SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

Bad NEW Days?

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Are these the bad NEW days? \”The good old days.\” People easily wax nostalgic for times past, even if they may not have been so wonderful. The present has its own set of trials and travails. Bicycling seems to have its own special set of woes. I\’m lucky to have bikes and equipment unsophisticated enough that I can avoid most or all of the problems on the list! GPS? I think my Garmin has it, but I don\’t use it. I\’m a stick-in-the-mud who rides the same path over and over. Yes, it gets monotonous sometimes; but at least I know where I am, and where I\’m going. I\’ve heard of Strava, as who hasn\’t these days; but have only the vaguest knowledge about it. As for KOM, there aren\’t any mountains where I live! I don\’t need to worry about my bicycles\’ brakes leaking oil, or about getting unplugged. I don\’t have a wonky power meter to tempt me to quit my ride. If my Garmin quits during a ride, I just keep riding. I\’ll be able to estimate my distance fairly well, if nothing else. What would I do if my gears used batteries, and the batteries died? I might be stuck in a very hard gear when I was 20 miles from home, with a stiff headwind to fight. Now that would be really, Really BAD. All this computerization sometimes means the bad new days!  

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Doctor on the Path?

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Is there a doctor on the path? There could be, if I had SteadyMD. SteadyMD is a new one for me. I think it would be nice to have a doctor who is into cycling. Such an MD might be better able to help me take care of my cycling-related health issues, than a doctor who doesn\’t ride bicycles. I also thought that SteadyMD might cost less than the health insurance premiums I pay now. I asked around a bit about SteadyMD. Someone told me that it\’s intended for serious athletes who want to really focus on their training, \”trying for that extra 2%\”. It isn\’t meant to be a substitute for regular health insurance. I\’m not into that kind of training, so I\’ll let SteadyMD go. On my current budget, I can\’t afford it on top of my regular health-care premiums. In addition, my present health-care plan includes dental and vision; and  I really need those! There are still plenty of ways to find out about training, nutrition advice, and so on. We can still go out and ride without costly telemedicine — and hope that, if we crash and get injured, there\’s a doctor on the path with us.

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Bringing Home the Bacon

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Bringing home the bacon isn\’t only about being a breadwinner. Bacon seems to be very popular these days. There\’s just plain bacon. I\’ve seen doughnuts with maple frosting and crumbled bacon on top. I\’ve even found chocolate with bacon! What, then,  happened to Maple & Bacon GU-Gel? I tried it last year, and thought it was pretty good; but now I can\’t find it. Maybe it wasn\’t popular enough; and I hope that Salted Caramel and Chocolate Outrage don\’t suffer the same fate! It may sound as if I\’m a big-time bacon fan. I\’ll get a side serving of bacon in the cafeteria at work now and then; but I don\’t cook bacon at home. I remember frying it as a kid, and wasn\’t really much fun. It meant hot fat spitting all over the place; and at the time I was puzzled at how sticky the bacon pan felt when I cleaned it; but I know now that sugar is used to cure bacon. I\’ve never enjoyed cleaning up grease, so I almost never cook meat. The Feed Zone Cookbook includes some recipes that use bacon, such as Angel Hair with Bacon and Sweet Corn (p. 140-141). If you happen to be vegetarian or vegan, I see no reason why you couldn\’t make this recipe and omit the bacon. Or perhaps substitute a half-cup or so of some kind of legume. I bet black beans would be good. Maybe I\’ll try it some day. Meanwhile, I hope GU brings back Maple & Bacon; then I\’ll be bringing home the bacon again.

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Just Tired?

