The Critical Mass

Since 1995, Minnesotans have been riding in "Critical Mass" to demonstrate the need for motorist to keep a watchful eye for bike riding citizens. These "Critical Mass" rides take place on the last Friday of every month and generally go off without a hitch. But last month, 19 riders were arrested and ever since the differing sides have been attacking each other. Yesterday's ride however was peaceful and a success due in large part to meetings between local Police and Critical Mass leaders.

Interestingly enough, this topic largely dominated our Saturday morning long run. GD, finally back with the group after a 6 month layoff due to herniated discs in his back was a pace and water bottle guy while on his bike. GD, commutes from the Midway (St. Paul) to downtown Minneapolis everyday...even during the winter months. Andy, owns no car and rides the #16 bus everyday and everywhere. I'm the only one of the group who drives to work which made for differing points.

Unfortunately, Andy kept picking up the pace so I wasn't able to provide more than about 2 sentences of thought at a time before needing to gasp for air...but all of us were in consensus with the notion that these rides probably do more harm than good when trying to promote biking as a form of transportation. And here's why. When the Critical Mass group holds up traffic that has the right of way so that all riders can make it through and intersection, motorists get angry. Plus, holding up traffic in downtown Minneapolis during rush hour on a Friday night when most of the motorist live in the suburbs is no way to convince them of your opinion. So in effect, they are alienating the biking community. Why not organize a large ride so there is visibility but follow all the rules of the road to show that both bicyclists and motorists can operate in harmony?

Read others opinions on the Critical Mass bike ride.

This might have been a good idea back in 1995 but the city council is well aware of the biking community and provides a ton of funding for new bike lanes and biking trails. The city's Ten-Year Transportation Plan and Streetcar Feasibility which was released last week is littered with biking concerns and initiatives. And the Minneapolis Transportation Web-site provides all sorts of information on biking and commuting...without a car.

Ironically enough, most all of our 10 miler this morning was done on bike trails or on roads with bike lanes...maybe their message is being heard...

We Will, We Will, Rock You

My hours at work are going to be long and well into the evening this week which is forcing me to get my running done in the morning. I am once again thankful that I have been getting up early and am now actually enjoying a "morning run". Well, after the first mile or so ;)

This morning at the gym I couldn't help but noticed how many runners - including myself - were using some sort of .mp3 player. The white ear buds immediately signify an iPod of some sort and were by far the most popular choice of music player. Not surprising should be the fact that in January of 2007, Apple had approximately 72% of the total dollar amount spent on .mp3 devices for the month. This is in line with what I saw...that's for sure.

I couldn't help but think of how music has become such an important part of everyone's workout. Although, I do love to let the shuffle god's take over a workout for me, I really do find the most satisfaction in a run that is full of the sights, sounds and visuals of my surroundings that all to often are drowned out by headphones. I can already hear the crunch of the fall leaves beneath, the squeak of the snow beneath my feet.

Biking Happy People?

Last week's running mileage took a small hit due to my increased biking mileage. As Katie's alarm goes off at 5:20 and haphazardly pry one eye open, I can't help but wonder why it is so hard for me to get out of bed when I know how happy I am when riding! This made me wonder if I truly am happier when riding or if it was just the cold air waking me up so I went looking for some info...

Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man (read more about his No Impact Project) happen to post some great facts about bike riding that indicate it's not the cool air but rather elevated levels of happiness.

• Biking for transportation improves peoples lives. Studies show that bicyclists are the happiest among commuters.


• Bicycling is a great alternative to short driving trips. 25% of trips that are made within a mile of the home, and 40% are made within 2 miles of the home.


• Just increasing bicycling a tiny bit will do wonders for the environment. Today, only 1% of US trips are done by bike but increasing this to1.5% would save 462 million gallons of gas per year.


• Biking is a great exercise. At an easy pace, it burns 500 calories per hour, 25% more than walking.


• Making biking safer for everyone is just a matter of get pedaling. Every time number of bicyclists triples the rate of accidents reduces by half.

Now, I know why I'm so happy when I bike into work! I burn about 500 calories, get to listen to NPR's Marketplace Podcast, traverse wonderful tree lined bike paths or roads through city parks, and save $6.31 each way (13miles x $.485)!

