I Did It!

[carpaltunnel]

Thanks girls for the great feedback. I really appreciate it!

I've gotten mostly great feedback from coworkers too. One or two don't get it but that's ok.

About the route: Total distance is about 6.5 miles. The first two are great - there's a new extra wide sidewalk all the way to a major crossing where five streets come together and it's a crazy crossing. That's complicated by the fact that Omaha NE drivers don't get bicycles at all. We have nice crossing lights, but the law in NE is a driver can make a right turn on a red light after stopping. (I think the legislature meant they should look both ways first.)

Drivers In My Metropolis, herinafter referred to as DIMM, interpret this to mean right turn on red without stopping, without looking, while talking on the phone, combing hair, and eating breakfast. Thus my reluctance to cross this intersection. It is the beginning of the Death Zone, a stretch of about a mile and a half with no trails and minimal sidewalks, peppered on both sides with busy driveways into fast food, grocery store, auto parts store, and dry cleaner parking lots.

Now, I can understand the morning traffic in & out of most of those establishments: coffee, donuts, drop off the cleaning; but driving along Auto Parts Row every morning, I marvel at the number of people who have to stop on the way to work for a distributor cap. Or something.

The DIMMs turning in & coming out of all these entrances create a gauntlet run for a cyclist. I hardly ever see anyone cycling to work anyway, and I NEVER see a cycle in the Death Zone.

I tried to find a way around this stretch, but it's a bottleneck street between a major creek on one side, industrial area, and commercial on the other. There simply is no way around it.
Once I get stronger I may be able to bike "upstream" a mile to cross at a light next to a police station. The DIMMs behave a little better at that intersection - could it be the police station? Does that mean they actually know what the law is but they just don't bother unless they think they might get caught?? I have actually seen a guy cross it in a motorized wheelchair it's that safe. (The "upstream" crossing, that is.) Anyway that has some potential but I'd still have to cut across a huge lumberyard industrial area with more minimal sidewalks.

So that middle part ruins what could be a nice 6 + mile ride. If anyone knows Omaha, it's Q Street from Millard Avenue to - oh, probably Deauville Drive.

Anyway, about your mom: Does she read health related literature? The Nutrition Action Newsletter (Center for Science in the Public Interest) periodically prints a nice article about why exercise is soooo important to aging people. I'll find the last two articles and post the dates here tomorrow for you. Tufts University also publishes a nice health newsletter. And there's a great health site and weekly e-letter you can sign up for on drmirkin.com - he and his wife are bikers, by the way. He's a sports physician in the Washington DC area and a medical commentator on a CBS radio station out there.

Maybe she'll begin to understand if she's more informed. You're a great daughter to be concerned about her. Don't give up on her!

Sorry to go on at such length - I'm so happy to have someone to share my little triumph with!

[Tri Girl]

I just had to laugh out loud at the Death Zone reference. Now that you explained it, it totally makes sense. It can get pretty hairy in highly commercial areas. I try to avoid them at all costs (and luckily I can with my teensy commute to work).
And about the co-workers who don't get it- they never will and that's ok. Some people just find it incredibly odd and that makes it all the more fun. Is it bad that I like messing with those people just a teeny bit???

Thanks for the info- I'd love to read it if you can get to posting it! She actually walks 2 miles 3 days a week, but other than that she's pretty inactive. She doesn't "get it" that I do marathons or triathlons for the fun of it, and thinks it's just some strange habit (like smoking, or reading romance novels ). Then again, nobody in my family "gets it." Makes me think I may have been adopted...

[MomOnBike]

Carpaltunnal,

I've been thinking about you and your commute, especially on those spring nice days we were having around here.

I'm really pleased you just jumped in and did it. If I helped in my small way, that's even better.

Once you get in the swing of things, you might want the freedom of the longer ride "upstream". After all, "getting lost" (also referred to as "taking the scenic route") on the way home is one of the joys of a good bike commute.

Thanks for keeping up updated.

[carpaltunnel]

Hi girls - here's a list of my favorites. If you can't get reprints or downloads, is there a way I could mail them to you? I'm new at this forum thing so guide me on that one.

This winter gave a copy of the first one to a lovely 85 year old lady at church, and she started exercising because someone cared enough to ask her to! She thanked me for doing it.

Nutrition Action Health Letter:

December 2005 - While You Wait - The Cost of Inactivity
"From the top of your head to the bottom of your toes, being physically active is the stimulus that gets most organs in the body to work their best..."

September 2004 - Give me Strength: Why You need to Lift Weights"Strength building exercises build more than strength. They boost bone density, metabolic rate, balance, and self-confidence....curb depression, sleep problems, high blood sugar, arthritis pain, and possibly the risk of heart disease...and makes you look good."

April 2007 - Saving Muscle - How to Stay Strong and Healthy as You Age
"Once you hit 40, you start losing muscle..it also makes our years show..what makes us look older more than anything else is losing muscle and gaining body fat as we age. Remarkably...you can get a second chance..."
March 2007 - Stroke - How to Avoid a Brain Attack "[People can] lower their risk. Most strokes are preventable by chanages in lifestyle..."

Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter:
March 2003
Are You Doing All You Can to Fight Sarcopenia
People are aware of osterporosis, but another aging risk is muscle loss, especially in women.
December 2005 Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D to Fight Fractures?
Analysis shows older adults need more than the RDA to build bone health.

Feb 2007 (1)9 Keys to Living to a Healthy 85+ (2) Trimmer Waistline May Mean a Sharper Mind

[carpaltunnel]

I am ready for messing with the Don't Get It's. That sounds like fun. (Actually there is only one - to my face - and probably one more.)

...care to share some of your examples? The things I think of to say are probably a little too much, so I don't.

Like: I'll let you be the first girl in your class to [break a hip / have a stroke].



Thanks!

[Tri Girl]

Thanks for the articles- looks like some great reading there!!!

I try not to be snippy, so instead I just am really happy when I say things to the couple people who don't get it.
I tend to say things in a really excited tone like: "I feel sooo good from my morning commute", or "man- I had the best ride to work this morning", or "my rides make me feel so alive". Or I'll even point out something nice about my ride if someone complains of traffic or an accident or something ("I know- I heard about that accident when I got to work. So glad I was able to avoid it on my bike."
I try not to be sarcastic or mean. After all, I want them to start riding or exercising too, so I don't want to sound too mean. All in all, tho- it makes me feel good about myself and that's all that matters. The people who don't get it anyway are the ones who are overweight or just plain out of shape. If they only knew what they were missing- they could be as peppy as I am.

[chickwhorips]

good job!

between the two of us we can do it! watch out world! here we come!