SpokEasy

August 2020

The Buckeye State

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The Buckeye State This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” We haven’t visited the Buckeye State yet. How about taking a ride there now? We could start with the Ohio River Trail. The ORT has two components: the Ohio River Water Trail, and the proposed Ohio River Greenway Trail. The greenway trail would interconnect already existing trails in Ohio and several surrounding states. Another possibility is the Lake Erie section of the Great Lakes Trail. In 8 days of riding (9 days total), you’ll cycle the 582 miles around the perimeter of this lake. Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Niagara Falls; and roll through rural Ontario as well as along the Buckeye State shore. If water trips aren’t your thing, don’t despair. Ohio offers other possibilities. The capital city of Columbus alone, for example, has 11 different trails. Surfaces range from asphalt to concrete to gravel. Lots to choose from! ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is; and I hope I can provide a bit of inspiration.   Along the way, I got into blogging; presenting my kitchen experiments; and even setting up a store. You can visit my Facebook page here; or check into my Twitter (aka X) page, Cyclo_Pathy. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional. FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL ✍🏻 Facebook Twitter Youtube Surging? October 23, 2024 Rainy Day Ideas October 22, 2024 In versus Out October 21, 2024 Almost! October 20, 2024 Load More TRANSLATOR

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Rainbow Ride

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I love a rainbow ride! Much of the sky looked stormy when I set out this morning. I didn\’t care for the appearance of the clouds, and as usual I was concerned about the possibility of lightning. But that didn\’t stop me from riding. It was still quite early; before 7 am. When the sun began rising above the horizon, it created rainbows in the clouds! Partial rainbows, anyhow. They came and went, according to the amount of sunlight. At one point there were two at once, in different parts of the sky. That\’s a real rarity! The smaller segment was brightly colored. The larger arc was paler, but still easy enough to see. For most of this rainbow ride, the wind was very light. That\’s another rarity. More than once I could see rain in the distance, and could only hope that it would stay in the distance. Fortunately, it did. The worst that I got was a light sprinkle here and there. The overcast was a welcome change. I don\’t realize how much blazing sunshine saps my energy until a day like today. About two miles before I got back home the sun came fully out for a few minutes; and the difference was immediately apparent. About then the wind started to kick up, too. It made forward progress seem very difficult, and I was glad that I had only two miles to go; not twenty-two! Incidentally, I seem to be doing something differently when it comes to pedaling. Whatever it is, I\’m feeling my hamstrings more than I used to. After I was home, I made my new culinary invention: Mayocoba Madness! Now of course I have to clean up the kitchen. 🙁 I\’d rather be riding.

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The Learning Curve

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The learning curve is something that we deal with all our lives. Every time we begin something new, there\’s that **** curve staring us in the face again! Cycling, of course, is no exception. The learning curve for a beginning cyclist can seem steep and endless. I never rode much when I was a kid, so as an adult beginner I got the full brunt of it. I had no muscle memory to go on, and had to start from scratch. An important part of learning how to ride a bike as an adult is: make up your mind that you won\’t let yourself feel silly; and that you won\’t let the occasional tumble embarrass you. I suspect that getting such mental blocks out of the way is actually physically helpful. When I first got my hybrid, I started with glide biking. That activity is something that most people think is for young children; indeed, for toddlers! Thus my remark about deciding that you won\’t let yourself feel silly. Don\’t feel that you must adhere to a certain time table, either. Take your time. Let your strength and handling skills build up before worrying about speed. After all, you don\’t want to get hurt and have to stay off the bike for several weeks! Start with short, easy rides; long rides will come. Start learning about long-distance cycling well before that first long jaunt. Experiment with \”ride foods\”, electrolyte drinks, and so on. Figure out how to dress for various weather conditions. Above all: Have Fun!

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Released!

