End of biking - week 27?

I think I might be about done biking. Perhaps I’ll fit in another trip or two, so I can feel I made it into the third trimester. I could probably still handle it physically (though not easily) and would give it a go on a warm, sunny day.

But it’s been in the 50s upon waking the past few days. I’m not interested in bundling up and then navigating the roads as an extra roly-poly cyclist. I also get a bit more sleep when I take the train instead, which is an attractive benefit at this point.

Despite the brand new bike mirror I had installed last week, which I’m very excited about, I think the bike is likely to sit in the garage for the remainder of the next six months or so. See you on the other side.

Biking during second and third trimester

Until now, I thought biking to work up to about week 25 was pretty good. But last night I started doing some internet searches on biking during the late stages of pregnancy. On bike forums I found all kinds of superwomen, especially bike goddesses in Portland, who cycled well into their third trimesters, and many right up until their due dates. I had been thinking I was nearing the end of my biking days, but now I’m feeling like a wimp.

I can’t imagine biking until my due date on my current bike, a men’s mountain bike. Those who biked for so long seemed to have cruisers, with soft seats, a low bar, and an upright posture. So then I started googling cruisers. Is it worth it to spend a few hundred dollars on a new bike so I can bike a bit longer?

The thoughts running through my head are:

Convenience: biking is by far my quickest, cheapest and more convenient option. When I bike to work, coasting downhill, past educational institutions with early fall leaves scattered across the sidewalks, I never want to stop.

Difficulty: Getting there is easy. Getting back involves a continual incline of at least a mile and this is where I’ve been having problems. If I walk the long uphill part, I’d reduce the difficulties, but then significantly lengthen the time.

Safety: The main danger is falling. My risk of falling is low. I can’t remember the last time I’ve fallen on a bike. Someone hitting me is of course a risk. While most of the ride is on tranquil sidewalks, there are small portions that involve riding alongside traffic. The most dangerous part is the crossing of three freeway on/off ramps.

Comfort: Continued biking would be very tempting if we were heading into spring. While the weather right now is great, and makes me not want to stop, I know we are heading into increasing cold, rain and eventually snow. Those conditions don’t make biking easy at any point. That said, my other option, walking and taking the train, also means walking in the rain. It also involves walking along the train tracks through the woods. It’s a pretty walk and I don’t know of any incidents there. But it’s secluded and there is always that lurking fear of a psycho in the forest.

Practicality: How likely am I to continue to use a cruiser post-pregnancy? Not at all. It would be great if I could rent or borrow one, but it’s probably not the smartest idea to shell out for a new one.

While the idea of buying a little extra time on the bike sounds nice, it’s probably not worth the money to make it happen.

Pregnant lady on a bike

Twenty-three weeks and I'm still biking to work. I was wondering how long I'd last on the bike and I figured the end point would be somewhere around now. But I hope to make it a couple more weeks. I'm trying to push my biking ability as long as I can. It's my quickest and cheapest option of getting to work, and also the most flexible. If I leave five minutes later by bike, it doesn't impact the time I arrive at home or work much. If I leave five minutes late for the train, I miss it and can be delayed by a half hour, or more.

Also, the beautiful weather makes me want to keep riding. It is tough riding uphill when it's 90-plus degrees. But those days seem to be ending. When I can go out in shorts and a t-shirt, hop on my bike and ride in comfortable weather, there is really nothing better.

So I'll see how far I can continue into September. My pace, especially uphill, has slowed, as has my strength. But I do need the exercise. At some point, I imagine I'll reach the point where I can't lift my leg over the men's bike. Or where the belly is just too uncomfortable, or causes problems with balance. Until then, I'll just do my best to not get hit, and to remember that accidents happen to automobile passengers as well.

Have you continued biking well into your second or third trimester? Would love to hear experiences from others.

Bike circuit completed

I made it! Over 200 kilometers in mountainous territory. I was the only female cyclist I saw until the very end of the trip, when the terrain was easier. I always like accomplishing a goal, so I’m proud of doing it and am appreciative of the chance to both get so much exercise and to explore an interesting area.

But right now, on the evening of the day four of biking, I’m exhausted. Utterly exhausted. I’m sitting at a train station waiting for a late train and dreaming of a bed. Mark was having a harder time cycling today than I was, and he got less sleep than I did last night. “It must be the pregnancy,” he said. “Because you got a good night’s rest.”

I was just thinking, during the final leg of the trip, how cool it is that I barely feel any pregnancy symptoms at all. My gratitude was tinged with a slight bit of worry that perhaps something is wrong. But I took reassurance in the fact that both my stomach and my breasts appear to continue growing.

