Whenever I have to bike up hills, I think of the Cliffhangers Game theme song from the Price is Right. That is, when I’m not swearing a blue streak.
This is the new two-way bike lane on Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver. Even though it isn’t open yet, I tempted fate yesterday and took it into downtown. Thanks to the concrete barrier, I felt much safer than I’ve ever felt while riding on a high traffic street. The lane is being installed for a six month trial but something tells me a city doesn’t spend that much time and money on laying concrete for something that’s only going to be ripped up in six months.
You can’t really tell from the photo here, but this hill is a killer. Maybe it doesn’t look that way to you, and maybe it isn’t a big deal to people who are more fit than I am, but biking up this hill yesterday really did a number on my knees. It’s bad enough that I have the knees of a 55-year-old woman, but Vancouver’s hilly terrain, while beautiful, doesn’t exactly make me want to sing its praises when I’m huffing and puffing like…well, like a fat girl on a bike trying to make my way up them.
Last year before I had knee surgery, I spoke with my GP about wanting to get back into some sort of exercise routine. Knee pain made my usual high intensity bootcamp-style workouts impossible. He suggested I take up biking, but that I should avoid hills. After a beat, I looked at him and asked “You do realize we live in Vancouver, don’t you?”
I know I can walk up hills, and I usually do, but when I’ve built up a good momentum at a decent rate of speed, having to hop off my bike and pull onto the sidewalk breaks my rhythm.
I’ve been looking for alternate routes that help me cut down on hills. I don’t mind taking a longer route to work if it means I won’t be limping and useless for the next day and a half. I’ve tried using Vancouver’s Cycling Route Planner, and while it has been helpful, it doesn’t really help me to understand what I’ll truly be in for when I’m standing at the bottom of a hill taking the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s name in vain.
If you live in Vancouver, what are some of the less hilly routes into downtown that you can recommend? If you don’t live here, but you live in other hilly cities, what are some tips you can share with a novice (and gimpy) cyclist who wants to keep riding?