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Day 23

Wow, it\’s already Day 23 of Love to Ride! Not riding yet? There\’s still time to sign up and log a few rides! You don\’t have to put in 46 miles, as I did day before yesterday. Just 10 minutes counts. My legs felt tired this morning. It\’s a good thing it was almost wind still. In fact, these Love to Ride challenges have me putting in more riding than I usually do. It\’s no wonder that I\’m feeling the effects by Day 23! I saw an armadillo. (Yes, I know, that pic is a hedgehog, but I didn\’t find a pic of an armadillo). I guess it was heading for home “in the twilight’s last gleaming”. Maybe I\’ll be seeing more wildlife now that it\’s getting warmer. Before long I\’ll need to wear sunblock on my face for my morning rides. Even at 6 am there\’ll be enough sun to make me \”slightly pink\”, as my sister says, if I don\’t use sunblock. That is, if it doesn\’t rain. There\’s a good chance of showers day after tomorrow. All I can do is to wait and see what happens.

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Creaky?

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Oh, the joys of getting older! With the growing suspicion that I may have arthritis in my left foot, I thought I\’d take another stroll through the field of foot care for cyclists. See October 2017 in the article\’s archives for a discussion on arthritis in the feet. Orthotics may be helpful. I first got a custom-made pair about six years ago; maybe seven years. I had only recently moved up from trike to hybrid, and when I rose partway from the saddle to coast, I could feel my left foot rolling inwards. That put strain on the inside of the knee, which of course is not good. Hence the orthotics. This past January I got home from a long Sunday ride, and my left toes felt like they were cramping up when I took my cycling shoes (with orthotics) off. I consulted my primary care physician, who sent me to a sports medicine clinic to get fitted for new orthotics. I always use them when I ride the road bike, but when it comes to sneakers, using them is more uncomfortable than not using them, even when I ride the hybrid instead of walking the mile between work and home. I\’m trying to arrange an appointment with the doctor to discuss what to do next. It\’s annoying to be unable to rise to \”demi-pointe\” because my left toes won\’t flex properly! I hope this won\’t mean time off the bike. Incidentally, I keep hearing a bit of a creak in the road bike\’s right pedal. Does my bicycle have arthritis, too?

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Day 22

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Already Day 22 of Love to Ride! Today the only riding I did was to and from work. It is, however, a day for me to take note of. My cycling records show that it’s six years to the day since I bought my road bike. Yesterday the bike’s long-term mileage total passed the 22,000 mark. I know that’s small beer compared to the miles that a serious, competitive cyclist puts in; but I’m thrilled by it. What a way to mark Day 22 of Love to Ride! I find it rather an interesting coincidence that today is also Earth Day. My bicycle’s “birthday” fell on the day when we celebrate, among other things, non-polluting modes of transportation; such as riding a bicycle instead of driving a car. The weather is starting to warm up. Soon I should be able to pack away leg warmers, arm warmers, and cycling jackets until October; maybe even November. My nose won\’t get so sniffly while I\’m riding, and that\’s a major relief. Warming temperatures, alas, mean the bugs are coming out. Sometimes I ride through swarms of little insects, and have to be careful how I breathe. I don\’t want to inhale a bug and choke!

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Thanks for the Memories

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Thanks for the memories — IF they\’re there! You know how at times you can\’t seem to remember anything? Not even a rare trip to the shore? But they always say, you never forget how to ride a bicycle. That’s where muscle memory comes in. When I think about it, I see that \”MM\” is truly amazing; and it comes into every aspect of our lives; not only bicycling. Most of us don’t have to think about what our body is doing step by step as we walk; and we don\’t need to concentrate on what our hands are doing as we tie our shoelaces. Once we get the hang of it, we don\’t have to think about how our legs work as we pedal down the road. (Or down the mountainside, it you prefer). We can go into all the anatomical/biomechanical theory we like; we can know whether calf muscles or glutes are of more help when climbing; but how much do we think about it while we ride? So let\’s climb aboard for a ride, and tell our muscles, Thanks for the memories!

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An Easter Ride

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Happy Easter, everybody; and it’s time for an Easter ride! I didn’t see a rabbit today, but I did see a bald eagle in flight. They’re easy to identify: a large, dark bird with a white head. Around here, at least, only the bald eagle fits that description. I had great riding weather. When I started, the temperature was in the mid-50s. On the way home, with 19 miles left to go, I got warm enough to stop and take off my leg warmers and skull cap. Homeward-bound I felt like I had a headwind; but when I stopped there was hardly any wind at all. I wasn’t even going any too fast, so I don\’t think it was my own forward-motion wind. In fact, I averaged barely over 13 mph. I made one attempt to crank it up to 20 mph, but didn’t get there. I guess I was too tired by then. My Sunday long rides, including an Easter ride, are about working on endurance; but often I start to feel too tired on the way home. Maybe I need to take more of a break before starting back from whatever turnaround point I choose. Before I could get home, I had to take a detour. There was a train blocking my usual crossing. I had to ride to the next crossing. I saw that the train was so long that it had been split in order to clear the way. Even though it was a freight train, perhaps it had a passenger that was running late? Let’s say, Peter Cottontail?

