SpokEasy

December 2020

IT WORKED!

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It worked! I had my fingers crossed much of yesterday afternoon. Late morning, the forecast predicted partly cloudy skies by evening. I was much worried that my view of the Great Culmination would be spoiled. But I got lucky. The forecast changed to mostly clear. I set out about 5 pm, before it was fully dark; and did some easy-ish riding for two miles or so. Then I turned back, because there were too many trees at my turnaround point. I stopped at a spot that\’s about 1.5 miles from home; and got out my compass. I found SW; and waited. Before long, I saw what looked like a star, with a small and fainter star very close to it. I figured that had to be it! This wasn\’t as big or as bright as I had thought it would be. I forgot that I wasn\’t looking for Venus! I\’m glad it was farther from the horizon that I expected. There were wispy clouds there, and they were gradually climbing up the sky. I watched for a good 20 minutes; then decided to head back home. It was something of a nail-biter because there were so many people out there. Most or all of them without any reflective material, and no lights. Many of them in the bike path; and some of them SITTING there! I know they wanted it dark so they could sky-watch; but come on, people! I guess they aren\’t up there on the levee enough to know that it\’s a bike path; not a picnic ground. So if things aren\’t looking so rosy, try crossing your fingers. This time, at least, it worked.

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Crossing My Fingers

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I\’m crossing my fingers, big time. The forecast predicts partly cloudy skies by this evening. That doesn\’t bode well for astronomical viewing. All I can do is hope for the best. I took the hybrid to the shop this morning, hauling the trailer along. All the guys in the shop needed to do was adjust the rear brake a little; and they said the trailer probably didn\’t have anything to do with it. So I got a bit of luck there. Since I had the trailer, I made a stop at the drug store and got a rather big (size-wise) load: I stocked up on Diet Coke; got a gallon jug of water; and a pack of bathroom tissue. It wasn\’t many items, but paper goods can be very bulky. Now that the hybrid is A-OK, I can go for a ride 😊 I think I\’ll wait a bit; I don\’t have to hurry. The wind isn\’t bad; and the temperature is close to 60 degrees. I\’m glad it\’s no colder; but it\’s still chilly enough for leg warmers. Those things can be a problem; and of course there\’s my sniffly nose. Crossing my fingers doesn\’t help with that; in fact, NOTHING does! It looks like the weather will be OK for riding tomorrow, too. I\’m tempted to head for Walmart; but if I go there, I\’d better go very early. The place is probably a madhouse now, with everybody trying to get Christmas shopping finished! On second thought, Boxing Day might be better. It will be crazy then, too; but I might be able to get cut-rate greeting cards to keep for next year. On-sale candy I\’d better skip; pre-diabetes doesn\’t take holidays, more\’s the pity. Well — I\’d better get ready to ride!

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Incentive

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I need some incentive; a goal to work towards. It might help me to get out and on the bicycle these cold mornings! It\’s more than seven years since I last did a century ride. My major motivation then was just to see whether I could do it. Is it time I worked up to another 100-miler? I would like to be able to complete a century in under eight hours; and that means I need to get faster! Unfortunately my attempts at improving my pace have a way of falling short. Am I not awake enough at 5:15 am for putting in speed work? Sometimes it seems like it. At the same time, riding before I have to go to work is the best way for me to be sure I do get to ride! Maybe I\’m too much of a sissy to make the longer efforts I need to ride at higher speeds. I\’ve never quite gotten over the concern that I\’ll push myself too hard and too often; that doesn\’t do anyone good. Am I overdoing this concern? For some months now I feel tired in general. Could it be the diet? I tend to get to bed later than I should; and that\’s no help. Add to that the cold weather. I feel sluggish when it\’s cold. An organized century ride is off the tables, but a self-supported century is possible; I know, because I did it four times! But do I have the incentive I need to train up for one? When do I want to tackle such a ride? Next April? I need a \”window\” when the cold weather is over; but it\’s not yet 80 degrees at 5 am. I must think about that one!

