SpokEasy

October 2018

Apparition?

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A strange apparition is normal, I guess, when you ride in the dark almost every morning. Yesterday morning on the return leg of my ride, I noticed something in the sky, ahead and off to my left. At first I thought, \”airplane\”; but all I saw were white lights. There didn\’t seem to be the blinking red and green lights that all airplanes have. Whatever it was didn\’t seem to be moving, either. It looked like it had more lights than an airplane would; and the lights seemed to form an inverted crescent. I finally figured it was probably some kind of drone. I\’ve seen people \”flying\” drones, and drones can do some amazing things. They can hover, I believe, and there\’s talk of using drones to deliver packages! I\’m sure they\’ll think of other uses for drones. For instance, will Meals on Wheels become Meals on Drones? Could that whatever-it-was apparition have been … a UFO? Well, technically, yes. It was flying (or hovering), and I didn\’t know what it was. UFOs are an intriguing subject; but when it comes to \”flying saucers\”, I admit that I fall into the skeptics\’ camp. As usual, I had to watch where I was riding, so I couldn\’t observe it too closely. After maybe five minutes I lost sight of it. Who knows, though. Maybe some time I\’ll see it again.

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Monkey Business?

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Does monkey business do any good? Maybe it does. I suspect that we all have cycling moments when we hope that nobody but these three are around. From earliest childhood I was taught that there are certain words that One. Does. Not. Say!! If I did say them in the heat of a near-crash or some other cycling bad moment, I hope that Hear No Evil were the only person nearby. I\’d be ashamed if anyone heard me say such things. Long ago I made up my mind not to be embarrassed by the occasional tumble. If it did embarrass me to go down, I\’d want nobody around, unless it were See No Evil. Maybe it\’s like the old query: If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is there to hear it; does it make a sound? Similarly, if nobody sees me fall, did I fall down? Even if Hear No Evil and See No Evil did hear and see, and they tell Speak No Evil, it ends with him, right? Because he doesn\’t talk. So maybe monkey business isn\’t all bad.

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Upper Crust 2

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Upper crust 2! To continue yesterday\’s blog: I seem to always be looking for cycling tips. Some articles are very long, too! That\’s why I\’ve split this one up. Item #18: Keeping to a straight line while looking for bicycles/traffic coming from behind is a skill that, for me, still needs a lot of honing. Somehow it\’s easier on the hybrid. Huh? What\’s that, Item #19? There aren\’t hills where I live. If I want hill practice, I have to ride to where there are overpasses. As to standing to pedal, I have a long way to go with that, too. Oh, Item #20! Layering. That can be a nuisance, especially on a ride of several hours. I might get warmer than I like; but after I\’ve put in the other stuff I need to carry, there\’s not room in my Camel-Bak\’s pockets to stash a jacket. The best I can do is to un-zip the jacket. I hope I don\’t need Item #21 on Tour de Cure day. I know pretty well what to do to fix a flat, but have very little practice doing it. Consequently I\’m all thumbs at it. That\’s why I use tire liners, and tough Gatorskin tires. Item #22: I can\’t comment on racing. I\’ve never become interested it, and with osteoporosis I\’d likely be considered at too great a risk for injury should I be in a crash. But I see no reason to let osteoporosis keep me off the bicycle! Item #23: Do I trust my bicycles? This article seems to be speaking of technical downhill riding, and I don\’t yet feel up to trying it. I\’ll take their word for it. And to continue… As Item #24 says, some days any cyclist feels \”off\”; even those of the upper crust. We\’re humans, not machines. But hey! If you got out and rode, even for only 5 miles, that\’s something! Ah, Item #25: FOOD!! Prep \”pocket\” fuel? I sure do. I cut my energy bars in pieces and put them in the top-tube pouch, where I can get them. The Camel-Bak covers up my jersey pockets, so there\’s no sense in putting my ride food there. As to Item #26, I\’ve become rather a lone wolf. It would be great if I could ride in a small group more often. I could get used to riding near other riders, and maybe even start learning how to draft. Unfortunately not many people would want to ride as early in the day as I do! Back to that old saying about not giving up. Item #27: try, try again, doesn\’t apply to me if you\’re talking about highly technical MTB trails. It does apply to keeping up the efforts towards a big ride. Don\’t look at me, Item #28! I haven\’t had a car for nearly 16 years, and have become thoroughly used to doing without one. It\’s hard sometimes, because I can\’t drive myself and the bicycle to other riding trails. But 99.99% of the time I\’m very glad I don\’t have a car. I hear you, Item #29! Especially if it\’s cold and I get caught in the rain. We cyclists may need to be hardy to bundle up and ride despite the chill, but there\’s no sense in going out bare-legged and in short sleeves when it\’s cold enough to frost. And to finish… I believe any cyclist who has undertaken a long ride knows Item #30 very well. Yep, sometimes you just have to concentrate on keeping the tired legs going, so as to finish the ride. \”You\’ve come this far; don\’t give up now!\” It\’s how I got through my first century. And finally, Item #31: Act invisible? Let\’s all be ghosts! All joking aside, remember that \”cagers\” (what some cyclists call people who drive motor vehicles) might not see you. We hear more and more about distracted driving and the disastrous consequences. Load your bicycle up with lights! Wear a reflective vest! Stay alert, try to make eye contact with drivers. Let\’s all stay safe out there! Most of all, remember that you don\’t have to be upper crust to enjoy bicycling!

