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Visiting the Past

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Visiting the past can be interesting. If nothing else, I\’m always amazed by how much I\’ve forgotten! A current project of mine is editing old blog posts. For a long time, I didn\’t know about SEO Focus Keyphrases; and consequently didn\’t do that part of my bogs. Finally I learned how to do it; but I had over 400 blog posts without any focus keyphrases! I began work to edit those old blogs, a few at a time; and of course I had to keep the new blogs coming. I\’ve been away from home for two weeks because of Ida; and that gave me plenty of time to work on the editing project. This morning I re-worked a blog from October, 2018. I had completely forgotten about that \”UFO\”! Other blogs from the same time period voice my frustrations with editing my web site; and trying to get Buttons and Slides to work properly. There were also blogs that give notes from Sunday long rides; and some that simply give my thoughts. After all this time I don\’t remember many of them; and it\’s interesting to see what I was mulling over at the time. Incidentally, when the Pevensie children visit Narnia, are they visiting the past; or propelled into the future? I saw the film based on one of the books; and it certainly looks like they\’ve landed in the world of King Arthur.

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Decadent

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We\’re really getting decadent here! We haven\’t been eating Sachertorte; but there are many other decadent things to eat. Yesterday we went to an ice cream shop that had some unusual flavors. I never heard of basil ice cream before; and that\’s what I chose. It\’s actually good! My sister-in-law sent a dozen sugar-free cookies. They\’re a kind of shortbread, I think; and have chocolate icing. Each cookie has an edible pic on top. Two were bicycle pics; two were cats; and some showed hurricane damage, of all things. So I\’ve been leading a rather luxurious life here in Washington State; and I know I\’ve been eating far too much all week long! Pedaling the exercise bike isn\’t nearly enough to burn off all those excess calories; and I really need to get back on a bicycle for some real riding. I also need to get back to a proper diet. By the time I actually get home it will be too late to go for a ride; but I\’ll have other things to do. The first order of business will be to clean out the fridge and freezer! I don\’t know how long the power was out; but from what I hear, it was off for at least a few days. Ergo almost everything will have to go. I hope the supermarkets are stocked up again. Hurricane Ida was rather disruptive, to put it very mildly. I\’ll need fresh produce; and cheese and yogurt. I want frozen blueberries, too; but I hope I can keep myself from going decadent and buying ice cream.

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GU-Gel Tri-Berry

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Gu-Gel Tri-Berry was my introduction to \”goo\”. Each gel has 100 calories; and maltodextrin and fructose to provide an energy boost. Provides electrolytes, too. Easy to carry in a pocket; or tuck a few into your under-saddle pack. Box of 24 gels.

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Peak

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A cyclist must train so as to peak just as the most important races come up; and speaking of peak, here we are at the height of hurricane season. The remnants of Nicholas still haven\’t dissipated; and there are several areas of unsettled weather that warrant close watching. The orange one, I suspect, is the one that we have to keep an eye on; but I hope it comes to naught. If it does develop into a tropical storm, I hope it stays away from us! We need the break; and so, for that matter, do many people in many places. I had hoped to build up to a century ride before the end of this month, but now it\’s highly unlikely to happen. Ida has put paid to any such ideas. Pedaling an exercise bike isn\’t much preparation for a major ride; and every day it gets harder to climb aboard that contraption. Or maybe I\’m just tired. Yesterday I worked at pedaling fast with the tension turned up a notch; and that\’s a bit like doing my force intervals on the road bike. The day after a force workout I typically make it a short and easy ride; so this morning I \”rode\” for only a half-hour. In a few more days I\’ll be back home; and I\’ll see how I do then. I\’ll be glad when I can really ride again; and maybe I can work towards doing that century in October. Now, how do I manage so that I\’ll peak at the right time?

