SpokEasy

June 2019

When Long Is Short

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When long is short? How does that happen? Long is long; and short is another story, right? Sunday, as a rule, is long ride day. Today, however, I decided I wouldn\’t try to knock out 40-45 miles. During the past week there were one or two days when my morning ride was much shorter than usual. Last Thursday I was so tired and sleepy that I skipped it. Thus I figured it really would not be wise to push myself too far today. I decided to shoot for 30 or so miles, and got in a bit  over 32 miles. That is when long is short. I actually felt pretty good, and was tempted to go farther. I hit 19+ mph while passing some other riders. All the same, I stuck to my plan. That\’s part of training, after all! On the way back home I tried riding more easily with five miles still go. I want to see whether I\’ll have less trouble with post-exertional hypotension. It\’s worth a try. Today I tried some new ride food: This Bar Saves Lives. I found them on sale for 50 cents each, and bought a couple: one Dark Chocolate  Cherry, and one Madagascar Vanilla Almond & Honey. Not surprisingly, I like the chocolate kind better. The vanilla one seems too dry and crumbly, although it tastes good. The trouble with the chocolate one, naturally, is that the chocolate got rather melt-y and messy. It\’s hot today!

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Third Eye

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A third eye sounds like a creepy something from a horror movie doesn\’t it? Or a fairy tale. In bicycling, the \”third eye\” is the navel, as discussed on pg. 2-3 of Get Fast! Prior to reading the book, I knew that you should look where you want your bike to go; but had never heard of the \”third eye\”. I believe it\’s this same book that says, you ultimately steer your bike with your hips. I try to remember those things when I\’m making a turn, even it isn\’t a tight, hairpin one. Come to think of it, the hips must be how to steer a unicycle. With no handlebars, the rider\’s got to do something to steer as well as to remain upright. Add turning into the equation, and the unicyclist must need a well-developed third eye. I suppose the only way to develop a good third eye is lots of practice. These more technical aspects of cycling are where I fall short. I\’m too busy just getting in my riding! Moreover, such techniques would be better practiced in daylight.

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Think of Something Else

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I\’ve got to think of something else! Now that I have my Store up, I thought it might be helpful to create a second slide with buttons for departments for various types of merchandise. So, I created pages for bicycles and equipment (such as lights); clothing; and so on. Then I made the slide, linking each page to the appropriate button. After I got all that done, I checked it out in the actual web site. I found that the pages load VERY slowly, and not all the pics show up!  That won\’t be very helpful to prospective customers, so I had to think of something else. I decided to delete that slide, and put the Shop button back in the Store slide. Besides, there\’s that little Search box, so having departments would be rather redundant. Now to get back to stocking my store!

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Refresher

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Feel like you need a refresher? You know how sometimes going for your ride seems like a drag. It happens. What can we do about it? Several things. There are times when we simply need a break from the bicycle. We can do something else: go for a run (I\’m not into running, because I have arthritis in my knees), or for a long walk. Some of us like to go for a swim. Or we might need to take a rest from all activities. We aren\’t inexhaustible machines, after all. As one of my cycling books says, it\’s natural to have times when motivation ebbs, and don\’t fight these times.  Don\’t force yourself to ride no matter what, or you\’re risking  burnout, and possibly injury. The result of burnout might be abandoning cycling altogether. If you find you\’re tired all the time, and your legs feel heavy and sore, let yourself have some time away from the bike. A brief break from riding is a good refresher; the desire to ride returns.

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Dutch Reach

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Do the Dutch reach for things differently than we in the USA? Perhaps. There\’s more to Holland than canals, windmills and wooden shoes, it seems. From thence we get the \”Dutch reach\” method of opening car doors prior to exiting. I hope you’ve never been “doored” while cycling. The possibility is why I ride away from traffic if I can, and feel nervous when I can’t avoid it. Years ago I was reading a web site about cycling safety. It told of an incident – I don’t remember where – in which a young woman was riding a bicycle along a street. Someone flung open a car door right in front of her, and she wasn’t able to stop in time. The impact literally threw her under the wheels of a bus. I think it said she died instantly. Drivers, please remember that there are cyclists out there. They’re trying to get to work; to the grocery store; home from work at the end of the day. They want to get where they’re going in one piece. They might be in a hurry, just like you.  Open the vehicle doors with caution. Here’s where the Dutch Reach is useful. I can see the sense of it. Even if it takes a few seconds longer to do, those moments are worth it. You could literally save a life.

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New Look!

