The Return of the Bicycle

Who knew?  At the same time as a famous Christian blogger, Anne Jackson endeavoured to rekindle her passion for cycling I too began a journey back to a bicycle.

I don’t have her literary gifts, but my story goes like this: I got a bike when I was young.  Living in a pretty big city called Prince George (I think it had about 50 thousand when I was living there), we lived in a quiet, new subdivision called College Heights.  When I was 6 or 7 I was good enough on my bike to ride it from one end of College Heights to the other – a distance of several kilometers.  I rode it to the corner store to buy treats.  It was awesome and I thrilled to exploring every little street between that store and mine.  I remember being intimidated by the view across the sports fields, between the store and the big High School which seemed like a fortress to me.

Is it just me or does it seem like a different planet where a 7 year old can ride his bike all over every neighbourhood and forested trail within several kilometers of his house?  My wife won’t even let our 9 year old ride around the block on his bike!

We moved, and I then went through several BMX’s because that’s what all the kids had when I was 9 or 10, and they got stolen a lot.  Annoying.  But the new town we were living in had a BMX track which was awesome.  Dirt jumps, high corners, and speed.  Good times.  I deliberately made my last BMX look like a pile of crap so nobody wanted to steal it.  Its 5 point plastic mags were sweet.  I rode that bike to every corner of Kitimat, a city of 12 thousand on the coast.  That city was spread out so my domain covered many square kilometers.

We moved again.  I determined to explore our new city, Fort Saskatchewan, in the same way.  I was now 9 and turning 10.  The town was flat, except for the river valley which was mildly amusing.  I laughed when I rode over the sidewalk overpass in the middle of town.  Is this the best hill they could manage?

That overpass would be dominated by me and my bicycle until I was 16.  Then I got a car.  I rarely rode a bike again.  Thus ended that chapter.

Now, an interesting chapter in my life is unfolding.  After working at a good paying job for years, we are stepping down, down, down into lower incomes.  I am on parental leave, which pays a little more than half of what I used to get.  The insurance on our second vehicle ran out November 17th.  We did not renew it.  That’s $1400 we don’t have anymore.

I have committed to an internship at our church, to prepare us to plant our church in Medicine Hat.  The church office is 12.7 kilometers away from our home.  Between the home and office is 12.7 kilometers of urbanity – 5 times the volume of car traffic than any town I have ever grown up in.  And my bicycle, while new (we got it after an old mountain bike was stolen out of the garage in our old house – but I’ve rode it about 3 times since), is so foreign to me now.

I’ve been wanting to lose a significant amount of weight.  Here’s my opportunity.

My first biking day was Friday, November 27th.  All I remembered of that ride was pain.  I can’t describe how uncomfortable that seat was on my posterior.  I won’t even try for fear of offending more sensitive readers.  I thought, “Who invented the bicycle seat, and where do they live so I can shoot them?”  The sad thing is I distinctly remember my old BMX seat was hard plastic while at least this one had some cushioning.  I nearly cried when I left the office and lowered myself onto the torture device that night.  That night I seriously questioned my decision – what if the pain never got better?  How much was I willing to endure to lose weight?  I could just be an intern from home right?

Luckily I had a whole weekend to recover.  By Monday I was willing to give it another shot.

I am now into my 3rd week.  I am happy to say your butt does actually get used to it!  Now, I can already sense my lungs aren’t working as hard at the distance.  I have discovered a route that does not require riding up and down massive inclines (a common occurrence in Surrey).  There is even a short section through a forested stretch that reminds me of BMXing.

I pedal hard the whole way, which I have discovered is a little weird.  Other cyclists I pass are just meandering along the roads.  Then again, the driven ones are probably not going to be passed by me and my 225 pounds of flesh.  I am waiting for my metabolism to catch on that I am burning 1200 more calories a day… it hasn’t noticed so far.

I salved my rear and my back and my thighs with the knowledge that not only was I saving money, but I was saving the environment – green people love cyclists.  I am actually glad that there is this opportunity to save money, gas, insurance, and at the same time begin a journey towards proper health that has been 10 years in coming.

There is only one other challenge that threatens to derail (means something totally different to cyclists, friends!) this venture.  Unlike Anne Jackson, I don’t live in a state that is a day’s drive from the tropics.  I live in Canada.

And the forecast is for snow this weekend.

Here’s hoping it melts off by Monday.

Tags: Anne Jackson, bicycles, car insurance, exercise, health, History, internship