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Feeling the Chill

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We\’re feeling the chill here. At 7:00 am, it was barely 40 degrees. Down there in New Orleans, it was about 81 degrees! What a big difference! And too soon I\’ll be back in that steamy sauna. It\’s going to be very humid in New Orleans. It typically is; but after Ida and Nicholas, the humidity is higher than usual. I don\’t expect that we\’ll get a real cold front for at least a few more weeks; so it\’s going to be hot. When I get home, I intend to tackle the fridge first thing; and I know that I\’ll have to throw out a lot of stuff. It\’s a shame; but I won\’t dare to eat it. I\’m glad I\’ll be on vacation time, because I need that time to cook up a lot of new stuff! I\’m looking forward to being able to go for a real bicycle ride; and I hope my bicycles\’ tires will be OK without any attention from the bike shop. After a few weeks of idleness, I know they\’re quite flat. Today I called the bike shop, and asked them whether it\’s OK to simply pump up the tires. They said it probably is; but that I can bring the bikes into the shop if I\’m concerned. Another thing I have to consider is the condition of the bike path. I guess it\’s been cleared by now; but of course I can\’t be sure. But before I tackle the bike path, I need to visit the supermarket. In fact, I better be making my list now. I\’ll let the salvage store wait for the end of the week. There should be less traffic on a Saturday morning; but I don\’t expect I\’ll be feeling the chill.

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Point of Reference

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I think our point of reference has changed. For years, \”the hurricane\” meant Katrina; but now, it means Ida. Ida didn\’t exact anywhere near the death toll that Katrina did; and for Ida the levees held. But all the same, Ida did plenty of damage. I am now planning my trip back home; and I\’m glad that TS Nicholas veered away from SE Louisiana. Even so, New Orleans is under flash flood watch for several days; and I think I better wait a few days to travel. For a while now, another point of reference has changed. My turnaround spot for my weekly long ride must be closer to home until I\’m back into proper condition. Riding an exercise bike is keeping my leg muscles halfway toned; but as I can\’t say too often, it\’s nothing like riding a real bicycle! I\’m sure it would be unwise to try to do a 50-mile ride the day after I get back home! I\’ll have plenty to do besides riding and blogging in order to settle back in. I must clean out the fridge; and my garbage can will be in a terrible state. It wasn\’t empty when I left ahead of Ida; and by now it certainly reeks to high heaven. A trip to the supermarket is a must. I left behind celery; part of a head of cabbage; carrots; and more. The stuff that I had cooked and frozen will have to go; as will any kind of salad dressing. Maybe vinegars and soy sauce are OK to keep. I bought garbage bags and rubber gloves to bring back with me; and maybe, just maybe, I\’ll buy some huckleberry candy!

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More Astronomy

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Sunday night I got some more astronomy. It began quite innocently, when I saw the moon (almost half-full) from my sister\’s kitchen window. It was quite low in the sky; and after I had returned to look at it several times, I commented on its movement. The moon seemed to be marching almost parallel to the horizon; and I thought it was odd. Soon my brother-on-law was hauling out two sets of binoculars; and he, my sister, and I marched outdoors for some moon-viewing. It was great to look at the moon through those \”noculars\”. I could see craters that are invisible to the naked eye; and the border of the Earth shadow was fuzzy. It looks much sharper without magnification. The moon\’s color was orange-y; and after we had looked at it for a while, my brother-in-law hauled out his six-inch telescope. By this time the moon was getting hard to see, thanks to trees; but we got a good look at Jupiter. We could even see several of the planet\’s moons. If only it had been clear the evening the power got knocked out, we would have gotten more astronomy; but luck wasn\’t on our side that time. Maybe before I go back home we can get in some star-gazing. When I\’m at home, star-gazing is almost impossible. The houses are too crowded; there are far too many electric lights; and I\’m busy indoors evenings. When I\’m riding before dawn, I have to watch where I\’m going; so I can\’t do much star-gazing then. Next Monday is full-moon time again; and I hope I get to see it. I might be back home by then; and as long as the sky is clear, I can see the moon over the river!

