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Author name: CAL

Small Beer

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It\’s small beer at present — there\’s nothing important to report; and in fact I don\’t drink beer. The same old litany keeps reeling itself out: I\’m tired of the cold; and I\’m so tired of headwinds! Can\’t I come up with something new? I can\’t even think up a new Hoppin\’ John variation! The one I\’m preparing this weekend uses canned kidney beans; and there\’s nothing special about it. As often happens, I did the work in stages: I cooked the rice yesterday; and did the rest of the work today. Today\’s ride turned out to be very small beer, indeed. I wanted to shoot for 42 miles; and I rode only 16.3 miles! The wind was so bad that I decided it was better to cut the ride short. Most of the time it was either a headwind or sidewind; and this wind was aggravatingly gusty. It was blowing from the NNW, too; and that means headwind trouble both going out and coming back. In spite of thermal socks my feet were getting too cold; and that was another reason I turned back early. For today\’s on-bike menu, I started with a Deour bar; and took along a new bar to try as the \”second course\”. Thanks to the abbreviated mileage, I didn\’t quite finish the Detour bar; and I ate part of the Think! bar after I got home. I had to do a taste test!😉 Think! White Chocolate is pretty good, but I still prefer \”chocolate-chocolate\”. Actually, getting home earlier than usual gave me some extra time: to wash cycling clothes; and to cook; and of course I have to work on those pesky tax forms!

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Box Breathing

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I read this article a day or two ago; and it mentions box breathing. Huh? It sounds like packing up a pair of lungs for shipping! But of course it means something else. Box breathing can help ease tension and anxiety; you don\’t need any special equipment to do it — not even a box! — and you can do it anytime, anywhere. Come to think of it, I\’ve used box breathing without knowing it! Many years ago, I discovered that breathing in this manner is helpful in getting rid of the hiccups; and for some reason I\’m quite prone to the hiccups. Try box breathing for pre-race jitters; or before going to sleep; or any time you feel on edge. Maybe it would help me to brace myself before a ride on a cold, windy day! I\’m not into racing but for many years I played a musical instrument. It took a long time for me to realize that getting nervous before a performance is natural; and that it\’s nothing to be ashamed of. I\’m sure that pre-race nervousness is no different. Have a race (recital, etc.) approaching? It\’s important to acknowledge far in advance that, when the time comes, you\’ll be nervous. Accept the nervousness as normal; natural; and part of the game. In fact, don\’t \”try not to get nervous\”, because that only makes you more tense. When that shivery sensation creeps in, tell yourself: OK; so I\’m nervous. It\’s nothing to be ashamed about; and it doesn\’t mean that I\’m not any good. Remember, too, that you aren\’t alone; and that everybody gets nervous. So take a deep breath; forget the nerves; and focus on the task at hand. In fact, box breathing!

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Buffalo Soldiers

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I had heard of the Buffalo Soldiers; but I didn\’t really know who they were, or what they were all about. This article is very interesting; and it shows that RAAM wasn\’t exactly a novel idea. Those fellows were made of some tough stuff. Can you imagine riding a 59-pound bicycle all those distances? And on top of that, they didn\’t have the luxury of paved roads. Incidentally, how much does a loaded touring bicycle weigh? For touring you\’ll need a rack and panniers to carry food and clothing; and you\’ll be packing along camping equipment as well. That\’s quite a load! But I digress. Interestingly, the first Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Missoula, Montana, where Adventure Cycling Association now has its headquarters. They rode from Missoula to St. Louis, to show that bicycles could be used in military operations; and I guess this was remembered later. Maybe you can say that the Buffalo Soldiers were the ancestors of today\’s off-road biking enthusiasts. There were few roads for them to use; and those roads were often in poor shape. Sometimes they had to resort to traveling along railroad tracks; and dual suspension MTBs didn\’t exist back then. It must have been a very bumpy ride! Lycra wasn\’t anywhere near the radar, either; and what I see them wearing in that picture looks very uncomfortable. I\’m glad I don\’t have to dress like that to ride! It\’s a shame Buffalo Soldiers\’ efforts came to naught. I\’ve read of other countries using bicycles in war; but not the USA. Maybe we should reconsider that?

