SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

The Night Before Christmas

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Remember \”Twas the night before Christmas\”? And A Christmas Carol, when it was so foggy? When I was a kid, the evening of December 24 was very exciting. We had trimmed the tree after breakfast that morning, and it was still something new and wonderful. Our tree was always a real one, and it smelled so good! We had a \”whirligig\” ornament, shaped like a little carousel, that had a small propeller suspended horizontally in the middle. It was meant to be hung over one of the light bulbs on the tree, and the heated air rose and made the propeller spin. It was a great favorite of us kids. Naturally we hung up our stockings. When I was about six, an aunt made felt stocking for us. Each of our stockings had our name on it. Of course as we got older, those stockings were much too small for all the \”loot\”. Playing records (this in the days of 33-1/3 rpm albums) of Christmas music was always a major part of the holiday, although naturally we didn\’t wait until December 24 to start playing them. When I was about eleven, my mother brought home an album with the title, \”Round the World Christmas\”, which became my favorite Christmas record. For some reason the one from Australia has been running through my mind lately. On the record the accompaniment was organ, but this YouTube is still the same song. What do you do the night before Christmas? Bake cookies? And sneak some icing to eat while trimming them? I always did! Make wassail? Caroling, snowmen, even going for a bicycle ride through the snow? Whatever it is, May your days be merry and bright!      

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Shimmy!

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There\’s the shimmy on the dance floor, the way Kate did it. It was considered quite naughty at the time. Now and then a cyclist\’s wheel goes naughty and starts to shimmy; and that\’s an entirely different matter. Look here for advice on the cause of this problem; and what you can do if it occurs. As with so many contingencies, the first rule is: Don\’t Panic. So far I\’ve been fortunate enough not to have had trouble with speed wobble. I guess I don\’t go fast enough. Yet. Since it\’s only two days until Christmas, \”shimmy\” gets me to thinking about \”shimmer\”, as in light glinting off of tinsel. Any other time, I\’d get to thinking of \”chamois\”, as in cycling shorts. Maybe I\’d better stop thinking about it.  

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HIGH FIVE!!

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Here\’s a high five for me! Today my mileage total (road bike + hybrid) for 2018 passed the 5000 mark! For a minute I was afraid it hadn\’t. I had double-checked by going over my week-by-week totals; adding them up in short columns of three or four weeks at a time, to make adding much easier. First I did the road bike\’s; and then the hybrid\’s. Then I added up the two grand totals. I was dismayed to come up with 4778.47 miles. Uh-oh. Then I looked at the road bike\’s miles again, and saw that I had missed adding in three weeks\’ worth of miles. Those were the miles that brought my 2018 total to 5031.91. And I may get in another 100 or so by the time New Year\’s arrives. That\’s a great excuse for a high five. Now, shall I aim for 6000 miles in 2019? Or is that getting overly ambitious?

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Christmas Star?

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I hope I\’m not what Joe Friel calls a \”Christmas star\”. By that he means riders who are in shape for racing during the Winter, but are gone when the Summer\’s serious racing begins. (See The Cyclist\’s Training Bible, 4th ed, pg. 109). Today I got out there and rode 40.3  miles. I wasn\’t racing, goodness knows. Leaving out the first mile (to \”get going\”) and the final 2.5 miles (I tried doing a \”cool down\”), I averaged about 14.2 mph. That really isn\’t so very fast. At one point I was passing another cyclist. Yet another rider was approaching from the opposite direction. I put on the steam so I could finish getting around the rider in front of me before the fellow coming head-on got too close for safety. I hit a max speed of 21.1 mph, so apparently the potential for greater speed is there. Come to think of it, there was a time when hitting 15 mph for a second or two took hard work. Now I sometimes average that for as much as 10 miles or more. It\’s not a stellar performance, so apparently I\’m not a Christmas Star, but hey — it\’s progress!

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Basketry

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Sometimes I take up basketry as Christmas approaches. I don\’t mean this kind of basket. But you can easily make woven paper baskets! When I was still pretty young, we got a Golden Magazine Christmas Annual for Boys and Girls. We had it for years; and eventually I appropriated it for my own box of Christmas stuff. Finally I passed it along to my sister, when her daughters were young. This magazine had several stories, including one about a giant named Grummer; who lived in a castle made of Limburger cheese, and \”was a very bad giant!\” He said he planned to steal all the Christmas stockings and presents (by reaching down the chimneys) and destroy them; he couldn\’t stand the thought of people being happy. One Prince Topsy hatched a plan with Santa Claus to foil Giant Grummer\’s intentions and save Christmas Day. Query: was Giant Grummer inspired by the Grinch? My favorite feature in that magazine was the Countdown to Christmas; with different activities for every day until December 25. I still remember some of them, such as 23 days \’til Christmas: \”It\’s time for window shopping, and we have just begun. We can\’t get everything we like; but looking\’s half the fun!\” And there were instructions for making a wreath; making Christmas stockings; putting up a bird feeder; and so on. Three days \’til Christmas was time to make Danish baskets. The ones in this magazine weren\’t heart-shaped; but it was the same principle. I never tried making them until after I was grown up. Then they were fun to make for  \”goodie bags\” to give to everybody at work the last day before the Christmas holiday. Just be careful not to get so carried away by this basketry that you wind up a basket case!

