The Big-Bearded Bicyclist

Getting in shape without the gym: cycling and the street workout

After starting my sustainable urban delivery business, using cargo bikes and trailers to deliver up to 300 lbs of goods for and between local businesses, I got into pretty decent shape. Just from all the cycling alone, leaving my diet intact and not doing any other workout, I lost about 20 lbs and my legs became solid and well-defined. I began at about 184 lbs and am now 162.5 lbs, as of this morning.

My midsection, however, remained soft and flabby. All that cycling did nothing, or very little, for my core. So I began looking for things I could do to strengthen my core and tone the midsection. I found an app for my tablet with an ab workout routine and began doing that every morning, six days a week, 9 weeks ago. The top abs are beginning to show, but there is still a peristent 5 lbs or so sitting around the middle and covering the lower four. 

About the same time, or shortly after beginning the ab workout, I came across Hannibal for King and the ghetto workout. I was fascinated and amazed! The whole idea of going to the gym and using weights never seemed right to me (after my teens, anyway) and here was what I had been looking for--a workout system that could be done almost anywhere using just bodyweight and bars. The stuff of playgrounds. And what amazing bodies these guys have! 

 

Then I found that there were people (mainly guys, and some girls), in various parts of the world--Russia, Moscow, Latvia, Israel, etc. in addition to NYC--doing similar workouts. There are also the Bartendaz in NYC, an amazing group of people led by Hassan Yasin, whose "dynamic martial arts and physical training program engineered to bolster fitness, discipline, self-esteem and actualization for practitioners" is now being brought to young people in a number of inner city schools. But it seems Eastern Europe is the place where this has most taken off, sometimes still using the term 'ghetto workout', but more often calling it 'street workout'. There apparently are a couple of people in Toronto now doing street workouts too. 

Below is one of my favourite street workout videos--I prefer this term as it is less loaded and more broadly applicable:

 

I've become utterly fascinated with the street workout concept and am determined to practice it to get into even better shape. I love parkour as well (http://youtu.be/qM5aYOIbklI), but I doubt my knee, with an old injury, could ever learn to withstand the impact. Even my wrists, which have always been problematic, present a major challenge, though I suspect bar exercises, combined with good stretches and forearm strengthening, should help.

I didn't start pull-ups and bar exercises for a while because, strangely, I can't find any playgrounds here in Hamilton with high bars. There are a few with some monkey bars, but most are now of the same small variety. I get jealous when I see the people in NYC, but even more so in Russia, where there seems to be a great variety of bars in large playgrounds, many of which seem to have been built for children and adults to learn and practice gymnastics skills. But I am finding ways to do some of the exercises at parks nearby and at home. I hope, when finances stabilize a bit, to buy a decent portable bar set that can be used in- and outdoors. 

Having recently joined a website called Strength Project (http://strength-project.com/index.php/), after seeing a pull-up tutorial for beginners, and having then been directed to a website called 50pullups.com, I am now ready to begin a serious pull-up program to increase my upper body strength. 

I am currently just about at my normal weight for my frame and height--medium build at 5' 9"--with a little flab around the middle. I plan, by spring of this year, to be able to do at least 20 pull-ups in one go and unveil the lower four muscles in my slowly appearing six-pack. Though I took some pictures today for my 'before' state, I shall hold off sharing them until April. In the meantime, if there is anyone else in the city here interested in joining me for street workouts, I'd be happy to have some company, especially beginning in the spring. 

Getting ready to go car-free!

For the past few years, indeed the whole time I've owned this little fuel-efficient 2005 Toyota Echo, I worked too far from where I lived to make cycle commuting practical. Though there were times -- see earlier posts -- when I got a ride from Hamilton up the escarpment to Waterdown and rode to Aberfoyle from there, then all the way home after work, it was not feasible to ditch the car and cycle commute for good. While it might have been possible during the warm seasons, road conditions would render it impossible in winter.

But now that I no longer work in Aberfoyle, having lost my job there in the company's latest re-structuring move, I am going ahead with going car-free. I have put the Toyota Echo up for sale, purchased a couple of trailers (one pictured, the other not yet arrived), and am looking for local work. Indeed, though I can't at this time divulge detail, I am seriously looking into creating my own work.

