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Slow as Molasses

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Slow as molasses in January. That\’s how I often feel during my Sunday long rides, be it January or July. Today I averaged below 12 mph on a ride of 29.1 miles. My pace development seems to be going nowhere. Why? Maybe I\’m still not back in shape after nearly a month of no road bike? It\’s just over two weeks since I got the road bike back; and maybe I need more time to get back into condition. Perhaps I need to spend more time pushing the pace during my weekday morning rides. They do say, if you want to get faster, you have to ride fast. An early morning ride when it\’s foggy (as it was today), however, is a poor time for speed work. There are too many people out there, on bikes or not, who don\’t have lights; and who are wearing dark clothing, etc. Even when there\’s no fog, visibility in the dark can be a problem; and I have to be cautious. Today\’s poor pace wasn\’t due to under-fueling. My ride data shows that I burned 797 calories; and I took in 680 calories during the ride. That\’s a deficit of 117 calories, and I don\’t call that excessive! The wind was 8-9 mph; and a headwind on the way back home, as usual. When I\’ve got a headwind it helps to ride in the drops; and I think I need to practice it more. Riding \”dropped\” isn\’t difficult; but the position takes some getting used to. It wasn\’t cold today; in fact, it\’s warm for January. The temperature at 8 am was in the low 60s. Maybe that explains the fog! Maybe the biggest reason that I\’m staying slow as molasses is: I\’m too afraid of pushing too hard. In other words, I\’m lazy!

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Atonement?

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Is it atonement when I demolish a pint of frozen dessert in one evening; but that same evening I chop up broccoli to use the next day? Is it really possible make up for having eaten \”bad\” foods in such a way? Cyclists must be careful about \”atonement\” when it comes to training. In fact, it\’s better to avoid it, they say. If you miss a day\’s workout, don\’t try to make up for it with extra work the next day. Forget Day A\’s plan; and focus on Day B. That makes sense to me; and I think it\’s sensible for anybody for whom time is tight — which means most people. Few, if any, of us can cram 2x amount of training into 1x amount of time. I know I can\’t; and I\’m not going to half-kill myself trying. While we\’re talking about atonement, will cleaning up my diet make up for a year or more of a highly junk-food diet; and get my A1c level back below the prediabetes range? How far can dietary changes take me? I\’ve been working at it since last February. My intake of sweets is much less than it was (albeit still more than it should be). Last year I lost at least 20 pounds; but by Fall my A1c level hadn\’t budged. Sometimes I think I try too hard. Maybe that\’s why I\’ve been craving Chinese food for several days; and maybe that craving is why I keep feeling like I\’m hungry. Today I decided to go for that Chinese food — although getting it meant riding through a mucky mess! I can\’t wait for that street improvement work to be finished. I chose a luncheon combination plate, and ate about two-thirds of it. Shall I atone for it with a broccoli supper?

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Klutzy!

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I sure feel klutzy on the bicycle sometimes. It\’s really annoying, too. When I\’m getting the water bottle out/back in, I waver all over the place! I wasn\’t terrific at this bit of technique in the first place; and I guess I got out of practice while the road bike was in the shop. I get annoyed with myself for being so squirrely. What I need is a lot more practice with one-handed riding; and water bottle drills to learn better technique for handling said bottle! The trouble with me is that I don\’t think about that when I\’m out for a morning ride and a) want to get my miles in; or b) am working on force exercises. The Sunday long ride, come to think of it, is a good time. I\’m not riding in the dark; and I don\’t have to be too concerned about my pace. Not for the time being, anyhow; I\’m not preparing for an event. I don\’t want to try riding in a group until I\’m better at bike handling, anyway. Wavering isn\’t the only klutzy thing that happens. Of course I sometimes drop the bottle; and then I have to go back for it. What an annoyance that is! It\’s especially galling when my pace is going better than usual. I lose all my momentum, and have to find it again. During long rides, when I\’m using the Camel-Bak, I have the drinking tube. Getting water is much easier; but I still have a bottle in the down-tube cage with my electrolyte drink. I have the same old problem with wavering when I reach for it. I can\’t expect to have the bike-handling skills of a Pro Tour rider. But after nearly nine years on two wheels, you\’d expect that I could at least ride in a straight line while I get a drink. It gives another meaning to, Don\’t Drink and Drive.

