Cycling in London Ontario

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I got a junker bike to use as a runaround in London, so in the last few days I've been using it and starting to build up my cycle fitness again.

So the basics, its a mountain bike, was a front suspension but the suspension is seized solid, which is fine as my last bike in the UK was a full rigid mountain bike. It has 21 gears (7 on the wheel and 3 on the pedals) but I'm the kind of cyclist who never uses the pedal cogs other than the largest (my legs are a testament to the power I put into my cycling). I also generally never go lower than the 3rd gear on the wheel and will cruise on 4th or 5th gear (about 42 to 24 for 3rd and 42 to 18 for 5th).

Back in the UK I used to ride to college 3 or 4 days a week, each day would be around 24 miles round trip, the journey mostly took me through town and city streets and some small part was on a cycle path along the river Clyde. The trip would take me about 1 hour each way, depending on weather conditions and traffic (some days its pretty ridiculous). Many of my friends said I was stupid to do it and some days I had to agree with them (gale force winds, driving rain, blown and shredded tyre, abandoning bike over night and walking 1/2 mile carrying both wheels) but I enjoyed the cycle, loved the exercise and saw the benefit it made in my health.

The last time I cycled any great amount was in February of 2008 when I was back in the UK for a couple of weeks. I haven't owned a car for a long time (more than 4 years) and the bike was my every day vehicle. If I needed something from the store I'd hop on my bike and head out.

As I mentioned previously, I've "had" a bike in Canada since November last year, but due to laziness and the winter that came along, I never sorted out the 10 speed racing bike. When the opportunity of a cheap bike to run around town on came about (see previous post) I jumped on the chance. For the first few days I used the bike just to pop down to the local Valu-mart or the post office, rides of not more than 2km, however on Friday we needed more things than I could easily get at Valu-mart (Tofurkey for one) and I decided to take a ride out to the Masonville mall area of the city.

I mapped the route on Google (although I already knew it from the bus rides and the car drives we've taken out there) more to see how far it was than to actually get directions. The route works out to 4.8km each way, so I got my gear on (so far its just riding gloves here) and filled up my water bottle.

The day was warm, around 26C, there was almost no breeze and the sun was blazing, as it seems to do all summer over here. The bike is far from perfect for me, the saddle is a little too low, the frame is a standard 18" (back in the UK I rode a 21" with the saddle way up) and back in the UK I had bike shoes with clip pedals.

The ride to Masonville is relatively uneventful, there are a few hills and train tracks to cross but nothing major. I set off and managed to arrive at the train crossing just as an East to West CN cargo train was rolling through the city as they appear to do many times a day. I was waiting for a good 5 minutes as the massive freight train rolled by but once it cleared I set off once again.

I remembered just in time that I had to stop off at the Post Office to send off a package and took a short break there while I dealt with things. Heading back out I got myself back onto the road so that I could head back out on my journey. The first hill came along pretty quickly and while its not a hard hill, it took me by surprise a little and it taxed me for the first time in a while. As I mentioned earlier I never drop below 3rd gear even when climbing (unless its a monster climb) and I had to work pretty hard, the low saddle position making me have to use more energy than I normally would. The hill drops off after a short while and the road levels off for a km or so, but then there's more climbing, its gentle and relatively easy, but its pretty constant.

By no account was the ride hard, but the weather and the return to cycling was making me dehydrate quicker than normal. By the time I reached my destination I'd already gone through 2/3 of my water. I took care of my shopping and headed back out onto the road for the mostly downhill return home.

On the way home a couple of college kids in a car did what stupid kids do in cars to cyclists all over, they shouted as they passed, to which I returned a couple of expletives (as usual). The only other issue I had was to deal with the "right turn on a red light" issue whereby instead of hugging the side of the road as in the UK, I had to keep out of turning lanes and avoid cars going round me to turn.

In general the drivers were more well behaved than UK drivers and the cycle, although tiring, was really good fun and a nice introduction to local riding.

Saturday morning I had to pop to the pharmacy to get some anti-biotics for Kata (she has an infected piercing) so I took my bike to save time and get some more saddle time in. After the pharmacy I headed down to the Tim Horton's near Kata's work to get her a Timmies breakfast (she started work at 7am) and then meet her for her lunch break. After lunch I headed back home again, another few km under my belt.

Sunday morning, Kata was craving a McGridle breakfast, so I took my bike again and headed for the nearest McDonald's, which is in the heart of downtown's most ghetto crossing, Dundas and Richmond. As I waited to enter the establishment, 5 ghetto "gangstas" were leaving, I held the door for them and waited for them to leave, no thanks were rendered, but I didn't expect any. This branch of McDonald's has a walk up window, just so you know, but I had no intention of using it, hence why I walked in. Once I had my order I headed back out to make my way to Kata's work and she had her breakfast/lunch. While we were talking I was thinking I had nothing to do that afternoon and I wanted to take a cycle, this time I thought I'd head out the other side of the city and make my way to the White Oaks area and the White Oaks mall.