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SLIDE SHOW!!

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SpokEasy finally has a slide show! I\’ve had it in mind for quite some time; but didn\’t remember much about how I\’d built the landing page\’s slide. At the time, I had to have someone talk me through it. Thus I needed someone to talk me through building the \”Bikes on Brain\” slide, with the help of a screen-sharing function. Once that session was ended, I didn\’t dare do anything else until I had built the next three slides. The slides need some refining,  I\’ll admit, but at least they\’re there!

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Upper Crust?

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The upper crust is what we would love to be, isn\’t it? We don\’t all have it in us to become elite cyclists, more\’s the pity. All the same, many or most of us would like to become better at cycling. And I\’m sure you don\’t have to be female to find some good advice here. Item #1: For my road bike, I usually run 100 psi in the tires. I actually find it physically difficult to pump in more than that! So far I haven\’t experimented with using lower pressure, but from what I\’ve read a slightly lower psi has better traction in the wet. Item #2: My road bike\’s saddle is a Selle Italia Gel-Flo. The stock saddle that came on the bicycle was flat and very hard, and not at all comfortable to ride on! I LOVE Item #3! It sums up why I ride — my legs enjoy it! Item #4: I practice on-bike eating when I\’m going to ride more than about 20 miles. I need to know what works best. For instance, it seems to me that Nature Valley XL Bars don\’t cut it. Yes, I think they\’re delicious, but on long rides they lack the \”stick to my ribs\” quality that I need. Item #5: I don\’t get many chances to practice group riding. Often I wish I did. I need to learn more about riding in close quarters when on my road bike and clipped in to my pedals. The same applies to Item #6, practicing \”the bump\”. I do, however, try to be predictable, especially when I must ride alongside of motor traffic. Item #7: If a thing has more than one use, go for it! Rubber gloves for rides on a cold and rainy day sound like a very good idea. I hope I remember it next time such a day rolls around. Re: Item #8: I don\’t like any shoe that doesn\’t let me wiggle my toes! I try to remember to lift with my quads part of the time instead of always pushing down on the pedals. Item #9: I\’m not into all that Strava stuff, and in fact strive to keep my \”stuff\” — whether it\’s for cycling or not — at bay. My apartment seems rather crowded at times, but I always maintain that it\’s not a space problem; it\’s a stuff problem! Now let\’s look at Item #10: Lights? Oh my, yes! There are too many light-less riders out there without my becoming one. Add a reflective vest — the more garish, the better — for added visibility. Item #11: I\’m not a racer, but if I were, I\’m sure it would be a good idea to look strong and alert while waiting for the starting gun. Psych out the competition! Like the color red? Maybe you\’d enjoy Item #12. Beets? OK as borscht; I\’m not crazy about plain beets. They taste too earthy to me. And if they really do lower blood pressure, I\’d probably do better not to eat too many of them! So this subject landed on Item #13? Unlucky 13? Or at any rate, not exactly pleasant. Last Winter I finally took to \”snot rockets\”, although it\’s embarrassing to admit it. But I was so tired of wiping my nose (which runs nonstop on a cold day) on my gloves! I\’ll lump Item #14 and Item #15 together: Sunblock? Of course! And Chamois Butt\’r, too. While we\’re on the subject it, I\’ll add SPF lip balm to the mix. It\’s only too easy for me to forget about lip balm when I\’m going on a long ride, but lips are skin and can get sunburned like the rest of me. As for Item #16, sometimes I have to prod myself rather than cheer myself on. There are days when I actually don\’t feel like riding, but after I\’ve done my ride I\’m glad I did. Oh, and do not, do NOT, forget about Item #17: Water! I think I\’d rather bonk than collapse from dehydration. Bring on the Camel-Bak! In addition to the water reservoir, there are pockets for stowing extra food, a cell phone,  etc. Continued tomorrow.

