SpokEasy

November 2021

Potholes

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Potholes are only too common in my neck of the woods. Many streets are in poor condition; and surfaces are often rough. That\’s why I use tough tires! For the most part, the levee bike path is in much better shape than many local streets; and I\’m glad I have it easily available. Even that path has its rough spots. There\’s one about 18 miles out that\’s two large potholes trying to merge into one. It\’s so bad that I didn\’t even try to ride through it yesterday. It\’s not only rough; but quite deep. I hope they fix it soon. The street where I live has been undergoing construction for quite some time; and it\’s a big mess. I don\’t like riding through it at all; but sometimes I have to. If I go to the supermarket before work, I don\’t quite dare return home via the longer, bike-path route. That means crossing railroad tracks; and who knows when a train might come along? I especially don\’t like riding through rough, bumpy, potholes when I\’m on the road bike. Even now, after years of riding, I don\’t feel quite sure of my handling skills unless I take such surfaces slowly and carefully. I\’m glad I can avoid such surfaces while riding to work; and I\’m glad I don\’t need to use the regular streets to get in my miles on the road bike! Then there are the potholes that life throws at us. Things don\’t always go smoothly, as we all know; and hurricanes, for example, come along to plague us. Incidentally, there are still many blue-tarp roofs out there. They were plainly visible as I was riding yesterday; and I hope those people can get repairs completed before the temperatures start falling into the 40s.

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Rabbit Rabbit

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I kept coming across the expression \”rabbit rabbit\” in social media; and wondered what it was about. It\’s a good luck formula! If you say \”rabbit rabbit\” aloud; the first thing after you wake up; on the first day of the month; it\’s supposed to bring good fortune. Or maybe a present. It\’s too bad I didn\’t know about that, or I would have said it Monday when I woke up. But as my birthday is approaching, I might get a present, anyway. When I awaken in the morning, my mind is usually on the bicycle ride; and I\’m not thinking about bunnies, unless I wonder whether I\’ll see one during my ride. I haven\’t see one for some time; but I guess they\’re still around. I didn\’t spot any interesting wildlife during today\’s long ride. I\’ve extended said long ride to 40.4 miles. I was dismayed that my average speed was slower than last Sunday\’s; but then I went back and checked my log. The wind was stronger today than it was last Sunday; so that might account for my pokiness. My legs really felt the effort today, too. I also slowed myself down by walking my bicycle over one of the humps out there. Since I began going out that far again, the surface of one side of that hump is all torn up! It\’s two big, nasty potholes; and today I simply did not feel like trying to ride through them. At such moments I wish I were on a mountain bike; and I hope the path gets repaired soon. Milestones I\’m little short of some milestones; and I don\’t need to say \”rabbit rabbit\” to get there. My road bike is almost to the long-term mileage total of 30K; and unless something really drastic happens, I should be able to ride those 50.84 miles within the coming week. Thy hybrid is almost to 16K miles; not quite 23 miles to go! Incidentally, I wonder how many miles that hybrid would have on it now, if I had never bought the road bike. Another milestone is that November 14 will mark 12 years of cycling! I never imagined this when I decided to get the tricycle; and it just goes to show that you never know what might happen. I think next Sunday I\’ll ride an additional mile or two; and hope for a calm day. Rabbit rabbit!

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Bellwether Men\’s Shorts

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Bellwether Men\’s Shorts are designed with both comfort and performance in mind. The gel padding absorbs bumps; and the high-spandex fabric can stretch in many ways. Reflective highlights provide added visibility durning night rides; and the leg bands do not bind. Bellwether Men\’s Shorts sound like a good deal. Real cycling shorts are definitely much more comfortable than regular shorts for riding, especially in hot weather; and in my humble opinion, they\’re worth the cost. Chamois Butt\’r helps with comfort, too; especially on long rides. These \”bottoms\” should be washed after each use; so it\’s wise to have several pairs on hand. I wash mine by hand; and in this humid climate, the chamois can take several days to get dry. Therefore I usually have at least three pairs that I use in rotation; and as of this writing, I\’ve got five pairs! The more, the merrier?

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Bellwether Men\’s Shorts

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Bellwether Men\’s Shorts are designed with both comfort and performance in mind. The gel padding absorbs bumps; and the high-spandex fabric can stretch in many ways. Reflective highlights provide added visibility durning night rides; and the leg bands do not bind. Bellwether Men\’s Shorts sound like a good deal. Real cycling shorts are definitely much more comfortable than regular shorts for riding, especially in hot weather; and in my humble opinion, they\’re worth the cost. Chamois Butt\’r helps with comfort, too; especially on long rides. These \”bottoms\” should be washed after each use; so it\’s wise to have several pairs on hand. I wash mine by hand; and in this humid climate, the chamois can take several days to get dry. Therefore I usually have at least three pairs that I use in rotation; and as of this writing, I\’ve got five pairs! The more, the merrier?

