SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

Helmet Head

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Helmet Head Helmet head isn’t only about a bad hair day. Other problems can crop up as well. For instance, an itchy head. That’s been bothering me a lot lately. I’ve no doubt that the cause is a sweaty head. Many a day the temperature at 5 am is already in the low 80s. Even a well-ventilated helmet doesn’t keep my head from becoming hot and sweaty. I wear the thing, though; better a sweaty head than a concussion or a skull fracture! One night last week, before getting in the shower, I mixed up a rinse: 2 tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar in a pint of warm water. I put the lid on the jar so the solution wouldn’t get diluted, and took it into the shower with me. After shampooing and rinsing my hair, I poured the vinegar solution over my head; rubbed it in a little; and rinsed it out. It seemed to help relieve the itchiness a bit, so maybe I should do it more often. Not that I truly enjoy it; vinegar doesn’t smell so good. In cold weather, use of a helmet liner keeps my hair smoother; but that, of course, is not my real reason for wearing one. My head is very sensitive to cold. If I didn’t have that helmet liner, rides on cold days would be absolutely miserable. Helmet head isn’t a big deal to me. My helmet-crumpled hair brushes out easily. I’m lucky in that respect; my hair is fine and soft. If it were thick, I might have more trouble. I also wonder whether avoidance of helmet head is why so many pro cyclists have such short hair!

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In a Hurry

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In a hurry is pretty much the story of my life. I started trying to run as soon as I had found my own feet; or so my mother always told me. On the days when I want to ride easy, it\’s very hard for me to pedal slowly. I might be in an easy gear; but my legs are still cranking away at over 80 rpm. Even my inventions in the world of food can be in a hurry. Yesterday I created Gallopin\’ Garbanzos! Not that this is exactly a \”fast\” dish; all the elements need to be prepared. Brown rice needs 30-45 minutes to cook. Pre-soaked and frozen garbanzos, I found, took only 20-30 minutes to cook \”al dente\” once the pot had come to a boil. I had to grate carrot and cheese; and chop onion and bell pepper. I don\’t dare try to do that chopping in a hurry; I\’m liable to end up with chopped fingers if I do! Today, for a change, I\’m not hurrying. I was worn out and slept late; and it\’s rainy, too. When I\’m on tenterhooks about the weather for days, it\’s actually a relief when bad weather comes! There won\’t be much of a weather window today when I could ride; but maybe after a while I\’ll don the poncho and ride the hybrid to the grocery store. When I went there during lunch break last Friday, I was in too much of a hurry to look for everything that I wanted.

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Like the Tortoise

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I\’m like the tortoise. I got a slow start yesterday morning. It was already 5:45 when I got up! Gee, what a slacker I am! I decided to skip the ride, and do other things. I was a bit nervous about the weather. There was a tropical storm out in the Gulf (it\’s now a hurricane), and the forecast was for possible T-storms and heavy rain. It was another day of work-from-home. By lunchtime, I was getting restless. I wanted a few things for some cooking projects, so I rode the hybrid to the grocery store less than a mile away. Wouldn\’t you know, that is when it rained quite hard. When clock-out finally came at 4:30 pm, I plunged into cooking. Thinking about my hot dog concoctions got my mind onto trying something similar, but using cauliflower. After all, I had the cauliflower in the fridge, and it needed to be used up. Chopping cauliflower, I must admit, is a messy job. The vegetable crumbles all over the place! I used a 28 oz can of tomatoes; I had to chop the tomatoes, too. Earlier in the day I had chopped the onion and celery; now I chopped some yellow bell pepper, and minced three cloves of garlic. Once I tried to stir it all up in a pot, I saw that there wasn\’t enough liquid. I added a 15 oz can of tomato sauce to the mix; plus some white pepper, dry chimichurri, and salt. The name of my new invention: Chimiflower! When the chimiflower was finished cooking, I went out for a short ride on the road bike. I\’m glad I did. I didn\’t know what the weather might be doing today; and besides, I\’m still like the tortoise. I got off to a slow start again!  

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AM I?