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Learn Something New

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You learn something new every day, or so the old saying goes; and post-Hurricane Ida, I leaned a new thing or two. I was able to get a ride out of town ahead of the storm; and was with a friend for the duration. Her power lines were knocked down by a falling tree; and she had no when she might have electricity again. She had a small generator; and we used it so that at least we could have the fridge. It was my first experience with such equipment; and we both quickly learned that those generators gulp gasoline in a hurry! The thing kept running down from fuel exhaustion. A kind neighbor had a larger generator that he let us use after he got electricity back at his home; and he even brought us the gasoline for that generator! Thank goodness we had a couple of battery-powered fans to use in the bedrooms at night! I must get one after I\’m back home. The day we started the burn pile, I discovered that I can move a log without either rolling it or carrying it! This log was too big and heavy for me to lift; and one end of it had \”stumps\” of branches sticking out; so that rolling it would have been difficult. I got the idea to point one end of the log towards the fire; and to lift the end near me. That stood the log on one end; and I pushed it down. Then I lifted the near end of the log again; and pushed it over again. I repeated this until I got the log onto the fire. You learn something new every day! If I might say so, a little ingenuity goes a long way.

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Chalk and Cheese

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Comparing an exercise bike to a real bicycle is like comparing chalk and cheese. An exercise bike lets me get my legs moving, but that is very different from being on a bicycle that really moves; and that lets me get outdoors. An exercise bike also does nothing to develop handling skills; and the one I\’ve been using the past week doesn\’t have a bottle cage, which drives me crazy. Yes, I\’m thankful to have access to the exercise bike. It\’s helping to keep my leg muscles from becoming totally atrophied; and I know I\’ll be glad of that when I\’m back home and on a real bicycle. On the other hand, I am now suspicious about the accuracy of the exercise bike\’s mileage meter. Before this morning I didn\’t think about it; but today I noticed that the miles seemed to be racking up far too quickly. I have a hunch that the \”ten\” miles I pedaled are really only four or five miles. The climate difference between Spokane and New Orleans is also chalk and cheese. Mornings are cool, and even chilly; whereas New Orleans still has overnight lows in the mid-70s. But the biggest difference is the humidity level. Spokane is far less humid than N.O.; and consequently more comfortable in either heat or cold. In fact, Spokane in the teens doesn\’t feel as cold as N.O. does at 40 degrees! I just checked the forecast for the coming week back home; and it\’s full of rain and T-storms. I must say, it\’s rather depressing to think of going home to that. But once home, I can go for a REAL ride!

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Cleanup Wednesday

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Gosh, post-hurricane cleanup Wednesday. Will this never end? Another day of picking up branches, and feeding the fire; and another day with a triple-digit heat index. It was another day of the generator running out of gas too soon. Of course it was yet another day of no cycling. My leg muscles were getting soft, and I missed the activity. Yes, cleaning up that property was hard work, and you\’d think it counted as exercise; but constantly stooping and standing back up tires me more than miles of riding. Besides, my orthostatic hypotension doesn\’t take kindly to it. I already forgot a lot about exactly what happened which day; but I think this was the day when some neighbors, N and G, invited B and me to their house for a shower and grilled sausages. They had a big generator; and their house had lights, and an enormous television. They also had running water. I didn\’t give a hoot about the TV; but a shower is different. What a relief a shower was! I take showers for granted; but don\’t know it until I can\’t have one for two or three hot, sweaty days in a row. After B and I had our showers, G grilled some wonderful sausages. I sure met some great people post-Ida! It was also today that my brother was able to find a Thursday flight for me; one that was cancelled before the day was out because MSY had shut down. The airport had gotten power restored; but then the water went out. The next flight I could get wasn\’t until Saturday. After cleanup Wednesday we slowed down our efforts. The weather was simply too hot; and it was really hard on my friend. We began to shift our efforts to indoor projects. Wrapping up the Week I don\’t remember what we did Thursday and Friday, except that we went to a Dollar General store Friday morning. I found a package of socks; and some small-sized FitCrunch bars. Perhaps it was Friday that a friend went to Wal-Mart, and asked what she could get for us. She looked for a pair of shorts for me. This was taking a chance; but the shorts that she bought fit great! She also offered to do our laundry for us, as she had power and running water. That was wonderful; and then I could get ready for the trip to Spokane.

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