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Back at It

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I\’m back at it. It\’s such a drag having to return to work. Naturally there are my concerns about COVID-19. Among the pains-in-the-neck about that is: hand washing. The water in the restrooms is cold! When things are operating normally, there are a lot more people in the building; the restrooms get used a lot more; and as the day goes on, the water starts to warm up. But for the better part of a year, we\’ve been at a much-reduced capacity. The water faucets don\’t get run as much, and thus the water doesn\’t warm up. The faucets are also the heat-sensor type, and shut off when you move your hands away. On top of that, it can be just plain cold in the building. I keep an old pair of half-fingered cycling gloves at my desk so that my hands can get a bit of relief from the chill; but I have to wear a heavy sweater and sometimes more! Sometimes I even have to wear a head covering. I know that some staff members keep small electric heaters at their desks; but in the past those heaters have caused short-outs that knock out computers. Without computers, there\’s not much we can do. Getting to work, either by walking or riding a bicycle, lets my body warm up somewhat; but that wears off quite quickly after I\’ve stopped moving. I can\’t keep warm by hopping around at my work station. My handwriting is bad enough without that! News reports about spikes in COVID cases have had me wondering since Hallowe\’en how soon my workplace might shut down. A closure wouldn\’t surprise me at all. I\’m back at it; but for how long?

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Culling

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Culling? No, I\’m not out in the wheat field. Culling my pantry a bit just seemed like a good New Year\’s project. Seriously, I\’ve become overloaded with pantry items. Since the prediabetes diagnosis last February, many things have sat there; and some of them had been around for months already. No food bank would want them, I\’m sure. Not when the Best By date was in 2019! Thus I chucked seven or eight boxes of mac and cheese. Because of my carb-watching, it looked like I\’d never use them. Besides that, I\’ve noticed that, when boxed macaroni has sat for too long, it tends to get weevily! I also got rid of several boxes of cereal bars that have been sitting around for many months. Once again, the Best By date was in 2019; and I don\’t think a food bank would take them. Another step in culling the pantry is to start using up what I already have. I worried for much of 2020 about, suppose a big shut-down comes? But I don\’t think I need to worry quite as much as I do. My apartment looks rather like a hoarder\’s den; and I need to leave myself room to move about. So use up the rice! Start making a dent (no pun intended) in the supply of canned foods! Eat what\’s already in the freezer before I make any more stuff to freeze! I also need to start using up all those dried legumes. Oh, as to the mac and cheese, I decided to have a last fling with it. On New Year\’s, I prepared a box of it; and mixed it with 10 oz of tuna; a half-cup of canned peas; and sliced, pimiento-stuffed olives. It wasn\’t bad; but it wasn\’t terrific, either. And now I must stop eating junk!

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Blueprints

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It\’s time to make blueprints for the 2021 cycling year! As always, I want to improve my cruising speed. I rather envy cyclists who can routinely blaze along at 20+ mph. One morning last October, with a good tailwind, I touched 23.73 mph: an all-time record! When I can get me and the road bike up to such a velocity, it feels almost like I\’m not on the ground any more! Just now I have no major ride plans for this year. Tour de Cure is tempting; but I always have great difficulty in finding enough donors to raise my minimum contribution. In fact, I have to put up most of it myself. Perhaps another century? If I decide to do that, I\’ve got my work cut out for me! What do the blueprints for century training look like? In the first place, when is a good time for a century ride? The trouble is, there isn\’t a \”good\” time. There\’s no telling what the weather will be months ahead of time. Will it rain on century day? Will I have to fight a horrific headwind all day? How soon will this year\’s heat and humidity set in? After I\’ve decided on the day; or at least an approximate date; start working at short (one to three minutes) of riding a lot faster than usual during my weekday morning rides. This doesn\’t have to be force-building intervals at first; that can wait until later. Increase the length of my weekly long ride by a mile or two per week. Experiment with ride food. Work at making parts of my long ride faster; don\’t worry so much about tiring myself out too far from home. Or maybe it\’s all a pipe dream. But I can work to improve as a cyclist; century plans or no.