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Day 21

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It\’s already Day 21 of Love to Ride; and Happy Easter, everyone! We used to dye Easter eggs every year when we kids were young. My mother would always tell us about the egg dyes that they had when she was a girl. They made beautiful colors, but were toxic. Can you imagine that? If any dye got through to the egg, that part had to be cut off and discarded. Of course that was a LONG time ago. The egg-dye kits we had were very basic. I was always amazed when I looked at pictures of pysanka. I sill find them marvelous. They put egg-dye kits very much to shame. The people who make pysanka are artists. And Faberge eggs! They\’re astonishing. I\’d hardly dare have any around, even supposing I could afford them. I\’d be afraid of losing them, or managing to smash them, or even becoming a target for theft. I\’m quite content to let the originals stay in museums, and to leave replica Faberges to people for whom money is no object. Did you put out cookies for Santa at Christmas? Yes, we did that, but when Easter came, we\’d put out some carrots for the Easter Bunny! And now for a good, long ride! I have to burn off those jelly beans and chocolate eggs, you know. Besides, it\’s already Day 21 of the Challenge. I\’ve got to get in some miles for my team!

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View From the Inside

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Sometimes I want to get a view from the inside, but that isn\’t always easy to do. I watch video clips of the Tour de France; I see the pictures; and I wonder, what is it really like to be a pro cyclist? I\’ll never know for sure; and for a fact, most of us won\’t. But to get some idea, let\’s ask some pros! I wonder, if I were a pro cyclist, what I would like best about it. My early love for feeling my legs in motion? I could see new places; or might I become an adrenaline junkie, hooked on the excitement of racing? How about getting paid to do something I love; namely, ride my bicycle? What is the worst thing about being a pro cyclist? If I were a pro, training and racing in foul weather would be high on my list, as would crashing. All that traveling might easily become tedious; how do pro cyclists combat jet lag? We hear the stories of fans at Grand Tour races causing havoc. I\’m sure it\’s maddening for the riders to have to get past spectators who are in the road! A pro cyclist must keep close tabs on the diet; and that would also become quite burdensome. I hope I\’d be on a team that has its own chef; preferably one who\’s well-versed in The Feed Zone! It would be great if I could sample more of those dishes without having to make them. Or to have an old favorite, Simple Biryani, waiting for me after a training ride. I\’ll never get the view from the inside, though. I\’ll have to go on looking in from the outside.

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Day 20

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Day 20 of Love to Ride, already! Not that I rode much at all today; barely over one mile. This morning the wind was really strong; and by early afternoon it was still 13 mph. My head feels stuffed up again, too, and it makes me feel tired. It\’s good that this is Day 20; I still have time to get in some real miles. I love to ride; but I love to eat, too, if the truth be told. I met with some friends for lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, and chose a lemongrass-chicken po-boy. Let\’s see — can my mouth open wide enough? That\’s the problem with po-boys and a small jaw! For food to fuel tomorrow\’s long ride, I have quite a variety to choose from; thanks to trips to the salvage store: assorted crackers, Snackwell\’s, and so on. When I went to my \”alternate bike shop\” last Sunday, I bought a single-serve of Skratch. I\’m drinking it today, because you hear over and over not to try anything new on a long ride. You never know when a change in food and/or drink might case gastric distress, or GI problems. I\’m trying to think of today\’s dearth of mileage as resting up for tomorrow\’s planned long ride. The wind will still be 5-10 mph, but that\’s much more manageable than 21 mph! At least it will be sunny. Clear conditions somehow make even the strongest wind seem a bit more tolerable. I think I\’ll shoot for 40-45 miles. Do you think I might catch sight of Peter Cottontail?

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Longevity

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Longevity. Who doesn\’t want to live a long, happy, healthy life? Exercise is an important part of that. Even if we aren\’t pro cyclist caliber, riding is still good for us. I know that I could do a lot more for healthful living. My diet is a mess. I\’ve long been interested in meatless diet and nutrition, because I\’ve never enjoyed handling raw meat, poultry, or fish. I like even less cleaning up after having cooked such items. Unfortunately I\’ve been so busy the last year or so with my web site and blogging that I get home from work and just grab whatever is easiest, instead of preparing a decent meal. That means far too much junk food! The Feed Zone Cookbook and Feed Zone Portables are full of recipes for \”fast and flavorful food for athletes\”. I\’ve browsed through both books a good bit, and notice that the recipes in general tend to run high in fat. They are, however, designed with the pro cyclist in mind. A pro cyclist in training and racing would burn it off, I guess. OK, exercise (aka cycling), proper diet — what else? Get enough sleep (I wish my sleep disorder would let me!); and keep your mind active. Longevity is not rare. It seems that more and more people are living to become centenarians. As long as I can stay healthy, active, and independent, I\’ll go for it!

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More Stuff

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Here\’s more stuff from my life! Today I had my first physical therapy session. I have some mobility issues in my left ankle; and apparently that\’s causing the discomfort in my toes! Isn\’t the human body weird? Speaking of foot problems, I rode through the park today; and I saw a duck that was trying to run with some other ducks. It obviously had some kind of injury, because it was limping. At any rate, the therapist gave me an exercise to repeat 10 times every day, to start working on that ankle. I have to keep going for further sessions twice a week for a while; and of course I\’m groaning over the expense. Always more stuff! It\’s also a nuisance because it means time out of work; but luckily I have the sick leave time to cover it. I\’m glad that I don\’t have to take time away from riding! But the wind as I type this is blowing at 28 mph; and tomorrow is supposed to be windy, too. I\’m glad it\’s expected to calm down by Sunday.