Added over 100km on the bikes this weekend! Next weekend we are doing another ride downtown to meet up with my friends on the Sea Wall again but we might start in Richmond this time. Other ride plans are to Maple Ridge (need to get my bike serviced there anyway), White Rock and a trip to Estrella’s in Langley (gotta have a rewarding destination at the end, right?). The only problem is that we only have a couple weeks to do all this before summer is completely over.
I recently fell in love with cycling and it’s definitely the best way to travel and see everything Vancouver has to offer. The commute may have doubled in time but it seriously feels like it was faster than driving because time passes by so fast! PLUS you get a great workout.
Sunday (50km+). This ride took about 4 hours including a long stop at Deep Cove for donuts and pictures and downtown, for hot dogs and poutines. It only felt like 2 hours though. We drive up to the Deep Cove area once a week in the summer and cycling up there seemed way faster than driving. The hill that I was always freaked out about but have always wanted to try going up wasn’t as bad as I thought either.
Monday (60km+). Tackled some hills and broke a bit of sweat on the way downtown but met up with a bunch of people at Waterfront for a slow and leisurely ride around the Sea Wall on one of the nicest and hottest days this summer. The one thing I may have regretted was all that food we scarfed down at Granville Island… I wanted to puke donuts and yam fries when we made the wrong turn and went up this crazy hill on the way back.
Monday Seawall Group
This was definitely a weekend where I did NOT hesitate to pig out.
KATY:
Awesome Katy!!! I am still waiting for you crazy biker’s tan (my friend has a nasty crazy one that looks hilarious!) Great job on your summer fitness!! I guess winter will bring snowboarding again?!
I’m wondering what else we can do besides snowboarding and the gym inside.
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Katy
September 6th, 2011 |
Omigod. I’m SOO scared of getting an ugly bikers tan! I’m scared of wearing my cycling jerseys because I don’t want a t-shirt tan and I had a faint tan from my bike shorts during the Ride to Conquer Cancer but luckily, that faded quickly. So far nothing yet, which is surprising because it was so sunny during all our rides this summer.
YES! We are already talking about snowboarding and what passes to buy this winter. So excited!
One thing we’re going to start doing is in-door rock climbing once the weather gets cooler so we don’t waste the sun. Have you been?
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those rides sound amazing!!
i hope i get a few more good ones in before the cold weather hits!
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Katy
September 16th, 2011 |
Me too…
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Wow Katy that is really impressive! sounds like a lotta fun + such a bonus that it’s a good workout and you get to see beautiful vancouver
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Katy
September 16th, 2011 |
Yes, biking is LOTS of fun. Love it more than running because you can actually get to far places in a short amount of time.
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This sounds amazing. I have a couple friends that ride all over the area. However, my area doesn’t seem like it’s safest place to be cycling nor are there much to venture off here. I think for me to explore what L.A has to offer I’d have to drive to the heart of L.A and then cycle from there. I would love to do this though because it’s great of a workout and you get to explore your area all over again. In my case I’ve lived here for more than ten years and I still have no idea what’s in L.A lol
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Katy
September 16th, 2011 |
I’d imagine LA to have a lot of bike lanes. Our city did a lot over the years to make it “green” including adding a lot of bike lanes around the city which is awesome. I think biking around is the best way to explore your city, I discovered soo many places I didn’t even know existed in mine.
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Amazing! and eww about the doughnuts.
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What did you use to make the route maps? I started using Cyclemeter on my iPhone which makes maps but I’m not sure how they get off my iPhone… I’m not in the greatest shape, I rode for an hour plus yesterday and I just get so much numbness riding on the highway, in town or in the gym isn’t so bad with stops and starts. I need to get off machines or I get numbness in my feet, but on a real bike, at least the bike I have, the numbness in my hands can get really bad, if I don’t watch it I can’t shift and work my breaks well, which isn’t safe. I have bar ends now so I rotate hand positions, but really I just need shorter, harder rides, long rides alone on the highway is for the really dedicated, I’m not that dedicated of a cyclist.
Cheers,
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Katy
September 19th, 2011 |
We use Endomondo to track our rides (http://www.endomondo.com); it’s a great app but we only use the free version which is sufficient enough. I haven’t tried this yet but apparently if your friends are currently exercising, you can send them messages [of encouragement] and they would hear it through the automated Endomondo coach that reads you tips and your stats as you ride. I think that’s pretty cool!
For the numbness, just keep riding and it should go away. Your body just needs to get use to being in the riding position… I can bike for hours now and nothing would hurt afterwards. Have you ever tried biking gloves or getting a better pair of shoes that can absorb more shock? My hands get numb too when I ride over really bumpy roads (like the cobblestone part of the Sea Wall) but gloves really help.
Switching gears on a bike takes some time getting use to too. I usually ride a hybrid and I know those gears inside-out but when I’m still trying to get use to the gears on the road bike which I also sometimes ride. It really messes you up on the uphill parts if you don’t know them!
Where do you usually ride?
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Muskie
September 19th, 2011 |
I’ve been riding for years. Never had a problem with numbness until this bike. It was a replacement for one that got stolen, I didn’t have a lot of choice for my replacement. I’ve changed the grips, added bar ends, gone through several different gloves, fancier shorts etc. etc. I think part of the problem is my back and shoulders I’ve damaged them playing sports and being stupid.
I’m better on bumpy roads. If I ride off road I don’t get numbness.
I’ve ridden all over Vancouver, but generally in East Van. Now I’m on the Island so I bike around my mother’s and grandmother’s house. It is about an hour long bike ride between the two on the old Island highway. That was my ride yesterday, first time in years I’ve done it. I never did it when I was younger, so perhaps it is a 45 minute bike ride, but it took me an hour and six minutes according to my iPhone.
I agree that you have to ride lots to build up pain tolerance. However it doesn’t seem to matter, 15 minutes of riding will give me numbness now, but after a half hour of no stops like on the Island highway it gets pretty bad. I have to rotate my grip, otherwise if I have to suddenly stop or switch gears my hands might not respond so quickly.
I need to get a good job and then get a properly fitted bike designed for the road. I’m riding a Rocky Mountain and my tires are pretty heavy duty, I don’t have low rolling resistance so perhaps I lighter bike with road wheels would speed me up some, but once I get up to top gear that is about as fast as I wanna go, 44 Km according to the iPhone, but that was probably on a descent.
PS I decided on Cyclemeter as my iPhone cycling and other distance exercising app. It can estimate calories burned running or walking etc. Not sure if it can export maps (routes). I’ve only used it on three rides now. I need a special sports case for my iPhone, right now I keep it in my backpack while biking. It can talk to you, but I never ride wearing headphones, maybe now that I’m out of the city I can try it, but in the city it is definitely a safety issue.
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