my lunch hour, cycling 15.3 km a day, I end up with 76.5 km total for the work week. That leaves me with only 23.5 km to do over the weekend to complete a metric century.
(Aug. 2010 Edit: this goal was met for some time with lunch-hour cycling, which I no longer can do, and weekend cycling. Now I accomplish this, most weeks, by cycling after I get home in the evening, about 20 k per day, plus longer trips on weekends.)
Mid-term:
- Sometime this summer, most likely a weekend in July, cycle from Hamilton to Niagara On The Lake. The route I've mapped out comes to exactly 76.5 from my apartment to the Shaw Festival Theatre. If I do a return trip, I'll get 1.5 metric centuries in that day. Here's the planned route:
View Larger Map
(Aug. 2010 Edit: I never did make it all the way to Niagara on the Lake, though I did make it back to Port Dalhousie, ON a couple more times. The last time, July 10th, my partner and I cycled 115 k in one day.) - (Aug. 13, 2010 Edit: I cycled 179 km (111 m) in one day, from Hamilton to Brantford to Paris to Cambridge and back.)
Long-term:
- Complete an imperial century in one day before moving (1st imperial century completed Aug. 13, 2010) Move on to a second century (now I'm really getting ahead of myself!). As part of this goal, hopefully sometime next year, I'd like to begin participating in randonneuring events, bicycle rallies and touring (I'm all fired up about distance cycling). I also intend to acquire a Surly Pugsley (I may just aim for a Surly Cross Check to accomplish both touring and winter cycling goals by keeping an extra set of wheels with fat tires on them) sometime and do winter snow biking.
In my Stable
Currently I have only one bicycle, a Montague MX full-size folding mountain bike, purchased in 2005. Here are the specs:
| Color | Silver Haze |
| Frame | 7005 Series Aluminum with FIT System. Mono Tube Front Triangle. |
| Fork | SR Suntour XCT 80mm Suspension, disc mount, adjustable preload. |
| Rims | Black, Alloy, 36 hole, single wall. Machine Finish brake surface. |
| Tires | 26 x 1.95 Kenda Knobby Front and Rear Specific Kenda Kross Plus 26"X1.95" |
| Hubset | Formula®, alloy, sealed front and rear |
| Spokes | 14G stainless |
| Saddle | Cionlli@reg Mountain with Ozone Full Cut See Through Comfort Tech. |
| Seatpost | 27.2 x 300mm Alloy micro adjust |
| Handlebars | Alloy, 30mm rise Kalloy Trekking Bar, 585mm, polished silver (spring 2010) |
| Stem | Alloy Ahead® |
| Shifters | Shimano® EZ-Fire Plus |
| Front Derailleur | Shimano® downswing |
| Rear Derailleur | Shimano® Alivio |
| Crankset |
SR Suntour®
42/32/22. Alloy. Black, 170mm Shimano Altus FC-M311 - 175mm x 42-32-22 (summer 2010) |
| Speeds | 24 Speeds 11-32t |
| Brakeset | Alloy V-style with Shimano® alloy levers |
| Pedals |
Bear trap with toe cage Wellgo WPD-95B Half/Half (summer 2010) |
| Bottom Bracket | Sealed Cartridge |
| Frame Size | 18" |
| Stand over height | 29" |
| Folded Size | 36" x 28" x 12" |
| Weight | 30lbs. |
Equipment Goals
Short- to mid-term (doubles as a wish list as I'm completely broke with the recent cutbacks):
- get another bicycle pump (mine broke a while ago) acquired an Avenir Airsource 1000 portable bicycle pump (2009), a Beto floor pump, and for otr emergencies, a Planet Bike Red Zeppelin CO2 Inflator (summer 2010)
- put slick 26" road tires on my bike for smoother road biking
- get a digital bicycle computer so I can better track my results now have a Filzer dZ4LW wireless cycling computer (spring 2010)
- get handlebar extensions for more varied hand positions (it seems putting a drop or randonneur bar on my mountain bike would be quite involved) acquired and installed a Kalloy Trekking Bar, 585mm, polished silver (spring 2010)
- extra brake cables
- headlight Blackburn Voyager 3.3 headlight (spring 2009)
- Old Man Mountain rear rack; added an Axiom Journey seatpost rack (Spring 2010)
- Ortlieb handle bar bag
Long-term:
- get a decent touring bike (I'm thinking a Surly LHT or Cross Check)
- acquire a decent city bike -- Batavus, Pashley or Dutchie
- a Surly Pugsley with wide tires for winter riding (or Cross Check for double duty)
- full set of front and back Ortlieb panniers
- Garmin Edge 705 GPS-enabled cycling computer
