SpokEasy

November 2021

Don\’t Light Candles

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Don\’t light candles for me, please! Their sheer numbers would be enough to burn the whole place down. It\’s a funny thing about birthdays. When we\’re young, a birthday is an exciting event: Wow, I\’m another year older! I\’m a big kid! A birthday is a big deal. By the time we\’re in our teens, birthdays are still fun; but not the exciting big deal that they were when we were little kids. In our early twenties, they\’re OK; and by our late twenties, we\’re tired of hearing about them! The good thing about cycling is that, no matter how many birthdays have gone by, most of us can keep on riding. Cycling is non-impact; so the joints don\’t get the pounding that they would from, say, running. That means that someone who has arthritis of the knees can likely still pedal a bicycle. If balance becomes a problem, there are adult tricycles. With a trike, you don\’t have to worry about balance; but be careful about cornering! If you\’ve been used to a bicycle, cornering on a trike might take some adjustment. Don\’t lean into the turn; or one rear wheel could leave the ground, and dump you off your ride! I did this one backwards. I got a tricycle because I felt off-balance at the time; and apparently the vigorous exercise of riding helped straighten it out. Then I graduated! But I still feel like a weakling when silver-haired riders whiz past me like I\’m backing up. Cycling helps to keep our blood pressure in check; and I\’m always going to have to work against prediabetes. Cycling helps with weight control, too. That\’s a lot to celebrate; but don\’t light candles!

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Schedules

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Schedules rule our lives, don\’t they? Get up at such and such a time in the morning; and have something to eat; then get ready to ride. After the ride, hustle through breakfast; and then get ready for the ride to work. It\’s pretty monotonous; and I long for the time when my days can be less regimented. Schedules sometimes aren\’t possible to use. I\’ve seen century training plans that prescribe increasing day-to-day mileage. At my present pace, I don\’t have the time for the distances given; and I can\’t increase my pace fast enough to cover those miles in the time that I do have. I\’m in a double bind; so I have to invent my own plan. Last July I worked up a training plan for a century ride; and hoped to be ready for October 9. Then, when Love to Ride announced Cycle September, I thought maybe I could do the big ride in September. My day would have been long, and my pace likely slower than I wanted; but I expect I could have done those miles. Hurricane Ida put paid to that notion. After the storm, I spent a week with no pedaling at all; and an exercise bike is no subs titute for riding a bicycle. I knew I wasn\’t going to be ready for a century in October; and I don\’t think I\’m ready yet; but, just perhaps, I can do it next month? A lot depends on the weather. Cold is one thing; but add in rain and wind, and it will be a long, miserable day. I remember too well the conditions I dealt with the day I did my first century. I\’d rather not repeat that! A Good Plan? I\’m trying to stick with a regular schedule of different types of rides: work on my pace one day; \”just ride\” the next day; and on the day after that, do force work. The following day is an easy ride. Is that a good plan? As I already said, schedules sometimes can\’t be followed. In fact, the cyclist in training is advised to allow for flexibility in his or her schedule; and not to panic if something interferes with the plan. Things happen, after all: colds; injuries; or (heaven forbid!) COVID. If I can\’t do that 100-mile ride next month, it\’s not the end of the world. I\’ll be behind schedule; but that\’s nothing new! Entrained? I wish I knew more about the schedules of various railroad companies. Today I left work an hour early, because I needed to take the road bike to the shop. I took my usual route home; or rather, I began that way. I had to wait for a train. I caught up with its tail end; and as I approached the second crossing away from home, that dratted train stopped. If only it had moved forward about six more cars, the crossing would have been clear; and of course there was no telling how long the train would sit there. I had to backtrack and take a detour home. It turned out to be the right call; but what an aggravation!

