SpokEasy

December 2021

Starting Early

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I\’m starting early with my Christmas celebration. Last Friday I got Chinese take-out for supper; and that was \”Christmas dinner\”. Actually, it made Friday night supper and Saturday breakfast; but that\’s typical for a Chinese combination plate — or, indeed, for any restaurant meal. I\’m starting early with my holiday beverage, too. Yesterday I was at Whole Foods, and got a quart of almond nog. I drank some of it yesterday; and portioned out the rest in small jars to freeze. When December 25 comes, I can have some more of it! Starting early has advantages; and I do a lot of it. I like to get to stores for opening time, so I can beat the crowds. As far as the salvage store goes, I figure the good stuff will go fast; and of course I want to get there early. In hot weather, going early lets me get back home before the worst of the day\’s heat, too. On Sundays, when I plan to put in my biggest ride of the week, starting early means I can finish before noon; and then I can have the rest of the day to blog; take it easy; and so on. Maybe we\’d better not get going on the subject of holiday gift shopping. I, for one, like to get it done before December; and then I have ample time to ship the gifts. Rush shipping at the last minute of course costs more; and in addition there\’s the stress of worrying that the gifts won\’t reach their destination before Christmas. In general, I dislike rushing at the last minute; and that covers a lot of ground: Christmas shopping; getting to work; and going to appointments. Arriving early and having to wait beats frantic rushing any day.

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Falling Flat

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Falling Flat Nobody likes falling flat. It implies failure; and who enjoys failure? Yet it happens, as in flat tires. Today I was out on my long ride. About 16 miles out, my bicycle suddenly seemed to be rolling differently. I thought at first it might be the texture of the surface; but I never noticed that change before. The dreaded thought of “flat tire” began to creep in; and I began to watch my front tire. All seemed OK with it; so I finally stopped to check the rear tire. There it was — a flat! And over 17 miles from home! There was nothing for me to do but go to work changing the tube. I was in a location that would have made it very inconvenient for a neighbor to come get me; and every cyclist needs to know how to change a tube, anyway. We learn by doing! But I hadn’t practiced this operation in years. There I go, falling flat! As an aside, I thought I had tire liners, but I discovered that I don’t; at least, not on the rear tire. I’ve got to get some pronto! It’s a good thing that I knew what I needed to do. Doing it, of course, was another matter. I hauled my extra tube; multi-tool; CO2 cartridges; and nozzle out of my under-saddle pack. Misadventure A misadventure like this is inevitable if you ride enough; but that doesn’t make it any easier! Somewhere I read about practicing tire-changing for a major event; it was either PBP or RAAM, I think. It said, practice changing tires until you can do it in five minutes. I wasn’t timing myself; but it probably took me at least 10 minutes just to get that tire off the rim! Then I had to get the old tube off; and put the new one on. After that, there was the struggle to get the tire back on without wrecking the new tube. It’s a good thing another rider came along. He had some tire levers that worked better than the ones on my multi tool; and he got that tire back on for me. Then I inflated the “new tire” with my CO2 cartridge; and headed home. This misadventure meant I lost considerable time; and also about 10 miles. I decided it was wiser to go straight home, just in case I flatted again. I had to remove my gloves in order to play mechanic; and my hands got chilled. My skin gets very dry in the cold; and my cuticles got banged up and bloody. I’m lucky it wasn’t in the mid-40s and raining! Well, there’s always next Sunday. I just hope I don’t go falling flat again.  

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Dill Pickle Juice

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Best Maid Dill Pickle Juice comes in handy during a long ride; or in fact any sports event. It\’s especially good on a hot day, when sodium replenishment is particularly important. This gallon jug should take care of an entire team\’s muscle cramps! I was first introduced to dill pickle juice shots during a Tour de Cure ride. It was quite warm that day; and when you\’ve been riding an hour or so in the heat, pickle juice tastes surprisingly good. If guzzling this juice isn\’t to your liking, another way to replace sodium is with salt tablets. They\’re easy to carry; and you won\’t have to worry about leakage!

