SpokEasy

November 2018

Brain Work

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Blogging needs brain work; and they had better let me think outside of the box. I don\’t think my brain would work any too well if I were shut up inside of a box! I\’m not claustrophobic; but all the same I don\’t enjoy being cooped up. What\’s outside of the box thinking? Here\’s one: I like to include a pic in each blog post; but sometimes I can\’t find a suitable one by searching the obvious term in a free-pic site. Then I have to think of related terms and synonyms. For example, if I want to write about sore muscles, of course I search muscle; but if that doesn\’t do the trick, I search leg; or ache; or hurt. I might illustrate a blog about post-ride fatigue with an exhausted-looking kitty. For a blog about top-notch cyclists, I chose a pic of a loaf of freshly baked bread! The best cyclists are upper crust, right😉? More out-of-the-box thinking: if you don\’t a tool or an article of cycling clothing, what do you already have that can substitute? Can a pair of sweat pants do instead of leg warmers? Will duct tape work if you don\’t have tube patches? So do your brain work. Think on your feet. Think outside of the box!  Or, rather, think on your wheels.

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Feels Like Winter

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It sure feels like Winter today, Overnight the sky  cleared. It would have been great for riding — if not for the wind. The temperature is 50 degrees. That wouldn\’t be quite so bad as long as I were dressed in leg warmers, extra socks, vest and jacket, skull cap, and full-fingered gloves. Unfortunately it\’s still blowing at 17 mph, and the chill factor is 44. The wind is from the Northeast, too, which would mean a nasty headwind on the way back home. To me, this is cold weather. As usual, it\’s arrived quite suddenly. We had a few nights when it got down to about 73; but this abrupt switch from 73 to 20+ degrees cooler, plus a stiff wind, is a bit much. The high humidity of our climate is no help. Years ago I had a coworker who had previously lived somewhere up North; I think it may have been Ohio. She said that her first Winter in New Orleans was the coldest she\’d ever been in her life. The dampness makes the chill penetrate right down to your bones. Tomorrow won\’t be much different. Having months of being able to ride in shorts and short sleeves always spoils me. Adjusting to conditions like today\’s takes time. Not to mention that such weather makes my nose run like crazy, especially when I\’m exercising.  Oh, the joys of Winter!

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First Real Taste

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Here comes the first real taste of Fall. It\’s 6:30 pm, and the temperature is dropping. The wind is from the North at 25 mph; with gusts up to 32 mph. It\’s overcast; and there\’s a good chance of rain. It\’s not conducive to riding a bicycle; so I\’m glad I rode before work this morning. The wind will still be strong tomorrow, so I\’ll skip the grocery run. Even if it weren\’t for the weather, I\’ll be without the hybrid for a couple of days. I left it at the bike shop today for a tune-up and a new chain. I don\’t have central climate control; but how often I wish that I did! Already it\’s getting chilly in here; and I had to dig out my electric heater. I\’ll need it before long. I can hear the wind blowing outside, which makes it seem colder than it is. Weather like this makes me think of the folks of earlier times, who had no electric heaters; no indoor plumbing; and who had to build a fire to keep warm/cook/heat water. They were a lot tougher than I am, that\’s for sure. Merely thinking of riding in the cold and wind makes me feel tired. But this is only the beginning. I\’d better get used to the idea of riding in these conditions. We\’ve got several more months of it coming. This is merely the first real taste.