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Perpetuum Mobile?

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I think of perpetuum mobile when I\’m spinning in a low gear while battling a headwind. We cyclists might be said to be perpetual motion machines, anyway. We ride a lot; and our legs do a lot of moving! Hence perpetuum mobile. When I ride, I work to minimize the coasting; and if you\’re on a fixed gear bike, so I\’ve read, you can\’t coast! It\’s keep pedaling or stop moving; and that must take some getting used to. Especially when you\’re thoroughly accustomed to a freewheel. But it might be fun to be able to ride backwards! Today was another trip to the salvage store; and I sure thought of perpetuum mobile while riding back home. I had a headwind of 16 mph to fight; and I was on my granny gear much of the time, pedaling fast. The trailer, of course, added to the wind resistance; not to mention its weight. I\’ve become reluctant to go to the salvage store without that trailer, even though it often seems like a lot to drag along. I never know when I might make a good find; and sometimes it\’s too much for the panniers. Besides, I haven\’t quite shed my stock-up-while-I-can mentality of the pandemic; and in fact we still don\’t know what\’s coming with that. I don\’t think it\’s over yet. It looks like the wind won\’t be as strong tomorrow, thank goodness. I\’m planning to shoot for 40 miles; and 20 miles against a headwind to get back home isn\’t fun. Maybe I could use a fairing; but how would that affect bicycle handling? And what about the added weight? I think I\’ll skip the fairing. I\’ve got to think about cooking; laundry; and tomorrow\’s ride food!

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Burning up the Path

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I was burning up the path day before yesterday! I went out on the road bike, and did force work. When I checked my ride data afterwards, I discovered that I had hit a max speed of 21.96 mph! It\’s not a record, but it\’s a little bit of progress. Of course I\’ll take that! Besides, I made my record speed when I had a stiff tailwind. If I were riding the Hotter N Hell 100, I wouldn\’t have to worry about burning up the path. That path is already burning up! I know I\’m in no condition to undertake a century ride in temperatures that can rise over 100 degrees; and that ride can be pretty windy as well. I\’ll have to stick with more modest path-scorching: namely, increasing the length of my Sunday long rides. I plan to shoot for 40 miles this coming Sunday. It looks like the weather will be good; but last night I was glad I wasn\’t out there! At 6:30 pm, the wind was 20 mph! And from the North, which means a headwind on the way home. Overnight low temperatures are now falling below the mid-50s; so I have to pull out the full-fingered gloves. I hope we don\’t get a cold snap like last Winter\’s, when the weather got below freezing! That\’s when I long for polar cycling clothing; but I\’m reluctant to buy something that I\’ll use only a few times per season. Burning up the path on a cold, windy day makes my torso get quite warm; but my hands and feet are another story. Even thermal socks don\’t always keep my feet warm enough; and I need a new pair of oversized gloves that have room for warming packs. Gosh, I feel like a pyromaniac.

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Strange Appetite

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I guess I\’ve got a strange appetite. Some time ago, I blogged about \”you are what you eat\”. That was in reference to sunblock; but some of the food I fix might seem outlandish. I\’ve been working to keep prediabetes at bay; and that led me to this book: On page 151 is the recipe for \”Hoppin\’ John\”; and I ended up devising many variations on it. I tried different kinds of legumes; different cheeses; quinoa instead of rice; and different colors of bell pepper (but still not green!). Half the fun was inventing crazy names for my inventions: Leapin\’ Leo, Tardy Turtle, and so on. But that\’s not on-bike food. I can\’t ride no-handed while I use both hands to eat; so I have to leave Tardy Turtle, or whatever, at home. On-bike food must be things that are easy to grab and pop into my mouth. That means plenty of bar-type foods. Maybe it\’s good that I have a strange appetite! Over the years I\’ve tried many different bars as ride food; and naturally have settled on some favorites. I liked Clif Bar Sierra Trail Mix; but the nutritionist advised me to phase out Clif Bars. They\’re high in carbs, but low in protein. FitCrunch Birthday Cake is a favorite; but I\’ve run out of them. For a while, I found plenty of them in the grab-bag bins at the salvage store; and getting those bars on the cheap sure spoiled me! I hope I find some next time I visit the salvage store. What\’s in Store? I love that place because I never know what I might find; and it\’s fun to explore the aisles, looking for new things. When you\’re trying to eat on the cheap, having a strange appetite is useful! I hope I find almond milk on my next visit; and this time I won\’t have to worry about produce. Today I made a run to the regular supermarket before I went to work. I was worried that such a trip might be cutting the time too close; but I decided that I would never know unless I tried it. So I did; and it worked out fine! It helped that I went to the store early, before many other customers were there; and I didn\’t buy too many things. I was back home by 6:40 am; and that gave me enough time to get ready to ride to work without frantically rushing around. I\’ve got a feeling that this will become a regular routine. I can get the produce that I need to keep my diet on track; and still devote Saturday mornings to the salvage store!

