SpokEasy

February 2022

Winter Zest

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Winter Zest We can all use some Winter zest to perk up cold, gray days. Even if you live where it snows a lot, riding in Winter is still possible; and after braving the cold and wind for a ride, I’m glad I did the ride. This backyard berm looks like quite a project; and I suppose that not everybody can manage it. I’m sure couldn’t, even if we had the necessary snow. If you have the snow and the engineering skills, go for it! Or check out this site for tips on riding in cold weather. My usual riding route is totally exposed to the wind; and on a cold, windy morning I need something to provide some Winter zest. Riding fast and hard seems like an obvious solution, but lately I’ve felt too sluggish to do much fast pedaling; and many mornings I’m too sleepy to get going on time. Maybe for my zest I can prepare hot chocolate with some cinnamon in it! What can I do to add some Winter zest to a long ride; and especially when I’ll have a headwind on the way home? I don’t think hot chocolate is the answer while I’m on the bicycle (scalding hazard); and I won’t want to stop for a picnic! It will be too cold for that. Maybe a new and different ride food will add some zest, no matter what the season; and now and then I appreciate a break from the same old thing. They do say, though, not to try new foods during a ride; especially not an important event, such as a century. Incidentally, the notion of doing a century ride is still floating around my head; but I’m not making much progress towards it!  

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Throwing in the Towel

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Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel. We all have those spells now and then: we\’re tired and don\’t feel like riding; and in cold weather, all I want to do is hibernate. This morning, for a change, there was almost no wind; but again, I was tired and sleepy; and got started late. Thanks to my sluggishness, I had to cut my ride short. I put in some hard efforts, but I\’m not sure they were hard enough; and I touched a max speed of only 17.8 mph. There have been times when I reached 20 mph or more! I guess I slacked off too much for too long; and now I have to build back up again. I feel like throwing in the towel when it comes to my diet, too. Maybe I\’m trying to be too stringent; and that\’s why I keep feeling tired and hungry — and why my sweet tooth is acting up big time! I actually got ice cream yesterday; and not this low-carb kind. But sometimes going off the rails big time is what I need to get myself back on track. I think it would help if it were easier for me to get groceries several times during the week. It was also much easier when I was still on work-from-home. I could go to the fridge and grab an apple; but when I\’m away from home, I don\’t have that option. I\’m trying to decide whether to make a pre-work ride to the supermarket tomorrow morning. It might help curb my appetite for candy and ice cream if I had scallions to perk up my lunches; and hummus and grapes to eat before a morning ride.

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Putting Down the Hammer

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Okay, carpenters, how about putting down the hammer for a while? Your arms need a break from all that jarring; and my ears need a break from all that pounding! I’m afraid I’m none too good at putting down the hammer when I’m on the bike. This morning I tried to push the pace; and I didn’t do well at all. I averaged under 12 mph; and 13.1 miles isn’t even that long a ride. I wasn’t working on force development; and there wasn’t much wind. So what’s going on? Am I overtrained? It seems unlikely. I’m not out there trying to force myself to cruise at 18-20 mph for hours every day; but even so, am I letting myself get too tired? Do I need to take a few days off? My weight is now hovering between 101 and 105 pounds; and my road bike, with pedals and under-saddle pack, weighs nearly 22 pounds. According to Lon Haldeman in Long Distance Cycling, page 61, a bicycle should weigh 12% of the rider’s weight; and for me, 22 pounds is a lot heavier than that! But I can’t afford a new bicycle right now; so I’ll keep using what I have. Do I need to eat a little more? Are more protein drinks the answer; and would refried beans and rice make better pre-ride fuel than fruit and peanut butter? I certainly need more sleep. Many an evening I get too absorbed in blogging, social media, and so on; and before I know it, it\’s already 9:00 pm! Maybe tomorrow I\’ll make some short efforts at putting down the hammer; and I hope I won\’t be too cold to do it!

