SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

Roughshod?

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If \”roughshod\” means your shoes are badly battered, I went around roughshod for as much as a year! I don\’t mean cycling shoes; I mean my walking shoes. The uppers had holes rubbed in them by the time the footwear was about six months old. The toe clips on the hybrid\’s pedals caused a lot of chafing. A few days ago I finally bought new shoes. The uppers on my old sneakers looked like they were pulling away from the soles; and I decided that new shoes would cost a lot less than the medical bills that might result if those beat-up things caused me to trip and fall. My cycling shoes need attention as well. I think both pairs are due for new cleats. Something isn\’t right when I suddenly come unclipped while pedaling! If I think I have problems with my shoes, I should be glad I\’m not a dancer! I don\’t have to sew ribbons and elastics onto my cycling shoes; and I\’m so lazy that I let the bike shop put the cleats on. The main thing there is being sure the bolts on the cleats are properly tightened, and I\’m not sure I can manage it. I also don\’t need to replace my cycling shoes — or my sneakers — as often as three times in one day. If I did, I would have to give up cycling; or at least, riding clipped in. Otherwise I\’d go bankrupt!

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Chip Away at It

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To chip away at it is often the best way to tackle a big job; whether it\’s working up to a major ride, or re-doing a web site. As so often happens, my vacation is turning into a working vacation. This time, the big thing is adjusting my web site to be more mobile-friendly. I had to chip away at it, too, in order to shed some excess weight. Just not by eating potato chips! And I\’ll have to keep it going if I want to keep that weight off, even though it sounds like quite a drag to have to keep an eye on carb consumption indefinitely. I had no idea how spoiled I was before this began! However, I would rather do all that carb-watching and calorie counting than have to go on medication for diabetes; and I certainly want to avoid having to take insulin! Cycling should be a big help here. It burns calories; and I enjoy it. I\’m amazed at the athletes on Team Novo Nordisk. They must learn how their blood sugar reacts to what level of effort; and what length of effort. This book goes into some detail on the subject. I admit that it\’s rather over my head, so I hope I\’ll never need to worry about it. Yesterday I got my hybrid back from the bike shop; and this morning I was able to take a trip to the supermarket. I looked for tofu in several sections of the store, but couldn\’t find it. I got everything else; and later, when it\’s a bit warmer, I want to go out on the road bike. I only hope the wind won\’t be as pesky as it was yesterday!

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Watch It!

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I\’d better watch it! Yesterday my weight was back to almost 108 pounds. I know — some day-to-day fluctuation in weight is normal. The problem is, I was born with a mega-sweet tooth, and I always have had trouble curbing my appetite for candy. Controlling that sweet tooth is especially hard in the evenings. I often feel hungry when I\’m probably actually tired, or thirsty, or both. Sometimes I nibble on sweets when I\’m bored. Other times there\’s something that needs doing, and I don\’t feel like doing it; and I\’ll snack instead. How can I watch it? I can heed the usual advice. I can try taking a drink of water. Maybe I\’m really thirsty; not hungry. Or I can do something that will keep my hands busy, like washing the dishes. That reminds me of something that was in the humor section of a magazine eons ago. The writer told that her husband wanted to quit smoking, and decided to take up knitting, so he\’d have something to do with his hands. Of course the wife was worried about \”what will the neighbors think.\” The man replied that he didn\’t care what they thought, as long as they didn\’t think he was knitting!? I had an appointment this morning, and didn\’t get to ride until about 11:00. On the way out, I picked up a terrific tailwind; and set a new speed record: 24.55 mph! Naturally I paid for it on the way back home. The gusts were as high as 20 mph, and bike control was difficult. Often I had to stop when I wanted to pull out the water bottle. I hope we don\’t have wind like this come Saturday!

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Which Day Is It?