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Am I? Or am I not? A narcissist, that is. Narcissism is a hot topic these days. Only yesterday I read something about it in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic; and it made me wonder. The article said something about hoarding goods such as toilet paper and food; and refusing to obey wear-a-mask mandates. Supposedly these behaviors are \”narcissistic\”. OK, let\’s get at it. When I first began to hear about the virus having cropped up in the USA; and reports of that notorious toilet paper \”flying off the shelves\”, I decided I\’d better lay in a supply. Further speculation that we might have to remain indoors for months prompted me to buy more toilet paper whenever I could; and Ivory Soap®, too. You know: Just In Case. Does that mean I\’m narcissistic, or merely a sensible person who looks ahead? And food! I\’ve built up quite a supply of canned goods, thanks to my trips to the salvage store. Am I a narcissist because I don\’t go running around giving it to people? I don\’t think so. If a hurricane threatens, I don\’t want to have to make a frantic trip to the store, hoping there will be SOMEthing left on the shelves. Incidentally, there\’s a tropical depression out there in the Gulf of Mexico right now. We might get some rough weather, or even tropical storm conditions; although coastal Texas looks like it will take the main brunt of it. And masks! I wear one when I go into a store; or have to see a doctor; need to use public transit; or am going about on foot. On the bicycle it\’s different. A mask is too smothery during strenuous exercise! Does such thinking mean I\’m a narcissist? Am I narcissistic because I continue to ride at all? I don\’t know. I\’m just glad it\’s Friday.      

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What Does It Mean?

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What does it mean when you dream certain things? It is often said that dreams are trying to tell you something. Of late I\’ve been dreaming more often about riding a bicycle. At least twice I\’ve dreamed that I was suddenly able, with no effort, to bunny-hop my bike! In actuality, I think I\’d need a powerful lucky charm to help me with that little trick. After ten and a half years and more than 49,000 miles, it should come as no surprise that I sometimes dream about cycling. But dreaming about bunny-hopping? Is my subconscious telling me to get to work and learn how to do it? I really don\’t know. I personally have never attached much, if any, meaning to my dreams. Some believe that dreams are the subconscious trying to send a message, or even that dreams are prophecy. That could be true. The story goes that the mother of a prospective passenger on the Titanic dreamed three nights in a row that the ship would sink in the middle of the ocean. She told her son about it, and convinced him to cancel his booking. As it turned out, Mom was right. Then there have been times when I woke up from a dream and wondered, \”What made me dream THAT?!\” So what does it mean when I dream really weird stuff?    

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Don’t Waste It

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Don’t Waste It! “Don’t waste it” is what it’s all about. I don’t want food to go bad, forcing me to throw it out. As a rule, I try to avoid getting drawn into cooking projects on weeknights. A week ago last Monday, I felt that I had no choice. The previous Saturday I had bought some potatoes at the salvage store, and needed to use them up. For one thing, the bag that they were stored in was on the floor, where I kept stumbling over it. The potatoes didn’t seem to be the best quality, either; and I didn’t want them to rot before I could eat them. I made Potato-Spinach-Jack; a variation on Cauliflower Potato Cheddar mash. This recipe is on page 87 of The American Diabetes Association Vegetarian Cookbook. This is quite a simple dish; yet it takes up a surprising amount to time to prepare. I have to scrub, peel, and chop the potatoes. After putting them to cook, I have to grate the cheese and the nutmeg; drain the spinach (a messy job!); and chop the onion and bell pepper. I like freshly ground white pepper; I have to prepare that as well. When the potatoes are cooked, I use a large, slotted spoon to remove them from the cooking water. I put them in my 5-quart pot, and mash them using the back of the spoon; easy enough if I do it immediately. Then the rest of the ingredients go in; cheese first so it can melt. And I forgot to add salt! You may wonder why I’m so concerned with “use it up”. My mother, who was a youngster during the Great Depression, repeated this quote many a time: “Use it up! Wear it out! Make it do! Or do without!” So don’t waste it. Use it up instead.

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Post-Op

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Here I am, post-op; and still feeling a bit groggy. Sedation takes some time to fully wear off. The surgeon\’s assistant got me settled in. The overhead \”surgical floodlight\” was still off, and it made a good reflector. I saw three syringes being emptied into my arm. The next thing I remember, the oral surgeon was finishing things up! Back home, I downed a  recovery drink; I made two last night, using almond milk and chocolate whey protein powder. I took a tablet of my pain medication; went back to bed; and slept a few hours. When I got up again, I started in on some \”comfort foods\”:  a butterscotch snack pudding; some Talenti Gelato Layers®; and a cup of chicken bouillon. And a small Diet Coke, naturally. Incredibly, I had forgotten to ask the oral surgeon THE big question: when may I ride again? Is tomorrow morning too soon? I had to call the office to find out. They say that, if I do ride, take it easy for a few days. Don\’t go out there and sweat up a storm by riding hard. In this heat and humidity, I\’ll sweat no matter how easily I ride. If it\’s raining tomorrow morning, I\’d better use the trainer. Being post-op requires a few adjustments. One of them is how I eat. Now, about six hours post-op, my tongue and lower lip still feel somewhat numb. I\’m sure that explains the dictum that I follow a liquid diet for 24 hours after surgery. Besides that, the surgical site itself doesn\’t need to be aggravated by chewing. It would be MEGA-ouch if I tried to eat cashews now!      

