SpokEasy

October 2019

It Can Be Rough

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It can be rough being a pro cyclist. For all I\’ve read about it, such a life is no walk in the park. Training, sometimes in the cold and the rain. Pushing hard, but keeping from burning out. Recovery. Keeping tabs on the diet. (It\’s about more than Clif Bars and Zym). Any career has its \”worst part\”. Certainly being a professional ballet dancer does (see at about 0:25 minutes). I suppose that being any sort of pro athlete is similar: your life has to revolve around it. An event such as the Tour de France makes it look like pro cycling is just riding around fast on cool-looking bicycles but, as we no doubt all know, it\’s about much more than that. We don\’t see what goes on behind the scenes: the core work; the stretching; rehab following injuries; and even, so I\’ve read, having to be where doping control personnel can find you at any time for random testing. That last one sounds rather creepy, like Big Brother Is Watching You. Oh, and the rules, Rules, RULES!! So yes, it can be rough. Very rough, indeed! Compared to the life of a pro cyclist, we ordinary riders have it easy, no matter how hard or long we\’re riding.          

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Hear That, Hitchcock?

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Hear That Hitchcock? Did you hear that, Hitchcock? Or you, Rossini? When we think of animal attacks on cyclists, most of us think of dogs before anything else, don’t we? In some regions, I suppose you’d need to keep an eye out for cougars. Or even bears! But attack birds? Oh, yes; with potentially tragic consequences. I had never thought about magpies acting like attack birds. As a matter of fact, I generally don’t think of magpies. There aren’t any where I live. Mockingbirds will swoop at cats and dogs. Many a time I’ve seen one chasing a crow through the air. Mockingbirds will even swoop at people. I had one diving at my head once, and I supposed there was a young nearby. Sure enough, “Junior” started to cry for food about then. This was long before I began riding, which is a good thing. I heard the swoosh of wings several times before I finally caught sight of the bird, and it was a bit unnerving. Maybe that’s what happened in the case of that poor man in Australia; all the more as the magpie is a big bird. So did you hear that, Hitchcock? When you’re out for a ride, don’t forget to Beware of the Birds.

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Climate Ride

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Recently I learned about Climate Ride. It came about towards the end of the Cycle September challenge when, to my surprise, I received an email notifying me that I was a Climate Rider. The message said that, for riding 300 or more miles during the Challenge, I had a 20% discount. It could be used towards any of Climate Ride\’s excursions within the USA. Unfortunately all of these events take place far from home. It would be most ironic if I [GASP!!] used a CO2-belching car to get to a Climate Ride! Another catch is that fund-raising is a major part of Climate Ride events. Even raising $200 (or was it $250?) for Tour de Cure has always been very difficult for me. I know people raise money through Facebook, but I don\’t yet have sufficient traffic for such a venture. There\’s always the training-up aspect. Am I ready for the mileage involved? Some of those rides have days when the distance to be covered is up to, or over, 100 miles. If I could do a Climate Ride, I think I might like to go for either the Bar Harbor or Glacier ride. As to the \”less waste\” part of Climate Ride\’s Mission, how would they feel about riders packing along Clif Bars, GU-Gels, and so on? All that waste packaging!! I can always think about it. Maybe even put a Climate Ride on my bucket list!

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Souplesse

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Souplesse? Is it time for supper? Cycling sure has its fancy terms. “Souplesse”, for one. It sounds to me like something concocted by Julia Child, and served up in a sterling silver tureen set upon a fine tablecloth! I try my best to use a smooth pedal stroke, but I wonder how close my pedaling technique is to souplesse. One marvelously windless morning, during the final mile of my ride, I had a go at pushing it up to 20 mph. I made it, and even kept it up for a few seconds. My pedaling, however, was starting to feel on the jerky side. Compare that to pro tour riders who maintain smooth pedaling for hours, while flying along at 25 mph or more! Some pro riders are held up as fine examples of souplesse. Others, it is said, had big success despite a lack of it. So how much does it matter? Smooth, even pedaling is a more efficient use of your energy. If you have access to a WattBike, it shows you whether you\’re using your left and right legs evenly. I\’m not all that crazy about indoor riding, but it\’s interesting see exactly what your legs are doing. If you\’re really after high-grade souplesse, that WattBike might be helpful.

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Relief

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I could use some relief right now. That pulled hamstring is still bothering me. Maybe a cold pack like this would help? I can be relived that I wasn\’t working up to the local edition of Bike MS. It takes place this coming weekend, and it looks like my leg won\’t be ready for so much action by day after tomorrow. I did Bike MS in 2013, and the route is rather hilly!  It\’s also 150 miles in two days. I\’m not even sure I\’ll be up to a two-mile ride to meet some friends for lunch Saturday. This morning I tried a short, easy ride on the road bike. I had to go back home before I\’d ridden  half a mile! To complicate things, walking also bothers that leg. If I had a car, driving might bother it, too. At least I\’ll be on vacation/staycation the next two weeks. I\’ll have a chance to give the leg some rest. I hope to be back at riding before long, or I\’ll lose a lot of the conditioning that I finally seemed to have developed. Really, I\’d rather have fallen and scraped up both knees when I tripped last Thursday, than have this pulled hamstring. Skin seems to heal much more quickly than muscles, especially at my age. Speaking of cold packs, our weather is still hot. At 8 pm it\’s still 87 degrees! I think they expect a cold front next week. That will bring some relief from this heat.

