SpokEasy

October 2022

Triple Lucky

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Triple Lucky Today I got triple lucky! First, the restrooms at my pit-stop are finally open again! It took them long enough — seven or eight weeks. Now I can take a break there; and ride farther on before I turn for home. I usually reapply sunblock when I make my pit stop. I unzipped the under-saddle pack; and no sunblock! Fortunately I had SPF lip balm, which was luck number two. Luck number three: I was wearing long sleeves; a lightweight skull cap; and leg warmers; and only needed to worry about my face and lower ears. The lip balm is SPF 25; and the sunblock is 45 or 50. I figured that meant I should reapply the lip balm every half-hour; not every 80 minutes. It meant some extra stops; but who cares as long as I didn’t get sunburnt. Today I had a pesky headwind on the way home (so what else is new?😵‍💫); and my legs got pretty tired. I’m rather surprised that the wind was only 5-6 mph; it felt stronger. Maybe I did too much yesterday to tackle a long ride today; but I’m eagerly watching the miles before my Love to Ride goal melt away. Only 453.59 to go! It got quite warm before I was back home; but I left the leg warmers on because I didn’t have sunblock. Or I thought I didn’t. After I got home, guess what. I found a tube of sunblock at the bottom of one of my Camel-Bak’s pockets! I made sure to put sunblock into the under-saddle pack, so it’s there for next Sunday’s long ride. It clouded up quite quickly as the morning went on; and tonight’s forecast is for patchy fog. I think I’ll do a short ride anyway, because I don’t have the hybrid back yet; and can’t ride to work. But as long as it’s not raining; and not cold; and my legs cooperate — well, that’s triple lucky!

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Latest Feature

BACK ISSUES, equipment /

Latest Feature The latest feature on this web site is: This Week’s Featured Product! I plan to post these on Sundays; so publishing a product yesterday was jumping the gun. I just wanted to get started; and this one will be up for a few extra days. The latest feature on my month-old hybrid is a set of fenders. Or it will be soon. After work today, I rode to the bike shop; but I had to leave the bicycle there. Estimated installation time is at least one hour; and the shop was due to close in less than an hour. So I won’t be riding to the salvage store tomorrow. Maybe I can sleep late for once! Then I can go out on the road bike; and later I’m meeting some friends for lunch.  I’m very lucky we’ve had so little rain lately. In wet weather, no fenders means a wet stripe up the back with every ride; and of course that stripe carries dirt and grit with it. In addition to a wet and dirty back, I get grit in my back hair! We might get some rain as soon as Sunday night; so those fenders aren’t coming a bit too early. Fenders don’t only keep the rider cleaner and a bit drier; they keep panniers and trunks a bit cleaner as well. That’s good news for me, because I’m lazy and hate cleaning.

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Telepathy

BACK ISSUES, equipment /

Telepathy I don’t have the gift of telepathy; but sometimes I wish I did. When I have to ride around traffic, I can’t be sure what drivers might do. Telepathy would be useful then; especially as so many vehicles have tinted windows. Those windows make it hard for me to see the driver; and even less can I be sure I’m making eye contact. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could have telepathy with the weather? Is it going to storm; or not? If so, how soon? Today, for example, I didn’t ride to work because I had an occupational therapy appointment at 8:30 am; and I used public transit to get there. I knew the forecast was for possible T-storms by late afternoon. About 10:30 am there was a brief sprinkle; and by 3:30 pm, I saw that it was darkening outdoors. As I walked home an hour later, I heard distant but continuous thunder. I had my rain gear with me; but of course didn’t want it to rain. I got home dry; and about half an hour later began to hear thunder. But as of 5:40 pm, it still isn’t raining. If it’s going to storm, let’s get it over with. I want to ride tomorrow morning! Telepathy naturally makes me think of telephones and, in these days, cell phones. If you want to keep yours handy during a ride, try this  Rock Bros Phone Bag. I’m not qualified to give any reviews of this product. That spot on my road bike’s top tube is reserved for my top-tube pouch. I slip my cell phone into the Camel-Bak’s smallest pocket during long rides; and for weekday morning rides, the phone goes into a jersey or blouse pocket. The phone bag sounds useful, though. It has room for a wallet and keys; and even some gels. If I used one of these bags, I’d have to either move the phone to grab a bite to eat; or bury the phone under my bag of “bites”. That means, be sure the phone is carefully wrapped, so it doesn’t get full of crumbs.

