SpokEasy

February 2019

Muddle

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My mind was a muddle this morning. Today I did only a short ride with the road bike. I\’m not supposed to use straws because of recent dental work; and that meant no Camel-Bak with its drinking tube. I had to be content with riding a bit over 19 miles, taking along two bottles of water. While I was getting ready to go out, I was really in a muddle. I turned on the Garmin, and saw a blank for heart rate. I had to go back and put on the chest strap. Then, when I took my road bike outdoors, I thought, Whoops, I forgot my sunglasses! Go back for the sunglasses. There\’s a good wind today; at the moment, 17 mph. On the way out to my turnaround point, when I picked up a tailwind, I could push the pace faster and faster. I saw myself getting up to 21, 22, then 23 mph; and decided to see whether I could hit 25 mph. AND I DID!! To be exact, 25.57 mph. A new speed record! On the way back home, the wind seemed to get stronger and stronger. The clouds were gathering, too, but there\’s only a 10% chance of rain until tonight. Then, it\’s 50%. According to Intellicast, both pollen (grass pollen) and air quality are Moderate today. I know that I have some mild allergies to certain grasses and trees. Maybe that\’s why I had a sneezing attack shortly after I got back home. I\’m glad I didn\’t start sneezing while I was still out there on the bike! With the wind already making handling tricky, I didn\’t need explosive sneezes to make things even harder!

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Side Effects?

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Side Effects? 😰 You never know what side effects might be; whether it’s from riding when you’re older, or from having your mouth worked on. Day before yesterday I had some heavy-duty dental work done. I had lost a crown, and it couldn’t be reattached. That meant extracting the roots left from the original tooth. As a result, I have several stitches at the site; and the dentist told me to avoid drinking through straws for at least a few days. That’s not good news as far as the Sunday long ride goes. Drinking from a Camel-Bak is, in effect, using a glorified straw. Two 24-oz bottles aren’t enough water for a 40-mile ride; and using both of my bottles for water would mean no Zym. Out of the Box 📦 Oh, dear, what shall I do? It’s time to think out of the box, for sure. One possibility is running an errand by hybrid; that would give me 4-5 miles. Then I could take a short-ish ride with the road bike. I could probably do without any electrolyte drink if I don’t ride over 20 miles, especially as it won’t be very warm. I don’t want to skip the ride entirely, because I did that only a few weeks ago. There’s always “riding” in the trainer, but that is tedious as can be. It might make indoor pedaling less of a drag if I could rig things so that I could run my sewing machine by pedaling; and sew as I “rode”. That would, unfortunately, be tricky. I’d have to get the hang of not holding the handlebars; and using my hands to manage the machine. What weird ideas I do get. Who would have guessed that oral surgery had side effects like this?   This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is; and I hope I can provide a bit of inspiration.   Along the way, I got into blogging; presenting my kitchen experiments; and even setting up a store. You can visit my Facebook page here; or check into my Twitter (aka X) page, Cyclo_Pathy. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional. FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL ✍🏻 Facebook Twitter Youtube Persistence October 18, 2024 Wind Relief October 17, 2024 Take the Cake October 16, 2024 Easy 100? October 15, 2024 Load More TRANSLATOR

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Effectiveness

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How can we measure our effectiveness? Wouldn\’t we all like to be able to make such a dramatic impact as the one that formed Meteor Crater? I\’ll skip the K-T Boundary type of impact. That would be overdoing it, to put it mildly. I, for one, am unlikely to cause such an effect on the cycling world at large. I\’ll never win a big, important race on the global cycling stage; nor will I ever coach a cyclist to a major championship. Most of us, in fact, won\’t. But what can the ordinary, everyday cyclist do to effect the best possible impact on his/her riding abilities? How about interval training once or twice a week? I\’m not sure I\’ve done enough such work, or done it correctly, because it usually seems that my cruising speed during weekly long rides isn\’t increasing. What kind of effectiveness is that; IF it even is? I do notice that I\’ve gotten better at going faster for short stretches; so I guess that the \”force\” intervals I did have helped. Lately I\’ve been letting such hard efforts fall by they wayside. I\’ve been feeling persistently tired and stuffy-headed, so I\’m focusing my efforts on just getting in some miles. What other possibilities are there? Find a fast-ish group to ride with? Not too fast, or constantly getting dropped would erode my morale; but if I want to get faster, I have to work to ride faster!. Mini-races as the above article mentions? Whatever you choose to do, I hope the effects are all good.

