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The weekend forecast for Portland is almost too good to be believed: partly cloudy and 17 degrees (63F). My body aches in anticipation. After four months of rainy grey, this is going to be fantastic.
What I’m most looking forward to is exercise. Though I’ve made a good start adjusting my diet, I haven’t done as well at getting my ass out of the easy chair. I read about Mac’s achievements in the gym, and I’m jealous. I read that Matt has been biking all winter, and I’m jealous. But jealousy doesn’t burn calories. Action burns calories.
Today I finally got off my ass. I didn’t actually exercise, mind you, but I did the next best thing. I took my bike into the shop to have it overhauled for spring.
I have a ten-year-old Bianchi Volpe touring bike. I bought it in March of 1998, and then put 1500 miles on it over the next six months. I put another 500 miles on it in 1999. But since then, the thing has gathered dust. Literally. The guy in the bike shop laughed at all the cobwebs and grime that coated the thing.
“Don’t worry,” he told me. “It’s a good bike. We’ll have it running as good as new.”
“How soon?” I asked.
“How about tomorrow?” he said, smiling.
I’m excited. Barring mental barriers, I should be able to bike Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. I’m already prepared to accept those rides as wussy compared to the ones I used to do. Five miles is going to kill me — and I’m going to feel like a slug.
Meanwhile, I’m going to plot some probable bike routes around here. When I lived in a small town fifteen miles away, there were unlimited options. Now, though, I live a few miles south of Portland, and the bike routes are less obvious. I know about the route from Sellwood to downtown, but I’m looking for something more. We’ll see what I can discover.
Finally, here are some bike blogs that Matt Haughey recommends. I need to add them to my reading list:
Ride hard!
Addendum: Matt Haughey just posted his list of winter riding tips for your road bike. I’m hoping that the bike store calls in the next half hour or so to tell me the bike is ready. I want to hit the road!
Mac
15 responses so far ↓
1 Eric Nagel // Feb 14, 2008 at 10:10 am
I can’t wait for the weather to turn nicer here, too. I love biking to the gym - it’s a good warm-up for me, and saves on gas. But after almost getting hit in the fall because of the dark, I decided to put the bike away for the winter. We’re getting closer to daylight at 5:45 in the morning, so hopefully I can get it out soon.
2 dingbat // Feb 14, 2008 at 10:51 am
MapMyRun.com is another good website–you can search for biking, running, and walking routes uploaded by others in your area, and save your own.
3 greenman2001 // Feb 14, 2008 at 10:57 am
I’m curious: how far is it from your house to the grocery store where you shop? Is that a bikable route?
4 Anne Keckler // Feb 14, 2008 at 11:07 am
Remember that it’s better to do short rides, and be able to ride again the next day, than to kill yourself on your first ride. People often think they can do more than they are capable of, especially if they were fairly active in the past but have had a long layoff.
Good luck!
5 sjean // Feb 14, 2008 at 11:08 am
exercise is key to any fitness program
Why would you talk about the temperture in Celcius with F in parenthesis? Is portland so far north you have adopted the canadian system?
6 mallfellow // Feb 14, 2008 at 11:16 am
Slow & steady is the best way to build up. Don’t push the pace or mileage too much all at once or you’ll get burned out too quickly. I’ve been commuting by bike seriously (i.e. five days a week) for two & a half years and semi-seriously (upto three days a week) for three & half years. They only times I don’t ride are when life gets in the way or when there’s frozen precipitation as folks around here (VA) don’t know how to drive in the snow/ice.
My commute is 32 miles round trip and takes roughly an hour each way. When I first started commuting, even though I was somewhat fit to begin with, I was dead tired after two or three days of back-to-back commuting and it wasn’t until I had been at it for many months that I was able to commute all five days without feeling like death warmed over on the weekend.
As for riding in the winter, it really does come down to layering choices, determination and, if you’re riding anywhere near sun-up or sundown, lots of bright lights.
Good luck with riding!