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Am I just tired, or is something else going on? The feedback I\’m getting from my legs when I ride the hybrid now seems to say that the new cassette is quite different from the old one. When I shift to the second-largest cog, it seems harder to pedal than the second-largest cog on the old cassette. The new cassette looks to me like it has six cogs, not seven. The rear shifter won\’t go lower than \”2\”. It seems logical to conclude that the largest cog on the new cassette has been set to 2nd gear. With a range of 14-34 teeth, how many more teeth does the next-largest cog from the 14-tooth one have? Twenty isn\’t evenly divisible by six. I\’m too lazy to actually count all those teeth. Maybe it\’s three more teeth per next cog except for the largest one, when the number of additional teeth goes up by five? Perhaps perception is not reality. Maybe riding the hybrid with its new cassette isn\’t any different from riding it with the old cassette. My legs might be just tired from yesterday\’s ride, making riding of any sort seem harder. To paraphrase Jens Voigt, Wake up, legs!

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Easy Does It?

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Easy does it; at least, sometimes it does. When we decide we want to become a better cyclist, what do we do? We train. What does \”better cyclist\” mean? If we want to do a long ride, whether on our own or in a group, it means training up. Training is how we improve the ability to ride longer; or faster; or even both. Wanting to become a racing cyclist means even more training. I can easily be tempted to do hard efforts, trying see how fast I can go. The temptation strikes often enough when I should be riding at a steady, moderate pace; or even doing an easy ride. But I know that this isn\’t a good idea, even for a recreational cyclist. For the serious cyclist, overtraining is a constant specter. Even seasoned pro cyclists must guard against overtraining. How do we go about that? In the days before Garmins and power meters, they used RPE. Some even say that using RPE has an advantage over using all these electronic devices, because athletes using RPE are better in tune with their bodies. I take the lazy way out and use a Garmin. It lets me keep tabs on my heart rate as I ride; and if I start feeling too \”gaspy\” I\’ll check my heart rate. I might need to ease up! After a ride I\’ll consult an RPE chart and think about how my ride felt on average, and determine my RPE from that. Sure, go hard sometimes. It\’s how we get stronger. But when the day comes for an easy ride, well, easy does it! Post

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Out for a Spin

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Going out for a spin can turn into hard work. Today I got in 40+ miles. On the way back home, as usual, I had a headwind; and it seemed to be strengthening. The forecast that I checked last night said, 7 mph wind; but it felt stronger than that. And in fact it was. After I got home I looked at the weather site again. The wind had risen to 10 mph before I finished my ride. When the breeze finally swung around so it was behind me, the fartlek mood struck. I made three efforts of 20-30 seconds to see how fast I could go; specifically, I tried to reach at least 20 mph. At least twice, I made it; and in fact, I touched 22.9 mph! I was spinning at a fairly high cadence much of the time, at an average of 83 rpm. I also averaged 83 rpm during yesterday\’s ride, when I was specifically working on low-gear, high-cadence pedaling. That ride is probably why I felt a bit tired today. I usually don\’t do that on Saturdays, but maybe I need to get into the habit. It\’s funny about spinning. In its own way, spinning is as tiring as mashing. It makes my legs feel oddly heavy. Mashing, on the other hand, is apt to make my legs feel burn-y. It\’s something to  keep in mind when I go out for a \”spin\”.  

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Cashing In

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I wish I were cashing in. Don\’t we all? I know, I know. This isn\’t a financial advice site. I\’m not qualified to dish out advice about money, except this: If you don\’t NEED to spend it, DON\’T spend it. Even then I\’m none to good about following that bit of wisdom. What\’s money got to do with cycling, anyhow, you say? We know there are pro riders out there. How do they handle their finances? How much does a pro cyclist earn, anyhow? From what I\’ve read here and there, it depends on the team\’s budget; the rider\’s ranking both in the cycling world in general and within his/her team; whether the rider is a domestique or a contender; and so on. Some of the highest-ranked pro riders earn big money. It looks as though even a \”newbie\” can earn more in a year than I do at my job. Sounds pretty good, doesn\’t it? But openings on pro cycling teams are few; and how many cyclists are there on this planet? Millions? BILLIONS? And look how many make it to Tour de France. Fewer than 200 each year. A career as a pro cyclist is usually comparatively short. A rider might turn pro by the late teens/early twenties, and leave the pro peloton by about age 43; or perhaps sooner. There\’s always the risk of a career-ending crash; and a team might go out of existence on short notice. Therefore I\’d guess that pro cyclists must save for the future like the rest of us. They\’ll need have something to live on after cashing in their chips, and retiring from the pro circuit.

