SpokEasy

November 2018

Yakking It Up

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Do you ever feel lost at sea when listening to cyclists yakking it up? Or do you scratch your head as you wonder what it all means? Help is here! I need this list, myself. I had never thought of a route as being \”lumpy\”, unless it referred to the condition of the pavement under my wheels. I\’d never heard of \”chopping wheels\”, either. \”Echelon\” I\’ve read about before now; and it\’s a type of drafting used in a crosswind. Instead of the riders being in a straight line, they form a diagonal line. They say that the echelon formation is best reserved for long, straight stretches of road; because an echelon can take up a considerable portion of the road. The riders need to be able to see approaching vehicles, so that they can \”single up\” until the cars have passed. \”Filling gaps\”? You know what they say: Nature abhors a vacuum; and apparently cyclists do, too. \”Noodle arms\” are what I had before I began doing off-bike exercises to develop some arm and upper body strength. I got tired of my arms\’ feel like overcooked spaghetti after 15-20 minutes of riding. The effort is worth it. I would not enjoy \”motor pacing\”. The exhaust fumes would kill me; and the engine noise would be murder on my ears. And as I\’m not great at \”hammering\”, I think I\’ll hang at the back of the \”peloton\” for a leisurely ride. I\’ll listen to the other riders yakking it up; and maybe I\’ll catch on to their vocabulary.  

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Aftermath

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Today I notice the aftermath of a long ride. I felt somewhat tired this morning after yesterday\’s exertions; but not as knocked out as this kitty.  I think Tour de Cure was harder on my lungs than on my legs. Despite that, I decided to make a trip to the salvage store. My legs felt all right until I started over there on the hybrid, with the trailer in tow. Then they said, Hey, we\’re tired! So I tried to take it easy. That was nearly impossible on the way back home. Of course I had a headwind; and it was drizzling besides. I had brought along the poncho in case I needed it; and a flapping poncho only increases wind resistance. For much of the way I was spinning on the smallest chain ring, and the next-to-biggest cog. So now my legs are tired. They\’ll recover, I\’m sure. Most weekends I do a long ride on the road bike one day; and a grocery run with the hybrid on the other. This weekend hasn\’t been much different. The long ride was on Saturday and the trip to buy groceries on Sunday; usually it\’s the other way around.  Now that TdC is over, I\’ll go back to my usual schedule. If I do Tour de Cure next year, I think I\’d be wise to choose a shorter distance. I enjoy the challenge of doing longer distances in the sense of just putting in the miles. When there\’s a cut-off time, it\’s another story. But it\’s early to be thinking of that. I want to \”just ride\” for a while; but soon I must get back to \”force\” work and other training. But not before the aftermath of TdC wears off. I don\’t need to burn myself out!

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Afterthoughts

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Now is the time for some afterthoughts. The big ride is over; and I can think about what went right; what didn\’t go so well; and what I can do to improve for future long rides. I\’m sure the work I did to improve my force helped. On the other hand, it\’s obvious that I need to practice riding harder against the wind; and for longer stretches at a time. There was the usual problem that fighting the wind killed my desire to eat. I got pretty bonkish about 4-5 miles before the end; and had to stop and eat something. Between that and the headwind, the final miles seemed endless. Speaking of eating, I knew there would be lunch at the finish; so I thought I didn\’t need to prep my usual recovery drink. Maybe that was a mistake. I have a peculiar \”buzzy\” feeling, like overworked muscles quivering. It might have helped if I had gotten my Sunday long rides up to 50 miles a month or two earlier than I did; and then pushed them to 55 miles. Maybe I\’ll keep doing 50-milers on Sundays; partly because I enjoy putting in the miles, and partly to keep in form for the next big event. But not tomorrow! I need to make a grocery run. My arms got really tired towards the end. For the last week or so before today, I did less of the off-bike work. Next time, keep up the exercises for arms and upper body! Working on the web site has also taken its toll on off-bike work. And do my afterthoughts include Tour de Cure 2019? Not yet; but we\’ll see.

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THE BIG RIDE!