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Winter Zest

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Winter Zest We can all use some Winter zest to perk up cold, gray days. Even if you live where it snows a lot, riding in Winter is still possible; and after braving the cold and wind for a ride, I’m glad I did the ride. This backyard berm looks like quite a project; and I suppose that not everybody can manage it. I’m sure couldn’t, even if we had the necessary snow. If you have the snow and the engineering skills, go for it! Or check out this site for tips on riding in cold weather. My usual riding route is totally exposed to the wind; and on a cold, windy morning I need something to provide some Winter zest. Riding fast and hard seems like an obvious solution, but lately I’ve felt too sluggish to do much fast pedaling; and many mornings I’m too sleepy to get going on time. Maybe for my zest I can prepare hot chocolate with some cinnamon in it! What can I do to add some Winter zest to a long ride; and especially when I’ll have a headwind on the way home? I don’t think hot chocolate is the answer while I’m on the bicycle (scalding hazard); and I won’t want to stop for a picnic! It will be too cold for that. Maybe a new and different ride food will add some zest, no matter what the season; and now and then I appreciate a break from the same old thing. They do say, though, not to try new foods during a ride; especially not an important event, such as a century. Incidentally, the notion of doing a century ride is still floating around my head; but I’m not making much progress towards it!  

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Throwing in the Towel

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Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel. We all have those spells now and then: we\’re tired and don\’t feel like riding; and in cold weather, all I want to do is hibernate. This morning, for a change, there was almost no wind; but again, I was tired and sleepy; and got started late. Thanks to my sluggishness, I had to cut my ride short. I put in some hard efforts, but I\’m not sure they were hard enough; and I touched a max speed of only 17.8 mph. There have been times when I reached 20 mph or more! I guess I slacked off too much for too long; and now I have to build back up again. I feel like throwing in the towel when it comes to my diet, too. Maybe I\’m trying to be too stringent; and that\’s why I keep feeling tired and hungry — and why my sweet tooth is acting up big time! I actually got ice cream yesterday; and not this low-carb kind. But sometimes going off the rails big time is what I need to get myself back on track. I think it would help if it were easier for me to get groceries several times during the week. It was also much easier when I was still on work-from-home. I could go to the fridge and grab an apple; but when I\’m away from home, I don\’t have that option. I\’m trying to decide whether to make a pre-work ride to the supermarket tomorrow morning. It might help curb my appetite for candy and ice cream if I had scallions to perk up my lunches; and hummus and grapes to eat before a morning ride.

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Putting Down the Hammer

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Okay, carpenters, how about putting down the hammer for a while? Your arms need a break from all that jarring; and my ears need a break from all that pounding! I’m afraid I’m none too good at putting down the hammer when I’m on the bike. This morning I tried to push the pace; and I didn’t do well at all. I averaged under 12 mph; and 13.1 miles isn’t even that long a ride. I wasn’t working on force development; and there wasn’t much wind. So what’s going on? Am I overtrained? It seems unlikely. I’m not out there trying to force myself to cruise at 18-20 mph for hours every day; but even so, am I letting myself get too tired? Do I need to take a few days off? My weight is now hovering between 101 and 105 pounds; and my road bike, with pedals and under-saddle pack, weighs nearly 22 pounds. According to Lon Haldeman in Long Distance Cycling, page 61, a bicycle should weigh 12% of the rider’s weight; and for me, 22 pounds is a lot heavier than that! But I can’t afford a new bicycle right now; so I’ll keep using what I have. Do I need to eat a little more? Are more protein drinks the answer; and would refried beans and rice make better pre-ride fuel than fruit and peanut butter? I certainly need more sleep. Many an evening I get too absorbed in blogging, social media, and so on; and before I know it, it\’s already 9:00 pm! Maybe tomorrow I\’ll make some short efforts at putting down the hammer; and I hope I won\’t be too cold to do it!

