SpokEasy

April 2019

Nocturne?

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Nocturne sounds to me first and foremost like a piece of music. However, there\’s no way I can haul along a piano on a bicycle ride. This wasn\’t truly a nocturnal ride; it was nearing dawn. But it was still dark enough for the rising old crescent moon to be gorgeous. When I first spotted it, the moon was low in the sky; just above treetop level. It was a beautiful orange color; and I kept stealing glances at it as much as I could. Tomorrow morning the moon might be too low for me to be able to see it; so it will be at least a month before I get a chance for such a sight again. Come to think of it, I might not see the moon like that again until Fall. It gets light earlier and earlier, which will wash out the moon. That\’s no nocturne! But in a couple of weeks I\’ll have the chance to see the moon at the full. I hope the weather will be clear that morning!

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White Noise?

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We hear about using \”white noise\” to help create a soothing atmosphere for sleep. I don\’t know about anybody else, but conventional white noise drives me crazy! It\’s too high in frequency for me. Maybe we cyclists need a different kind of white noise. How about sounds of the peloton? The freewheel during coasting; the whir of time trial wheels; and the wind whooshing past a rider\’s ears. I wish I could get the dark and quiet that sleep hygienists say we need for sleep. But with other people living on the other side of a thin wall; a fridge not ten feet from my bed; and train tracks only one block away, quiet is rather rare. I\’m tired of wearing earplugs to bed every night; but what else can I do? On top of the earplugs, I need to run my standing fan as a \”bass white noise\” machine. Otherwise when the neighbors start to talk LOUDLY, I\’ll be wakened. Or won\’t be able to get to sleep in the first place. It\’s hard to get it really dark, too: usually I have bicycle lights plugged into their chargers overnight; I don\’t have blackout curtains; and so on. I\’d rather not wear one of those masks that cover your eyes. They say that your body needs to get the natural light as morning approaches. I\’ll have to stick with my \”bass white noise\” for now, and hope to have a nice, quiet home someday; one close to lots of good bicycling paths!

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The Fixin\’s

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Turkey with all the fixin\’s is the typical Thanksgiving Day dinner in the USA. But how about the fixin\’s when it comes to a bicycle\’s mechanical problems? On any ride, there\’s always the possibility that something will go awry. It might be a flat tire; or it might be a broken spoke. It seems logical to conclude that, on multi-day events, being out riding for so long increases the likelihood that you\’ll need to make some kind of repair. Especially for randonneuring, participants are strongly advised to learn ahead of the event to change tubes and/or patch a tube quickly and efficiently; to make adjustments to the bicycle; and so on. Randonneurs don\’t have a SAG wagon tagging along! Self-sufficiency is the name of the game; and with randonneuring, that clock ticks remorselessly on. You might have to fix a flat, yes. Carry spare tubes or a patch kit, or both. What if a spoke breaks during a long tour, when the next stopover is far away? FiberFix can let you make a temporary repair. I need to learn more about these things. The idea of experimenting on my bicycles worries me, though. It would be just like me to wreak havoc, resulting in an expensive repair at the bike shop!

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