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Block

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A block can be either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. There\’s writer\’s (or blogger\’s!) block. I think I can say that I know something of that! Sometimes for days or even weeks I have great difficulty in thinking of new blog topics; and it drives me crazy. I work all day at another job, and that doesn\’t help. For a young \’un, there\’s that proud first ride around the block; or even just up and down the driveway. A balance bike can help the very young rider get started. For athletes, there are training blocks; but I\’m not sure whether I can say that I train that way. As I understand it, training blocks are the same thing as periodized training; and I don\’t follow that kind of plan. In fact, I\’m not quite sure you can say that I\’m really \”training\”! I ride year-round, and I don\’t worry about training for events — unless I decide to ride Tour de Cure; or take it into my head to do a self-supported century. My notions for the latter are becoming less nebulous; and I hope I\’m approaching it in the right way. It\’s too hot for me to try to ride 100 miles in a day now, though. Day before yesterday I rode 61.60 miles; and the heat was terrible. But I need some acclimatization, even if getting it isn\’t comfortable. However, where\’s the line between acclimatization and the risk of heat-related illness? I think I\’ll shoot for about 60 miles next Sunday; the Sunday after that, about 40 miles; and then the following Sunday bump it up to 65 miles; and I hope it won\’t be as hot as this past Sunday!

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Hammer and Tongs

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Sometimes we cyclists go at it hammer and tongs, as the saying goes. We hear of the hammerfest, right? I\’ve tackled mileage hammer and tongs from the word Go. I always enjoyed watching the miles rack up; and I don\’t call them junk miles. I ride for the fun of it, even though I\’ll never be as fast as this Pleasure Train! During my long ride yesterday, the sun was going at me hammer and tongs. It didn\’t get quite as hot as predicted; but it was still very hot. Between water and Nuun, I estimate that I took in about two gallons of fluid! Towards the end, neither beverage was helping me much. I don\’t know whether that means I was approaching a dangerous level of overheating; or whether I needed cold fluid. At some point I began to get a little headachy. Again, I may have been getting overheated; and I might also have needed a little caffeine. The relentless sun beating down on me didn\’t help; but on the way home I ran into some overcast here and there. It\’s amazing what a difference that made! I wore my old sun sleeves; and they helped, too. Sun sleeves feel hot when you first put them on; but after you get moving and they pick up some perspiration, your arms feel cooler. You can even splash water on the sun sleeves, which is what I did. I was surprised at how soon the sleeves dried. Several hours after I got back home, I found that the relative humidity was only 56%; and for us, that\’s less humid than usual. No wonder those sleeves got dry so fast! Mid-afternoon the T-storms began to fire up. I\’m glad they didn\’t start hammer and tongs while I was riding!

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FAQ

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Everything has its FAQ list; and cycling follows suit. What\’s at the top of the cyclist\’s FAQ list? That\’s hard to say — my top question might not be another person\’s — but weather is a good candidate! Will it rain; or will there be blazing sunshine? At present, \”How hot will it get?\” cannot be ignored. Yesterday an excessive heat warning was issued at 9:00 am; and such conditions make adequate hydration vital. I got plenty hot during the ride back home from the salvage store; and naturally was rather concerned about how to manage today\’s long ride. Another item on the FAQ list is, how many layers do I need when the weather is cold? They say it\’s better to be slightly under-dressed than to pile on too many clothes and get overheated; but take along a spare layer just in case. If you have to stop for some reason, you don\’t need to get chilled. Another big question is, how about fueling for a long ride? What should I take; and how much of it? Will something \”light\” do; or do I need something denser? And again, how hot will it get? Energy bars with half-melted coating are a mess and a nuisance. Weather, clothing, and fuel; now what else is there? Oh, of course; is my bicycle ready? Are the tires at the correct PSI; and do the brakes work? Reconnaissance Today\’s ride (61.60 miles) was almost a metric century; and I did some reconnaissance, too. If I\’m to do a century ride, I need to know the distances between my stopping points; especially as I\’ll have to do a certain amount of doubling back. That\’s another FAQ for the long-distance cyclist: how far is it between rest stops? Frequently given advice: don\’t bypass them! I started out at 4:55 am, because I knew it would get very hot; and I sure drank a lot of water! When I use my Camel-Bak, I fill up the reservoir; and also take a spare bottle of water. I empty the bottle into the Camel-Bak as needed; and then refill it. Today I refilled that bottle four times; and I also drank more Nuun than usual. I must have gotten two gallons or so of fluid in me. As it turned out, the excessive heat warning wasn\’t in effect; but the heat advisory was. As the ride went on, I noticed that my heart rate was in zone 3; but my breathing felt like zone 4! I figured it was because of the heat; and had to slow down. Another FAQ: what is the direction of the wind? I\’m so glad it was behind me on the way back home! Bucking a headwind in this heat is a bit much! When I was ready to head back home, I saw that the clouds were building up; and here and there they obscured the sun. That was a welcome relief! There\’s a 50% chance of T-storms this afternoon; and I\’m glad to be home ahead of bad weather. Oh — yet another FAQ: how close is that lightning?

