SpokEasy

September 2018

More Sunday Ride Prep

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  More Sunday ride prep! This time, it\’s eyewear. I don\’t want to ride even one block without proper sunglasses. I have some called Tifosi®. The frame came with three interchangeable lenses: dark; vermillion; and clear. The vermillion lenses are good on overcast days when the dark lenses would be too dark; but there\’s enough light that unprotected eyes would be miserable. The clear lenses are for riding in the dark. In warm weather, they (mostly!) keep flying insects out of my eyes. In cold weather, they keep the worst of a cold wind out of my eyes; and in any temperatures, they protect my eyes from wherever dust and leaves might be flying around. Sometimes I guess wrong as to which lenses to wear. If the forecast sounded like it would be overcast; and I wear the vermillion lenses; and it turns out to be bright sunlight; it\’s quite uncomfortable for my eyes. I need more Sunday ride prep than that! So when I\’m going out on a ride of several hours, and wearing the Camel-Bak; I need to pack along whichever pair of sunglasses that I\’m not wearing, so I can change if need be. Sunglasses alone don\’t provide sufficient protection from overhead sunlight for me. At least, not the ones I have. Maybe some sophisticated wrap-around glasses would keep the overhead light from bothering my eyes; but just now I don\’t feel like spending the money. That is why I leave the visor on my helmet. I read somewhere that wearing a helmet visor is one of the  signs of a rookie cyclist. Like Rhett Butler, I don\’t give a … well, you know. If I need the shading that the visor provides, I\’m going to wear it.

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Lap It Up

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How many riders like to lap it up? I sure do! My bicycle computer has a Lap button. You may well wonder why I bother with laps when I\’m not training for competitive cycling. For quite some time, in fact, I did not use the Lap button. I eventually began using it so that I can see what my average speed is over various segments of a ride. My warm-up mile and cool-down of several blocks drag down my overall average speed; and I wanted to see whether I\’m able to average 15 mph for more than a very short distance. I\’m pleased to see that I\’ve made some progress in that respect. Boy, do I lap it up when I see it reflected in my ride data! It doesn\’t happen every ride, of course — it didn\’t today —  but when it does happen, I\’m elated. Alas, I\’m still a ways off from being able to ride 15 miles in one hour!

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Sunday Ride Prep

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Sunday Ride Prep Sunday ride prep is a long-standing ritual. Sunday is, after all, long-ride day; and means that there’s much more preparation needed than for an ordinary, weekday-morning ride. First of all, there’s getting my water supply ready. If I’m going to ride more than about 15 miles, especially in hot weather, I fill up the Camel-Bak. Sure, it makes for quite a load, but I’d rather have that load on my back than to collapse from dehydration. Then there’s electrolyte drink. (Starting at ~03: 17 minutes). I like to start a long ride using one that has some caffeine, such as Zym Berry. If I’m out long enough that I drain my bottle of electrolyte drink, I switch to something non-caffeinated, such as Nuun. I must also prepare my ride food. With my hydration and nutrition lined up, I must of course pump up the road bike’s tires. OK, so the Camel-Bak and bicycle are now ready to roll. But what about me? Before starting a ride on a warm day, I almost take a bath in sunblock. I look for fragrance-free, 45-50 SPF. In addition to slathering it on before leaving home, I carry a tube in my bicycle’s under-saddle pack. Sunblock needs to be reapplied fairly often, every 80 minutes. For a ride longer than a few miles, Chamois Butt’r makes things much more comfortable. I’ve also tried Chamois Butt’r Her’. I prefer the original formula. Of course I apply it before starting the ride, and take it along so I can freshen up when I make pit stops. Sunday ride prep also means, be sure I have my cell phone and IDs in case of emergency; pack along a few GU-Gels; and probably some other stuff that I forgot to mention!

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Still BEHIND That Camera!

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I\’m still behind that camera! Today I made another mini-video. I wanted to make some kind of contact (other than blog posts) with my site\’s visitors; but I was still behind that camera. Last March was the only time I was out in front of it. I would love to make a video to demonstrate how I learned to get a drink while riding the road bike. I didn\’t want the load of a Camel-Bak on me while working to get the hang of a road bike; even though grabbing the drinking tube is easier than reaching for a water bottle on the down tube. Thus I had to learn how to get that bottle out of its cage; and, even trickier, to put it back in. Before I started recording today\’s video, I tried to get a selfie into it. Somehow it didn\’t occur to me until just now that, to get a selfie, I have to turn the camera around. Without a selfie stick I\’d be, in effect, grabbing blind, but at present that\’s all I can do. I\’m trying to think of other videos that I could make, but I feel I\’m already running short on material. If I were a pro (or former pro) cyclist, or a coach, I\’d be in a better position to offer advice. All I can do is to say what helped me, and what I figured out as I went along. But if it helps somebody, I\’m happy to \”put out the word\”.

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Roll It Out!

