SpokEasy

September 2022

Slow Cycling

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Uncategorized /

Slow Cycling Slow cycling apparently isn’t about velocity. It’s about “taking time to smell the roses”, as the saying goes. Not every ride needs to be about beating your own PR; or about pedaling as many miles as you can with as few breaks as possible. I that I’m guilty of the latter. My Sunday long rides are about building endurance, even if I don’t worry about my speed. Ergo I try to take as few breaks as possible. You don’t have to be as slow as this snail for slow cycling; but neither must you “smash” through your usual cycling routes. Take enough time to look around at the scenery; and stop here and there for a photo shoot; or to enjoy a snack. It’s rather hard for me to sight-see while I’m riding. I do a lot of riding in the dark; and as a result have long since developed the habit of focusing straight ahead of me. Maybe after I’m retired I can do a little more riding that will actually let me enjoy the scenery. I won’t have to ride before sunup to be sure I get to ride! Speaking of riding slowly, it’s much harder for me control the road bike while riding one-handed at a slow pace. I think it’s because in a low gear I tend to pedal at a higher cadence. The leg action then makes the bicycle wobble more because I don’t have the gyroscopic effect. I wonder, does an e-bike have the same problem?  Of my three “rides”, the one that was best suited to slow cycling was, of course, the trike. When you’re on three wheels, balance isn’t a problem; and you can pedal as slowly as you like. In a way I miss that; but honestly, I’d rather go faster than that.

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Entrained

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Entrained? Can you say that I got entrained today? I went for a ride on the levee; and as I approached the bridge, a West-bound freight train was crossing over. On the way home, I saw the Amtrak train heading the same direction. Many years ago, I rode Amtrack to Milwaukee, to visit a cousin. For at least 24 hours after I got off that train, my head felt like it was swaying back and forth inside. Is that being entrained? And the story goes that Dvorak got the inspiration for his Humoresque from hearing the clicking of train wheels. I kept today’s ride rather short. On Mondays I usually only ride to work; but for one thing, today is a holiday. Yesterday I did a long ride; and I don’t need to do long rides two days in a row. It was already near to 9:00 am when I set out; and heating up. I’m almost out of electrolyte tablets; and if I’m to ride much over an hour, I need electrolyte drink! That’s especially true in hot weather. I addition, a ride of over 80 minutes means I have to reapply sunblock. The sky was mostly overcast; and that helped to keep me from getting too terribly hot. In fact, it isn’t as hot as usual today.   I wish I had the hybrid, so I could ride to the store. Of course I can walk to the drug store; but they don’t have bananas. And I sure miss riding to work! I thought I just might squeak in enough rides to work to earn the Love to Ride Super Commuter Badge (ride to work 200 times in one calendar year).  But I don’t have a hybrid at present. Come to think of it, I need to use up some vacation time soon; but when I’m not on vacation, I want to ride to work!

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Rack My Brains

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Rack My Brains? I don’t have to rack my brains to figure out how useful this product is! Often I need to carry more on my hybrid than I can put into a backpack; so I need some other way to carry my stuff. This rack can carry a pair of panniers; plus a bicycle trunk. Bring home a week’s worth of groceries in a single trip! This rack would be useful if I went touring, and didn’t have a touring bicycle. Maybe not for a prolonged, self-supported tour; but for a short trip I think it should do. It certainly helps me to get my stuff to work with me. But not tomorrow. Tomorrow is a holiday; and I’m glad of it. MAYBE I can sleep late! And put in some miles on the road bike. I’m trying to do a little extra because I want to get in the miles; and for the time being I can’t ride to work. Last week, my hybrid got destroyed; and I suspect that somebody deliberately trashed it. I can’t go into details here; but I hope the culprit is caught. Today I went out on the road bike. The restrooms at my pit-stop place are still locked! This is the third Sunday in a row! I’m tired of having to come home to “use the facilities”; and once I was home, it was hard to get out there again. It sprinkled on and off; and that kept me a little bit cooler. But it’s grass-seed season; and I got home with grass seeds stuck in my sunblock. Today I used some baby sunblock that I found; and to me it seemed too stiff; too sticky; and it was hard to wash off. The reason I bought it is, it’s fragrance free. I just checked the forecast. There’s a 40% chance of T-storms tomorrow morning. To ride; or not to ride? That’s a question to rack my brains!