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So, which day is it? Being on vacation throws off my sense of time. Day before yesterday it felt like Sunday, because I had done my long ride. It also didn\’t feel quite like Saturday, because I didn\’t do laundry. Yesterday didn\’t really feel like Sunday. I did laundry; and as a rule, I don\’t wash my clothes on Sundays. I wasn\’t riding, either. I thought of going for a short, easy ride; but the wind was stronger than it had been the day before! It\’s not an \”easy\” ride when I\’m battling the breeze. I kept thinking of making a trip to the grocery store, only to remember that the hybrid is still in the shop. The shop is closed on Sunday and Monday, so I won\’t have that bicycle back before tomorrow. At about 4 pm yesterday I finally decided to take a short ride. I was tired of sitting around. The wind wasn\’t quite as bad as I expected, but on the way out I had the sun right in my eyes. That\’s not fun. This morning I had to go for a COVID-19 test. Even though I\’m on vacation, I think it would be a good idea to check my work email once a day to be sure there aren\’t any messages about a shut-down because of the virus. As of last Friday, we\’re operating under the Orange level. But for now I can take it easy. Which day is it? When I\’m on vacation, it doesn\’t really matter!

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A New Cycle

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I\’m beginning a new cycle in my kitchen. Over the last few weeks, I finally used up a lot of the stuff that had been cramming my freezer; and yesterday, I began more cooking projects. Here we go again! I kicked off the new cycle with Bald Eagle. I was much surprised when I sighted an eagle, and it was singing! My father would have loved that. After I packed away the Bald Eagle, I made a use-it-up type of dish. For quite some time I\’ve had two cans of yams (sweet potatoes) and a can of spinach hanging around; takes from the salvage store. I need to weed out my supply of canned goods, and the yam-mash got rid of three cans. The yams and spinach weren\’t the only things that needed using up. I had part of a cauliflower and part of a red onion that were getting old. Ergo here is the recipe: two 15 oz cans yams, drained and rinsed (an attempt to get rid of some of the sugar) 15 oz can chopped spinach, well drained 1 cup chopped cauliflower (1/2\” pieces) 1/2 cup chopped celery scant cup chopped red onion freshly grated nutmeg; freshly ground white pepper; and salt to taste. Put the yams, cauliflower, and celery in a 2 quart pot with water just to cover. Bring to a boil, and turn heat down to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain and mash. Stir in nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Add the spinach and onion. Makes ~4 3/4 cups. Per 1 cup serving: 168 calories; 39 grams carbs. Now, what can I make next? After I finish up the hummus, eat the half-avocado, etc.

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Not One Iota

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\”Not one iota\” typically means, \”not the slightest\”. It\’s different when a storm of that name is heading your way. Under such circumstances nobody can afford to be indifferent. Tropical Storm Iota is expected to strengthen further before making landfall next Monday. Unfortunately it looks like it\’s aiming for Nicaragua and Honduras; as if they haven\’t had more than enough already! Today keeps feeling like Sunday. For this weekend, I decided to do my long ride on Saturday. but I didn\’t go out as far as I had planned. When I stopped to reapply sunblock, I checked my food supply; and it looked like I might not have enough. As it turned out, I probably did have sufficient fuel with me; but why risk bonking? The wind was a nuisance on the way home, as usual. An added aggravation was having to take a detour to get home, thanks to a train that was just sitting there. That detour means riding over very rough street surfaces! I decided to get Chinese take-out for lunch, and chose the General Tso\’s Chicken combination plate. I like the lunch combination plates because they aren\’t as big as the dinner combos. Even then, it\’s too much for one meal; but that\’s OK. In effect, I\’m getting lunch and supper for the price of one meal. Can\’t beat that, right? After lunch and dishwashing, I went to work on my latest Hoppin\’ John variation: Bald Eagle Black Field; or Bald Eagle for short. I was very surprised this morning when I heard something from a bald eagle that wasn\’t a screech. So now I\’m pretty tired. Maybe I\’ll be lazy and let laundry wait until tomorrow. After all, I\’m on vacation, so switching my schedule around won\’t matter — not one iota!

