SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

Balmy?

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I hoped for balmy conditions today. It isn\’t cold; but I sure wanted a break from the wind. But did I get it? No; I did not. The wind was up to 15 mph before I got back home; and as usual, it was against me. Speaking of balmy, there\’s an aspect of sun protection that I find only too easy to forget: lip balm. I found mine in Whole Foods, next to the toothpaste; and I keep it in my top-tube pouch. That lip balm tube is so small that I could easily lose it; and I don\’t want to do that. Before I begin a long ride, I apply lip balm; but at my stops I often forget to use it, even as I\’m slathering on the sunblock. I\’m now pushing for 45 miles or so for my Sunday long rides. Getting in 50 miles means either doing some doubling back; or riding past an odiferous petroleum refinery. Today I rode to the outskirts of the refinery; and I saw even from a long way off that they have a large flare going. One Sunday in 2013, I think it was, there was such a huge flare going that there was a big plume of smoke from it! Back to the ride. Twenty-plus miles is a long way to work against a headwind; yet it puts me to shame when silver-haired riders go breezing (no pun intended) past me. Am I still too afraid of going so hard that I burn out miles from home? As long as I have a fuel supply, I should be OK; even if I have to go at a lame snail\’s pace to complete my ride.

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Always Carbs!

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Always carbs! I work to track my day-to-day carb intake; but what about my weekly long ride? Perhaps I can let myself relax a bit about carb count then.  Somewhere I read, \”Taking on 60g of carbohydrate an hour is a good rule of thumb, so check the back of packets to make sure you have enough.\” So, do I get enough? Last Sunday\’s ride \”menu\” consisted of a FitCrunch bar (27 grams of carbs); a Bear Naked® bar (26 grams); one Special K Protein bar (22 grams); 32 ounces of Nuun (4 grams); and one GU (23 grams). That amounts to 102 grams of carbs in all; and it sounds like a whopping amount. My ride, 45.6 miles, took 4:07:14, so I got far less than 60 grams of carbs per hour; but do I really need that much? I wasn\’t racing, after all; and I\’ll always be working now to keep prediabetes at arm\’s length. Ergo it\’s always carbs on my mind! On the other hand, is it possible that I need to eat more during those long rides? Is one-sixth of a FitCrunch every 15 minutes sufficient; or do I need one-quarter of a bar every quarter hour? When I get home after such a ride, I typically don\’t feel very hungry, no matter what I ate during the ride; but about mid-afternoon, my appetite suddenly wakes up. Then I eat rather too much! It might be better to eat more on the bike, if it keeps me from over-eating later in the day. Maybe I need to find some gels that are high in protein; that might help. I checked the nutrition info for several flavors of GU-Gel; and none contain protein. I also look for ride-food bars that have at least 12 grams of protein. Fat vs Carb Another thing I don\’t know is my fat vs carb burn. I do know that, the more intense the effort level, the more the body turns to its glycogen stores. There I go again: always carbs. But do I have to go full tilt all the time to burn off the carbs that I eat during a long ride? I hope not! My body isn\’t sufficiently conditioned to ride at such a high effort level for hours; and, if you\’re concerned about weight control, the big thing is to use up calories. Bicycling sure helps with that! Figuring out on-bike nutrition is an ongoing process. I\’m still experimenting with it; and I wouldn\’t be surprised if veteran pro cyclists are still tweaking the ride-food menus. We need to get enough protein; hydrate properly; and always carbs!

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Lord of the Rings?

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Which is the Lord of the Rings: standard round, or oval? With all due apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien, this product is one to consider for improving your pedal stroke. An oval ring looks weird to me, but it helps you to attain smoother pedaling. It may also help with rear-wheel traction. Look here for some MTB opinions. I also like this tour; and think it\’s especially interesting the way they minimize waste. Available in sizes from 32-36 teeth.

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Can I?

