SpokEasy

December 2018

Gear Ratio

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Gear ratio? What\’s that? If you\’re brand new to multi-gear bicycles, all those gears can seem a little intimidating. What are they all for; and how and when do I shift gears? Here\’s help. Of course, you don\’t have to be running non-stop gear ratio calculations in your head while riding. I, for one, would find it far too distracting; especially as math has never been my strongest point. If you do go for math, you can entertain yourself with both gear ratio and gear inches. Practice soon makes shifting gears second nature. I side with the advice to stay off of the big ring if you\’re a beginning rider; it\’s too much stress on the knees. When I first tried the big ring, I could feel how much harder it was to pedal. It was so much harder that my earliest efforts were limited to a few seconds! I had to build up a little at a time. Someone, I don\’t remember who, said that you should use your gears so much that you wear them out, unless you live and ride where it\’s absolutely flat. Well, you don\’t have to live in hill country to need to shift! There are no natural hills where I live; but I wore out my road bike\’s original cassette after about 14,000 miles. I need to change gears to adapt to various wind conditions, if nothing else. Okay, what\’s my gear ratio? Let\’s see: on my 50 chain ring and my 24 cog, that\’s 50 ÷ 24 = 2.08?

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Ramrod Straight?

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Do we need to be ramrod straight in the saddle? After all, how often did our mothers tell us, \”Sit up straight\”? More often than we liked, no doubt; and we likely got tired of hearing it. On the bicycle, there\’s probably no need to be as erect as the Buddha. And I seem to remember reading that, at one time, trainees at the Royal Spanish Riding School had ramrods down the backs of their jackets. This was to force them to sit up very straight. Can you imagine how torturous that must have been? All the same, it\’s better not to slouch while cycling. Slouching makes it difficult for the lungs to expand properly; and for a fact it doesn\’t look attractive. I\’ve noticed that I need to be careful that I don\’t arch my lower back upwards. I seem to have a tendency that way; and after a while my lower back starts to feel strained and sore as a result. Luckily it\’s pretty easy for me to correct it, and get rid of the discomfort. I also tend to slump across the back of the neck and shoulders. And I agree that it\’s hard to focus on posture improvement while battling a headwind, or pushing big gears during force-development exercises. All that said, I\’m not going to stress out about it. I don\’t have to be ramrod straight. This is riding a bicycle; not charm school.

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Metamorphosis

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A cyclist undergoes metamorphosis, just as a butterfly does. A a butterfly goes through several life phases; and there are phases in the development of a cyclist. Here are mine. When I first began riding, I got an adult tricycle. At the time I had some balance/dizziness issues; and I didn\’t dare to try riding a bicycle. A three-wheeler was the answer. I rode that trike far more than I had expected that I would; and apparently all that vigorous exercise did me good. After about two and a half years the wobbliness in my head was much reduced; and I started to consider a two-wheeler. Thus began Stage II: riding a hybrid. It took some doing to adjust to two wheels; but the century bug was gnawing at me big time. I had already done a 100-miler on the tricycle; and was so eager to do one on the hybrid that I began prepping for the ride before I was fully comfortable on two wheels. Not quite a year after I bought the hybrid, my metamorphosis entered Stage III: I got a road bike! Thus began another adjustment period, during which I worked at adapting to the very different feel of a road bike. Stages IV through VII are yet to come, unless my participation in six Tours de Cure  and a Bike MS  count as one stage. OK, let\’s call those rides Stage IV. Now, how about Stage V? Work up the gumption to try a race? Or a bicycle tour? Stage VI? Things are getting really sticky now. Learn to ride a tandem? Or a bent?  Stage VII? Stage VII seems so far off, I figure I can afford to come up with the wildest ideas possible. Besides, sometimes the craziest ideas metamorphose into something really good!      

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Mountains

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I live far away from any mountains; but I love them. Behold, my favorite mountain! I love the way it stands out, and looks so strong and bold. Visions of it spring into my mind whenever I hear the French horn flourish that opens the Rosenkavalier First Waltz Sequence. The occasional visits to mountains when I was a kid excited me. But would I like them so much if I had to ride a bicycle through them to get everywhere I wanted to go? As a life-long flatland dweller, I\’m not so sure. If I  were to be transported — permanently — to high altitude, it would probably take several weeks for me to adapt enough to the thinner air to be able to ride at all. And much longer before I gained the lungs and heart to go for long rides, even UN-loaded. Nairo Quintana I\’m not! My legs would need a lot of adapting, too. So would my head, if I had to ride along sharp switchbacks with no railing along the edge of the road. Looking down such a precipice makes me feel vertiginous; even though I\’m not afraid of heights per se. Then there\’s the adjusting that my bicycle would need. If I had to tackle steep climbs on a regular basis, my 12-30 cassette might be too small! Remember that, when it comes to cogs, bigger is easier. And my 50/34 crank set might be too big; for chain rings, smaller is easier. Maybe I\’ll be better off enjoying mountains vicariously: looking at pictures of them; and the lupine; and the snow. I enjoy pics of the mountain wildlife; and pics of the Tour de France mountain stages. Oh, and one last thing: don\’t make mountains out of molehills.