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Hoping for Better

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Here\’s hoping for better in 2021! We\’re more than happy to have to bidden the year 2020 good riddance, in many ways. There were hurricanes. Let\’s hope for fewer of them this year! There were terrible wildfires. And of course, COVID-19. We all want an end to the pandemic. Some people are unfortunate enough to have the virus, and suffer lingering effects for months afterwards. That\’s what worries me most of all about catching it. Besides, I\’m at risk for serious complications should I catch COVID-19; and it will be great to finally get vaccinated and stop worrying so much. I don\’t dare hold my breath about it, though. I\’d suffocate! I want to keep working to improve my eating habits. Goodness knows, it\’s not easy. My sweet tooth keeps acting up, and it probably will always be a fight. But I don\’t want my prediabetes to progress to full-blown Type II. Yesterday, Silvesterabend, I munched and nibbled all day. Since Christmas Eve, there have been too many days like that! I didn\’t get much exercise yesterday, either. The possibility of bad, or severe, weather kept me indoors most of the time. I\’m hoping for better in cycling, too; both in riding itself, and in improving on-bike nutrition. The nutritionist I worked with advised me to look for bars that have at least 12 grams of protein. But what about carb content? Do I need to worry so much about carbs during a 40-mile ride? Incidentally, a New Year\’s Day ride typically means finding large patches of debris from fireworks all over the bike path. I wish people who decide to set off their pyrotechnics there would be dragged out of bed at 5 am to clean up their own messes!

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Sizing It Up

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I\’m sizing it up; or, at least, I\’m trying to. I really need a new cycling jacket. Monday night I was checking some online. I found one that I liked, but the size chart gave me pause. For that particular jacket, an EXTRA small is for height 5\’2\” to 5\’3\”. That right there is taller than I am! But the waist measurement given is several inches too small. I\’m aware that clothing size charts might give measurements that are smaller than the actual size of an item. But why risk buying a jacket \”sight unseen\” — and being unable to fasten it around my waist? That\’s why I like to see things and try them on before buying. Unfortunately my local bike shop is out of cold-weather gear. It\’s going to get chilly by week\’s end; and I hope the jacket that I finally did order is here by then. I\’m sizing it up for 2021, too. Who isn\’t? What are my cycling goals for the New Year? Is it enough to just keep riding; or is it wiser to keep working to increase my pace? What more can I do if I want to get faster? Longer efforts riding a few mph faster than is comfortable? Tabata intervals? Of course I want to keep my weight under control; and I have to maintain my efforts to get my A1c level down. Since February it seems to be stuck despite my efforts to lessen it. But what do I have to do to get it to budge? Looks like my diet needs more sizing up, too.

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Scratching out Tradition?

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I\’m scratching out tradition; or I thought I was. Yesterday I got my \”New Year\’s\” dinner: Chinese take-out in the form of General Tso\’s Chicken combination plate. There\’s an old saying that, if you want to move forward in the New Year, you should eat pork for New Year\’s. If you eat chicken, supposedly you\’ll go backwards all year. This stems from the foraging habits of pigs and chickens. The pig pushes forward when looking for food; but the chicken scratches backwards. I\’m not too concerned about that; and I prefer chicken to pork or ham, anyhow. Besides, we\’re neither going into the Year of the Pig; nor just leaving it. Come to think of it, the Chinese New Year 2021 falls on February 12 of the Western calendar. Ergo it\’s not New Year\’s yet! So my having had General Tso\’s Chicken for dinner doesn\’t count — right? Besides, today I saw that I\’m not scratching out tradition entirely. I rode to the salvage store this morning. I though I\’d get some hot dogs; and while looking at them, I found single-serve packets of thin-sliced ham. I got one so I can make a ham sandwich on January 1. I\’m glad I went to the store today. As tomorrow is New Year\’s Eve, it might be pretty crazy. They might well be closed for New Year\’s (I forgot to check for that); and Saturday it will be much colder than it was this morning. I sure got the wind on the way home today, though. It got as strong as 20 mph, with some much stronger gusts. I was thankful that I wasn\’t hauling the trailer! I would have had to granny-gear it all the way!

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Iran

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Mesopotamia This article shows that cycling in Iran isn’t so impossible as one — read, I — might imagine. On the contrary, a bicycle journey through Iran can be inexpensive; the people are hospitable; it apparently is a good deal safer than I thought; and, judging from the pics, it’s a beautiful country. Quite mountainous, though. So, with that out of the way, what routes are there for prospective cycle tourists? You might want to start by considering one of these; especially if you’re a mountain biking enthusiast. Do classic sites interest you? Visit Shiraz and other cities; and tour nine UNESCO cultural heritage sites.   Or, pedal through Dasht-e Kavir. There are numerous oases and villages along the way; and you’ll follow parts of the Silk Road. But be sure you have your Camel-Bak! If you want something wetter, there’s the Persian Gulf Coast tour. You’ll have the chance to explore some historic ports; and some UNESCO sites as well. This nation sounds quite fascinating. If you want to head there for a cycling adventure, here are some tips.  Taking along your own bicycle? You’ll need a travel case for it. Be prepared to dress modestly, men and women alike; and keep this in mind for your travel wardrobe. Learn some ta’arof; and a bit of lingo; and, finally, salaam. 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.” ABOUT ME © 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 ✍🏻 Facebook Twitter Youtube INTERPRETER

