(no subject)

[ursamajor]

My love affair with my bike continues. Yesterday evening, I went up the Minuteman Trail to Arlington Center, and my world grew again a little. A cygnet, grooming its stubs of future wings; its parents nearby, majestic, wary. One man on a pyramidal frame with small wheels, upright, shifting side-to-side and propelling himself somehow forward. Watching the sun set over Spy Pond, then a model airplane looping over Thorndike Field in the last pinks and deep blues of dusklight.

Of course, there was also the panicked part where my chain came off the front derailleur(?) in the middle of a wide intersection - and the bike store at that intersection had closed half an hour earlier. But I eventually fixed it all by myself :) then decided I still wanted to keep going, so I stopped by noghri's to refill my water bottle and degrease my hands with real soap. ;P

Fundamental change is one of the hardest processes anyone undertakes. It's the whole "'diet' vs. lifestyle" thing. It's why it takes dozens, if not hundreds, of iterations to develop a habit. It's why it is going to take a long time for me to truly grow into and live a healthier lifestyle after a couple of decades of, well, not. (Fulfilling my high school's 12-trimester sports requirement for graduation was probably one of the hardest things I'd done at that point, and it was only possible because it was structured, scheduled, and did I mention a graduation requirement? ;P )

I can't tell you how many times I started - and then dropped, usually within a couple of weeks - an exercise program since starting college. Being dragged to the gym by friends who mean well and adore it? Didn't stick; their infectious love of exercise managed to utterly pass me by. Even going running with a partner wasn't enough to keep me motivated, because all I could think about while running was how gross I felt, and how out of breath I was, and how my knee was starting to twinge, and I'd better stop and turn around before I couldn't walk home. Even running with MUSIC wasn't enough. (And I powerwalk with Pollyanna, my upbeat little shuffle, as a commuting rule.)

I haven't yet developed a cycling routine or plan per se. I wasn't consciously investing in my bike as a "get your lazy ass off the couch" thing; rather, it was a "The goddamned 83 doesn't come often enough, and I'm sick of dealing with bus pseudo-schedules" thing, and an "It takes too long to walk to friends' houses, and people on bikes go faster" thing.

But it's been strangely empowering over the last month and a half. I'll cross the 100-mile mark this week. I know there's an entire culture out there that ride centuries in a single *day*, but making it to 100 miles in six weeks has inspired me to see if I can make it to 250 in 12. Baby steps, but slowly ratcheting up the commitment.

I know that exercise is only one significant part of the story in getting healthy; nutrition/diet is the other. And I'm not ready to *really* modify my food consumption habits yet, if ever. (Though summer with its fresh local fruit makes it a lot easier. I need to stop by the Harvard market tomorrow, or the Davis market Wednesday, as we ate the last of the most recent batch of strawberries last night!) I love my chocolate and cheese deliciousness too much.

Heck, I'm surprised I'm talking about this quite so much when it's still fairly embryonic. But I've had my bike six weeks as of yesterday, and the lifestyle changes it's enabled? The things it's let me do, the places I've gotten to under my own power? (The amount I've consequently spent at this year's farmers' markets? I'm not sorry for that. :) ) It's making me wonder why the hell I didn't do this eight years ago when I first moved to Boston. And it's making me hope that this is something I will succeed in maintaining for the sheer love of it.

*

I think I'm the only person who isn't exactly a fan of the Discovery Channel commercial that's been going around (and been XKCDed).

A lot of it is that everyone I've talked to about it has never sat around a campfire singing THE ORIGINAL VERSION in one of their favorite places in the world. Eleven summers spent there, helping me through the worst years of elementary and middle school, knowing that for three or four precious weeks every summer, there was some place I belonged, where I had true friends and good conversations, hills to climb and a river to swim in and a campfire with camp songs every night.

So now, instead, people are being introduced to this song by a commercial. And not even introduced to the proper lyrics, introduced to a bastardized version. Sigh. Damn kids get off my lawn, and have the original lyrics for posterity:

I love the mountains
I love the rolling hills
I love the flowers
I love the daffodils
I love the fire's glow
When all the lights are low
Boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada
Boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada

And you sing it in a round.

