SpokEasy

November 2021

What to Get?

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What to get? Christmas shopping often drives me crazy, because of that \”what to get\” question. What would this or that person want; and where can I get it? As a complicating factor, I need to choose gifts that are small in size, and not too heavy; and thus easy to ship. If you don\’t have to worry about shipping packages halfway across the USA, things might be easier. Do you have a little one who wants to ride? For a very young child, a balance bike might fit the bill. Do not, of course, forget the helmet! If mom and dad want to go walking; but the little one can\’t keep up; a Steer and Stroll Trike is a possibility. There\’s even headgear for kids as young as one year. For older kids, there\’s this bike. It\’s called a \”boys\” bike; but I see no reason why girls can\’t use it, too. There are baskets to put on the handlebars; and — of course — helmets. For a way to take along a young \’un by bicycle, there\’s a bicycle-mounted child seat; or, if you think that will cause problems with your balance, there\’s the trailer. What about gifts for the adult cyclist? I\’m not buying for a cyclist, aside from myself; and my budget won\’t let me give bicycles as gifts. But there are more modest possibilities, such as books. That reminds me: maybe your youngster would enjoy a Bayou Country story! As usual, I don\’t know what I want for Xmas; at least, not from the material standpoint. I want good weather for a ride; but I want that every day, not only on December 25! I did most of my Xmas shopping yesterday; but it felt awkward. I didn\’t know what to get!

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Body Image

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Body image isn\’t what I think of first when I think of cycling. In fact, to be honest, I don\’t think about it much at all; but I\’m sure that there are riders who do. I\’m not a psychologist, and I\’m not a nutritionist. If you need help with this, please consult the appropriate professional. It\’s just that I began thinking about the subject after I listened to this video; and common sense says that it isn\’t only dancers who can have trouble with body image. Do riders who have short legs yearn for long legs; and are there long-legged cyclists who wish their legs were shorter? Are broad shoulders a disadvantage for aerodynamics? How many cyclists wish they could wave a magic wand, and change their physiques? Getting back to legs, how much does leg length matter in cycling? It seems to me that, if the bicycle is correctly fitted to the rider, overall leg length shouldn\’t matter. I\’ve read that a proportionately long thigh provides better leverage; but that\’s all I know. If I were much younger, and were into serious training, I might well be far more concerned about my body image: my weight; and my general shape; how I look on the bike; and much more. As things are, I don\’t worry about it; and why waste my energy fretting over it? I\’m not on show, after all! Weighing In As to weight, I lost 25-26 pounds between February 2020 and this past June. I was actually borderline overweight in early 2020; and my A1c levels were in the prediabetes range. This provided strong motivation for me to clean up my eating habits. My A1c levels dropped, but to a point barely below prediabetes; so I needed to keep watching my diet — body image or no. The catch is that I had gotten rather burned out on meal planning, carb-counting, and so on. I got careless for a month or two; and was just starting to work my way back on track when Ida struck. Afterwards, I was away from home for nearly a month; and wasn\’t preparing my own meals. My A1c levels skyrocketed; and I\’ve been struggling with my diet ever since. It\’s harder to keep on track when I\’m not working from home! When I\’m at work, I can\’t just run to the fridge and grab some hummus; so I wind up eating total junk.

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Gloomy

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It was a gloomy ride today. The forecast said, light rain at 7 am; and in fact there was a bit of a drizzle. But I rode, anyway. I knew that, if I waited to \”see whether it would stop\”, I might not get to ride; and I\’m trying not to become a fair weather cyclist. That drizzle persisted for most of my ride; and I\’m glad it didn\’t turn into a heavy rain. After two hours or so, the sun came out for a bit; but it was still raining. The wind was about 7 mph while I was riding back home; and it was a headwind, as usual. Today I cut my mileage a little, to 40.40 miles. Yesterday I got a double dose, you might say; so I decided I wouldn\’t push too hard on this ride. Next Sunday maybe I can bump it up to 45 miles or so. Of course, after this morning\’s jaunt, my poor road bike is all mucky. That\’s the problem when I ride while the ground is wet; but there isn\’t much falling out of the sky. All that dirt and grit gets splashed up; but there isn\’t enough rain to wash it off the bike. Here\’s my question: is it better to wash that dirt off as soon as I\’m off the bike; or is it really OK to let it dry, so that I can brush it off? It\’s on the chilly side to be outdoors with a hose! I\’m glad I rode when I did. It\’s still gloomy gray, and I have other things I need to do; such as make squashed sauce, and wrap Xmas gifts. It looks like we won\’t get any more rain for a while, and I like that. It\’s good for riding.

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Lost and Found

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I had a lost and found incident today; and I\’m lucky it was lost and FOUND; not plain lost. I rode to the salvage store, as I so often do on Saturdays. My raid on the grab-bag bins unearthed several single-serve packs of NUT-rition; but no FitCrunch bars. That was a disappointment; but I made a good buy on Kind bars! Today I got almond milk; some canned goods; and some packaged goods. I went through the check-out; and loaded up the trailer for the trip home. And now comes the \”lost\” part. Shortly after I was home, I discovered that my \”wallet\” (actually a small plastic bag) was not in my blouse pocket, where I usually put it. I checked to see whether I had put it in the bike trunk; but it wasn\’t there. It wasn\’t in any of my other pockets; and it wasn\’t in any of the bags from the store. Well, wasn\’t that just wonderful. If I had managed to drop that wallet on the way home, it might be anywhere; and it might be impossible to find it! It\’s almost 5 miles from here to the store; and that\’s a lot of ground. But, first things first. I called the store, and asked whether they had my wallet; and sure enough, they did! Found! Rare Sight It was a nuisance to have to go back to the store, but at least I got my property back; and if I hadn\’t had to make that trip, I would have missed a big treat. On the way home, I spotted a solar halo! That\’s quite a rarity. The halo was a full 360 degrees; and had rainbow colors in it! It lasted a long time, too; and was still visible when I reached home about half an hour later. So maybe lost and found isn\’t all bad, after all.