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Over 40 ?

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OK, so I\’m over 40. Let\’s tackle these questions. If a birthday cake shaped like a bicycle wheel is what you want — why not? Celebrate the kid in you! A bicycle more expensive than a car? If that\’s what you want to do with your money, it\’s YOUR money. Why do they care how much your bicycle cost, anyway? You don\’t HAVE to stare at the rear of the cyclist right in front of you. In fact, all I\’ve read about drafting warns against staring at the wheel/rider right in front of you! So you think that\’s a spare tire under my jersey? Spare me the comments about my weight! What makes anybody think that my bicycle cost five thousand? And if I rode only once a month I would never have bought a road bike. I\’d have stuck with the hybrid for all riding. Your \”other\” doesn\’t want to take a cycling trip around the world? Maybe you can persuade him/her to join you. Or maybe go solo. A burger? Well, maybe. But I\’ll skip the pint. Why do you think I\’m not \”normal\” because I don\’t like beer? Besides, I need to ride sober. How much do the owners of those bargain-basement bikes ride? How long will those cheap bicycles last? I\’d probably wear one out in six months. I KNOW that every rider goes down sooner or later. And you don\’t fall OFF a bike; you fall WITH it. Especially when you ride clip-ins. Why would anyone think I spent that much on a jersey? And what\’s with the notion that muesli, Clif Bars, etc. taste like sawdust? Even if they did, we\’ve gotta keep fueled. Hey, I DO wash my cycling shorts after each use. If I want to wear a jersey for several rides before laundering it, so what? No, I DON\’T shave my legs every day, and what of it? We Over 40 folks need some sharp answers. And what other snappy comebacks can you think of?    

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Another One for Cycling!

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Another One for Cycling! You can chalk up over another one for cycling! Help for Heroes sounds fantastic. I hadn’t thought about cycling as a means of working through PTSD. Maybe part of it is the good old endorphins? And getting out into fresh air. Finding that, even if your legs won’t let you ride a bicycle, your arms can! Take the case of Paddy. Being told he’d never walk again. PTSD on top of it. Cycling, even if it’s hand-cycling, lets him get outdoors and be active. I’m sure it also gives him a much-needed sense of accomplishment. How many of us get in our miles by HAND power? Andy hasn’t had an easy time, either. A bum knee; infection following surgery; and developing Chron’s, too. Exercise can help to manage Chron’s, and is easy on the knees; so I hope Andy can keep at it. Jacko amazes me. I’m not sure I’d have the gumption to try to ride a bicycle if I were to lose an arm, even with such a prosthesis as he has. The braking and shifting systems for his bike sound ingenious. Even for those of us who haven’t suffered such trauma, riding a bicycle can work wonders. It can help with weight control. Ride to work; and if you’re feeling grouchy by the time you head back home, you can ride off those blues. You can bring home the groceries, using rack and panniers. If nothing else, riding a bicycle is just plain fun. I’m glad that those veterans don’t have to miss out. Kudos to them and their helpers. In the scoring of things, that’s another one for cycling!

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Vertically Challenged

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This view can make anybody feel vertically challenged. But what about we who are — well — short, and who ride bicycles? Toe overlap is the item on this list that really resonates with me. My hybrid has a 34 cm frame, and often enough a tight turn has had my front wheel touching my toes. I have to be very cautious about that. My road bike\’s frame is 47 cm, I believe, but I still have the toe overlap problem. Why, when the frame is bigger? I guess it has to do with the frame\’s geometry. I asked at the bike shop about the possibility of getting a smaller front wheel. They said that a smaller wheel would mean re-doing the front brake, so I decided to leave things as they were. I don\’t have  car; but if I did, and used a roof rack for my bicycles, I bet I would need a stool to stand on! I\’m not merely short at five-foot-zilch, I have short legs as well. Luckily I\’m not all that inflexible. I sure can\’t do the splits anymore, though. Borrow someone else\’s bike? My short legs might not be able to handle it. If they want to make fun of my bicycles\’ sizes, let \’em laugh. I can ride my bicycles, and that\’s what matters. I know almost nothing about \’cross, but barriers up to the knees would be a problem. I\’m sure I\’d have to almost stop and carefully step over, needing to raise my knees almost up to my chin! I don\’t even try to carry a pump on my road bike\’s frame. There simply isn\’t room. But, let\’s cheer up. Being vertically challenged isn\’t all bad. I\’m far less likely to hit my head against door frames than someone who is six-foot-seven.    

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