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Today I did the big ride. Tour de Cure 2018! I got up at the unearthly hour of 4:10 am, so I could make my final preparations at leisure. The Camel-Bak reservoir needed to be filled. I cut up some Clif Bars for easy on-bike eating. Then I got dressed for the ride. I did the long route. My Garmin showed the distance to be 61.40 miles. Roll time, 5:00:05; average speed, 12.28 mph.  At the start, it was cool enough for leg warmers, vest + cycling jacket, and skull cap. By the time I reached the halfway point, I could remove the leg warmers, cycling jacket, and skull cap. Of course that meant I needed to use more sunblock! By then the breeze had picked up. It made pedaling back to the start quite a chore! As if the headwind weren\’t enough, I ran into some kind of walk that was taking up the entire path. It seemed to take forever to struggle past it. With 3-4 miles left to go, I suddenly felt extremely tired. Bonking, I figured, and I had to stop to take a breather and eat something. And then, a mile or so before the finish, I got caught by a train! If not for those delays, I would have finished 15-20 minutes sooner. As it was, I made it with just two minutes to spare. But I made it! So what if that makes me the Lanterne Rouge? So what if being the Lanterne Rouge is a dubious honor? I MADE IT!! Speaking of rouge, let\’s not forget to give a big hurrah for the Red Riders; TdC riders who have diabetes. And thanks to the volunteers who check in participants, staff the rest stops, and so on. They make it possible for us riders to just do the big ride!

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A Different Perspective

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It\’s refreshing to get a different perspective on things. I\’ve seen many a list of characteristics that indicate a cyclist; but here is a different way of looking at it. It\’s all right not to be a pro cyclist. I know I won\’t ever be a one; and that\’s perfectly OK. There\’s nothing wrong with riding just for the fun of it. So what if you don\’t kit up in Lycra®; and don\’t blaze down the road at 25 mph; or don\’t rip down the mountainside? What does it matter if you don\’t do \”serious miles\”; and you just ride to the grocery store, or the neighborhood café? You don\’t ride in bad weather, you say? That\’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes I don\’t ride in bad weather, either.  I like this author\’s attitude that, if you ride a bicycle, you may call yourself a cyclist. It doesn\’t matter where you ride; or how far; or how fast. You don\’t have to have oodles of bike-repair tools around your home; or be able to build a bicycle from spare parts. And you certainly don\’t have to have X number of bicycles for X different kinds of riding. It doesn\’t matter what age you are; or what color your skin is; or that you don\’t have the figure of a Grand Tour rider. You\’re riding a bicycle; and that\’s what matters. It\’s a bit like \”Cogito, ergo sum\”: I ride, therefore I am a cyclist! A different perspective can make a big difference; not only in how we view cycling, but in how we view ourselves as cyclists. Let\’s hold our heads up and be proud that we ride!  

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The Countdown Continues

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The countdown continues. I decided to add an item to the list: I\’m going to take along my spare rear derailer hanger. Naturally I don\’t expect to need it; but if I do I\’ll be more than glad to have it with me. There will be SAG service, but they might not have such an item available. SAG? What\’s that, you say? I\’ve seen two explanations: One, SAG stands for Support and Gear. Two, that the SAG wagon can pick up a rider who \”sags\”, i.e. is unable to continue. The countdown continues with a check o the weather forecast; and things still looks good. Fifty-nine degrees might be too cool for half-fingered gloves, so I\’ll pack along full-fingered gloves; and I can change if need be. But I might be able to get away with just the cycling jacket, and not need the vest. I\’m going to ned leg warmers for sure; and probably the skull cap. If I were merely heading out the front door and going straight into a ride, I\’d be giving less thought to layers. Tomorrow I\’ll be standing around as much as an hour before starting, which is plenty of time for me to get too cold. On second thought, I\’d better pack along that vest, too!

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Final Countdown!

