Background
There are many things running through my mind at any given time. I have no semi-private place to rant, complain, whine or voice a dissenting opinion. This is frustrating. Enter Blogger. This blog addresses a huge lifestyle change.
I commute 19 kilometers by bicycle to work each way.
Necessity and the Mother
What started out as a necessity became an addiction/obsession/point of honour. In 2013 the 1.6 L engine in my 1988 Toyota leaked oil and seized. My other option was to use my GMC pick up with a 6.0 L engine. The gas costs started to cripple me. So I decided to use the $150 bike I purchased in 1999. I had done little or no maintenance to it by I joined Edmonton Bicycle Commuters and started to go to Edmonton Bike Works North to address the steep learning curve.
The Piper must be Paid
From this experience I learned how to replace parts and to tell which parts were worn out. 190 KMs per week will destroy an old, cheap Mongoose. When looking at a $150 parts bill for a drivetrain replacement, I decided to buy a real bike. In the winter I went to Mountain Equipment Coop and dropped $800 on a 29" Ghost mountain bike.
The lighter bike, the 29" tires, the working gears and NewBikeItis made the commute a real pleasure and less of a chore. Enter the addiction.
This One Time (at Band Camp)
One day one of the residents of my residence left the garage door open. An unidentified and unauthorized party entered this garage and removed my Ghost and $60 of recycling cans bottles. By this time I had replaced the GMC with a 1989 Mitsubishi but had not replaced the urge/need to bike to work. The Mitsubishi was subsequently replaced by a 1997 Chevrolet pick up.
The pick up and I landed at a bicycle store and a lime green Norco road bike followed us home.
A Whole New World
I realized that a mountain bike was no longer required because I had stopped traveling on sidewalks; I was now using the busy streets and avenues. The bike store employee warned me that I was about to cross over to a new dimension in bike land. He missed the mark on that one!
The mountain bikes and the commute had strengthened my legs and my endurance and my fitness level. I found out that my core had been sadly neglected; the Norco was kind enough to point this out to me.
The Transformer
The aforementioned lime green Norco was a faster bike with 700 cm tires and a carbon fiber frame; it also required becoming comfortable in the crouch position. These factors combined to reduce my commute time by 15 minutes, my waist by 2 inches, my shirts from XL to L. My body weight started at 100 KGs and is currently at 90 KGs.
This was an overview of my current health situation. In subsequent blogs I will address winter cycling in a cold northern Canadian city, Toastmasters and woodworking.
