SpokEasy

September 2018

Ring Out Wild Bells!

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Ring out, wild bells! Let people know you\’re coming! Okay, so the poem is about \”Ring out the old, ring in the new\”. Riding a bicycle might or might not be poetic; but I sure wish more riders had — and used — bells on their bicycles. It\’s a bit unnerving to have a rider come up from behind and whizz past me without calling, \”On your left!\” And also without sounding a bell. I don\’t always hear a rider approaching from the rear; and I can\’t watch my rearview mirror nonstop. I\’ve got to watch where I\’m going. Add to that the difficulty in getting the mirror positioned correctly in the first place. For the hybrid, I have an Incredibell; and I like it much better than the bell I have for the road bike. The Incredibell has a much better sound. I tried to switch the bells from one bike to the other; but the band for the Incredibell doesn\’t fit around the road bike\’s handlebars. These bells, incidentally, are not waterproof. When I get caught in the rain, and my bell gets full of water, it makes hardly any sound at all. Then there\’s no use in saying, ring out, wild bells.

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Lab Report?

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How about a lab report, here? Today\’s experiment with using Clif Bars for my long-ride fuel went pretty well. I seemed to have a little less trouble with feeling tired on the way home. The wind, however, was pesky for the return ride. I did a lot of pedaling on the small ring, using a rapid cadence. Even so, my overall average speed was well over 13 mph. Fast enough for Tour de Cure😊 My hopes that I wouldn\’t get rained on were not fulfilled. When I still had about 10.5 miles to go to reach home, I saw a big cloud in a southerly direction; and clearly somebody was getting some pretty heavy rain. I hoped to beat the rain home; but with about six miles left to go, I ran into the first shower. Fortunately it wasn\’t as heavy as I thought it might be; and luckily there wasn\’t lightning. What got really annoying was that the sun came out while it was still raining. I took my sunglasses off when it was raining because it\’s hard to see through wet lenses. When the sun came out, my eyes weren\’t any too comfortable. My ride was 51.00 miles, round trip; and roll time was 3:44:21. I actually was tempted to skip riding today, because I was so sleepy that I could hardly get myself to get out of bed. Typically I plan, perhaps over-optimistically, to start my Sunday long ride at 6 am. Today I didn\’t get going  until about 7:25! When I got home, I had my usual recovery drink. (See video at ~1:13 minutes). Then what did I do? I ate a couple of toaster pastries and a fun-sized candy bar. That doesn\’t look any too good on my lab report!

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Get a Grip!

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Do you need to get a grip? Or is your grip already too hard? I notice that, the more slowly I ride; the more likely my hands are to start feeling numb and tingling. Does that happen to you? It can be very annoying. I guess the reason for that is, slower riding means less pressure on the pedals; and that makes my weight go forward, resulting in more pressure on my hands. When the weather is cold, this problem is worse. I find that worrisome, having already shown some symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. I don\’t need to have hand numbness curtail my riding. I\’d better get a grip on it, and figure out this thing.

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MUSH!!

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I wish it had been the \”mush\” hinted at on the left: strong and energetic; and just a\’-rarin\’ to go. Instead, my legs felt like mush as in cornmeal mush (or oatmeal) this morning. Why, I don\’t know. It\’s not as though I rode either long or hard yesterday. In fact, yesterday morning I did a short, easy ride. Was it DOMS; that is, a  delayed reaction to Wednesday\’s force exercises? Yesterday afternoon I rode home through a downpour; did that trigger something? Maybe I need a rain suit instead of a poncho. The local Tour de Cure has announced the ride times necessary for this year\’s event. Riders on the 63-mile route will need to finish in six hours. That means that, unless the conditions are truly horrific, I shouldn\’t have trouble. If I continue to prepare as I have since last November, I believe I\’ll do fine.  All I\’ll need to do is to tell my legs to mush!  

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Tis the Day

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\’Tis the day for… Bike Friday, of course! I\’ve never tried one, and know very little about them; but I\’ve seen people with folding bikes a few times. The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling discusses the Bike Friday (pg. 68-69); including a photo of one of the authors riding a Bike Friday. The Bike Friday does look odd to me. The wheels are much smaller than those of a regular bicycle; and the seat tube is tall, so that the saddle is at the usual height for the rider. I wonder whether that makes it tricky to balance and steer. Does a Bike Friday feel different from a conventional bicycle? A folding bicycle is handy for the commuter who must take some form of public transit for part of the way, since it takes up less space than a conventional bicycle. If you must take along a bicycle when traveling by air, a folding bike is easier to pack. They say that one of the signs of a true cyclist is always wanting one more bike for something. Maybe I\’m not a true cyclist? (Perish the thought!) I haven\’t become interested in getting a Bike Friday; but even if I did want one, I have no room for another bike. That means that, even though today is Friday, I can\’t say that \’tis the day for a Bike Friday.

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Medic Alert

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Medic Alert, even if only as an ID, is a wise idea; but if you ever have a medical emergency, I hope you won\’t need one of these! However, if you have any kind of medical condition, such as a heart problem; a Medic Alert bracelet is a wise idea. I wear one because of multiple chemical sensitivities. I\’m not nearly as severely affected as some people who have the condition, but it\’s bad enough. I need to wear filter masks nearly all the time, except at home. I had to switch to a lighter-weight type because the fabric kind  was too smothery. And do I ever get tired of wearing those things! I sometimes worry about possible long-term health consequences from inhaling through those masks for hours a day; five days a week. Several months ago I got a wearable air purifier; but it seems to have no effect on whatever it is that I smell all day at work. The person who wears that stuff has toned it down a good bit, which I appreciate; but it still bothers me. I have a salt lamp at my desk, too; but it doesn\’t seem to help. I need to wear a filter mask in stores, and any public area. \”Air fresheners\”; the detergents on the shelves in stores;  and on and on. Just walking down the street, I\’m assailed by the smells of laundry detergents and fabric softeners; exhaust fumes from motor vehicles and leaf blowers; and even insecticides. Plenty of times I\’ve wished I could wear one of those masks while riding; but it makes it too difficult to breathe, not to mention trying to get a drink of water around it. I just have to take my chances, and hope I don\’t have to use Medic Alert.  

