SpokEasy

February 2021

Do I Flatter Myself?

BACK ISSUES /

Do I flatter myself that I have an aerodynamic build? Maybe I do. I have narrow, sloping shoulders; and my bust is hardly worthy of the name. Much of my bulk is below the waist; a physique I inherited from my paternal grandmother. I have short legs; and no matter how much weight I lose, my legs will look heavy. I was well into my twenties before I came to grips with that fact! So, how muscular and strong are those legs of mine? I suspect that they aren\’t as strong as I wish, or I\’d be faster on the bike by now! Maybe I need more squats and lunges off the bike? It would help my aerodynamics if I rode in the drops more. When I\’m riding before daylight, it seems to me that I can see ahead better if I\’m not in the drops; and that\’s important. It\’s even more important on a foggy morning like today. Another reason I don\’t stay in the drops for long at a time is, I haven\’t yet learned how to manage a water bottle while in the drops. Water-bottle handling can be awkward when I\’m riding on the hoods! I wonder, am I truly a roadie? Riding in the drops can get uncomfortable quickly when I have a loaded Camel-Bak along for the ride. I notice that day before yesterday, when I was out for my long ride. At least I\’m not too bad at grabbing the Camel-Bak\’s drinking tube while in the drops; and that\’s a start. Aerodynamics is also about having minimal flap from clothing, etc. That\’s a requirement I certainly don\’t meet! But as long as my build is aerodynamic — or do I flatter myself?

Do I Flatter Myself? Read More »

Slow Start

BACK ISSUES /

Slow Start I got a slow start this work week. It’s just as well that I don’t go out on the road bike Monday mornings. For starters, I overslept. It was already 7:00 when I woke up; and I have to be at work for 8:00 on Mondays. This is another reason I wish I could work from home full time! Getting up so late threw today’s meal plans out of whack. Last night I planned to cook a turkey burger for breakfast, and there wasn’t time. Instead, I grabbed a couple of the cheap snacks from the salvage store. Fine nutrition, that! It’s lucky I fixed lunch last night; all I had to do was pack it in the cooler, so my slow start didn’t matter in that regard. It was just as well that I decided not to ride to work. A train came along just at the right time to block my entrance to the bike path. Normally I have one or two small bites of candy before I leave for work. I figure I’m coming out ahead if that indulgence keeps me from buying candy at work. This morning I was in too much of a hurry for it; and I wound up buying M&Ms at lunch time. And I thought I was doing so much better at avoiding sweets! Guess I was wrong. Maybe I was hungrier than I thought, too. As I was leaving work, I dug a GU-Gel out of my backpack pocket and devoured it. I wouldn’t have, but I had to detour to the drugstore to pick up a refill; and I didn’t want to get so hungry that I couldn’t resist ice cream. When I got home, I finally got to cook that turkey burger. I had breakfast for supper!

Slow Start Read More »

Inventory

BACK ISSUES /

I took inventory yesterday, instead of riding to the salvage store to buy yet another load of canned goods. I missed getting the ride; but the weather was gloomy, gray, and chilly. Mid-afternoon I set up the trainer and did some indoor pedaling. Boring, but better than nothing. Back to the inventory. I hadn\’t truly realized how much stuff I\’ve got! Just for starters, I have 15 cans of tuna fish (4.5-5 oz sizes; different brands); plenty of refried beans; and lots of whole beans. The canned whole beans will be handy if I want to make a Hoppin\’ John variation, and forget to soak the dried beans in time; or if I run out of dried beans. Now I\’ve got lists of what I have, and how much of it, for three locations: the back room; the front room; and (yes) under the bed. I\’ve organized the cans according to food type: tomatoes, refried beans, and so on. Canned goods aren\’t the only thing. I have several types of dried pasta on hand, too. Thanks to my carb-watching, I haven\’t cooked pasta in nearly a year; and I think I better use some of it before it starts to deteriorate. My stock of spices warrants inventory as well. Some are years old, and probably ought to be discarded. All they\’re doing is taking up space. I\’ve made a start on the stock of refried beans. Lunch was a cupful of refried black beans, heated with two cups of lightly sautéd chopped cabbage. It was pretty good; and it got some vegetables into me! Next Saturday I hope to get to the salvage store. I don\’t need more canned stuff; but I want to raid the grab-bag bins! And Today And today again it was overcast and gloomy. At 7 am, it was about 50 degrees; slightly warmer than I expected, but certainly not warm. And today, like yesterday, I didn\’t really feel like riding. It took some self-prodding to get myself to get dressed and out there on the bike. The wind was 12 mph; and I knew that that would only make me feel colder. I think I actually overdressed a little; but to me that\’s better than being too cold. If I knew that I could cruise at 20 mph for hours, slightly underdressed would make sense; but at my sometimes plodding pace, no. Thank heaven for warm packs. My heaviest gloves are oversized, which easily leaves room for them. Those heavy gloves made on-bike fueling awkward, though. The wind made bike control difficult at times; and I probably didn\’t take in as much electrolyte drink as I should have. At least once I had to grip the bottle\’s nozzle in my teeth while I stopped, so that I could put the bottle back into its cage. The sun stayed behind the clouds for most of my ride. It almost shone through for a moment now and then; and here and there I saw a small patch of blue sky. I\’m glad it didn\’t rain! I hope for more agreeable weather next Sunday. It\’s time to start pushing for a few more miles; and that will be easier if it\’s not cold!