Burn it Like Beckham

I've always been a huge proponent of soccer. To me, it is the only sport but then again, I might be a little bias :) Soccer is a wonderful sport for kids because it is fun, keeps them running all the time, teaches them teamwork and focuses their attention on individual skills as well. There is a reason it is the "world's sport" as well as one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. Unfortunately, too many Americans don't get it because it doesn't involve high scoring matches or a fast enough pace to keep the attention of our newly created A.D.D society.

But, a new study has found that playing soccer burns more fat and encourages more muscle growth than jogging.

After reading the study, it appeared that those individuals involved with the jogging side of the study did just that - jogged. It did not take into account training at higher percentage levels of heart rate maximum which could have provided increased levels of weight loss and possibly muscle growth. That being said, playing a match of soccer surely is much more entertaining than a 30 min run by yourself....

TC 10 Mile - Don't Blink!

The Twin Cities Marathon could actually be playing second fiddle to its Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Miler. The 10 Miler, by far the most sought after race entry in the Twin Cities each year, is also host to the 2007 USA 10 Mile Championship. And it just got a little bit more interesting.

Yes, Katie is running, but she's not vying for the Championship, rather the ability to participate in the "shortcut to the capitol". However, the field of elite runners is getting bigger by the second as elite marathoners start to fine tune their training for the upcoming USA Marathon Championship. It was announced that former TCM champ Dan Browne and the 2006 10mile champ Abdi Abdirahman will be competing for the $25k first place prize. My money is on local favorite and brother of one of Katie's good friends - Andrew Carlson. Of course, I wouldn't mind seeing fellow Drake Bulldog Jason Lehmkuhle win either but watching Andrew run the Fargo 1/2 Marathon this year, I'm wondering how anyone could beat him!

But, the best news of the day came when I found out that I will be Course Marshalling somewhere between miles 12 and 17 for TCM! It will be a long day but so rewarding to encourage and keep everyone safe on the course. Hope to see you there...

People & Bikers & Deer...Oh My!

My "become a morning person" project is going better than planned. Although, it takes a little help from Katie sometimes. Like this morning...my favorite "I'm getting up in a second" line was quickly followed by 13 minutes of the hardest sleep I've had in a while until the bedroom door creaked open and she politely asked if I was getting up. Well, seeing how I purposely drained just about all of the gas out of my jeep and it wasn't raining, I had little to persuade me for an additional 55 minutes of sleep.

The ride in has quickly become the highlight of my day. It's so peaceful. It's always a comforting reminder that getting up this early to ride a bike 15 miles to work is not normal when I see other bikers on the paths. Today there were 4 other bikers. Seriously, it's not normal to do this. If you think it is...you're not normal.

There are a couple of areas on the ride that I was concerned about this morning. After a great deal of rain over the last 48 hours, I figured tree branches and puddles would litter my paths. Much of my commute is on dedicated bike paths and some of them bushwack right through thick patches of tress, marshes and low level prairies. Much to my surprise the puddles were nowhere to be found and the branches were easily avoidable. BUT, riding a section just south of Medicine Lake (lots of trees), I nearly had three crashes.

The first with a deer who darted out across the path about 5 feet ahead of me. This scared the sh@t out of me...looking back, I counted it as an 8 pointer...pretty darn big for this non-hunter.

The second was when I was winding through the same area when another biker (heading right for me) wasn't paying attention and was riding on my side of the path. It was dark and I saw him too late (no headlight) to try and avoid him so I slammed on my breaks, my back tire started to come out from under the bike and he was barely able to maneuver his bike out of the way before we had a head-on collision.

The third was about a minute later when a walker wasn't paying attention (little white earbuds coming out of his ears) and walked right out in front of me! Right then I just about got off the bike and called it a day!

I can't wait to see what happens on the way home, ha!

Wanna Run Faster? Hire a Dog.