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We Aren\’t All Dentists

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We aren\’t all dentists; so why do we read: \”use a dental pick to clean velcro\”? I certainly don\’t have any such tools lying around; and I had an idea that they\’re expensive. When I looked, I discovered that they\’re actually pretty cheap. But I don\’t think I\’ll buy any of them anytime soon. A pair of tweezers will probably work just as well for picking lint out of velcro; and I already have a pair of tweezers. I\’m wary of trying to use dental picks on my own mouth, anyway. I can easily see myself tearing up my gums; and that won\’t be fun. Far worse, I envisage myself prying off a dental crown! They really are expensive; and I\’d rather spare myself such cost. We aren\’t all dentists; I\’m certainly not, and I\’m not going to try to play dentist on my own teeth. That reminds me: would a dentist be interested bicycle gears? They have enough teeth! I don\’t \”brush\” my bicycles\’ gear teeth and chains, on account of I am lazy. I use a self-cleaning lube, because there isn\’t a toxic-waste drop-off anywhere near home; and I don\’t enjoy having jars full of oily, dirty water sitting around. Weather Breeder? I think we\’ve got a weather breeder. Here it is, the eleventh of December; and it\’s 77 degrees! That\’s much too warm for this time of year. I don\’t enjoy being cold; but after all, \’tis the season. T-storms are possible today; and by tomorrow morning the temperature is apt to fall to the low 50s. We already had a bit of rain; and more could be on the way. I\’m glad I got my errands done ahead of the potential bad weather. First, a trip to Whole Foods. We aren\’t all dentists; and as I said, nor am I; but I went prowling around the toothpaste, looking for SPF lip balm. The lip balm was by the toothpaste last time I bought it; but it was next to the sunblock this time. I\’ve found whey protein powder at the salvage store, but that\’s rare; so I got some at Whole Foods. It was on sale, too; so I saved a couple of bucks. Even so, I can\’t shop anywhere but the salvage store without suffering from sticker shock! After the trip to Whole Foods, I took the road bike to the shop. Fortunately I didn\’t need to leave my \”ride\” there; and now the left brifter works MUCH better!😊 After I got the road bike back home, it was time for yet another trip: I had to pick up a refill at the drug store. On the way there, it began to drizzle, even though the sky wasn\’t completely overcast. In fact, the sun came out! By the time I got back out of the store, the rain had stopped; but I sure was glad to get back home.

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We Aren\’t All Dentists

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We aren\’t all dentists; so why do we read: \”use a dental pick to clean velcro\”? I certainly don\’t have any such tools lying around; and I had an idea that they\’re expensive. When I looked, I discovered that they\’re actually pretty cheap. But I don\’t think I\’ll buy any of them anytime soon. A pair of tweezers will probably work just as well for picking lint out of velcro; and I already have a pair of tweezers. I\’m wary of trying to use dental picks on my own mouth, anyway. I can easily see myself tearing up my gums; and that won\’t be fun. Far worse, I envisage myself prying off a dental crown! They really are expensive; and I\’d rather spare myself such cost. We aren\’t all dentists; I\’m certainly not, and I\’m not going to try to play dentist on my own teeth. That reminds me: would a dentist be interested bicycle gears? They have enough teeth! I don\’t \”brush\” my bicycles\’ gear teeth and chains, on account of I am lazy. I use a self-cleaning lube, because there isn\’t a toxic-waste drop-off anywhere near home; and I don\’t enjoy having jars full of oily, dirty water sitting around. Weather Breeder? I think we\’ve got a weather breeder. Here it is, the eleventh of December; and it\’s 77 degrees! That\’s much too warm for this time of year. I don\’t enjoy being cold; but after all, \’tis the season. T-storms are possible today; and by tomorrow morning the temperature is apt to fall to the low 50s. We already had a bit of rain; and more could be on the way. I\’m glad I got my errands done ahead of the potential bad weather. First, a trip to Whole Foods. We aren\’t all dentists; and as I said, nor am I; but I went prowling around the toothpaste, looking for SPF lip balm. The lip balm was by the toothpaste last time I bought it; but it was next to the sunblock this time. I\’ve found whey protein powder at the salvage store, but that\’s rare; so I got some at Whole Foods. It was on sale, too; so I saved a couple of bucks. Even so, I can\’t shop anywhere but the salvage store without suffering from sticker shock! After the trip to Whole Foods, I took the road bike to the shop. Fortunately I didn\’t need to leave my \”ride\” there; and now the left brifter works MUCH better!😊 After I got the road bike back home, it was time for yet another trip: I had to pick up a refill at the drug store. On the way there, it began to drizzle, even though the sky wasn\’t completely overcast. In fact, the sun came out! By the time I got back out of the store, the rain had stopped; but I sure was glad to get back home.