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Enforced Rest

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I\’m having an enforced rest. No, it isn\’t because of an injury. Not to me, anyhow; but both of my bicycles are laid up. The road bike is still in the shop for its tune-up. Then this morning, I hitched the trailer to the hybrid for a trip to the salvage store. As a result, the hybrid is now crippled! Again. What it is about the trailer that pulls the bicycle\’s rear brakes out of line? I never had this problem until the last few months — since the hybrid had a tune up. What happened there? I don\’t think that overloading is the trouble. This morning\’s load was about 25-30 pounds, I\’d guess; well below the 50-pound limit. At any rate, the hybrid\’s rear brakes are now rubbing the tire; and it makes no sense to try to ride the bike. I called the bike shop, and told them about it. They said I can bring the hybrid in on Monday morning, and they\’ll try to have a look at it. I plan to take the trailer, too. It might help them to figure out what the problem is if that trailer is hitched to the bike. I hope it\’s something that they can remedy quickly and easily. If I don\’t have a bicycle handy, it might be much harder to go out Monday evening to see the Great Conjunction! The forecast shows a good chance of rain tomorrow, with temperatures in the 50s. Lousy weather will help make my enforced rest a little more bearable; I won\’t miss riding quite as much if I don\’t feel like going out in the rain, anyhow. But for now, a lot of lunges, squats, and so on are in order!

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Christmas Coming

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It hardly feels like Christmas coming. The weather is wintry enough for me; but otherwise it doesn\’t really seem like holiday time. We all know the biggest reason for that: that notorious virus. Among other things, COVID-19 makes gatherings precarious. On December 25 I usually join the folks who lived down the block from my family when we were kids. This year, I don\’t quite dare. Online shopping is another way in which it doesn\’t seem like any special day is on the calendar. Whether it\’s Christmas coming; or someone\’s birthday; or an anniversary, there\’s something cold and impersonal about buying gifts online. Children\’s tricycles; special goodies; just about anything we want to find, we don\’t have to go to a brick-and-mortar store. The excitement of looking for that special something gets lost. Shipping gifts halfway across the country is a very different thing from tucking wrapped presents under a Tree. The sense of anticipation for unwrapping gifts with family simply isn\’t there. Besides, when we have to ship everything, most of us must put limits on the size and/or weight of each item. My front room is so cold that I stay out of it as much as I can. It\’s tolerable for indoor riding, when the activity will warm me up; but even if I had room for it, a Christmas tree wouldn\’t be much fun. Not if I have to bundle up to go sit next to it! I\’m now on holiday break; and don\’t have to return to work until January 4, 2021. It looks like the weather will be clear on the 21st, and hope to see the \”kiss\” in the sky. That would be a great Christmas gift!

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Cold Weather Woes

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Cold Weather Woes A polar bear I am not! Cold weather woes are abundant for me. To begin with, I’m not a polar bear. Even this one looks like it might not be too happy about the cold weather! I’m the type who gets cold easily; and the older I get, the more sensitive my head is to cold. I sure do need my helmet liner!   I’ve had wardrobe issues ever since it got cool enough for me to want leg warmers. Last February I weighed at least 20 pounds more than I do now; and my cycling clothes got too stretched out. As a result, the silicone bands now can’t grip well enough. Thus my shorts’ legs slip up as I ride; and the leg warmers‘ top bands slide downwards. I have to stop way too often to pull things back into place; and it’s most annoying. If I’m using the road bike, there’s the added hassle of keeping the bike from falling over while I’m adjusting my clothing. I need four hands! I live in a humid climate. Humidity is notorious for making hot weather seem hotter; and it also makes cold weather seem even colder. Add wind, and you’ve got a penetrating, bone-numbing chill. No amount of clothing seems adequate against it. My heaviest gloves don’t keep my hands warm enough. Double socks don’t keep my feet warm. Even with several layers on them, my arms feel cold. This morning, as of 6 am, it’s 41 degrees; and the chill factor is 35. Humidity, 74%. I’m debating whether to make a trip to the supermarket in about half an hour. On the one hand, if I go now I won’t have to go on Saturday. On the other, I’d freeze out there. Oh, these cold weather woes!

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An Early Start

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An early start can be helpful. For example, the cycling enthusiast who aspires to ride in Grand Tours might have an advantage if he* got started as a little tyke on a balance bike. Of course it\’s important not to push training too hard, too soon; from all I\’ve ever read, that can be disastrous. No matter what ambitions you might have to compete, enjoying your time in the saddle is important. If you want to improve, of course that means putting in the effort; and I\’ll be the first to admit that that\’s not always fun! I\’ve long had the idea that an advantage to beginning while young, is that the muscles are getting strengthened and trained as they grow. Youngsters have more energy than adults; and the younger you are, the more quickly you can bounce back from minor injuries and muscle soreness. An early start is important in other ways, too. Take century-ride day, for example — especially if you\’re using an adult tricycle. I began that ride before 5 am; and struggled with the wind all day. It slowed me down so much that it was almost 8 pm when I at last hit the triple-digit mark. I had trained up as well as I could; and even gotten a 3-speed hub. But that wind was almost too much. Today I started early in another respect. After work, I got Chinese take-out: \”Christmas dinner\”! My fortune cookie read: \”Only one who attempts the absurd can achieve the impossible\”. It reminded me of that long, tough day on the tricycle, putting in 100 miles. I had once thought such a trek was impossible. I sure fooled myself on that one! *\”He\” is gender-neutral here; there are big, important bicycle races for women, too!

