SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

On the Nile

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On the Nile If you go bicycle touring on the Nile, don’t try riding up and down the Pyramids! That’s not quite what pyramid intervals are about! When I think of Egypt, in fact, Verdi is often what I think of first; even before Pyramids and the Nile! Here you can read one cycle tourist’s account of pedaling on the Nile; and for those who are interested in cycling Egypt, here are some route suggestions. Like so many countries, Egypt offers flat tours; quick tours; long tours; and more. If you’re super-adventurous, you can even cycle the full length of the African continent! Between October and March is the best weather for visiting Egypt. The general climate is both hot and dry; so if you’re going to go cycling there, bring along that Camel-Bak! In addition to sunblock, you’ll likely want lip balm. Mind your manners, of course. If you’re a woman, keep something handy that will let you cover up if you want to visit a mosque. In fact, it’s wise to dress modestly at all times. Not so easy when you’re in Lycra®! And even for men, tank tops are not recommended. Just choose a cover-up that’s easy to fit into a pannier. But I think it would be best to cycle through Egypt with a group; and with an experienced guide. As of late June 2026, the country is under an exercise increased caution.  It’s a pity; I think I’d like to see those Pyramids! This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” ABOUT ME © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional. FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL ✍🏻 Facebook Twitter Youtube INTERPRETER

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Austria

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Austria This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Austria makes me think of mountains. Of the Ischler. And of composers such as Franz Schubert and Johann Strauss II. Cycling through Austria? While we’re talking about lil’ ol’ “Johnny Strauss, Jr.”, how about pedaling along the Danube? This cycling path will take you from the river’s source to the Black Sea. You’ll cross half of Europe. Cyclists of all abilities use this route; and it’s family-friendly as well. Guided tours are available; but you can design your own trip, too. It would save you some money, and you can arrange your own schedule. That’s very handy if you don’t want your bicycle trip to turn into “If It’s Tuesday“. Now for a little detour. Design-my-own-tour is what I did when I was able to take a two-week trip to Austria, way back in 1990. I decided when to go; worked out my itinerary using travel literature; and arranged lodgings and plane tickets with the assistance of a travel agent. I’m familiar enough with German that language gave me little trouble while enjoying Vienna; Salzburg; and Innsbruck. I had a great time! And when I got back home, for a while I had a German accent! We had a good laugh about it when I returned to work. End of detour. Back to the Danube cycling path. You can rent a bicycle locally, if you don’t want the expense of transporting your own. Be sure your panniers are waterproof, and take some rain gear. A handlebar bag is a good idea; you’ll probably want to keep your camera handy. From the Black Forest to the Black Sea, there’s sure to be a lot to see and do along the Danube.

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Speechless

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Speechless is what my legs need to be sometimes when I\’m on the bicycle. I also feel speechless many a time when it comes to social media; I can\’t think of anything to say, and I\’d rather not post at all than create poor-quality posts just so I can get something out there. I guess I talk myself dry on blog posts! Getting back to the bicycle, I say again, I wish my legs were speechless more often on the bike. They start complaining too soon and too loudly when I go into hard efforts. Then I find myself thinking that they need a good dose of Jens Voigt. I don\’t have to be doing \”force\” intervals for my legs to get cross. During weekly long rides, my legs start to gripe in the second half. It doesn\’t help that I usually have a headwind on the way home; and every week it\’s the same thing: should I push it, or do I need to tone down the intensity? If I do push it, will I burn out too fast? They say you need to listen to your body. There\’s that dialogue going on between legs and brain during intense efforts: the legs say, Ouch, we don\’t like this, it hurts. The brain says, C\’mon, you won\’t get any stronger if you don\’t do this! Getting my legs to listen doesn\’t always work as well as I would like. I guess that\’s what Jens Voigt meant by, \”Shut up legs!\” Sometimes my legs win; and then I get aggravated with myself for having been such a wimp. Other times I can get through my force intervals. Even when I do, I get the feeling afterwards that I could have/should have pushed harder for longer … oh, shut up, legs.  

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For Granted?

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Do I take my bicycles for granted? It\’s beginning to seem like it. Day before yesterday I took my hybrid in to the shop. The brakes didn\’t seem to be catching well, and were also making loud squawking sounds when applied. I figured the pads were wearing out. I had to leave the bike at the shop; and it\’s making me realize that I always assume that \”Katy\” is right here at home, waiting for me. If I want to go to the drug store, it\’s far faster to ride. Now I have to think twice; do I really want a soda badly enough to walk to the drug store for it? I\’d have six-tenths of a mile to go. I know; that really isn\’t so far. It just seems like it when I\’m on foot because the going is much slower. Today I began to develop a craving for cashews, which I usually buy from the bulk bins at Whole Foods. That store is two miles away. Walking there would involve applying sunblock. This time of the year, it would also get VERY HOT. Why don\’t I use my road bike? The road bike would be somewhat trickier to lock up. For one thing, it doesn\’t have a kickstand. It can\’t stand up by itself! If something happened to it, replacing it would cost much more than having to replace the hybrid. I\’d be extremely limited in the amount of merchandise I could take home by road bike. Let\’s not take our bicycles for granted. I don\’t appreciate mine always being at the ready until one of them is away for a few days. Maybe I should remember the phrase: \”Absence makes the heart grow fonder\”!

