SpokEasy

April 2019

Rerun?

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Is this a rerun? I can\’t remember whether I\’ve posted about this topic before, but it sure is interesting. What a TdF cyclist eats in one day is staggering. That breakfast alone sounds like a full day\’s food for me, or close to it. I\’ll skip the coffee, though. Maybe they\’d let me have mild, cold green tea instead? Then more food an hour and a half later, before they even get on their bikes! I feel stuffed just thinking about it. It is said that pro tour riders need to eat a couple of hours before beginning a day\’s racing. Their food needs a chance to settle before they have to start riding. But then they have to keep on eating, while blazing along for hours at speeds that I, for one, can only dream of attaining. After I\’ve been riding about two hours, my desire for food dwindles; especially if I\’m working hard against a headwind. It gets hard to eat, but TdF riders have to keep eating just so they can keep going. Not so easy, I\’m sure. All those bars, rice cakes, sandwiches, electrolyte drinks — oh, I\’m getting a bellyache! Bring on the Pepto Bismol! The stage is over! Think the eating is over? Perish the thought! Right off their bikes, the riders down a recovery drink. Then there\’s dinner. And yet another snack before lights out. My post-long Sunday ride recovery drink, chocolate whey protein powder in 8 oz skim milk, pales into nothing next to a pro tour rider\’s post-race snack. Those guys aren\’t only professional cyclists; they\’re also professional eaters! And after the day\’s stage is over, the next day is a rerun.

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To Market

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To market today! Remember the old nursery rhyme? \”To market, to market, to buy a fat pig…\” Of course I didn\’t buy a pig; but I got in some miles for Love to Ride. I had several reasons for heading for the regular supermarket instead of the salvage store. One, I wanted an 8 oz jar of Hellman\’s Mayonnaise®; and that\’s something that I\’ve never found at the salvage store. The only mayo I find there is quart jars! I don\’t use mayo very fast; so why buy a large jar of it at a bargain price, and end up having to discard most of it because it\’s going bad? That\’s no bargain in the long run. Two, going to the salvage store would have meant fighting the wind all the way home. It isn\’t a strong wind this morning, but it\’s enough for me to feel it. Not surprisingly, my legs are a bit stiff today. Going to the other store meant that I got the headwind over with on the way there. Three, I don\’t know what the weather will do. Last night the forecast predicted showers/T-storms by 1 pm; and now it says, after 4 pm! The sky was completely overcast this morning, and there was a light mist. I took along the poncho, just in case. I\’m still rather tempted to ride out to the salvage store to fill up a grab bag or two, but I think my legs need a rest now; and I don\’t feel like taking the gamble of getting poured on. After all, the market can bear only so much!

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Double time?

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Is double time helpful? Want to pedal real fast to go real fast? Maybe not so fast. In the first place, we\’re none of us Chris Froome, although we might want to be able to ride as fast as he does. It\’s interesting that trying to pedal very fast in a low gear wastes so much energy. I\’ve noticed that, in said very low gear, I have to pedal furiously to attain 13-14 mph; and it tires me out much too fast. I get all out of breath. On the other hand, a hard gear and slow pedaling is also wearying. My leg muscles get too tired, too fast. One time, several years ago, I tried slow pedaling in a hard gear to see how fast I could go while staying in a low heart rate zone. I got up to 15 mph and was still in my Zone 2 (\”cruising\”); but my quads didn\’t like it any too much; and I wasn\’t able to maintain it for long. We have to find a balance between \”hardness\” of gear, and cadence. Add to that the necessity of changing gears to meet changing conditions: a climb; a turn into the wind; and so on. On top of all that, there\’s personal preference. What feels good to me cadence-wise might feel terrible to another rider. I try not to get hung up on it. Yes, it\’s good to practice low-gear, rapid-cadence pedaling. You might need this kind of double time on a long ride, when there\’s a long stretch heading into the wind. But mostly, choose your gear and cadence; and just keep rolling along.

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Let\’s Be Different

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So what was different, anyway? Aside from more miles for Love to Ride! Contrary to my usual practice, I did my long ride today, Saturday, this weekend. As a rule, Sunday is long-ride day; but the forecast I checked last night predicted an 80% chance of rain tomorrow. Today\’s forecast said, 20% chance of rain. I decided to ride today to be sure of getting my miles. It didn\’t rain, but the fog was pretty bad. I just cleaned my road bike last night, and now it\’s all mucked up again. My legs felt a bit tired, and I decided try to ride steadily, and not push the pace. Luckily the wind was cooperative. There was some breeze, but only around 9 mph. I also decided to go out a little farther than last time before turning for home. I rode 44.3 miles: not a record, but also not bad. As long as the Love to Ride challenge is going on, I\’m trying to use a bicycle to go places that I\’d usually walk to.  So after I got the road bike put away and recorded my ride data, I pedaled the hybrid over to the local drug store. There was nothing I truly needed, but it\’s another ride for my team! (Yeah, yeah, I know — any excuse for ice cream!)  

