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Old Cyclists Never Die

Old cyclists never die; like Old Man River, they just keep rollin\’ along. Seriously, though, what will I do if I reach the point where I can\’t ride a bicycle any longer? Get a recumbent? A StreetStrider? Another adult trike? Sometimes I already feel old and weak. Many a time I\’ve been out riding, and had silver-haired riders of both genders whiz past me. Including, of course, today. I put in 37.4 miles. This morning I tried to ride steadily, even if I wasn\’t as fast as I would have liked. I didn\’t feel fast; and naturally, I had a headwind on the way home. In some strange way, though, I seemed to feel different. More solid, if you will. I can\’t quite put my finger on it. A check of my ride data after I got home showed an average speed of nearly 13 mph, a bit faster than usual. Wind conditions were similar to last Sunday, too. It looks as if I\’ve been doing something right, so I\’d better keep on doing it. If virtual Tour de Cure means no time cut-off, I ought to be OK. I hope I\’m doing my on-bike fueling right. Today I alternated between bites of Kind and Quest. I tried the Quest Birthday Cake flavor this time; one bite every 15 minutes. Kind seems to give me a bit more of a boost. I\’ll bet I was a sight, though. It was cool enough for a full-sleeved jacket when I set out. My newer jacket, which has its sleeves, has a busted zipper. Even with a long-sleeved blouse, I though my arms would be too cool if I wore just my vest. I put on the vest and the sleeves from the busted-zipper jacket. The former is white; the latter is coral. Even with my Camel-Bak and reflective vest over it all, it must have been quite visible. Maybe it made me look senile? But no worries. Because, y\’know, old cyclists never die.

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Heartless?

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Am I heartless? You might think so if you could see my Garmin screen while I\’m riding my road bike. Where\’s the heart rate reading? A week or two ago I began to see bizarre heart rate readings as I rode. One day the screen said I was in HR Zone 0.9, and I knew very well that I was working harder than that. Another day, when I checked my data post-ride, it said my max HR had been in the 170s. NO WAY. If I\’d been working as hard as that, I probably would have been blacking out. Or worse. I guess the sensor is wearing out. This will be at least the second time I\’ve needed to replace it. What a nuisance! Maybe I should work at getting more in tune to my RPE. At any rate, I haven\’t worn the chest strap for several days. Why bother, when it isn\’t giving accurate readings? The battery in it was changed recently, so I don\’t think that\’s the problem. It\’s true that I now can tell quite well when I\’m in my maximum HR range. That\’s when I\’m breathing very deep, fast, and hard; close to the point where I\’m sobbing from exertion if I try to keep it up more than a very short time. Probably I need to do more work to get myself to that max HR, so I\’ll be better prepared for riding into a stiff headwind on Tour de Cure day. The catch is that my leg muscles are apt to give out before I can get there. In fact, they think I\’m completely heartless.

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Wet Beginning

BACK ISSUES / CAL

A wet beginning is what we\’re getting for this weekend. It had been gradually clouding up all day. Shortly before 3 pm I heard some faint grumbles. I thought they might be thunder, but the window unit makes such a racket that I couldn\’t be sure. Soon it began to rain a little, on and off. I had been considering riding to the supermarket after I clocked out of work. I really want to sleep in tomorrow morning! The weather was making me have second thoughts. By the time I was off work, I was hungry. I fixed and ate some supper. About 5:30, I glanced at the window. It has a curtain, of course, but it looked like it had gotten darker out there. I heard the wind getting up, too. I went and took a peek at the sky. It looked rather menacing, and it was starting to rain again. Shortly it began to rain quite hard, and it began to thunder. I decided it was the better part of wisdom to stay home. There isn\’t anything that I need urgently. I just don\’t care much for the idea of trying to go to the store during the week. I clock in to start work at 8:00 am; and clock out at 4:30 pm. It would be difficult to go before work. After work, I often simply don\’t feel like it. On second thought, working from home makes flex time much easier. I can punch in a little late and either take a short lunch break; or work a little later in the evening. So yes, it would be possible to make a grocery run before work! Incidentally, it might not be a bad idea to keep myself out of grocery stores this weekend. If I go, I\’m apt to buy more food to do more cooking. And I\’ve simply GOT to stop cooking for a while! I\’m glad a wet beginning to a weekend doesn\’t mean it will rain all weekend long. It looks like tomorrow and Sunday will be OK.

