SpokEasy

March 2022

Spring Forward

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Spring forward, the switch to Daylight time, drives me crazy. Just when it’s starting to feel like I’m getting up in the morning, I’m getting up in the dark again! The time switch leaves me feeling jet-lagged for a least a few days; and when it stay light later in the evening, it’s harder to know when to head for bed! The official beginning of Spring is a week away; and last night certainly did not feel like Spring was coming. We had a freeze warning; and I didn’t begin today’s ride until about 8:30 am. By then the temperature had risen to the low 40s; and fortunately the wind was nothing like yesterday’s. When I go for my long Sunday ride, I like to spring forward, so to speak — get started and keep going. Today a freight train beat me to the crossing; and stopped when the last car was still a block or so short of the crossing. When a train stops like that, I never know whether it will start again in a few minutes; or will sit there for hours. So I had to take a detour. My preferred alternate route to the bike path is choked with road construction; and thanks to Friday’s rain, it’s now very muddy. In the end, I had to ride at least a mile to get to that path. When I at last could get on track, I found that the train was still sitting there. A good 25 minutes had elapsed; and I was glad that I didn’t try to wait for the thing to get moving again. Sightings Today I pedaled out to a point 20 miles or so from home; and in the end rode 42.7 miles. On the way, I saw a bald eagle perched on top of a power pole; and it might have been the same one I saw a week or two ago. It was in about the same place. At one of the grain elevators, there was a ship flying both the China and Hong Kong flags from its stern staff. Incidentally, there’s a grain elevator within a mile of home, but on the opposite side of the river. Last weekend, there was a ship there that had a purple hull! I never saw one like that before. On Sundays I typically don’t try to hurry; and today was no exception. I had to spring forward overnight; and that didn’t help. But at least I got some miles in!

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The Shut In

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I feel like the shut-in today. Wind and cold are keeping me indoors. At 7:00 am it was 38 degrees; the wind was NNW at 21 mph; and the chill factor was well below freezing. I decided not to try riding to the salvage store; but maybe I can take a short ride to the drug store later. The catch is that local street work projects will mean riding through muddy surfaces. I missed the ride to the salvage store, but I don’t really need to buy anything; and that wind would make it a very hard ride even with just panniers. Hauling the trailer against that wind would be positively exhausting! Once, as an experiment, I went to the salvage store with triple carrying capacity: panniers; trailer; and the trunk. As I thought, it was doable; but it sure wore out my legs! Today the wind would likely make such a ride impossible. Since I’m being the shut-in this morning, I could take the time to fix a hot breakfast. I boiled two eggs; discarded one yolk; and mashed the rest of the eggs with ranch dressing. Egg salad and whole-grain bread! There’s a freeze warning in effect for tonight; and I’m glad the rain is over for the time being. The air temperature will be in the low 40s by the time I plan to begin my long ride; and the wind will be much less than it is right now. Maybe I’ll be OK; although I know that my nose will drive me crazy. Ironically, despite today’s cold temperatures, I’m getting a hankering after ice cream! Or am I just tired of playing the shut-in, and want a ride to the drug store?

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Make No Bones?

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Let’s make no bones about it; osteoporosis is not a good thing. I developed it several years ago, after years of osteopenia; and it’s another reason I have no aspirations to be a pro cyclist. Even if I were a good enough rider; and my age weren’t a barrier; osteoporosis puts me at high risk for fractures in case I crash. What team manager is willing to take that risk? I’m on medication for it; and have tried (not very successfully, I admit) to decrease my Diet Coke intake. I got into the bad habit of drinking lots of it during the years when I was dragging along with an undiagnosed sleep disorder; and was desperate for something to perk me up. I don’t like coffee; so I turned to cola instead. A drawback to cycling and bone health is that cycling is non-impact; and it’s impactful exercise that helps keep dem bones strong. Plyometrics can help with that; and sometimes I wish I didn’t live in a raised building. Let’s make no bones about it: plyometrics produce quite a lot of noise under such circumstances! At the moment, however, I’m not thinking about dem bones; but the weather. There’s a severe T-storm warning in effect; and we even got a few hailstones! I picked one up from my porch and — yes! — ate it. We’ve got a wind advisory in effect until mid-afternoon tomorrow; and a freeze warning for tomorrow night. What bizarre weather! Plans Thwarted None of this bodes well for a trip to the salvage store tomorrow; nor for the long ride on Sunday. I’ll have to play it by ear, I guess. If I go to the salvage store, I’ll have a terrific headwind on the way home; and a long ride on Sunday will be a very cold one, with the chill penetrating down to dem bones. Now and then I take a Sunday off from riding; and maybe this is a good time to take such a break. I’ll make no bones about it: such cold rides are not the most fun. I know my nose won’t give me a moment’s peace during a frigid ride; and it’s hard to eat on the bike when my fingers are hampered by thick gloves. It’s time to set up the trainer, I guess.