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Going Traditional

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I\’m going traditional today! For years, I did my laundry after work on Wednesdays. Since the pandemic began, that pattern has shifted. I got very tired by the end of the day on weekdays. Other things kept me busy: cooking; meal planning; and logging not only what I ate; but calories and carbs as well. Even when I worked from home all week, that was a bit much. It still is. I wound up doing laundry on Sunday afternoons! This time, I didn\’t even get to it on Sunday. Thus I\’m going traditional; and did my washing today, Monday. I\’ve been off of work for a whole week, and that meant less of a load; especially as cool-to-cold weather means I can use the same blouse for several days. The job took about an hour and a half. Partway through, I had to grab a half-ounce of mozzarella cheese to hold me over until I could finish; and then I fixed a salad: two cups of mixed salad greens (purchased at the salvage store); half an avocado, sliced; a half-cup of Bald Eagle; with a tablespoon of mild green taco sauce; a chopped scallion; and sliced, garlic-stuffed olives as topping. It was worth the effort. Now then, what shall I do this afternoon? Go for a ride? I already rode to the supermarket this morning; but that was only about seven miles; and the weather is great for a spin on the levee right now.

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Popcorn!

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I want popcorn! But why? Preparing it means an oily pot to clean up; and don\’t get me started about the hulls sticking between my teeth. I\’m watching a YouTube about the destruction of Pompeii in 79 AD. It\’s a favorite subject of mine; but why does watching a video make me want popcorn? It\’s many and many a year since I last went to the movies! And did I even buy that snack then? This food isn\’t bad as an off-bike snack. Oil-popped, it has about 55 calories per cup; and just over 6 grams of carbs. Air-popped, the count is 31 calories per cup. Of course, that\’s without the addition of butter and other caloric toppings. Sort of like with potatoes … hey, that\’s an idea. Popcorn with cheese and chives! Popcorn wouldn\’t make good ride food, I\’m quite sure. It isn\’t sustaining enough for hours of pedaling; and I\’d have to cram my Camel-Bak full of it. Then what would I do for water? These weird cravings hit now and then, and I don\’t know why. If anything, they seem worst when I\’m not hungry! So what\’s up? Am I thirsty? Do I need to get up and get moving? Would green tea help? At the moment, I think I\’ll let hot chocolate go; I don\’t want to overshoot my carb count. Or am I tired? I was up too late last night, I admit. Having two weeks off from work is spoiling me rotten. I can sleep until 8 am if I want to! Whatever brought on this craving, I have to knock off other stuff and go wash the dishes. Thanks to my laziness in that matter, I have to leave laundry for tomorrow!

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Post Christmas

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Here we are, post Christmas. When I was a kid, that lasted quite a while. We never put up our Christmas Tree until after supper on December 23. Then, we put on the lights; and installed the angel on top. After breakfast the next morning, we hung all the ornaments. As we kids got older, it became difficult to find room for all of them! Then the Tree stayed up until January 6. After supper that evening, we\’d take it down. Santa had always \”forgotten\” a treat under the Tree; so Christmas didn\’t quite end until then. This holiday season — in fact, all of 2020 — has been weird, and not only for me. It\’s been strange for everyone, all over the world. COVID-19. There\’s been some wild, crazy weather in the USA the last couple of days, including tornadoes. On Christmas Day I usually get together with the folks who lived nearby while I was growing up; this year I decided to skip it. I sure missed seeing them, but why take unnecessary chances with that virus? Yesterday the chill factor was still in the 30s. Between that and my wardrobe problems, I decided to \”ride\” indoors again. I blew my diet big time, and I do mean BIG. Now I\’ve got to bring my palate back to heel. This morning I took a ride to Walmart, despite the cold weather. At least the wind was calm. I got some peppermint bark on sale; and wouldn\’t you know, I forgot to get Xmas cards for next year. The most important post Christmas item! Walmart wasn\’t crowded at all; in fact, it was rather empty. I was in and out rather quickly. In the store, I began to feel a bit hungry. I\’m proud of myself for having resisted the donut case!

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