SpokEasy

December 2018

The Numbers Are In!

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The numbers are in! Between my two bicycles I rode 5185 miles during 2018; and my total time is 437:28:09. Sure, there are riders out there who accomplished far more. Some riders put in several times the mileage; and my own accomplishments pale in comparison. But seeing what I can do is exciting. In fact, so see whether I could is why I did my century rides. I guess I\’m a bit like the Little Engine. First I did a century with the tricycle; and what a long, hard, cold day that was! Later, I put in two centuries with the hybrid; and finally I did one with the road bike.  Admittedly the road bike century didn\’t end so well, although I was pleased with a pedaling time of under 8 hours. July isn\’t the best time for a 100-mile ride when you can\’t escape the hot sun. I think I got dehydrated; and next time I try, I hope for a better outcome. When the numbers are in, how did your riding go in 2018? I hope you had a lot of fun! Best wishes for a great 2019 full of riding!  

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Ring out the Old

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Ring out the old, be it carillon; bicycle bell; or whatever. It\’s already time for an old year to depart. What do you do on New Year\’s Eve? When we kids were old enough, we\’d stay up until midnight. My mother would join us, and we\’d nibble on hard candies and pretzels; and play Monopoly® or Clue®. Despite their being illegal, a LOT of people would have fireworks. Another subdivision nearby always sounded like a fort under fire; and the air was full of the reek of gunpowder smoke. Phew! We\’d set aside time to tune in to the Boston Pops New Year\’s Eve concert; conducted back then by Arthur Fiedler. One number was Twelfth Street Rag. We kids got a big kick out of that one. New Yorkers might head for Times Square for the midnight ball-drop. New Year\’s Eve Abroad Germany. Lead pouring? I don\’t care to inhale lead fumes; and I think I\’d substitute wax! The lucky mushrooms are kind of cute. All those foods look so good; and I, for one, want to try a lot of them! Starting the New Year with racket reminds me of an old German custom called Polterabend. France. Apparently New Year\’s Eve is noisy in other countries, too. Galette des Rois sounds delicious, thanks to my sweet tooth. I love those blue lights shining from the capstone of the Arch of Triumph. England. That\’s interesting about the shifting date of New Year\’s Day. I\’ve always lived near the Mississippi River; and as the New Year came in, we\’d hear tugboats honking. Train tracks were nearby, too; and any train driver out there would be blasting his locomotive\’s horn. Spain. Friends and food sounds like a nice combination. Chow down a dozen grapes by the time the clock can strike twelve times? As midnight arrives,  I\’ll have eaten too much other food to be able to try doing that. Start with your right foot? Always a good idea. When I begin a bicycle ride, I start with my right foot. Wherever you are; however you ring out the old; stay safe, enjoy yourself, and remember Auld Lang Syne.  

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Dream Big!

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Don\’t forget to dream big! Now that we\’re on the verge of a new year, it\’s a good time to catch a few cycling dreams. It\’s fine to make New Year\’s resolutions; and to set goals.  Resolutions can give us a jump start, so to speak. Without goals we might not make progress. But what about dreams? Oh, the things I can dream of! A double century! Long bicycle tours, such as those offered by Adventure Cycling! And my impossible cycling dreams: a sub-5 hour century; and successful completion of Paris-Brest-Paris! Long-term dreams, so Joe Friel says, can become goals (The Cyclist\’s Training Bible, page 19 in the 4th edition). I can see the sense of making a dream into a goal. A goal gives you something definite to work towards. It makes the dream more tangible, and therefore more attainable. That doesn\’t mean that making dreams come true is easy. Training for a double century requires longer training rides than I have time for during the work week. I\’d need several years of grueling workouts before I\’m ready to try a sub-5 hour century. Preparing for a long cycling tour would mean working to increase my daily ride distance; and likely a considerable amount of simulated hill climbing. As to \”PBP\”; well, our cycling dreams can involve more money that we have. PBP would mean transporting myself and my bicycle to France; and, of course, back home afterwards. Not to mention the randonees required to qualify for PBP. Talk about dream big! The work required to make a dream come true is worth it — as anybody knows who has done a long day\’s riding, and finally sees the mileage meter hit 100! So let\’s hang up our dream catchers, and snag a big dream!    