Luci, short for Lucifer is just that when she gets on a leash for a run. Katie and I spent the weekend in Fargo, ND and while not attending her 10-year High School Reunion, we managed to get in as much "Luci" time as possible. Luci is a lake dog. While she could spend many hours sleeping and being the princess of the household, she's more in her element when running up and down the shores of her lake house and jumping off the dock like she's practicing for her shot at a crown during the Purina Incredible Dog Championships.

Needless-to-say, walking on a leash or running for that matter is not her strong suit. So Saturday, with Katie needing to log some miles in preparation for the upcoming Twin Cities 10 Miler we (Katie, Luci and I) set off to get in some miles. It was as if Luci had never been outside before. She pulled so hard that I thought my left arm might fall off but we quickly learn "Luci pace" and settled in. The problem was that "Luci pace" was faster than "Katie pace"! But with a little tugging and a lot of "heel"ing we managed to make it for two miles all together - Luci did very well after the first 1/2 mile, even running with slack in the leash for the last mile or so.

Katie and I desperately want a dog but between living up on the third floor of a house and our crazy work schedules, we know it's still a couple of years away. So, Luci...you better get use to us running you!

Katie and I managed to run more miles after we dropped off Luci who was smiling from ear-to-ear and I had a fantastic long tempo run on Sunday to finish off a wonderful 10-year reunion weekend.

My $100 Apple Store Credit

Yes, that's correct. I am one of the "foolish" individuals who was so enamored with a little piece of technology that revolutionized the world that I paid an extra $200 early adopter fee and am now loving the fact that I have a $100 in store credit at any Apple store or at www.apple.com. Yes, I'm talking about my purchase of the iPhone and let me be the first (well, probably not the first) to say that I would do it all over again EVEN IF I didn't get the $100 store credit and here's why:

#1. I was riding my bike home from work the other day and Katie called. I was listening to the Beatles "In My Life" (off of Rubber Soul - their best album in my opinion) and all I had to do was click on the microphone / controller and I was talking to her. Then I clicked again and was right back into my song. I never reached into my pocket to do a thing. Tell me another phone that can do that.

#2. When I workout at the gym, I record all of my lifts (sets, reps, and weight) to Gyminee and keep track of my weight loss progress while surfing the web on a wi-fi connection and listening to LCD Soundsystem.

#3. During a party, I can remotely control the desktop at a touch of a button and put on the music that others want to dance to. OPP always seems to get played when someone else gets a hold of the "remote".

I could go on and on and on with examples but the point is that it's everything you could ever want in a phone and then some. And the best part about it is that we are only at the beginning of its development life cycle so the possibilities are endless.

It even takes great photos and emails them to all your friends who are working while you're sit in a boat on a lake in northern Minnesota!

So for now and forever...I'll be happy with my iPhone and really happy with the free $100 that Apple is giving me. Maybe I'll purchase some music for my long runs...

The Road to Becoming a Morning Person.

I am not a morning person - but I'm trying to become one. Multiple attempts have resulted in failure but I am determined this time to switch over. I enjoy the stress relief from exercising after a long hard day at work but also realize that my evenings can be consumed by a long run and often leave me staying up late into the night. But I love the snooze button!

Yesterday morning, it was a crisp 42 degree in Minneapolis. What a perfect time to ride my bike into work! Actually, with the proper clothing on it was very enjoyable but the alarm came SO early. Good thing my partner in crime, Katie, gets up early everyday. I told her to make sure I got up.

It's 15 miles into work but about 80% of the ride is either on a designated bike trail or on on roads with a bike lane. It's a very enjoyable ride in and my gym is less than a mile away from where I work so cleaning up (or even getting in a workout) is no problem at all.

Here's the route.

Minneapolis and the surrounding areas have a wonderful trail system. Check out these links if you'd like information on biking trails in the Twin Cities Metro:

City of Minneapolis Biking Page
Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway (Biking / Walking / Running)
Luce Line Trail
Hennepin Country Bike Transportation Info (including maps)

One good thing about riding 30 miles a day is that it makes you really sleepy at night. Maybe I've found a cure for insomnia - 15 mile bike ride in the morning, 15 mile bike ride at night, 1 glass of wine before dinner :)

I even enjoyed it so much, I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow! Maybe I am turning into a morning person / morning exerciser!