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I\’ve been released! For a couple of days I didn\’t quite dare to go riding as usual. Weather forecasts were dire: \”Tropical storm conditions possible\”, and such statements. I didn\’t want to risk being unable to ride back home if the wind got too strong for me. It feel great to get outdoors and ride again! Today is Friday, too, which makes it even better! Locally, we\’ve been released from worrying about Hurricane Laura. We were very lucky. Unfortunately thousands of others have much to worry about. Of course Hurricane Laura caused plenty of damage; and sadly, the death toll is rising. After I clocked out from work-at-home and shut down the work laptop, I decided to get Chinese takeout. I think I was tired and stressed more than I was actually hungry. The ride to get my supper got me outside and moving, which helped me to feel better. While outdoors, I saw a big cloud towards the West that seemed to be building up rapidly. Fifteen minutes after I got back home, I noticed that it was getting darker outside. I was glad I had ridden my hybrid to get that Chinese food, instead of walking; but I suppose my bike trunk will smell like fried rice for a while! It looks like the weather will be OK tomorrow morning. I want to ride to Wal-Mart for a few things. Maybe I can get what I want there, and go to the salvage store afterwards! I\’ve never done that before, but there should be no reason why I can\’t.

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The Day After

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The day after is not, I would say, a time to be happy when a big, powerful hurricane has just passed over. Naturally there are people who are thankful that they didn\’t come out of the storm as badly as they might have; but those who must rebuild I\’m sure aren\’t jumping for joy. New Orleans so far has had minimal impact from Laura, but we aren\’t quite out of the woods yet. We were under a tornado watch much of the day, and there was still a wind advisory. The day after has been gray and overcast locally, with some thunder here and there. The only \”riding\” I got was 15 minutes in the trainer at lunchtime. I was glad I hadn\’t tried to go for a ride, however short, outdoors. It began to rain and the lightning began to act up as well. Laura is now downgraded to a tropical storm, and is moving into Arkansas. That was one mean storm, too. Reports of storm-related fatalities are beginning to emerge. A chemical plant in southwestern Louisiana caught fire; something about all the rain causing a reaction with the chemicals. And hurricane season still has three full months left! If only we could be sure that cycling would help keep hurricanes away, I bet there would be many people doing much more riding.

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Round Two?

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Here comes Round Two of bad weather. It\’s not a very good time to pump up those tires and roll. Marco amounted to little or nothing in my neck of the woods. We aren\’t exactly home free, though. Hurricane Laura is expected go go ashore tonight or early tomorrow. We won\’t get the full brunt of it, but we\’re under a wind advisory until tomorrow evening; and heavy rain is expected. Am I cowardly for not feeling like going out to ride in 1) heavy rain; and 2) a wind of 20-25 mph? I got very little riding this morning, so there\’s one day lost already. I had decided to go ride in the park, in case the weather turned nasty. Halfway there, I remembered that I hadn\’t picked up a mask before leaving home. I decided to go to the park; ride around once; and go back home. I think the lack of activity is why I got so antsy today. In addition, Wednesday is one of the days when I work on-site. It takes a third of my lunch hour to get back home (if I walk); and by the third consecutive day of that, I\’m feeling the strain.😒 The stress might be why I got such a hankering after ice cream. I resisted for several hours; but after I clocked out, I rode to the drug store to get some of the sweet stuff. I was extravagant and bought two boxes of Talenti®. Round two of storms; round two of gelato! I\’m trying to be good and save it for tomorrow and the next day. Maybe even into Saturday! Think of it as a hurricane party! But let\’s hope there won\’t be a power outage.

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Anticlimax

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What an anticlimax this has been. After all the tension and preparations of yesterday, Tropical Storm Marco fizzled out just off the Louisiana coast. It makes me feel like a deflated balloon. But the \”excitement\” isn\’t entirely over. Hurricane Laura is out there, which means we still need to be alert. Laura is expected to strike at the Louisiana/Texas border, but SE Louisiana isn\’t off the hook entirely. Tropical storm conditions are possibly by tomorrow night; and for all I know, Laura is still far enough off-shore that a last-minute change in direction isn\’t impossible. But let\’s not get off-topic here. How does an anticlimax come into cycling? For me, that\’s how I felt after each century ride. As I finally hit that magical number of 100 miles, I experienced a major thrill: I DID IT!!! But then, soon afterwards, something in me said: Okay. I rode 100 miles today. It almost didn\’t seem like such a big deal, after all; the thrill died down quickly. Is that how the winner of the yellow jersey feels upon reaching the Champs Elysees? We see Olympic gold medalists standing on the winner\’s platform; on the top of the world, one might think. But what\’s going on inside of their heads? I\’ve read of them thinking, Well — what do I do next? We need to keep setting new goals for ourselves; we need something to work towards. That helps keep the post-triumph let-down, aka anticlimax, from getting us down.