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Don\’t Forget Why

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Don\’t forget why we ride! So, why do we ride? For fun, or for exercise? Do we ride to compete; or to lose weight? Or is it just to get around town? For me, it began because I needed a way to get to places beyond walking distance; and without a car. I immediately took to riding almost every day because my legs liked the way it felt to ride. They still do; and I hope to enjoy many more years of pedaling. This leads straight into cycling for exercise. They always say, choose a form of exercise that you like; or you\’re unlikely to stick with it. No matter how much you enjoy your chosen form of exercise, there will be days when you don\’t feel like doing it; or when it\’s not fun. It\’s OK to take a short break from cycling now and then. It can benefit both body and mind. Some folks have an innate urge to compete; and what do they do? They race! Racing is far in the future for me, if I ever do it at all; so I can\’t say much about it. Losing weight? I need to work off a good 15 pounds!  There\’s plenty of info out there about diet and weight loss; and what works for me might not work for the next person. Thus I shall excuse myself from making recommendations. Touring sounds great; and Adventure Cycling offers a wide variety of tours. Look for one that meets your budget and your current level of cycling fitness. A bicycle is helpful for just getting around town. You can bypass traffic jams; and parking is so much easier than with a car! So don\’t forget why you ride; and may 2019 be a great cycling year for you!

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I MADE IT!

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I made it! Today I rode 50.2 miles, bringing my road bike\’s long-term total mileage to 21,000. About a week ago, I saw that I was getting close to 21K; and decided to push to make it to that goal by New Year\’s. And I made it! Actually, I was afraid I might not make it. The forecasts often predicted rain; but today, fortunately, it hasn\’t rained so far. It was, however, foggy.  Now for the sixty-four dollar question: were today\’s miles junk miles? By one definition, yes. I rode them to get my mileage total to a certain number; but by another definition, these weren\’t junk miles. This ride was, essentially, recreation. Besides, if I have any notions of doing a century some time next year, it\’s time to be extending the weekly long ride to 50 miles and more. I admit that for 14 miles or so I didn\’t feel too much like riding. Maybe toaster pastries aren\’t the best pre-ride meal; but after making my usual pit stop at 14.5 miles, I seemed to feel more lively. Today I didn\’t worry too much about speed. All the same, I\’m glad the wind wasn\’t strong. On the way home, I passed some riders who looked like they were doing some kind of tour. Or maybe they were training for a loaded tour. There were two tandems, and two single bicycles a short way ahead. All of them were loaded with what looked like bedrolls, and so on. I wish we could have chatted a bit. Even if it\’s years away, if I want to do a bicycle tour it isn\’t too soon to begin training!  

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Ankling

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Have I covered the topic of ankling yet? I\’m not sure whether I\’m performing it properly; or even whether I\’m doing it at all. If I got the hang of it, though, it might help me. Correct ankling technique is said to improve your power with less difficulty. Of course there\’s argument over it, as is true of so many things. I\’ve read that this technique, as it was done in about the 1970\’s, resulted in bad Achilles tendonitis for some riders. If I\’m seeing things correctly in this video, the current technique is very subtle. Thinking about it all leads me to think of ankle strength and stability.  I\’m no expert/physiotherapist, etc.; but would this workout be helpful? I haven\’t tried it; but plié-relevé looks to me very similar to heel raise with bent knees. I don\’t quite dare try to do what I think is ankling. If I did try; and was doing it incorrectly; I might do myself much more harm than good. Then I might have to stay off the bike for weeks; and undergo physical therapy as well. I don\’t want to miss my riding; so I\’ll keep pedaling the way I have been. So far I\’ve had no problems with it!      

