SpokEasy

December 2021

Final Thoughts

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Now for some final thoughts as 2021 drifts into the past. In July, I began trying to work up to a century; and aimed to do it on October 9. Along came Hurricane Ida in late August; and as a result, I lost several weeks\’ riding. While I was staying with my sister I used her exercise bike; but that was a long way from real cycling. So I never got around to trying that century. I was too out of condition when I first got back home; and my Sunday long rides are only now back up to 40-45 miles. I will always have to keep my A1c in mind; and I need to work more vegetables back into my diet. Tomorrow or the next day, I think I\’ll make chimiflower. Sunday might be a better day to devote to cooking, because the weather will be better for riding tomorrow than on Sunday. Goals. Always goals, and New Year\’s resolutions! I\’m aiming to ride 5000 miles during 2022; and am toying with the idea of doing that century ride in April. If I\’m serious about that goal, I need to start working towards it tomorrow; and if I really want to increase my pace, I need to begin working at intervals of 17-18 mph. My final thoughts include this one: it\’s New Year\’s Eve, and I\’m running the air conditioner! It\’s been warm enough for long enough that I really need it. Sometimes I wish I had one of these: When I begin a ride of several hours, and it\’s already 80 degrees when I start; I get VERY hot before I\’m done! It\’s 6:40 pm; and I expect the fireworks will soon start in earnest. That\’s what drives me crazy about New Year\’s Eve: all the racket!

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Riding with the Kiwi

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Riding with the Kiwi This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” On flat ground, that is. Parts of New Zealand are mountainous; and I might have a very tough time in those regions! Let’s see what New Zealand has to offer us two-wheelers. The A2O trail is the country’s longest; and is ranked Easy to Intermediate on the difficulty scale. You can enjoy beautiful views of lakes; mountains; and plains. Off-the-bike activities, such as wine-tasting, are also available along the way. The trail is divided into nine segments, so you can ride just part of it; or take five to seven days to tackle the whole route. Is mountain biking more to your liking? Choose from MTB trails ranging from easy to blue square. Ride through stunning scenery; watch for local wildlife; and enjoy the outdoors! As always, don’t forget about safety. In New Zealand, cars are right-hand drives; and are driven on the left-hand side of the road. I, for one, would have a hard time remembering that; but cycling on motorways is a no-no in New Zealand. So it’s possible that we won’t have to worry about it. Let’s get back to the trails. It is said that some people live to eat; so how about riding to eat? There are several routes for the cycling foodie, including the Tasman Great Taste Trail. This easy-to-intermediate trail follows the coastline; and along the way are wineries; art galleries; fish & chip shops; and boutiques. But with COVID  apparently  making a reappearance, I’m not holding my breath about going anywhere; whether to go riding with the kiwi or to another country.  

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Sunburned in the Fog?

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Can you get sunburned in the fog? That\’s a reasonable enough question, I suppose. After all, cloudy skies don\’t prevent sunburn; and riding through the fog is like riding through a cloud, isn\’t it? This morning I didn\’t get out to ride until about 6:30, and I figured I\’d need sunblock. So I applied it; and went out to ride. Lo and behold, it was quite foggy! In some places the fog was pretty dense; and I\’m glad it wasn\’t dark, too. The temperature was already 77 degrees; and the forecast predicted scattered T-storms. Such forecasts always have me a bit on edge, wondering whether I\’ll get to ride; or worse, get caught in a storm miles from home. Often my concerns prove to be unjustified; but you never know! I thought of doing laps around the park, in case a T-storm did break out; and then I wouldn\’t be far from home. But the park\’s walking/biking path is no place to be doing force intervals, especially if I don\’t get there very early. By 6:00 am, there are too many people on that path for me to be doing on-bike exercises that might see me hit 21 mph — more than double the park\’s speed limit for cyclists! So I headed for the levee bike path; and did my ride. When I do force work, I like to have a recovery drink when I get home; and last night I prepared it. The directions say that a serving is two scoops; but I used just one, mixed into almond milk. Next time maybe I\’ll try two scoops; but a single scoop seems rich enough to me. If I had gotten sunburned in the fog, a tasty drink is some consolation. Still Waiting By late morning, I was still waiting for the weather to turn bad. I guess I was lucky today: I didn\’t get sunburned in the fog; and I didn\’t get poured on. I had a dental appointment at 10:00 am, and I decided to walk there instead of riding. It\’s only a mile; and if it did start to rain, I didn\’t want to be on a bicycle with a flapping poncho!

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Not Omicron?