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Superfoods

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We hear a lot about superfoods these days. I have nothing against them; but I\’d rather enjoy my chow without worrying about whether it\’s \”superfoods\”. I\’m just glad I\’m not food insecure! I think it\’s more important to choose from a wide variety of nutritious foods that I enjoy. I don\’t care how \”super\” something is; if I don\’t like it, why choke it down? It\’s possible to enjoy a varied diet without breaking the bank, too, if I stick with basic things like brown rice; legumes; and simple fruits and vegetables. I\’ve also found canned salmon at the salvage store, for far less than it costs in other stores. When I\’m on a Sunday long ride, I can\’t afford to be too concerned about superfoods. I have to use things that are easy to carry along; and easy to eat while pedaling. I do look for bars that have at least 8 grams of protein; but sometimes I forget about that criterion. Case in point: at the salvage store Saturday, I checked out the grab-bag bins. I found eight XL Bars; but they aren\’t the high-protein variety. When I have \”light\” ride food like that, I try to also have something heavier to counterbalance it; and FitCrunch bars are pretty good for that. When I get home from a long ride, I have a recovery drink with protein powder in it. Day before yesterday I tried something new: Quinoa Salmon Salad; and it\’s a superfood, as far as I\’m concerned. This dish is quite dense; and salmon contains Omega-3! They\’re always saying how important Omega-3 is; but I won\’t be surprised if another superfood comes along and pushes it out of the limelight. That\’s how it seems to go!

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Milestones or Stepping Stones?

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Is it milestones or stepping stones when my cycling mileage reaches a certain total? Today my road bike\’s long-term mileage hit the 30K mark. Yesterday the hybrid reached 16K miles; and the long-term total for trike plus hybrid plus road bike reached 56K today! Are these milestones, or stepping stones? They seem like milestones to me; but they\’re also stepping stones to further cycling. Sometimes the more you accomplish, the more you want to do; and I\’m always wanting to reach for just a little more. Today I rode 42.20 miles; and for once there was hardly any wind. It would have been a great time to work on my pace; but I usually don\’t do that during the Sunday long ride. On top of that, I felt strangely unenergetic for the first hour or so. After I got a break from pedaling during my pit stop, my legs felt a little better. This also was one of those maddening days when I have trouble getting a bottle in and out of its cage. I even dropped the bottle once; and I had to stop; go back; and pick it up. Such a nuisance! I read so much about the cool-down at the end of a ride; and the last mile seems like a good time to do it. No such luck today! As I approached that last-mile mark, a freight train was entering that same mile; and it was heading in the same direction as I was. For a while I was pedaling like crazy, so I could beat that train to the crossing where I leave the path. Soon I saw that I didn\’t need to work to keep at 15-16 mph; and I let up a bit. Weighing In When I got back from Spokane post-Ida, my weight had climbed to 110.5; a gain of some eight pounds from a month or two earlier. This morning I was back down to 105. Milestone, or stepping stone? It\’s good that I got that excess weight back off, which is a milestone; but keeping it off is going to be a constant battle; and that makes it a stepping stone. I also have to keep the specter of prediabetes in mind. Milestones or stepping stones? I guess that depends on how you look at it. Oh, and another milestone: today makes eleven years of cycling!😊

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Alchemy

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Is cycling a form of alchemy? The alchemist\’s goal was to transform base metals into more valuable materials; especially, of course, gold. I once read that, in one version of the story, Faust was an alchemist. One day his workshop blew up; and the loud explosion, together with the sulfurous stench, convinced the neighbors that the Old Harry had taken Faust away. Cycling doesn\’t produce gold; but it can work other transformations. It can help with weight loss; and can improve physical health in general. I can tell that my legs are somewhat stronger than they used to be; but I\’m still a long way from being as fast as I would like to be. I won\’t be accomplishing a sub-five hour century ride anytime soon! But I suppose I have plenty of company in that respect. During the dreary weather of Winter, a good ride helps lift the spirits. On a raw, cold day with a strong wind, I sometimes don\’t feel like riding; but when I prod myself to ride anyway, I\’m glad afterwards that I got out there! Is cooking also alchemy? Most anyone who does much cooking knows about \”there\’s nothing to eat!\”; and having to conjure up a meal out of \”nothing\”. Actually, that can be a lot of fun! I\’ve got to think up some new inventions, too; and use up some more of the stuff from the salvage store, such as that salmon. Maybe something with whole-wheat pasta; or quinoa. Another Raid I conducted another raid on the salvage store\’s grab-bag bins this morning; and found eight XL Bars; four Special K protein/meal bars; and three RXBars. I can use them for ride food; but I wish I could work some alchemy on the XL bars. They aren\’t the high-protein variety; and might not be as sustaining as I like. The wind was about 16 mph as I was riding back home. That\’s not as strong as the forecast predicted; but it was plenty strong for me! It\’s supposed to calm down by tomorrow, which is great news for the long ride. I\’m thinking of pushing for 42 miles; and it will be great if I don\’t have a stiff headwind for the second half of the ride! Now I\’ve got to think about the alchemy I\’m planning in the kitchen; but I have no idea how to cook up gold.