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Can I clear out some of the stash of canned goods that I\’ve amassed? Sure I can; but it might take a while! After work yesterday, I got busy. My stash includes quite a stock of chicken, and I decided to use up some of it. Naturally, I thought of chicken tikka masala. I used two cans of the chicken: a 5-oz one, and a 10-oz one; and I used a can of condensed tomato soup. That got rid of another \”tin\”. I put cauliflower, red onion, and red bell pepper in this dish; and of course that meant that I had to do a lot of time-consuming chopping. It took a good 45 minutes to get the concoction ready for the stove. Now I\’m down three tins, but that hardly makes a — well — dent in my supply. What can I do to use up some more? Of course I don\’t want to use up everything! Hurricane season is upon us, and it\’s important to have at least a few days\’ supply of non-perishable foods on hand. I probably don\’t need to be too worried any more about a COVID-19 shut-down; but you never know. Even leaving hurricanes and the pandemic out of the picture, emergencies happen. The cooking done, I began to think: Can I get out for a ride tomorrow morning? At 6 pm yesterday, the wind was 18 mph; and gusts up to 30 mph. There was still a 70% chance of T-storms, too; and I decided not to try going for an evening ride. The forecast predicted some pretty stiff wind for today as well. Can I ride against that? None too fast, for sure. Wet Ride This morning I rode the hybrid. It was raining; and the hybrid has fenders. I wanted a few things from Whole Foods, too; and using the hybrid meant I could have the trunk. Bringing only the trunk meant, How much can I fit in there? Fortunately I bought only five items. I thought of riding over to the drug store during my lunch break, but about 10 am I heard the wind pick up; and by noon it was up to 25 mph. The wind advisory is still in effect; and now that I\’m off work, I don\’t feel like going anywhere, anyhow. The weekend weather is looking pretty good; and in fact, all of next week looks pretty good. So it\’s salvage store tomorrow; and a long ride Sunday. But can I resist bringing home another big haul of, er, cans?

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The Other Shoe

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I\’m tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. When the pandemic began we started work-from-home; and I had the feeling that more than remote work might be in store. Layoffs? Might it come to offers of a buyout? It felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop; and I still feel like something is going to happen. Many of us are stuck in this limbo, I think. The weather forecasts this week also make me feel like I\’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Most evenings, the forecast for the next day looked dire: T-storms, strong winds, heavy rain. Such predictions made me anxious about whether I\’d get to ride at all; or whether I might get caught in nasty conditions miles from home if I did ride. In fact, I had to forgo the ride day before yesterday. Heavy rain in addition to darkness is a bit much, even if there\’s no lightning. I felt \”off\” all day from the lack of exercise; and maybe that\’s why I couldn\’t seem to control my appetite! Yesterday morning the weather permitted an outing on the road bike but my legs didn\’t have much \”snap\”; so I took it easy, and made the ride shorter than usual. Then I rode the hybrid to work. Again, I was on edge about the weather because I knew there was a wind advisory. I got lucky with the wind on the way home; and thank goodness it wasn\’t raining. Then I could start fretting over today\’s weather: will I get to ride, or will it be pouring? Again, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It Dropped And this morning, it did. Long story short, I was very tired and sleepy; and could hardly get myself going. I wanted some things from the supermarket, and decided to go straight there; no laps around the park first. While I was on the way to the store, the wind strengthened; and the sky looked gloomier and gloomier. On the way home, I had to stop and pull on the poncho. The wind, fortunately, was behind me most of the time; but it made the rain seem worse than it was. Raindrops on eyeglasses made it harder to see. Maybe anti-fog spray would help? The poncho kept flaring out to the side, and obscuring my rearview mirror. It was a relief to get back home. Now that the other shoe has dropped, I hope I can get a break from constant worry over the weather.