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By \”roll it out\” I don\’t mean the beer barrel. I\’m talking about the foam roller, which I probably should use more often than I do. I got to thinking about it while making a trip to and from Whole Foods this morning. My legs felt stiff and sore, and this wasn\’t a long trip at all! Not even 4.5 miles round trip. Neither was I pushing the pace. There\’s not much point in trying to make a grocery run on the hybrid into a training session, especially when I must ride over some very rough surfaces along the way. Then, thinking about rolling out my leg muscles got me to thinking of Beer Barrel Polka. Why, I don\’t know. I don\’t even like beer. I\’ve never been to Oktoberfest. It might be fun to go, though, as long as I don\’t have to drink beer! Incidentally, using a foam roller often makes me wonder about this: are the spots that feel sorest an indication of my pedaling mechanics? How much does my physical build come into it? For example, would my ITB give me trouble if I happened to be bowlegged? How often is often enough to \”roll it out\”? Twice a week? Three times? So, let me finish the Diet Coke that I\’m drinking. Then I can go roll out the barr… I mean, my leg muscles.

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Clothes Make the Cyclist?

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Do clothes make the cyclist? Yesterday\’s post was for, as you might say, warm-weather gear. Now let\’s look at Part II: some things to help keep you warm when the mercury drops. First, a cycling jacket. The kind I have has built-in magnets around the armholes and collar. That lets me remove the sleeves if I start to get too warm, but still would feel chilly if I took off the jacket entirely. I replaced my original cycling jacket a year or two ago. Not a week after I bought my first one, I skidded while in a turn one wet morning. And I wasn\’t even going fast at all! The left sleeve got a tear in it, and the dirt got ground into the fabric. I was on my way to work; and couldn\’t wash the jacket until after I got home at the end of the day. I never did get the dirt stain washed out. I repaired the tear with awning tape, but the tear gradually enlarged. When I bought my second jacket, I discarded the sleeves from the old jacket. Now I have a \”vest\” to wear under the new jacket when one jacket isn\’t warm enough. Sometimes it\’s not really cool enough for a jacket, but still too chilly for short sleeves. Arm warmers come in handy then. I sometimes wear them under the jacket\’s sleeves because my arms are sensitive to cold. Leg warmers are good to have when it starts to get chilly. My legs seem to be less cold-sensitive than the rest of me, but they say you should take care to keep your knees warm. Heads Up! I find a skull cap (or helmet liner) to be vital once the temperature starts to fall below 60. That\’s especially true if it\’s windy. I\’m miserable when my head gets cold. Another misery of riding when in cold weather is, as you might guess, cold feet. I have some cashmere socks that I\’ll wear over regular socks in cold weather, but my feet still get cold. Maybe some thermal socks like these would do the trick? Let\’s also keep our hands warm. I believe I mentioned gloves yesterday, but there\’s no harm in repeating it. About 2010 I developed symptoms of  Raynaud\’s. It\’s a nuisance. So, unfortunately, are full-fingered gloves on a long ride. It\’s harder to pull out a bite to eat because of the loss of fingertip sensitivity. Jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers, skull cap, thermal socks, gloves. Do clothes make the cyclist? I guess so. These items make riding possible on a cold day!

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Low Watt Bulb?

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I felt like a low-watt bulb this afternoon; or even about as bright as this dying light bulb! About a week ago, a low-battery indicator showed up on my hybrid bike\’s computer. I was out of the coin batteries I needed; and couldn\’t get to the store until Saturday. There didn\’t seem to be many #2032 batteries in stock, which happens sometimes. I didn\’t notice that the ones I found were lithium until I was already in the checkout line — and the lithium kind cost more! I got home with the new batteries; removed the old battery from the Cateye; and inserted a new one. I couldn\’t get the screen to light up, and thus could not set the Cateye. Does that thing not like lithium batteries, I wondered? Or is it (perish the thought!) wearing out? This week I wasn\’t able to get to the bicycle shop until today. They\’re closed Mondays; Tuesday I needed to get home to make a phone call before 6 pm; and yesterday evening I was busy doing the laundry. I had to guesstimate my distances and times as well as I could. After work today, I at last got to the bike shop, to let them look at the Cateye. Did I ever feel foolish; I had forgotten to peel the label off of the contact side of the battery! Why on earth didn\’t I think to check that battery?? At least the Cateye is working again, and I didn\’t have to buy anything more. I\’ll take a minute of feeling like a low watt bulb over buying a new cyclocomputer any day.

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Clothes Make the Cyclist?