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Blow Dryer?

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I haven’t owned a blow dryer since Hector’s grandpa was a newborn pup. I never liked them: they make too much noise; and that hot, dry air makes my skin feel dried up and itchy. The wind, however, sometimes acts like a blow dryer. Night before last we had a brief T-storm about 9:30 pm; and yesterday morning I rode the hybrid, because I expected wet — even mucky — riding; and  the hybrid has fenders. I was surprised that surface conditions were much less wet than I anticipated; and in fact, they were quite dry except for a puddle here and there. The wind was 16 mph; and gusts were up to 22 mph. Apparently that acted like a blow dryer; and the bike and I stayed dry. Today was a different story. Last night it rained again. There was much less wind today than there was yesterday; and the bike path was still wet. I’m glad my road bike didn’t get as mucky as I thought it would. It looks like tomorrow will bring rain; and I hope it waits until later in the day. We get these miserable spells when it seems like the rain threats will never end; and I get tired of being on edge, wondering whether I’ll be able to ride without getting soaked. I get even more tired of concern over T-storms! By Saturday morning it will be much cooler; and with a strong wind as well. Over Saturday night the wind is supposed to drop considerably; but I’ll have a cold ride on Sunday! I hope the wind day after tomorrow will act like a blow dryer and let me have a dry path to ride on.

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Not in a Day

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Some things are “not in a day” things. Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the famous saying goes; and Rome isn’t alone in that. Building fitness sure doesn’t happen in a single day! In fact, it can take years; and pushing too hard, too soon often does more harm than good. Maybe I take the “don’t push it too hard” part of that too far; and don’t work hard enough! My average pace is still below 13 mph; and for some years I’ve wanted to increase it to 15 mph! As you can see, I’m way behind schedule. It’s very hard to work on my pace when I have a headwind to fight; and on weekdays I’m often out there on the bike less than an hour after rolling out of bed. It might help if I could allow myself time to get more awake. Windy Again It’s windy again today; and bucking a headwind sure makes me feel UN-fit. I was in a low gear; using a pretty rapid cadence; and plodding along at about 11 mph. Several times riders whizzed past me like I was backing up; and it made me think, Will I ever develop such strength and power? Not in a day, that’s certain. That wind was about 13 mph when I turned to head back home; and it had reached 16 mph by the time I got there. An hour later it was up to 23 mph; and I’m glad I’m not out on the bike path fighting it. It’s quite cloudy as well; and the forecast for the next few days is a wet one. I’m none too happy about that! Today I took along whey protein bars as ride food I like chocolate, and I like caramel; so these are a good choice for me. Maybe I needed to eat a little more today than I actually did! Riding against the wind takes a lot of energy, after all. Off the bike I’m still struggling with my diet. I go off the rails too often; and too easily. This is yet another Not in a day item; and I wish I could “set and forget”!

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Short Circuit

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I’ve got quite a short circuit going! It’s important to always wear clean cycling shorts for a ride; and I have five pairs that I use in rotation. They aren’t enough for me to “save” them up to wash once a week; and I wash a pair nearly every day, by hand. Even though I now have an automatic washing machine, I intend to stick with that routine. Speaking of short circuit: if I had an ebike, I’d worry about such an occurrence every time I got caught in the rain. I’m sure that ebikes are designed to minimize this risk; but I think I’d still be concerned about it! I’m a bit of a worrywart, you see. This morning I rode to the salvage store; and I was glad that I didn’t haul that trailer this time. Before I got back home around 10:00 am, the wind had increased to 13 mph; and within the next hour, it got stronger! I still haven’t rid myself of the get-it-while-I-can mentality that I developed when COVID-related stay-at-home mandates were possible; and I got some more canned goods. The grab-bag bins had little in them; but I found some other things that I can use for ride food. I hope the weather doesn’t short circuit my ride tomorrow! The greatest chance for rain is in the afternoon; so maybe I’ll start my ride earlier than usual. It’s nearly 80 degrees right now; and for March, that’s too warm. I want to push for 40-43 miles tomorrow. Twice within three weeks the weather has thwarted my efforts; and I’m getting fed up with it.