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Neck Check

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What\’s the neck check? Every cyclist has the occasional day of waking up to realize, \”Oh, no — I\’ve got a cold!\”  Should you ride, or not? Do a neck check! Are your symptoms above the neck? Stuffy head and scratchy throat? But no chest congestion and no fever? Then it\’s OK to go for a ride; but go easy. If riding makes you feel worse, turn around and go home. But if your symptoms are below the neck; if your chest feels congested and/or you\’re feverish, don\’t bother with exercise. The Cyclist\’s Training Bible even mentions the risk of developing Coxsackie  if you train while ill. It can take a long time to recover from that, so don\’t risk it. Something the neck check seems to omit is this: even if you lack below-the-neck symptoms, you might feel dizzy, and/or off-balance. I\’m quite prone to that when my head gets stuffy. Dizziness doesn\’t mix well with balancing on two wheels. Oddly, I\’ve had much less trouble with colds since I took to pushing the pedals. I\’ve even gotten caught out in the rain on a cold day, which people once believed meant, \”You\’ll catch your death!\” Well, I\’m still here. Of course we now know that colds are caused by viruses, not by getting cold and/or wet. But next time I wake up feeling like a cold (and it\’s bound to happen some day), I must remember the Neck Check.

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Not Even a Mouse?

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If not even a mouse is stirring, things are fine, right?  Seriously, though, how do pets mix with Christmas? There are stories of Christmas trees put up by the cat-owned; only to have said cat bring down the whole set-up. We hear about the overly frisky dog that knocks the tree over. I used to have two cats; and as long as I had them I never even tried to have a Christmas tree. A large cat and a Christmas tree don\’t mix well! Even a small cat can pack a surprising punch when it jumps upon something. I\’ve read of stringing fishing line, or something similar, between the top of the tree and a secure hook in the ceiling. That way if a pet jumps on the tree, at least the tree shouldn\’t fall over. And look at those enticing, shiny balls dangling from the tree\’s branches! A cat loves to swat such things. After a few swats, down does the ball, which is why glass ornaments and cats (maybe dogs, too) don\’t mix. A Christmas tree plus pets means non-breakable ornaments. They\’d need to be large enough that a pet couldn\’t swallow them; and not have small parts that could come off and be eaten by the pet. Keeping pets safe during holiday season takes some doing. I have no experience with keeping a dog; but I know that cats are only too good at getting into things. If there\’s not even a mouse to distract them from the Christmas tree, I would have to think of something else.  

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What a Let Down

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What a let down this morning was! It\’s full-moon time again; and I got up early so I could go for a short ride and see the moonlight on the river. When I reached the point where I usually see the moon shining down on the water, the moon was in the wrong place in the sky for that effect. I guess it\’s because of the Earth\’s tilt at this season. At least I passed one spot where the trees were bare enough that I could see the river through the branches. That gave me a little bit of the desired sight, but not enough. As I already said, what a let down! Oh, well. I tried. If I hadn\’t, I\’d be thinking of what I had missed!

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Tricycle for Healing?

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I never thought about a tricycle for healing. My memories of riding an adult trike seem to be fading. It\’s already about five and a half years since I let \”Valkyrie\” go. Adult trikes can be a boon to people who have balance difficulties. Maybe they gave learning to ride two wheels their all; but unfortunately couldn\’t get the hang of it. The same friend who put me on the track of aqua cycling also mentioned her sister-in-law who had suffered a broken back. Eventually, when her back was better, this lady found that she was able to ride an adult trike! I think that\’s great. She could have fun; and get some good exercise, too. For all I know (having no medical expertise), the riding helps her back. She\’s still in physical therapy for her back; but I think that riding the trike would be much more fun than therapy sessions. I wish her the best with both. The reason I began my cycling \”career\” with an adult trike was the off-balance sensations inside of my head. It seemed to be between my ears, deep in the center of my head. If I turned my head to look behind me while I was just walking, something inside of my head seemed to move around; and it made me feel off balance. I didn\’t dare trust myself on two wheels because of that. So I got the trike. Fast-forward about two and a half years. I noticed that those weird sensations in my head were significantly reduced; and my speculation is that all the vigorous pedaling played a part. It makes me think: A Tricycle for Healing! So an adult tricycle may not be a miracle worker, but it still can do a lot of good!

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Horizons

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Let\’s broaden our horizons here, and have a look at some other countries\’ Christmas customs. The Mexican piñata easily springs to mind. When I was a kid, we had a big book of Christmas stories. One was about a little Mexican girl named Pepita. Pepita was staying with her grandmother in the United States, and wanted a piñata for Christmas; but was too young to explain what a piñata was. Just before Christmas, her parents sent her a big piñata. A note told what to do with a piñata. The neighbors were invited to Grandma\’s house; and everyone had a good time trying to be the one to break the piñata. Feliz Navidad! We have Germany, among other countries, to thank for the Christmas tree; and the carol Silent Night comes from a little village in neighboring Austria. The story: on the night of Christmas Eve, the village priest discovered that a mouse had chewed a hole in the organ bellows; and the instrument was unplayable. Midnight Mass without music was unthinkable; but what to do? The beautiful, still night inspired the priest to write a poem; and he asked a friend who played the guitar to set the poem to music. If that\’s true, \”Three cheers for the mouse!\” Fröhliche Weihnachten! We looked forward to the visit from Santa Claus; but children in Italy wait for Babbo Natale. He, too, has reindeer; and Italian children put out stockings for him to fill. Buon Natale! It sounds as though Christmas in France is a more subdued holiday than in some countries. Nothing wrong with that! Pere Noel comes to the children of France, who put out wooden shoes for him to fill. Joyeux Noel! I hope we\’ve broadened our horizons a bit now. Merry Christmas!

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