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If Only

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If only riding fasted would MAKE me fast! But I would say, be cautious about going out on an empty stomach, especially when you know you\’re going to be fighting a headwind. I wouldn\’t do it on a day when I plan to do hard efforts, either. For years I\’ve noticed that, once my stomach starts to growl, bonking could be seconds away; on the bike or off. That goes back to long before I even began to ride; and I believe it\’s part of why I\’m hanging at 15 pounds more than I really want to weigh: I\’m afraid of getting hungry. Riding in a fasted state is supposed to help your body learn to be a better fat burner. When glycogen levels are low, the body has to tap into its fat stores. At some point, however, you\’ve got to have some carbs. The body\’s fat has been compared to the wax of a candle; and its glycogen, to the candle\’s wick. A candle can\’t burn any too well without a wick. A week ago, when the temperature was 57 and the wind a stiff 22 mph, I tried an easy, 20-minute \”fasted\” session in the trainer. It seemed to go OK. Maybe some day I\’ll try a short, easy, fasted outdoor ride. The caution here is to take along something high-carb that you can eat if you do feel the bonk coming on. You don\’t want to have to ride miles to get home to your food if you do bonk! This, in fact, is why I carry a few GU-Gels with me on all rides; even just going to and from work. Now, if only I could get faster!

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Something\’s Missing!

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Hey, something\’s missing here! To me, a bicycle\’s pedals look bare without clip-ins. Using clipless pedals, and cycling shoes with cleats, makes a big difference. Getting adjusted to clipless pedals can seem like a hopeless venture at first; but the effort is well worth it.  The idea of being attached to your pedals is scary at first; so if you don\’t want clip-ins, toe clips are a big help. When I was still riding the tricycle, the toe harnesses I got had straps; and I never could get the strap for the left-foot pedal fastened properly. That used to drive me crazy. After I started on two wheels, those toe harnesses didn\’t seem like such a good idea. I didn\’t like the thought of trying to reach down to tighten them while rolling; especially not as a newbie. That\’s when I got strapless toe clips. Later I went clipless and, after I got the road bike, I had the clipless pedals transferred to the road bike. I had kept the pedals with the toe clips; and had them put back on the hybrid. Now, trying to ride on platform pedals feels very awkward; and I think, hey, something\’s missing! Love to ride? Want to pedal more efficiently? Go clipless!    

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Just the Thing!

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This is just the thing for cycling enthusiasts! What could be a better day to raise awareness of Love to Ride than February 14? Once registered, you may enter rides at any time. Two or three times a year there are month-long \”challenges\”. You can join a team and then your team can take on whatever the particular challenge is. Sometimes it\’s Ride to Work; or it might be riding as much as possible that month. You can earn badges, too! When I first joined Love to Ride, at least, it was OK to record past rides for badge-earning purposes (although not towards the current challenge). That\’s how I got the Legend badge: 10,000 miles! There are many other badges, such as one for logging your first ride with Love to Ride. There\’s one for Ride to Work. You can even get a badge for buying a bicycle! Please see the Love to Ride web site for further details. It\’s Valentine\’s Day, so wear your heart on your sleeve — or put it on your handlebars — and go for a ride! It\’s just the thing!

