SpokEasy

August 2022

Swagcycle

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment, Uncategorized /

Swagcycle The Swagcycle EB5 is an alternative for folks who are unable to use a regular bicycle. A very handy feature of this bike is that it can fold! That makes it much easier to fit it in the trunk of a car (no bicycle rack needed); or to store in a small apartment. Swagcycle EB5 uses a 36V lithium ion battery (included) to power a 250W hub motor. Charge-up time is four to five hours. This bike can be adjusted for riders from teenagers to adults; and can carry up to 264 lbs. The fully charged battery can carry this bike up to 15.5 miles.  Swagcycle is best suited to flat terrain; so where I live it ought to do just fine. It comes pre-assembled, too! The frame is aluminum; and as to color, remember what Henry Ford said! For that matter, I didn’t pay much attention to what color my hybrid was when I bought it; nor my road bike. I looked to see what the bike shop had; and went from there. Lately I see more and more about e-bikes in social media; and cargo e-bikes seem especially popular. Among other things, parents use them to get young children to school. I’m still quite entrenched in the muscle-power camp; but it’s good to know there are options like the Swagcycle out there.

Swagcycle Read More »

Athlete’s Guide to Diabetes

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Athlete’s Guide to Diabetes The Athlete’s Guide to Diabetes is much in my mind again. A few days ago, my A1c levels were re-checked; and they’re still 6.1. That’s in the pre-diabetes range; so I have to keep  watching my diet. I suspect that that will be the case for the rest of my life. This, in fact, is one reason I’m so anxious to retire. I can manage my eating habits better when I’m at home. I’m glad I don’t have Type-I diabetes. From what this book says, managing Type-I with heavy physical activity is quite the juggling act; and it would wear me out! “The Athlete’s Guide to Diabetes” discusses many aspects of diabetes management. It’s a good source of advice for people practicing a wide variety of physical activities: cycling; skiing; golf; and many others. I’ve been way off proper eating for some months; and am trying to get back on track. My wayward eating habits aren’t helping my A1c levels! And after a Sunday long ride, I can easily go berserk with food. Good grief, do I need to eat even more during my rides? The catch there is gut discomfort; especially if I’m working hard against a headwind.  Today, in fact, I did have something of a headwind on the way home. It wasn’t really that strong; but for some reason I felt tired today. My legs simply didn’t have it. And the restrooms at my pit-stop were locked again! I don’t know what’s going on with that; but I had to come home to “do my business”. Then I rode to the park to do a few laps. I planned to ride 40 miles or so; and had gotten in little over 29. It really wan’t much fun riding in the park. By the time I got there, it was rather crowded; and that makes me nervous. I never know when a small child will suddenly make a turn right across my path.  Of the planned five laps, I did only three. But I got in 37.3 miles; and that’s a lot better than 29 miles. I always have my Love to Ride goal in mind; and I still have 1220.5 miles to go! The sky was mostly clear when I set out just before 7:00 am; but the clouds built up quickly over the next two hours. I’m glad I was home when it began to rain at around 1:00 pm.  

Athlete’s Guide to Diabetes Read More »

Comin’ up a Cloud

BACK ISSUES, Food /

Comin’ up a Cloud It’s comin’ up a cloud, as a Southern saying goes. Here comes a T-storm! At 7:00 am it was quite cloudy, but not completely overcast. The sun was in and out of the clouds; but it didn’t look like it would rain soon. So I hitched up the trailer and rode to the salvage store. Of course I kept an eye on the sky. There were already thunderheads building up when I left home; and bad weather can develop quickly. On the way back home, there were more clouds; but I got home dry. The sky looked quite stormy, but it wasn’t raining yet; so I took a chance and rode over to the drug store. I wanted more masks; and I was delighted to discover that they were on sale. That was a good chance to stock up! Just as I got home, I heard thunder. Yep — it was comin’ up a cloud. It was about 10:45 am by then; and I was rather surprised when it didn’t begin to pour within a short time. But maybe it’s still coming. I ran up my bill at the salvage store by buying paper towels. There goes my stock-up-while-I-can mentality; and it might not even be necessary now. I also had to buy sunblock, because I forgot to bring mine with me. The ride back home was going to have me out for too long to not wear sunblock. As always, I watched for things that I can use for ride food; and I wasn’t disappointed. The store still had something called Pro Bar Meal Bar; and for only 50¢ apiece. I got eight of them; and I also found Gatorade Whey Protein bars. They cost only 90¢ each. Gee, what’ll I do if that store goes out of business? Tomorrow’s rain chances are greatest from early afternoon; so maybe I’ll be OK for my long ride. I want to get in my miles for Love to Ride, after all! My total for 2022 is up to 3742.2; and I have 1257.8 more to go. As of 12:30 pm, the thunder was more frequent. Good thing I’m not starting a ride right now!