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Not Such Fireworks

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Today so far is not such fireworks. This morning I went out early on the road bike. I hoped that the clouds would part for long enough for me to see the Fourth of July full moon. No such luck. As I saw once it was daylight, what had appeared to be clear areas in the sky were merely places where the cloud cover wasn\’t quite as heavy. It looks like viewing chances will also be nil tonight and early tomorrow. There\’s a good chance of rain and T-storms. What a disappointment! I\’m glad I wasn\’t also planning on eclipse-viewing. It sounds like that might not be a major thrill, either. It\’s not such fireworks in the literal pyrotechnics sense — not that I mind the absence of the noise. It\’s now just past noon, and I\’ve heard only a few firecrackers go off. That might change around dusk, depending on whether it\’s raining or not. I\’ve had my Fourth of July feast: a pint of my favorite ice cream; potato chips; and candy. If I were going to eat like a pig anyway, I wanted to do it early in the day, so I can digest it all by bedtime. Now I feel stuffed, and ready to get back on my pre-diabetic eating plan. Which reminds me, I have a cauliflower in the crisper that I need to prep for cooking. If it\’s already cut up, I\’ll have a far easier time getting myself to cook and eat it!  

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Addendum

18 Comments / BACK ISSUES /

7:40 pm addendum: About six o\’clock, I decided to go for a ride, in case the weather tomorrow means that I can\’t. I was amazed at how strong and fast I felt! It had me wondering, \”What happened\”? The weather was actually pretty good. Thanks to a lot of overcast today, it was a balmy 79 degrees. Many a day lately the temperature has reached the low 90s! The humidity is 82%; no surprise there. On the way out, I had a bit of a headwind; 7-10 mph. I found myself riding on the small ring, and using a rapid cadence. Even so, except for my warm-up mile, I averaged over 14 mph! Coming back was even better. I had a bit of a boost from the wind. For a segment of almost four miles, I averaged well over 16 mph! For me, that\’s phenomenal. Have the effects of my force intervals finally kicked in? I\’m without a heart-rate sensor for the time being, but I\’d guess that I spent a lot of time in mid- to upper-Zone 4; or 7-8 by this chart. My breathing was certainly heavy. For this ride, I didn\’t seem to need to drink as much as usual. As a rule, I\’m reluctant to imbibe large amounts of any fluid right before I go riding. I don\’t want to be plagued by an urgent need to find a bathroom! But by evening I\’ve been getting fluids of some kind in me all day long. It looks like I start my regular morning rides dehydrated! When I got home, I decided to go straight into the shower. I had sunblock all over me, and didn\’t want to get it all over everything I touched. And now that\’s enough of this addendum.    

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Watching

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I\’m watching the forecast with a certain amount of anxiety. It looks like tomorrow will be stormy; and I wanted to go for an early-morning ride! You see, the moon will be at the full. A full moon on the Fourth of July! When might that happen again? As always, I\’m eager for the sight of that moon over the river, lighting up the water. I can\’t do anything but wait and see what happens. If it\’s pouring when my alarm clock goes off, probably the best thing to do will be to go back to sleep. If it isn\’t raining, I\’ll check the NOAA site. Maybe I\’ll get lucky, and there will be a break in the weather. I might have to resort to the trainer to get in some pedaling tomorrow. Maybe I\’ll ride in the trainer for a while this afternoon. I did almost no riding so far today; just to take the hybrid in to the shop (I think the brake pads are wearing out). I had decided to skip the ride to the salvage store. However the weather turns out tomorrow, I\’m ready for the Fourth of July. Several days ago I bought a pint of Cherry Garcia® ice cream. I put it away for the Fourth. It\’s not easy for me to resist ice cream like that; but if I put my mind to it, I can do it. I still had a couple of servings\’ worth of Sweet and Sour Hot Dogs in the freezer; I put the container down in the fridge to thaw. Sheesh, look at that. Ice cream + Sweet and Sour Hot Dogs. Not what I ought to be eating, that\’s for sure. Weather isn\’t the only thing that needs watching!  

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Good Break

5 Comments / BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Good Break This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Getting a good break will be a nice change, won’t it? Especially if that good break is from a piñata that’s full of all the “goodies” ( e.g. multi-tools) we need for cycling South of the Border! A visit to the capital, Mexico City, might sound tempting. It seems that this city has improved for cyclists in recent years. Even so, I’m not crazy about the noise and exhaust of cars, buses, etc. What about exploring Mexico by bicycle? It’s easy for me to think of that as meaning rutted, rough, dirt roads; the kind of surface that makes me wish I were riding a dualie. Actually, main roads are likely to be in pretty good condition. That’s certainly a good break! Travel Age West offers many options. There are “no frills” tours along the coast of the Pacific, and in the Yucatan peninsula. Or explore one of the southern Mexico states, such as Chiapas. There are also tours of large cities. Getting back to “no frills”, exactly what does that mean? Panniers crammed with ride food; and no SAG wagon? As with any country, there are certain areas to be avoided if possible. In Mexico, a lot of this is along the border with the USA; plus the states of Michoacan and Guerrero. Much of the crime has to do with drug-running. Sure, stay away from those spots. You don’t want to get caught in the cross-fire if trouble breaks out. Stay safe, and Que tengas un buen paseo!

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Nigeria

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Nigeria In Lagos in Nigeria, cycling is, alas, marginalized. But that doesn’t mean that the country is without good cycling routes. First Route to Work is a good one as an introduction to MTB riding. At just under 5 miles long, and little climbing, you can take it easy. For a flat route, the Adeshina Street 17 is another short one; just under 2.5 miles; and almost totally flat. I’d appreciate the flatness; but I like longer miles than that! If you’re up to a long road bike tour, LIL Audax offers 119 miles, with nearly 1300 feet in considerable climbing. Sounds pretty tough to me, even though the route is paved! Nigeria’s climate  has three distinct zones. The southern part of the country gets more rain than the northern part; and the average year-round temperature is about 80 degrees.  I guess a bicycle trip there would be much like a ride at home in one way: keep both poncho and sunblock handy! This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” ABOUT ME © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional. FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL ✍🏻 Facebook Twitter Youtube INTERPRETER

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