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Five Down

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Five down, and twenty-five more days of the Love to Ride challenge to go. I hope the weather doesn\’t keep on the way it has for the past two days. After yesterday’s hard efforts, I did only a short, easy ride on the road bike. It was sprinkling a bit when I went out; but not bad. In fact, the water on the ground was much worse than what was falling down. My feet got wet when I had to ride through a couple of ponds of accumulated rain water. After 20 minutes or so the drizzle started to get heavier, which had me concerned that the atmospheric electricity was about to flare up; so I went home a bit earlier than planned. With only five down, I don\’t need to get electrocuted. To Work Riding to work this morning was too much like yesterday morning’s commute. I started out in a light rain that became a downpour before I was halfway there. At least today I wasn’t being chased by lightning; but if anything I got wetter than I did yesterday morning. In part that’s because I had put most of my stuff in my backpack. Having a bulky pack on my back “shortens” the poncho, so the hem of my shorts got quite wet. The bike trunk was still damp inside from yesterday’s dousing, and all I had in it was the cable lock. All this rainy weather has dampened more than me and my stuff. It’s short-circuited my brain, too. I forgot to put the tail light on the hybrid, and didn’t realize it until I got to work. I reached automatically for the light to take it off; and it wasn’t there! Riding to work in the rain leaves me feeling sleepy and tired, making it hard for my mind to focus. I’m glad I remembered to pack a lunch today, so I didn’t need to go outside. I could change into my spare socks and shoes, and have dry feet. Some people might ask, why did I ride to work when I’m close enough to have walked? For one thing, I wouldn’t have stayed much drier if I had walked. Two, the Love to Ride challenge is on! Five down, and I\’m not going to quit. It’s good blog material! Besides, disasters make good copy, right?

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For the Uninitiated

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This is for the uninitiated in the world of cycling. Non-cyclists may be curious about a lot of things in the pedal-pushing world. Or, possibly, shocked. Before I got into cycling shorts, I saw someone riding past who was wearing white cycling shorts. The fabric looked very thin, almost see-through. I was quite horrified. Do non-cyclists think we get bored riding for several hours? It can be  tedious when I\’ve got a headwind all the way home, but it\’s a lot more boring to just sit at home. Why ride up steep hill? We love our bragging rights!! Why on earth would we ride in cold, wind, rain, etc.? If you\’re interested in randonneuring, you must learn to ride in all sorts of conditions. \”That cruel clock is always ticking\”; and you don\’t want to miss the cut-off time because you can\’t ride in the rain, now do you? Strava? I\’m the wrong person to ask about that. Constantly \”competing\” would wear me down, and take the fun out of riding. Why do we wear lycra? It does take getting used to; but once you\’ve adjusted, you won\’t want regular shorts for riding again. Lycra doesn\’t stop at cycling shorts. There are also leg warmers, etc. What\’s that about special cycling socks? Cycling-specific socks do seem a tad more comfortable. I could use some thermal socks for cold-weather riding, that\’s for sure. Other Stuff I don\’t have a cycling cap. I use a helmet with a visor. Supposedly using a visor makes you look like a newbie; but I! Don\’t! Care! My sunglasses don\’t provide adequate protection from overhead sunlight; and why buy a cap when my helmet came with that visor? For the uninitiated, I would say that a helmet is very much necessary. I read of a cyclist who was just standing over his bicycle, waiting for a red light to change. He fell over, and suffered a fatal injury when his unprotected head hit the curb. Yes, it can get uncomfortable \”down under\”, especially when you have a bit of susceptibility for jock itch. Even if you don\’t, long rides on a hot day can make you long for a stop to change into fresh shorts. Chamois Butt\’r helps with that. My ride to work, luckily, is less than three miles, and I try to ride it easily. By the time I ride to work, I\’ve usually put in an hour or so of riding, anyway. Le Tour? I like to look at the online pics. I don\’t have a TV, and of course I can\’t watch it on my computer at work; so I don\’t really \”follow\” it. And now female riders are being given a share in TdF! Do I go by miles, or kilometers? Miles for me. I use them all the time. In the USA, we still go by miles, inches, and so on. As for having hollow legs, I should be so lucky. I hope my bicycles never wind up in a storage shed for years on end; and when you don\’t have to pay for the upkeep of a car, a bicycle is very much affordable!

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Spring Cleaning

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No, spring cleaning doesn\’t mean, go diving into the dryer. And for sure don\’t put your bicycle in there! I, for one, most emphatically do NOT want my bike to reek of dryer sheets! But along with cleaning up the house when it\’s warm enough to have windows open, it\’s as good a time as any to brush up on bicycle-cleaning how-to. If only I had a place to clean my bicycles outdoors! I have a tarp that I can spread on the floor; but I fear it\’s too small to prevent pools of soapy water from spreading beyond its borders. I\’m sensitive to the fumes of commercially available cleaners, so I avoid using them. For the bicycles\’ frames, I use a spray bottle of plain old water, but is that adequate cleaning? Do shop towels do a good enough job of getting grease off the chain? I\’ve taken to using a self-cleaning chain lube. I have a couple of quart jars full of dirty, oily water from chain-cleaning that I need to get rid of, but you\’re not supposed to put stuff like that in the trash; and the only toxic-waste drop-off I know of is halfway across town. I don\’t have a bicycle stand. There really isn\’t room for it; and besides that, I\’m not sure I could lift my hybrid that high. Would it be possible to hook the bike into the rack, and then raise the height of the stand? Would having a bicycle stand prompt me to clean my bicycles more regularly? Good question; not that I really want an answer. I\’d rather enjoy the Spring than bother with Spring cleaning.