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Test Weary

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I\’m test weary. Who isn\’t? COVID-19 testing is a drag. I work on a university campus; and now that the students are back, they\’re testing everyone more frequently. For a while, at least, it will be every two weeks for staffers like me. Once a MONTH was enough of a nuisance! I guess cyclists in serious race training get test weary, too. They need to determine their functional threshold power, for one thing; and from what I\’ve read about it, that isn\’t exactly fun. There are other tests, too; but FTP is the term that sticks in my mind. A morning ride feel like a test in cold weather. It\’s even more of a test because cold weather means that it\’s cold in here; and I\’m slow and sluggish as a result. It seems to take ever so much longer to get ready for a ride on cold mornings. I have to put on extra layers; and just when I think I\’m ready to go, I remember something else! Day before yesterday it warmed up considerably: mid-70s in the afternoon! I might soon have to face the test of riding in the rain. Cold + rain + dark + wind tests any cyclist\’s patience and stamina; and there are spells when it seems like I\’ll never have an UN-rainy ride again. All I can do is keep plodding along. Sometimes the only way out is through.

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Mutation

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Mutation sounds like the COVID-19 virus. That thing seems to be changing faster and faster; and I, for one, hope that it soon mutates itself out of existence. But mutation seems inescapable. My job has changed a great deal in the many years that I\’ve had it; and it\’s now unrecognizable as the job I began. And we all undergo mutation as cyclists, don\’t we? When I got my adult tricycle, I never imagined that I would evolve into a roadie several years later. I thought I had a way to get to and from work and the grocery store; and that I could ride a few extra miles on weekends, just for fun. One thing quickly led to another; even a three-wheeled century ride! All that vigorous exercise seemed to reduce the wobbly sensations inside of my head; and two and a half years after I bought the trike, I was on a hybrid. Before long I was using toe clips; and several months later, I went clipless. I did two self-supported centuries on the hybrid. As the miles on the hybrid racked up, thoughts of a road bike crept in. In April, 2013, I got it; and I\’ve never looked back. The recipes I make keep mutating, too. Take Chicken Tikka Masala (The Feed Zone Cookbook, p. 229). A couple of days ago I tried a new variation: I used the 12 oz bag of grilled chicken strips that was in the freezer. I put in 2 cups of chopped cauliflower; and added minced garlic and about a half cup of chopped red bell pepper. It will soon be time to make another garbage soup. That \”recipe\” changes every time I make it … is this a \”fake it \’til you make it\”?

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What Color Is Noise?

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What color is noise? Let\’s prick up our ears, and figure it out. White noise is probably the first thing that come to mind. Some people use white noise machines in their bedrooms. Not I! Conventional white noise is too high-frequency for me; and it drives me crazy. Anyone who has to ride alongside motor traffic knows about that kind of noise. I\’m glad don\’t have a long commute with VW Beetles; and large trucks; and everything in between, roaring past. I\’d need to wear earplugs! The trouble with that is, earplugs can block too much sound; and that\’s not such a good thing. When riding with motor traffic, what color is the noise? Different vehicles make different sounds. I guess you can say that emergency vehicles sound red, especially when that siren is screaming! When you can escape the cacaphony of the city, and ride in the countryside, you can enjoy what you hear. I like hearing the birds. Maybe I should call it \”blue noise\”? Is the rustling of breeze in the leaves \”green noise\”? How about blasting along a mucky cyclocross course? What color is that? Brown noise, perhaps? Or even black noise? It depends on what color the mud is; some areas have orangish (so-called red) dirt. Parts of Alabama, for example. We cyclists always have to contend with wind noise. It can be the roar of a stiff headwind; or it can be the whoosh of our own forward motion. The latter is a nice, cheerful color — bright, sunshine yellow, maybe. The former I would call a gloomy gray. Whatever the color, if wind noise bothers you, there are \”cat ears\” to help reduce the sound. Sound, in fact, has the full color spectrum of a rainbow!

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Further Culling

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Time for further culling of my pantry. I give you my word, though: my pantry is nowhere near as tidy as this one! I already did a weed-out project a few weeks ago; and this past weekend I started to think about what more I could oust. First target: a can of cherry pie filling. I bought it even before last February\’s prediabetes diagnosis, with the idea of using small amounts of it to garnish oatmeal. Post-diagnosis I began to watch carbs; and I had a lot of high-carb stuff in addition to that pie filling. Canned foods keep a long time, so the cherry stuff sat while I worked on other things. I got tired of seeing that can. I knew that keeping the cherry filling in the fridge wasn\’t a good idea; the stuff is too tempting. I didn\’t want to portion it out and freeze it, because the freezer is full enough already. Solution: open up the can; eat a tablespoon of the cherries; and toss the rest. Maybe it\’s not out of my mind; but it isn\’t here to lure me. I did the same thing with a can of poppy seed filling. I LOVE that stuff, so I opened the can; used a small amount; and got rid of what was left. When this began, I though I\’d be able to portion out things like candy bars: cut the bar in pieces, and have one piece a day. Great in theory; in practice, it\’s much harder than I thought. So further culling of my food supply means, don\’t buy candy bars in the first place! I\’m still looking over my supply of canned goods. I might find a few more items I can cull. Pare down and streamline!