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Monday Already

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“Monday already?” is the groan on many a person’s lips today; and that includes me. As many say, you need a weekend to recover from the weekend! Saturday morning I went to the salvage store. Riding home against a headwind felt hard; and I didn’t even have the trailer! It stayed cold all day; and I spent hours trying to stay in front of heater to stay warm.  I couldn’t get myself away from that heater to do the washing until about 5 pm! Yesterday morning, I did a long ride. I put some rice mix to cook after I got home; and from about 4 pm onwards was very busy cooking. I invented Northern Wilds; and concocted another garbage soup. Last night I seemed to be half-awake much of the time. Maybe I guzzled too much green tea yesterday. For several months I’ve been trying to use that tea to nudge out the sodas; but I’m not doing very well at it. Of course I’m tired and sleepy today; and no wonder I’m griping about “Monday already”! In fact, at lunchtime I caved in and bought a Diet Coke to perk me up. It’ll be another frigid ride tomorrow morning; but not as cold as yesterday was. Even so, 41 degrees is cold enough for double layers on my legs, and triple on my chest; and of course my nose will be up to its usual tricks. That drives me crazy; but if I\’m bound and determined to ride, I have to put up with it. Now Monday is out of the way; and it will be a week it\’s \”Monday already\” again. Unfortunately it will come only too quickly!

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You Call This Training?

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Gosh, do you call this training? If I\’ve got any idea of riding a century in April, I\’m already far behind! On the one hand, my Sunday long ride is primarily about maintaining a steady, moderate pace. On the other hand, I probably should spend part of those miles working to push my pace; otherwise, how will I ever improve my speed? Today I finally got my mileage back up to 40. Well, OK, 40.40 to be exact; but I averaged a plodding 11.84 mph. The wind was 6-7 mph; and that\’s not nearly as strong as it was yesterday. How can I get more energy, so that I can ride a little faster? Is a banana and peanut butter too little to eat before I begin a long ride? During the weekly long ride, I begin to eat on the bike after 15 minutes; and I keep an eye on my bicycle computer, so that I remember to take another bite every 15 minutes. But do I need bigger bites? Today my ride data showed that I burned 1000 calories; and the food that I ate added up to 900 calories. That slight deficit looks about right, especially as I\’m not trying to lose weight; so maybe I\’m doing OK as far as food goes. Maybe the problem lies elsewhere. I\’m too slack about my off-bike exercises; and can you call that training? Leg-development exercises such as lunges are a problem because of arthritis in the base joint of my left big toe. Flexing that joint while putting weight on it is painful. Too Much? Today I was loaded up with layers; and that probably didn\’t help my pace. Slacks over leg warmers and cycling shorts somewhat impede leg movement; and a vest plus two jackets just might have been too much. I was afraid I\’d be too cold if I wore less; but do you call that training? We read all over the place that it\’s better to be slightly underdressed, than to wear too many layers. That\’s well and good as long as you can keep moving; but suppose you have a flat tire? That\’s where having a Camel-Bak with large pockets is useful: you can stash a spare jacket in there. Anyway, I got home from my ride today; and after my recovery drink I put some wild rice blend to cook for another Hoppin\’ John variation. The kitchen work, like efforts to improve on the bike, never ends!

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Bicycle Print Scarf

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This Bicycle Print Scarf lets you show your love of cycling. Now you can wear your cycling heart on your sleeve — or rather, around your neck. This scarf is good for many uses and many occasions; even for the beach! Dimensions: 35.4″ x 70.9″ (90 cm x 180 cm). Made of voile. Hand wash.

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Blustery

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I wish this blustery wind would stop. When I’m riding a bicycle, wind is enough of a nuisance; but when it’s cold, too, riding is quite a chore. Today I made my usual Saturday trip to the salvage store; but was it a cold ride! The air temperature was about 33 degrees when I left home; and the chill factor was well below freezing! During the ride back home, I had the usual headwind; and I was very glad that I hadn\’t taken the trailer this time! As it was, I spent a lot of time on my granny gear. It\’s a relief to have a few days without rain, even if it is blustery. Yesterday it began to sprinkle while I was riding home from work; and I was lucky that it didn\’t turn into outright rain. I had decided not to use the poncho; and I didn\’t feel like stopping to put it on. Looking Ahead Of course I\’m looking ahead to the Sunday long ride now; and thinking of ride food. Maybe I\’ll go to the drug store later, and look for Met-Rx bars. It won\’t be fun going there, because of the construction mess around here. I\’m so tired of riding/wading through mud! If I can\’t get to the drug store, I still have a couple of RXBars on hand. The wind is supposed to become far less blustery overnight; down to 5 mph; but it will still be cold. Thank heaven for warming packs! Otherwise my hands would turn to ice; and I don\’t need that. I hope my legs do better tomorrow. Lately they often feel tired and sluggish; and I\’m not sure whether it\’s because of the cold weather, or something else. I really felt like a weakling today, when I had that headwind!

