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Dem Bones

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Dem Bones       I hope my bones don’t look like this! How about dem bones? I hope my skeleton doesn’t look like this! At any rate, several months ago I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. So, what does that mean when it comes to cycling? Having osteoporosis does, after all, put me at increased risk for fractures. The occasional spill is an inevitable part of cycling; and I don’t need to land on the ground and break a hip. On the other hand, I won’t be blasting along at 30 mph; at least, not for the foreseeable future. But do I do enough weight-bearing exercise off the bike to help stymie osteoporosis? Is walking to work once or twice a week enough? I’m riding to work more often this month because of Cycle September. For the same reason I’m also using the bike this month to go to the nearby strip mall; 0.6 miles from home and an easy walk. Plyometrics would be a wise addition to my routine, and probably would be good for my bone health; but all that jumping would make a lot of racket (I live in part of an old, raised building). Jumping/bouncing also tends to make me feel dizzy. I’m on prescription medication for osteoporosis; and also take calcium supplements and Vitamin D. I eat yogurt; and need to start mixing up milk (from instant milk powder) to drink. I grew up drinking milk; but in the last few years somehow I’ve drifted away from it. It would be wise, I think, to get back to it for the sake of “dem bones”.    

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The Un-Gym Revisited

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It\’s time for the un-gym revisited! As mentioned in a blog in my old web site, I don\’t go to the gym to do off-bike exercises. Gyms can be noisy places, which would drive me bonkers. There\’s my sensitivities to the \”stuff\” some people wear (not meaning to insult anybody, but I get adverse physical reactions to scented things). Add to that the stress of trying to cram a gym session into my day — not to mention the cost of a gym membership! — and I\’d much rather exercise elsewhere. I use a pair of hand-held weights. I don\’t have the set shown here, but I began by using 2-lb weights. When that started to seem too easy, I got a pair of 5-lb weights. Eventually I began to wear a pair of weighted gloves in addition to holding 5-lb weights. Now even that is approaching the too-easy stage. How now? I\’ve heard of the NordicTrack Speed Weights, but this product seems very pricey to me. I\’ve also read about the way the plates can jangle around, which some people find annoying. I can think about it. Meanwhile, it\’s the old use-what-I-have routine. Sometimes I think a session with a personal coach would be beneficial. I\’d like to know whether I\’m using correct form. I know from reading about ballet that correct form is very important. Incorrect form leads to bad habits, even injury. The catch is that one session wouldn\’t have much lasting effect, if any. I forget so quickly, and/or slide back into my old habits. A personal coach is beyond my budget, so it\’s stick with the un-gym revisited.

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Wind

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How do you feel about wind? \”I saw you toss the kites on high…\” I remember memorizing that poem when I was in first grade. Now I have to look it up if I want to know how it goes because I\’ve forgotten at least half of it! It\’s a nice poem; but if the wind is blowing as hard as that, it won\’t be so nice riding. How often it seems to be blowing against us as we ride! The perception of \”always a headwind\” isn\’t so far off, according to The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling. There\’s a trailing arc of 160 degrees behind a rider where the breeze is helpful (see pg. 46). Otherwise, air in motion can be a big hindrance. I agree with the book\’s statement that \”…a pure crosswind is the worst.\” I\’ve been out in 20 mph crosswinds; and getting a drink was a major chore. Trying to control the bike with one hand while I handled the water bottle was so difficult, that I had to stop when I wanted a drink. It didn\’t help that it was drizzling as well. Not to say that battling a stiff headwind for mile after mile isn\’t difficult. It, too, can make bike control tricky. Thus I\’ll let the wind go blow kites and birds around; but it\’s welcome to let us cyclists alone.