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Rain Rain Go Away

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As the old kids\’ song goes, Rain, rain, go away! We got an ill-timed downpour this afternoon. During the last hour I was at work, it got darker and darker outside. I donned the poncho before I left work, as a precaution. Wise move; there was a light sprinkle. The rain quickly became heavier; and before I had ridden 0.3 miles the wind had sprung up, and it was pouring. Between the wind and the downpour, it was hard to see where I was riding. I was glad I had my lights with me! Because of the weather, I had decided to take the short route home. Unfortunately that\’s alongside traffic. When I tried to turn my head to look behind me, my face got blasted by the wind. I caught myself wishing I had taken my usual, longer route. At least then I would not have had cars at my elbow. I got home with a dripping-wet bicycle; a dripping poncho; soaked socks and shoes; and with half the stuff in my bike trunk damp. I wish I had double-bagged it all. In a deluge like today\’s, the trunk\’s zippers leak like a sieve. And wouldn\’t you know, it stopped raining about five minutes after I got home. If I could have known the shower would be brief, I would have waited it out. That\’s the trouble with our rainstorms. We can\’t tell whether the shower will stop in 15 minutes, or persist for hours. Getting caught in the rain means extra work, too. Dry the bike, lube the chain, find a place to hang up the poncho to dry, etcetera. So rain, rain, go away. I, for one, am tired of you.

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Dem Bones

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Dem Bones       I hope my bones don’t look like this! How about dem bones? I hope my skeleton doesn’t look like this! At any rate, several months ago I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. So, what does that mean when it comes to cycling? Having osteoporosis does, after all, put me at increased risk for fractures. The occasional spill is an inevitable part of cycling; and I don’t need to land on the ground and break a hip. On the other hand, I won’t be blasting along at 30 mph; at least, not for the foreseeable future. But do I do enough weight-bearing exercise off the bike to help stymie osteoporosis? Is walking to work once or twice a week enough? I’m riding to work more often this month because of Cycle September. For the same reason I’m also using the bike this month to go to the nearby strip mall; 0.6 miles from home and an easy walk. Plyometrics would be a wise addition to my routine, and probably would be good for my bone health; but all that jumping would make a lot of racket (I live in part of an old, raised building). Jumping/bouncing also tends to make me feel dizzy. I’m on prescription medication for osteoporosis; and also take calcium supplements and Vitamin D. I eat yogurt; and need to start mixing up milk (from instant milk powder) to drink. I grew up drinking milk; but in the last few years somehow I’ve drifted away from it. It would be wise, I think, to get back to it for the sake of “dem bones”.    

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The Un-Gym Revisited

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It\’s time for the un-gym revisited! As mentioned in a blog in my old web site, I don\’t go to the gym to do off-bike exercises. Gyms can be noisy places, which would drive me bonkers. There\’s my sensitivities to the \”stuff\” some people wear (not meaning to insult anybody, but I get adverse physical reactions to scented things). Add to that the stress of trying to cram a gym session into my day — not to mention the cost of a gym membership! — and I\’d much rather exercise elsewhere. I use a pair of hand-held weights. I don\’t have the set shown here, but I began by using 2-lb weights. When that started to seem too easy, I got a pair of 5-lb weights. Eventually I began to wear a pair of weighted gloves in addition to holding 5-lb weights. Now even that is approaching the too-easy stage. How now? I\’ve heard of the NordicTrack Speed Weights, but this product seems very pricey to me. I\’ve also read about the way the plates can jangle around, which some people find annoying. I can think about it. Meanwhile, it\’s the old use-what-I-have routine. Sometimes I think a session with a personal coach would be beneficial. I\’d like to know whether I\’m using correct form. I know from reading about ballet that correct form is very important. Incorrect form leads to bad habits, even injury. The catch is that one session wouldn\’t have much lasting effect, if any. I forget so quickly, and/or slide back into my old habits. A personal coach is beyond my budget, so it\’s stick with the un-gym revisited.

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Wind

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How do you feel about wind? \”I saw you toss the kites on high…\” I remember memorizing that poem when I was in first grade. Now I have to look it up if I want to know how it goes because I\’ve forgotten at least half of it! It\’s a nice poem; but if the wind is blowing as hard as that, it won\’t be so nice riding. How often it seems to be blowing against us as we ride! The perception of \”always a headwind\” isn\’t so far off, according to The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling. There\’s a trailing arc of 160 degrees behind a rider where the breeze is helpful (see pg. 46). Otherwise, air in motion can be a big hindrance. I agree with the book\’s statement that \”…a pure crosswind is the worst.\” I\’ve been out in 20 mph crosswinds; and getting a drink was a major chore. Trying to control the bike with one hand while I handled the water bottle was so difficult, that I had to stop when I wanted a drink. It didn\’t help that it was drizzling as well. Not to say that battling a stiff headwind for mile after mile isn\’t difficult. It, too, can make bike control tricky. Thus I\’ll let the wind go blow kites and birds around; but it\’s welcome to let us cyclists alone.

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