A Biking Day is Always a Good Day

This morning's 9 mile ride was under cloudy skies but with humidity, which means I worked up a good sweat even though it was only in the 60's.  It was early enough on a holiday weekend that there just weren't a lot of people out.  I like it when I have the trail to myself, but since I'm riding in remote areas (although they are paved) it does leave me open to encountering unfriendly wildlife.

So far, that hasn't happened, and I do try not to ride too early or too late in the day, when there will be fewer people and therefore more chance of encountering a problem I can't handle on my own.

This past Friday was my 11 year old daughter's first day off school for the summer, so she went with me.  That meant a bit of a slower ride than I normally do, but we still did 10 miles and she did awesome.  There are a lot of "land mines" in the form of goose poop all over the trail this time of year, and she kept saying "So much poo!!" while riding behind me.  I taught her to avoid the wet piles, and worked with her some more on how to downshift when her legs got achy.  She's getting it, slowly but surely.  She will ride with me most Fridays this summer, until she goes back to school in August.  It will be as good for her as it is for me!

Obstacle Course

Some days, it's harder to bike than others.  If it's windy, then it's virtually impossible for non-aero-dynamic me to ride against it.  If it is too hot, I melt.  If it's raining, I get wet.

You get the idea.

But some things can be overcome.  It is Canada goose mating season.  We have a lot of them around here to begin with, and unlike the ones in Missouri, these are skittish and don't attack.  They tend to get out of the way when they see a walker or a rider coming.  But these geese poop.  A LOT.  And they don't care where they poop.  There are places along the trail that are so covered with poop it's hard to avoid the little piles of mush gushy mess.  I try not to run over fresh ones, as it flings it everywhere, but most notably up my backside, as my bike doesn't have fenders.  Right now there are multiple places long the trail where there is more goose poop than open concrete.  A hazard, for sure.

Then there are the bits of road kill.  This morning it was a bird, and then a frog.  Ew. 

But the worst are the water hazards.  Spring snowmelt is occurring now, and the St. Vrain River, which borders the trail I ride, is very full, and moving very quickly.  In places where they've built pedestrian underpasses for us to ride/walk through so we don't have to cross busy streets, the water is very near the trail.  In one place, it was over the trail completely.  I saw some bikers go ahead and go through it, but remember that whole riding in the rain thing above?  Yeah, not cool.  So I went across the road instead.  Minor inconvenience.

The weather here has been spectacular, and as I like to say, "Never waste a nice day."  I've been getting three 10+ mile bike rides in every weekend.  I'm tired, but it feels good to push myself that way, and I can honestly say I get more exercise than most people I know.  And honestly?  More exercise than I've gotten since I was a teenager.  It feels good.

Stretching, and Biking

Read the other day that stretching may not make any difference in your risk of injury during a workout.  While a bit of a warmup is helpful to get your blood flowing and getting you in the mood to get started on your workout, a large amount of stretching does not keep you from hurting yourself when over-doing your exercise.  This is good information to know.

I got in two bike rides this weekend, and three last weekend.  I do have to force myself to go, but always enjoy the experience once I've done it.  Today I put in considerable time in my vegetable garden raking and weeding and mulching before I biked, so making myself go after all that was hard.

But it was so worth it.

As spring comes to Colorado, each week means I get to see new things.  More and more water fowl are migrating to our area lakes and reservoirs.  This weekend brought the return of the fresh water pelican.  These enormous creatures have a nearly 5-foot wingspan, and cruise through the skies like gliders, their black-tipped wings a vivid contrast to their generally snow-white color.  When they paddle around the water, they move in a rhythmic way, unlike ducks and geese.  You can see their legs and feet moving just beneath them, and they rock forward and back with each paddle of their giant feet.  They are not adept at walking, and plod along, leaning side to side as they go.  They are most elegant when flying.  Unlike the geese and ducks, they make no sound that I've heard.  They dip their beaks into the water and back out, I imagine eating vegetation as well as small fish.  In addition to the pelicans, there are white cranes, and blue herons, and at least four types of ducks, not all of which I can identify.  The Canada geese are now paired off, and beginning to nest.  I have not seen goslings as of yet. 