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This is not omicron, I hope. My head feels stuffy and a bit achy today. I didn\’t really notice it until I began my ride; but I don\’t have other symptoms of omicron: no fever; no muscle aches; and my sense of smell is intact. I suppose it\’s probably an allergy thing. The stuffiness came and went as I continued to ride. At my turnaround point, I ate a GU-Gel. Many flavors of \”goo\” contain a little caffeine; and I thought that it might help my head to feel better. I think it did help a little; and as I\’m not working today, I could put in some extra miles. I\’m glad I didn\’t have to ride in the dark, because it was foggy. Wouldn\’t you know, this is the time I forgot to wear my reflective vest. The forecast is for \”scattered rain\”; and about two hours after I finished my ride, the wind had increased. Gusts could become as strong as 25 mph; and it\’s not fun battling that on a road bike. I decided to make a short trip to the drug store. It didn\’t look like rain yet; but I wasn\’t going to wait, in case it did rain. At the store, I saw home tests for COVID; and decided to get one just in case. My stuffy head is not omicron, I think; but what if I develop further symptoms, and need to test myself? Half of me wonders why I blew about $10 on such a test. I get tested at work as a regular thing; and that doesn\’t cost me a cent. But things are crazy right now; and if I should suddenly need such as test, that will be when the stores are all sold out!

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Backsliding

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I\’m still backsliding on my diet. Even when I count carbs; and stay within my daily limit; I eat too many sweets. That isn\’t good. I have to get my A1c levels checked again next month; and I fear it won\’t be good news. It\’s so easy to fall back into poor eating habits; and I always overestimate my ability to resist sweets when I have them here in the home. Will I never learn not to buy them? On top of that, there\’s the specter of possible rheumatoid arthritis hanging over my head! Elevated CCP levels can mean RA; or, in fact, several other conditions. If I have any one of them, watching my diet will be even more crucial. Today I\’m backsliding on my cycling. I took a very short ride to the drug store; but otherwise am taking today off from riding. I think I actually need a day off. I walked to the bike shop to get the help I needed with making my new bicycle computer pick up my heart rate. The weather is still very warm for December; but there\’s a cold front in the forecast. It won\’t be here until Sunday night; but it will feel more like Winter after it passes through. At present the wind is 15 mph; and I\’m glad I\’m not trying to ride against it. It looks like tomorrow morning will be OK for riding. That\’s a good thing! Year 2021 is almost over; so I want to squeeze in what miles I can over the next three days. What shall I do for New Year\’s? Go for a ride, of course; but I\’m trying to resist getting any more goodies. I\’ve done enough backsliding already.

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Splurge

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I had rather a splurge today. I couldn\’t be sure the salvage store will be open on Saturday, because that\’s New Year\’s Day; so I went this morning. As I cruised the aisles, I found a canister of Zone Perfect protein powder. The price tag was nearly $27, which is hair-raisingly expensive for the salvage store; but I got it anyway. I know I\’ll use it in due course; and I like to try new things for my recovery drinks. Today I didn\’t take the trailer; and I wish I had. The store had those huge, 48-roll packs of bathroom tissue; and if I\’d had the trailer, I could have bought one! I don\’t suppose it\’s any use going back to the store, because those packs are probably all sold out by now. Again, the grab-bag bins were a disappointment. They were nearly empty; but I got some goodies from other parts of the store. Not that I need them; I already had candy on hand! For lunch, I had another splurge. I rode over to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant to get take-out — or should I say, bike-out? — for my lunch. When I get Chinese food, I usually choose something with chicken in it; but today I decided to be different and tried Hunan Beef. I got the lunch combination, so I could have fried rice and an egg roll, too. Hunan Beef has several large pieces of green bell pepper in it; and I discarded them. I still do not like green bell pepper. Otherwise, it was good. Now I think I\’ll stay put for the rest of the day. My legs need a break; and who know when it might start to rain. The forecast doesn\’t predict any precipitation before tonight; but you just never know!

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Cut Rate?

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Today I visited Walmart, to get cut-rate greeting cards for next Christmas. I forgot that the store usually has a special section devoted to holiday items; and remembered it only when I reached the check-out! So I\’m not sure that the cards I found were truly cut-rate; but oh, well. At least I have them, which means I\’ve gotten a head start on next year\’s Christmas shopping. The other items that I bought were not cut-rate. Batteries are expensive, and they weren\’t on sale; but I need them for my blinkies. I bough some rather pricy pickles and olives, too. It\’s Boxing Day, but the store already had Valentine candy on the shelves. Mardi Gras decorations were there, too; and Fat Tuesday isn\’t until March 1! The weather is still weird. It was already nearly 70 degrees at 9:30 am; and it\’s mostly cloudy. On the way to the store, I ran into some patches of fog; and I was glad it wasn\’t still dark. Today doesn\’t feel like Sunday. I did a long ride last Friday, so I could include it in my Winter Wheelers log. Yesterday was the final day of Winter Wheelers; and I wanted to get in those miles. Now my sense of time is off-kilter. In fact, I put out some mail for pick-up; and now I have to bring it back indoors. I forgot that today is Sunday!