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Heart Transplant

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My hybrid got a heart transplant. Earlier this week I took it to the bike shop. Several times recently I found my bike knocked over after work (for reasons too long to go into here, I suspect deliberate action); and wanted to be sure the rear derailer and/or its hanger weren\’t damaged. It wasn\’t; but the guys at the shop did say that the derailer was getting worn out. After 12,000+ miles, maybe that\’s to be expected. I also suspected that the gears were getting worn. So, after work day before yesterday, I dropped the hybrid at the shop. This morning they called to say that it was ready for pick-up, and I walked over there to get it. I not only have a new rear derailer; I have a new 6-speed cassette. The old cassette had 7 cogs; and it seems strange to be on the biggest cog, and have my twist-shift indicator show \”2\”. I guess replacing that shifter would have taken a lot more time, and also cost a lot more. I didn\’t have the hybrid available early this morning, so I skipped doing a grocery run. Instead, I went for a short (10 miles) spin on the road bike; and practiced 15-second spurts of low-gear, high-cadence pedaling. This exercicse can be hard on the lungs and send your heart rate up; but when you\’ve got a stiff headwind and miles still to go, this is a skill that comes in handy — even if it does make me feel like I need a heart transplant.

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Feline?

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Are we cyclists feline? No, not \”feline\” as in the three little kittens of the old song. But look at this. Tour de France riders live longer, they say. Those cyclist put in years of strenuous training before they even line up for the Grand Depart; and that gives them strong hearts. Exercise helps keep blood pressure and weight under control, whether you\’re a pro athlete or not; and pro tour riders probably have a much more healthful diet than many of us. Pro tour riders need to be lean, with a high power-to-weight ratio. After all, they must face some stiff climbs over the course of Le Tour; and they need to be lithe and agile, like cats. Cats have a reputation for always landing on their feet. Pro riders typically get up and ride on after a crash, although how they manage it is a puzzle to me. If I go down, even at a very modest 10 mph, it knocks the wind out of me; and leaves me feeling lightheaded, weak, and shaky. It can take days to wear off. Imagine climbing right back onto the bike after you\’ve gone down at 25 mph (or much more!); and your Lycra® is in shreds; and your skin looks like raw meat. Pro cyclists are a hardy lot for sure; or maybe they have the nine lives of a cat?

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Steppes Towards Improved Cycling?

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Steppes Towards Improved Cycling? 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.” For steppes towards improved cycling, why not head for — well — the steppes? We see in this video people riding camels and horses there. Why not bicycles? Crossing Mongolia on two wheels sounds like a marvelous adventure. Wide open country has always appealed to me, maybe because I don’t get to see much of it. It would be great to ride where the racket of everyday life in “civilization” is far away. What steps does a cyclist need to take to prepare for such a trek? Or even for a comparatively short one such as a century? How can we improve our cycling abilities? Well, maybe exercises on an aerobic stepper would be a good start.  Actually, I think it depends on what you mean by “improve”. Do you want to get faster? Be able to ride longer, letting speed be what it may? Spend weeks riding across a faraway land? If you want to improve your speed, you’ll need to work on short bursts of riding several miles per hour faster than your current pace, gradually increasing the length of those intervals. Or do you merely want to be able to ride for longer at a time? Then add a few miles per week until you’re able to ride the mileage that you desire. I’m at sea when it comes to preparation for several weeks of riding; especially when it means packing along cooking equipment; sleeping bag, tent, and so on. This book might help you to get started. RUSA is another good source of info about long-distance riding. Even just starting to ride a bicycle for short errands, or to work, is steppes towards improved cycling. ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is! You can read all about it in My Story. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional.   FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL Relearning December 19, 2023 I Traverse Afar? December 18, 2023 I Envy Time December 17, 2023 Holiday Food December 16, 2023 Load More TRANSLATOR

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