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Altitude Training

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Altitude Training 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.” Altitude training is indispensable if you want to do bicycle tours in the mountains (for instance, in Colorado); or, of course, if your ambition is to be a rider in Le Tour. More specifically, if your aim is to make KOM! We know that oxygen is in rather short supply when you’re thousands of feet up; and the principle of altitude training is to make the body more efficient at using oxygen. Many years ago I visited Denver, Colorado (“Mile High City”) for a week; and I felt out of breath the entire time. I wasn’t even riding a bicycle! I’ve lived at sea level my entire life, which didn’t help. How do riders manage the Leadville 100? Training at high altitude may very well help to develop the cardiovascular system; but what can you do when you live far away from any mountains; and don’t have the resources to go to the mountains for a prolonged spell of training? Some riders use a hypoxic mask to simulate high altitude. If I had ambitions to tackle that Leadville 100, or the Alpe dHuez, I’d need one! The thing looks very smothery, though, and I don’t enjoy the thought of using it in this heat; so I’m glad I have no plans to ride at altitude! How about high altitude fueling? Here is some info on the subject. I remember reading many years ago that it’s normal to burn more calories at higher altitudes; and I can understand needing more hydration when you’re up high. That’s especially true for a low-lander like me. At high altitude I’m gasping for breath; and that dries out my mouth and throat. It’s lucky I have my Camel-Bak! Hot weather only complicates matters. Thinking about it makes me tired; and, as I’m lazy, I think I’ll stick with sea level.   ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is! You can read all about it in My Story. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © 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 Mini-Ride! December 7, 2023 I Still Can’t Ride! December 6, 2023 Unseamed December 5, 2023 A Stitch in Time December 4, 2023 Load More TRANSLATOR

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Applegate Organic Turkey Burgers

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Applegate Organic Turkey Burgers are a delicious alternative to beef hamburgers. Non-GMO; humanely raised. Great for grilling; or cook in a skillet with a little oil. Use for sandwiches; or crumble during cooking for an addition to a stir-fry. Pack of four burgers. I\’ve tried these, and I like them; but it\’s hard to test their internal temperature. Usually I wind up cutting the burger in two, so I can see whether the inside is cooked. I don\’t care if I have two pieces, instead of one whole burger; and I can still make a sandwich out of it!

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No Go

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Sometimes a thing is just no go; and I don\’t mean only stop signs. I\’m always on the lookout for new things to use as ride food. I like to try them away from the bike before taking them along on a long ride; and not everything I try seems suitable. This bar, for example. Some time ago I tried one during a ride; and thought it was OK. A couple of days ago, I ate one as an after-work snack, when I was too busy to fix a proper supper. This time it didn\’t seem to have much sustenance. The Cold Stone bar has fewer calories and carbs than a FitCrunch bar of comparable volume; and in fact, the Cold Stone bar weighs less. Maybe I\’m too used to the denser texture of the FitCrunch bars. I used them often when I found plenty of them in the grab-bag bins at the salvage store. But my luck at finding FitCrunch bars on the cheap won\’t last forever; and then I\’ll have to use something else. I plan to try Quest bars and RXBars for a while. The coating on FitCrunch bars half melts in the heat; and I call that a no go. Quest and RXBars get sticky, too; but at least they aren\’t coated. Trying to get home from work Wednesday seemed like a no go, too. I had to wait for a long freight train; and it was so slow that I feared it would stop. Luckily there was a place where I could wait in the shade. I started to feel so hungry that I ate a GU-Gel. I was merely standing around, and still got to feeling bonkish. What a no go!

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Big Change

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We\’ve had a big change in our weather. For weeks there was the constant threat of rain and T-storms; but now we have heat advisories every day! These advisories aren\’t only during the afternoon; yesterday\’s went into effect in the wee hours of the morning! I\’m glad I have only 2.5 miles to ride home from work. By then, the heat index is typically over 100 degrees! A co-worker of mine has six or seven miles to ride; and I\’m not sure he uses a water bottle. In this sweltering heat, I think that\’s risky. For my Sunday long rides, a cooling device of some sort might not be a bad idea; especially during the second half of the ride. The catch with using such a thing is that I\’ll get spoiled; and if I forget it at home, I\’ll be miserable. Incidentally, I don\’t envy the athletes who are competing in outdoor events in Tokyo! I haven\’t made a big change in my so-called training; but Tuesday I did try something different. On the way out, I did two, 7-minute efforts at 15 mph. There wasn\’t time for a third such interval before I had to head back in. Coming back home, I tried two, 3-minute efforts at 17 mph. The first one in particular seemed endless! It pushed my heart rate into its maximum zone. That\’s not comfortable; but probably I need a certain amount of that effort level to help improve my fitness. So there I go, switching tactics; but if I want to ride a long event at 14-15 mph in October, I have to start trying to ride at 17 mph now. Plotting That reminds me: I must do a bit of reconnaissance if I\’m to do a 100-miler. Out to the Spillway and back is only half that distance; so getting in a century ride over that stretch of bike path means a certain amount of doubling back. I can start by doing laps of the park; and making my first pit stop at home. Then I can head out for the Spillway; but I have to plan my stop-and-turn points so that I don\’t finish too far from home. This is a big change from my usual long-ride thinking. Doubling back over the same section of path is irksome; but with all the road construction messes all around here, I want to stick with a route that I know.

