Critical Mass Bike Ride

Quotations:
We are not blocking traffic, we are the traffic!!!
Pedals are Power!!!

I attended the Critical Mass Ride of May last Friday afternoon. The sunshine is perfect, and it is so good to be a part of the special 'Blue Shirt Team' A.K.A. Vancouver marathon bike escort team.

Here is the photo of me and my bike buddies:


You could see the captain from my sunglasses. He is taking picture for me, LOL


This photo looks a little bit weird. I guess the reason is I was drinking from my water bag.


We shut down the Burrard Bridge


I had a conversation with a co-worker who is both a cyclist and a driver before I went to the event. She said she like riding bike, but does not like the Critical Mass. As some people may get late for appointments or important events because cyclists block their way. It also frustrates the bus drivers, as being puncture is their responsibility but they cannot be there on time because of the Critical Mass bike ride blocks their way.

I thought her concern makes sense. So I paid many attentions to other road users when I was riding in the event. Almost all drivers are pretty cooperative, it is not a big deal, it probably only take 10-15 minutes for all the bikes passing by the intersection, so they won't be delayed too long. And it is only once per month in the Friday evening, so nobody is really in a hurry. Many pedestrians enjoyed watching and shooting us, and a boy at the bus stop of Main Street even shouted out "Keep on going! I'm patient !"

I love this event, I'll definitely go for the next time.

Critical Mass is a grassroots reclamation of public space -- a bike ride and skate -- held the last Friday of every month. You are invited to enjoy the safety and comfort in the car-free space that we create by simply riding together! Bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates, self propelled couches, and any other form of human powered locomotion are all welcomed! Critical Mass Vancouver Website is: http://www.bikesexual.org/cm/home.htm

The Best Volunteer Experience: The Vancouver Marathon Bike Escort Team

I'm so glad I joined the bike escort team, it is so much fun!

There were totally 10 evening practices before the event day. We usually ride for 21KM along downtown, Gastown, Chinatown, Stanley park and English Bay, then have pizza dinner together. It is a miracle that we did not encounter any rain in all the practices, it is quite unusually for the April.

It is very comfortable to riding with a group of cyclists in the evening after a whole day's work. But my personal riding experience is not great. Well, it is all my fault, I ride as slow as an escargot, and I could not remember the roads. It is so embarrassing I always be the 2nd last cyclist in the riding with a sweep cyclist behind me. I had worried about I would be kicked out of the team for my slowness, but to my surprise, I did not get any complaints, all I got are encourages. Later, in the race day, I realized although my speed(~15km/h) is lower than most cyclists, but it is good enough for lead runners.

Pizza dinner is a more fun part. Captain Brian always does his fashion show to amuse us. He has volunteered for the Vancouver Marathon for more than 10 years, so he has 10+ different volunteer T-shirts to show off. I'm so happy that I got a purple year 2000 volunteer T-shirt from him for encouraging me to recover from my bike accident. Now I could pretend that I had volunteered for the year 2000 Vancouver Marathon, LOL.

Well, I have to say, I did not enjoy the first dinner. Everyone knows the uncomfortable feeling of sitting in a group of strangers, but a more awful feeling is this group of strangers know each other except me! I unfortunately chose a wrong table, the other 2 table mates know each other pretty well and I could barely understand what they were talking about... I felt so awful until the captain came to talk to me. I felt so thankful for him as he saved my whole evening. See, how important it is to be a host. Later, I got better luck with the dinners, I met many interesting people, and had lots of fun conversations together. It added so much highlights to my dull life!

On the event day, I got up at 4:30 AM, and ride my bike to the race place, as there are no bus/skytrain available at that moment. It almost kills me, as I have never been a morning person. But it is really worthy that, it is such a good feeling of riding on the closed road with runners under the sunshine. According to 2 teammates, they actually watched the runner's running very carefully and enjoyed watching the perfect muscles and movements. It's a pity that I didn't notice that part, there are always too many runners together with my target runner, I didn't got a good view. :(

The most impressive part of the race is actually about the last runner. She looks not like a runner, I mean, slightly overweight. But she did finished the full marathon with the time of 7 hours and 1 minute. In the last 1 km, we surrounded her, and escorted her in her speed. 2 bikes at her left and 2 bikes at her right, all other bikes are in one row behind her, and we all ring our bells. I wish I could found the picture and put it here.

It's only 11 months left. (Greg, I know the copyright of this sentence belongs to you. )

P.S. There are 2 related links:
Details about the racing day
Video about our team, could you find me from the video?

my biking activity statistic April

Bike to work: 15 days.
Totally workdays in office: 17 days
Bike commute percentage: 88%
Total Marathon practice ride: 21 * 8 + 35 = 203 KM
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 15 + 203 + some riding to/from the practice place + extra riding in the weekends = 500+ KM
Total Calories burned in riding: > 10,000 Calories (Don’t ask me how I calculate this value, there are so many different calculation ways. I just stick to the simplest way of 20 cal/km)

According to the calories I burned, I should have lost 1.1kg fat. And it seems I really lost ~ 1KG

BMI = 21.26 now.

