SpokEasy

January 2021

Test Weary

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I\’m test weary. Who isn\’t? COVID-19 testing is a drag. I work on a university campus; and now that the students are back, they\’re testing everyone more frequently. For a while, at least, it will be every two weeks for staffers like me. Once a MONTH was enough of a nuisance! I guess cyclists in serious race training get test weary, too. They need to determine their functional threshold power, for one thing; and from what I\’ve read about it, that isn\’t exactly fun. There are other tests, too; but FTP is the term that sticks in my mind. A morning ride feel like a test in cold weather. It\’s even more of a test because cold weather means that it\’s cold in here; and I\’m slow and sluggish as a result. It seems to take ever so much longer to get ready for a ride on cold mornings. I have to put on extra layers; and just when I think I\’m ready to go, I remember something else! Day before yesterday it warmed up considerably: mid-70s in the afternoon! I might soon have to face the test of riding in the rain. Cold + rain + dark + wind tests any cyclist\’s patience and stamina; and there are spells when it seems like I\’ll never have an UN-rainy ride again. All I can do is keep plodding along. Sometimes the only way out is through.

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Mutation

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Mutation sounds like the COVID-19 virus. That thing seems to be changing faster and faster; and I, for one, hope that it soon mutates itself out of existence. But mutation seems inescapable. My job has changed a great deal in the many years that I\’ve had it; and it\’s now unrecognizable as the job I began. And we all undergo mutation as cyclists, don\’t we? When I got my adult tricycle, I never imagined that I would evolve into a roadie several years later. I thought I had a way to get to and from work and the grocery store; and that I could ride a few extra miles on weekends, just for fun. One thing quickly led to another; even a three-wheeled century ride! All that vigorous exercise seemed to reduce the wobbly sensations inside of my head; and two and a half years after I bought the trike, I was on a hybrid. Before long I was using toe clips; and several months later, I went clipless. I did two self-supported centuries on the hybrid. As the miles on the hybrid racked up, thoughts of a road bike crept in. In April, 2013, I got it; and I\’ve never looked back. The recipes I make keep mutating, too. Take Chicken Tikka Masala (The Feed Zone Cookbook, p. 229). A couple of days ago I tried a new variation: I used the 12 oz bag of grilled chicken strips that was in the freezer. I put in 2 cups of chopped cauliflower; and added minced garlic and about a half cup of chopped red bell pepper. It will soon be time to make another garbage soup. That \”recipe\” changes every time I make it … is this a \”fake it \’til you make it\”?

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What Color Is Noise?

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What color is noise? Let\’s prick up our ears, and figure it out. White noise is probably the first thing that come to mind. Some people use white noise machines in their bedrooms. Not I! Conventional white noise is too high-frequency for me; and it drives me crazy. Anyone who has to ride alongside motor traffic knows about that kind of noise. I\’m glad don\’t have a long commute with VW Beetles; and large trucks; and everything in between, roaring past. I\’d need to wear earplugs! The trouble with that is, earplugs can block too much sound; and that\’s not such a good thing. When riding with motor traffic, what color is the noise? Different vehicles make different sounds. I guess you can say that emergency vehicles sound red, especially when that siren is screaming! When you can escape the cacaphony of the city, and ride in the countryside, you can enjoy what you hear. I like hearing the birds. Maybe I should call it \”blue noise\”? Is the rustling of breeze in the leaves \”green noise\”? How about blasting along a mucky cyclocross course? What color is that? Brown noise, perhaps? Or even black noise? It depends on what color the mud is; some areas have orangish (so-called red) dirt. Parts of Alabama, for example. We cyclists always have to contend with wind noise. It can be the roar of a stiff headwind; or it can be the whoosh of our own forward motion. The latter is a nice, cheerful color — bright, sunshine yellow, maybe. The former I would call a gloomy gray. Whatever the color, if wind noise bothers you, there are \”cat ears\” to help reduce the sound. Sound, in fact, has the full color spectrum of a rainbow!