Inventory Read More »

Pipe Dreaming

BACK ISSUES /

Pipe dreaming doesn\’t always mean visions of being a virtuoso on the organ. We can\’t all be Buxtehude, after all! My version of pipe dreaming consists of notions of a long bicycle tour — \”some day\” — and that\’s big-time dreaming! I\’d need a LOT of training, that\’s for sure; and that\’s not easy. Like so many of us, I have limited time to ride and train. I\’m lazy, too. Despite good intentions, my \”force work\” days often fall short. My legs seem to get too tired, too fast; and if I work to get my heart rate into its maximum range, the legs are shot by the time I get there! Then there\’s the big question: will the tour have a SAG wagon? If not, what load will I have to carry? Tent? Cooking gear? I\’ll have several days\’ clothes; and snacks; and rain gear. The list can go on and on; and then I\’ll have to pore over it and pare down as much as possible. \”Travel light\” is the supreme rule! A touring bicycle needs racks fore and aft for carrying panniers; and the rear rack also needs carrying capacity on top. A handlebar bag is a good idea, too, if you don\’t want to have to stop every time you need to grab a bite to eat. Don\’t forget, fenders are important. I suspect that it\’s a rare tour that doesn\’t run into rain at least once! Fenders help keep your panniers — and your back — from getting too much dirty water sprayed all over them. It all sounds rather overwhelming; and potentially costly. Maybe some day I can do that bicycle tour. For now, it\’s merely pipe dreaming.

Pipe Dreaming Read More »

Emergency Rations

BACK ISSUES /

Having emergency rations at hand came in useful this morning. I\’ve long kept a couple of GU-Gels in one of the pockets of my bicycle trunk. Sometimes I\’m too hungry after work to wait until I ride home to eat; and I might get hungry while out on a shopping trip. This morning the weather was dreary; and there was a strong wind. I didn\’t feel like battling that wind on the road bike while atop the levee, so I put the panniers and trunk on the hybrid\’s rack; and went to the local park. I rode around the park five times; and then headed for Whole Foods. As it turned out, I could have made a sixth round of the park. I got to the store with 15-20 minutes to spare; and while I waited for the store to open, I began to feel rather chilled. I also began to feel hungry. Just great. I\’m about to shop for food; and I get hungry! Whether you\’re watching your diet or your budget — or both — the Number One Rule is: Don\’t go food shopping while you\’re hungry! I decided that eating a GU-Gel was by far a lesser evil that skipping the GU; and then buying a pastry. With all the hummus I\’ve been eating, I spend more on food than I really need to; so why buy goodies from the bakery case? My prediabetes doesn\’t need it, anyway. I worked from home today; and during lunch break I busied myself with prep work for Leapin\’ Leo. I varied it by using green onions instead of red; red bell pepper instead of orange; and I used a different kind of cheese. It came out well enough, but it wouldn\’t be easy to carry as emergency rations!

Emergency Rations Read More »

Amusement Park?

BACK ISSUES /

In an amusement park is where I\’d expect to find a roller coaster. Our weather, however, is behaving like that roller coaster! And no, I am not amused. It\’s really crazy. This past Sunday, the afternoon temperature reached the mid-70s; and by the next morning it had plunged by some 30 degrees. For the next two nights it got down to the mid-40s. This afternoon the roller coaster tracks angled upwards again, and it got up to 72 degrees. At about 3 pm I was leaving for an appointment at the dentist\’s, and saw dark clouds towards the South; and they moved in faster than I thought they would. By the time I reached the dentist\’s office (only one mile away), the sky was mostly overcast. It wished I had brought along the poncho. Besides the worry about getting wet, I wanted to get Chinese take-out for my supper. Today I was lucky. I got my Chinese food, and got home still dry. It hasn\’t started to rain yet; but it likely will during the night. Then we\’ll get another temperature drop: down to 49 degrees. And to think that we probably have at least another month of this crazy weather! I hope I can ride tomorrow morning. This morning I overslept (AGAIN!); and simply didn\’t feel like scrambling to get out on the bicycle. That\’s rather a pity, as it wasn\’t quite as cold as it was the pervious two mornings. When it\’s cold and raining, riding a bicycle isn\’t exactly a walk in the park; much less fun in an amusement park. Well, that\’s what the trainer is for; although \”riding\” in the trainer doesn\’t amuse me, either.