7 Joshua // Feb 14, 2008 at 3:41 pm
ah, winter biking, an idea that I thought would be smart…but wound up in me getting one of the worst colds I’ve ever had. I did enjoy the trip, but not the two weeks after. I envy those who do run and bike through the winter though. I can’t wait for the soul sucking winter to end.
8 TosaJen // Feb 14, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Totally with Joshua about the “soul-sucking winter”. I’m visiting LA for a work trip this week, and getting on the plane home is going to be hard. I’m running outside and walking to/from the office 2.5 miles (and they think I’m crazy), even though it’s “cold” and “rainy”. HA! My DH is getting all his exercise from shoveling. I’m starting to remember why I weighed 10 lbs less in N. Cal. than I do now in WI.
9 brad // Feb 14, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I am SO jealous of the weather you get out there in the Pacific Northwest. My friend in Seattle tells me about her crocuses and forsythia in bloom, whereas here in Montreal we just got another 6 inches of snow (with another 2-3 inches coming tomorrow) and it’s supposed to be 8 below zero Fahrenheit on Saturday. Good biking weather here doesn’t arrive until late April, but that doesn’t stop some people– I am amazed at all the winter bikers in Montreal, hundreds of them, and some not even outfitted with studded tires, biking their way through temperatures in the single digits Fahrenheit, snow, slush, ice, you name it. I’m too chicken to do it, and don’t have a spare bike (you don’t want to use a good bike for winter riding here with all the salt and slush).
10 Deb // Feb 14, 2008 at 9:31 pm
i dont know if you guys realize how many random people read your blog - but i am a subscriber and i LOVE reading your REAL LIFE stories and experiences !!!!!! unfortunately the weather here in New Jersey is still pretty crappy but its so awesome to hear you guys are getting out and beginning spring season.
good luck !!!!
Deb
11 Lazy Man and Health // Feb 15, 2008 at 8:30 am
I’ve never been much of a biker, but it’s getting close to 70 in northern California this weekend. There’s a chance that swimming is a possibility in the heated pool in my complex. I’m very excited.
12 Brigid // Feb 15, 2008 at 10:16 am
I agree with Ann - don’t try to do too much at once. Leave that to Mac:-)
The last thing you want to do is injure yourself or get so sore you don’t want to ride again. I’ve told a lot of people over the years (and heeded this advice on many occassions), even if you can’t bear the thought of getting out there and riding - just go out five minutes and come back. There’s a good chance that you’ll keep going after five minutes, but even if you don’t you did something and something is always better than nothing. That has gottten me through many morning runs.
BTW - I’m running the Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville this Sunday. This will be my fourth. It all started about five years ago with five minute morning runs:-)
Cheers!
Brigid
13 Mark // Feb 16, 2008 at 11:46 am
Hey JD - I just wanted to drop a note and say GOOD LUCK with the bike!!
I am in the middle of selling my first blog/website and I am going to buy a new bike with the (*hopefully*) profits. As an avid runner for over twenty years it is time for a switch.
Kind regards,
Mark
14 Josh // Feb 16, 2008 at 1:02 pm
It’s weird how biking is so popular around Portland. I lived in Hillsboro around year and a half and I’ve never had to go <20 mph on a 45mph road so much!
Now I’m living back on the East Coast (NC) where it is not as popular. I’m betting it is the humidity.
I had to ride my bike 2 or 3 hours a day when I was 14-16 in the summers for work — usually on a crappy bmx bike — so riding for leisure is something that doesn’t make sense to me anymore.
Hmm, this was a pointless comment. meh.
15 Jacob @ Early Retirement Extreme // Feb 17, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Hehe .. any bets on how long it’ll take to turn into a bike nerd and start debating the virtues of shimano vs fsa cranksets
I commute daily, see link below (it also contains a few links to cycling blogs I like at the bottom).
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2008/01/bicycle-commuting.html
Last Wednesday I headed out on my bike during the lunch break for the first time. Turns out that there are a LOT of people doing that. And it was quite fun having someone to race against. I think there’s something good to be said for the idea of turning exercise into a sport rather than just fitness. There should be plenty of cycling clubs around Portland(?)
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