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More Kitchen Shenanigans

BACK ISSUES / CAL

I\’ve been up to more shenanigans in the kitchen. And what, you may wonder, does The Complete Tightwad Gazette have to do with that? The book includes a letter from a subscriber to the newsletter telling how to greatly reduce cooking time for dried beans. Soak the beans overnight; drain them; and freeze them. They\’ll cook soft much more quickly. A couple of months ago, on a visit to the salvage store, I found a can of Pace Taco Complete. I bought it and brought it home. I\’m not about to try keeping taco shells; they\’ll never stay crisp in this humid climate. While I like tacos, I\’ve always found them annoyingly messy to eat. How does one keep that shell from cracking, and spilling the filling everywhere? But taco filling doesn\’t have to go in taco shells. I first tried Taco Complete in lentils. I cooked up two cups of dried lentils, then added the can of taco filling. It not only tasted good, but made the filling go much farther. I soon began to think of other experiments. Black beans came next. \”Taco black\” is good, too. I cooked up this mixture two days before Easter, and froze most of it for later. I moved the most recent hot dog tikka masala from the freezer to the fridge, so it would thaw in time for Easter. Wait a minute. I had plebeian hot dogs for Easter? Not steak? Whoever wants steak may have it, but it\’s too expensive for me. Besides, if all I need to do is heat and eat, I\’ll have more time for further shenanigans in the kitchen.

Hoppin’ John

BACK ISSUES, Food / CAL

Hoppin’ John Hoppin’ John? Who on earth is that? To be honest, I have no idea who Hoppin’ John is; nor where he comes from; nor why he’s hopping. Maybe he’s a jackrabbit. Jack is a nickname for John; and what do jackrabbits do? They hop! Whatever the explanation may be, that Hoppin’ John character was famous enough to have a recipe named after him. I found it in the course of reading What Do I Eat Now? (page 151) and thought it looked interesting. Yesterday evening I tried it; taking liberties, of course. This dish is meant to be layered in a pan, but I don’t have the pan. I mixed it all up in a five-quart pot. I needed that big pot to cook the rice, anyway. One of the ingredients in the recipe is green bell pepper. I’ve never cared much for bell peppers; especially not the green kind! I substituted chopped celery; and a small amount of red bell pepper. Hoppin’ John also uses red onion. Fortunately that’s my favorite kind of onion. Raw celery can take quite a bit of chewing, so I cooked the onion and celery with the (canned) black-eyed peas while I was waiting for the rice to cook. The celery still had some crunch in it at the end; that’s fine with me. When the rice was done, I used my slotted cooking spoon to transfer the legume mix to the pot with the rice; I didn’t want too much liquid in the finished product. This recipe uses some cheese, too; I chopped up about 2.5 ounces of Monterrey Jack cheese and stirred it in. And diced canned tomatoes. “HJ” is pretty good. I began to think of variations on it right away. I think I need a chest freezer for all this stuff I keep cooking.

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Maylasia

BACK ISSUES, bicycling / CAL

Malaysia Maylasia for some reason makes me think of steaming jungles. Indeed, the nation’s climate is humid, with average annual rainfall of 98 inches. That makes New Orleans seem arid by comparison! Bicycle touring there sounds like a sweaty business! But Malaysia’s geography is actually quite diverse. There are mountains and coastal plains. Cycling routes are quite diverse, too. Here is an account of a tour of the Cameron Highlands. I like the riders’ laid-back approach; just having a good time riding. It sounds like a beautiful route, and they had fun meeting local people and enjoying local food. There are other bicycle tours in Maylasia. Visit some of the islands. See Buddhist temples, or ride through a rainforest reserve. What about the customs of this country? It would be hard to remember the shoulds and should nots that are so different from one’s own. Never point using your forefinger. That’s something that we in the USA do all the time, without thinking about it. Don’t point your feet towards people? Does that mean you should stand with your feet turned out, as in ballet? Not discussing politics when in abroad is plain common sense. Getting back to the humid climate, be sure you keep hydrated. Bring along a Camel-Bak for water, and bottles for electrolyte drink. Be sure you have the right bike; are you going for road riding or mountain biking? Whichever it is, enjoy the ride in this diverse country. 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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What\’s in Store?

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Goodness knows what\’s in store with all this coronavirus upheaval. It would be wonderful if the solution were something that could be bought in a store. If only it were so simple, this would have been stopped dead in its tracks before it could get going. How long will this state of affairs continue? It\’s certainly created a great deal of havoc already: sickness, death, economic upheaval, and more. Who knows what will come next. Many events around the world have been canceled, or at least postponed. Oktoberfest is off the calendar; bad news for lovers of beer and oompah. Tennis lovers will have miss the Wimbledon. The Tour de France is at least put off until later in the Summer. Last week I received word that the local Tour de Cure will be virtual. I can\’t say that I\’m surprised. \”Virtual\” seems to be the new normal. I don\’t have Strava , but maybe I can use my Garmin. It would be a relief if a virtual TdC means, no cut-off time. All the same, I mean to keep working to increase my pace; and I have FAR to go! Not two weeks ago, I was trying to push 15 mph into a breeze of 7-8 mph. My legs were screaming Uncle after only 20 seconds! When it feels like a struggle to ride against the wind, I tell myself, \”I need this\”. And I do. Weather is fickle; and, despite forecasts, you never know what\’s in store.

