SpokEasy

SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

No Kidding

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  No kidding, it\’s possible to ride safely with young children. I admit I have no personal experience with this, but the Internet has a lot of information on the subject. I\’m not speaking here of youngsters  old enough to ride their own bicycles; I mean kids between, say, ages one and three. The child should be able to hold up his head, and the neck needs to be strong enough to support the weight of a helmet; this begins at about one year of age. So, how do take the very young child cycling? One option is a bicycle trailer. Put a helmet on her; strap her in; hitch the trailer to your bike and pedal away. An advantage to this mode of child transport is that other items can also be stowed in the trailer; and when the child outgrows it, the trailer is great for bringing home the groceries. Another possibility is an over-the-rear-wheel seat. I\’ve seen bicycles equipped with these. It seems to me that it would take quite some practice to be able to control a bicycle with a weight up to 40 pounds behind you. This would be very different from having a load from the supermarket back there! Groceries might get heavy, but at least they\’re inert. Children move! Maybe your child can be your co-pilot: helping you with hand signals, for example. That would let the youngster learn some aspects of cycling before he or she starts to ride independently. Then the child will have a good start on a lifetime of cycling — no kidding!

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The Old Grind

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Yes, the old grind, and I don\’t mean coffee. It is SO hard to have to go back to work after the holiday break. For nine days, I could stay in bed until at least 7 am. I was finally beginning to feel rested! And then today, it\’s back to rising by 4:45 am if I\’m to be sure of getting in some riding. I now can\’t get to my web site until after I\’m home from working all day. By then I\’m tired, and have a half-dozen other things tugging at my mind. That doesn\’t make it easier. As to riding, there was a strong wind this morning, and the possibility of rain; so I went to ride in the park. I got lazy and rode around only twice before heading home. Maybe it was my imagination, but the wind seemed to be strengthening. I’m glad it was behind me on the way home! Before I reached home it was starting to sprinkle a bit. I had to take a detour to get home (over horribly bumpy streets) because of a train. About 20 minutes after I got home, it rained hard for a short spell. There was even thunder once! I didn’t take a bike to work because I had to go from there to a dental appointment this afternoon. The threat of rain and T-storms wasn\’t over yet, and we still could get bad weather tonight and tomorrow. Unfortunately it\’s now going to be a grind day to day. C\’est la vie.

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Start the Year Right

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Let\’s start the year right by jumping into a ride! I went out about 9:15 am. As I expected, there were big patches of debris from last night\’s pyrotechnic revelry. There must have been five or six within 4.5 miles, and most of those patches of junk were pretty big. I wish  the people who set off all those things would get up at the crack of dawn to sweep up their mess. Riding through all that stuff isn\’t so good for bicycle tires! Who wants to start New Year\’s by getting a flat? The temperature at 53 degrees wasn\’t bad. The wind freshened from 3 mph to 7 mph before I got back home. It was enough to be noticeable and bothersome. Yesterday I did some hard efforts, so I guess I was a bit tired today. Or maybe plain lazy. That\’s not a good way to start off a new year, is it? I remember last New Year\’s, when I went for a ride. Of course I wanted to start the year right with a ride, but the weather that day was miserable: colder than it is today, and misty/drizzly. Today was better, thank goodness. Although the sky was mostly overcast, it didn\’t rain; and I don\’t mind not having the sun in my eyes! By tomorrow rain and even T-storms are expected. Great. Right when I have to go back to work. They say that, what you start the new year doing, you\’ll do all year. I dropped my water bottle today, and I hope it doesn\’t mean that I\’ll do it every ride all year long. What a nuisance that would be. So I got in my miles for today, and set 2020 rolling!

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Vision

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The upcoming New Year will be one for vision, won\’t it? After all, it\’s 2020, right? I don\’t have 20/20 vision any more, but I can still do without glasses most of the time. Besides, we don\’t really need glasses to conjure up a vision of the next year\’s cycling goals, do we? Naturally I hope to do better than I did this past year. The hamstring injury cost me several hundred miles. Then there was the work I did to improve my left-foot pedal stroke; that meant shorter, easier rides for some weeks. Indeed, I\’m not really finished with that work. I\’ve still got to watch that left ankle! How about my goals for the 2020 cycling year? Improve my cruising pace? That\’s been on on my goal list year after year, and I\’ve still not accomplished it. I guess I\’m too lazy. Same thing goes for riding another century. Another good goal would be to get my diet and weight back under control. Several years ago I actually consulted a sports nutritionist, who advised a diet based on lean meats and lots of veggies. Here\’s the rub: I don\’t like handling raw meat; and don\’t have a lot of time for cooking if I\’m to keep this web site and blogging going. I need to conjure up a vision of how I can juggle all that!  

