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Pinching Pennies

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Pinching Pennies Pinching pennies is an activity that we could all use these days. We hear so much about inflation; and even salvage store prices have gone up. But the salvage store is still cheaper than other stores; and off I went this morning. For a change, I didn’t bring home any canned goods.  Today I did quite well with the grab bag — I found a Met-Rx bar! I found some other things that I can use for ride food; and of course I got some absolute junk, such as a Moon Pie. Today I found a box of a dozen Gatorade bars for under $16; and a pound block of cheese for under three bucks. All in all, I didn’t do badly; so I guess I was pinching pennies. Now I’m turning my thoughts to tomorrow’s long ride. It’s going to be another hot day; so I have to remember proper hydration. Today I found some Gatorade drinks in the salvage store; but I don’t want to try new drinks for the first time during a long ride. I can try some this afternoon. But here’s the catch: it might be a long time before I see those things in the salvage store again. Doing laundry at home is another way of pinching pennies. At the nearest laundromat, a single cycle now costs over $6.00! I wish I had thought to do my washing yesterday, though. The neighborhood got a notice about road work to be done today; and it mentioned a possible drop in water pressure. Or possibly even a temporary loss of water. I don’t want that to happen in the middle of doing laundry!

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Light up the Night

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Light up the Night I sure need to light up the night. If I don’t, I can’t see where I’m riding! A good, bright headlight is essential; especially if you don’t want to plod along at walking pace.  I’m always complaining about the people out there who are in dark clothing; who wear minimal or no reflective material; and who do not use lights. Some of them are jogging, or walking the dog; but some are on bicycles! I don’t want to be among them; and when I’m riding, I want to move! So I’ve got to be able to see where I’m going. Light up the night! A tail light is almost as important as a headlight. People coming up from behind need to know that you’re there; and if they don’t have headlights, they might not see you in time! When on the road bike, I put the tail light on the seat stay; and when I use the hybrid, I put it on the back of the rack. I like to use the tail light in steady mode. I used to wear a white blinkie on my left wrist; but it wore out. Even with fresh batteries, it wouldn’t turn on. I couldn’t find a new one; but the one I had served me for many years! I use a Micro Red LED Light on the back of my helmet. Even with all those lights, I want reflective gear. I don’t care what color mine is; just so it’s highly visible. Incidentally, lights and reflective gear aren’t only for night riding. They’re a good idea at high noon. Even at that time, it can be hard to see a car that doesn’t have its lights on. How much harder it must be to spot little old me on a bicycle!

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Combos

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food /

Combos! Combos were once one of my go-to foods for long rides. I like the combination of crunchy and salty; and with low blood pressure, I actually need the salt. The cheese pizza-pretzel hybrid seen here is interesting — Italy and Bavaria pairing up, you could say. I tried other varieties of Combos, too — Baked and Pepperoni Pizza.  Along with this snack, I tried miniature gumdrops; and even pieces of various candy bars. As time went on, however, I discovered that Combos don’t have the sustenance I need for long rides. Then I began to drift towards Clif Bars; and currently rely on Gatorade Whey Protein bars and Clif Builder’s Protein bars. Anything with chocolate is a problem on a sunny day, even in cold weather. I learned that years ago; but a number of the bars I use have chocolate coating. All I can do is put up with the messiness. Speaking of cold weather, ours is a ways off yet. Our high temperature today reached 95 degrees; and the heat is going to stick around a while. On top of that, there’s a potential hurricane threat in the making. Last I knew, the most likely track took the storm to the western coast of Florida; but it’s too soon to say where that thing will go in the end.