(On the other hand, this camping XKCD makes me laugh and laugh. Though it was poison oak we had to worry about as kids. And we were kids.)

Comments

[sandboxdiva.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the commercial (of course, I don't have Discovery Channel/decent cable for another 10 days, and I rarely have my TV on to begin with lately), but I did like the xkcd (I'm waiting for an updated version of El Jay Icon Maker for the new Firefox so I can make userpics...or I could just do it on my own if I get reeeaaaallly bored).

I'm debating having my parents bring my bike when they come on Saturday...I too like the "people on bikes go faster" idea, but I'm not such a fan of hills. Or changing gears. And I'm not sure how good a bike it really is, either, considering I got it for free after saving up my Westlaw points in law school... :)

[ursamajor]

Westlaw points, hahaha. I used to be jealous of an ex for those; I think he got an iPod through them :)

You'll be right near the Minuteman Trail, though, in your new place; the ~3 mile ride to Arlington Center is nice and flat. I have no idea how good a biker you are - I was starting from a knowledge base of "I can balance!" - and it surprised me how much more effort it takes to power a bike up a slope I'd consider negligible on foot. Even so I'd say it's worth it to have it as an option. You can apparently even bike into Davis, drop your bike off at the secure valet at Redbones even if you're not eating there, do your thang, then bike home.

I haven't yet gone across the river with it, but it's a thought for upcoming adventures :)

[theducks.livejournal.com]

That commercial has been stuck in Elizabeth and I's heads since we watched it after reading XKCD.

I think you're alone in your hatred of these renditions, but it's entirely understandable that you don't like them. You see them as a corruption of something you did at an important time in your life, and that is understandable.

To people like Elizabeth and I though, the Discovery channel versions show off the wonders of the world and science, and does it in a very cute way. To me it's like Barenaked Ladies - Thanks that was fun (http://youtube.com/watch?v=DwEuXkeuEk8) clip that changes lip movements from all their old songs to make a clip for a new one..

My self-help book moment:

[elkay.livejournal.com]

TOTALLY. I don't believe in diets. I don't believe in 'forbidden' food or duties like going to the gym that have to be done before you can eat something.

I do believe in regular activity and choosing to stay fit for my life now, and for my long-term health. I believe in having smaller portions so I can eat the things I want, and not have forbidden foods. I think my system works, I've never had to diet and I've never felt like I couldn't do what I wanted to do physically. I also never feel deprived and have never been in the trap of fetishizing food or restriction. Ultimately food and lifestyle demands have only as much power as we give them.

(sorry if this was cloyingly self-help like--I'm really really excited for your cycling and think that's so cool!)

[soufpawed.livejournal.com]

i'm so happy that you are loving your bike! i don't know where i'd be without mine this summer.it just makes me feel good. (i'm doing something good for me AND good for the earth!)

and yay for being able to put your chain back on yourself! i just learned how to fix a broken chain and while i hope i don't have to use that skill too much, knowing that i can fix little things on my own bike is empowering.
gyms suck. the outside world is so much more exciting.

[richenza.livejournal.com]

I wasn't consciously investing in my bike as a "get your lazy ass off the couch" thing; rather, it was a "The goddamned 83 doesn't come often enough, and I'm sick of dealing with bus pseudo-schedules" thing, and an "It takes too long to walk to friends' houses, and people on bikes go faster" thing.

This is how I got into bicycling. Means I get an extra 30 minutes of sleep each morning becuase I don't have to wait for the bus. Of course, right now I can barely bicycle at all without getting winded, but that's a temporary condition.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

I only know the song through the commercial, and I'm older than you ...? What does that make me?

Of course, I never went to summer camp.

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, do you keep track of the miles you've ridden somehow, or is that just a running tally in your head?

[ursamajor]

*ggl* I think "hatred" is a bit extreme - I can appreciate that it is cute and happy-sciencey. It's more like how most filks are better appreciated when you know the original song it's based on, and it makes me sad that so few people in my current life do in this case.