The ride to White Oaks is further, about 6.4km and there's far more climbing involved, riding along Wellington Road, from around Grand Ave almost to Bradley Ave where the mall starts, its a steady climb, harder than the climb to Masonville and much longer, the temperature was in the mid 20s again and the sun was blazing, so once again my water wasn't lasting. I kept going, because I rarely give up and I made it to White Oaks before long and headed into the mall for a wander around.

I didn't do much more than wander, although I did visit the WalMart to use the bathroom, then I wandered around again until I was bored and headed out. I decided to visit Canadian Tire for the first time and was quite impressed by the place, I didn't buy anything and headed out again.

My water was almost empty and I decided to stop on the way back home at the A&P supermarket to pick up some water, or in this case, a can of Arizona Iced Tea (honey and ginseng flavour). I picked up a couple of other things and headed back out again, refreshed and raring to go. The rest of the ride home was uneventful and I got back, hot and sweaty, but certainly happy.

I'm planning a lot more cycles around the city now. There are a bunch of cycle paths through the parks along the Thames which I'm considering taking (although the mosquitoes and black fly may make them less enjoyable), but I am planning a big cycle around the outskirts of the city, which should be around a 35km circuit, something that I'll build up to in a couple of weeks I'm pretty sure.

So I'm finally back on my bike, building up my bike fitness and enjoying myself in the nice weather. I best make the most of it before the snows come again.

Fitness

In yesterday's post I talked about how I've been a cyclist for most of my life and how I used it as a form of commuting and for general fitness. Well since I've been in Canada I've not cycled, a fact of which I'm not proud, but then again I've kept fit without the bike for the most part.

As I live downtown with Kata in London, Ontario, we for the most part can walk wherever we need to go. Kata's work is about 15 minutes slow walk from here, the nearest supermarket is another 5 further. The nearest mall is about 15 in the opposite direction from her work and the nearest Starbucks is about 10 minutes away. This is a benefit of living in a well served downtown area.

For the occasions when we need to travel further out of the city center, there's the LT Bus system (London Transit), cabs (not that expensive compared to the UK) or friends' cars when we can wrangle a lift (our friends are sweet but we don't take advantage of them). Sometimes we'll hire a car for the times when we need to travel really long distances, its not that pricey ($40 to $60 per day) and it works out cheaper than the train (super expensive) or the greyhound (not really in price terms but greatly in convenience terms). Visiting Kata's parents in Strathroy, her brother in Kingston, her uncle and our friends in Ottawa would all be impossible or extremely expensive without a car. Its an extra expense but it works out on the odd occasion we need it.

So back to fitness, despite not having a bike (or at least a working bike) I manage to keep fit. I walk our dog twice a day, about 30 mins in the morning and 10 mins at night, I walk to meet Kata for lunch and then to get her home from work at the end of her day. I walk to the grocery store and carry the groceries home rather than take a cab as many people would do. On top of that I take the stairs in our building (unless I'm carrying heavy bags). Every little helps.

A while ago I bought a set of Perfect Pushup handles and I've used them almost every other day for months and its worked pretty well, my chest, arms and abs are stronger than they were before and it gives me an extra something to do to keep myself in check physically.

I really need to get my bike sorted out, I bought a second hand Miele 10 speed road bike back in November, but it needs some work, tyres and tubes replaced, some other minor stuff to take care of too. I've been remiss and I really should get it sorted, it'll soon be the wrong weather to ride round here, winter with a road bike is not the best mix.

Its one thing I miss from the UK, round the year cycling is pretty easy there, what with the weather being pretty moderate most of the year round, apart from the gale force winds. Scotland has 3 seasons, cold wet season, warm wet season and wind season. Wind has always been my most hated weather condition for riding, but round here it'll be the cold. So I guess I'll get my bike fixed up asap and get some riding in before its too late for this year.

Fitness is important, its become harder through the generations for people to stay fit. The modern lifestyle, with the advent of machinery and technology people have become more sedentary. Add to this the increase in processed foods, high in sugar, carbohydrate and fat and you have a disaster waiting to happen. It has happened in the last 50 years, not that I'm telling you anything you don't already know, however its not as simple as eating too much.

Your life is ruled by genetics, but in recent years they are discovering epigenetic effects that take effect many years after the fact. For example, if your grandmother went through a time of famine, that can lead her children to be born with a propensity to obesity, not just that, her grandchildren have an increased chance to be obese. Its interesting to think who you are may be due to the living conditions of your grand parents, not just your genetics.

None of this is an excuse though, in general if you eat a healthy balanced diet, low in processed sugars and fats and take regular moderate exercise, no matter your body shape, you will be pretty damn healthy.

Cyclists

This post comes from many years of personal experience and from my time here in Canada.