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Rarebit?

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Rarebit, aka Welsh Rabbit, is great for cheese lovers; but yesterday I got a rarebit — er, a rare bit — of great cycling weather. It was in the mid-50s, which is a bit cooler than I like; and I needed a jacket and leg warmers; but ALMOST NO WIND! It was overcast; but it didn’t rain. I was very glad of that, because last Sunday I got enough rain to last me for quite a while. During yesterday’s ride I did some work at pushing the pace to 15 mph; and even a little bit of 16-18 mph. It’s ever so much easier to work on my pace when there’s no wind. That headwind business is why I sometimes wish I had a power meter. As so many articles about cyclist training say, speed isn’t the best indicator of your progress. Many factors (terrain, wind, etc.) influence speed; but X amount of power is X amount of power. If X increases to X + Y, and stays there; then you’ve gotten stronger! I’m trying to extend the weekday morning rides by a mile or so, for two reasons. One: the idea of building up to a century ; and two: my posted Love to Ride 2022 goal of 5000 miles by December 30. I’m up to about 876 miles now; and if I keep going this way, I should be able to reach that goal. Let’s hope I’m not thwarted by a hurricane again, the way I was last year! This morning I skipped the jaunt on the road bike, so I could ride to the supermarket. Rarebit isn’t on the menu this week, so I didn’t buy cheese; but I got fruit and carrots and yogurt. If only the bananas weren’t grass-green!

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Motorpacing

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Motorpacing is completely outside of my experience; and I’m not anxious to try it. Phil Gaimon mentions it in the Glossary of his book, “Pro Cycling on $10 a Day”. His definition of this training tactic includes the wry comment, “It’s good if you like exhaust fumes.” I do not like exhaust fumes; and prefer to avoid them if at all possible; so I’m glad I don’t have to train by riding behind a motor vehicle I also don’t want to try riding right behind a motor vehicle because I’m sensitive to noise. A roaring engine anywhere near me is tortuous. I’d want some good-quality earplugs for sure; and often earplugs don’t block enough noise. The idea of motorpacing is to provide a draft to allow the cyclist to hone race-specific skills. As I said, I do not like exhaust fumes; but last Sunday I wished I had something or someone to give me a draft to ride in. The wind was fairly strong; and I got caught in the rain, too. The temperature was close to 60 degrees, so I hadn’t thought to use warming packs; and my poor hands almost froze! How about the motor half of this training technique? You can read about that here. It sounds like both cyclist and motorist have a lot to watch out for; so don’t try to daydream during a session! Keep in mind the legal ramifications of motorpacing. Apparently it’s one thing for pro cyclists during their regular training sessions; and another for impromptu rides. Don’t run afoul of the law! So I think I’ll forget about riding behind a motor vehicle; and leave it to the pros. After all, I have little enough experience riding with other cyclists; never mind right behind a car!    

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Hand in Glove

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Of course it’s hand in glove! We don’t put gloves on our feet, do we? But the cyclist lifestyle means gloves for a number of different weather conditions; and at this time of the year that means I have a lot of gloves (and other things) lying around! I can get close to 80 degrees one afternoon; and the temperature might drop below 40 that same night. For warm weather, I use half-finger gloves. These are for hand protection rather than warmth. No matter how short a ride it is; and no matter how hot it is; I want my gloves! They keep your hands from getting rubbed; and in case of a fall, you’re less likely to lose the skin on the palms of your hands. Gloves also help keep your hands from slipping when they’re wet from sweat or rain. When the temperature starts to fall below 70 I turn to full-finger gloves, because my hands get cold so easily. I have several pairs in different weights to meet the needs of different temperature ranges. One pair is lightweight, and suffices when it’s in the 60s outdoors; but when it gets cooler than that, I want something heavier. For the coldest rides, there are lobster gloves. I’ve never actually tried lobster gloves; and in this climate they might not be necessary. I keep warming packs on hand, anyhow; and when the temperature goes below 50 degrees, I use them for rides of more than a few miles. I don’t want to get frostbite! Cycling goes hand in glove for many of us; and we need those gloves to keep our hands in good condition all year.

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