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Password

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Password I’m very lucky that my bicycle doesn’t need a password. If it did, I’d have a hard time just getting out the front door to ride! It drives me absolutely crazy to have to use a password to access so many things. I try to keep a list; because I simply can’t remember all those “keys”. Too often, I get the response that username and/or password are incorrect; or don’t match. Then I have to reset everything; and it’s a terrible waste of time. It makes me feel like the person in this pic, buried in books and apparently in despair. There’s a game called Password; and I wish it were only a game. It isn’t a game when I can’t get into things when I need to. Unfortunately there are people who are only too ready to rip off everybody else. They sure make things inconvenient for the rest of us! Today I did just a short ride; and I tried to take it easy. Yesterday I rode rather hard; and my legs are tired. I better ride a little earlier tomorrow, because the forecast is for a hot day. Up to 95 in the afternoon; and tomorrow is the first day of Fall! Maybe somebody gave Fall a password that it can’t remember.

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I’ve Barely Started

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I’ve Barely Started! I’ve barely started my cycling adventures, as I see when I read a book like this. I’ve never been, as the tile says, miles from nowhere. Most of my miles have been logged within 25 miles of home; and I’ve never been on even a one-night bicycle camping tour. Imagine touring the world by bicycle! (What would Phileas Fogg have thought of that?) I’m certainly not ready for such an adventure; and doubt that I ever will be. If I did decide to go for it, I’d need some warm-up rides first; such as RAGBRAI. Or even RAAM, or PBP. Okay, I’m getting sarcastic here. To be more serious, I doubt very much that there’s any round-the-globe route that can avoid climbing; and I’d want a touring bicycle. My budget can’t take that just now — I had to replace my hybrid not two weeks ago; and it was not cheap! The back jacket of Miles from Nowhere describes Barbara and Larry Savage as “near-neophyte cyclists” when they began their two-year journey. If beginning cyclists can manage such a trip, then theoretically, I should be able to do it. After all, I have 60,000+ miles in my legs! Unfortunately I also have some health issues that make such an undertaking impractical. So I guess I’d better stick around home; but really, I’ve barely started!  

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Can You Believe It

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Can You Believe It? Can you believe it? Yesterday I actually did some cleaning! The bathtub/shower badly needed work. I tend to neglect it all Winter long, because it’s so darned cold in the bathroom. Evenings, I don’t have time. Weekends, I want to work on the web site; and after a long Sunday ride I want to take it easy. Besides all that, I hate cleaning. But I decided I had to do something about that shower; so I turned to page 96 of “BBH”; and made a batch of baking soda soft scrubber. I added some tea tree oil to the mix, because of the mold and mildew.  I neglected this for so long that I couldn’t get the shower really clean; but it looks a little better now. Maybe once I’m retired I can make time for housework! I skipped the long ride yesterday. Can you believe it? The Covid booster I had the previous day made me feel lousy; but I hope to make up for it during this week. I’m on vacation! I forgot about Love to Ride Cycle September when I decided to take this week off. Of course I won’t be riding to work; but the main point of Cycle September is to get people riding; whether to work or not. Today’s ride wasn’t exactly a long one; only 29.2 miles. The restrooms at my pit stop are still locked up! This has been going on for five or six weeks; and I’m fed up with it. I’ve got to find another restroom so I can get back to 40-mile rides. I think I’ll make a trip to the supermarket tomorrow; and go then go out on the road bike. But I sure wish the store still opened at 6:00 am!

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I’m Shot

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I’m Shot! I’m shot today; and I don’t mean firearms.  Why does a COVID booster have me waking up the morning after — feeling like the morning after? I was really tired; and my arms and legs ached. I figured I was in no condition to attempt a 40-mile ride; so I did a slow-paced 10 miles or so. I’m on vacation this week; so maybe I can do that long ride tomorrow. It might be interesting to do it on a weekday! I can leave the Camel-Bak full; and keep the rest of today’s ride food to use tomorrow. I need to get to the grocery store for bananas and grapes; but not right now. As I said, I’m shot! I hope I feel better later today; and maybe I can go then. I’ve got a cooking project in mind: a garbage soup! The freezer was getting too full of plastic boxes of this and that; and I need to clear them out. Garbage soups are interesting; I’m never quite sure exactly what I’ll come up with We’ve got an eye on TS Fiona. It doesn’t look like she’ll pose any threat to New Orleans; but you never know. Weather is weird, anyway. We had a few mornings when it was almost cool; and now it’s heated up again. I’m starting to get hungry. Whatever for? I didn’t ride 40 miles, after all. Maybe it’s because I’m shot?