Also, in mah yewt, I'd be about two weeks away from heading off to camp, so definitely nostalgia's playing a factor in my reaction. *G*

Re: My self-help book moment:

[ursamajor]

Heee, not at all; it's honestly what I'd *like* to emulate. I know it's going to involve a bit more self-control for me to master. But yeah, seeing specific foods as verboten doesn't work for me; it just serves to make them even more attractive.

Hyoun says the same thing, too; he runs so he can "eat whatever he wants." I'm not up to his base activity level yet, where he can stop running for the winter and then just go out and run a 5k, even if it's slow and painful. But I'd like to be.

[ursamajor]

:D It *is* empowering. I feel kinda like those kids in the '50s novels who are handed a shell of a car, and they spend their summer learning all about how cars work so that they can fix it and make it run by the time they get their license. Except, of course, the part where I'm working with a two-wheeled vehicle sans combustion engine ;) ).

And now I'm understanding better how the parts fit together and move - I didn't realize the back gearbits flexed like that, to make manually moving the chain easier. In retrospect, it makes sense, but in practice, I didn't really have the visual to understand that it did that, since I'm usually trying to focus on the road when I'm mounted and changing gears.

[ursamajor]

Indeed - congratulations! So are you getting a trailer attachment for your bike or a rack-mount seat for the forthcoming little one? ;)

[ursamajor]

Hahahaha, um, old? ;)

hyounpark and I argue about summer camp all the time, since he went to music camp and nerd camp, both of which were hosted on COLLEGE CAMPUSES. With dorms and paved pathways and standard-pressure showers and carpeting. Whereas when I went to camp, even music camp, it was rustic cabins and dribbly showers and swimming in the river and singing around a campfire and respecting nature.

[soufpawed.livejournal.com]

if it's just in your head, i totally recommend getting a little cyclometer/bike computer. they are easy to mount on your front wheel (sensor + a magnet thing on a spoke) and cheap (probably $20). it's totally cool to be able to see how fast you're biking and how far you've biked so far.

[ursamajor]

I've been entering them as individual route maps on GMap Pedometer, then tallying up the mile count in Notepad. I want to like Bikely better than I do, since it's bike-oriented and all, but I find the UI wonky and unreliable. However, it is better at the sharing and search aspects than GMP. A fair number of people have made their maps public, and tagged them with categories such as "low traffic" or "offroad" or such, and the Bikely database does let you do searches for routes in different cities with various constraints: Cambridge <22km; Somerville<22km. (Also, the presence of ron_newman in the Somerville search pleases and amuses me, hee.)

[ursamajor]

Hee, I totally want one of those. I was going to google "bike odometer spedometer" ... good to know it's got a different name!

Re: My self-help book moment:

[elkay.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I know you'll get where you want to be--whatever that goal may be :)

[elemmire7.livejournal.com]

Oh, I remember that camp song! I loved it too! I wonder if it was a California camp thing - now if I could only recall which camp; I'm thinking Wildwood in the Santa Cruz mountains, where I went as an elementary-aged kid.

I've just started to try running this past week. I'm slowly working my way through a walk-run process to get my body and mind used to the whole idea of running, which usually I've disliked tremendously! As for chocolate and cheese, I say, what on earth could be wrong with them when eaten in (very relative) moderation and in the context of a balanced diet w/ good fresh foods! ;-)

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I'll totally have to look into that, thanks!

Out of curiosity, do you leave it on your bike when you lock it up places, lest it (the computer) get stolen, or is there not much of a risk?

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I love GMap Pedometer. One of the most useful webpages on the internet, I swear. And oh, hey, thanks for the tip on those routes!

[soufpawed.livejournal.com]

i guess it depends on where you're leaving your bike and what the theft risk is. i leave mine on, but my bike is usually parked right in front of a 24hr security guard.

it's probably more of a hassle to put on/take off/steal than it is worth - unless you get a super fancy one, it will likely be around or less than $20.
(i have my wires attached to my bike with a bunch of zip ties to keep then from flapping about and getting caught in stuff)

[soufpawed.livejournal.com]

oh! it seems that there are also wireless ones, which can probably be easily taken on and off for safekeeping. i've heard that boston is bad for bike theft.