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This is the final countdown. Tomorrow is it! Tour de Cure! Somehow it\’s hard to believe that the big day is on the threshold. It once seemed so far off! Final preparations are underway. My bicycle\’s lights are charging up. It will still be dark when I head over to the venue; and when we roll, at 7:00 am, daylight levels will still be low. I\’ll charge up my cell phone, too. Sure, I know, I\’ll be surrounded by other riders; but \”One never knows,\” as the Little Prince was so fond of saying. Of course I\’m making sure my Garmin is fully charged. I don\’t want to have it conk out on me tomorrow! That would be nearly as bad as missing the ride. Cleaning my bicycle is on the to-do list, as is being sure I have my GU-Gels handy. In fact, I think I\’ll take a few extra, just in case. There will be riders who have diabetes (the Red Riders); and while I\’m sure they\’ll be prepared in case of a blood sugar nose-dive, things do go awry sometimes. I\’m going to use my Camel-Bak, as usual for a long ride. But I won\’t need to take along the cable lock; so I can put most of the stuff from my under-saddle bag in the Camel-Bak pockets. It will be a nice change to not have that little pack crammed full. Tonight makes the final countdown even more final. I have to get my electrolyte drink ready so it can chill. I must triple-check that I\’ve set my alarm clock; and check the weather forecast for the umpteenth time. So far it looks good. Last minute stuff: prep my ride food; and fill the Camel-Bak reservoir with water. Then, I\’ll be ready to roll!

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Just a Number

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I agree: age is just a number. Do you think you\’re \”too old\” to ride a bicycle? Especially if you\’re a beginner? Fear not. Cycling is for all ages. I rode very little as a kid; and started again at age 51! At the time I had some issues with dizziness, so I got an adult tricycle; I didn\’t dare trust myself on two wheels. Maybe it was all the vigorous exercise; but after about two and a half years of pedal pushing the weird, wobbly sensations in the middle of my head seemed much reduced. I had become very interested in long-distance cycling; and long rides would be faster and easier on two wheels. That\’s when I got a hybrid bicycle. Not quite a year later, I added a road bike to my \”fleet\”. Soon after that I let the tricycle go; the guys at the bike shop had warned me months earlier that the trike was \”on its last legs\”. In fact, they said they had never know anyone to wear out an adult tricycle. Well then, I was the first! I tracked my mileage almost from the start. Now my trike + hybrid + road bike grand total is over 42,000 miles! Shall we light the candles and celebrate; even though it\’s not my birthday? Because, as we know, age is just a number.

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Heads Up!

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Just a heads up here. I wanted to let you all know that threewheelstwowheels.org, my \”pre-SpokEasy\” site, if you will, may not be available now. I decided it would be a good idea to have a \”goof-off\” site where I could tinker to my heart\’s content; and not have to worry that I\’d ruin SpokEasy. After giving it some thought, I decided to switch threewheelstwowheels from Weebly® to WordPress®. I\’m trying to set it up as nearly identical to SpokEasy as possible, so I can practice slide-building and whatever else I chose to do. It\’s rather a headache, because I\’ve forgotten so much of what I did while getting SpokEasy set up. It will be worth it, though; and now that I\’ve finished revising SpokEasy, I\’ll be able to put in some time on it. But — just a heads up — maybe not tomorrow. Tomorrow I\’ll be getting ready for Tour de Cure!

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You Call THAT Riding?

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You call that riding? Pedaling in a trainer isn\’t \”riding\”; but there\’s still a chance of T-storms for the next hour or two; and I didn\’t want to go out and get caught in the rain. I just lubed the road bike\’s chain day before yesterday; and I don\’t want to have to do it again so soon. I didn\’t want to miss riding entirely; and not knowing what the weather might do, I hooked the hybrid into the trainer and pedaled for a half hour. It was better than nothing; but I took it very easy and hardy broke a sweat. You call that riding? I don\’t! I\’m glad I don\’t need to resort to using the trainer very often. It is B-O-R-I-N-G as you-know-where, and makes thirty minutes seem endless. \”Riding\” indoors might be more interesting if I had one of these Computrainer Lab  set-ups; but who has $1800 just lying around for the spending? In addition, if the screen for that system is as big as it appears to be in the pic, I don\’t have room for it. And is it, essentially, a wide-screen TV that would require my paying for cable? I can do without that, thank you very much. Once again, it\’s back to the old make-do-with-what-you-have, even if it\’s not exactly fun. The sun will come out again, and then I can go for a real ride!

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