Let's ride to work...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I read about an exciting development for people working downtown in the Sunday’s Plain Dealer. Apparently, many parking lots and garages will have secure bike racks available for cyclists to store their bikes during the work day and at no charge. That’s nice, but wouldn’t do someone who sweats like me a bit of good unless they had a way to shower after the ride in. Enter ‘The Bike Rack’, which will be located on the ground floor of the city-owned Gateway North Garage, north of Quicken Loans Arena.

This operation will be managed by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and offer indoor storage for up to 50 bikes with overflow outdoors, men’s and women’s shower and locker rooms and basic bike repair for as little as $25 per month. It will be a year-round operation and staffed from 6:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., but renters will have key-card access to bikes any time. It is scheduled to be open in late-August.

When I worked at the Cleveland Athletic Club, I tried to ride to work as much as the weather permitted. It was a perfect way to get in the workout for the day and I always felt good about not having to add to emissions count for that day. I saved gas money, too. Fortunately, I had a place to store clothes for the week – I don’t know how well I’d have done with carrying a pressed dress shirt in a back pack or panniers. Anyway, this is a fantastic start and I applaud City Planning Director Robert Brown and any others responsible for this development.

The workout: After a second straight day of running more than an hour, I was feeling some pain in the lower leg. It had been pouring all day and so riding was out of the question, so I headed to the park with the intention of testing the leg with a 30-mintue run. Again, I was worried about the straw that breaks the calf muscles back, but I wanted to keep pushing the envelope.

It was still raining as I started and I pretty much had the park to myself. I splashed along the bridle trails, moving very slowly – more of the survivor’s shuffle than a jog – for ten minutes. I can be careful with the best of them. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but at some point I began running normally and without pain. Streams were so swollen from the last 24 hours of rain that I found myself taking longer detours and when I hit 30 minutes and was no where near the car, figured I may as well go for 40. I climbed up out of the valley for the extra time and ended up back at the car in 43 minutes – again feeling like I could go much further.

I must admit I’ve been sliding a little in the evenings. The more I run, the more I seem to crave sweets. I’ve been mixing some chocolate syrup in a glass of skim milk and downing that after dinner some nights. I’ve probably had ice cream about twice a week for the last three weeks, too. I haven’t been on the scale, but the clothes are still fitting loose and based on the way I’m running, I’d say it hasn’t hurt me at all. I know the cravings will get worse when, over the summer, I start doing the ride/run doubles and burn even larger amounts of calories. It’s under control…for now.

Run duration: 43 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 135.

Calories burned during workout: 725.