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Calling Names

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If calling names is a disreputable thing to do, I must be quite disreputable. My antics in the kitchen have me calling names, because I want the recipes I invent to have \”handles\”. Monday night I was fixing the next day\’s lunch. I had a serving\’s worth of salmon in the fridge; and that was the starting point. But what to do with it? I had never combined salmon and tofu before; but why not try it? Sometimes what seems outlandish turns out to be a hit! So I mashed 6 oz of the tofu; mixed in the salmon; and then added a tablespoon of Green Goddess dressing. After that came some freshly ground black pepper. Now I get to calling names. What handle does a body give to a mixture like that? Tosam? Samfu? Tofumon? It\’s sort of like my Hoppin\’ John variations. The original recipe uses black-eye peas. l like to substitute other legumes for the black-eyes, and invent names according to the particular legume used. The one with lentils is Leapin\’ Leo; the garbanzo bean one is Gallopin\’ Garbanzos, and so on. More Names Then there\’s calling names with our bicycles. Mine both have names; and so did the tricycle. The trike\’s name was Valkyrie. That came about one morning about ten days after I got it. I was making a circuit of the local park before going to work, pedaling as fast as I could; and Ride of the Valkyries popped into my head, out of nowhere. Instantly I had the tricycle\’s name. The hybrid\’s name is Katy; named for the Katy Trail. A co-worker of mine is originally from Missouri, and he rode the Katy Trail a time or two. He told me about it; and it sounded great. At the time I had just gotten the hybrid, and my interest in long-distance riding was growing. I thought it would be fun to ride the \”Katy\”, and named my bicycle after the trail. The more I though about it, however, the more I saw how much money such a trip would cost; and I decided I\’d rather put that money on a road bike. I\’ve never regretted the decision. And the road bike\’s name is Scottie! I wanted the bicycle to have a name, and it\’s a brand called Scott; hence Scottie. I guess I\’ll be calling names all my life, won\’t I? By the way, that salmon-tofu mix: it came out very bland. Next time I\’ll do more to spice it up.

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At Odds

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Sometimes everything is at odds. My blog ideas, for one. At present I\’m suffering a \”dry\” spell, which is much at odds with the weather forecast! Yesterday evening we went under flash flood watch. We\’ve hardly dried out from the last rainy spell; and here comes another one already. When I left work yesterday, for a minute the sun would try to come out; and the next minute the clouds looked like it was about to rain. I was eager to get home, and had a nice tailwind. But a freight train was sitting on the tracks, immobile. It wasn\’t \”split\” at my usual crossing; and I had to backtrack against a headwind. That sure gets my goat! This morning the weather was definitely at odds with any idea of riding. At the time I\’m usually setting out on the road bike, it was pouring. On top of that, the lightning and thunder were moving in; and the National Weather Service had issued a special statement about strong T-storms. I decided not to ride, but knew that there wasn\’t much point in going back to bed. I ate my \”pre-ride\” snack of grapes and peanut butter; cleaned two pounds of carrots; and had breakfast. By 6 am the rain had slacked off, at least temporarily; but six o\’clock is late to be starting a ride on a day when I don\’t work from home. Today I left the hybrid at home, and walked to work. I expected stormy weather; but as it turned out, I could have ridden to work! Before I left for work this morning, I put the hybrid in the trainer so I could \”ride\” as soon as I got home. Tedious, but better than no ride at all. Other Odds My eating for the last two days has definitely been at odds with getting my A1c levels down. I don\’t know what\’s the matter with me! My appetite was suddenly voracious, even when I knew I wasn\’t hungry; and what I ate was not good for carb control! Maybe I need to track protein intake along with calories and carbs. I check the nutrition info for the bars that I take on long rides; I want at least 12 grams of protein per bar. But what about \”normal\” food? How much protein is in a serving of brown rice? Or of refried beans? How much protein do I need in a day to begin with? Years ago I read that, for most people, a half-gram of protein per pound of body weight each day is sufficient. The same source stated that, if you\’re getting enough calories, it\’s almost certain that your protein intake is adequate. So maybe I\’m OK; but it won\’t hurt to check. I hope I get to ride tomorrow morning. Half an hour in the trainer is sure at odds with my appetite for miles! Unfortunately heavy rain is expected tonight and tomorrow; and the flash flood watch has been extended to tomorrow evening. This is driving me crazy!