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More Sunday Ride Prep

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  More Sunday ride prep! This time, it\’s eyewear. I don\’t want to ride even one block without proper sunglasses. I have some called Tifosi®. The frame came with three interchangeable lenses: dark; vermillion; and clear. The vermillion lenses are good on overcast days when the dark lenses would be too dark; but there\’s enough light that unprotected eyes would be miserable. The clear lenses are for riding in the dark. In warm weather, they (mostly!) keep flying insects out of my eyes. In cold weather, they keep the worst of a cold wind out of my eyes; and in any temperatures, they protect my eyes from wherever dust and leaves might be flying around. Sometimes I guess wrong as to which lenses to wear. If the forecast sounded like it would be overcast; and I wear the vermillion lenses; and it turns out to be bright sunlight; it\’s quite uncomfortable for my eyes. I need more Sunday ride prep than that! So when I\’m going out on a ride of several hours, and wearing the Camel-Bak; I need to pack along whichever pair of sunglasses that I\’m not wearing, so I can change if need be. Sunglasses alone don\’t provide sufficient protection from overhead sunlight for me. At least, not the ones I have. Maybe some sophisticated wrap-around glasses would keep the overhead light from bothering my eyes; but just now I don\’t feel like spending the money. That is why I leave the visor on my helmet. I read somewhere that wearing a helmet visor is one of the  signs of a rookie cyclist. Like Rhett Butler, I don\’t give a … well, you know. If I need the shading that the visor provides, I\’m going to wear it.

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Lap It Up

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How many riders like to lap it up? I sure do! My bicycle computer has a Lap button. You may well wonder why I bother with laps when I\’m not training for competitive cycling. For quite some time, in fact, I did not use the Lap button. I eventually began using it so that I can see what my average speed is over various segments of a ride. My warm-up mile and cool-down of several blocks drag down my overall average speed; and I wanted to see whether I\’m able to average 15 mph for more than a very short distance. I\’m pleased to see that I\’ve made some progress in that respect. Boy, do I lap it up when I see it reflected in my ride data! It doesn\’t happen every ride, of course — it didn\’t today —  but when it does happen, I\’m elated. Alas, I\’m still a ways off from being able to ride 15 miles in one hour!

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Sunday Ride Prep

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Sunday Ride Prep Sunday ride prep is a long-standing ritual. Sunday is, after all, long-ride day; and means that there’s much more preparation needed than for an ordinary, weekday-morning ride. First of all, there’s getting my water supply ready. If I’m going to ride more than about 15 miles, especially in hot weather, I fill up the Camel-Bak. Sure, it makes for quite a load, but I’d rather have that load on my back than to collapse from dehydration. Then there’s electrolyte drink. (Starting at ~03: 17 minutes). I like to start a long ride using one that has some caffeine, such as Zym Berry. If I’m out long enough that I drain my bottle of electrolyte drink, I switch to something non-caffeinated, such as Nuun. I must also prepare my ride food. With my hydration and nutrition lined up, I must of course pump up the road bike’s tires. OK, so the Camel-Bak and bicycle are now ready to roll. But what about me? Before starting a ride on a warm day, I almost take a bath in sunblock. I look for fragrance-free, 45-50 SPF. In addition to slathering it on before leaving home, I carry a tube in my bicycle’s under-saddle pack. Sunblock needs to be reapplied fairly often, every 80 minutes. For a ride longer than a few miles, Chamois Butt’r makes things much more comfortable. I’ve also tried Chamois Butt’r Her’. I prefer the original formula. Of course I apply it before starting the ride, and take it along so I can freshen up when I make pit stops. Sunday ride prep also means, be sure I have my cell phone and IDs in case of emergency; pack along a few GU-Gels; and probably some other stuff that I forgot to mention!

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Still BEHIND That Camera!

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I\’m still behind that camera! Today I made another mini-video. I wanted to make some kind of contact (other than blog posts) with my site\’s visitors; but I was still behind that camera. Last March was the only time I was out in front of it. I would love to make a video to demonstrate how I learned to get a drink while riding the road bike. I didn\’t want the load of a Camel-Bak on me while working to get the hang of a road bike; even though grabbing the drinking tube is easier than reaching for a water bottle on the down tube. Thus I had to learn how to get that bottle out of its cage; and, even trickier, to put it back in. Before I started recording today\’s video, I tried to get a selfie into it. Somehow it didn\’t occur to me until just now that, to get a selfie, I have to turn the camera around. Without a selfie stick I\’d be, in effect, grabbing blind, but at present that\’s all I can do. I\’m trying to think of other videos that I could make, but I feel I\’m already running short on material. If I were a pro (or former pro) cyclist, or a coach, I\’d be in a better position to offer advice. All I can do is to say what helped me, and what I figured out as I went along. But if it helps somebody, I\’m happy to \”put out the word\”.

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Roll It Out!

