Riding a bike to work pt. 2 - The crampening
What I should have done was don the garb of my local Hillyardians (weatherbeaten Carhart hoodie, jeans, scuffed up tenny runners) and toured around to see the local sites (the yard where the propane tank blew up in a truck, the vast brownfield remains of the once Great Northern Railroad train yard) and casually reacquainted myself with the physics of bicycling.
I didn't.
Instead, I dove in head first and rode almost 10 miles on my first day, the first time I had ever ridden a skinny road bike and the first day in approximately 17 years I had ever ridden a bike at all. Read my account of that experience in Riding a bike to work pt. 1 - The fatness.
I rode again today, and things were much different.
Discomfortus Maximus
The first noticeable result of my commute last week was the posterior discomfort my soft bits suffered from their encounter with my vintage Kabuki-branded seat. I venture it's safe to assume that the saddle, bicycle parlance for what I would otherwise refer to as the "butt seat", was not designed for big-boned Finnish/Swedish computer programmers. Everyone says "you'll get used to it," which I'm sure I will, but I went down to REI last night to get a new seat anyway.
One of REI's Outdoor School instructors was a cool older dude named Reg who was a big guy like me who, surprise surprise, actually knew stuff. Reg told me that when he was younger he was about 275 lbs. and had been diagnosed with heart problems by his doc. That led him to getting a bike from a friend and putting thousands of miles on it the first year and losing something like 40 lbs.
That, my friends, is more inspirational than any tall skinny guy with a dirty mustache and a squirrel's metabolism telling me that biking is great, however much I believe or like him.
Reg helped me find a good seat, which refreshingly ended up being the cheapest seat on the rack. Not some crazy gel-filled techno-looking butt cushion, but a reasonable and durable saddle that provides just enough support to prevent me from throwing my bike off of the Monroe Street bridge. It works too, as evidenced by the fact that my bike is parked safely at work and not at the bottom of the Spokane river. There's a free bike maintenance class he's teaching next Tuesday, so I've registered for that as well.
Oh my quad
As a muffin-shaped man, I was prepared to be sore and I was prepared to be out of breath when I rode. What I wasn't prepared for, what even experienced riders experience, were the cramps in my quadricep muscles when I had finished riding for the day. It hurt to sit and it hurt to not sit and it hurt to walk and it hurt to not walk, and to be honest, I felt like I was going to die. Thankfully my favorite lady had some of her exotic anti-cramping medicine. Turns out, Midol is essentially just Tylenol, so I'm not in any immediate danger of any hormonally-enhanced man breasts, which is good.
Bananas, I hear everyone say. Reg says potassium gluconate. My gut says drink plenty of fluids, stretch, and don't try to overdo it.
The bike is 62cm, a meaningless unit of measurement to the red-blooded American, but it essentially says that I can't stand flat footed over the top bar without rustling some jimmies. When I come to a stop, I need to lean over a bit to stand comfortably. It's not a deal breaker, since I do feel like I ride in reasonable comfort when I'm actually up on the bike, but if I were any shorter my future children would be at risk when I am mounting my Kabuki. Unless I hit upon a mid-life growth spurt, my next bike will be shorter.
Today's ride
The first half of my route stayed the same as last week's, straight down Market, over across Indiana, and down to the Centennial Trail. This time, however, I took the right path (literally, you turn right) and it made a HUGE difference to the enjoyment factor of my commute. The trail along the river has a refreshingly cool breeze and the pavement is smooth and there are no exhaust fumes to inhale when stuck at non-existent red lights. It's great and I can ride comfortably almost all the way to work.
All in all, I shaved 10 minutes off of my time because I didn't get lost or have to stop at nearly as many red lights. I also think that I rode more efficiently because I was getting more familiar with my bike (and my long-forgotten quadriceps). I was huffing and puffing when I got into the elevator to work, but I actually feel pretty good and my tuchus feels fine too.
I've been told that this month is National Bike Month and that May 15th is Bike to Work Day, so I guess I chose a good time to do this. I found out there's a bunch of bike activities this month at spokanebikes.org, so if you see a fat guy in a blue hoodie riding a blue 1980s vintage Bridgestone Kubuki, feel free to say hi.
