I t’s much cooler this time of year, better this than too hot; I can sweat without becoming drenched in it. The landscape is much sparser than we’re used to seeing. It’s an odd feeling being able to use the bordering streets and buildings as points of reference while winding through the woods. There’s a disconnect between where I know the path is headed, remembered from riding it week after week, and what I can see as the shortest distance. The paths seem a lot harsher without their lush surroundings: rockier, more dangerous, as if the brush around us would somehow make the dirt paths that much softer. I’m out of shape for biking, and not physically this year but mentally. (Though I am most certainly heavier than I should be.) The road biking I’ve done this winter has made me soft and weak. I haven’t had to worry about each wheel’s placement on the ground, wasn’t overly concerned with spreading my weight out evenly across the frame, and didn’t depend solely on my rear brake for a long time. My first trip down the hill saw me falling four separate times — over the handlebars for three of them. It wasn’t until the next hill that I realized I was squeezing my front brake ever so lightly as my front tire would roll into a rock, causing everything to go terribly wrong every time. By the end of the ride I had it all sorted out but it was an embarrassing, painstaking trek. I’m just grateful that it was such a crisp, overcast day that only Michael came out to share it with me. I’m equally glad that he was patient with me as I worked through the road-biking haze to get back on track. I keep forgetting to log and map our ride and will have to do it before we go out again.

H aving eschewed the consumption of mammal flesh since mid-February — except for an early, unfortunate meatball hoagie incident — I am officially declaring myself a Vegetarian. No beef, pork, chicken, venison, or wild game of any kind. It means giving up some of my favorite foods such as beef jerky, the cheesesteaks that have become synonymous with being a Philadelphian, and turkey on all major holidays.

However, in what is surely to evoke criticism from all sides of the vegetarian “debate”, I’m keeping fish as part of my diet. I call it realistic vegetarianism and am using Alex as my role model for this decision, as he ate quite a bit of sushi while we were vacationing in Hawaii. I really don’t expect any lip from anyone at all especially since vegetarians are just failed vegans, meaning unless you consume absolutely no animal products whatsoever you really can’t preach about animal cruelty.

The reason behind the change is simple. By avoiding animal flesh I’m hopefully avoiding a few more additives, hormones, steroids, fatty tissue, etc. that I would otherwise be ingesting. Also, it helps me to stop and think about what I’m eating; having to analyze my food, even if it’s only for a second, will help me considerably.

Someday I may decide to make meat a part of my diet again, but for now it seems like such a minor change that it’s doubtful.

I t was such a beautiful day today that I had no other choice but to ride in. My month-long hiatus doesn’t mean I’ve been entirely lazy, since I’ve been going to the gym more often than not for the past two weeks. Actually, last week was the first time in my entire life that I made it five out of five weekdays.

Figuring that a little activity is always better than no activity, I’ve been using my flexible work schedule and the promise of some light reading to get me to the gym. In the morning I’d roll out of bed whenever I woke up, throw on a pair of sweats, and saunter over to the gym and walk for an hour while I read my book. Nothing heavy, just flitting between Butcher’s Theater and Clive Barker’s Cabal, whichever I happen to see first as I head out. I started by walking about three miles in an hour or so, but it wasn’t long before I was moonlighting with the elliptical machines. So every now and then I eschew my book for the iPod and get an even better workout than what I rolled out of bed for — book for motivation, music for results.

My stats were a little worse than what they were a month ago, partly because I had a 15 lb. bag on my back, partly because my tire pressure was low, but mostly because I’m out of practice. With nicer weather on the horizon I can hopefully change that last one.

I almost lost my toes today, it was that cold outside. Twelve degrees to be exact. Until this morning I’ve never been so cold that I almost involuntarily broke down into tears.

I tried to bundle up, I really did, and for the most part I would have been fine: wick undershirt, fleece sweatshirt, and windbreaker up top; a long pair of warmup pants; my usual gloves and balaclava. I didn’t get a chance to hit REI this weekend however, so I put my two layers of socks on and then put them in plastic bags to hopefully stop wind. It still did nothing so I’m going to need to buy some booties before my next ride.

Other than the fact that I’ve had my feet perched on Stamper’s space heater for the past hour and my feet are still numb and swollen, it was a nice, brisk ride. Good thing I didn’t need water because that froze in about three minutes; probably would have happened sooner had I used the water backpack since there are hoses involved.

I would have wimped out this morning if it weren’t for the fact that I told Don I was going to go no matter what. Damn me and my big mouth.

I ’ve been a bad, bad biker lately and have been using the weather as an excuse not to ride, when in reality I had the entire weekend to head over to REI for cold weather supplies. I really only need over-the-shoe booties to make myself impervious to the elements, besides my toes getting a little chilly I’m usually just fine with a windbreaker and warmup pants. I also needed to pick up a water bottle holder (and might actually geek out and get a little shelf to mount over my back wheel, too) to replace my water backpack. It’s a little cumbersome while wearing anything more than just a T-shirt, not to mention that I should probably figure out how to bike to work without asking Tim to take my bag for me.

Snow on the ground was actually a good reason to drive to work so far this week, but hopefully I’ll run out of excuses soon and get back to what was shaping up to be a pretty regular workout.