SpokEasy

October 2023

Feels Like October

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Outdoors /

Feels Like October 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.” * It feels like October at last; now that October is over! Our temperature yesterday morning was about 72; today it was some 20 degrees cooler. I went for a ride, but the wind was rather strong; so I was a sissy and went to ride laps around the park. Before I had ridden one mile, my hands and feet were starting to feel the chill. Maybe I need some Rabbitroom Gloves! My feet were getting cold, too. My intended five laps got reduced to a measly two laps. The sky was overcast; and it began to mist. The wind seemed to be strengthening; and I decided it might be better to go home before it began to pour. Then, of course, it didn’t!🙄 I forget sometimes that learning to deal with adverse weather is part of being a cyclist. Pushing your pace against the wind helps to develop strength and endurance; and it you’re to commute to work or school by bicycle, you must know how to ride in the rain. Tonight is supposed to be even cooler; with a wind advisory in effect until mid-morning tomorrow. I might have to postpone my ride!  Yes, it feels like October — now that November is here!

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Coming at Last

BACK ISSUES, equipment, Outdoors /

Coming at Last? 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.” * Is Fall coming at last? At midday today, it was only 72 degrees! Compared to what we’ve been getting, that’s cool. It’s rather windy as well. Tonight, down to the low 50s; and Tuesday night, it’s supposed to drop to the mid-40s! Time now to be eyeing cycling jackets, and other cold-weather clothing as well. Riding through the Winter drives me crazy, though. We can get crazy fluctuations in temperature; and it’s annoying to have all kinds of stuff floating around: gloves in several weights; thermal socks; leg warmers; and so on. In a way, dressing to ride in Summer is far easier. I know it will be hot; and I don’t have to worry that I’ll embark on a ride with too few layers. If Fall is coming at last, we ought to get some relief from the heat. We had a prolonged spell of extreme hot weather, when the heat index got over 100 degrees every day. I was glad to see that end; but it’s still very dry. We’re turning into a desert at the rate we’ve been going; and I hope we get the rain that’s predicted for tonight and tomorrow morning. Just not while I’m out cycling!

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Pushmi-Pullyu

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Pushmi-Pullyu? 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.” * I thought of Dr. Dolittle’s pushmi-pullyu about two days ago, thanks to a couple of trains.  Rounding the turn before the last mile on the bike path, I heard the compressed-air sound that idling locomotives frequently make. Then I saw the train sitting there; and I hoped it wasn’t so long that it was blocking the crossing. As I rode further, I could see that the crossing was clear. Then I saw more locomitives! At first, it seemed that there were “locos” on both ends of the train; but then I noticed that there were two trains on idle. One was headed one direction; and the other one was pointing the opposite way. The pushmi-pullyu is one of the few things I remember from reading the book, Dr. Dolittle. (Not surprising, as that was decades ago.) It might be interesting if some enterprising inventor created a tandem bicycle to resemble the critter. The two saddles would have to face in opposite directions, each with its own set of handlebars. One pair of pedals would have to be operated in reverse; and that — captain or stoker? — pedaling backwards sure would make people look twice!

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Katy Bar the Door

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Katy Bar the Door? 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.” * I hope all my work today doesn’t mean, Katy bar the door. On the contrary, I hope it makes navigation easier! Speaking of navigation, I’m glad Hurricane Tammy is far away from us; if it did some weird maneuvering, we might be in for a rough time! This morning I just did one easy circuit around the park; but I plan to do a longer ride tomorrow. At the moment, the wind is pretty strong; so I’m glad I’m not trying to ride against it. I’ve been trying to get into the routine of a longer ride in the middle of the week, in addition to the Sunday long ride. I’m also experimenting with starting my mid-week long rides before I eat. I cut up a protein bar to take along; and I eat pieces of it as I go. So far, it seems to work pretty well. The weather is weird enough without any visitors from the tropics. It still gets into the 80s in the afternoon. When the weather does turn cold, it’s likely to abruptly drop from the 80s into the 40s overnight. Does that happen everywhere; or is it just us? It makes me feel like saying, Katy bar the door.      

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Just Page Me

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Just Page Me? 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.” Just page me, I guess. Or even call me “Page”. Seems like all I did all today and yesterday was work on, er, you-know-what’s for my website. My original Bicycles, Boutique, and Grocery pages had huge product grids. That last, for instance, contained some 150 items! When I thought about it, I decided that breaking down those product categories into sub-categories much more sense. Some folks might want to look for a particular kind of energy bar; or wonder whether the SpokEasy Store has any candy. (Spoiler alert: not much!) A visitor can now choose a food category. Or a particular category of cycling clothing. It wasn’t especially difficult work, because I knew what I needed to do; but talk about time-consuming! It’s a good thing I went out for a ride first thing this morning, or I might not have gotten out there on the bike; I was that busy! It’s a good thing, too, that I did ride early. As the morning went on, I could hear that the wind was rising. It’s now blowing at 20 mph! It clouded up a lot, too; but they don’t predict rain. So I suppose I can go for a ride tomorrow morning. I hope nobody wants me for anything while I’m riding; but if they do, they can just page me.