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Do clothes make the cyclist? Perhaps so; and no, it\’s not necessary to spend megabucks on fancy kit. Specialized cycling clothing might not be necessary. Unless, that is, you intend to do lots of miles. Then \”real\” cycling togs make the ride more comfortable. Then, I\’d say, you do need real cycling shorts, with a chamois. There are \”normal\” (as my brother would say) shorts, and bib shorts. I can\’t give any advice as to the latter, never having tried them. I don\’t think I\’d want them in hot weather, anyway. The \”bib\” part probably would make me hotter by adding another layer of clothing. Jerseys? I didn\’t get my first one until I\’d been riding for over two years. It was my reward to myself for riding my first century. Of the jerseys I have, the one shown above is my favorite. I love sky blue; and the edge of the black stripe just shows at upper left. A Handout? I quickly developed the habit of wearing cycling gloves. Without them, your hands can get rubbed sore; and possibly even blistered. Hands get sweaty; and gloves go a long way in keeping them from slipping. Or, if you get caught in the rain, gloves serve that purpose, too. In cooler weather, of course I don\’t want those half-fingered gloves. I dig out the full-fingered gloves when the temperature gets down to about 60. For temperatures below 50, I dig out my so-called Wombat Gloves. They\’re very heavy, and really too big for me. Even they don\’t keep my hands warm enough; and full fingered gloves of any sort make eating on the bike hard by rendering my hands clumsy. Hard Work Afoot I use cycling shoes when I ride the road bike. Mine are MTB shoes, though. I like having velcro fastenings. I don\’t have to worry about tucking shoelace ends and loops inside the shoe, where they could conceivably get loose and snag in the pedal. In fact that happened once, luckily on the tricycle; so I didn\’t fall over. The lace had somehow come untied; gotten tangled up in the pedal; and was pulled too tight for me to wiggle my foot out of the shoe. My leg was in such a position that I couldn\’t make the pedal move; and I couldn\’t reach the shoe from the tricycle\’s saddle. I had to — carefully! — get off the saddle and stand on my free foot and work the other shoe\’s lace loose enough to pull my foot out, and then untangle the lace from the pedal. Back to the wardrobe. Of course there are cycling socks. They seem to be a bit more comfortable than regular terry socks. The difference is especially noticeable when the socks are brand new. I like socks that come up a couple of inches above my ankle. The \”no-show\” style of sock has a way of slipping down into my shoe. That drives me crazy. So those are the basics: shorts, jersey, gloves, shoes, and socks. And a helmet, of course even for the youngest rider. So yes, I guess clothes make the cyclist.

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Upon Reflection

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Upon reflection, you might realize that there\’s quite a variety of rearview mirrors used by cyclists. Which is best?  When had the tricycle, I thought I that I needed mirrors on both sides. Fairly soon I came to realize that I this was unnecessary; and took off the right-hand one. Here is the kind that I now have on my hybrid bike. I like it because I can easily see things in it. Recently I had to replace it when I somehow let the bicycle fall. The bike landed in such a way that the mirror-stem holder cracked; and could no longer hold the mirror securely. Perhaps ironically, the mirror itself survived just fine!  I have  a handlebar-end mirror on the road bike. That thing can be very annoying, because it changes position too easily! I nearly always manage to bump it when getting the water bottle in and out of its down tube cage. I suppose, however, that that is a safety measure. In a crash, a handlebar-end mirror that\’s in too rigid a position might cause abdominal injury; especially in a crash at high speed. Off-Bike Mirrors Once I tried a helmet-mounted mirror; and that thing drove me crazy! It was very difficult to position the mirror correctly; and even then it seemed to have a mind of its own. It shifted position at the slightest touch; or would even slip out of place without being touched. Even when I managed to get that mirror positioned correctly, I couldn\’t get the hang of seeing anything in it; and eventually I gave up on it. I haven\’t tried glasses-mounted mirrors; but I\’ve seen other riders using them. In fact, glasses with a mirror are supposedly a sure sign of a genuine cyclist. I\’ve read of putting a mirror patch inside the left lens of a pair of glasses; but I haven\’t tried it. Upon reflection: if you don\’t use a rearview mirror on your bicycle, I\’d certainly suggest that you get one; especially if you must ride alongside traffic. Try out different models, until you find one that suits you.

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Remembering

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We are remembering the day. As someone who lives in a hurricane-prone region, my thoughts naturally tend to get caught up in hurricanes. Hurricane Florence continues barging towards the Carolinas. If Tropical Storm Isaac continues his current westward track, it looks like he could get into the Gulf of Mexico. Then everybody who lives on or near the coast will be gnawing on their fingernails. With all that on my mind, it was easy for today’s 9/11 anniversary to slip by me almost unnoticed. That’s especially true as the event, terrible though it was, didn’t have a direct impact on either myself or anyone I know. I remember being at work that day, and hearing somebody mention that a plane had flown into a building in New York. At first I thought it was freak accident involving a small, single-engine plane. It was shocking to learn what had actually happened. Later in the day I heard about the crash on the Pentagon, and the plane that ultimately went down in a field in Pennsylvania. I hardly need to say any more; there’s no point in repeating what we’ve all heard so many times since that dreadful day. Today many will be remembering their lost loved ones. May they rest in peace.

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