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They Sure Meant \”Challenge\”

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They Sure Meant “Challenge”! They sure meant “challenge” when they designed the April Love to Ride challenge! I really got it this morning; not so much the jaunt on the road bike as pedaling to work a half hour or so afterwards. While I was out on the road bike, I saw distant lightning; but heard no thunder. During the return leg of my ride, the lightning seemed to be getting closer, which made me uncomfortable. In fact, it almost seemed to be chasing me! I still didn’t hear thunder; but while I’m riding, lightning may be closer than it seems. Even if there isn’t a headwind, the wind noise from my own motion muffles the sound of the thunder. Outward bound, there was only a small drop of rain here and there. On the way back home, the drops became more frequent; and during the final mile and a half it began drizzling. I saw some fantastic lightning, too. It wasn’t close; but all the same I was glad to get home. It was actually a pretty good ride. I did some force intervals, and at one point reached 24.9 mph! Not at all bad for me; and I didn’t get too wet. Riding to work, however, was a very different story. The Challenge I donned the poncho before I left home, in case it started to pour; and was that a good move!  I set out under a  light rain; and soon the sky opened up. There was frequent lightning that got closer and closer. One strike wasn’t even half a mile away! My timing was terrible; I rode through the worst of that T-storm. Once at work, there was the problem of drying out. Before I even went indoors, I got under the overhang at the front of the building; removed the poncho; and gave it a good shaking. I rolled it up and stuffed it into the plastic bag that I brought along for the purpose. I can’t hang it up indoors because it would drip. My poncho’s sleeves don’t do a good  job of covering my arms below the elbows. I had rolled up my blouse sleeves and worn arm warmers; and they got soaked. I had to wring them out and hang them up. Of course my cycling gloves got wet through, too. It was rather cool today; but not too cool for shorts. That’s something to be thankful for! Slacks get sopping wet from mid-thigh down in weather like this. Naturally my socks and shoes got drenched. I decided not to change into the dry socks and shoes I keep at my desk, because I was sure of having to go outside during the day. That’s what comes of not packing a sack lunch. More rain is expected over the next few days. If I’m to rise to the Love to Ride challenge, I’ll have to bite the bullet and ride, no matter how wet I get. They sure meant “challenge”!

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Bike to Work Day

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Today is Bike to Work Day! So test your mettle, and ride a bicycle to work! I had no idea that Bike to Work Day went back so far. It\’s been around longer than I have!  I had the idea that it was a much more recent innovation. Locally, Bike to Work Day 2019 will be held on April 10. That\’s because it could well be hot by late May. Ironically, doing the Bike to Work ride here would take me miles out of my way, and make me late to work. I\’d have to ride through unfamiliar streets to get to work from the Bike to Work destination. That isn\’t much fun even when there isn\’t a lot of traffic. And at 9:30 am on a weekday, traffic is likely to be quite heavy. I\’ll have to check Google Maps. There might be a route with less traffic. As far as time goes, I could probably take a couple of hours of vacation. Sure, riding a bicycle to work has its downside. You\’re totally exposed to the weather, and having a steady stream of cars almost at your elbow can be intimidating. Not to mention the noise! If you have concerns about bicycling to work, check out this article. If I don\’t take part in the official Bike to Work Day ride, no big deal. I can still ride my bicycle to work.

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Fight or Flight?

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We hear about “fight or flight” all the time: we sense that things aren’t right; and our nervous systems rev up for either knocking someone’s lights out; or running like a pack of hellhounds is pursuing us. Wind (oh, that LOATHSOME word!) seems like fight or flight, too. All too often it’s fight, fight, fight against a headwind. My rides are out-and-back almost every time. I\’m sure it\’s easy for anybody to advise cyclists: plan your rides so you have a tailwind on the way back home. Fight or flight — I mean, fight and then flight, with a following breeze. If only it were that easy, I would have been doing it for years. The bike path that I use ends about one mile East of home, and the wind here tends to be easterly. If I had a car, maybe I could drive my bicycle to a place where I could park the car; do a ride that would let me have a tailwind on the way back; and then drive home. As to flight, that\’s what it can feel like when you pick up a stiff tailwind: flying! When I have the wind behind me, and shift that road bike into hard gears, I\’ve reached 25+ mph! Even when I attain 18-19 mph, it starts to feel like the bicycle is weightless; almost like it\’s not touching the ground any more! But climbing Mont Ventoux? That\’s a flight of fancy for a run-of-the-mill cyclist like me.

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