Amusement Park? Read More »

Resistance

BACK ISSUES /

Resistance training is an important aspect of a cyclist\’s training. We need it to develop the arms; upper body; and obliques. Back when I was a tricycle rider, I didn\’t worry about such work; but after I was on two wheels, it was a different story. I soon noticed that, after 15-20 minutes\’ riding, my arms started to feel like overcooked noodles; and that my abs sagged, which put strain on my lower back. By that time I had read a good bit about cyclist\’s training; and I realized that it was time to start off-bike exercises! So I worked out a schedule that would give me five or six off-bike sessions per week. Some of the exercises were for the arms/upper body. Others were for legs/lower body; and some were for core strengthening. My aim wasn\’t body-building, so I didn\’t do many reps of any one exercise; and I didn\’t push all that hard. This wasn\’t boot camp, after all! I merely wanted to develop enough strength so that long rides on two wheels would be more comfortable. Thanks to my lackadaisical approach, my progress was very slow; and it was several years before I finally did gain a bit of strength. Over recent months, however, I miss those off-bike sessions too often. I\’m always busy blogging; or meal planning; or cooking; or cleaning up the kitchen. That reminds me of another kind of resistance: fighting off the temptation to get take-out for supper. I have to think of all the food in the fridge that I need to use up! There\’s no sense in letting it go bad. Oh, and grocery shopping. Tomorrow I work from home, and I want to make a run to the supermarket before clocking in. I miss hummus!

Resistance Read More »

History Repeats Itself

BACK ISSUES /

History repeats itself! Today looked much like a re-run of Groundhog Day 2019. Early this morning, it was pretty heavily overcast. The sun didn\’t show itself until about 8:30. For the next few hours it dodged in and out of the clouds; and it didn\’t really clear up until about midday. So whether our local groundhog saw his shadow depends on what time he (or she) came out. Phil up in Pennsylvania says that Winter is not over. That\’s bad news for me. I\’m tired of leg warmers, jackets, and so on. Tomorrow morning will be another cold one: history repeats itself! At least the forecast says, wind only about 5 mph; and that will help. But from the East, as is only too usual. I don\’t exactly celebrate Groundhog Day, but I was terribly tempted to get Chinese take-out for supper. Then I remembered that I had some cut-up broccoli in the fridge that really needed to be used up. So, I steamed the broccoli; drained a can of chicken; and tossed chicken and broccoli with some orange sauce; soy sauce; and sesame seeds. It was close enough to appease my craving for Chinese food. Tomorrow I have yet another COVID-19 test. That bit of \”history repeats itself\” is quite a drag. The swab up my nose makes me feel like sneezing — and sometimes I actually do sneeze! I\’m eager for Thursday morning, because it\’s a remote-work day. That means, I can go to the supermarket and get hummus! I ran out of it a few days ago, and immediately began to miss it. I need to learn how to make my own; but where could I store a food processor? Oh, by the way: that critter shown above looks quite disapproving of this whole business!

History Repeats Itself Read More »

Winter Came Back

BACK ISSUES /

Winter came back! Yesterday the temperature reached the mid-70s by noon; and by 5 am today it had fallen some 30 degrees. The chill factor made it seem even colder! In fact, said chill factor wasn\’t much above freezing; and it made me glad that Monday is off-bikes day. Tomorrow morning it will be 39 degrees; but at least the wind won\’t be as strong. I\’ll have to bundle up; and I\’m glad I have warm packs to tuck into my gloves. Bundling up drives me crazy because seems to take so long: two layers on my legs, and double socks; three or four layers for my top; the heavy skull cap; heavy gloves; and the aforementioned warm packs for my hands. These days I even include a mask in my riding costume, although I usually have it pulled down below my mouth unless someone else is approaching. A mask makes me get thirsty faster! These bursts of colder weather are likely to have people staying indoors more; and that\’s not good news. The university campus where I work has seen a rise in cases of COVID-19 among students; and classes began only two weeks ago. Now I\’m more concerned about the possibility of getting the virus. The newer strains of the virus are more contagious; and I\’m worried about becoming a \”long hauler\”. I hope we go back to full-time remote work, at least until we can get the vaccine. But for now I have to clean up the kitchen; and make a lunch to take along tomorrow; and try to keep warm: Winter came back!

Winter Came Back Read More »