But the most remarkable thing I think I've heard is the frogs.  I have not heard frogs since I left Missouri, and I had forgotten how cheerful they sound.  I've heard them in two places, both of which were around ditches.  I'm not talking about the ditches that run alongside the road to capture rainwater and take it away.  Ditches here are man-made waterways that curve through farm fields to supply irrigation in the summer.  I have no idea what kind of frogs these would be, but I love listening to them.  It makes me remember the time we had a frog infestation at our house in Missouri, and they would croak and creak all night long.  If you went into our back yard with a flashlight and shined it on the back of the house, the wall would be covered with them. 

I like to say these bike rides, which are about 10 miles, are what keep me sane.  It is a way for me to burn off some of my frustrated energy, to work off anxiety, and to work off some calories.  I have not lost any weight, or size, for that matter, but I feel better, stronger, and have more stamina.  My knees are still working it out, however, and after a ride they hurt much worse than they did when I started.  But I know that will get better with time.  As the nights stay light later, I may be able to get bike rides in during the week, instead of having to wait until the weekends to do two or three rides in a row.  As it stands now, I'm getting better about not having to chug slowly along in third gear the whole time; I can often get to fifth and sixth gear, and sometimes even to seventh if there is a slight downhill.  This helps the rides go a bit faster, and if they can go faster, then I'll be able to add miles to make them longer.

When I bike, I go for at least an hour, with a small break in the middle for a piece of fruit and to just enjoy the scenery.  Now that it's almost Monday, I will be sad that I'll have to wait until at least Friday before I can bike again.  But then again, having it to look forward to makes all the difference in how I am able to get through my week of work and housework and just general lifework.  It's totally worth it to get to Friday!

Recruiting

Yesterday was my youngest's 11th birthday.  Tater is my child who is most unlike the others.  She is overly sedentary, tends to be physically weak, and emotionally immature.  She'll catch up, I know.  It is all about growing up, but also about gaining maturity.

But that physically weak thing, that I can do something about.  For her birthday, we got her a grown up bike.  It is what she wanted, and we've been building up the expectation for it for at least a month. When she got to see it, she was so excited she wanted to ride it right away!  The bike was accompanied by a ding-ding bell, and an adapter bar so it will fit on my car's bike rack.

Today, weather permitting, we will be taking a ride together.  Of course, I woke up to sunny skies, but a very strong wind, so today's bike ride may be limited to a 10-block jaunt down the street to the library.  But it will be better than nothing.  My intent is to take her riding with me at least twice a month.  These will be the long 10 mile rides, if I can work her up to it.  I want to start her out well.  She's just hitting the front edge of puberty, and that was when I started to put on weight and become doughy.  I don't want that for her. 

She will be my first fitness recruit. :)

DigiFit and BeColorado

I work for the University of Colorado.  Out this way, we like to think of ourselves as the most fit place in the country.  It's probably close to true.  Lots of Coloradans are outdoorsy and busy people; they are more likely to be fit than not.

Except for me, of course.  I'm still a lump of potatoes, for the most part.  I'm getting better about getting up and moving, or at least biking.  The ankle/leg still are not up to par and won't be for months, so walking is out of the question.  But so far, biking is going well.

The university has implemented a "Be Colorado" campaign, intended to get those of us who aren't being so good to ourselves to be a bit better about getting exercise, and ultimately, to be healthier.  I already do many of the things that I need to do to stay healthy, at least in the eating department.  I eat decently, not too much junk in my diet, and I recognize that what I put in my body is important.  This doesn't mean I don't occasionally have that piece of cake or package of candy, of course, but I tend to shy away from the junkiest junk (potato chips).  I usually get plenty of sleep, and I am an active person, overall.  I unfortunately work a sedentary job, however, and that's definitely not good for me.

Be Colorado teamed up with DigiFit to provide university employees with a way to monitor and encourage our workouts.  If I work out at least moderately 30 minutes, twelve times a month, I can actually get paid for it.  The DigiFit app for my Android phone helps me to keep track of everything, and it automatically uploads it to the website so I can get my little payment for being good.  I used the app for the first time this past Thursday, when I made a 10-mile bike ride over the course of an hour and 3 minutes.  The app ran while I biked, giving me periodic updates about my speed, my average speed, and how many miles I had gone.  Very cool.  When I was ready to take a break (I usually take a break halfway through and eat a little something and drink plenty of water), I just paused it, then resumed it when I was ready to go again.  When I completed my workout, it calculated my totals and uploaded them right to the Be Colorado sight so I could get credit for it.