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Roll \’em

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Roll \’em! Er, not quite that kind of roll \’em. I mean rollers for a bicycle; also known as \”a treadmill for a bike\”. I\’ve tried them, and found riding on them tricky. The fact that I didn\’t use them very often was a major factor. After all, I can\’t learn to do something if I seldom do it; and eventually I sold the rollers. I think that a large part of my problem was that I was overly tentative about how \”rode\” on rollers. I used the rollers inside of a door frame; but was still too concerned about \”losing it\” and landing on the floor with a crash — bike and all. But being too cautious on rollers is like trying to ride on the road at 2-3 mph. Usually I used them when the weather was really nasty. I remember riding them one day when I was cooped up indoors because of a tropical storm threat. Which is better, rollers or a trainer? That\’s up to the individual rider. I kept the trainer rather than the rollers because I can use the trainer to hold a bicycle steady while I clean it, or work on the chain. One of my books mentions Ride E-Motion rollers. But take a listen to this YouTube. I\’d need earplugs, or that noise would drive me crazy!  Maybe some time I\’ll try rollers again — and next time, I hope I can really roll \’em.

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And Sew It Goes

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And sew it goes? I  haven\’t done much sewing lately. I sure didn\’t get in much of a ride this morning, either. For one thing, I got started about a quarter-hour later than usual. I saw a huge fog patch hanging over my usual route, too, so I went to the park. The forecast had predicted T-storms. It wasn\’t raining, but it was overcast; and I was worried that all fury might let loose at any moment. I made only two rounds of the park before heading back home. On the way, I heard a man talking on his cell phone; and he said that it was going to start getting really bad in about 20 minutes. Home was less than 10 minutes away; and the heavy rain fortunately held off until after I got to work. I got a lucky break there. As to sewing, I had no luck finding matching buttons for the fuchsia blouse that I\’m making; and bought whitish ones. It\’s past high time I finished that blouse. This evening I even made the first buttonhole! I don\’t want to make more of them until after I check the bobbin; it\’s running low on thread. I finally repaired three blouses that have been waiting a week or more for my attention. I don\’t know why it\’s so hard for me to prod myself into doing it, because it\’s not a difficult chore; just a nuisance. And sew it goes. Would sewing be more fun if I could rig up my machine for pedal power?

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Asana on Two Wheels?

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How would Asana on two wheels go? Has anyone out there tried yoga to help with cycling? I haven\’t so far; but sometimes I wonder whether it would be a good idea. Cycling causes some muscles to tighten, and yoga can help to stretch them out. I haven\’t yet investigated books about yoga for cyclists; and I don\’t even have a DVD player. So I\’ll have to let DVD\’s fall by the wayside; but maybe, one of these days, a yoga book? My sensitivities to \”scented stuff\” make me very wary of actually trying a yoga class. And would it be possible to find a free class? Besides that, my schedule is crowded enough already. A nice, short talk-through YouTube such as this would be a good starting place. It would help even more if I could watch the screen as I attempt the moves. You know the old saying: \”We learn by doing\”. I\’m already familiar with the term \”downward dog\”, but \”warrior one\” is new to me. Or rather, it seems to be a different name for the gastrocnemius stretch. It probably would help me if I were more diligent about using the foam roller. Maybe that could take the place of yoga. But when I get home from a long Sunday ride, or after work during the week, I just want to have something to eat; and then I plunge right into blogging! If I could manage asana on two wheels, that problem would be solved.    

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Gyroscopic Effect

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There\’s gyroscopic effect; and there\’s gyroscopic effect. Ever play with a gyroscope? When I was about twelve, we kids got an old, metal one that older cousins handed down to us; and that thing provided a great deal of amusement. When we set it spinning, after about five seconds it started to make loud buzzing noises; and zip here and there for distances as great as six inches. It was hilarious! I have no idea what made it do that — perhaps some form of sympathetic vibration? — but we always laughed our heads off about it. Then there\’s the gyroscopic effect as it pertains to bicycling. It\’s why keeping your balance on a bike gets easier as you go faster. It\’s amazing how much harder it is to keep a bicycle erect, and on a straight line, as you go more and more slowly. Like that toy gyroscope, or a spinning top, the slower it goes, the more it wobbles; and ultimately, it falls over. As a beginner on two wheels, though, it seems counterintuitive. At that stage, it feels hard to control the bicycle at all. All this talk of gyroscopes has me thinking of Music of the Spheres; and from there, I start thinking about The Planets. Talk about spacing out!

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