If anyone is interested in a well-maintained, fuel-efficient small vehicle, here's your chance. Asking $6000.00 or best offer. All regular dealer preventative maintenance was peformed, was recently e-tested, and I'm willing to get it safety certified. As is, that is without certification, I am willing to go as low as $5000.00. But enough about that.

My new car (actually, I've owned this bike for more than 5 years) and Wike shopper trailer.

Another view behind garage. The shopper converts quickly from trailer to grocery pushcart.

Going forward, watch here and at my cycling advocacy site, I Cycle Hamilton, or on twitter (@SSTragus and @ICycleHamilton) and facebook, for updates on my car-free life. I'm sure there will be challenges, that is, I will have to plan and prioritize differently, but I look forward to them as the car-free lifestyle aligns much more closely with my personal values -- reducing my fossil-fuel dependence, shrinking my ecological footprint, contributing to the local economy, becoming more engaged in the local community, and staying physically active.

Stay tuned!

Our Hamilton - Brantford - Cambridge Bicycle Trip

In accordance with the plans mentioned here recently, we made a very full day trip out of cycling along the Hamilton - Brantford - Cambridge Rail-Trail all the way to Cambridge and back.

(click image for a brochure of the trail)

We had planned to head out at 6am but had a hard time getting up, firstly, and then noticed that, even at 6:30am, it was still quite dark and foggy. Aside from a little light shed on the trail where there is a little break in the foliage in the urban portion, the trail has no lighting. Add fog to that and we decided that the more sane thing to do would be to leave an hour later.

The air, though already somewhat heavy with humidity, was nevertheless still somewhat cool as we made our way from Hamilton's downtown to the starting point of the Hamilton - Brantford Trail on Ewen Rd about a half block south of Maint St W.

The first portion of this trail to the Trail Centre, and a little beyond, we'd done before. In fact, in July of 1996, shortly after getting married and, as it turns out, only a matter of months before the trail was completed all the way to Brantford, we rented a couple of bicycles and took the trail as far as it then went, taking rural roads the remaining distance into the city. Once there, we stayed at a nice little Bed and Breakfast on the Grand River for a couple of nights. But that was 14 years ago and not part of this story...

The portion from here through Dundas to Jerseyville was very nicely surfaced with finely crushed rock. It made for a smooth ride through beautiful territory, with a nice little break to grab a snack or fill up our water bottles, for free, at the Dundas Valley Conservation Area Trail Centre, built, in period style, at the site of an old railway station.

At the Trail Centre there is also a little tourist office and snack store, as well as, to the right of this picture, a little wildlife observation and teaching garden.

The signage -- wooden posts marking kilometres travelled, signs and benches with dedication plates naming donors who have purchased a kilometre or more of the trail (there are still some kilometres available), and signs indicating intended uses of the trail or marking roads crossed along the way -- was very good from Hamilton to Jerseyville. Though the signage from Jerseyville to Brantford continued to be decent, there were increasingly large sections of trail that were little more than doubletrack, making for a rougher ride. But much of that was made up for by the natural beauty surrounding it.

Getting into Brantford was easy, but the signage in and through Brantford is poor. It is not at all straightforward, for those not familiar with the city, to find their way from where they enter Brantford to where the trail continues to Paris and Cambridge. The trail will get you to Brantford, but if you don't know where you're going, it won't get you quickly across and onward to Paris. We did not see, for example, when we entered the city, that the trail continued as the Gordon Glaves Memorial Pathway/Trans Canada Trail (there is another Gordon Glaves Memorial Pathway) in a loop below and around downtown Brantford. We probably got onto the non-Trans Canada pathway, indicated by a broken red line on the map, which took us straight into Mohawk Park. Even on the map, however, now that we have completed the trip, it is difficult to see exactly what is what and where. It's all very frustrating!

Though, with our basic knowledge of downtown Brantford and the location of SC Johnson, we managed to find our way back to the Gordon Glaves pathway and the SC Johnson Trail, we did get somewhat lost on the way back. The Gordon Glaves Memorial Pathway/Trans Canada Trail itself was actually quite nice, once we'd found it, taking us through the Waterworks Park, past the Wilkes Dam and Brant Park Conservation area, and through the Blue Circle Section. The latter is comprised of former mining lands now being rehabilitated. There were some gorgeous wildflower fields, but punishing grades, thankfully rather short, in the Blue Circle Section.