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Velut Luna?

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\”O Fortuna, velut luna\”. O Fortune, variable as the moon. Thus begins Carmina Burana; and sometimes I think I\’m as variable as that satellite of ours. After yesterday\’s abortive attempt to ride to the salvage store, I made plans for this morning. The idea was to set out at about 6 am for a 20-mile ride on the road bike; then hitch the trailer to the hybrid for a trip to the salvage store. Wouldn\’t you know — I changed my mind. I didn\’t do quite enough preparation last night. I ought to have pumped up the tires, at least. That delayed my departure; and it was already past 7:00 when I at last got going. At least it was daylight by then; and the light let me see the frost on the grass. Frost is pretty, even if I don\’t like the cold weather. I had warm packs in my gloves; but I sure could have used some in my shoes! As I rode, I debated whether to make the trip to the salvage store. Ultimately I decided not to. To reach the store by 10:00, I would have had almost no time to eat breakfast; and if I had tried to wait until after the salvage store trip to eat, I\’d have bonked. Wait a minute; didn\’t I eat before hopping on the road bike? Yes, of course I did; but my pre-ride snack plus the GU-Gel at the halfway mark were more than burned off. On top of the fueling problem, I had gotten a lot of fluid into me, and … we know what that means! In addition, I was delayed in getting home. A stationary freight train forced me into a detour of several miles. Velut luna? Sometimes I am.

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Thwarted

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Brake rub thwarted me yet again this morning. The wind had dropped considerably since last night; and I wanted to go to the salvage store. I still have scads of canned goods; but the constant din in the media about COVID-19 makes me want to keep well stocked. So, I hitched up the trailer. It didn\’t work out. As soon as I climbed aboard and began pedaling, I heard an odd \”grrk\” noise. Before long, it became harder and harder to pedal; and the headwind was no help. Finally I stopped to see what was going on. As I suspected, the rear wheel had brake rub. Again. For the last few months using the trailer nearly always results in brake rub! I wasn\’t even halfway to the store; and I decided that it was better to go back home. Later this morning I went to the bike shop to see what was going on with those brakes. They said something about the quick release not being quite right; and they also said, put the bicycle in an upright position while hitching up the trailer. If the bike is leaning on the kickstand, the wheel gets pulled a bit out of position when I hitch up. The result is brake rub! So today\’s plan was thwarted; but maybe I can try a Sunday trip to the salvage store. It will be cold again tomorrow; but at least there won\’t be much wind. The store opens later on Sundays, though; and that could mean more traffic. Or maybe I\’ll let the salvage store wait until next Saturday; and do my long ride tomorrow, as usual. I just got new cleats put on my cycling shoes, and I hope my left foot won\’t come unclipped as I ride!

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Cold Holiday

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It\’ll be a cold holiday! Yes; I have a three-day weekend before me. Snow is a great rarity here; and none is expected. But it will be cold enough for me! This afternoon the wind started to strengthen. Around 3:30 I heard a few gusts that were quite strong; and I decided I\’d better drop work for a minute, and bring in my recycling bin before it got blown away. Indeed, the wind now is 22 mph. It\’s blowing from the West, which is unusual. If this wind keeps up, my neighborhood will be smelling the fumes from the petroleum refinery 25 miles away! I\’m glad that doesn\’t happen often. I\’m also glad the wind is supposed to drop to about 10 mph by morning. The predicted low is in the upper 30s; and such a temperature plus a 22 mph wind means a chill factor well below freezing! So — shall I go to the salvage store, or not? Even if the wind drops to 10 mph by morning, as predicted, the chill factor will still be around 29 degrees. I can put warm packs inside my gloves; but my feet will still be too cold. At least I should have a tailwind on the way back home; and that always helps. How about the Sunday long ride? It will still be cold in the morning. I won\’t be trying for 40 miles yet; I\’m still getting back into road-bike condition, and 25 miles would be a more sensible goal. Monday? It will be great to have a day to sleep a few extra hours. I might go for a short ride; and take Tuesday off from bicycles. But whatever I do, it will be a cold holiday.

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