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SpokEasy has a new look! I do hope that I\’m not repeating myself here, though. \”For All Cyclists\” and \”In My Humble Opinion…\” have been combined as Cyclist Essentials. And the brand new feature: an Amazon Affiliates store. I admit that the store is rather a jumble at this point. I want to create \”departments\” for the various types of merchandise (bikes, clothing, etc.), so things will be easier to find. Maybe it was jumping the gun, but I wanted to get the store up and running. There are so many products that browsing through all of them would be a time-consuming chore. For someone who is in a hurry, that\’s quite a headache; and who isn\’t in a rush these days? Sorry this post is so short, but I can\’t think of anything more to say; except that I hope you enjoy the new look.    

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Magic Number?

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Is there a magic number out there? Ten thousand seems to crop up a lot. For example, we hear about getting in ten thousand steps a day. It\’s dismaying to see that I can put in several hours\’ riding at an average cadence of 81 — and still not reach the equivalent of FIVE thousand steps! A web site I was reading about cyclist training says it takes 10,000 hours of practice/training to become proficient. Naturally I wondered how many hours of cycling I\’ve put in since November 2009. Except for my century rides (trike, hybrid, and road bike) I don\’t seem to have records of ride times prior to 2013. Luckily I had a \”totals\” page for each year, 2013-2018, in the 3-ring binder where I keep my weekly logs. It didn\’t take long for me to add up the hours. Grand total, 2816:24:07. I\’ll have to guess when it comes to November 2009 through to the end of 2012, and that\’s going to be some very wild guessing. Even if I got in 300 hours each year for 2010-2012, my total hours from Day One aren\’t even halfway to 10,o00. So I\’ve got quite a way to go before I reach that magic number of 10,000 hours, and am \”proficient\”! And what about cyclists who want to improve, but are very short on time? The Time-Crunched Cyclist might help. I admit that I haven\’t tried it, but it sounds like it would be interesting; and let\’s face it, we\’re all time-crunched these days.  

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Behind the Scenes

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Behind the Scenes Let’s take a peek behind the scenes. What all goes on at a Grand Tour race that spectators don’t see? Stage races aren’t merely a group of cyclists deciding on the spur of the moment to race each other to the next coffee shop. Just as a lot goes on behind the scenes in the theatre, a stage race has a lot going on behind the scenes to keep the race up and running. The directeur sportif has a big job on his hands. It sounds like he (or maybe she) has to keep track of many aspects of the race at the same time. The chef/nutritionist, too, has a big job. Not only the riders, but everybody else connected with the team needs to be fed. In particular, the riders are eating practically every minute that they’re awake. They have to, in order to keep fueled; even though they reach the point where continuing to eat feels like force-feeding. Mechanics keep all the bicycles clean and in running order. Considering that each rider is likely to have several bicycles, that’s a LOT of work! Coaches’ work, I guess, is largely done by the time of the Grand Depart. They’re the ones whose guidance hones a rider’s fitness, technique, and so on. The bus driver gets the team from the end of one stage to the beginning of the next. Then there are the soigneurs, team doctors, etcetera. It’s definitely a full cast!

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Brick and Mortar

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Brick and mortar? Who uses them to build a store these days? We hear about the brick and mortar store going the way of the dinosaur. Yes, folks, my long-planned Amazon store is up. I have links to products that Amazon sells all over this web site, both in pages and in blogs. Having all of those products listed in one place would make it much easier for someone who is interested in a specific item, but doesn\’t want to browse through an entire web site. I\’ve been debating whether to group them by category: food and drink, clothing, bicycles, and so on. I keep coming up one idea; discarding it; and developing a new plan. Its sort of like tackling house-building without a blueprint. Nobody needs to be a genius to know that that is not a good idea. I\’m sure I would have to tear down and start over so many times that I\’d ruin all my building materials! No doubt I\’ll be adding new items from time to time. Just like a real brick and mortar store! Incidentally, I hope the \”B&M\” doesn\’t die out in my lifetime.  

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Please Pardon the Hiccups

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Please pardon the hiccups of this site. No — no tippling going on here. I\’m working on modifications to the site, but hope to be done shortly. Thanks for your patience! I\’ve been learning that having a web site is far from build-it-and-laissez-faire. Quite the opposite, in fact. Sometimes links break; sometimes I want to edit a text. I might change my mind about the picture on a slide. And always, the blog posts! It can be easy for me to spend so much time on this editing that everything else (except for cycling) gets pushed aside. I get so busy with it that preparing and eating proper meals is neglected. When I\’m working on a new idea, I\’m frantic to complete it NOW, before I can forget what I planned. Sometimes I do have to stop something mid-stride. After all, I\’ve got to sleep sometime! That\’s where the hiccups come in. So please pardon the hiccups. They won\’t last forever.

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