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By \”roll it out\” I don\’t mean the beer barrel. I\’m talking about the foam roller, which I probably should use more often than I do. I got to thinking about it while making a trip to and from Whole Foods this morning. My legs felt stiff and sore, and this wasn\’t a long trip at all! Not even 4.5 miles round trip. Neither was I pushing the pace. There\’s not much point in trying to make a grocery run on the hybrid into a training session, especially when I must ride over some very rough surfaces along the way. Then, thinking about rolling out my leg muscles got me to thinking of Beer Barrel Polka. Why, I don\’t know. I don\’t even like beer. I\’ve never been to Oktoberfest. It might be fun to go, though, as long as I don\’t have to drink beer! Incidentally, using a foam roller often makes me wonder about this: are the spots that feel sorest an indication of my pedaling mechanics? How much does my physical build come into it? For example, would my ITB give me trouble if I happened to be bowlegged? How often is often enough to \”roll it out\”? Twice a week? Three times? So, let me finish the Diet Coke that I\’m drinking. Then I can go roll out the barr… I mean, my leg muscles.

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Clothes Make the Cyclist?

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Do clothes make the cyclist? Yesterday\’s post was for, as you might say, warm-weather gear. Now let\’s look at Part II: some things to help keep you warm when the mercury drops. First, a cycling jacket. The kind I have has built-in magnets around the armholes and collar. That lets me remove the sleeves if I start to get too warm, but still would feel chilly if I took off the jacket entirely. I replaced my original cycling jacket a year or two ago. Not a week after I bought my first one, I skidded while in a turn one wet morning. And I wasn\’t even going fast at all! The left sleeve got a tear in it, and the dirt got ground into the fabric. I was on my way to work; and couldn\’t wash the jacket until after I got home at the end of the day. I never did get the dirt stain washed out. I repaired the tear with awning tape, but the tear gradually enlarged. When I bought my second jacket, I discarded the sleeves from the old jacket. Now I have a \”vest\” to wear under the new jacket when one jacket isn\’t warm enough. Sometimes it\’s not really cool enough for a jacket, but still too chilly for short sleeves. Arm warmers come in handy then. I sometimes wear them under the jacket\’s sleeves because my arms are sensitive to cold. Leg warmers are good to have when it starts to get chilly. My legs seem to be less cold-sensitive than the rest of me, but they say you should take care to keep your knees warm. Heads Up! I find a skull cap (or helmet liner) to be vital once the temperature starts to fall below 60. That\’s especially true if it\’s windy. I\’m miserable when my head gets cold. Another misery of riding when in cold weather is, as you might guess, cold feet. I have some cashmere socks that I\’ll wear over regular socks in cold weather, but my feet still get cold. Maybe some thermal socks like these would do the trick? Let\’s also keep our hands warm. I believe I mentioned gloves yesterday, but there\’s no harm in repeating it. About 2010 I developed symptoms of  Raynaud\’s. It\’s a nuisance. So, unfortunately, are full-fingered gloves on a long ride. It\’s harder to pull out a bite to eat because of the loss of fingertip sensitivity. Jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers, skull cap, thermal socks, gloves. Do clothes make the cyclist? I guess so. These items make riding possible on a cold day!

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Low Watt Bulb?

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I felt like a low-watt bulb this afternoon; or even about as bright as this dying light bulb! About a week ago, a low-battery indicator showed up on my hybrid bike\’s computer. I was out of the coin batteries I needed; and couldn\’t get to the store until Saturday. There didn\’t seem to be many #2032 batteries in stock, which happens sometimes. I didn\’t notice that the ones I found were lithium until I was already in the checkout line — and the lithium kind cost more! I got home with the new batteries; removed the old battery from the Cateye; and inserted a new one. I couldn\’t get the screen to light up, and thus could not set the Cateye. Does that thing not like lithium batteries, I wondered? Or is it (perish the thought!) wearing out? This week I wasn\’t able to get to the bicycle shop until today. They\’re closed Mondays; Tuesday I needed to get home to make a phone call before 6 pm; and yesterday evening I was busy doing the laundry. I had to guesstimate my distances and times as well as I could. After work today, I at last got to the bike shop, to let them look at the Cateye. Did I ever feel foolish; I had forgotten to peel the label off of the contact side of the battery! Why on earth didn\’t I think to check that battery?? At least the Cateye is working again, and I didn\’t have to buy anything more. I\’ll take a minute of feeling like a low watt bulb over buying a new cyclocomputer any day.

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