My new photo: look at the teeth

That's my new looking from the bike accident. One front tooth is chopped in the middle and another front tooth is broken in the very end of its root, so it looks longer than usual.

This new looking will last until May 15, when my dentist has time to do root canal and some maxinum filling. To my surprise, they said they are still able to save my teeth. Thanks for the technology. :)

Technician in Sportschek knows nothing about bikes

I went to sportscheck and asked the technician to fix my bike. I tried to explain the front brake is too tight, I need him to make it looser. He pulled the bike over with his hand, and tried to brake on the right handle bar which is the back brake. I had to tell him, it is the issue of the front brake. Then he got on the bike, rode around slowly and try to brake. I even saw the back tire jumped up from the floor when he braked. But when he came back, he said the brake worked fine!!! I have to tell him I actually already fell down from the bike because of this brake. And I guess he still not understand, as he asked me to leave my bike there instead of fixing it right away.

Later, I went back to the store in evening. The technician is not there, and another store staff gave me my bike. I tried it immediately, the front brake was as tight as before. I have to told the staff that my issue had not been fixed. He also said the front brake works good, it is the cyclist's responsibility to make sure using the back brake first then the front brake. Well, it may works for other cyclists, but for me I will grab both 2 brakes together as fast as possible if there is an emergency. Anyway, he loosed my front brake and warned me that eventually my back brake would wear out. It sounds like a funny warning to me.

Definitely a bike needs to be stopped by its back wheel instead of front wheel. But who should make sure that? The cyclist or the brakes?

Bike to work week May 11 - 17

Bike to work week website:
http://vacc.bc.ca/bike/bike.php?pageID=4

Girls in my company named our bike team as Escargot, as we (ok, it is me) ride as slow as escargots.
See, even escargots can ride, so do you!

Cycling route planner website

Website: http://cyclevancouver.ubc.ca/




This website shows elevation gains. It is perfect for cyclists like me who hate uphills.
But the calculation for routes is not smart enough, it chose a 15 km alternative route for me to avoid uphills but my regular route is only 8.8 km. Sometimes it may even keep on calculating for a couple of hours. You may have to kill the IE process to stop it.

I don't believe the calories calculation result, it seems the weight of elevation gain VS speed is not proper. I definitely sweat more on my way home than go to work, as it is more steep.

My way to work:
Route length: 8.852 km.
Estimated time: 0 hr 35 min.
Speed: 15km/hr
Calories burned: 192.5 kCal.
Elevation gain: 71 m.

My way from work:
Route length: 8.841 km.
Estimated time: 0 hr 53 min.
Speed: 10km/hr
Calories burned: 192.3 kCal.
Elevation gain: 153 m.

Vancouver Marathon Cycle Escort Team - Volunteers still wanted

Copied from: http://bulletproofcourier.blogspot.com/2009/04/vancouver-marathon-cycle-escort-team.html


Almost 20 riders showed up for our first practice last night, riding 10km in a leisurely 90 minutes to generalize ourselves with the race course. At 7:30pm we finished at Something Good Italian Bistro in Yaletown for some slices and soda, compliments of race sponsors. This is my first time volunteering for the team; it was a pleasure to meet a friendly group for an easy ride and have my questions answered:

A marathon is a footrace. Why are cyclists needed?

A 26 mile footrace winding through city streets and parks requires a ton of logistics and support. The cycle escort team helps with this, leading the runners from the start line and sweeping up the rear of the pack. They also act as eyes & ears for race officials and the course technical team.

Am I expected to cycle 26 miles (42.2 km)?

Not necessarily. The cycle team welcomes volunteer riders of all ability, and there are other events we support, such as the half marathon and an 8k race. The riding is spread out over several hours; with all the crowds, noise and excitement on race day, you may hardly notice the effort.

What kind of commitment is involved?

The cycle team practices Tuesday & Thursday nights during April, meeting 5:45pm at the Plaza of Nations taxi stand at 750 Pacific Boulevard, across the street from BC Place. We do a full-course practice Sunday April 26 at 7am, race day is May 3 from 6am to 3pm. It's not mandatory to attend every practice ride - we're all volunteers, so things are flexible.

How do I sign up?

Register online at the Vancouver Marathon website, email team captain Brian at the above address and come enjoy the next practice!



The main website for the 2009 Vancouver Marathon is bmovanmaration.ca.

A record in my riding

I rode 48 km in total today, I have never ridden that far before. It includes:

8.5 km: home -> work
8.2 km: Rupert & Broadway -> BC place
21 km: marathon ride practice
10.1 km: BC place -> home

Hopefully I'll break this record soon. It is quite possible as I don't feel exhausted at all.

Bike to work statistics March

Bike to work: 12 days.
Total workdays: 21 days
Bike commute percentage: 57%
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 12 = 205.2 KM
Total Calories burned in riding: 342 * 12 = 4104

According to the calories I burned, I should have lost 456 g fat. Adding the 570 fat I should have burned(calculated) in Feb, I should be 1.026 KG lighter than I was in January.
But……… I actually gained ~ 1 pound in these 2 months.