What the city should have done, in my opinion, is to offer, along with the depiction of trails on a map, two or three specific ways, point-by-point, of getting through the city to continue to Paris and/or Cambridge. Here are is one example (hopefully someone at the Brantford Parks & Recreation Department is paying attention):

    Route 1: Gordon Glaves Memorial Pathway/Trans Canada Trail Loop

• at Locks Rd/Mohawk St, cross street and turn left onto Gordon Glaves Memorial/Trans Canada Trail
• follow trail as it loops below Mohawk Lake and through Bellview Park (you will cross Birkett Ln, Erie Ave, and River Rd/Birkett Ln)
• at River Rd, as it runs along the river, cross street and continue to follow the trail north (you will pass by Rivergreen Park, cross the Brantford Southern Access Rd/B.S.A.R., pass Earl Haig Park, under Colborne St W, through Waterworks Park, past the Wilkes Dam)
• just before Hardy Rd, turn left to follow the Blue Circle Section (you will encounter some steep grades in this section)
• at Masters Ln, with Hardy Rd to the right, veer left onto the SC Johnson Trail (you will loop around below the SC Johnson distribution centre before crossing Hwy 403/Chedoke Expy and head towards Paris)

The Brantford to Paris trail felt quite short at only 11 km. The trail opened up onto a small road, leaving us somewhat confused as to how to proceed. Whether there were signs to turn right onto Curtis Ave or not, once there we saw a sign warning trail users of a busy lighted intersection. That intersection was Ontario King's Hwy 2/Dundas St E. Once through the intersection, we saw a Fire Station on the northwest corner followed by the Paris Museum & Historical Society. Almost immediately after the museum, we found the Paris - Cambridge Trail.

The Paris - Cambridge Trail was also rougher than the Hamilton to Jerseyville section, some of it also doubletrack, but the scenery was gorgeous. We passed through some of the densest forest, much of it following the Grand River, and past a lookout with a breathtaking view of the river in both directions and the limestone supports of an old abandoned bridge.

Partly because of the roughness of the trail, and partly because we were getting quite hungry, the Paris to Cambridge portion seemed quite long. We greeted the final information kiosk and 77 km marker with some excitement, as you can tell below.

From here it was onto Water St, which does have a marked bicycle lane into the city, and just a few short city blocks to our destination in Cambridge, though only the halfway point of our trip. We found Zen Garden, the Asian vegetarian restaurant with wonderful, mostly-vegan fare, past the Cambridge Arts Theatre and the Queen's Square bridge, at the corner of Water St and Thorne St. It is at the southeast corner of the Cambridge Fair complex.

There we are, helmet-headed but oh-so-happy that we made it to Cambridge without even feeling all that tired and having thoroughly earned our lunch (we got to Cambridge just after 1pm). We dug in with gusto and thoroughly enjoyed our food. For any vegan or vegetarian cyclists (they have a few dishes with dairy and egg, too), this place comes highly recommended.

After lunch and some relaxation, about 3pm, we left for home. Were it not for the confusion in Brantford where, on our return trip, we got ourselves a bit lost, we would have made it back to Hamilton before dark. As it was, we had to race with the sun for Hamilton. We lost. The last four or five kilometres were done completely in the dark. Good thing we had our headlights to light our way, as there are no lights along the trail.

The ride home, though a little rushed, was quite eventful. We spotted a couple of Great Blue Herons between Cambridge and Paris, a total of six deer, of which one was clearly a juvenile and one was a baby with one of its parents. For that one, we made sure to use our bells to scare them away before we got too close to avoid an unpleasant confrontation with an unhappy parent. Though nice to see, none of the deer and cottontail rabbits we encountered posed long enough for a photo. Neither did the fox that ran across the trail between the Dundas Conservation Area and West Hamilton, glancing back furtively to make sure it got across well ahead of us. Jihan was not too happy about missing out on the fox sighting...