Comin’ up a Cloud Read More »

Tweaking

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Tweaking I’m tweaking things again. A site builder’s work is never done! It really does feel like a tug-of-war at times. Building slides can be a hassle. Things looked one way in the slide editor; and another in the actual site! I had to get help with that; and I also needed help with getting my site’s loading time reduced. There’s one slide that sometimes will advance to the next slide quickly; and sometimes it’s very slow! I needed to do a bit of tweaking this morning, too. I got up too late to have time for grapes and peanut butter before my ride; and grabbed a GU. I didn’t plan to ride hard; so I figured one GU would hold me until I got back home. (It did🙂) As usual, I was a bit anxious about the weather. For the last week or two, the forecasts have often sounded dire. I was worried every evening that I might not get to ride the next morning. Amazingly, I had little trouble. Sometimes I did see lightning; but usually it was quite some distance away. This morning was the first time I ran into rain. After so much anxiety about getting caught in bad weather, it was almost a relief to get rained on! Luckily it wasn’t a very heavy rain. I had seen lightning off to the South; and hoped I could reach home before it got close. During the last mile or two, I began to hear thunder; and was relieved to get off the levee. I want to ride to the salvage store tomorrow; and do a long ride Sunday. So I hope the weather is cooperative over the weekend, or I’ll have to do some more tweaking.

Tweaking Read More »

Good

BACK ISSUES /

Good? Is this really good? Today I had my A1c levels checked again. They were 6.1; and the doctor says that’s good. I’m puzzled, because that’s still in the pre-diabetes range! It is slightly lower than it was two years ago; so maybe that’s what he meant. He says the main thing is to limit the sweets. That won’t be easy. I’ve always had an outsized sweet tooth; and I love  chocolate! I also have an unfortunate fondness for salty, crunchy snacks. The doctor says I need to eat salt because my blood pressure runs low; but many such snacks are high in both fat and carbs. Keeping my diet under control is much harder since I had to return to full-time on-site work; and it’s one reason I’m so eager to retire. When I’m at home, “naughty” foods are a little easier to avoid. Of course, I have to refrain from bringing them  home in the first place! This morning I was able to do a longer ride than usual. My doctor’s appointment was for 10:00 am; and if I had gone to work first, I would have had to leave in one hour. So I had more time to ride. In fact, it turned out to be longer than I planned. The culprit: a train, of course. I had to make a detour of nearly two miles to get back home!  I got lucky with the weather. About 1:30 pm we had a heavy downpour; but during my ride I felt only a few drops. Tomorrow might be a different story, though!

Good Read More »

Tired Again

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Tired Again! I got tired again this morning; tired as in another flat tire! For some reason I’ve had an unusual number of flats lately. I very much suspect that the local road work has something to do with it. Getting to the bike path means riding over rough surfaces. There are probably bits of trash; and so on. Tire liners don’t seem to be helping as much as usual. I guess I ran over something that got lodged in my rear tire. Nothing seemed to be wrong, until my legs suddenly seemed to lose all strength. I was working at pushing myself to 15-16 mph for 4-5 minutes at a time; and trying to get my heart rate up. Then, as I said, my legs gave out; and it didn’t feel like bonking. Right about then I dropped my water bottle; and had to stop and pick it up. Then I noticed the flat. Tired again! I was still at least three miles from home; and didn’t have time to walk that far. So I got back on the bike; and slow-rode the rest of the way. It added a good 20 minutes to my time! With that bone spur in my hand, fixing a flat is painful at best; so I had to visit the bike shop. The sky looked rather threatening; and I decided to walk the bike both to the shop; and back home. Sometimes I simply can’t stomach the thought of riding in the rain!

Tired Again Read More »

Flip Flop Socks

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Flip Flop Socks Try Flip Flop Socks if those straps rub in between your toes. I seldom wear flip flops; but when I do, I sure have that problem. Flip Flop Socks are made of cotton stretch fabric; and keep the sides of your toes from rubbing each other or the footwear. They’re quite versatile; and can also be used with other types of footwear, e.g. cycling shoes. The stretch material means that these socks can fit most people. Machine washable, too! Six pairs to a pack; color, black. Personally, I dislike having anything between my toes; so I haven’t tried these socks. I have plenty of other ones, anyhow; and I’ll stick with them. It’s still hot; and in fact, we’re in the dog days. But the day will come when I need thermal socks. Thermal socks are useful; but  when the temperature drops below about 45, even thermal socks plus regular socks don’t keep my feet warm enough. My hands, too, are very sensitive to cold. Warming packs inside my gloves provide a good bit of relief. I wish there were room inside my shoes for them! As long as the hot weather continues, I can wear regular socks. Or, if you’re a Tour de France fan, Lin Cycling Socks might suit you. Four pairs of socks; each one hinting at one of the winner’s jerseys! Gosh, I’ve gotten far away from Flip Flop Socks. Oh, well — they’re still socks!