At the end of the ride, I was able to check email and received a note from my dad, who appears to be holding up well while caring for a 2.5-year old. He said that River is going to the pool, the beach or the boat every day, which sounds like a summer camp vacation for him. He also said that they have taught River to say things like “I like hot dish,” and “Ya sure, you betcha,” that I’ll be picking up a real Swede.

I think it’s good for him to be exposed to that aspect of his heritage, so that’s fine with me. But I’m going to have to try to figure out how to say things like “I like hot dish,” in Spanish.

After this bike trip, I’ve decided I want to do another, and I’d love to do it a few years from now with River. If you have any recommendations of good bike tours to do with kids (I’m ideally looking for luggage to be transferred to the lodgings each night, the ability to set our own pace, and a route and a bike that would be appropriate for hauling a youngster) please let me know. I have a preference for Spanish-speaking areas, but would consider any place. Also, I’m terrified of dogs, so places where dogs don’t roam freely and run after cyclists also get bonus points.

How are you liking this, little embryo?

I had a little chat with my embryo today as I was slogging through a 10 mile stretch of virtually straight uphill mountain road. Unfortunately, I’m not in good enough shape to be able to ride uphill when it’s neverending, when an extra little push won’t get you to the top, but you have to keep going and going and going. So I walked most of it and it took a while – 3 hours. And that was just the beginning of my day – followed by 20+ more miles of biking with another huge uphill at the end.

Since Mark skipped the 10 mile uphill leg, I was on my own. So I asked my embryo what it thought. I asked if I was enjoying this, if it wanted to do more of it, if it would be my adventure companion in a few years. I told it that if it was really miserable, it wasn’t too late to self-abort and try its luck with other parents. From what I’ve read, the chance of a child being born to parents in a developed country that can provide it a solid income, shelter, food and education is extremely small. So it would really be rolling the dice if it was going to try its odds elsewhere. However, I’m sure there are plenty of parents in developed countries more likely to support sleeping in late and watching TV than pushing climbing mountains. So it could perhaps do better if it’s not into this stuff.

I wondered whether my increased heart rate increases its heart rate, which gets it used to (and perhaps liking?) exercise. Mark worried that the increased heart rate would just be stress to the embryo, since it’s not actually exercising.

I had River on a bike as a fetus and in a bike seat at four months old. I imagine it will be similar with this one. Hopefully seeing exercise as a normal part of life will help it/them consider exercise to be a positive and desirable thing. Hopefully they will want to accompany me on what Mark calls my “death marches” and what I call my “health marches.”

In the meantime, I am dead, dead tired. I hope my legs can function tomorrow, because I have another 50k or so to bike, plus a bus, plus a train.

The best thing about biking, besides the physical challenge, the great scenery, and the ability to take in an environment with all the senses, is being able to eat – lots. I ate like a horse today, every half hour during the hardest parts. And it was GOOD. I don’t appreciate food quite as much when I haven’t biked beforehand.

Taking the embryo for a bike ride

Today I went a good 35 miles by bike, probably more, in the region north of Madrid. A good chunk of this was uphill, including a switchback mountain road that I walked up in the intense late morning heat, huffing and puffing. I realized I haven’t panted so much in a day for quite some time. I also wondered how this was affecting my embryo. Was it positive in that it’s improving my fitness and perhaps giving the embryo exposure to an elevated heart rate? Or was this going beyond the recommended moderate exercise and potentially causing harm?

I thought back to the bike ride I took when I was four months pregnant with River. Then I biked in the Ecuadorian Andes and I really stressed out about the one-day trip because it began at an altitude of 4,000 meters. It turned out the altitude wasn’t a problem and the ride was a breeze because it was all downhill. I had to do nothing but apply my brake constantly and barely broke a sweat.

This one I didn’t stress out about in advance. I’m only two months along. I’m gloriously not sick. I can use the exercise. And this is the last opportunity I may have to do something like this for a while. But now that I’ve started, I start to worry a little.

While on the quiet country roads today, I thought about how nice it is to not have to think or worry about the state of my belly and who notices or doesn’t notice. No one here cares. And I don’t care what anyone here thinks. My belly can do what it needs to do and I can focus on other things.

Then, while showering at the end of the ride, my belly did seem noticeably expanded to me. Is it going to be obvious upon reappearance at work, the change that has taken place in a week and a half? Can I get the Down’s Syndrome tests done before people start to notice?