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Pre-Op

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Pre-op is a strange way to describe an evening bicycle ride, don\’t you think? I have oral surgery scheduled for 8 am tomorrow. I know I won\’t be able to ride beforehand. I mustn\’t have any solid food for at least six hours prior to the procedure. If I try to go out there for a ride of an hour or more on an empty stomach, I\’ll be a miserable case of the bonk! In addition, no liquids for two hours before surgery. I may have a small amount of water to swallow four capsules of antibiotic one hour before the surgery; but that\’s it. Trying to go for a ride without water is asking for major trouble. Dehydration is not fun. After I\’m back home post-procedure, trying to ride would be foolish. The sedation might not be sufficiently worn off, and I probably will be taking pain medication besides. Hence my decision to go for an evening ride on the road bike. Today I\’ve been feeding myself up, so I won\’t be too hungry pre-op. I got Chinese take-out for lunch. That was almost two meals right there! I\’m having a few extra snacks this evening. I can go to bed a little later than usual, because I don\’t need to get up tomorrow at 4:30 am if I want to get my ride in. Am I feeling nervous about this oral surgery? No, not really. I\’ve been through it before. The hardest part will be keeping myself from absent-mindedly eating tomorrow morning!

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Grasping at Straws

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Ever feel like you\’re grasping at straws? Sometimes there doesn\’t seem to be anything else to do. When working to improve power; or form; or any other aspect of cycling, we\’re apt to reach a point where progress seems to stall. It can even seem like we\’re regressing. It\’s a discouraging place to be, but it might be better not to fight it too hard. That can lead to burnout, or worse. If Rome wasn\’t built in a day, a good cyclist isn\’t made overnight. Ride easy for a couple of days, or even take a day off from the bike. Do some alternate form of exercise. Think about any on-bike gains you\’ve made, however small; and rejoice in them. I can easily feel a bit down when I see that my weekly long ride\’s overall average speed doesn\’t seem to be improving. That\’s when I must remind myself that it\’s become easier for me to average 15 mph for longer stretches; and that, at one time, 15 mph for just a few seconds, even with a good tailwind, was hard work. And that it\’s easier for me to ride up the access ramp to the MRT! Grasping at straws? Perhaps; but I\’m not getting graded on my prowess (if you can call it that) on a bicycle. I ride because my legs love to ride. It lets me get places, such as the salvage store. If you love getting groceries on the cheap, and don\’t mind unpredictable merchandise, look for one in your area. I\’d like to know something, though. We talk of grasping at straws when we\’re trying to find hope in a bad situation; yet there\’s always the one that breaks the camel\’s back. Let\’s hope we don\’t get ahold of that one!

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Early to Bed

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Early to bed would have served me well last night. I was so tired that I didn\’t get up this morning until 6:45. Six forty-five might sound early to some folks; but not for me on a Sunday, when I plan to take a long ride. Especially when the overnight low temperature is 80 degrees or so. It was 7:48 by the time I got going; nearly two hours later than I like to start. Had I gotten up earlier, I may well have been spared the problems I had with the wind on the way back home. My legs felt rather sore, yet I had a lot of trouble slowing my cadence. I had to stop for a breather about four extra times. That always makes me feel like a wimp. After my ride, I checked NOAA for today\’s wind history. Earlier this morning, it was only 6-7 mph. By the time I was on the return leg of today\’s ride, it was 12-14 mph! That\’s a major difference. On the way home, I averaged less than 9 mph. Wind wasn\’t my only concern. As I pedaled back home, I was keeping a wary eye on the sky. To the South and East, more and more clouds were gathering. The sky looked darker and darker. At one of my stops, I looked behind me and saw clouds all around. Naturally the possibility of lightning was a worry. I\’m glad I got home when I did. An hour later it was starting to drizzle, and the wind had risen to 21 mph. When Saturday night rolls around again, I\’d better remember early to bed. Ben Franklin did well to give us that bit of advice.  

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