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Crunching

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Crunching the numbers, that is. Sometimes it just has to be done, although crunching potato chips, or Combos, or corn chips is much more fun. December 31 is the day to add up the year\’s total bicycle mileage. Here\’s what I have: road bike:  3052.43 miles; 277:32:54 hours hybrid     :   1044.91 miles; 131:45:56 hours I admit I\’m a little disappointed with my grand mileage total of 4097.34 for the year. I had hoped to do more. Naturally I didn\’t expect to pull a hamstring. That cost me several hundred miles, I\’m sure. I went for a ride this morning. I wanted to be sure I got in some miles before the year\’s end — and before people start setting off fireworks. I can\’t know when an ill-aimed pyrotechnic might blow out one of my eardrums, or put out one of my eyes. And gunpowder smoke reeks! Today I met with some friends for lunch. The place where we went was crowded, and that was late morning/early afternoon! And far from the places where you could expect mobs of people on New Year\’s Eve. My dislike of crowded surroundings is why I stay home. The noise would drive me crazy, too. After lunch I was in an ice cream mood, so I went to the drug store and got some. Then, back home to start working on blogs. Do I plan to see in the New Year by composing blogs?? No, I don\’t think so. I\’ll want to get some sleep so I can go riding in the morning!

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2020

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Does the approach of 2020 have you feeling extra-adventurous? Does a MTB trip seem like too little? Maybe a fantasycart Unicycle will fit the bill. So far I\’ve had no desire to try a unicycle. Having nothing to hold onto means no handlebars for steering. I guess riding a one-wheeler means a lot of reliance on core strength. I don\’t see how else the rider could steer except by using the core and hips. Enthusiasts of one-wheeling are by no means left out of cycling adventures. They\’ll even tackle Mongolia! Bike-packing with only one wheel must call for extra work to learn not to let the weight of a Camel-Bak pull you over backwards! Then there\’s getting the hang of a \”uni\” in the first place; never mind having added weight on your back. As always, one step at a time. Get used to the uni first, and then start working on riding it with a load. The one year I was able to spend in graduate school, I often saw a guy riding a unicycle around campus. More than once I saw him riding that uni with an UNCASED trombone in his hand. I found that shocking; and never could help thinking that, if he wiped out, you could say goodbye to that \’bone!        

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Out with the Old

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Out with the old! The old road bike chain, that is.  Seems quite fitting that I get a new bicycle chain on the verge of a new year, doesn\’t it? Over the past week or two I noticed that, when I shifted cogs on my road bike, the shifting wasn\’t crisp. The chain hesitated before actually moving. That seemed weird. I began to think that this could mean the bike\’s chain needed replacing. After this morning\’s ride, I measured the chain. Sure enough, it was time for a new one. So, off to the bike shop. I also suspected that the rear derailer might need adjusting. I got the new chain. They didn\’t say that the derailer had anything wrong with it, but the did say that the pulleys were getting worn. Oh, bother. More expense. But maybe it\’s to be expected. I\’ve put 24,000+ miles on that bicycle. I wish I could afford to \”out with the old\” all my leg warmers and shorts, and buy new ones. I also need to replace my second pair of cycling shoes. Unfortunately that\’s too much for a single visit to the shop. People used to say that, what you do as the new year begins, you\’ll do all year. So I don\’t need to start 2020 by being a spendthrift!  

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Azerbaijan

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Azerbaijan Does it puzzle you that a cyclist would want to tour Azerbaijan? It seems like such an exotic, faraway place. I admit, though, that its name is likely to bring a chuckle. A character in one of Agatha Christie’s novels said that somebody was going to a place that sounded like “azure basin”! As always seems to happen, I find that cyclists have, indeed, made forays into the country. Cycling in Azerbaijan has a relatively short history; less than 100 years. They seem to be making up for it, though; by both citizens and visitors. Want a list of possible routes? There are plenty of them. Ride through Baku sounds good for the  beginning bicycle tourist. Nice and short; with very little climbing. A road bike is fine for this route. Xankandi Sahari should appeal to hill-climbing enthusiasts. There are uphill routes and downhill routes; long tours; and short, quick rides. As always, learn about the climate of your target country, and pack the appropriate clothing. Azerbaijan has nine climate zones; be sure you know what kind of weather you might encounter. There are the usual concerns about safety; both personal safety and riding on the roads. And etiquette, naturally. In Azerbaijan to criticize the ruler, or his family, is strictly taboo; and  absolutely never mention Armenia. Etiquette is a tricky area; what is polite, or at least tolerable, in one culture might be the height of rudeness in another. If I were to go for a cycling tour in that nation on the Caspian Sea, I’d have a lot of studying to do! 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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Nouvelle Cuisine?

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Nouvelle cuisine as it’s supposed to be, probably would not include hot dogs! I did try another new twist on chicken tikka masala today, so I got the “nouvelle” part right, at least. To be precise, it’s another version of “Chinese hot dogs“. Yesterday at the salvage store, I found sweet & sour sauce. It’s not the same brand as last time, but that’s OK. It also has a different flavor, but that’s OK, too. It seems sweeter than the brand I had last time. Maybe that’s all to the good, as this time I put in curry powder; and the sauce doesn’t clash with it. I needed to use the whole jar of sauce, and had a good time scraping out the residue with a finger and licking it up. Then came the sad part — discarding the jar. My upbringing screams at me to keep it; practicality says NO, I don’t have room to keep any more jars on my shelves! Naturally today wasn’t all kitchen work. I had to ride to the supermarket to get the yogurt; and after I was home from the store I went out on the road bike. At 10 am the fog hadn’t entirely burned off; and the sun was also dodging in and out of clouds. I didn’t know when the weather might turn bad; and the wind seemed to be getting stronger. I went sissy and turned back early. I got home; ate some lunch; and then launched into preparing my new invention. Part of the fun of nouvelle cuisine is inventing names for your new creations. “Kung Bo Hot Dogs”, maybe?

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