(if you look closely, you can see one of the Great Blue Herons just to the left of the island tip)

Once back in Hamilton, we took a slight detour into Westdale for a relaxing reward at Second Cup. They are the only coffee shop in Hamilton, as far as we know, and the only Second Cup location of which we are aware, that carry vegan baked sweets.

In total, from home to Cambridge and back home, we cycled 179 km (about 111 miles), completing not only a metric century and a half, but also an imperial century. It was the longest ride we have ever undertaken in one day. Aside from some heat rash, I was hardly even sore. Tired, from a long eventful day, but not stiff or aching.

We look forward to many more. For the full photostream, click here.

Jihan and I cycled 179k (111m) today and feel great. It is the most we have ever done in a day and marks our first imperial century (we've done the metric century before [I a few times]). Will write more about it tomorrow.

Night Life: a Ride Along Hamilton's Bayfront Park and Cootes Drive Trails

Since we'd been indoors most of the day today, mainly doing a little housework and more reading, writing and relaxing, we decided to go for a little night ride from Bayfront Park. We live only a few minutes' cycling distance from Bayfront Park and make it a fairly regular place for evening rides.

One of the really neat things, aside from seeing all the people out and about cycling, walking, jogging or rollerblading, especially at and after sunset, is all the natural night life. During the day one may see Canada Geese, Mute or Trumpeter Swans, Mallards, Double-crested Cormorants, House and other sparrows, Redwing Blackbirds, American Goldfinches, Tree Swallows, the ubiquitous seagull, terns (not quite sure which kind) and sometimes a Great Blue Heron. Also to be seen in the water during the day -- and sometimes on the trail -- are frogs and turtles.

Night, when many of the above-mentioned critters rest in groups on the water some distance from the shore, other beings become more noticeable. The biggest difference is heard, not seen. The insect world, certainly at this time of year, becomes extremely active after dark. The whole ride tonight, especially along the Bayfront Trail and less so along the Cootes Drive Trail, had an insect soundtrack. Crickets especially were very loud. But sightings of other critters also differed from the usual. We saw at least half a dozen Eastern Cottontail rabbits, two Great Blue Herons, one of them so close to us to have made a great photograph, had a camera been present, and about half a dozen herons we only recently learned about -- the Black-crowned Night Heron.

While a country drive can be nice, cycling at night is so much more interesting, so much closer to the action! As much as I'd like to see the city develop much more urban cycling infrastructure -- true, dedicated bicycle lanes with traffic lights, bicycle boulevards with traffic calming zones, even painted bicycle lanes -- I am glad to have urban and interurban multi-use pathways available. The former are much needed to facilitate practical use of the bicycle for commuting and other transportation, while the latter are largely for recreational use. I do see, however, that some interurban rail trails, such as the Cootes Drive Trail connecting Hamilton to Dundas, or the planned multi-use path from the Kirkendall area, around the Chedoke Golf Course, across the 403, and out towards the Brantford rail trail, can be useful for commuting (think students, professors and medical personnel studying or working at McMaster University but living downtown).  

Frustrating Morning Ending in Spontaneous Ride Along the Hamilton - Brantford - Cambridge Rail Trail

About three weeks ago, Jihan and I completed our first joint ride to Port Dalhousie, ON, a quaint, historic harbourfront village located within the city of St. Catharines. It was not only her longest ride since her knee injury, but also her first metric century ever. We cycled 115 kms that day!

Since then we had mainly done short 15-30 km trips within the city or between Hamilton and Ancaster, Stoney Creek or Burlington two or three days a week. Last Wednesday night, after taking our bikes out for a quick evening ride and doing a quick oiling of the chain, my front dérailleur wouldn't bring the chain back to the highest chainring. I tinkered with it for a while and finally, being unable to properly adjust it, took the bike inside and gave up for the time being.

Yesterday, however, being the first of five long weekends in a row for me (I decided to take my last week's vacation one Friday at a time) and wanting to make the most of the day off, I really wanted to go out and ride. So we packed up our bikes and went to MEC in Burlington to see if they could adjust the front dérailleur quickly. They were booked up through the weekend. Same deal at Brant Cycle and Neworld Cycle.