The app itself, which I could not get a screen shot of, shows my time, miles, current speed, average speed, and the calories burned.  This information all gets uploaded to the website and I can see it as a graph and a map.  Very cool.

I liked hearing how far I had biked, and it also helped me to determine when I should either take a break, or turn around and go back.  I find that a 10-12 mile bike ride is about right for me for a "heavy" workout, but I can't do that kind of biking every day, at this point.  This past week/weekend I was able to bike four times.  The first was 10 miles, the second 10.5, but the third was only 7.  I was really worn out.  Today's bike ride was only 2 miles.  I just didn't have much left for it today. 

But you know what?  That's okay.  I was out there, I was moving, I was working, I was DOING IT.  Even if others can bike laps around me, I'm still biking laps around the guy sitting home in his easy chair. 

The weekend is over for me, and that means I probably won't ride again until Friday.  Then it will be three rides in three days.  Besides, we're going to get snow again this week.  No biking in the snow!

Never Waste a Nice Day

The bike path on a spring day with a front rolling through.

After ten days of really not-so-nice Spring weather, which is perfectly normal here, I finally was able to get back out on my bike on Friday.  The weather was warm, in the mid-60's, the sky generally sunny but with some clouds, and there was no wind.  I rode 14.5 miles, my usual route.  My knees are still angry, but I ignore them and push on.  The ankle is twinge-y afterwards, but during the ride itself it does not hurt.  Biking, fortunately, is not weight-bearing, so doesn't put the kind of pressure on my leg and ankle that walking would.

I do miss walking, for sure.  But right now walking is off the exercise menu.  I don't know when it will be back on the menu.  I still limp if I walk too fast or if the surface is uneven.  I don't necessarily favor the foot, but I'm also very careful to look where I'm walking, so I don't accidentally step off the side of the pavement or into a hole.  There are still certain movements that bring sharp pain, and I learned long ago to never ignore or discount sharp pain.  Stiffness and achiness is one thing; sharp pain is not something to mess around with.

I don't know how much of the sharp pain is from all the hardware in there, or just ligaments and other soft tissue readjusting itself.  There is still a lot of soft tissue damage, a lot of healing remains.  But I will keep biking, and work on that leg, until it is as good as the other one.

Saturday's bike ride was a bit more of a challenge for me than Friday.  The weather was still warm, but a busy Friday and ten days since the last time I'd biked had taken their toll.  And, there was a brisk wind, probably about 10-12 miles per hour, as a front was moving through.  This made for really great cloud-watching, but not so great when trying to pedal against that wind.  I did ten hard miles, fighting either a head- or cross-wind the entire time.  I don't regret doing it, but my thighs are sore today.  I'm going to put off riding today, and hope to get more bike rides in later this week.  We are, of course, supposed to get another round of snow/rain/cold over the next four days, so it's a good thing I won't have time to ride.

Brass mile marker on the bike path.  There is a marker ever half mile.

Back At It

Thursday my doctor gave me the all-clear to do whatever I wanted "as tolerated."  This, to me, means, if it hurts a little, it's still okay, so go for it! 

I couldn't wait to get back on my bike, as you well know.  And the weather was going to cooperate, too.  It was in the mid-60's by mid-morning Friday, so I loaded up my bike and headed to the greenway.  Finally got to use my new bike rack, using the adapter bar for my bike that I got for Christmas.  It fits nicely, although I had to make some adjustments to get it just right.  I drove to the flattest part of the greenway, parked and got on my bike.  There was a moment or two of trepidation as I flexed my foot and pushed off for the first time, but once I was moving, I was fine.  It felt wonderful to be moving like that again, and my legs fell into rhythm and I had no trouble.  I rode at a moderate pace for about 2 1/2 miles, then took the trip back at a more leisurely pace.  I didn't want to overdo it, and to be honest my knees aren't all that happy for me right now.

Today I rode 9 miles, the first half working the legs pretty hard, the second half a much more lazy pace.  The legs feel fine, the ankle feels fine, so I'm going to work back up to my 15 miles over the next week or so, weather permitting.

It feels great to be up and moving again, great to be active.  Now I can get back to my plans of getting back in shape, losing a little weight, and overall just taking good care of myself.  I need to do this for myself!