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Scratch My Back

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You scratch my back, and I\’ll scratch yours; although I don\’t think I\’d want this cat to do it! I heard the expression used in a YouTube about the Tour de France that I watched a few days ago. I don\’t remember the video\’s title, and I can\’t find it now; but it had to do with riders helping each other — such as giving a team mate a wheel when necessary. I understand that a wheel donation is a no-no when the two riders are on different teams; or have I gotten that mixed up? Cyclists out on casual rides tend to look out for each other, too; even it\’s only to call out, \”You OK?\” when they see another rider stopped on the side of the path. That\’s the good old \”you scratch my back, and I\’ll scratch yours\”. But it\’s a good thing that the other rider typically is all right. I fear I\’d be useless for helping with a flat tire because of tendonitis in my thumb. Even without the tendonitis, I\’m all thumbs at changing tubes; which is why I use tire liners. If it\’s a GU-Gel the rider needs, I can usually spare one. Oh, My Back! Speaking of backs: maybe it\’s the heat and humidity; but there\’s a spot in my back that\’s driving me crazy. It itches; and of course it\’s hard to reach. If I rode for hours every day, wearing that loaded Camel-Bak, I could understand it. If I walked to work everyday, wearing a heavy backpack, I could understand it. Any kind of backpack keeps perspiration from evaporating; and all that wetness trapped against skin can lead to irritation. But I don\’t do either of those things. Most days I ride to work, and I don\’t wear a backpack for that. Whatever it is, I need somebody to scratch my back!

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Heartening News

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I\’ve got some heartening news, for a change. This past week, I finally got the heart rate monitor of my Garmin working! To do that, I had to take the monitor and my Garmin read-out screen to the bike shop; and a young man there had it up and running in a couple of minutes. I have no idea what I was doing wrong; but it\’s what comes of being a technophobe! Now that I can track my heart rate during my rides, I have a much better idea of my work load. The formula I use works like this: day before yesterday I went for a ride, and my heart rate readings were: 18 minutes in zone 2; 69 minutes in zone 3; and 64 minutes in zone 4. These figures are rounded off to the nearest minute. To determine what my work load was, I multiply minutes spent in each zone by the zone\’s number; for example, 18 minutes in zone 2 = 36. Thus my total work load for this ride is 484. It was only a short ride; 31 miles. Every third Sunday I dial back the mileage; and besides that, I needed to save some energy for doing my laundry. I usually try to get it done on Saturday; but last Saturday I wore myself out cooking. It got very hot during that ride; and in fact, after I got back home I learned that there was a heat advisory in effect. That\’s not the first time in the last week or so that the heat index rose to over 100 degrees! The heartening news was that there wasn\’t any tropical activity in the Gulf. I don\’t enjoy broiling temperatures; but a hurricane is even less enjoyable.

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Satisfied?

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Sometimes it seems like I\’m never satisfied. That, in fact, seems to be the human condition! For weeks the forecasts constantly predicted showers and T-storms. I was weary of packing along the poncho anywhere and everywhere I went; and tired of wondering whether the weather would mean I couldn\’t ride. Or, worse, that I might get caught out in a storm. The endless edge of anxiety was getting to me; but if there was an upside to it all, it\’s that the constant overcast kept us from getting as hot as usual. There were a lot of muddy spots after so much rain; and of course I griped about that. I don\’t like carrying a muddy-tired bicycle indoors; but I\’m not going to leave my bikes outside! Even if a bicycle cover does a great job of protecting the bicycle from the elements, the bike is still a potential target for thieves. I\’d be extremely UN-satisfied if either of my bikes were stolen! Then, last Thursday, we finally had a really sunny day. I enjoyed being able to ride to and from work without the threat of a downpour; but no overcast meant I had the sun in my eyes on the way to work! Of course I didn\’t like that; another thing to complain about! All that sunshine of course meant that it got much hotter; and the afternoon heat index exceeded 100 degrees! There was even a heat advisory in effect; and I had to ride home through that heat. There I go griping again — as I said, I\’m never satisfied! Incidentally, temperatures like this are why I\’m not aiming to tackle a century before October. I don\’t have the conditioning to ride for hours in triple-digit heat!

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