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Before the Fall

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This is the night before the fall. Speaking of falling, I sure wouldn\’t want to fall over that cliff! If that\’s a bike path I see, ride it very carefully; especially if the wind is blowing hard towards the sea. At present, the temperature is 50 degrees. According to the forecast, it won\’t get much cooler overnight. But tonight there\’s an 80% chance of rain; and tomorrow the temperature will drop all day long. Tomorrow night, it\’s down to 39! That\’s quite a change. I\’ll need quite a few layers for riding in that chill; and a 10 mph wind won\’t help. The prospect of rain doesn\’t please me at all. It means more mud! Riding in the rain is miserable in cold weather. I don\’t have enough high-tech rain-shedding cycling gear; and I quickly get soaked. Then my hands and feet get too cold; and of course my nose acts up. Incidentally, a drawback to using a helmet-mounted headlight is this: I can\’t use a helmet cover. If I don\’t have a poncho with a hood that can go under the helmet, wet-day rides mean soaked hair; and that isn\’t fun when I have to go to work after my ride. It\’s not fun even when I don\’t have to go to work! So when the weather is going to turn a lot colder, give some thought to how you\’ll dress for your rides before the fall. It\’s much better to have all your gear ready, than to have to frantically hunt for leg warmers, skull caps, and so on after the temperature has dropped. And how nice it would be to enjoy a mug of hot chocolate after a freezing-cold ride!

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Prelude

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We\’re getting a prelude to Winter, it seems. The official first day of the season is a week off, but we\’re getting some cold weather; and it arrived with some strong wind! In fact, there was a wind advisory last night. It makes me glad that Monday is off-bikes day. At 5 am, the wind was 17 mph; and gusts up to 29 mph! The chill factor was something like 44 degrees. If I were riding on top of the levee, such cold and wind would be a major headache. The wind is dying down, but tomorrow morning it will still be barely 50 degrees. As far as I\’m concerned, that\’s cold! Time for some layering! When the temperature drops, I\’m liable to opt for a long-sleeved blouse rather than a cycling jersey. This gives my arms an extra layer of covering. Depending on how cold it is, I might pull on a jersey over the blouse. Then comes my vest and a windbreaker. I really need to get another cycling jacket, because the windbreaker is too long for cycling clothing. When I stop and want to dismount, the windbreaker\’s tail is too likely to snag on the rear of the saddle. For leg warmth, I\’m experimenting with wearing an old pair of slacks over my cycling shorts. At least they won\’t slide down as my leg warmers are apt to do! And there are gloves, extra socks, and — a filter mask? Sometimes. I don the mask; put on my helmet and fasten the strap; then pull the mask down to my chin. I can quickly pull the mask up into position if I need to. So there it is; our prelude to Winter.

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Not My Name

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That\’s not my name! I certainly hope not. Mud, that is. There\’s plenty of mud in my neighborhood now. Road work is in progress; and the rain we had over Friday night/Saturday morning has made a real mess of things. Yesterday afternoon I went for a ride on the levee. I didn\’t think to carry my bicycle over that mud into the street (there\’s not much of a sidewalk here); and the mud patch was too wide for me to step over it. Not that it would have helped much; there\’s mud smeared all over the street surface, too. So there I was, pedaling with muck-slicked shoes. I\’m glad the hybrid has toe clips, not cleats, because the cleats would have gotten gummed up. Platform pedals might not have provided the traction my shoes needed. When I got back home, of course I had to tread back through all that mess again. I had to fetch my whisk broom so I could brush at least the worst of the mud off of my bicycle\’s tires before taking it indoors. Today I didn\’t ride until 9 am, which is late for my Sunday ride. Even then I did only 10 miles. The road bike is still in the shop, and my main aim is to keep from becoming completely out of condition before I get it back. This time, when I arrived back home, I remembered to carry my bike over the worst of the muck. Incidentally, conditions underfoot reminded me of this children\’s poem. More showers are likely tonight, and again Tuesday night. That certainly won\’t improve matters! Not for me, anyhow; but some cyclists enjoy riding through the mud. Mud? That\’s not my name. I\’ll stick with road riding.

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