Hurray for bicycles!

I tried to write a celebratory entry here on my birthday but ran into technical difficulties and promptly forgot about my good intentions in the face of birthday revelry. What I intended to celebrate here was not in fact my birthday, though it was closely related. Rather, I wished to announce my acquisition of a brand-spanking-new bicycle! Thanks to a birthday present sponsored jointly by Rem, Dad and Joan, and our friend Malcolm, I am the very proud owner of a new black Specialized Sirrus cyclable! It's a beautiful hybrid bicycle set up for road riding with a pleasantly high handlebar set up so I'm less bent over than I would be on most bikes. It's nice and light and has 21 gears and functional brakes! The brakes are a lovely change for me, as is the decreased amount of inertia to deal with. The guys at Revolution cycle (very helpful folks!) kindly set it up with very civilized looking fenders and a handy back rack so I can take my Dutch bike bag around with me again. Mom and Don sponsored the accessories, so I'm all set up with lights, locks, gloves, helmets, and reflective chickens.

And... with this surprisingly early and wonderful spring weather we've had this week, I've actually become a bicycle commuter, too! I'm now riding from home at the University to work at the Percy Page Center every day - and back again, of course. It takes me about 30-35 minutes to get to work and 35-45 to get home. My route takes me through the river valley, mostly on bike paths and residential roads so that I avoid all the traffic and extra lights and stop signs downtown, but of course leaves me with the challenge of biking up Groat Road and Emily Murphy hill. Now, this is likely to astonish anyone who remembers my adventures biking with Amie, Mathilde and Steve in France last year, but by golly, I can do this!

Slowly, mind you, and though Groat Road is okay, Emily Murphy Hill is a painful 10 (?) minute climb where joggers leave me in their dust. Still, after only 4 times (yes, I'm counting!), I'm already noticing an improvement - I no longer spend the following 6 hours coughing my lungs out. I've now figured out how to use the gears on my bike and have hopes that someday I will be able to make the climb without having to psych myself up first. Rem claims that he started out having the same difficulties I do but now can ride it without too much trouble. We'll see!

The commuting is also good training for a mini-road trip we're planning to do at the end of May. Rem's cousin is getting married in Beiseker, way down by Calgary, and we're considering biking down for it. It'll take about three days and then we can get a ride back with Rem's mom for the return trip. I got a little spooked when I realized that somewhere in there we'll have to cross both the Red Deer and Battle River valleys - which of course means hills - in addition to whatever foothills we come across, but am still hopeful that it's doable. It would be nice to try!

Rem and his dad are going to bike from Vernon to Edmonton in June (sans me!) and though I envy the fabulous scenery they'll be going through, I can't imagine an entire day of climbing. Actually, that's not true, I can imagine it - it's just such an unpleasant thought that I'd rather not!

Anyways, though I still have a long ways to go before I become quite as crazy of a bicycle person as Malcolm or even Rem, it's nice to be back on those two wheels.