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Buzzwords

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Buzzwords are all around us. Sometimes, I admit, they\’re as annoying as a mosquito buzzing around my ear. On the other hand, such lingo has its place. So, how about come cycling buzzwords? Athena? It\’s lucky my weight doesn\’t fall into that category, or I\’d be in a LOT of trouble. But even if it did, it wouldn\’t have to mean I couldn\’t ride. See also Clydesdale. Bibs aren\’t only for infants. These shorts with built-in suspenders have some advantages, such as no waist band digging into your middle when you\’re riding on the drops. Bonk? We don\’t want to go there, so we must keep ourselves fueled during long rides. Ride food alone can set anybody\’s head to whirling, thinking of RXBars, GU-Gel, and so on. One step at a time! Try one new food or drink per long ride; or better yet, test new foods when you\’re not riding. Hammer sounds like something from a carpenter\’s toolkit. If you love pedaling hard and fast in the hard gears, you\’re hammering. But don\’t use a hammer on your frame! LSD doesn\’t necessarily mean street drugs. Long Steady Distance riding helps develop aerobic endurance. Those are just a few of the terms that get tossed about by cyclists. I suppose a non-cyclist, or a newbie rider, would quickly feel punch-drunk when surrounded by all this lingo. Fear not, you\’ll catch on. After all, they were all newbies once!

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Heads Up

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Just a heads up: I\’ll soon be at work on this web site again! Next week I\’ll be on vacation, the perfect time for such a task. My vacations always seem to turn into working vacations! The main thing will be restructuring the Slides. So if things look weird, or error messages crop up, that\’s probably why. Now I\’ve got to go do some off-bike exercises, then get to bed. Tomorrow is a work day!

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Perestroika?

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\”Perestroika\” is a term I remember from the former Soviet Union under Gorbachev. Its meaning was given as \”new beginning\”. That\’s certainly me when I\’ve blown my diet big time the previous evening. Perestroika as in try, try again. I don\’t know what was going on, but last night I totally lost control. I devoured as much candy in a few hours as I had in the previous week; and maybe more. Possibly I was plain old hungry without realizing it. Could it have been stress? Yesterday morning I had to go downtown for a doctor\’s appointment; and after that, I had to go to work. That wore me out. On days when I don\’t work from home, I have much less time for preparing and eating breakfast. On top of that, I have to drag along lunch and snacks. I never seem to be sure exactly how much food I need to bring with me; and if what I bring isn\’t enough, I end up eating junk food. On the other hand, I don\’t want to bring too much, and end up throwing it away. We as cyclists also seem to be making new beginnings, over and over. If a big event is on the calendar, we work out a training plan: what aspect of my riding most needs improvement? Pace? Climbing? And we take it from there. When the calendar is chock-full of events, after one event is past, it\’s time to recover a while; and then begin working towards the next thing. I\’m glad that I don\’t have that kind of stress. My primary reason for cycling is the pleasure in movement. But when Tour de Cure is over? Start something new!

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Gloom & Doom

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Doom & gloom seems to be all we hear about lately. It\’s no wonder some of us are freaking out big time. The latest outbreaks of COVID-19 are the first doom & gloom that will occur to most of us. Cases are increasing just about everywhere in the United States, and I\’d say that plenty of folks are very worried about that. Probably I should be more concerned than I am. Not that I go to restaurants, theaters, and the like; but I do still go to stores. I work on a college camps, and a considerable increase in COVID-19 cases among the students was just reported. For a long time I\’ve had the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop, and have been half-expecting another shut-down, similar to the one in March. Maybe this outbreak will be the tipping point. I\’m getting pessimistic about Tour de Cure. After months of working to improve my force, I\’ve been missing too much riding. Too often, I oversleep and either must cut my ride short; or even miss it entirely. All this food logging is a bit of a drag, and meal planning/prep does take time. Not to mention cleaning up afterwards. The fatigue factor means I\’m more likely to fall off the wagon during evenings, and turn to sweets. Hurricane season has been wild this year. It seems like it will never end, and that\’s another stressor. At present it seems that we in N.O. can stop worrying about Eta; but there\’s a new system in the Caribbean that might develop into something. I\’d better go clean up the kitchen, and set up the hybrid in the trainer. I\’ll get in at least a little pedaling. Tomorrow I work from home, so it won\’t hurt if I don\’t get back from riding until 7:00. All the same, I hope I don\’t oversleep again!

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