Before heading back to Hamilton to check at one last place, Downtown Bikehounds, we took a break at Kindfood, a recently opened vegan restaurant, cafe & bakery. We had discovered it the last time we cycled through Burlington, but being a holiday, they were closed. Another place we discovered that day -- there appears to be an improvement in bike culture in Burlington -- was a cafe & bistro run by the Waterftont Trail Leisure Company Inc. While the latter really points to an upswing in bicycle culture in the area and I like their combination of services, their menu is not very vegan-friendly, though they do have some veg*n offerings. Kindfood, however, is all vegan, mostly organic and mostly local, and they're also cycle-friendly (they have a neat bike parking area).

Sean, at Bikehounds, despite being rather busy, took a quick look at my bike and fixed my front dérailleur problem on the spot. Thanks, Sean. I was now able to use my day off to go for a ride.

We decided, on a whim, to cycle to and follow the Hamilton - Brantford - Cambridge rail trail (click here and here -- anyone have a better link?). We left home about quarter to five, making our way to the trail beginning in West Hamilton on Ewen Rd. near Main St. W.

It was a beautiful evening for a ride. There was a cool breeze and a little cloud cover to shield us from direct sun. We rolled along the westbound trail at a leisurely pace of 15-20 kph. We stopped briefly at the Trail Centre, a reconstructed railway station in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area near Sulphur Springs Road , to refill our water bottles. Between West Hamilton and the Trail Centre, there were a few joggers and cyclists, but as we continued along the trail towards Brantford, we had the trail ever more to ourselves.

We enjoyed the ride so much, watching, listening for and discussing the flora and fauna along the way, that we decided to keep going until 19:00 to 19:30. We saw some of the increasingly abundant Turkey Vultures, a murder of crows, some juvenile Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals, a Chipping Sparrow (looked up in Sibley as we knew it was a sparrow, but didn't look exactly like a Field Sparrow), Black-capped Chickadees, American Goldfinches, American Robins, Eastern Kingbirds (these little buggers we did not know the name of, so had to look them up at home too) and Gray Catbirds. There was also an abundance of wildflowers along the periphery of the trail with occasional brilliant splashes of yellow, violet, blue and pink. Much of the trail is also lined with fairly dense tree cover, of which the majority appeared to be a variety of deciduous trees with a few individual or small stands of coniferous trees.

Around 19:00 we decided to turn back, having left Hamilton and entered Brant County some time before. We turned around where Ronald Rd. meets the trail. Backing onto the trail here is Heart's Content Organic Farmstead.

The way back, because much of it is downhill, went much faster than the way there. We were also more determined because we wanted to reach Hamilton and get off the trail before sundown. Most of the way back we cycled between 25 and 35 Kph. We were back in Hamilton before 21:00 and indeed made it past home to Gage Park in East Hamilton, where the Festival of Friends is taking place this weekend, to reward ourselves with some yummy fresh cut fries.

All together we cycled 68 km yesterday and had a great time! During our ride we made plans to cycle the entire route from Hamilton through Brantford and Paris to Cambridge, and back, next Saturday. We plan to leave early, about 06:00, to arrive in Cambridge in time for lunch (at a very leisurely 16 kph, it should take just over 5 hours). After a relaxing and hopefully re-energizing lunch at a local vegetarian restaurant with a good selection of vegan fare, we intend to return home. If we complete the return trip as planned, we'll have surpassed not only a metric century (at 168 km), but also an imperial century (104 mi). 

If all goes as planned, expect a post about the experience here afterwards (probably Sunday, as I'll be too tired at my return on Saturday night).

Click here for a link to the route. Sorry, no pictures -- camera broken.

Commuting with my Keen Commuter Sandals

In my last post I mentioned my frustration over having just purchased new pedals and cycling sandals but being unable to use them because of being pedal-less. The thread on the left crank was stripped. I ended up driving to MEC in Burlington that same day to see what could be done about the bike.

Not only did I not have pedals at this point, but I had been aware of a wobble in the chainrings for some time and the occasional skipping of the chain in the higher gears. I returned the pedal wrench to MEC as I wasn't going to need it right now and I could use every extra dollar. MEC didn't carry cranks, so I quickly went over to nearby Brant Cycle. There I managed to get new Shimano crankset and new bottom bracket (the new crankset wouldn't fit onto my old bottom bracket). All this, with labour, cost much less than I had expected.