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Again?!

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Here we go again! After a couple of rather balmy days, Winter has made a comeback. Early yesterday morning it wasn’t raining; but when I went out on the road bike I encountered heavy fog. It was a case of taking off my glasses, because they would have gotten too misted for me to see. I didn’t try to do any speed work because of poor visibility; and in any case I got going late, so I had to cut my ride a few miles short. Yesterday The forecast for yesterday predicted heavy rain during the afternoon and evening; so I decided not to ride to work. Riding a bicycle through the rain while enveloped in a flapping poncho gets old in a hurry; and I had already had two consecutive days of it. Rain and relatively warm temperatures persisted through midday; and then things began to change. The wind got strong; and the temperature began to fall. By 4:30 pm it was 58 degrees. I was getting ready to leave work; and was about to freak out because I couldn\’t find my gloves. I thought I had worn them when I walked to work in the morning; and of course that means cycling gloves. I don\’t need to lose those things, because they aren\’t cheap. Finally I gave up looking and went home. There were the gloves! I guess this weird weather is playing tricks on my brain. Today Last night at about 8:45 it began to thunder; and this morning it\’s still drizzly. At 5:00 am, NOAA said it was 39 degrees; the wind was from the North at 17 mph; and the chill factor was only 30 degrees! I must be getting old. I decided — again — to skip the jaunt on the road bike. This is the second time in recent weeks that I\’ve declined to go out in weather like that; and it used to be that I bundled up and went riding. If either the wind or the rain were absent; or it weren\’t cold; it would be a different story; but all three factors combined are rather overwhelming. I think I\’ll ride to work, though; and set up the trainer so I can do some pedaling when I get home this evening. I\’m in for a cold ride to the salvage store again; and another frigid Sunday ride. Winter drives me crazy. All those layers make riding harder; and at home, they\’re scattered all over the place. It\’s even worse during rainy spells. so I\’ll be glad when the weather is dry again.

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Malta

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Malta 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.” How did I get to thinking of Malta? It wasn’t from poring over a map; and it wasn’t from dreaming up a cycling adventure. While I was riding on the levee this past Sunday, I saw tanker heading upriver; and whenever I see a ship, I wonder where she came from. I didn’t recognize the half-white, half-red flag on the stern staff; but a few minutes’ searching in Google told me that it was the Maltese flag. Naturally I soon began to think of cycling opportunities on this island. It’s easy to enjoy both Malta itself and nearby Gozo by bicycle. The former is better for long road rides; while Gozo is better for short jaunts. The landscape is beautiful; and villages and towns aren’t far apart. You can pedal along quiet streets; or enjoy country lanes. Along the way are site of historic and/or cultural interest. You can rent a bike if you aren’t able to bring your own; but do be sure to bring your own helmet. ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is! You can read all about it in My Story. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional.   FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL Pomp and Circumstance January 4, 2024 I Bee’d Lucky January 3, 2024 Sunblock Day January 2, 2024 2024! January 1, 2024 Load More TRANSLATOR

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Flunked!

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FLUNKED! Our local groundhog flunked, think. He didn’t see his shadow; so that’s supposed to mean that Winter is over. The NOAA forecast, however, tells a different story. Tomorrow night it’s supposed to fall into the low 40s; and Friday night’s low temperature won’t be much above freezing. I’ll have another frigid ride to the salvage store; and Saturday night will also be a cold one. It’s a nuisance to have to put on so many layers for my long ride! Before we get the cold front, more rain is all but certain; and they’re even predicting T-storms for tomorrow! It looks like they won’t start before 6:00 am, so maybe I’ll get to ride; but I think maybe I’ll skip riding to work. These rainy spells are when I almost wish I still had my bicycle rollers. They were tricky to adjust to, even on the hybrid; and even harder on the road bike. I think the problem was that I tended to be overly tentative; and that meant no gyroscopic effect to help keep me upright and moving. I finally sold the rollers; so maybe you can say that I flunked in that area of cycling! But I have the trainer; so I can still “ride” indoors when the weather is just too foul to ride outdoors. I’ll be glad to see drier weather return. Right now I have a dripping poncho and other wet items of clothing hanging around to dry. Of course I’m using more socks than usual; and when that happens, doing my laundry feels like washing clothes for a centipede! As to the groundhog’s prediction, at least I can be glad I’m not in the path of a huge storm. Winter definitely is not over for some poor folks!

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