I've been a cyclist for most of my life. I first sat on a bicycle with training wheels when I was 4 and rode without when I was 6. I've fallen off more times than I can remember and I have a nice collection of scars to show for it, I have scars on my right knee when I wiped out on a corner I turned too fast, the index finger of my right hand is deformed thanks to a wipe out when I was trying to show off, my left shoulder has a pink patch where I crashed on a roundabout and slid along the road for 20 meters. I've even broken a bone cycling, well, I kinda broke it, the x-ray was inconclusive but it looked like I had a chip off one of the tarsals in my right foot. That one happened when I wasn't paying attention and tried to ride across a crossing when it wasn't my right of way and a slow moving car collided with me.

All told I've been cycling for more than 30 years and I'm pretty decent at it, on a mountain bike with road tyres I can manage 18mph average speed at a push, or a more leisurely 15mph average without pushing myself too hard.

With that told, I'd like to talk about cycling, cyclists and why its not the solution to our transport problems, at least not yet.

Cyclists fall into a number of categories;

Poor,
Fitness,
Recreational,
Environmental,
Childhood,
Professional.

For most of my cycling life I fell into the fitness category, most recently I've also entered into the environmental camp, as cycling, when used as a main mode of transport around an urban environment, is a very ecologically friendly way to commute.

For most people cycling is a childhood thing, you learn as a kid because its what you do, its a way for you to go visit your friends who live more than a short walk away, its a way to go to the store, to go someplace other than home when you don't have to carry much or have too far to go. Most kids grow out of this, especially in the western world, by the time they get a driver's license, or their parents decide its too dangerous for them to be out on the road without the protection of a car's steel/aluminium/carbon fibre shell.

For some, like myself, its a fitness issue, you cycle to keep fit, you can also use that aspect as a way to travel around, but in the fitness category you'll travel further than most on your cycle. I've ridden 70 miles in a day, just because. You'll also commute on your bike because it keeps you fit, saves you money and is ecologically sound. This group of people, like myself, will cycle most of the year and most of their lives.

Some people look upon their bicycles as a purely recreational tool, they'll strap their bikes onto the back of their SUVs or 4X4s and head off to the wilds where a cycle trail awaits them, they'll cycle around for a while, have some lunch, cycle some more, then strap the bikes back on the vehicles for the drive home. The bikes are then stowed again until the next time the whim takes them.

Professionals are a small extreme group, the cycle courier, the pro/am athlete (road racers, bmx riders, mountain bikers, bike trialists) and the rarity, a job that makes you cycle, e.g. police initiatives. People in this group are either forced into it (cops) or they are driven by the need to ride, live to ride, ride to live. It doesn't matter to them what the weather, what the time of day, they ride for riding's sake, some get paid, many don't.

Environmentalists cycle to prove a point, "look at me I'm saving the planet", sometimes this is true, when they eschew anything with an engine. They make a life choice to prove a point to the rest of the world. This works well in a city where you can travel short distances to find everything you need, but in rural areas, not so much, still, its a start I guess. Politicians have polluted this group of course, they show off their greenness by riding around the city, with 5 bodyguards, 3 cars with all their staff and documents, helicopter escort, you know the kind of thing, typical political hypocrisy masquerading as caring for anything but their own image.

Now I get to the poor. For much of the world, where annual wages are minuscule, where you can barely feed and clothe your family, where a motor vehicle is a lifetime's earnings, the bicycle can be (but not always) a life line, a way to transport goods to and from markets, to travel to and from work, to carry your family. Asia is the perfect example of the bicycle as mass transit. Its almost a unique situation which is slowly dying off as Asia's massive population gradually earns more, pulling themselves out of poverty and rising to moderate (by western terms) affluence.

In the western world however the poor who cycle tend to be those of a "ghetto" persuasion. Those who's lives have been "wasted" in crime, drugs, anti-social behaviour, or just never cared to better themselves in the lands of plenty. These people cycle their ghetto bikes, contravening any laws of the land, not caring about their personal safety, let alone the safety of others. They will ride at night, without lights or reflectors, on the streets or pavements (sidewalks) with total disregard for anyone or anything else. This is the group that above all else who give cyclists a bad name.

The problem for cycling as a solution for traffic emissions and congestion? Well there's the image problem for one, some see it as a childish pursuit that should be abandoned when you're capable of owning a vehicle and there's the "ghetto" types, who paint an extremely poor image of the cyclist. Add to this the fact that motorists feel entitled to the road, hate to share it with other vehicles, let alone human powered bicycles. As a cyclist I've many times been close to death thanks to a motorist who either didn't care to look out for me, or had no regard for my life whatsoever, only my own ability to protect myself on the road has kept me safe.

Until there's an overriding incentive for people to get out of their cars and onto bicycles in a safe(ish) environment, it won't happen, it may never happen if alternative fuels for vehicles actually turn out to be the solution that most of us hope they can be, but certainly not yet and not for 20 years possibly.

I hate to be negative, because I love cycling, but its a fact of life, a few people using a 140 year old technology won't change the world, unfortunately, but for the time being, I'll keep cycling and looking out for myself.