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BelVita Breakfast Biscuits

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BelVita Breakfast Biscuits BelVita Breakfast Biscuits are light and crispy; and make a nice snack before a short ride. Or have them for, well, breakfast! Sometimes I find the 4-biscuit packs in the grab-bag bins at the salvage store. I don’t think I’ve ever found the Cranberry Orange variety; but I’ve found the others. They’re all good; and it’s hard to decide on a favorite. These biscuits are too fragile and crumbly to make good ride food. I need sturdier things, such as Fit Crunch bars. BelVita Breakfast Biscuits also don’t sustain me properly as on-bike food during a long ride; so I keep them to eat at other times. They’d be great with hot chocolate, once the weather gets really cold; or have them with coffee or hot tea. Try BelVita Sandwiches, too!

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Rough Riders

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Remember Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders? Maybe mountain bikes would have served them better than horses — MTBs with dropper seat posts! Unfortunately for the Rough Riders, the MTB hadn\’t yet been invented. The \”safety bicycle\” came along in the mid-1880s; and bicycle infantry dates to the late 19th century. The mountain bike didn\’t show up until after WWII; and dropper seat posts came even later. Maybe the terrain where the Rough Riders fought was too rough for the bicycles of the day; and in fact not many of their horses got there with them. They wound up being foot soldiers. I sure don\’t belong to their ranks; whether on foot or on horseback. I\’m too spoiled by using a bicycle to be of much use in the infantry; and I\’d be of even less use in the cavalry. For me, \”in the saddle\” means — you guessed it — a bicycle ride! All joking aside, a dropper seat post can smooth a ride over rough ground. That\’s especially important when you\’ll be riding long. Getting bounced up, down, and around in the saddle is tiring; not to mention that it\’s hard on your tender parts. The coil spring mechanism of the dropper post makes the ride a little softer. I never tried a \”dropper\”. I don\’t know how much up-and-down it causes; but I was concerned that this motion would cause dizziness. There are some rough street surfaces around here; but I\’m sure they\’re nothing compared to technical MTB trails. Riding over said surfaces is aggravating; but not to the point that I want to swap seat posts for it. I\’ll stick to (relatively) smooth riding paths; and forget about being a Rough Rider.

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Semantics

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Let\’s get into semantics, shall we? Exactly what does “experienced cyclist” mean? For that matter, what does “cyclist” mean? “Experienced” might mean two or more years of regular pedaling; or many seasons of pro racing. It might mean a seasoned bicycle tourist; or the casual weekend rider; or even the number of miles racked up just for the heck of riding. My eleventh anniversary as a rider is coming up; and the miles I\’ve pedaled on trike, hybrid, and road bike total well over 55K. If sheer mileage counts, I think I can say that I\’m experienced! Racing is another matter. So far I haven’t been interested in racing. I don’t think I have the competitive edge needed for it; and I don\’t have the time to train for racing. I’m hardly an experienced century rider, either. After all, I’ve done only four; and last time I did one was in July 2013.  Now for the second question. Exactly what is a cyclist? At its most basic, a “cyclist” is anybody who rides a bicycle (or a tricycle!); and the more regularly you ride, the more of a cyclist you become. It helps to have an incentive: it can be losing some weight; preparing for a long touring adventure on two wheels; or training up for a 100-miler. I myself never needed much incentive. The day I got the tricycle, I instantly discovered that my legs love the sensation of pedaling; and the rest, so the saying goes, is history. Now for more semantics. What constitutes \”ride food\”? It can be whatever you want to eat; but as you ride longer and longer distances, you\’ll need proper nutrition. You don\’t wan\’t to run into the bonk, except on paper! So What\’s Food? In my early days of long Sunday rides on the trike, I took along miniature gumdrops and Combos to eat. They were easy to carry; and easy to grab as I rode. As time went on, my rides got longer; and I discovered that these snacks don\’t have the sustenance I need for long rides. I then began to experiment with some recipes that I had found online; and I tried various protein bars. I watched for new things to try when I visited stores; and the grab-bag bins at the salvage store often yielded things that I could try as ride food. As a result, FitCrunch bars are a now a favorite. I might bring sandwiches along on my long rides, but they\’re too bulky. After the first few months of long rides, I started to take along electrolyte drinks as well as water. Here, too, there are quite a few options: some have carbs; and some don\’t. I prefer the low- or non-carb variety, because I get plenty of carbs from those FitCrunch bars! More semantics: what\’s a \”long\” ride? For a beginning rider, ten miles might seem very long; and for the cyclist who\’s been riding for years, it could mean a double century! At present, my long Sunday ride is about 40 miles; and that\’s not so very long compared to the hoped-for century ride! This much is evident when it comes to the cycling world\’s semantics: there\’s plenty of room for interpretation.

