SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

Irish Washerwoman?

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Sometimes I feel like the Irish Washerwoman, even though I\’m not Irish; and I certainly don\’t dance while I\’m doing the laundry! My coordination isn\’t up to that task. I wash my cycling shorts by hand; sometimes jerseys, too. I don\’t have enough pairs of shorts to not wash them every day; and when I have only one pair to wash, why waste gallons of water? If I did have that many pairs of shorts; and washed them in an automatic washing machine; I\’d put them in a mesh bag for protection; especially if I washed them with other things. \”Fragrances\” bother me big-time, so I use fragrance-free detergent. My shorts always have some Chamois Butt\’r on them; and, after the long Sunday ride, sunblock. I\’ve got to rub the excess sunblock off of my hands after applying it; and shorts and jersey are the only place to do it! Anyway, I\’ve noticed that Chamois Butt\’r and sunblock break down the suds quickly. This is annoying; but giving those cycling clothes a good rinsing in plain water before using the detergent seems to help. Or maybe I need to use more detergent! I don\’t have an outdoor clothesline, and have only two places where I can hang my shorts to dry: on the handle of the over-the-sink cabinet; or on the cross-braces of my stepladder. I often have to use the ladder. If I need to wash dishes, or prepare food, I don\’t want a wet chamois in my face. I also don\’t want to splash water on something that I want to get dry. But it\’s also a bit tiring to always have that stepladder set up. Sometimes I get tired of playing Irish Washerwoman; but I\’ve got to have clean shorts!

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Grind or Spin?

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Grind or Spin? I do know that mashing a very hard gear is not a good idea before you’ve developed adequate strength; you might blow out your knees. Such grinding also engages your fast-twitch muscle fibers, which in turn burns glycogen in a hurry; and that’s not such a great idea. On the other hand, spinning like mad in a very easy gear is hard work on the cardiovascular system; and I, for one, start to feel out of breath quite quickly. All that furious pedaling also wears out my legs, merely because they’re pumping so fast. There’s got to be a happy medium out there. How about me? Do I grind or spin? Many a day I average 70-something rpm during the morning ride. That seems to lean towards grinding; but much of the time I’m not forcing a very hard gear. Day before yesterday, my average cadence over 55.7 miles was 80; and I spent a considerable amount of time riding the small ring. I don’t call that grinding; but it wasn’t exactly spinning, either, was it? Personal preference plays a rôle in cadence, too. Some riders prefer the feel of pushing a hard gear while pedaling more slowly; and others like the “lighter” feel of pedaling rapidly in an easier gear. I don’t think about it much. I ride, and do what seems natural at the moment.

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Don\’t Worry I Won\’t

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Don\’t worry I won\’t try any of these things. They don\’t have to tell me not to try them, whether at home or elsewhere! The first on the list I can manage as long as I ride my accustomed Sunday route. There\’s a place about 14.5 miles out where I can halt for a pit stop; and it\’s right off the bike path. The helping hand would be useful when I\’m bucking a headwind. It\’s quite tiring to battle the breeze for mile after mile; and it would feel good to get that extra push. My bike-handling skills certainly aren\’t equal to dressing/undressing while rolling. Heck, I can\’t even ride no-hands. Of course I can manage unzipping a jacket; or pulling down arm warmers. But I\’d better not unzip that jacket all the way, in case I need to zip it up again. I don\’t dare try to adjust anything on my bicycle while moving, except the angle of my Garmin; or of a handlebar-mounted bottle cage. I\’m amazed at riders who can play mechanic while pedaling at racing speed. Taking off leg warmers while riding is definitely beyond me. I still have days when I swerve all over the place; and how can I pull off said leg warmers while moving if I can\’t even hold a straight line? Besides that, I can just see myself getting the leg warmers tangled up in my pedals. CRASH!! Don\’t worry I won\’t try it. Grabbing that musette must take both careful timing and delicate maneuvering. The person handing out those feed bags has to take care not to step too close; and of course the rider has to avoid hitting the \”bag person\”. Those on-bike stretches are also beyond my skills. I think I\’ll try them at home — OFF the bike!