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Find My Way

BACK ISSUES, equipment /

Find My Way I have to find my way sometimes. Don’t we all? This Sun Company Clip-on Compass will at least help me to get oriented. I ride in the dark a lot; and in these days of overwhelming light pollution, how can I find my way by the stars? Even though I know how to find Polaris, the knowledge isn’t much use here. At about 30 degrees North, Polaris is too low in the sky; and trees, buildings, etc. hide it. Air pollution also helps to dim the stars; and here, we have salt haze from the Gulf. And sometimes it’s overcast; or foggy; or flat-out pouring rain. Thus a compass is useful. If nothing else, I want to know where North is when I’m out for a ride. When I’m doing a long ride on a cold day; and there’s a northerly headwind; I can see when the hard work is coming up! I can also see when the wind will be off my nose, so I can ease up a little. My concern about this product is: can it fit over my road bike’s handlebars? I’ve discovered that the Incredibell won’t fit there; and I sure wish it did! But don’t use this compass with iron or steel handlebars. Such materials will only “confuse” said compass; and that’s not what we want when pathfinding!

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Not Only Wheels

BACK ISSUES, equipment /

Not Only Wheels It’s not only wheels that roll in cycling. If you have sore, tired muscles after hard riding, a foam roller can help. Not that I should talk. I haven’t used my foam roller in months; and I really need to get back to it.  The 321 Strong Foam Roller mimics the hands of a massage artist; and you don’t have to leave home to do it. That saves both time and money; and besides, I still don’t think we should let our guard down re: Covid. A good massage might be even better if you follow it up with an epsom salt bath. The plug in my bathtub doesn’t fit right; so I’ll have to skip such soaking. I tried a body scrub made of epsom salt; sea salt; baking soda; and vegetable glycerin instead. It was OK; but it took a lot of rinsing! Getting around to cycling equipment, it’s not only wheels and tires! We need so many things to keep that bicycle rolling: a pump; chain lube; and more. That’s even before we get around to caring for the “engine” — namely, proper nutrition; getting enough sleep; and so on. Getting enough sleep is easier said than done when I want to get up early to ride. Usually I don’t do that on Sundays; but today did it so I could go see the moonlight on the river. It was worth the trouble!

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Elephants

BACK ISSUES, equipment /

Elephants? Speaking of trunks makes me think of elephants. “Elephants are useful friends/Equipped with handles at both ends”, as Ogden Nash put it. I don’t think I can manage such an animal; so it’s lucky that a bicycle trunk is much smaller; doesn’t need housing; and is easy to carry! MTX Trunkbag DX I just added this MTX Trunkbag DX to my Shop. I would have saved my money; but the rack on my new hybrid is incompatible with my old trunk. It’s tricky to get this trunk onto the rack over the panniers that I have; so I might have to replace them, too. My panniers are at least nine years old, and showing signs of wear, anyway. anyway Thule Shield Bike Panniers Panniers can hold a surprising amount; so I don’t need elephants to carry my stuff for me. I use panniers regularly to bring home the groceries; and to carry my lunch cooler to work. If I ever do a bicycle tour, panniers front and rear will be a must. But I’ll leave the elephants in case I ever go on safari.

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Sock It to Me

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Sock It to Me Sock it to me! Or have I blogged about “sox” before now? We’re still getting afternoon temperatures in the low 80s; but it won’t last forever. When we start to have cold fronts, I’ll want warm socks. I have a pair of the Socks Daze shown here; but as of this writing, they’re unavailable. Maybe Bymore Thermal Socks would do instead? Maybe it’s our humid climate; but my feet get cold no matter what I put on them. Even thermal socks over regular “sox” don’t keep my feet warm. Compression socks are another story. I tried them after long Sunday rides; but finally gave up on them. They’re very hard to get on in the first place; and they hurt! I have to pull them off after only 15-20 minutes.  It’s all enough to make me wish I lived where it never goes below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Even 70 degrees is cool enough to set my nose off; and the constant sniffling drives me crazy. It’s been like that every morning this week; and I’ve got several months of it coming. Maybe that nose is trying to sock it to me — it thinks it’s the boss!  