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Grabbing Blind

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Grabbing blind isn’t always the best idea. Who knows what  you might get? When I’m on the road bike, however, I need to pull out my water bottle, and put it back into its cage; and without looking. I\’m certainly grabbing blind then! Getting the bottle out is rarely a problem; but putting it back is another story. Sometimes I have no trouble. Other times I’m wavering all over the bike path; I can\’t seem to control the bike; and I can’t find the right spot to put that bottle. I don’t know why it happens; but I wish this skill were more reliable! I\’m not comfortable with looking down to find the bottle cage. I need to keep my eyes focused on what\’s ahead of me, especially if it\’s dark. Often enough I\’ve complained about path users who are hard to see in the dark; and I think I\’m afraid that, if I do look down to find the bottle cage, I\’ll be upon such a person without time to stop. Shopping online can be blind grabbing, too; especially where clothing is concerned. I don\’t want to order a pair of shorts from a web site; and have them not fit. Even if it\’s the same brand and size that I\’ve used for the past decade, sizing can change. Personally, I\’d rather try on those shorts at a bike shop. Scheduling an important event, whether an organized one or a just-to-do-it one, is yet another form of the blind grab. Nobody can know months in advance what the weather will be like on any particular day; and that\’s one of the aspects of planning a century that makes me nervous. Still Thinking About It I\’m still thinking about doing a 100-miler; but I don\’t think I\’m ready to do it before this month is over. By next month our nasty Winter weather is likely to be here; but at the same time, it can get quite warm in December. So, will it be clear; or rainy? Cold; or will it get into the 80s? Will I be blessed with a wind still day; or must I battle headwinds half the time? In way, a big ride is easier when I KNOW it will be hot all day. I don\’t have to layer up, and then either get too hot; or try to stash all those things into my Camel-Bak. I\’ll see how things go for the next few weeks. But if I do the big ride before New Year\’s, whatever day I plan it, I\’ll be grabbing blind.

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Fata Morgana

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Is there a fata morgana in cycling? If so, I\’ve never seen one; but such mirages are out there. After all, it looks like the fata morgana can occur anywhere, as long as the atmospheric conditions are just right. What would a mirage look like to a cyclist? To the weary rider battling strong headwinds for 100 miles, maybe a non-extant rest station will suddenly appear in the distance. I read something about RAAM; and this \”contest of sleep deprivation\” can result in hallucinations for the riders. They can afford only a few hours\’ sleep per night because they must always work to reach the next checkpoint on time; and naturally they become sleep-deprived. I think I\’ll skip RAAM! I ride in the dark a lot; and sometimes things look weird. A shadow resulting from sometimes looks like an object in the bike path. Fortunately my eyes have learned to adjust to these \”visions\”; and I rarely have problems with them. When I\’m tired and sleepy, of course it\’s hard to stay alert; and then I have to forget about speed work. I don\’t need to doze off over the handlebars and crash. It isn\’t a mirage when a poorly lit — or unlit — person materializes ahead of me. I wish it were a mirage; or that people would carry flashlights in the dark! Sometimes I\’m uncomfortably close before I can see those people; and I don\’t want to hit anyone. If I did, I would be the one who got hurt; because the contact would cause me to land on the ground. One morning last week I glimpsed what may have been a meteor. It lasted for several seconds; but it was half-hidden by the treetops. Or was it a fata morgana? \’

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