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Further Culling

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Time for further culling of my pantry. I give you my word, though: my pantry is nowhere near as tidy as this one! I already did a weed-out project a few weeks ago; and this past weekend I started to think about what more I could oust. First target: a can of cherry pie filling. I bought it even before last February\’s prediabetes diagnosis, with the idea of using small amounts of it to garnish oatmeal. Post-diagnosis I began to watch carbs; and I had a lot of high-carb stuff in addition to that pie filling. Canned foods keep a long time, so the cherry stuff sat while I worked on other things. I got tired of seeing that can. I knew that keeping the cherry filling in the fridge wasn\’t a good idea; the stuff is too tempting. I didn\’t want to portion it out and freeze it, because the freezer is full enough already. Solution: open up the can; eat a tablespoon of the cherries; and toss the rest. Maybe it\’s not out of my mind; but it isn\’t here to lure me. I did the same thing with a can of poppy seed filling. I LOVE that stuff, so I opened the can; used a small amount; and got rid of what was left. When this began, I though I\’d be able to portion out things like candy bars: cut the bar in pieces, and have one piece a day. Great in theory; in practice, it\’s much harder than I thought. So further culling of my food supply means, don\’t buy candy bars in the first place! I\’m still looking over my supply of canned goods. I might find a few more items I can cull. Pare down and streamline!

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Velut Luna?

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\”O Fortuna, velut luna\”. O Fortune, variable as the moon. Thus begins Carmina Burana; and sometimes I think I\’m as variable as that satellite of ours. After yesterday\’s abortive attempt to ride to the salvage store, I made plans for this morning. The idea was to set out at about 6 am for a 20-mile ride on the road bike; then hitch the trailer to the hybrid for a trip to the salvage store. Wouldn\’t you know — I changed my mind. I didn\’t do quite enough preparation last night. I ought to have pumped up the tires, at least. That delayed my departure; and it was already past 7:00 when I at last got going. At least it was daylight by then; and the light let me see the frost on the grass. Frost is pretty, even if I don\’t like the cold weather. I had warm packs in my gloves; but I sure could have used some in my shoes! As I rode, I debated whether to make the trip to the salvage store. Ultimately I decided not to. To reach the store by 10:00, I would have had almost no time to eat breakfast; and if I had tried to wait until after the salvage store trip to eat, I\’d have bonked. Wait a minute; didn\’t I eat before hopping on the road bike? Yes, of course I did; but my pre-ride snack plus the GU-Gel at the halfway mark were more than burned off. On top of the fueling problem, I had gotten a lot of fluid into me, and … we know what that means! In addition, I was delayed in getting home. A stationary freight train forced me into a detour of several miles. Velut luna? Sometimes I am.

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Thwarted

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Brake rub thwarted me yet again this morning. The wind had dropped considerably since last night; and I wanted to go to the salvage store. I still have scads of canned goods; but the constant din in the media about COVID-19 makes me want to keep well stocked. So, I hitched up the trailer. It didn\’t work out. As soon as I climbed aboard and began pedaling, I heard an odd \”grrk\” noise. Before long, it became harder and harder to pedal; and the headwind was no help. Finally I stopped to see what was going on. As I suspected, the rear wheel had brake rub. Again. For the last few months using the trailer nearly always results in brake rub! I wasn\’t even halfway to the store; and I decided that it was better to go back home. Later this morning I went to the bike shop to see what was going on with those brakes. They said something about the quick release not being quite right; and they also said, put the bicycle in an upright position while hitching up the trailer. If the bike is leaning on the kickstand, the wheel gets pulled a bit out of position when I hitch up. The result is brake rub! So today\’s plan was thwarted; but maybe I can try a Sunday trip to the salvage store. It will be cold again tomorrow; but at least there won\’t be much wind. The store opens later on Sundays, though; and that could mean more traffic. Or maybe I\’ll let the salvage store wait until next Saturday; and do my long ride tomorrow, as usual. I just got new cleats put on my cycling shoes, and I hope my left foot won\’t come unclipped as I ride!

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Cold Holiday

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It\’ll be a cold holiday! Yes; I have a three-day weekend before me. Snow is a great rarity here; and none is expected. But it will be cold enough for me! This afternoon the wind started to strengthen. Around 3:30 I heard a few gusts that were quite strong; and I decided I\’d better drop work for a minute, and bring in my recycling bin before it got blown away. Indeed, the wind now is 22 mph. It\’s blowing from the West, which is unusual. If this wind keeps up, my neighborhood will be smelling the fumes from the petroleum refinery 25 miles away! I\’m glad that doesn\’t happen often. I\’m also glad the wind is supposed to drop to about 10 mph by morning. The predicted low is in the upper 30s; and such a temperature plus a 22 mph wind means a chill factor well below freezing! So — shall I go to the salvage store, or not? Even if the wind drops to 10 mph by morning, as predicted, the chill factor will still be around 29 degrees. I can put warm packs inside my gloves; but my feet will still be too cold. At least I should have a tailwind on the way back home; and that always helps. How about the Sunday long ride? It will still be cold in the morning. I won\’t be trying for 40 miles yet; I\’m still getting back into road-bike condition, and 25 miles would be a more sensible goal. Monday? It will be great to have a day to sleep a few extra hours. I might go for a short ride; and take Tuesday off from bicycles. But whatever I do, it will be a cold holiday.

