SpokEasy

October 2018

Going Bats!

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I\’m going bats! I don\’t know how much the expression, \”to have bats in one\’s belfry\” is used nowadays. It meant to be crazy; insane; or off one\’s rocker. When I was a kid, if something was really annoying you, you\’d say it was driving you bats. That\’s what my web site is doing to me at present. I had already created a slide show for the landing page; and I got the idea to create side shows for other pages. That\’s not quite so easy, as it turns out. The slide builder I\’ve been using lets me build slides, all right; but when I go into my site to check them, they don\’t look like they do in the slide builder! The pics have changed size and position; the buttons I made for hyperlinks have shifted position; and the captions have moved themselves. It seems that there\’s a LOT about slide-building that I don\’t know. In fact, in trying to get those hyperlink buttons from cluttering up the pic as it appeared on the actual web site, I managed to trash those links! I had to go into my Dashboard and get the pages one by one, and make new links. With all the work I\’ve been doing on my site the last two days, I feel like I ought to be on the railroad! At any rate, it has me going bats; and unfortunately all that work doesn\’t burn up many calories.

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\’Round She Goes

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\’Round and \’round and \’round she goes; where she stops, nobody knows. So ended the song for a ring game that the younger girls used to play when I was in grade school. That was eons ago! Now I\’ve come around to, \”Pedal in circles.\” What cyclist hasn\’t heard that at least once? But how does one do that? There\’s a technique called ankling. Years ago an exaggerated form of ankling was used. In theory it was a good idea; in practice, it led to some bad cases of Achilles tendonitis. I think I\’ll skip that one! I\’m not at all sure whether I\’m using any kind of ankling, and now is not the time to start trying to do  it. Not with a major event coming up in less than three weeks! On top of that, I don\’t want to start doing what I think is ankling, and find out I was wrong when I end up injured. I do know this much. If pedaling at a rapid cadence causes you to bounce all over the saddle, your pedal stroke has \”dead\” spots in it. The goal is even application of force all the way around each 360 degree rotation of each pedal, while remaining steady in the saddle. No bouncing, no rocking of the hips. It would be nice if I could be filmed with lights on my shoes while pedaling the road bike, just to satisfy my curiosity as to whether I am, indeed, pedaling in circles. Even if I\’m not, I\’m still pedaling. Each pedal comes back to its starting point in the \”circle\” because, as we all know, what goes around, comes around.  

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Recycle!

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There\’s that kind of recycle, which is quite popular. There\’s also \”recycle\” as in finding more uses for a thing. Back before I got the road bike, I bought a Sigma Heart Rate Monitor with Chest Strap. Working with precise heart rate zones was a ways off at the time; but I wanted to see how hard my heart was working. The Sigma model that I got has a readout unit with a strap; and it can be either worn on the wrist, or fastened to the handlebars. It was easier for me to have it on the handlebars. I could check it without having to ride one-handed. The screen has a large, digital readout of current time (such as, is it 7:00 or 9:00?); and it can be set to either the 12-hour system, or the 24-hour system. I\’ve been accustomed to the 12-hour time-keeping system all my life, so that\’s what I use. There\’s also a button at the bottom of the screen that I can press to start a stopwatch function. I use that when I go on a very long ride; because when I stop the Garmin and select Save Ride, the ride Summary shows only roll time. Having the stopwatch lets me get the total time as well (i.e. it includes time spent at rest breaks). About two and a half years ago, the Sigma\’s heart rate sensor quit working. That\’s when I bought a Garmin; but I kept the Sigma readout unit. Now I use it as a wristwatch. It\’s bulky and clunky-looking; but what of it? It keeps time, and re-purposing it was much better than throwing it away.

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Working\’ Up a Storm

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I\’m workin\’ up a storm! A web site is a constant work in progress, as I quickly realized. It\’s sort of like being a cyclist: there\’s always something to work on. There\’s never an \”I have arrived!\” moment. Well, except the finish line of a cycling event. I\’m learning how to create Sliders, using Layers to add and position pics and texts. Creating Buttons is another facet of it. I still have to figure out how to change font style within a Layer, and how to double-check that those  Buttons will actually work. Several times within the last half-week, I\’ve gotten on the phone with a service called WP Live. It lets me get a screen share session, and I can have someone talk me through what to do. The person at WP Live uses some kind of pointer to show me where I need to go on my own screen. Then, once off the phone, I\’ll keep doing more of it before I can forget how! I have to keep workin\’ up a storm on my own. Unfortunately I can\’t keep up WP Live indefinitely. It simply costs too much. Having had it for a few months, however, has been invaluable! I certainly can recommend it.    

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More Tinkering

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Yet more tinkering; it never ends. I\’m working on my web site\’s appearance again, trying to make it more attractive. Please bear with me. The \”My Story\” page doesn\’t look like the Slider I created, and I haven\’t completed the other Sliders. This is a very short blog, because I need to go rest my eyes. I had an ophthalmology exam this morning, and those dilating drops take hours to fully wear off! Tomorrow, I can do some more tinkering.

