SpokEasy

May 2019

The Darker Side

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The darker side? Cycling? Sadly, yes. Pro cycling looks glamorous. We see those riders looking so fit and trim, wearing their team\’s kit, pedaling along on gorgeous bicycles in a tight pack at incredible speeds. Go beyond that enticing surface, and it\’s less glamorous. A pro cyclist\’s job is to ride. Like any other workers, pro riders have days when the thought of going to work makes them feel like this kitty here. They sometimes have crashes. They get injured. It can get nasty; just look at pics of crashes that occur during pro cycling races. Above and beyond the physical wear and tear involved in pro cycling, there are even darker aspects of the sport. Pro cyclists aren\’t immune to depression, despite all the feel-good endorphins that come with riding. They\’re under a lot of pressure to perform well. Failure to perform up to expectations would, I guess, result in a rider losing his/her spot on the team. Considering the years of grueling training and sacrifices required to get on a pro team at all, wouldn\’t losing that coveted spot be devastating? A team might be dissolved overnight, which adds the stress of job insecurity. Unless a cyclist is a mega-star, the pay might not be so great. Forty thousand a year? That\’s more than I make, but it\’s not much in these times! I\’d better not dwell on it too much. It gets too depressing. I don\’t need to get caught up in the darker side.

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What\’s the Rub?

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What\’s the rub? A massage, or brake rub? Day before yesterday I got my hybrid back from the shop. I was at work when I got word that the bike was ready, and I didn\’t have my helmet with me. I walked the bike home through a downpour. Then yesterday I didn\’t ride to work because I had to catch an early shuttle to go to an appointment. Thus I didn\’t notice the rear-brake rub until this morning. I hitched up the trailer for a trip to the salvage store, and quickly noticed that the bike seemed hard to pedal, even with the trailer to add drag. I thought, maybe I\’m out of shape for the hybrid because I haven\’t ridden it for over a week. So, I said, what\’s the rub, here? At some point I realized that I had brake drag. Now I\’ve got to go back to the shop. I hope the weather doesn\’t break bad for a couple of hours. The trip back home was slow because the wind was picking up. But I got lots of stuff I can use for on-bike food: Fiber One Protein Bars, for example, 98 cents for a box of five. I got five boxes in two different flavors. Of course I hit the make-your-own-grab-bag bins. Two large bags, 63 items, $10. Some of it is for ride food,  some is for when the \”nibbles\” hit when I\’m home, and some is to take to work for snacks. I guess you could say the trip was worth it.

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Bringing along Baby

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Bringing along baby need not be impossible. Want to ride, but have a little one who can\’t be left at home? How about a child trailer? Read up on safety guidelines before choosing a trailer. Check reviews of the model(s) that you\’re considering. You\’ll have some very precious cargo, after all. Don\’t forget head protection for your small passengers. A child doesn\’t have to be in a seat over the rear wheel, or in front of the adult rider, to suffer head injury should the adult happen to wipe out. The trailer that I have is strictly for non-living cargo. It sat in someone\’s shed for a couple of years, and I\’ve never really cleaned it. I wouldn\’t be surprised if it doesn\’t meet the current safety criteria. The strap meant to keep the trailer from coming loose should the main hitch fail is so hard to get fastened — and it\’s even harder to unhook it! — that last time I used the trailer I didn\’t bother with it. The friend who gave me this trailer says that she feels unstable enough on a bicycle, and even more unsteady with the trailer. I\’m the opposite. If anything, having the trailer seems to make me feel more stable. Better check yourself out on that before loading up \”Junior\” or \”Janie\”. I hope that it all checks out; and that bringing along baby means that your child could be on the way to become a cycling enthusiast!

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Warmshowers

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Warmshowers? Oh, come now. That\’s getting too personal! But on a long tour, you might not always find a camping place with showers available. Spend a few long days in the saddle without being able to clean up; and your state is better left to the imagination. Here\’s where Warmshowers can help. It sounds like a wonderful program. A warm shower feels marvelous if you haven\’t had one for a few days! I experienced that early last year, when a freak cold snap froze my pipes. The weather was freezing cold, and it was cold indoors, too; but even so I felt pretty grungy after two or three days. And I wasn\’t even riding! Fortunately I was able to buy a one-day pass to a nearby fitness center, where I could take a shower and wash my hair. I\’m can\’t even think of becoming a Warmshowers host. I don\’t have a couch, because that space is for my bicycles; and I don\’t have a backyard where cyclists can camp overnight. My apartment has a mold problem. The bathroom door won\’t shut properly; and the floor isn\’t even level! It wouldn\’t be very comfortable to sleep on. As I understand it, Warmshowers in an all-in-the-club thing; those who use it are expected to reciprocate. So if I do a long tour of my own, I hope I can find campgrounds with showers!  

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JAWS Cajun Style?

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Jaws Cajun style? Well, alligators have jaws, don\’t they? I ride along the Mississippi River levee. The water still quite high; and the backwater, I\’ve learned, has alligators! Last Friday is the first time I saw one. I heard an odd, raspy sound, and wondered what it was; and I saw what looked like an amber/orange reflector in the water. I kept glancing at it, and then noticed a large, dark shape in the water. It was barely starting to get light, but I\’m certain it was an alligator that I saw. You know how it is: start keeping watch for something, and you see it all over the place. This morning, over a stretch of two miles or so, I spotted five of those \”reflectors\” in the water! I wouldn\’t dare to try paddling around that backwater in a pirogue, now that I know what\’s in there. In fact, I\’d rather keep well away. While I\’m riding, I keep looking to be sure there isn\’t a gator approaching the bike path. Keeping a lookout for such hazards is another good argument for using a headlight. Suppose a gator decides to sprawl itself athwart the path? Without a good light I might not see it in time. I don\’t want to have my bicycle chomped in two, much less my leg. The ocean isn\’t the only place where you have to watch out for Jaws. Here it\’s simply Jaws Cajun style.