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I\’m Tired of Gray

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I\’m tired of gray skies! Today was another damp, gloomy, gray day. At 59 degrees (4:15 pm) it isn\’t so very cold, but I wouldn\’t mind seeing a little sunshine. It\’s so humid that the carpet in this place feels damp. This morning I felt very tired, so I didn\’t go for a ride. Every cyclist needs the occasional break, anyhow. I\’m tired of gray; and on top of that, the constant threat of rain is driving me crazy. At least it looks like tomorrow\’s rain is most likely starting from early afternoon. That might let me get in my Sunday long ride without getting wet. But showers are expected every day through next Wednesday. Of course that includes New Year\’s Eve and New Year\’s Day. All I can do is hope for the best. And I want to do a long ride tomorrow! I think I can push for 50 miles without overdoing it too much. Winds are forecast to be 5-7 mph, which isn\’t too bad. Of course, I\’ll have a headwind on the way back home! Temperatures in the upper 50s mean I\’ll need the leg warmers and skull cap, but not my heaviest gloves. That\’s always a good thing, because I can manage on-bike eating much more easily if I\’m not wearing thick, heavy gloves. The trouble with a gray sky during any ride is that it makes me feel lethargic. During a long ride it makes things seem harder. I\’ll see how it goes. If I can\’t manage 50 miles tomorrow, I can do another ride on Monday. But how nice it would be if I could wash that gray away!

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Time Is Running Short

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Time is running short. We have only three more days left to accomplish our 2018 cycling goals. Can we make them all? Last Sunday I met my mileage goal for the year: 5000 miles between my two bicycles. Now I want to bring my road bike\’s long-term total mileage to 21,000 by the end of the year. It won\’t be a disaster if I can\’t make it; but I want to try. When I checked my records early this week, I saw that I was getting very close. Now I have just under 50 miles to go; so it looks quite possible. Mileage-wise, that is. The question is, will the weather cooperate? Both tomorrow and the next day, there\’s a 50% chance of rain. New Year\’s Eve has an even greater chance of rain. At least it won\’t be too cold; upper 50s and low 60s. Speaking of rain and riding, have you ever noticed how much harder it is to go out when it\’s already raining; than to get caught in the rain when you\’re miles from home? It seems that, when the latter occurs, I can be philosophical about it. I shrug mentally and think: \”Well, it\’s raining; I can\’t do anything about it\”. That helps me to keep going. I might have to go out in the rain over the next few days. I don\’t like the idea, much less the deed; but as I\’ve already said, time is running short.  

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Sleigh Ride?

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Sleigh Ride Can a sleigh ride also be a bicycle ride? Maybe, if you could find a rider strong enough to pedal a pedicab, equipped with special tires, hitched to said sleigh. The trouble with such an arrangement is this. The only one getting the bike ride, and the exercise, would be the person on the pedicab. I’m not sure I’d like to be either the pedicab rider or the passenger. If the former, I’d be at risk of  overexertion and overheating. I would have to remove layers of clothing; then be ready to put them back on in a hurry as soon as I stopped pedaling. If I were the passenger, I’d get too cold from just sitting there; and the motion of the sleigh would add wind chill. It’s fun to imagine a sleigh ride through the snowy fields, though. And under a full moon! How about a troika? If your fancy doesn’t tend towards the three horse open sleigh,  I suppose that Leroy Anderson had the one horse open sleigh in mind? Here’s another idea. How about a full team of pedicab pedalers to pull the sleigh? Sort of like a dog team during the gold rush in the Yukon. Or one pedicab rider per sled, and see who can get from Point A to Point B the fastest? Maybe they could add that to the Winter Olympics? However you do it, enjoy the ride, and finish up with some scrumptious hot chocolate!

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Pilot

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Did you ever dream of being a pilot? With Christmas just past, no doubt there are a lot of youngsters who are all excited about their brand-new bicycles. Once they get the hang of riding, how many of them imagine that they\’re a cowboy (or cowgirl)? Or a race-car driver, or an airplane pilot? Maybe even a World War II fighter pilot? If you can get past the off-color word \”bastard\”, there\’s a book about B-17 crews and their missions over enemy territory. Crewmen who survived all their required flights became members of The Lucky Bastard Club.  Incidentally, if you happen to be a WWII buff, and come to visit New Orleans, your might want to include the D-Day Museum in your itinerary. It\’s been many years since my one visit there; but it was interesting. On display was a vehicle called a halftrack. It had regular tires in front; and bulldozer-like caterpillar treads in the rear. Now I know where General Halftrack comes from! Getting back to bicycles, how many young \”fighter pilots\” on two wheels are aware that bicycles were used in war? It just goes to show how versatile the bicycle is. Come to think of it, now \”road warrior\” has another meaning!  

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