So the next day I excitedly took my bike, now with new crankset, SPD pedals and my Keen Commuter sandals, to work. I had taken it for a little ride the day of the fix to give clipped-in riding a try. The commute home that day was eventful. My knee has just recently recovered from the road rash...

A colleague, who happened to see my new sandals, told me some funny stories about a friend of his who fell quite slowly on more than one occasion, once off a plank into the creek, to the great amusement of his fellow riders. I smugly laughed along, thinking I wasn't going to be one of those newbies. But dagnamit I was! On the way home that first day, I approached a stop sign and slowed to look both ways, having carefully unclipped the right foot, then had to come to a sudden and unexpected complete stop as a vehicle approached the intersection rather more quickly than it had previously appeared. My centre of balance, when I came to a sudden stop, happened to be to the left. Time slowed as I very slowly but conclusively went down to the left. I was so embarrassed and angry that it didn't take me long to get up and, bloodied as my knee was, get the heck out of there.

Anyway, I've since commuted home, wearing the Keen sandals, for three weeks. Being clipped in really does help to power up those hills. I have also not had any more foot pain and numbness since wearing the sandals. While not too stiff to walk in off the bike, they are stiff enough for a comfortable longer ride. So far I have nothing but good things to say about them. I bought them a half size larger than normal so that I could comfortably wear one or more layers of socks underneath in cooler weather. I have not yet used them in heavy rain, but do enjoy feeling of air on my feet.

Though the sandals are fine to walk in on smooth floors and on grass, the cleat being recessed enough to allow that, it does get a bit awkward on rough pavement or side walks as the cleats then grind on small bumps, pebbles, and so on. I keep worrying about the cleats getting ground out of shape. I think I'll look for those little rubber cleat covers soon.

Pedal-less and Very Frustrated

Three weeks ago I finally began taking my bike to work again to cycle home after work. What finally got me going again was the situation with my partner's use of the car for her internship in Toronto. She drops me off at work with my bike in the morning and continues on to Toronto and I cycle home after work instead of waiting for her to battle traffic back to Aberfoyle to pick me up on the way home. It would get home around the same time I do now, but would have to stay at work much too late. Plus, as soon as I began cycling home again I felt so good about it.

Having gained a fair bit of weight back over the winter, the first day's 39K commute took me about 2.5 hrs. That's a ridiculously long time for that commute, even if there are two or three decent hills to climb. The second day I had cut that down to 1:58. The third day, 1:45. From then on it's been 1:35. Within two weeks I noticed my strength, recovery and stamina improve significantly.

I had purchased a cycling computer so I could more easily and accurately keep track of the distance I'd cycled and a rain jacket to stay a bit drier on rainy days home. The jacket is great, but the cycling computer not so much. While I'm quite happy with it's functions, I am unhappy about the fact that it resets so easily, causing me to lose all my data. Apparently just keeping it in my pocket when it isn't on the bike is able to reset the whole darn thing. It happened to me twice. The first time I remembered what my odometer had read, but not the second time. I am reasonably sure that I've accumulated well over 500K in the last 3 weeks (it was well over 400K the last time I remember seeing it), but I don't know the exact figure. This bothers me...

While I had found a nice short-cut from Waterdown towards York Blvd in Hamilton, using a largely downhill and very aptly named Snake Road, the new running shoes I'd been using, purchased in the Spring, are so soft that I ended up with rather sore feet after about an hour on the bike. I needed to get cycling shoes and had been eyeing a pair of Keen cycling sandals for some time.

I finally decided that I was barely able to afford the sandals, so I went to MEC in Toronto today and purchased the sandals, a set of half/half pedals by Wellgo (platform on one side and SPD on the other) and a pedal wrench so I could change the pedals myself rather than pay a shop to do it. The guy at MEC mentioned something about pedals sometimes being hard to remove or frozen if they'd been on the bicycle for a long time.