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Classic Bicycles Wrap

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Classic Bicycles Wrap livens up gift-giving. Christmas is a-comin\’; and there are always birthdays! I\’d love to get some of this colorful, embossed paper; but I already have plenty of other wrapping paper. What fun it would be to have bicycle-themed paper to conceal a special gift for the cyclist in your life!

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Black Friday

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Today is Black Friday; and sometimes it is, indeed, very black. We hear reports in the news of people being badly injured — or even killed — in the stampedes that ensue as stores open their doors to shoppers. Walmart didn\’t seem to have that problem; or maybe I got there after the main rush. When I checked their hours yesterday, it said that they opened at 5:00 am. I didn\’t leave for the store until at least 7:30. The \”black Friday\” part of it, for me, was the wind. When I set out, it was from the ENE at 21 mph; and when I left the store it was still blowing away. During the ride home, I had to spend a lot of time using my granny gear. I guess I overdid it a bit yesterday, because I felt rather tired. Or maybe it only seemed that way because of that dratted wind. It was worth it, though. I got most of my Xmas shopping done; and now I have to wrap the gifts, and pack them up for shipping. Shipping, incidentally, can cost as much as the gifts; or even more! I\’m glad the forecast for tomorrow shows much less wind than we\’re getting today! I want to head for the salvage store; and I want to take the trailer. When I go to the salvage store, I don\’t know what I might find; and sometimes I come across a bonanza that makes me glad I brought the trailer. Sunday there isn\’t supposed to be much wind; but there is a 40% chance of showers. I don\’t like that, naturally; but I\’ll just have to take my chances. Winter Wheelers is coming up; and I have to stay in shape for it!

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Ride to Write

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Sometimes it seems that I ride to write. Being out on the bicycle can give me blog ideas; and that\’s a good thing. Coming up with blog topics isn\’t always easy; and I need to get ideas from somewhere. One day I\’ll blog about my force intervals; and the next I\’ll write about something unusual that I saw. There was the time that I saw some roseate spoonbills; and it was the first time I saw any outside of a zoo. It made me look twice, I can tell you! It\’s always exciting to spot a bald eagle; and now and then I see a bluebird. The full moon over the river has gotten mention a number of times; and of course I\’m always griping about headwinds! In fact, today I\’m grumbling about headwinds. The forecast I checked last night said, winds SE at 4 mph. That\’s not bad at all; and I wanted to take it at leisurely pace today. On the way home, I thought the wind felt quite strong; and indeed, it was no 4 mph! I l checked the NOAA site after my ride. The wind was 8-10 mph; and has strengthened a bit since I got home. Nothing to Report There was really nothing to report today: no sightings of eagles or roseate spoonbills; and wind is pretty much a given. I ride to write? It didn\’t seem like it this morning. As a rule, I ride short and easy the day after I do force work; but today I made an exception. While I tried to keep my pace easy, I rode 19 miles. It was compensation for the fact that I won\’t be out on the road bike for the next two days. Tomorrow I want to visit Walmart; although not for any Black Friday deals. We don\’t go for expensive Christmas gifts in my family. Then on Saturday, I want to hit the salvage store. I use the hybrid for such errands. I hope I come up with blog material during those trips. That\’s what ride to write is about; and of course I hope the weather is cooperative!

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Bee\’s Knees?

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Are a bee\’s knees better than mine? I don\’t know; but my own knees are getting a bit creaky and cranky. Yesterday I had quite a long wait at a bus stop; and to pass the time, I started to do lunges. At repetition number eight, the areas around both knees suddenly began to hurt; so I decided I\’d better knock it off. Does that mean I\’ve been pushing too hard on the bike? Cycling, after all, can be rough on the knees if you try to push too hard a gear, too soon. On top of that, I\’ve had some arthritis in my knees for many years. At the same time, cycling is the bee\’s knees for having fun; and as long as you don\’t push too hard a gear; and your saddle is the correct height; you can pedal for miles without knee pain. Muscle soreness is another story. Some soreness is inevitable if you\’re working to improve your pace; or to develop better force. Maybe that was my knee problem yesterday; but I didn\’t want to take chances. It made me hesitant about doing on-bike force exercises this morning. I began my ride, though; and the discomfort I felt during those lunges seemed absent; so I went ahead and put in some force intervals. It didn\’t seem to cause any problems. Tomorrow is a holiday — Thanksgiving — so I can sleep a few hours later before I go for a ride. The weather outlook is good; and that\’s something to be thankful for. I think I\’ll keep it rather leisurely; and then I\’ll fix me a can can dinner. Naughty? I\’ll skip the dance, though. It looks like it\’s hard on the knees; and it\’s also too risqué for me. At the time the can can first appeared, it was considered most scandalous! One version I heard of its history says that the can can originated among laundresses, who were showing off whose linens were the whitest. Maybe that\’s true; but I didn\’t imagine those laundresses doing more than flipping their skirts up to their knees, if that high. After all, that was the nineteenth century. Apparently many people thought the can can was the bee\’s knees, because the dance is still around. But I\’d rather be riding my bicycle than showing off like that. In my book, it\’s cycling that\’s the bee\’s knees!

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