Flip Flop Socks Read More »

Better Luck Next Time

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Better Luck Next Time Better luck next time; or so I hope. Do you think it might help if I got a cat like this one? Today I set out on the road bike, and I wanted to put in about 40 miles. The sky was already overcast; and I hoped to be back home before afternoon T-storms developed. The goal: 40 miles. So, I got to my pit-stop place; and discovered that the restrooms were locked. Whatever for? That’s inhumane! I’m lucky I didn’t urgently need a restroom; and I just went back home. But of course that meant a drastic cut to my planned mileage; 29.20 miles just doesn’t measure up against 40. The wind this morning was almost calm; but the humidity was way up there at 88%. The clouds helped keep the temperature down a bit; and I ran into only two brief drizzles of rain.  I decided not to go out again. There was no telling when those T-storms might fire up; but as of early afternoon, they hadn’t made an appearance. As usual in such cases, I think I could have gone for a ride; and wonder why I didn’t. Well, better luck next time! But if we are going to have T-storms, I wish they would get themselves over with!  I checked my supply of GU-Gels; and I have to order some more of them soon. Often I’ll get two boxes at a time. I like to have more than one flavor on hand, because it helps me avoid so-called flavor fatigue! This weekend I’m skipping the cooking. My freezer is still pretty full; and I get SO tired of washing pots and dishes! By next weekend, I’ll have to crank up my invention mill again; and think up a new Hoppin’ John variation. This time I think I’ll use canned beans, and get a few more cans out of here.

Better Luck Next Time Read More »

Eurobike

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Eurobike The Eurobike Road EURXC550 is in an affordable price range for most folks; and is great for riding on paved surfaces. This bicycle features a carbon steel frame; and dual disc brakes provide lots of stopping power. A riding bag is included; so this one makes a nice commuting bike. Some assembly is required; instructions and the tools you’ll need come with the bike. Then just pump up the tires; and off you go! Speaking of pumping tires, a floor pump isn’t practical to take along on a ride. The Pro Bike Tool Pump is an alternative; however, it does need re-drilled holes in the bike frame for mounting. Maybe the Pro Bike Tool Inflator would do. Just be sure to carry some CO2 cartridges with you! The Eurobike, I admit, seems heavy to me. It weighs 39 lb/17.69 kg; that’s heavier than my hybrid. I probably wouldn’t want it for a century ride. Then again, I did a 100-miler on my adult trike; and that rig probably weighed about 50-55 pounds! Whatever bike I’m using, today I’m not doing much riding. I needed fresh produce; and for that I go to Winn Dixie. My round trip was less than six miles; and a trip to the ATM and the drug store added barely over two more miles. By the time I finished those errands, it was getting quite hot; and I was also quite hungry! The sky was pretty cloudy; and I wasn’t sure what the weather might do. So I stayed home; but I didn’t hear thunder until about 12:20 pm.  I hope I can get myself going early tomorrow. Isolated T-storms are predicted from 10:00 am; and Eurobike or not, I don’t like to be caught in a storm!   

Eurobike Read More »

Say What

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Say What? Say what? Is that my knee complaining? Do I hear my muscles  screaming? Listen to your body, they say. Learn to tell the difference between well-worked muscles; and true pain. Pain means something isn’t right; and pushing through it might lead to serious problems. I’m far from being a pro cyclist, with a team of medical advisors on tap. So when my legs feel tired; achy; and sore — what do I do? Is it OK to keep riding as usual? Do I merely need to stay off the big ring for a bit; or should I take a day off? My masseuse is a foam roller; and I haven’t used it in months. Maybe it’s time I hauled it out again. My leg muscles have been feeling rather tired; and this morning I said, Say What? and skipped the road bike. I wasn’t too sure about the weather, anyhow. I heard thunder; and of course I thought a T-storm breaking out. If that were the case, I didn’t want to be out in it.  But maybe what I heard was a storm’s last gasp. There was no more thunder; and it didn’t rain. Not then, anyhow; but about 2:15 pm we got a heavy downpour. I’m glad it happened in mid-afternoon, and not while I was riding home from work! According to the forecast, rain chances this weekend are highest in the afternoon; and I hope that’s accurate. I’ll have to skip the salvage store tomorrow in favor of the supermarket. I need produce; I want hummus; and I need yogurt. But I might do a short spin on the road bike after I’m home from the store, before it gets too terribly hot. Then Sunday is long ride day!

Say What Read More »