SpokEasy

August 2021

Move over Road Runner

BACK ISSUES /

Move over Road Runner; I want to get past! OK, so I\’ll never be as fast as Beep Beep; but of late I notice something interesting. My weekday morning rides are often about 12.6 miles; and it used to take as much as an hour and a quarter to complete that distance. Now, I sometimes finish in less than one hour. I think it\’s time to extend my distance by a couple of miles! Naturally it helps if I don’t have a stiff headwind to fight; but even when I do, it doesn’t slow me down quite as much as it used to. Maybe I don’t need a power meter to tell me whether I’m getting stronger! It reminds me of the Greg LeMond quote: \”It never gets easier, you just get faster.\” Yesterday I worked on my force exercises, and touched a max speed of 20.62 mph. With a stiff tailwind, I\’ve even hit 25 mph! But today I forgot about force, and working on my pace; and just rode short and easy. I even left for work early so I could take it easy on the way there; and I rode easy on the way home, too. When I went out on the road bike today, I was amazed at how cool it felt. I almost wanted long sleeves! It\’s a shame it wasn\’t like this last Sunday, when I was knocking out those 61+ miles! The humidity today is much lower than usual; an arid 36%. (For New Orleans, that\’s DRY!) I hope it\’s like that tomorrow, too. The plan for tomorrow morning is to work on my pace; but without the hard-gear factor. I might reach 19 mph at moments; so move over Road Runner!

Move over Road Runner Read More »

Neck and Neck

BACK ISSUES /

We hear of two contestants running neck and neck, when the race is really close. I remember seeing runners in a foot race as they crossed the finish line; and there were two who were shoulder to shoulder, trying like anything to beat each other! It was quite amusing. During last Sunday’s ride I began to develop cyclist’s neck in the final hour or so. Usually I don’t have problems with it; but this ride was different. It got very hot; and I had to keep refilling my Camel-Bak. That kept more weight on my back, and for longer than usual; and this was also the longest ride I had done in a long time.  I think some isometric exercises might help; and so would exercises for the rhomboid muscles. I’ve had some of them in my off-bike work for several years; but unfortunately have been too lax about keeping up that vital off-bike work. I’m too busy composing blogs and devising menus! Planning menus/preparing food and blogging are definitely running a close race. They constantly try to edge each other out; and I need to keep both up and running. It really makes me miss working from home! Add to that diet burnout. I can\’t seem to keep on track; and this evening I finally said \”Enough\”, and devoured a pint of Talenti®. Maybe that indulgence is what I needed to get back my balance. I hope nothing starts to compete with my riding! I really need that exercise; and besides, I\’m plain old hooked on cycling. My legs always loved the way it feels to pedal. That\’s a great reason to keep it up!

Neck and Neck Read More »

Block

BACK ISSUES /

A block can be either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. There\’s writer\’s (or blogger\’s!) block. I think I can say that I know something of that! Sometimes for days or even weeks I have great difficulty in thinking of new blog topics; and it drives me crazy. I work all day at another job, and that doesn\’t help. For a young \’un, there\’s that proud first ride around the block; or even just up and down the driveway. A balance bike can help the very young rider get started. For athletes, there are training blocks; but I\’m not sure whether I can say that I train that way. As I understand it, training blocks are the same thing as periodized training; and I don\’t follow that kind of plan. In fact, I\’m not quite sure you can say that I\’m really \”training\”! I ride year-round, and I don\’t worry about training for events — unless I decide to ride Tour de Cure; or take it into my head to do a self-supported century. My notions for the latter are becoming less nebulous; and I hope I\’m approaching it in the right way. It\’s too hot for me to try to ride 100 miles in a day now, though. Day before yesterday I rode 61.60 miles; and the heat was terrible. But I need some acclimatization, even if getting it isn\’t comfortable. However, where\’s the line between acclimatization and the risk of heat-related illness? I think I\’ll shoot for about 60 miles next Sunday; the Sunday after that, about 40 miles; and then the following Sunday bump it up to 65 miles; and I hope it won\’t be as hot as this past Sunday!