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Feeling Lazy

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Feeling Lazy I’m feeling lazy again. Too many late nights, trying to keep abreast of social media! I was sleepy for much of the day; and I’m glad tomorrow is Friday. This morning I did three 30-second bursts of trying to pedal fast in a hard gear. I didn’t do particularly well; but then I hadn’t done any such work for quite a while. It’s amazing how fast I lose conditioning! Throwing in some intense efforts might help me to improve my pace; and also help keep my weight under control. So much time spent on the web site meant that I let my diet slide; and that’s bad news. My weight is up to almost 110 pounds again! ☹️ So I need to start careful meal planning again. The trouble is, I’m feeling lazy. By the time I finish blogging, etcetera, it’s often at least 8:30 pm; and I still have to wash dishes; so a few off-bike exercises; and wash cycling shorts. I’m trying to decide whether to go to the salvage store or Whole Foods on Saturday. The former will let me get in more miles for Love to Ride; but the latter is much better for fresh produce.  Oh, well, I don’t have to decide this minute. I have to clean up the kitchen; fix a lunch for tomorrow; and on and on. Unfortunately, I’m feeling lazy.          

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By the Book

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By the Book Is it better to do things by the book; or to take your own path? That depends on many factors; and also on what you’re trying to do. If it’s a new task, I’d say yes; go by the book. For example, the first time you try a new recipe, do exactly what the cookbook says. After you use that recipe a few times, you’ll get the feel of it; and then you can improvise! If I were to start tinkering on my bicycles, I’d certainly need some well-defined instructions! I know what spoke are; and I know a tube from a saddle. I even know what to do if I have to change a tube. But beyond that? I’ll be in over my head in no time! How about training? There are a number of books out there about cyclist training; and many times I wished I could train like that; that is to say, by the book. However, many books about training are aimed at preparation for racing; and that isn’t my thing.  I do need to get back to on-bike exercises to improve my strength; and to edge my pace upwards a little. After all these  years, I’m still a plodder! Unfortunately I’m lazy; and usually fall into “just riding”. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; but putting in some intense efforts once a week keeps stagnation at bay. It’s helpful to “keep your body guessing”, especially if you’re concerned about weight control — as so many of us are!

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Don’t Get Unhinged

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Don’t Get Unhinged Don’t get unhinged! Keep those hinges warm with Louis Garneau Knee Warmers! Sometimes it’s a bit chilly; but not really cold enough for full-length leg warmers. Some of us have knees that are sensitive to cold; and that’s where knee warmers come in handy. I have a bit of arthritis in my knees; but oddly, they don’t seem to be bothered by the cold. It’s my hands and feet that get so cold; and warming packs are a godsend. For my hands, anyway; but I wish I could fit them inside my shoes!  It’s easy to say, don’t get unhinged by bad weather, be it T-storms or a stiff cold front. After all, they say that there’s no such thing as bad weather; only bad clothing choices. I wish it were so simple. On cold days, socks plus thermal socks don’t keep my feet warm; and slacks over leg warmers don’t keep my legs warm enough. In this humid climate, the cold seeps through any amount of clothing. I’m thankful for those warming packs; at least I can keep my hands halfway warm! Our cold weather will be here only too soon; and when it arrives, dressing for a ride will take at least twice as long! It isn’t only the extra layers. I often forget that I need put my keys in the pocket of an outer jacket. Then I have to pull off my gloves so I can get the keys out of a blouse pocket. The same thing applies to my cell phone. It’s a lot of extra work; and many a day it seems like I’ll never get out the door. It’e enough to get anybody unhinged.

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