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Don\’t Worry I Won\’t

BACK ISSUES /

Don\’t worry I won\’t try any of these things. They don\’t have to tell me not to try them, whether at home or elsewhere! The first on the list I can manage as long as I ride my accustomed Sunday route. There\’s a place about 14.5 miles out where I can halt for a pit stop; and it\’s right off the bike path. The helping hand would be useful when I\’m bucking a headwind. It\’s quite tiring to battle the breeze for mile after mile; and it would feel good to get that extra push. My bike-handling skills certainly aren\’t equal to dressing/undressing while rolling. Heck, I can\’t even ride no-hands. Of course I can manage unzipping a jacket; or pulling down arm warmers. But I\’d better not unzip that jacket all the way, in case I need to zip it up again. I don\’t dare try to adjust anything on my bicycle while moving, except the angle of my Garmin; or of a handlebar-mounted bottle cage. I\’m amazed at riders who can play mechanic while pedaling at racing speed. Taking off leg warmers while riding is definitely beyond me. I still have days when I swerve all over the place; and how can I pull off said leg warmers while moving if I can\’t even hold a straight line? Besides that, I can just see myself getting the leg warmers tangled up in my pedals. CRASH!! Don\’t worry I won\’t try it. Grabbing that musette must take both careful timing and delicate maneuvering. The person handing out those feed bags has to take care not to step too close; and of course the rider has to avoid hitting the \”bag person\”. Those on-bike stretches are also beyond my skills. I think I\’ll try them at home — OFF the bike!

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Missed Me!

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The rain missed me! As usual, the forecast included showers and scattered T-storms. I always have to hope that \”scattered\” T-storms are far enough apart for me to ride between them. The highest chances for stormy weather were after 1:00 pm; and between that prediction and the hot weather, I started my ride at about 6:40 am. The clouds were already starting to build up; and eventually I could see rain ahead. By that time I was some 20 miles from home; and could only hope that the rain stopped before I got to it. Happily, it did; but this was strange: the bike path was mostly dry; but the road running alongside the levee was wet! I must have been right on the edge. It\’s a rare treat to have almost no wind for any ride; but on long-ride day it\’s extra special. Today I averaged a hair over 13 mph; and I rode 55.70 miles. For me, that\’s progress. Towards the end the breeze seemed to pick up; and I\’m glad it waited until then. Goin\’ Home Again on the way home, I could see rain ahead; and again, it missed me. I got home about 11:45 am; and 15-20 minutes later, I noticed that it was getting darker. Within half an hour, it began to rain; and there was some close lightning, too. Thank goodness that missed me! It makes me very uneasy to get caught on the levee when the lightning moves in. Today I tried a Detour bar as part of my on-bike food. Detour bars taste good; but they seem to make me thirstier than other bars. I don\’t know why; but maybe I should avoid them, at least as long as the weather is hot. I probably needed to take along more electrolyte drink than I did; and during the final 15 miles of todays ride, I longed for some COLD water! Cold water to drink, that is. Cold water falling down from the sky is another matter. During this season, there are tall grasses growing alongside the bike path; and now they\’re spewing seeds everywhere. My legs get covered with those seeds, because they stick in my sunblock. It\’s quite a mess; and my road bike is a mess, too. Thanks to all the rain we\’ve had, there are plenty of places where I have to ride through wet or muddy spots; and now the bike has dirt splattered all over it. Yes, the rain missed me — but I almost hoped I would get some to wash my bicycle for me.

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Monkey Wrench

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That\’s a funny-looking monkey wrench. But yesterday morning, a monkey wrench is exactly what a freight train was. When I set out to ride, I couldn’t access the bike path because a train was sitting there. The nearest other street that leads to the bike path is in a major mess, thanks to road work. On top of that, it had rained the night before; and I knew it would be very muddy. I detoured to the park instead, and rode laps. When I ride in the park, I don’t quite dare push the pace the way I would when on the levee. There are more people in the park than on the levee; and technically, the speed limit for cyclists in the park is 10 mph. That threw a monkey wrench into my ride plans for the morning. My plan was to work at pushing the pace for six minutes at a time. That can have me hitting well over 10 mph; but at least I went for a ride. Yesterday I didn’t bother with the heart rate strap. I don’t know what’s wrong with the thing; but so far I can’t get it to work. I tried shifting its position, without results. Wetting both strap and my skin didn’t help. I changed the battery; and even tried attaching the sensor to the strap upside-down! Maybe somebody threw a monkey wrench into it; or else it’s defective. Another Monkey Wrench I hoped that the weather today wouldn\’t be a monkey wrench. I wanted to ride to the salvage store; and I hoped that the T-storms in the forecast would hold off until afternoon. This morning I used the trailer, and the cover leaks in a heavy rain. Besides that, I don\’t like to get caught out when there\’s lightning! The trip to and from the salvage store went OK; and after I got my stuff home, I headed for the bike shop. I couldn\’t leave the chest strap and monitor there, because I\’ll want that Garmin on the long ride tomorrow; but I decided to buy a new pair of cycling shorts. On the way home, I stopped at the drug store to get some sodas; and that was how the weather threw a monkey wrench into things. I just might have gotten home dry otherwise! When I came out of the drug store, it was drizzling; and the rain seemed to be getting heavier very quickly. I pulled on my poncho, and started home. It\’s good thing I had that poncho. I think I rode home through the heaviest part of the shower; and my socks and shoes got soaked. Just after I got indoors, I heard the first thunder. I\’m glad I beat it home; and maybe there\’s more heavy rain to come. At 12:15 pm I learned that we\’re under a flood advisory. The main rain chances tomorrow are between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm; so maybe I\’ll be OK for the long ride. I hope that the weather doesn\’t toss a monkey wrench into my plans!

