SpokEasy

Author name: CAL

Cycling enthusiast; classical music lover; experimenter in the kitchen!

Make No Bones?

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Let’s make no bones about it; osteoporosis is not a good thing. I developed it several years ago, after years of osteopenia; and it’s another reason I have no aspirations to be a pro cyclist. Even if I were a good enough rider; and my age weren’t a barrier; osteoporosis puts me at high risk for fractures in case I crash. What team manager is willing to take that risk? I’m on medication for it; and have tried (not very successfully, I admit) to decrease my Diet Coke intake. I got into the bad habit of drinking lots of it during the years when I was dragging along with an undiagnosed sleep disorder; and was desperate for something to perk me up. I don’t like coffee; so I turned to cola instead. A drawback to cycling and bone health is that cycling is non-impact; and it’s impactful exercise that helps keep dem bones strong. Plyometrics can help with that; and sometimes I wish I didn’t live in a raised building. Let’s make no bones about it: plyometrics produce quite a lot of noise under such circumstances! At the moment, however, I’m not thinking about dem bones; but the weather. There’s a severe T-storm warning in effect; and we even got a few hailstones! I picked one up from my porch and — yes! — ate it. We’ve got a wind advisory in effect until mid-afternoon tomorrow; and a freeze warning for tomorrow night. What bizarre weather! Plans Thwarted None of this bodes well for a trip to the salvage store tomorrow; nor for the long ride on Sunday. I’ll have to play it by ear, I guess. If I go to the salvage store, I’ll have a terrific headwind on the way home; and a long ride on Sunday will be a very cold one, with the chill penetrating down to dem bones. Now and then I take a Sunday off from riding; and maybe this is a good time to take such a break. I’ll make no bones about it: such cold rides are not the most fun. I know my nose won’t give me a moment’s peace during a frigid ride; and it’s hard to eat on the bike when my fingers are hampered by thick gloves. It’s time to set up the trainer, I guess.

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Blow Dryer?

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I haven’t owned a blow dryer since Hector’s grandpa was a newborn pup. I never liked them: they make too much noise; and that hot, dry air makes my skin feel dried up and itchy. The wind, however, sometimes acts like a blow dryer. Night before last we had a brief T-storm about 9:30 pm; and yesterday morning I rode the hybrid, because I expected wet — even mucky — riding; and  the hybrid has fenders. I was surprised that surface conditions were much less wet than I anticipated; and in fact, they were quite dry except for a puddle here and there. The wind was 16 mph; and gusts were up to 22 mph. Apparently that acted like a blow dryer; and the bike and I stayed dry. Today was a different story. Last night it rained again. There was much less wind today than there was yesterday; and the bike path was still wet. I’m glad my road bike didn’t get as mucky as I thought it would. It looks like tomorrow will bring rain; and I hope it waits until later in the day. We get these miserable spells when it seems like the rain threats will never end; and I get tired of being on edge, wondering whether I’ll be able to ride without getting soaked. I get even more tired of concern over T-storms! By Saturday morning it will be much cooler; and with a strong wind as well. Over Saturday night the wind is supposed to drop considerably; but I’ll have a cold ride on Sunday! I hope the wind day after tomorrow will act like a blow dryer and let me have a dry path to ride on.

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Not in a Day

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Some things are “not in a day” things. Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the famous saying goes; and Rome isn’t alone in that. Building fitness sure doesn’t happen in a single day! In fact, it can take years; and pushing too hard, too soon often does more harm than good. Maybe I take the “don’t push it too hard” part of that too far; and don’t work hard enough! My average pace is still below 13 mph; and for some years I’ve wanted to increase it to 15 mph! As you can see, I’m way behind schedule. It’s very hard to work on my pace when I have a headwind to fight; and on weekdays I’m often out there on the bike less than an hour after rolling out of bed. It might help if I could allow myself time to get more awake. Windy Again It’s windy again today; and bucking a headwind sure makes me feel UN-fit. I was in a low gear; using a pretty rapid cadence; and plodding along at about 11 mph. Several times riders whizzed past me like I was backing up; and it made me think, Will I ever develop such strength and power? Not in a day, that’s certain. That wind was about 13 mph when I turned to head back home; and it had reached 16 mph by the time I got there. An hour later it was up to 23 mph; and I’m glad I’m not out on the bike path fighting it. It’s quite cloudy as well; and the forecast for the next few days is a wet one. I’m none too happy about that! Today I took along whey protein bars as ride food I like chocolate, and I like caramel; so these are a good choice for me. Maybe I needed to eat a little more today than I actually did! Riding against the wind takes a lot of energy, after all. Off the bike I’m still struggling with my diet. I go off the rails too often; and too easily. This is yet another Not in a day item; and I wish I could “set and forget”!

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Short Circuit

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I’ve got quite a short circuit going! It’s important to always wear clean cycling shorts for a ride; and I have five pairs that I use in rotation. They aren’t enough for me to “save” them up to wash once a week; and I wash a pair nearly every day, by hand. Even though I now have an automatic washing machine, I intend to stick with that routine. Speaking of short circuit: if I had an ebike, I’d worry about such an occurrence every time I got caught in the rain. I’m sure that ebikes are designed to minimize this risk; but I think I’d still be concerned about it! I’m a bit of a worrywart, you see. This morning I rode to the salvage store; and I was glad that I didn’t haul that trailer this time. Before I got back home around 10:00 am, the wind had increased to 13 mph; and within the next hour, it got stronger! I still haven’t rid myself of the get-it-while-I-can mentality that I developed when COVID-related stay-at-home mandates were possible; and I got some more canned goods. The grab-bag bins had little in them; but I found some other things that I can use for ride food. I hope the weather doesn’t short circuit my ride tomorrow! The greatest chance for rain is in the afternoon; so maybe I’ll start my ride earlier than usual. It’s nearly 80 degrees right now; and for March, that’s too warm. I want to push for 40-43 miles tomorrow. Twice within three weeks the weather has thwarted my efforts; and I’m getting fed up with it.

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Rarebit?

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Rarebit, aka Welsh Rabbit, is great for cheese lovers; but yesterday I got a rarebit — er, a rare bit — of great cycling weather. It was in the mid-50s, which is a bit cooler than I like; and I needed a jacket and leg warmers; but ALMOST NO WIND! It was overcast; but it didn’t rain. I was very glad of that, because last Sunday I got enough rain to last me for quite a while. During yesterday’s ride I did some work at pushing the pace to 15 mph; and even a little bit of 16-18 mph. It’s ever so much easier to work on my pace when there’s no wind. That headwind business is why I sometimes wish I had a power meter. As so many articles about cyclist training say, speed isn’t the best indicator of your progress. Many factors (terrain, wind, etc.) influence speed; but X amount of power is X amount of power. If X increases to X + Y, and stays there; then you’ve gotten stronger! I’m trying to extend the weekday morning rides by a mile or so, for two reasons. One: the idea of building up to a century ; and two: my posted Love to Ride 2022 goal of 5000 miles by December 30. I’m up to about 876 miles now; and if I keep going this way, I should be able to reach that goal. Let’s hope I’m not thwarted by a hurricane again, the way I was last year! This morning I skipped the jaunt on the road bike, so I could ride to the supermarket. Rarebit isn’t on the menu this week, so I didn’t buy cheese; but I got fruit and carrots and yogurt. If only the bananas weren’t grass-green!

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