Block Read More »

Hammer and Tongs

BACK ISSUES /

Sometimes we cyclists go at it hammer and tongs, as the saying goes. We hear of the hammerfest, right? I\’ve tackled mileage hammer and tongs from the word Go. I always enjoyed watching the miles rack up; and I don\’t call them junk miles. I ride for the fun of it, even though I\’ll never be as fast as this Pleasure Train! During my long ride yesterday, the sun was going at me hammer and tongs. It didn\’t get quite as hot as predicted; but it was still very hot. Between water and Nuun, I estimate that I took in about two gallons of fluid! Towards the end, neither beverage was helping me much. I don\’t know whether that means I was approaching a dangerous level of overheating; or whether I needed cold fluid. At some point I began to get a little headachy. Again, I may have been getting overheated; and I might also have needed a little caffeine. The relentless sun beating down on me didn\’t help; but on the way home I ran into some overcast here and there. It\’s amazing what a difference that made! I wore my old sun sleeves; and they helped, too. Sun sleeves feel hot when you first put them on; but after you get moving and they pick up some perspiration, your arms feel cooler. You can even splash water on the sun sleeves, which is what I did. I was surprised at how soon the sleeves dried. Several hours after I got back home, I found that the relative humidity was only 56%; and for us, that\’s less humid than usual. No wonder those sleeves got dry so fast! Mid-afternoon the T-storms began to fire up. I\’m glad they didn\’t start hammer and tongs while I was riding!

Hammer and Tongs Read More »

FAQ

BACK ISSUES /

Everything has its FAQ list; and cycling follows suit. What\’s at the top of the cyclist\’s FAQ list? That\’s hard to say — my top question might not be another person\’s — but weather is a good candidate! Will it rain; or will there be blazing sunshine? At present, \”How hot will it get?\” cannot be ignored. Yesterday an excessive heat warning was issued at 9:00 am; and such conditions make adequate hydration vital. I got plenty hot during the ride back home from the salvage store; and naturally was rather concerned about how to manage today\’s long ride. Another item on the FAQ list is, how many layers do I need when the weather is cold? They say it\’s better to be slightly under-dressed than to pile on too many clothes and get overheated; but take along a spare layer just in case. If you have to stop for some reason, you don\’t need to get chilled. Another big question is, how about fueling for a long ride? What should I take; and how much of it? Will something \”light\” do; or do I need something denser? And again, how hot will it get? Energy bars with half-melted coating are a mess and a nuisance. Weather, clothing, and fuel; now what else is there? Oh, of course; is my bicycle ready? Are the tires at the correct PSI; and do the brakes work? Reconnaissance Today\’s ride (61.60 miles) was almost a metric century; and I did some reconnaissance, too. If I\’m to do a century ride, I need to know the distances between my stopping points; especially as I\’ll have to do a certain amount of doubling back. That\’s another FAQ for the long-distance cyclist: how far is it between rest stops? Frequently given advice: don\’t bypass them! I started out at 4:55 am, because I knew it would get very hot; and I sure drank a lot of water! When I use my Camel-Bak, I fill up the reservoir; and also take a spare bottle of water. I empty the bottle into the Camel-Bak as needed; and then refill it. Today I refilled that bottle four times; and I also drank more Nuun than usual. I must have gotten two gallons or so of fluid in me. As it turned out, the excessive heat warning wasn\’t in effect; but the heat advisory was. As the ride went on, I noticed that my heart rate was in zone 3; but my breathing felt like zone 4! I figured it was because of the heat; and had to slow down. Another FAQ: what is the direction of the wind? I\’m so glad it was behind me on the way back home! Bucking a headwind in this heat is a bit much! When I was ready to head back home, I saw that the clouds were building up; and here and there they obscured the sun. That was a welcome relief! There\’s a 50% chance of T-storms this afternoon; and I\’m glad to be home ahead of bad weather. Oh — yet another FAQ: how close is that lightning?

FAQ Read More »