Like a dancer

I'm not an athlete, so the only time I keep track of as a PR (personal record) is how fast I can get to work. Today I beat myself, I think - 23 minutes, trumping the 25 I'd timed before. It's 3.7 miles so that makes about 9.65mph (15.4km/h). Yeah, slow, but it's uphill most of the way. Also my back wheel is out of true so adjusting my brakes is an optimization between safety and not having the brake pads rubbing all the time.

As above, I'm not a competitive person, but it's a fun feeling to know my muscles are getting stronger. When I first started at my job, I had to huff and puff up the last big hill in first gear, and sometimes even go to the "granny gear" (the small chainring). Now I usually go up in fourth gear, en danseuse ("like a dancer", standing up on the pedals). The other day I climbed the entire hill in fifth gear without realizing that I hadn't shifted down...whew. Haha.

Aside from the obvious - how well all the bits on the bike are adjusted/lubricated, weather conditions, what I had for breakfast - I've discovered that my state of mind has a suprising effect on how fast I can push. Things that make me go faster:

• Nice dreams the previous night
• Having heard interesting news on the radio at breakfast
• Accessories - Bike light came in the mail today, 3 weeks late. I asked the seller for a refund liao. Haish.
• Seeing wildlife - there was a really funny scene the other day where a young crow was trying to land on a spruce tree and he had to keep flapping his wings to balance because the tree kept going BOING. Wish I'd gotten my camera out in time to shoot video of that.
• Good music - I usually listen to Wisconsin Public Radio, which plays classical, on my Cube in the morning. Pieces that are kinda vivace are good, especially if the beat matches my cadence. On the other hand, the Butterfingers album I ordered from Amazon on Friday came yesterday. Grunge is good too, apparently. It sort of accentuates the heady feeling of fragility that cycling in rush hour traffic gives me - skirting the edge of suicide.

On the downside - I'm TOO FREAKING SKINNY now. It's weirding me out that my ribs my ribs are easily visible not only at the lower part of my ribcage, but also below the collarbones where you can see where they connect to the sternum. And my pants are all loose without exception; even the black ones that used to look sharp and were just a little tight are now falling off my backside. Drat. Have to go clothes shopping. I hate clothes shopping. I'm a horrible dresser. Look like a beggar. =P