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Cycling Hall of Fame

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Welcome to the Cycling Hall of Fame. Baseball. Football. Basketball. It seems that every sport has its Hall of Fame. Cycling is no exception. That Eddy Merckx has a place there doesn\’t surprise me. He was the greatest rider of his generation. Some say he\’s the greatest cyclist ever. OK, so how does one get into the HoF? It\’s about more than being a champion rider; more than winning an Olympic gold medal; or even winning the Tour de France. For the mountain bike folks, it goes like this. There\’s also this way. I\’ll never make it into the Cycling Hall of Fame, unless riding a century on an adult trike counts! But I might not be the only one who ever did that, and I didn\’t do it to raise funds for a worthy cause. I just wanted to see if I could do it; and I did!

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Waxing Poetic

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Sometimes I find myself waxing poetic. Of course I\’ll never hold a candle to Longfellow, or Milton, or Poe. All the same, I occasionally get into the mood to try my hand, or rather my keyboard, at a bit of haiku. So here\’s a bicycle haiku: Bicycle wobbles Rider does not go bonkers Bicycle stays up Pretty corny, huh? Years ago, when I had my cats, I thought up a cat haiku: Today kitty purrs Yesterday she spat at me Kitty is fickle As long as you aren\’t focusing on a race, or trying to ride alongside traffic and stay in one piece, a nice, long bicycle ride seems like a good opportunity to reflect on life, your philosophy of cycling, nature, or whatever.  The genesis of a poem, or blog, or your next letter to a friend, might come up out of nowhere. Maybe you\’ll see something that will inspire you: a rabbit, a blue heron in flight, the moon setting over a river. Then you\’ll find yourself waxing poetic. Use all your senses Learn the beauty of nature Compose a haiku

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Raiding the Fridge

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Meal prep means raiding the fridge; and raiding the pantry, too. For once I took the time to fix a proper supper: a stir-fry. From the fridge, half a medium zucchini, thinly sliced; ditto one-quarter of a small red onion; and I minced a clove of garlic. Yesterday I cooked a pot of brown rice, and I got out some of that. There were peas in the freezer, and I used some of them, too. And I had ground ginger and soy sauce on hand. Now for the pantry. I opened a 5-oz can of chicken breast and used half of it.  Last time I made stir-fry I forgot the can of sliced water chestnuts, but today I remembered it. Again, I used half of it. The prep, as always, took longer than the cooking. I heated a teaspoon or two or coconut oil in my large skillet. First the onion went in; then the zucchini. Then, just before adding the rice/chicken/water chestnuts/peas, I put in the garlic. Be careful when you use garlic in anything sauteed or fried. It burns easily; and then the whole dish has a weird, bitter taste. After I had put in the rice mixture, I kept stirring it to heat it all well, and added the soy sauce. It sure was nice to have a REAL supper, even though it meant raiding the fridge!

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RAAM

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RAAM When I hear “RAAM”, a bighorn sheep is what I think of first.  Since the route goes through the Rockies, maybe the riders will glimpse one of these sheep. Merely qualifying to take part in RAAM in the first place is no mean feat, it seems. Be able to average 10.5 mph? Sure, I can ride at that pace; but not for hours every day, day after day. And I most certainly can’t climb that fast! The route crosses several mountain ranges; and I suspect there would be some killer grades. If I were to tackle RAAM, I might well want a lighter-weight bike. And one with a triple crankset, with chain rings smaller than the crankset I currently have on my road bike. Whoa, there!  I’m getting far, far ahead of  myself. I’ve never done a single race; and I’m envisioning myself doing the Race Across America? How does one prepare? Where would I find a crew? Spend $5000 to ride across the country? I haven’t got money like that. Ride up to twelve days on as little as 1.5 hours of sleep per night? RAAM has been called “a contest of sleep deprivation”; and that aspect of the race sounds like a real drag. But if I could stay awake, it might actually be fun to “ram” my way across the country.

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Sunday Ride

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Sunday Ride How about a Sunday ride to land’s end? I see a road; but what would the wind be like riding out to the end of this landspit? Or should I say, “cliff”? In this pic it looks like it’s a dead calm; but is it like that all the time? When I set out for my ride today, I thought the wind felt stronger than the 8 mph that I saw in the forecast last night. It isn’t the first time I’ve gotten that impression, and have been correct: after I got home, I found that the wind had been 15-16 mph! As so often happens after my long Sunday ride, I developed lightheadedness/orthostatic hypotension an hour or so after getting home. When I mentioned it to my primary care physician, he recommended hydration and compression socks. I didn’t wear the compression socks for the ride, but put them on shortly after the ride (and after washing off several layers of sunblock). After about an hour, I noticed that the same  old lightheadedness, etc. was creeping in, anyway. I decided to try a salt tablet, and took off the compression socks. I hydrate during any ride, especially the weekly long ride. Today I put in a little over 40 miles; and I drank about 2 liters of water, and 18-20 oz electrolyte drink. I don’t believe that was too little; I keep having to “visit Mrs. Murphy”. So I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe a shot of dill pickle juice will help.

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