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Yule Ride

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Today I did a Yule Ride! What else on Christmas Day? I didn\’t have a new bicycle; and I don\’t need a new one. If I were a kid, though, I bet I would have been thrilled to find a brand new bike beside the Christmas Tree! The weather still does not feel at all like December; and it didn\’t yesterday, either. This warmth will continue well into next week. It\’s absolutely crazy! I made today\’s ride short, and pretty easy. After all, I rode 40+ miles yesterday. After I got home, I put on an egg to boil; and while it was cooking I opened my Christmas presents. Nothing fancy: a calendar, a book, and so on. And some maple candy! That reminds me, I need to use up the maple syrup that\’s sitting in the fridge. It sounds like the wind is getting stronger, so I\’m glad I did my Yule Ride earlier in the day. Now I can be lazy for a while! Merry Christmas!

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On the Eve

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Here we are, on the eve of Christmas already! I guess many youngsters\’ heads are full of visions of a new bicycle. My head is occupied with thoughts of tomorrow\’s ride! We had a few chilly days, but now our weather has warmed up considerably; and in fact, it\’s going to get close to 80 degrees tomorrow! That\’s far from unheard of; but it\’s still really too warm for the season. Of course I\’m planning my \”festive\” meal. Canned chicken; I want to steam some broccoli; and I have some cranberry sauce that I need to use up. If your locale will be as warm as mine; and if you\’re tired of sweet goodies; maybe pickle pops will suit your palate! Pretty soon we\’ll be on the eve of a new year; and it\’s time to give some thought to my cycling goals for 2022: can I finally ride that century? I want to keep working towards improving my pace; and how about aiming for 5000 miles? Lately, unfortunately, I\’ve felt rather tired. Maybe it\’s because I rode more than usual during the week of Thanksgiving; and while Winter Wheelers lasts, I want to get in the mileage! It\’s Not Sunday It\’s not Sunday; but it sure feels like it because I did a long ride. We\’re on the eve of the final day of Winter Wheelers; and I wanted to get in some good licks while there was still time. So today I rode 40.4 miles. It wasn\’t so easy, because the wind got up to 15 mph before I got home. It\’s blowing from the South today; and as I rode, the sky got cloudier and cloudier. The forecast doesn\’t mention rain; but tomorrow night and Sunday morning: fog. Did I need to eat more during my ride? My ride data says I burned 1000 calories; and I took in just 575. Is that why I felt tired? I think I\’ll make it short and easy tomorrow; but I\’d better avoid the park! I remember one Christmas morning, some years ago. I went to ride in the park; and it was about 6:00 am when I got there. The kids with their new bicycles were already out in considerable numbers; and it was a bit nerve-wracking trying to avoid them. For now I\’m taking it easy; and I must be sure my doormat is out to welcome Santa!

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Scrooge?

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Am I a Scrooge? Before his transformation, Scrooge was a loner as well as a skinflint. I\’m not sure I\’m the skinflint that old Ebeneezer was; but I\’m definitely not a social butterfly. I had little experience in socializing when I started school; and I had no idea how to make friends. Somehow I never seemed to fit in; and if I became a loner, it shouldn\’t be surprising. About thirteen years ago, I developed strong sensitivity to \”fragrances\”; and for that reason I avoid social situations as much as I can. It\’s actually lucky that I\’m not a social animal. I need to go to stores early to beat the crowds; and I need to wear filter masks when away from home. I was sick and tired of those things long before the current pandemic came along; and, like a Scrooge, I\’m tired of the cost of the things. Now omicron is stampeding through the world; and I decided not to do any visiting on Christmas Day. I think it\’s wiser not to risk it. Besides, I have a hard enough time keeping to a proper diet at home. Naturally I got some candy for Christmas; and am, of course, doing some nibbling in advance! I found a variety pack of Ferrero Rocher® at the salvage store last Saturday, and snatched it up. I\’m keeping it for December 25; and have to keep my mind off of it until then. Today I got some other chocolates to eat; just a little box of three pieces. Now I really have to watch the carbs for the rest of the day! Of course I want to go for a ride on Christmas. It\’s going to warm up a lot by then; so maybe my nose will give me a break!

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