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Measure for Measure

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Measure for measure sounds like Shakespeare. But after many months of working at my diet, I find myself thinking about that play\’s title because I never seem to stop washing measuring cups. I dare go only so far with eyeballing my portions. We\’ve all heard about portion distortion, I think; and if I don\’t want to fall victim to it, I have to put up with constant portioning-out; and the consequent dishwashing. It\’s amazing how small a serving size can seem. Canned salmon, for example. The label gives the serving size as 1/3 cup. Put that amount into a 2-cup bowl, and it looks like nothing! I can see how easy it is to fall victim to portion distortion. Preparing a lunch to carry to work takes more time when I need to be conscious of my portion sizes. That\’s why I usually fix lunch the evening before. Besides that, preparing a lunch and eating breakfast at the same time is too frantic for me. There\’s also the prep for the next day\’s breakfast, if I plan to have something that\’s not super fast and easy to prepare. Again, preparing breakfast means serving-size awareness! I wish that time spent on kitchen work could turn itself into some extra miles on the bike; measure for measure.

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Sneak Attack

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The wind pulled a sneak attack on me again today. While I was outward bound, there seemed to be little wind. Then, shortly before I turned around to ride back home, the wind seemed to strengthen. Perception isn\’t always reality; but in this case, it was. When I left home, the wind was only 6-7 mph. By the time I was on the return leg of my ride, it was up to 10 mph; and before I reached home, it was up to 15-16 mph! That was frustrating enough; but whenever I thought I could shift to the big ring, that wind would pull a sneak attack; and a gust would hit me. Then I had to shift back down again! Perhaps this wind is a harbinger of tomorrow\’s weather. There\’s a chance of showers and T-storms; and in fact, the entire week looks like a stormy one. That does not please me at all, especially as we just had a rainy spell; but I can\’t do anything to change it. All I can do is keep that poncho handy! Speaking of sneak attack, sometimes my appetite strikes unexpectedly. I might not feel hungry; but all of a sudden I\’m very tired, and I remember that I haven\’t eaten in a few hours. Then I have to find something to eat; and I\’m always trying to stay within my carb guidelines. I get tired of hauling so much food to work with me; but I don\’t want to have to buy something from a vending machine. That means deciding whether a candy bar or a bag of chips is the lesser evil; and I can\’t really determine that unless I can compare labels. To sum up: check the forecasts; plan meals; and hope nothing pulls a sneak attack.

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Spoiled

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I\’m spoiled rotten from riding a road bike so much. When I ride the hybrid to the salvage store, and take the trailer, I feel SO slow! I\’m even slower riding back home from the salvage store hauling that loaded trailer; but I do it anyway. Slow or not, I keep going to the salvage store so I can get the miles! I also always wonder what the store might have on its shelves. It\’s a good thing I\’m not a cat, or my curiosity would have long since wiped out all of my nine lives! Salvage store prices have spoiled me, that\’s for sure. This trip, I found Epic Bites at $2.99 for a 2.5 oz pack, which is cheap for Epic Bites. I enjoyed some of them for lunch. Naturally I brought home some more canned goods; and of course I rooted through the grab-bag bins. My Finds Today the bins didn\’t include many items suitable for ride food; I found only one FitCrunch bar. For a few months I found plenty of them! I didn\’t see any salmon today, either. The salvage store is funny that way: for a while they\’ll have an item in ample supply; and then for a long time they won\’t have it at all. That entire store is, in effect, one giant grab bag. I never know what I\’ll find, and that\’s part of the store\’s allure. Even while hunting down bargain prices, I have to try to keep carbs in mind. Hot chocolate mix, for example. I saw some, and checked the nutrition info; and that particular brand of hot chocolate is higher in calories and carbs than the Swiss Miss that I already have. I think I\’ll stick with the Swiss Miss. I took the cooler with me this morning. It wasn\’t quite big enough for all my cold stuff, so it\’s a good thing the weather wasn\’t too warm. I wouldn\’t have wanted my strawberry yogurt to get spoiled!

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