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Yet More Training

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You can call this yet more training! I have to cross railroad tracks to get to my preferred biking path, which of course makes me very aware of trains. Not to mention that I live one block from the tracks, and hear them blasting their horns at any hour of the day or night. I can\’t not be aware of them! Widely given advice about riding a bicycle across tracks is, cross them as close to perpendicular as possible.  The narrower your bicycle\’s tires are, the more important that is. You don\’t want to have your front tire slip down into the \”slot\” along the rail. Remember what happens if anything stops your front wheel while you\’re riding. POW! You\’re down before you know what\’s happening. Be especially careful when it\’s wet, and the rails are likely to be slippery. Naturally there\’s the train factor itself to be taken into account. It\’s actually hard not to notice an approaching train. Those horns are very loud (and some of them have an obnoxious timbre as well), and the engineer starts blowing it a block or more short of the crossing. Add to that the noise of the locomotive itself. Darkness doesn\’t hide a train; it has a bright headlight. The bottom line: just take sensible precautions. Look both ways before crossing. If you don\’t feel confident riding across tracks, there\’s nothing wrong with walking your bike across them. In fact, there\’s a crossing I use frequently where the \”slots\” alongside the rails have long since become chasms! I nearly always walk my bike across that one. There\’s always yet more training. It never ends, does it?

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Hot Foot

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\”Hot Foot\” might sound like burning up the track. For cyclists, hot foot is quite another thing. Thus far I\’ve had little in the way of foot trouble when riding. Recently I did have a bit of a problem with my left foot\’s toes cramping up when I took off my cycling shoes after a long ride. And when I walked, it felt like there was something sharp under the bases of the smaller toes. It turned out I needed new orthotics. Custom-made orthotics don\’t come cheap, unfortunately. Mine cost over $340. Ouch! I\’m glad they\’re meant to last 3-5 years. Maybe I\’m lucky to have avoided hot foot. Or maybe I don\’t do enough of the kind of riding that\’s so hard that I\’m more likely to have problems with the condition. I can\’t believe that I\’m so smart as to have avoided it by way of \”doing everything right\”. Articles about dealing with hot foot suggest moving the cleats rearward. Last November, when I had a bicycle re-fit, the fitter did just that. It felt rather odd at first; and it was at least a week before I really got used to it. I think he did it more so that I could get more out of my pedal stroke, than because of problems with my feet. We do what we can to make our feet comfortable, especially on long rides. We don\’t, after all, want to end in \”the agony of de feet\”.* *  The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling, p. 174.

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Think!

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Think? Okay, okay, I\’m thinking! Improving as a cyclist means a certain amount of thought and planning. I need to include some really hard on-bike intervals in my plans; namely, those exercises meant to improve my force (strength) so that my power and my cruising speed will improve. But how often should I do them? I need to think about that, too. For somebody my age, who is basically a recreational rider, once a week is probably often enough. And then, should I do such work every week? Everything I\’ve read about cyclist training says, back off every fourth week; or every third week for riders over 40. Well that\’s me. I need to plan days when I work at a steady pace, including the weekly long ride. That, actually, means most days of the week! And I need one day per week of riding very easily, in a low gear. I try to stay in heart rate Zone 1 during these rides, which is easier said than done. Maybe I spin too rapid a cadence during these rides; because riding one-handed while trying to get a water bottle out of its cage, and then back in, has me swerving all over the place! Let\’s not forget to plan for one day a week away from bicycles. There was a time when I rarely let a day go by without at least some riding, but that was before I got into long distance rides. Want to ride in a big event? Or prepare for a self-supported 100-miler? Or just want to make the most of what time you have to ride? Let\’s put our thinking caps on, and plan it all out! And perhaps we can model for Rodin while we\’re at it?

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Over Already!

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My vacation is over already! I\’d better enjoy what few hours I have left of it. Tomorrow it\’s back to the old grind. I hope I get to do a real ride tomorrow morning. Today I was about to start a ride when my headlight winked out. Yesterday the indicator light on top of the headlight looked like the light had finished charging; but obviously it hadn\’t. Luckily I have a spare light, but it won\’t go on top of my helmet; and its fastener can\’t fit around the road bike\’s handlebars. I had to settle for a ride on the hybrid. So — what did I get done during vacation? Tour de Cure was the biggest thing. I worked on my web site, and finished the revising. I even did a little bit of work on the blouse that I began making months ago. Sure, I ought to have done some serious cleaning (I\’m absolutely terrible about that). And more cooking, to make things to freeze for later. I did entirely too much sitting around doing nothing. On the other hand, isn\’t that what a vacation is for? To kick back and relax? If only vacations didn\’t speed by so fast! It\’s over already.  