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Music To Dress By

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I never thought of music to dress by; and my, what trouble it used to take to get dressed! We cyclists kitting up for a ride have it easy! It\’s interesting to see what they wore back then, such as this Elizabethan lady. The music, in case you\’re curious, is J.S. Bach\’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. In a way, the music is an odd choice. The Elizabethan period was 1558-1603. Bach wasn\’t even born until 1685! Cute cat, by the way. Perhaps you\’re wondering what Bach has to do with cycling. Just this: it\’s a pity there weren\’t bicycles yet in his day. The story is told of how Bach walked 200 miles to attend an organ performance by Buxtehude! If Bach could have had a bicycle, the journey would have been so much faster and easier! Fast-forward to the Edwardian era. They wore a lot of layers then, too; but I suspect that only the upper classes could afford to dress like that. The music, I guessed, was Debussy\’s La Mer. I got the Debussy part right. The music is 2. Módére. So, if I were to choose music to dress by (for a video of a cyclist kitting up), what would I choose? There are so very many options! Something sprightly, I would think. Although I\’ve been a classical music fan since early childhood, I like a few Joplin rags now and then. Maybe Maple Leaf Rag would be good. Would something relaxing be better, so you aren\’t tired out even before you can get out of the front door? Or something like the fourth part of William Tell Overture (think Lone Ranger!) to get you pumped up? Or maybe forget about music for a minute, and just get dressed!    

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Catch?

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What am I trying to catch? My fondest cycling dream? We\’ve all had the experience of waking up from a dream and thinking: WHAT made me dream THAT? This morning I fell asleep after my alarm clock went off. When that happens, it\’s usually when I do have any dreams that I remember. And this one was weird. First I was dreaming that I had walked over to the local Walgreen\’s. The store\’s entrance kept moving itself, so it was very hard to even get inside. When I at last did \”catch\” that entrance, the store\’s name had changed to something else; I don\’t remember exactly what. Then I wanted to get a pint of my favorite ice cream. The carton I picked up, although still sealed, was obviously at least three-quarters empty. I was very disappointed at having to take Neapolitan over Cherry Garcia. Mixed in with all that was a sore lower back. I had to be very careful to keep it straight, or it would feel strained. Even in my dreams I can overdo something; in this case back extension exercises. It was a relief to wake up from that, and have my back be all right, especially as I had planned to shoot for 50 miles today (I did 51). And to go to Walgreen\’s and be able to get that Cherry Garcia ice cream. That dream was one I would have liked to get past a dream catcher!

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Ride Notes

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Now for some ride notes: I did fifty-one miles today! As all too often happens, I had a headwind on the way back home; and most of the time I was on the small ring, using a low gear and rapid cadence. Today the wind wasn\’t quite as strong as it was last Sunday: 9 mph instead of 11. Maybe that\’s why I felt stronger. I certainly averaged more than three quarters of a mile per hour faster😄 Thus it seems to bode well for Tour de Cure. Naturally I hope for a day with no wind; and I hope even more for a day without rain. The various routes for the local event have finally been posted. It looks like the 60-mile one (it\’s posted as 60 miles, not 63) is very similar to my usual Sunday long ride. It goes maybe 5 miles beyond my usual turnaround point; but I\’m sure I can manage an extra 9-10 miles. As a general rule, during these weekly long rides I have a bite to eat every 15 minutes. On the way back home today, at about 38-39 miles, I began to feel really weary. What a temptation that was to slow down and take it easy! I decided I might be running low on fuel; so I ate three or four bites. Sure enough, very soon I began to feel better. End of ride notes. That\’s why keeping yourself fueled during long rides is so important. Incidentally, I\’d better go eat lunch; then wash my cycling clothes.

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Long Ride Prep Time

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Long Ride Prep Time So many roads; so little time! It’s long ride prep time: Saturday evening, and time to start getting things ready tomorrow! Long ride prep time means I’ve put my electrolyte drink in the fridge to chill, and prepared my recovery drink. I’ve chosen my ride food for tomorrow, and plan to try a new one: pitted dates! As to the Camel-Bak, I like to wait until just before the ride to fill the reservoir, in case it should leak. I also pack a cable lock in the Camel-Bak’s pocket, in case I have to make a stop at a store. The weather forecast looks good. It’s gotten warmer again, but it will be clear, and the wind not too bad. Nine mph is still more than I really like, though! When I look at a pic that shows a view like the one above, I wish I had such a route to ride. I could use some occasional variation from the MRT. The catch is, is this route hilly? This sure looks like a downslope; and if what goes up must come down, then the road that goes down must surely go back up!

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GEORGIA on My Mind?

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Georgia on My Mind? This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Why would Georgia be on my mind? A while back, I began using a program called Google Analytics, abbreviated as GA. When I see that, however, the first thing I think of is the postal code for the state of Georgia. We visited Georgia when I was about 12 or 13. I know we were at Stone Mountain. It’s so long ago that I remember very little of it; only that we were there. When I was in high school, there was always a radio blaring on the school bus. That must be where I heard a song that had something in it about Georgia on My Mind. In fact, those words are the only thing I can remember of the song. The reception for the radio on that bus apparently wasn’t the best, because it usually was hard to understand the lyrics of any song. Not to mention that there was also the constant talking of a busload of kids. But how about bicycle rides in Georgia? I’ve heard of the Six Gap Ride. That’s beyond my capabilities, for sure! I don’t even have a mountain bike. Even that shorter Three Gap is more than I can mange, I would guess. Trying to train for such a ride when I live in flat country would mean going out and pushing hard in a very hard gear, working up to doing it for … who knows how long? Ten minutes? Twenty?? Oh, my aching legs! ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is! You can read all about it in My Story. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional.   FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL Think Ten Times! December 9, 2023 Going Farther Afield December 8, 2023 Mini-Ride! December 7, 2023 I Still Can’t Ride! December 6, 2023 Load More TRANSLATOR

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