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Yo Yo?

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Am I a yo yo dieter? It seems like it at times. Several times my weight has crept up to nearly 130 pounds; and considering my small frame and lack of height, that\’s way too much. Now that I\’m working to keep prediabetes at bay, weight control is even more important. I\’ve found that, when I put my mind to it, I lose weight fairly easily. Unfortunately I also seem to gain it back quite easily! Hence my asking whether I\’m a yo yo dieter. This past April, my weight had dropped to 102-103 pounds. By that point, meal-planning burnout had set it; and for a month or two I was too careless about my diet. I gained back several pounds; and saw that I needed to get back on track. Enter Hurricane Ida. That really threw things off; and when I got back home my weight had climbed back to 110.5. Not long afterwards, my A1c levels were checked; and they had skyrocketed to 6.6! I went back to work at my diet; and now my weight is hanging around 103-105 pounds. That\’s just about right; and I hope I can keep that yo yo from going back the other way! It\’s hard, though, as anyone knows who has worked at losing weight. By all accounts, keeping weight off is even harder than losing it; and that sure seems to be true. My sweet tooth is no help; and it was much easier to keep to a proper eating plan when I was doing work-from-home. I sure do miss that!

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Is This December?

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IS this December? So far, it hardly feels like it. The temperatures are more like October; and we\’ve had a lot of fog over the last few days. I suppose we\’ll get a blast of real cold at some point; but I hope it won\’t be a deep freeze like last Winter. It\’s rare for our weather to get as cold as that; and consequently, we aren\’t properly prepared for it. I\’m certainly not! That includes cycling clothing. I don\’t have any truly polar togs; and that can make riding on frigid days pretty miserable, even with layering. Warming packs help my hands; and I must try tucking them inside my socks, just above the shoes. It\’s most annoying to have my feet feeling like ice after only one mile, despite double socks. I don\’t think I\’m in real danger of frostbite; but why take chances? Last Sunday it got into the mid-70s by late morning; and that sure doesn\’t feel like December! Of course it makes riding easier, and more comfortable; but is it really almost Winter? I also ask my self, IS this December, because I have no Christmas decorations around. I\’m too busy with other things to decorate; and on top of that, I have nowhere to put the stuff. That\’s what comes of my repeated excursions to the salvage store! Early in the pandemic, I stocked up as much as I could, whenever I could. Who knew when strict stay-at-home orders might go into effect; and I wanted to be prepared. With the omicron wave now in progress, I can\’t be sure it won\’t happen!

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Riding Blind Again

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I was riding blind again this morning; but not because my bicycle computer ran out of charge. There was heavy fog; and I wound up riding less than six miles — and slowly — simply because of visibility problems. This was our third consecutive foggy morning; and each day it’s been worse than it was the day before. In fact, it was already getting foggy as I was riding home from work yesterday. When I went out to ride this morning, I saw that it was pretty thick as soon as I walked outside. I immediately took my glasses off, because I knew I\’d be able to see better without them! I intended to work on my pace today; but visibility was so poor that I decided against it. In fact, I made it a short, slow ride. I might have to repeat it tomorrow, because there’s yet more fog in the forecast.  It says, patchy fog; so I might have some clear stretches where I can push for speed. If I don\’t, I\’ll be riding blind again; and I don\’t enjoy that. It\’s lucky I just put fresh batteries in my white blinkie. I really needed the extra light power this morning, so I could be seen; but maybe it didn\’t matter too much. There wasn\’t anybody else out there! I don\’t blame people for not wanting to go out in such a fog; but there I was. Does that make me a fanatic? All this fog makes me think of Rudolph. I don\’t remember that we ever had a foggy Christmas Eve; but that doesn\’t mean that we didn\’t. I\’m glad I was only riding a bicycle; and not driving a team of reindeer.