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The Last Straw

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It would be the last straw if I had to leave my bicycles out in the weather. I\’m lucky that I can bring mine indoors; but if I can ever build a shed for them, I think I\’d like to try this: In fact, I used to have a copy of this book; but finally had to weed it out of my collection. It seemed highly unlikely that I\’ll ever be able to tackle this; and straw-bale construction does need special consideration in a humid climate. Our average annual rainfall is five feet! If I moved to a dry climate, it might make more sense. Reading \”Serious Straw Bale\” reminded me somewhat of the \”soddies\” on the frontier. It also, of course, made me think of the story of The Three Little Pigs! Maybe the first pig\’s house was merely a heap of straw? That\’s how I always pictured it; but if the pig\’s house had been made of bales, it might have withstood the wolf\’s blowing. If I had my own place I could try building a bicycle shed like this, even if I can\’t construct an entire house. I also dream of having a system for collecting rainwater; and maybe some solar panels, too. Oh, if only I were younger — and rich — and more mechanically inclined! Or maybe it\’s all mere pipe dreaming; like my notions of doing a long bicycle tour! I don\’t have a touring bicycle; or camping equipment; and group tours can be too expensive for my budget. Maybe someday. Even if I never get to do that long tour, I hope I never have to give up riding. That would really be the last straw!

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Hootenanny?

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Last night I thought of \”hootenanny\” when I heard owls! I think they were barred owls; and it sounded like two of them calling back and forth. For some reason, I thought that hootenanny was a hippie-like person who was a jobless bum and a troublemaker; but it’s not a person at all! Maybe I have vague memories of my parents using the term in that way; and things like that stick. And the \”hooten\” part of the word does does sound like hollering to me. It’s rare for me to hear owls where I live; but I like them. Now and then I hear an owl when I’m out riding before dawn; and an owl’s call would have been most suited to this morning’s view of the crescent moon. I only have a day or two more to enjoy that moon; so I hope the weather cooperates. Today I worked on my pace again; and tried four-minute intervals of pushing for at least 15 mph. On the way out, I did three sets of three. Homeward-bound, I started to fade big time during the second interval; so I “just rode” the rest of the way home. As usual, that makes me feel like a wimp. It happened last Tuesday, too! How am I ever going to improve my pace if I don\’t push through the discomfort more often? There was almost no wind this morning, and of course that was a big help. I\’m going to get spoiled if it keeps up! Wednesdays I usually do my force efforts; so no hootenanny for me tonight!

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Is It Fall?

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IS it Fall; or isn\’t it? I can\’t rely on the leaves to tell me. We don\’t get this spectacular foliage in the Autumn; so there\’s no leaf-peeping here. We\’re getting some temperature swings; and that, at least, is typical of both Fall and Spring. This morning it was cool enough that I wore leggings for the ride to work. I like them better than slacks for riding, because there aren\’t loose cuffs to worry about. By the time I left work, it was 72 degrees; and tonight it\’s supposed to go down to 56 degrees. Leg warmers for the morning ride, among other cold-weather gear. Then up to 74 tomorrow afternoon. That\’s why I ask: IS it Fall? Actually, weather like this year-round would be ideal; especially for the weekly long ride. When it\’s already 80 degrees at 5 am, I get very hot during that ride; and I wonder whether I\’m truly properly acclimated for it. But for now, I\’ll think about enjoying this weather while we have it, because it won\’t last long. The century bug is still buzzing around me; and it would be great if I could do it before we get our first real cold front. I don\’t think it\’s wise to go for it yet, though. Yesterday I rode 37.4 miles; and my roll time was 2:48:55 (total time 3:10:01). From there to 100 miles is a big jump; both mileage-wise and time-wise. I suppose it would be possible to do it. Once I read an article about century rides that said, it\’s possible to do double or even triple your weekly long mileage in one day; but I\’d prefer to work up to it more. After all, Pride goeth before a fall!

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