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The Calm Before?

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The calm before the storm. That old expression, come to think of it, has a rather ominous ring to it. It conjures up visions of something waiting to pounce. This morning I overslept, and didn\’t get to ride before I had to clock in to (remote) work. The sky then was only lightly covered by thin, high, white clouds; and the wind wasn\’t particularly strong. In fact, a breeze of 10 mph really isn\’t too bad. By mid- to late morning, the sky was mostly clear. That surprised me. I expected that the clouds would constantly become thicker and thicker; and much darker. The calm before the storm, I thought again. By this time, however, the wind had strengthened to 18-20 mph. That\’s not so calm, as far as I\’m concerned. At lunchtime, I hooked the hybrid into the trainer and pedaled for 25-30 minutes. I decided against going for a short ride outdoors, because I didn\’t want to lose time while I applied sunblock. The wind would have presented me with quite a struggle, anyway. At 5 pm the clouds looked rather threatening, and it was beginning to drizzle. The arrival of the storm\’s outer bands, I thought. I re-checked the NHC site, and real tropical storm conditions are still a few hours away. I believe they said that Marco weakened somewhat. That\’s good news for us all, but Tropical Storm Laura is the one we\’ve really got to watch now. To make it harder, there won\’t be time to clean up after Marco before Laura arrives! Two tropical systems in the Gulf at one time is a rare event. I\’m sure that weather buffs are keeping a close watch — as is everybody else in hurricane-prone areas.

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Watch and Wait

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Watch and wait is all I can do now. I have lots of canned goods; bottled water; and paper goods. I hope we don\’t have much of a power outage, but at least some time without \”juice\” is 99% certain. I suppose the hurricane hunters are being kept busy. They\’ve got two storms to monitor! I don\’t envy the pilots of hurricane hunter planes the job. Marco is still heading right for us. So far he\’s a minimal hurricane, which is good. At 13 mph, he\’s moving fairly fast. Tropical storm or even hurricane conditions could set in as early as tomorrow; apparently Marco is moving faster than expected. It\’s watch and wait for tomorrow\’s ride, too. I\’ll see what the weather is like early in the morning. If it\’s calm enough, maybe I\’ll dare a short ride. But not on top of the levee! I\’ll go to the park to ride; and I\’ll use the hybrid, which has fenders. Staying in the park to ride lets me stay fairly close to home. If the weather starts to worsen, I won\’t be six miles from shelter. Even riding in the park is a gamble when a hurricane is snooping around. If the wind suddenly rises from, say, 10 mph to 70 mph, I\’ll be in big trouble. There I go pipe-dreaming again. I know that it\’s safer to stay home when a hurricane is approaching. Time to resign myself to riding indoors.

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On the Alert

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We\’re all on the alert now. Everyone on or near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico has an uneasy eye on TS Marco. My hometown appears to be the bull\’s eye, too. We\’re under hurricane watch, and tropical storm warning. When I was a kid, I thought it would be exciting to experience the eye of a hurricane: to have the wind suddenly die, and the rain stop; to step outside for a minute to see a clear sky. Nowadays the advice says, do NOT go outdoors during the eye of a hurricane unless it\’s a true necessity. If you really do have to go outdoors, stay on the alert! This calm can end very abruptly, and you don\’t want to get caught away from shelter when the wind and rain return. This morning I rode, but made it much shorter than my usual Sunday ride. There were thunderheads here and there on the horizon. For all I knew, they were an indication of Marco\’s approach. I wish I were more adept at reading Nature! The forecast is for tropical storm conditions by tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I do not intend to go for a ride in such weather. It\’s hard enough for me to control a bicycle when the wind is 20 mph. And tropical storm force winds? Only as a tailwind. Otherwise, no, thank you! Perhaps the prospect of being cooped up indoors in terrible weather is why I have a hankering after a special lunch. I can take a short ride on the hybrid to get take-out. Chinese food? A sandwich? Whatever I choose to get, I\’ll take along the poncho, and stay on the alert for changes in the weather.

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