Record my BMI here: 21.64

Bike to work days in Feb

Bike to work: 15 days.
Total workdays: 20 days
Bike commute percentage: 75%
Total distance ride: 8.55 * 2 * 15 = 256.5 KM
Total Calories burned in riding: 342 * 15 = 5130

According to the calories I burned, I should lose 570 g fat, but I didn’t…

Bike to Work 2009

I started to bike to work today. The weather network reported the temperature is 9 centigrade, but I still saw snow on some streets.

The wonderful part is I started at the beginning of February this year. I remember I started in the end of March last year, it is amazing that I started almost 2 months earlier this year!
And I rode until the end of November last year, I think I still can ride to the same end time.

2009 Resolution

1. Personal Goals
1.1 Fitness goal: I am going to fit in the dark green size 0 pants.
Detail plan:

Bike to work Mar to Nov everyday unless emergency

Go to gym (Weight room) 4 times per week. Monday and Thursday focus on lower body, Tuesday and Friday work on upper body.

Do 20-30 mins cardio exercise on the days when not biking.

1.2 Get a driver license.
1.3 Hobby: Learn inline skate, front crawl.
1.4 Make 1-2 friends.

2. Professional Goals
2.1 English handwriting. I don't need my handwriting to be pretty, but it need to be neat.
2.2 Get 100% understand of South Park, and master the new words. At least finish one episode per week.
2.3 Get 100% understand of 1-2 movies and choose an actress to imitate.
2.4 Talk to 5 different people each day.
2.5 Get involved in those email tech discussions at least once

3. Financial Goals
3.1 Looking for the area which I interest and I can really make passive income from.

Bike to work

Last week is bike to work week (winter version), and I rode the whole week. It was amazing that we had a whole week without rain in winter in Vancouver, perfect weather for riding. :)

I started to ride to work since last year, and it was May to October. I caught a cold at the beginning of October, and stopped riding since then.

For this year, I started riding from the end of March. Later I got all my rain gears (waterproof pants, jacket, shoe covers, reflectors...), which make me I could ride in the rainy days. I caught a cold again in the beginning of this October, I stopped riding for a couple of days, but I go back to ride as soon as I recovered. At the beginning of Nov, I heard that the VACC announced the Bike to work winter version, and I thought they were crazy. I never imaged I could still ride in the end of Nov.

Gain(Loss) from this year's riding:
1) Weight Loss of 6.5 pounds
2) Saved the money for ~7 month passes (~ $500, wow!). Minus the money spend on the rain gears, still saved ~$300 :)

Well, good enough. I guess I'll stop riding for Dec, Jan and Feb. I have already seen frost last week, and I can expect to see some ice in the next couple of days. Snow or Ice, that are the stop signs for me.

减肥周年庆：最重要的是生活态度的改变

2007年5月21日：开始减肥，体重67.5KG(149 lbs)

2008年5月21日：稳定在56KG了 (123 lbs)

开始减肥已经整整一年了，一共减掉了23斤（体重的17%以上）。

这个减肥的速度虽然并不快，目前的体重也并不低，但是重要的是我改变的我的生活态度。我不需要再谈论减肥成功与否，不需要太在意什么时候才能够到达所谓的理想体重，因为真正的理想体重本来就没有一个确定的数字，因为我已经养成了良好的生活习惯，已经不需要再用“坚持”这个词了。健康的习惯已经融入了我的生活，只要正常生活就可以了：） 

 一句话总结：要是知道这么好减，我早就开始减了。 从小就不喜欢运动的我，居然渐渐的喜欢上了运动，运动已经不再是一种负担，而是一种爱好。喜欢运动的人比较容易快乐，这是另一大收获：） 

原来以为减肥要痛苦地忌口，觉得不能吃好吃的东西，就失去了至少一半活着的乐趣。但是自从每天都吃大量的水果蔬菜之后，可乐薯条薯片巧克力对我的吸引力慢慢变弱了。当然，如果几周不吃，我还是会想吃它们；想吃了就吃一点，只要不是连续吃几天，就没关系。 

再就是，我们一贯接受的所谓正常的饮食，其实不一定是正确的饮食。比如“主食”，其实吃菜比吃米饭的量应该大很多；比如说“早点”，可不是随便来点就可以了，记得我过去为了省事以及减肥，早点有时只吃一小杯酸奶或者牛奶，现在觉得那都是自杀式行为；比如说白米白面，显然不如糙米和全麦面粉来得健康；比如说为了减肥晚饭不敢吃主食，什么叫不敢吃主食，是本来就不该吃主食；比如说水果，不是可吃可不吃的，想起来才吃的，是每天都必须要吃的，而且最好一天吃几种不同的水果；比如说菜炒熟了才叫吃菜，其实凉拌甚至有的时候连拌都不用更加的好吃，当然也更健康。