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Building Up

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Building up to any event includes quite a range of things. There\’s building up mileage, starting far enough in advance of your event so that you can do it gradually. This could require months, depending on your current level of fitness and the difficulty of the event. As some non-race events have a cut-off time, you might also have to work to improve your cruising pace. That\’s one of the things on my current agenda. When I rode the 50-mile Tour de Cure in 2018, I squeaked through with only two minutes to spare. I want to do better this time! Today I rode 36.8 miles, but averaged under 12 mph. What a slowpoke! I had decided, however, that today wasn\’t going to be about working on my pace, much less hard efforts; so my sluggardly progress didn\’t matter. Maybe I need more lunges and squats to help develop my leg strength. But not today! The day I do my weekly long ride, I skip off-bike work. The trouble is, I\’ve been skipping it to often. Core work shouldn\’t be neglected if you don\’t want an aching lower back. These exercises look tough; I suspect they aren\’t intended for anyone just beginning core work. See here for a beginner\’s core workout. And don\’t forget this aspect of building up : gut training! Gut training is why I now need to start working to push the pace during long rides. I\’ve already noticed that fueling at 12-13 mph is very different from fueling at 14-15 mph! What to use as fuel is an individual thing. For me, commercially available bars seem to work fine. I\’ve tried making rice cakes, too, per the recipes in Feed Zone Portables. They tasted good, but I think I got too much water in them. When I picked one up, it would fall apart. I guess I need some building up as a cook?

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I Dood It!

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Yep, I dood it. In fact, I\’ve done two things. Last night I got to work and made the potato tikka masala. It was the same recipe as the cauliflower tikka masala; except, of course, with spuds instead of \”flower cabbage\”, as German calls it. Note to self: next time use the FIVE-quart pot. The two-quart one was barely big enough. Also, next time try some Old Bay Seasoning instead of curry powder. Maybe not a whole tablespoon of it, though. I find Old Bay to be strong stuff. I dood it this morning, too: I finally hitched up the trailer and rode to the salvage store. And did I find some good stuff! I must have hit it at just the right time; sometimes it happens. Lately I\’ve been experimenting with using various salsas on rice and beans. One aisle in the salvage store always has some \”Hispanic\” grocery items, I guess you could call them. Today there were 10-oz cans of mild red enchilada sauce, three for a dollar! On the opposite side of the aisle were 5-oz cans of water-pack tuna, 69 cents each. I picked up six cans. Soon afterwards, four aisles over, I found a different brand of the same thing; but 59 cents each. I took eight cans, and put the other tuna back where I\’d gotten it. In effect, I got the seventh can of tuna for 58 cents; and the eighth one for free! Of course I visited the grab-bag bins, but this time most of the things I picked weren\’t candy. I\’ve got enough goodies to last me for months! And of course I got some \”luxury\” items, such as a can of black cherries in apple juice. There were 5-oz bags of NUT-rition squares, for $0.99 each. I bought three bags; I think they might make good ride food. Incidentally, one variety of those NUT-rition squares is \”digestive health\”. It makes me think of digestive biscuits!

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Cooking

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Cooking up a storm? I should think not. The Southeast has had more than its share of storms in the last month. And in one more month, hurricane season begins! Leaving storms aside, I always seem to be cooking up something. Using a certain Feed Zone recipe as a starting point, I\’ve fixed hot dogs about half a dozen different ways. Then I made it with cauliflower! I bet it would be good with potatoes, too. A month or two ago I found Taco Complete in the salvage store. I added a can of it to a pot of cooked lentils. Success! I tried it in black beans, too, and finally ordered a six-pack of Taco Complete online. Then, day before yesterday, I stopped in the local Walgreens to get a few more Quest Bars. On my way to the checkout, I walked through the aisle where canned goods are. To my astonishment, I found Taco Complete there! I\’m sure it wasn\’t ever there before. I grabbed two cans, and now I can try \”TC\” in pinto beans! What about the aforementioned hurricane season? I\’ll have to watch things. Cooking up too much stuff to freeze could result in loss of a lot of frozen food! What if the power goes out for more than a day? It might not happen, though. Meanwhile, I\’ll keep on thinking up more things to cook.

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