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Keep Cool

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized /

Keep Cool Keep cool with the Arctic Zone Cooler! I have something similar to this; and it’s handy for taking lunch to work. In hot weather, I often take it to the salvage store with me. That means using the trailer, because the cooler takes up most of the space in a pannier. The Arctic Zone Cooler comes with four reusable freeze-packs for keeping your lunch or drinks cool. The cooler can fold for easier storage. Today I rode to the salvage store; but I left the trailer home. I had an appointment to get the latest Covid booster at 11:00; and didn’t want the extra weight dragging along to slow me down. Instead of a cooler, I brought along an insulated bubble envelope with a “blue ice” in it. As it turned out, I didn’t get much that I needed to keep cool. As the morning went on, the wind seemed to strengthen; and of course I had a headwind on the way home from the store. The clouds were gathering, too; and the forecast is for scattered T-storms by 4:00 pm. So I’m glad I got in my riding this morning. Another way to keep cool is to wear sun sleeves. My favorite thing about them is that I need to use less sunblock! Sun sleeves feel hot when you first put them on; but after you get moving and start to sweat a bit, your arms feel cooler. Convection? So far I haven’t tried leg sleeves; but they work the same way as arm sleeves. Maybe I’ll get some one of these days. In the meantime, I have to plan tomorrow’s long ride. I found some Gatorade Whey Protein bars at the salvage store; and got five of them. I won’t eat all of them during one ride; but the rest will keep for later rides. My pass through the store also yielded a can of Sport Shake that I can use as a recovery drink. It wasn’t a bad haul; and now I’m just trying to keep cool.

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I Miss These

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized /

I Miss These! I miss these Breakfast Ovals! I found them at the salvage store a few times; but that was long ago. Breakfast Ovals became an instant  addition to my Shop once I tried them. I like berries; and as I remember, there’s some cinnamon in these, too. Thankfully, I don’t have any food allergies; but for those who do, these ovals contain no tree nuts or gluten.  Breakfast Ovals are easy to carry along for a healthful snack; or they make a quick pre-ride meal. Oh, how I miss these things! I hope the salvage store has them again sometime. By the way, it looks like the weather will probably be OK for this coming Saturday’s ride to the salvage store. This time though, I think I’ll leave the trailer home. Sunday’s forecast is a bit more uncertain. I certainly hope I get to ride; but if I can’t, I must remember that it’s not a disaster. Sure, I want to keep working towards my Love to Ride goal; but after all I hit the 4000 mile mark yesterday. After today’s miles, I have about 988 to go. All I need to do is keep riding as usual; and I’m going to make it!

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BALEAF Jacket

BACK ISSUES, equipment, Outdoors /

Baleaf Jacket This BALEAF cycling jacket for women helps make chilly-day rides more comfy. It’s lightweight; waterproof; and is available in a variety of colors. Reflective highlights improve its visibility. The sleeves are removable, so the jacket can be converted into a vest. Sometimes it’s too cool to not have a jacket; but at the same time is too warm for a jacket! Or, use just the sleeves for sun protection on hot days. The pockets have zipper closures; no worries about your belongings falling out! Sleeves have velcro fasteners at the wrists. This is handy when you’re putting on this jacket when you’ve already got heavy gloves on your hands! I have a BALEAF as well as a jacket on another brand. The BALEAF is heavier; and I use it for colder days. Last night it got down to 71 degrees; our first taste of Fall. It wasn’t cool enough for a jacket; but I sure needed a long-sleeved blouse!

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