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Working Hard

BACK ISSUES, equipment /

Working Hard 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.” “Working hard? I thought you were retired!” people might say. Well, I’m out of the paid workforce; but that doesn’t mean I’m through with work. I’ve said for the last few years that my website would be my job after I retired; and it sure is! It seems like the more I do, the more I think of further things to do. Today’s project was editing my Bicycles page. A site visitor who wants, say, a MTB, might not want to browse through a page showing 50-something bicycles to find a MTB. With the page’s new format, they can click on MTBs; and view the MTB page. Same for Touring Bikes; and so on. Luckily I had made almost all of the necessary pages earlier; so the project went more quickly. But I was still working hard! In fact, I’m hardly finished that project; and now I’m thinking of doing a similar job on the Boutique page! Today I skipped riding. I’m doing that too often of late; and I need to ride all I can before my foot surgery next month. Recovery might take several months; and I’ll miss being able to ride. I’m looking for non-weight bearing exercises that I can do while I wait for my foot to heal. Oops, I just now thought of yet another bike category for the Bicycles page. Retired? I’m still working hard!

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Kaleidoscopic Effect

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Kaleidoscopic Effect I’d feel like the kaleidoscopic effect if I went for a ride attired in the jersey shown above! I must say, it’s very colorful. But when we’re riding, we don’t need to worry about kaleidoscopes. What we’ve got going is the gyroscopic effect. Ever notice how much harder it is to hold a straight line at a slow pace? Or how much harder steering is? That’s because of the gyroscopic effect. As a new rider, increasing the pace is scary. It made me feel like I was going out of control; but as I got more practice, I learned that the opposite is true. In an easy gear/high cadence, it’s still hard to ride in a straight line; but I suspect that’s a core-strength issue. Today I created no kaleidoscopic effect; my jersey was sky-blue, with black side panels. It was mostly covered by my vest (which is white). Things got a bit more garish when I added my reflective vest. It’s neon yellow, with orange-edged reflective stripes. Even so, I was sporting relatively few colors. I needed the visibility, too. When I went out, there were areas of light fog; and the sky was mostly overcast. It was still rather early anyway; so the light level was rather low. Getting my Sunday mileage back into the 20s now; but still a ways to go before I can do 40 again. Especially with a lapiplasty coming up next month!

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Prison?

BACK ISSUES, Food /

Prison? Do protein bars ever feel like dietary prison? Don’t you sometimes wish for a change in your on-bike food? Sure, MET-Rx bars and the like are convenient; but let’s face it, sometimes they get monotonous. They can also get expensive when used exclusively as ride food. Feed Zone Portables offers some alternatives. This book includes a discussion of digestion and what an active rider — more specifically, a serious competitive rider — needs; and, of course, recipes. These include rice cakes; mini-pies; and baked eggs, among others. Rice cakes are a favorite of many serious cyclists. I’ve experimented with them, using sushi rice. Mine tended to come out too soft; when I tried to pull one out of my snack bag, it would fall apart in my fingers. I guess I used too much water in the cooking. It’s been some time since I last tried making rice cakes; and I keep saying that I must try it again. So far, I haven’t! I remember making one batch with three or four different kinds of cheese; and that one tasted pretty good. I bet currants would be good; or maybe grated carrot mixed with lemon juice. As with Hoppin’ John variations, the sky’s the limit. Mini-pies are out as long as I don’t have any flour on hand; and eggs aren’t a favorite of mine. Until I can kick myself into culinary gear, I’m stuck in the prison of protein bars.

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Cadence

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Cadence Cadence isn’t only about marching and military tattoos. We cyclists engage in cadence every time we ride. Yesterday I did some work on pushing the RPMs; and somehow that seems to make it easier to push the pace as well. Apparently that shift in mental gears helps as much as any shift in bicycle gears! For 30-60 seconds at a time, I worked to push my cadence anywhere from 85 to 95 rpm; and without shifting to a lower gear. That sure gets my heart rate up; and it was easier to go 16 mph! (For me, that’s fast). Which naturally leads to the question: What should my cadence be? I’d say that that is, to some degree, a matter of personal choice; and it also has something to do with muscle-fiber composition. Spinning uses slow-twitch muscle fibers; while mashing calls slow-twitch fibers into play. Everyone has a unique slow-twitch/fast-twitch ratio. Mashing a hard gear at low rpm makes your muscles tire faster because of lactic acid build-up. Rapid pedaling in an easier gear can make you out of breath faster; so each cyclist need to find the happy medium that works best for him/her. I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about marching. A marching stride is typically too long for my short legs. I have to almost lunge-walk to keep up! This morning I got lazy, though. I rode to the supermarket, but that was all. Tomorrow, the salvage store! After that, back to the kitchen.

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Dancing Shoes

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Dancing Shoes? Since when are cycling shoes, dancing shoes? I don’t think I would want to dance in my cycling shoes. The soles are too stiff; and even MTB shoes, with their recessed cleats, might lead to slipping. This morning, however, I was at my bike shop, buying a new pair of cycling shoes. The shop owner was teasing me about my dancing shoes; and I said, yeah, I’m ready for the foxtrot. I got a size larger this time, because of the bunion/bone spurs on my left foot. The shoes still feel a bit too snug at that spot; but I figure they’ll stretch over time. Shoes do that, you know. The pair I’m replacing are a good three years old; and they’re getting pretty soft around the heels. I read somewhere that you’re risking bio-mechanical trouble by “trying to milk more miles out of shot shoes”. I’ve got enough trouble without that! Better to pay for a new pair of shoes now, than have major doctors’ bills farther down the road. The weather forecast over the next few days shows a warming trend. I hope it doesn’t shoot up into the 90s again! Rain chances are low to none until next Wednesday; so at least I won’t need a rain suit.

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