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It Doesn’t Feel Right

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Uncategorized /

It Doesn’t Feel Right It doesn’t feel right that I couldn’t ride to the salvage store today. With my poor hybrid a wreck, I didn’t have my usual transportation. Public transit would have taken much longer than riding to the salvage story by bicycle; and there’s no transit stop right outside the store. How can I bring home a decent load like that? There’s a small grocery store not quite a mile from here; but just try to carry bananas all that way without bruising them half to death! It’s very frustrating, because I wanted to get some cooking done. I keep catching myself thinking of riding over to that store with a pannier; then I remember that I don’t have the bike! No; it doesn’t feel right at all. I went for a ride with the road bike; then walked over to the bike shop. I test-rode a hybrid; and it’s very nice. Of course it’s stripped down; and I’ll have to buy fenders and a luggage rack. Fenders are a must in a wet climate, especially if you plan to ride to work. Who wants to arrive at the office with a dirty, wet stripe down their back; and wet back hair besides? Let’s hope the bags I have are compatible with the new rack; or I’ll have to buy new ones. The bicycle I plan to buy costs nearly $700; and that’s not pocket change! But I’m afraid I’ll need new panniers before too long, anyhow. The old ones are showing definite signs of wear. Too many heavy loads from the salvage store, maybe. I hope the weather is cooperative tomorrow. There’s  50% chance of rain and/or T-storms; and I don’t want to get caught in bad weather when I’m 20 miles from home! I guess I’ll have to take my chances. Cycle September is on; so I want to get in my miles!

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Labor Day

bicycling, Uncategorized /

Labor Day It’ll be Labor Day, all right. Here I go re-working my web site.  AGAIN. I hadn’t realized that a Slider is part of a page! With help from a service called WordPress Live (expensive, but well worth it!), I got my home page redone; but I’m not sure how to take it from there. One thing I’m sure of: I don’t want to clutter up that home page image with lots of buttons! That won’t be attractive; and might even turn away prospective visitors. I’m glad I have a three-day weekend to mull things over! I hope to get in some good riding; but the weather forecast isn’t the most favorable. Some extra miles on the road bike will be welcome, though, because my hybrid is out of commission. Day before yesterday, it got vandalized! The bike shop says it might be a total loss; so I hope to get there tomorrow to test-ride a few new ones. But they don’t allow test-rides when it’s wet. I can’t go to the salvage store now, so maybe I can get a few extra hours’ sleep for once. I plan to meet some friends for lunch tomorrow; and of course I have to do laundry and some cooking. Labor Day is a holiday for most people; so I won’t be able to get more help with my site work until Tuesday. I’ll see what I can do for myself over the next two days. It’s getting rather late to do any more tonight; and I have to wash the dishes anyway. That’s one labor that never goes away!  

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None Too Soon

BACK ISSUES, Uncategorized /

None Too Soon It’s none too soon to be thinking about cold-weather cycling togs. I know, September has only just begun; and locally, it’s still hot.  It got up to 92 degrees today! But time flies; and one day soon we’ll want the leg warmers; jackets; and so on. I have two jackets; and one is heavier than the other. The temperature can fluctuate pretty crazily from day to day; so layers of different weights are useful to have. At the same time, it gets quite annoying because I have all those layers scattered everywhere.  Those layers are also a nuisance when I go to work. I’m apt to need fewer layers for the afternoon ride home than I did for the morning jaunt to work; and I have to pack them up somehow. My bike trunk usually is crammed; and I need to have a pannier so I have room for my lunch cooler, too. These woes are at least several weeks away. In fact, here in New Orleans we might not have to worry about them until November! For now, hurricane season is a much bigger concern. The tropics have been  almost too quiet; but of course it’s none too soon to prepare in case a storm does crop up in the Gulf. I’d like to get more bottled water; but I have ample stores of canned goods. I just hope there won’t be any need to evacuate. I’m thinking about the upcoming 3-day weekend, of course. I can’t go to the store because my hybrid is in the shop. Yesterday somebody VANDALIZED it😠; and the rear rack is a mess. I’d better not say any more, as I reported it to the authorities; but I hope the culprit is found, and made to pay for the damage! This is far from the first time my bicycle has been tampered with at work; and this harassment is another reason I want to retire. It can’t come too soon!  

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