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Relay

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Washing my cycling clothes became a relay Sunday. It began in mid-afternoon. First, I washed my cycling jacket, which needed it badly. In fact, I just ordered another, so I can use one while the other one is drying. I have to wash these things by hand; and in a humid climate they take several days to dry. After I washed the jacket, I watched a YouTube. Then came relay number two: washing the cycling shorts. After that, another YouTube. At 5:00 pm, I still had to wash my blouse; leg warmers; and gloves. So I got that done; and somewhere in between those relays I had to get in some food. It\’s funny, but after my Sunday long ride I usually don\’t feel particularly hungry. Of course I\’ll have my recovery drink; and something to eat here and there as I begin to feel hollow; but I don\’t actually get hungry until about 4:00 pm. Then I have to be careful: I don\’t want to overshoot my calorie/carb allowance; but I don\’t need to go to bed hungry, either. Kitchen Relay Sunday night I began a kitchen relay. Some things that I cook involve quite a lot of work; and it helps if I can bring them along in stages. I wanted to make a garbage soup; and that meant I needed to chop celery and onion. I had a piece of red bell pepper that I needed to use up, too. By the time I finished everything else Sunday evening, it was too late to cook the soup; but I did the chopping work, and stored the stuff in a plastic container. Stage two of this relay came when I got home from work yesterday. I took the containers of soup base stuff out of the freezer, and let them sit and thaw a bit while I ate some supper. Then I emptied them into the big pot, and turned on the heat. While the pot was heating up, I peeled and chopped a sweet potato and a red potato. Sweet potato in soup? Yes; I had it, and needed to use it; so I decided to have sweet potato instead of carrot. Besides, I need the carrots to take to work for snacks. There are still scads of salvage-store finds sitting around; and I used part of a can of corn, and some frozen green beans. I froze the rest of the corn for, you guessed it, the next garbage soup. Speaking of relays, I suppose there are relay races for cyclists. I\’ll bet such an event requires very deft handling skills; and nerves of steel. I think I\’ll stick to my little relays at home.

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Oddities

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Cycling has its oddities, that\’s for sure. Take my last two Sunday long rides. During yesterday\’s jaunt, I felt tired on the way home; the headwind (8 mph) was driving me crazy; and I seemed to be plodding along very slowly. Yet when I compared yesterday\’s notes with those from the previous Sunday, I saw that I did yesterday\’s ride slightly faster; and that, even though I added several extra miles. On top of that, the wind yesterday was stronger than it was a week earlier! It seemed weird; but perhaps I\’m finally getting a bit stronger!😊 Other oddities have to do with on-bike eating. During a long ride, appetite suppression is liable to set in; but for me, a rapid cadence in a low gear is more likely to do it than a slower cadence in a harder gear! What\’s going on there? Does the former increase my heart rate; and is that why I stop wanting to eat? I know that exercise, such as cycling, causes blood to be diverted from the stomach/digestion; and sends it to the legs, heart, and lungs instead. That\’s why gut-training is so important if you want to do long events. Yesterday I burned 900 calories, and took in just under 700; and that sounds about right to me. Yet again, I think I was overdressed. It was about 64 degrees at 7:00 am; but reached the mid-70s by the time I got home. My cycling jacket was wet with sweat; and so was the blouse that I wore. The leg warmers also got to be a bit much. I\’m still uneasy about not being warm enough during a ride; but I think I\’d better put the cold-weather gear in my Camel-Bak pockets; and put it on if I need it.

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