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eBikes

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Ever consider eBikes? I’ll admit it. When I first heard about electronic bikes; and even saw/heard people buzzing around on them,  my knee-jerk reaction was that they weren’t “real” bikes. How can it be a “bike” if the rider isn’t pedaling? It also struck me as a lazy way to “ride”. How could riding one of those things be “exercise”? Isn’t the motor doing the work? Then I read a letter in “Letters from our Readers” on page 05 of the December 2018/January 2019 issue of Adventure Cyclist; and it gave me a different perspective on ebikes. As the writer pointed out, electronic bikes can give people who are no longer able to use a regular bicycle (such as older folks with knee problems) a way to keep riding. An ebike doesn’t cause the air pollution that an internal combustion engine does, and doesn’t make nearly as much noise. What about the safety aspect of ebikes? I think I\d be worried that the thing would run away with me! But it looks like a lot of things that apply to riding a conventional bicycle also apply to riding its electronic counterpart. Be visible; learn to handle the ebike at low speed before trying to push the pace; and so on. For me, I think the hardest part of riding a ebike would be having that buzzing almost next to my ear. I have noise sensitivity issues, so as long as I’m able to ride a regular bicycle, I intend to do so. All the same, an ebike is an alternative to keep in mind.

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Oh Yeah?

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Oh yeah? Enough surprises for a while? Was I wrong! I got yet another surprise today. A few minutes ago I went into the kitchen, and was astounded to see a lizard perched on the edge of the counter; one of those little green ones that are very common here. (Most people call them chameleons; but they\’re actually anoles.) I was hanging out in my bathrobe, having recently returned from a ride. I though of catching the critter in a jar; and letting it sit long enough for me to get dressed and take the jar outside. Then I could let the lizard go. Oh, yeah? That\’s not so easy! Anoles are hard to snag. They seem to be quite wary; and they\’re very quick. Even if you manage to grab one in your hand, it\’s hard to hang onto it. Then I remembered: anoles eat insects. Beginning in June I\’ve had a lot of tiny six-legged invaders. I don\’t know why the sudden invasion; I\’d never had that problem before. But a lizard in here might take care of some of those cucarachas!

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More Surprises

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I got more surprises today. Despite yesterday\’s forecast of \”clear\”, it was almost completely overcast at 6 am today. I took a quick look at the NOAA site, and the forecast didn\’t say it would rain; on the contrary, it said \”mostly clear\”. So I took off at 6:37 am; and indeed, the sky cleared as the morning went on. I began the ride wearing vermilion lenses; but packed along the dark lenses just in case. Sure enough, by the time I reached my turnaround point, I needed dark lenses. There was almost no wind, for a change. I wish that happened more often! And it was at my back on the way home, also for a nice change. I kept feeling like I had a headwind, which means I was pedaling at a fair clip. And still more surprises! My overall average speed was 14.42 mph! I didn\’t expect it to be that high, because of my slower warm-up mile; and a slower cool-down pace for almost a mile before reaching home. But for the rest of the ride I averaged 14.7 mph😊 I got yet another surprise upon reaching home. The power was out! I had seen a truck from the power company just before I got to my front gate; but I thought they were working on the wiring for a new house that\’s being built. Luckily the \”juice\” came back on after about 15 minutes; and I got an automated call from the power company. The cause of the outage had been \”an animal\”. They didn\’t specify, so I\’ll have to guess. Ants? (That\’s happened before). Squirrel gnawing on something? Not impossible, I\’d say. That\’s enough surprises for now, don\’t you think?

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My Garden?

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My Garden? Truth to tell, my garden isn’t growing any too fast; because it exists only in my mind. If I’m ever able to have a place of my own, with a small yard, maybe I can try out my green thumb. And I could, what if would I try go grow? Tomatoes, for sure.  I’d want to have kale, which is hardy enough to keep growing in cold weather. “Winter cabbage”, in fact, is the German name for kale. I think I’d have broccoli and onions, too. I hope I’d be able to raise red onions; that’s the kind  like best. I think it would be interesting to try the three sisters. It sounds like a good way to raise three crops in a rather small space. In fact, if I got into gardening, several small patches 3-4 feet square would probably be the best way to begin. There’s no point in getting overly ambitious, and trying to plant a half-acre my first season. I’d want some flowers, too. Nasturtiums are pretty, and parts of them are edible. I’d want red salvia, to attract hummingbirds! Planting certain flowers/herbs adjacent to certain veggies is supposed to help with pest control. I’d like to experiment with that. Spading is something I’d need to approach with caution. Years ago I tried digging up a strip of bare ground alongside the place I rented. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to start getting some practice in bed preparation. Lo and behold, I gave myself trigger finger in both middle fingers. Ultimately, I needed surgery on both. Or maybe it’s all a daydream. I suspect that I like the idea of having my garden more than I truly want to have one. Tilling the soil would limit my riding time too much. Who knows, though. Someday I might be out there raising — well, not Cain, I hope.

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Surprise

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Considering last night\’s forecast, it was a surprise that the sun was out this morning. I saw that clouds were building up towards the West, however; and I decided to skip the salvage store. It\’s some five miles away, after all; and I couldn\’t know how soon the weather might break bad. Thus I went to a store much closer to home; and I packed along the poncho just in case. When I got out of the store the sun was still out; but the clouds were increasing. The wind was building up as well. In fact, for the last few blocks before I got home it was blowing pretty hard. If I had gone to the salvage store, I would have been fighting it for miles! So now I\’m home, listening to the wind and expecting it to start pouring at any moment. It can be frustrating to change your plans because you anticipate bad weather; and then have nothing happen. Sometimes, though, you get it right. And then you can say, \”I\’m so glad I\’m not out there!\” That\’s the kind of surprise that I like!

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