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Monday Already

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“Monday already?” is the groan on many a person’s lips today; and that includes me. As many say, you need a weekend to recover from the weekend! Saturday morning I went to the salvage store. Riding home against a headwind felt hard; and I didn’t even have the trailer! It stayed cold all day; and I spent hours trying to stay in front of heater to stay warm.  I couldn’t get myself away from that heater to do the washing until about 5 pm! Yesterday morning, I did a long ride. I put some rice mix to cook after I got home; and from about 4 pm onwards was very busy cooking. I invented Northern Wilds; and concocted another garbage soup. Last night I seemed to be half-awake much of the time. Maybe I guzzled too much green tea yesterday. For several months I’ve been trying to use that tea to nudge out the sodas; but I’m not doing very well at it. Of course I’m tired and sleepy today; and no wonder I’m griping about “Monday already”! In fact, at lunchtime I caved in and bought a Diet Coke to perk me up. It’ll be another frigid ride tomorrow morning; but not as cold as yesterday was. Even so, 41 degrees is cold enough for double layers on my legs, and triple on my chest; and of course my nose will be up to its usual tricks. That drives me crazy; but if I\’m bound and determined to ride, I have to put up with it. Now Monday is out of the way; and it will be a week it\’s \”Monday already\” again. Unfortunately it will come only too quickly!

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You Call This Training?

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Gosh, do you call this training? If I\’ve got any idea of riding a century in April, I\’m already far behind! On the one hand, my Sunday long ride is primarily about maintaining a steady, moderate pace. On the other hand, I probably should spend part of those miles working to push my pace; otherwise, how will I ever improve my speed? Today I finally got my mileage back up to 40. Well, OK, 40.40 to be exact; but I averaged a plodding 11.84 mph. The wind was 6-7 mph; and that\’s not nearly as strong as it was yesterday. How can I get more energy, so that I can ride a little faster? Is a banana and peanut butter too little to eat before I begin a long ride? During the weekly long ride, I begin to eat on the bike after 15 minutes; and I keep an eye on my bicycle computer, so that I remember to take another bite every 15 minutes. But do I need bigger bites? Today my ride data showed that I burned 1000 calories; and the food that I ate added up to 900 calories. That slight deficit looks about right, especially as I\’m not trying to lose weight; so maybe I\’m doing OK as far as food goes. Maybe the problem lies elsewhere. I\’m too slack about my off-bike exercises; and can you call that training? Leg-development exercises such as lunges are a problem because of arthritis in the base joint of my left big toe. Flexing that joint while putting weight on it is painful. Too Much? Today I was loaded up with layers; and that probably didn\’t help my pace. Slacks over leg warmers and cycling shorts somewhat impede leg movement; and a vest plus two jackets just might have been too much. I was afraid I\’d be too cold if I wore less; but do you call that training? We read all over the place that it\’s better to be slightly underdressed, than to wear too many layers. That\’s well and good as long as you can keep moving; but suppose you have a flat tire? That\’s where having a Camel-Bak with large pockets is useful: you can stash a spare jacket in there. Anyway, I got home from my ride today; and after my recovery drink I put some wild rice blend to cook for another Hoppin\’ John variation. The kitchen work, like efforts to improve on the bike, never ends!

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Bicycle Print Scarf

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This Bicycle Print Scarf lets you show your love of cycling. Now you can wear your cycling heart on your sleeve — or rather, around your neck. This scarf is good for many uses and many occasions; even for the beach! Dimensions: 35.4″ x 70.9″ (90 cm x 180 cm). Made of voile. Hand wash.

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Blustery

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I wish this blustery wind would stop. When I’m riding a bicycle, wind is enough of a nuisance; but when it’s cold, too, riding is quite a chore. Today I made my usual Saturday trip to the salvage store; but was it a cold ride! The air temperature was about 33 degrees when I left home; and the chill factor was well below freezing! During the ride back home, I had the usual headwind; and I was very glad that I hadn\’t taken the trailer this time! As it was, I spent a lot of time on my granny gear. It\’s a relief to have a few days without rain, even if it is blustery. Yesterday it began to sprinkle while I was riding home from work; and I was lucky that it didn\’t turn into outright rain. I had decided not to use the poncho; and I didn\’t feel like stopping to put it on. Looking Ahead Of course I\’m looking ahead to the Sunday long ride now; and thinking of ride food. Maybe I\’ll go to the drug store later, and look for Met-Rx bars. It won\’t be fun going there, because of the construction mess around here. I\’m so tired of riding/wading through mud! If I can\’t get to the drug store, I still have a couple of RXBars on hand. The wind is supposed to become far less blustery overnight; down to 5 mph; but it will still be cold. Thank heaven for warming packs! Otherwise my hands would turn to ice; and I don\’t need that. I hope my legs do better tomorrow. Lately they often feel tired and sluggish; and I\’m not sure whether it\’s because of the cold weather, or something else. I really felt like a weakling today, when I had that headwind!

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