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Storms on My Mind

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I have storms on my mind. We all do this time of year. Hence, here I go again with this hurricane pic. There\’s a storm out there in the Gulf of Mexico now; and of course that makes me think more than usual about weather. I can easily look up forecasts online; and that\’s spoiled me. But suppose I didn\’t have that luxury? How did people know what the weather might do before modern forecasts; and before there was even The Old Farmer\’s Almanac? They observed. They learned from experience. Over time they came to know what to expect from what they saw; and they passed this wisdom down to successive generations. They weren\’t always right, I\’m sure. Even knowing what to expect might not always have done much good. For example, centuries ago inhabitants of small islands would have come to know when a hurricane was approaching; but they had no way to go to a safer place. We\’re lucky to not have to rely solely on watching clouds and smoke spirals, aren\’t we? Even so, I\’ve got storms on my mind.

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Please Pardon the Indelicacy

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Please pardon the indelicacy; but this is part of being a cyclist. If we\’re only tooling around the neighborhood at walking pace, we probably don\’t need this stuff. For long rides, it makes things far more comfortable. Exactly where to apply it is, I suspect, highly individual. For riding the road bike, I need it in the groin pockets. When I was doing long rides on the trike and the hybrid, I needed it over the glutes. Despite the application of Chamois Butt\’r, I seem rather prone to … well … jock itch. Or I think that\’s what it is; the skin feels like it\’s become rubbed raw. That\’s when it\’s time to turn to clotrimazole. Using it for a day or two clears up the problem. I also use it between my toes a couple of times per week. I never had problems with \”foot fungus\” (as my brother calls it) until long after I was grown; and I don\’t know why it cropped up then. When I\’m getting ready to do a long ride, I pack my own bathroom tissue. The place where I usually make a pit stop doesn\’t always have it; so I want to be prepared. It would be so nice if it were possible to pull out a handkerchief while riding; but I don\’t have enough hands to both do that and control the bicycle. That brings up another indelicate matter about cycling: the snot rocket. But what else can we do, aside from using gloves and sleeves to wipe our noses? Gosh. Aren\’t we cyclists a crude lot? Please pardon the indelicacy.

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RUSA

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RUSA isn\’t a foreign country: it\’s Randonneurs USA! For cyclists interested in long-distance riding, but not competition, randonneuring might be the answer. Participants in RUSA rides aren\’t racing each other. It is, however, a race against the clock. Rides of various distances must be completed within a certain time. I joined RUSA several years ago, but have been able to go on only one ride. There were only four of us; and I was still pretty slow. The others were gracious and didn\’t complain about my slowness; but we finished the 100K with little time to spare. I\’m still not fast enough for any more RUSA rides. I\’m better at going 15 mph, but can\’t yet do it for hours on end; especially not when I\’ve got a headwind! Why, then, is one of my big cycling dreams successful completion of Paris-Brest-Paris? PBP is THE randonnee of them all: twelve hundred kilometers/750 miles, to be completed within 90 hours. This must include any sleep breaks a rider needs. PBP has even been called \”a contest of sleep deprivation\”. PBP participants must be able to quickly take care of mechanical problems; and they must contend with anything that Mother Nature might throw at them. There could be rainstorms; headwinds; and I don\’t know what all else. If I were riding PBP, I\’d hope for nights with clear skies. PBP is scheduled for every fourth August, to coincide with the full moon. I\’d love to be able to ride through the moonlight if the route goes through stretches of no street lights. For some reason I fantasize about a group of cyclists riding PBP as a team, fortifying themselves with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — and declaring that PBP stands for Peanut Butter Posse! Irreverent, aren\’t I?

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Not a Ball

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It\’s not a ball when I get lightheaded and dizzy. In fact, it\’s quite the opposite. I\’ve mentioned before now my proneness to orthostatic hypotension after a long ride. While I was standing washing my cycling clothes, I started to feel very lightheaded. That was definitely not a ball! If cycling diverts blood to the legs, why don\’t those darned legs give it back once I get off the bike? Apparently they need some persuasion. At around 5:30 pm, I finally decided Ito put my feet up for 15 minutes. I got my Swiss ball; and lay on the floor with my feet atop the ball. I won\’t be sure whether it\’s really helped until I start moving around more. If 50 miles or so has this kind of after-effect, what must it be like after racing all day in the mountains? I\’m gad I don\’t have to find out!

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Pain Face

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Probably all of us cyclists have encountered the expressions \”pain cave\”, and \”pain face\”. It can easily happen under the stress of utmost effort, and seems to be quite reflexive. Usually I don\’t put out hard enough effort for long enough to look like the poor fellow here (yup, I\’m a wimp, all right). It\’s something we can see when looking at pics of a bicycle race when things are coming down to a hard climb, or the final sprint. Here I go again with \”what I\’ve read…\” Grimacing during hard efforts wastes energy, and can even cause the rest of the body to tense up, making things even harder. Sort of like sympathetic vibration, I guess. So however tough the ride is going, do your best to relax your face; the rest of your body should follow. Maybe we should save the \”pain face\” for Hallowe\’en?  

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