My pedals came off quite easily. Perhaps too easily. When I tried to install the new pedals, I could not get them in. (Yes, I did look at the 'L' and 'R' on the pedals and turn the correct pedal the right direction on the crank to screw it in.) It turns out the thread is damaged or stripped on the left crank arm. This puts me into quite the predicament: if I don't get a new crankset (the chainring has had a wobble for some time too) I am left with a bike that has no pedals, which means I have to stay at work every day 'til my partner can come and pick me up. This can sometimes get quite late. It's bad enough that I usually have to get up at 5:00 to get to work in time. I do not relish the idea of staying there 'til 6 or 7pm every day as well. Yet I cannot presently afford a new chainset, at least not 'til my next pay--chainsets are not cheap. If I were to return my sandals, pedals and pedal wrench to afford a new chainset, I'd end up having to cycle home in my soft running shoes and have sore feet every day again. Maybe, if possible, I'll have to just replace the cranks, even though the whole crankset needs replacing anyway.

Aargh! If I can't find a solution tomorrow, I may have to take a half day off work, when bike stores and the local bike co-ops are open, to get it done, then cycle all the way to work. That would mean cycling up the Niagara escarpment, getting completely sweaty, and having to shower at work before settling into my cubicle. I am very frustrated!       

Murphy's Law and the Beginning of my Cycling Season

Last week I was on vacation and had wanted to get a good head start with cycling, getting 2 or 3 day trips in, but ended up getting a pretty nasty sinus cold that didn't leave me feeling much like cycling.

Then this week, having planned to begin being dropped off at work in the morning, then cycle commuting home, it's been colder and rainy all week.

Murphy's freaking law!

I am really hoping the weather will be nice soon and I'll get out there and get back into shape. I was beginning to feel really good towards the end of last summer as I got nice, firm, bulging cyclist thighs, a firmer, rounder butt and flatter, harder tummy. And I had so much energy, so much stamina. I felt good!

I did go out for a few shorter more leisurely rides last week with plenty of tissues in the saddlebag and in my pockets, and the weather was lovely.

And I do really enjoy the new trekking handlebar. Now I just need to make cycling a regular thing again and hopefully get out there for a metric century next weekend.

Cheers.

Trekking (Butterfly) Handlebar for my Montague MX

I finally did it. I got myself a trekking handlebar. I had wanted one for some time as I really needed to do something for my wrist and neck pain. I was hoping the trekking bar, with one hand position a little closer to me and adjustable to be higher as well, would make a difference for my neck, but the main thing I had hoped it would do is give me more hand positions for longer rides to reduce wrist pain. 

I had asked around at various local bike shops (I'm stretching local here, checking out bike shops in neighbouring cities--Stoney Creek, Burlington, Oakville, Ancaster, Dundas, Guelph, even Toronto) and could not find anyone that carried trekking bars, sometimes called euro or butterfly bars. I had heard Nashbar carried them, but they seemed to have discontinued them for the time being.

I finally ordered mine from Wallingford Bicycle Parts in New Orleans. They had to travel a little distance to make it to me, but I didn't expect it to take 15 days! On the 15th day in the morning, being on vacation and itching to go riding, but not wanting to do so 'til I had my new handlebar installed, finally called Bill at Wallbike to see if they'd actually been sent or he could track them. He gave me the tracking number and I found that it was in Hamilton. I picked it up that night from the post office. Here's what I got:

That same night I went to MEC to get some cork handlebar tape and put the new handlebar on. I had never wrapped a bar with tape before, so I watched a couple of online tutorials before wrapping mine. I think it went okay.

Above is the final positioning of the new bar. I took it out for a ride yesterday--about 4 hours--and felt okay about it. It is really much better for my hands. I love having more hand positions. No neck pain, but my back was getting a little sore. Part of it obviously has to do with the shape I've gotten into over the winter, but I thought bringing the front end of the bar up a little more would be good. So I raised the front end by another couple of inches and went for another 2-hour ride.

I'm really enjoying the new setup. I now have a slightly more upright posture and have more hand positions. No pain today. And it almost feels like I'm handling a steering wheel rather than a handlebar. I really like it!

Next items: a cycling computer that is stem-mountable (the one I got recently was defective), perhaps a little German mirror and, of course, Old Man Mountain racks and Ortlieb panniers.