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Alter Eco Chocolate

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Alter Eco Chocolate bars are great for the environmentally-minded chocoholic. This variety pack contains 10 bars of dark chocolate flavors, such as Quinoa Crunch and Burnt Caramel. They all sound scrumptious to me; and I\’d be more eager to try them if I didn\’t have to watch the carbs! Chocolate and caramel is an old favorite of mine; and I like sea salt, too. If only the weather weren\’t so hot, I might try some as ride food; but chocolate would turn to liquid in no time. USDA-certified; free of gluten and soy.

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A Salt and Battery?

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I\’ll run afoul of the law for a salt and battery if I\’m not careful! I love salt; and at least one doctor told me to be sure to eat enough of it. My blood pressure has run low for years; and as a result I was prone to orthostatic hypotension. It hasn\’t entirely gone away, even with medication; and it\’s why I don\’t put my alarm clock on the opposite side of the room from my bed. If I jump up too fast, I go reeling; and that\’s not a good way for me to start my morning. Incidentally, I loathe electric alarm clocks. They sound like fire alarms! Many of the on-bike foods that I use lean towards the sweet end of the flavor scale. I don\’t object to that; but even my sweet tooth experiences sugar fatigue from time to time. Now that the weather is hot, I\’m experimenting with olives as part of my rolling collation. Salt is helpful when you\’re sweating a lot; and olives sure are salty! As to battery, I go through quite a lot of those things. My blinkie lights and my alarm clock need them; and many other everyday items use batteries. What bothers me about that is proper disposal of the dead ones. The few toxic-waste drop-offs that I know of aren\’t so easy to reach; and as far as I know, my neighborhood doesn\’t have a toxic waste pick-up service; so what am I to do? I don\’t have time to take dead batteries anywhere, anyhow, if I\’m to get my cooking done; and I mustn\’t forget the salt! So there you have it — a salt and battery!

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Unlucky 13?

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Was day before yesterday unlucky 13, even though it wasn\’t Friday? I set out to do six-minute intervals of working for 15 mph or faster; and it was hard to stay at the desired speed. I did two such intervals; and then I did a shorter one of 2-3 minutes, trying to push it to 17 mph. At the end of that effort, it was time to stop and turn for home. My legs felt rubbery when I got off the bike to turn it. My right leg had trouble clearing the saddle, and I nearly got tangled up in it. Was that unlucky 13? Riding home felt harder than going out did. There was little breeze; so I guess my legs were just tired. Maybe I\’m not ready for six-minute intervals yet? On the other hand, a certain amount of pushing past one\’s comfort level is part of training. The trick is not to do too much, too soon; but how do I know when it\’s too soon; and when it\’s already too late? As for \”that number\”, many cultures do consider it unlucky; but in Italy it\’s the opposite. Last weekend I saw something in a video about unlucky 13 in bicycle racing. A racing cyclist, at least in Le Tour, wears two number patches on the back of his jersey; one on each side. What of the rider who ends up as #13? One number patch — I believe it was the one on the left — is attached upside down; and the one on the right is right-side up. But does rider #13 also carry a four-leaf clover? It couldn\’t hurt?. Day before yesterday, for a change, it didn\’t rain; so in that respect, 13 was lucky. I hope I get lucky with the weather on Sunday, too.

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Not Me I Hope!

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This is not me, I hope: thinking of riding a century without training up for it. I remember a web site that said, some people have ridden 100 miles in a day with no training; but that they probably wanted to get rid of the bicycle afterwards! I can\’t imagine going out to ride a century with little or no training. The mere thought makes my legs ache; and even if it\’s possible, it doesn\’t seem like a good idea to me. A gradual build-up is a wiser approach. I\’ve done centuries before, so I believe I know a little about it. The Internet is full of so many century training plans that it\’s rather bewildering. Sometimes I wish I were able to ride a century each month for a while; and try a different training plan for each one. Then I\’d have a better idea of what works best for me; but I suppose that even seasoned pro riders are still tweaking their training plans! How can I have it all figured out in less than 12 years? Century training includes improving your strength on the bike. I don\’t live in hill country; but there are always headwinds! I need strength and stamina for that fight! Go on a long ride without food? Not me, I hope! When my rides reach 20 miles, I need to take along a GU-Gel or two; and for rides beyond that, I need food. That video has me puzzled about one thing: HOW do they manage those long rides without a Camel-Bak? I don\’t dare go for a long ride without mine!

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