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Base Miles

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Do base miles mean first base? Home base? For different cyclists, base mileage can mean different things, I suppose. For the cyclist who has an annual period of frequent races, it means the time of building  endurance again following the post-race season period of rest and recovery. This sets the foundation needed for more intense training as the current race season advances. To me, base mileage means my total mileage from day one, as I don\’t often take several weeks away from the bicycle. After almost nine years, that\’s considerable distance. In fact, 42,000+ and counting! There comes a point, though, when miles per se don\’t matter as much as what you do with those miles. If you want to get faster, for example, riding X miles per day at Y miles per hour results in stagnation; or even regression. Yes, if you\’re a rank beginner, speed takes care of itself up to a certain point; or so it was with me. When I started riding the tricycle, for several months I did gradually get faster. After a few more months,  I noticed that there had been no further increase in my pace. That\’s when I realized that I would have to make deliberate efforts at riding faster if I wanted to get faster. That was several years before Get Fast! came my way. This book is quite useful; and discusses things more than speed itself, such as core-strengthening exercises. Getting back to base miles, I\’ll keep working away at making my base bigger.

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Quite the Spendthrift

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I feel like quite the spendthrift. Today I went to the bike shop to get a new helmet. A helmet, they say, should be replaced every two years even if it seems undamaged; and mine was nearly two years old. For one thing, there\’s that little dial mechanism at the back of a helmet, which you adjust to secure the helmet to the head. It seemed to be wearing out; I\’d tighten it, and it would slip loose. A helmet needs to be securely in place. A helmet\’s straps shouldn\’t be too loose, and those straps seem to stretch over time. Don\’t choke yourself, of course! You should be able to slip two fingers under the strap when it\’s fastened. I always forget my helmet size, so I took along the old one today. It still has all the manufacturer\’s stickers on the inside, and I figured one of them gave the helmet\’s size. Color? I\’ve drifted away from looking for a blue helmet. I love blue; but have decided that visibility is more important than color per se. Instead I look for white or a bright color. I did not, however, anticipate getting a chartreuse helmet! It\’s a bit gaudy; but as long as people see it, that\’s what matters. So there goes $50. It might seem expensive; but it\’s far, far cheaper than brain surgery, and possibly being on life support if I\’m in a crash. Call it insurance, if you like. While I was at the bike shop anyhow, I got a rechargeable tail light for the hybrid. The battery-powered one I\’ve been using seems to need the batteries changed too often. Up front, about$20; but I anticipate long-term savings by having to buy fewer batteries! Maybe I\’m not quite the spendthrift, after all.        

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In the Market?

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I\’m glad I\’m not in the market for a bicycle. But are you looking to buy a bicycle; and don\’t know where to begin? So many choices are out there; and it\’s easy to become overwhelmed. Cycling books and web sites are chock-full of useful information, such as this. Consider the amount and type of riding you plan to do: just commuting? Do you aim to do long rides on paved roads; or a lot of off-road riding? Is bicycle racing your ambition? Incidentally, I wouldn\’t say that price is unimportant. It is important, unless you\’re among the lucky few for whom money is no object. But with that said, I say to buy the best bicycle that your budget can afford. It\’s over five years since I bought my road bike. It now has more than 20,000 miles on it; and I suppose it\’s inevitable that it will wear out eventually — long may that evil day be delayed! I trust that I\’ll have a better idea of what to look for when I\’m in the market for a new road bike. Not that I\’m unhappy with my Scott® — quite the contrary — but for a fact I was grabbing blind, as the saying goes. I\’d never ridden a road bike before and trying them out was scary!  

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