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Heat Wave!

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We\’re getting a heat wave! Relatively speaking, that is. I won\’t be digging out the sun sleeves just yet. Day before yesterday, the chill factor at 5 am was a miserably bone-numbing 31 degrees; and I didn\’t want my hands to suffer a repeat of Sunday\’s ride. It was in the mid-40s at that time; and I still got home after an hour or so of riding with my fingers bloodless and waxy-looking. Yesterday morning it was a bit warmer; about 42 degrees; and almost no wind. That\’s a little more bearable. Unfortunately it was still very cold in my abode; and being cold makes me feel numb, slow, and clumsy; and brain-dead as well. I didn\’t get out on the bike until at least 20 minutes later than usual; so I had to do a short ride. Today, Thursday, is a work-from-home day — hooray! On days when I work remotely, I can start my ride later; I still have time to eat breakfast in a leisurely fashion; and I don\’t have to rush around fixing a lunch to take with me. Around noon I stepped outdoors briefly to put something in the trash; and I was surprised at how warm it felt. In fact, it was a sweltering 67 degrees! At about 3:30 pm I heard the wind start to kick up; and tonight it\’s supposed to plummet to 44 degrees. So the heat wave is over already; and tomorrow\’s wind of 10-20 mph will drive the chill factor as low as 35 degrees! I was considering a pre-work ride to Whole Foods; but that forecast gives me pause. I might have to resort to online ordering — again.

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Heat It Up!

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Let\’s heat it up! It\’s too cold right now for cold chocolate! I didn\’t ride Monday morning, but that didn\’t stop me from having a mug of hot chocolate. Last Saturday at the salvage store, I found hot cocoa mix; and made with dark chocolate, too. Only after I got it home did I notice that it\’s single-serve cups of the mix; and meant to be used in a machine! Guess what. The machine isn\’t necessary! I emptied the contents of one mini-cup into a mug; and added hot water. Then I stirred it up; and it worked fine. After Sunday\’s ride, I drank the vanilla Gatorade Super Shake. It\’s OK, but I think I\’ll stick with protein powder in milk. That\’s something I love about the salvage store. I can try new things; and often at low cost. Monday night\’s predicted low temperature was 36 degrees; and the humidity was a miserable 76%. The chill factor was 39 degrees that evening; and I was certain that the next morning would feel even colder! I was right. It\’s so easy to say, let\’s heat it up by going for a brisk ride. That isn\’t so easy to do when I\’m not warm enough indoors! In fact, I decided to skip the morning ride yesterday. The chill factor was a bone-numbing 31 degrees; and I remembered too well how cold my hands got Sunday, when it was in the mid-40s. There are products that you can use to keep hands and feet warm. Some are meant to be inserted into gloves; and I ordered some online. When even heavy gloves don\’t keep my hands from getting too cold; and my circulation suffers; it\’s no time to be macho.

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Through or Over?

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Do you step through or over your bicycle when mounting? The step-through design has an advantage or two. Some ladies want or need to wear a skirt while riding; and they don\’t want to have to fling a leg up into the air! A step-through frame can help prevent indecent exposure. Slacks can be binding; and that can make mounting a bicycle with a top-tube awkward. Older people might have physical difficulty in mounting a top tube-style bicycle. A step-through reduces that problem, and helps them continue cycling! How about the top-tube design? This has an advantage when speed is of essence, because it makes the frame a bit more rigid; and lessens \”frame-whip\”. So, to paraphrase Hamlet, through or over? That\’s hard to say. I have both types of bicycles. My hybrid is a through; and my road bike is an over. The road bike is much more fun to ride; but there are times when the hybrid is far more practical. That\’s when \”through\” is better! When I \”make groceries\”, as they say around here, I might have a considerable load; and the hybrid is much better suited to carrying loads. I have a rack; and panniers; and a bike trunk. For a super-big load, I can use panniers; and rack; and trailer! Then, when I get home, my legs feel like rubber! \”Over\” rules the day when I\’m out for a long Sunday ride. I can put my ride food in my top-tube pouch. If I ride the hybrid, I have to put my food in the trunk; and then I have to stop and dismount every time I need a bit to eat! Overall, I think I\’ll take \”over\”!

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