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Should I or Not?

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Should I, or not?  You know those days when you just don\’t feel like riding? Some days you\’re tired; or you didn\’t sleep well. Or you even feel like you might be coming down with something. How do you know whether to ride as usual; take it easy; or to take a day off? The part of this article headed, \”When Stop Does Not Mean Go\”, is helpful. I keep a printout of it with my weekly ride plan, where can easily refer to it. There certainly are days when I need to ease up the efforts; even when I planned to ride hard. One day about two weeks ago, I had force-development exercises on the agenda. Maybe I got into a gear that was a bit too hard; or maybe  I was actually too tired for such attempts. It was a \”should I, or not\” moment. I just didn\’t seem to have the legs; so I decided to forget about force and ride for the fun of it. And what about the training schedule? Another article I read about training says, keep your plan \”etched in clay\” so that you can mold it as needed; it shouldn\’t be \”chiseled in stone\” so that you use it to beat up on yourself. Planned to ride hard today, but it simply isn\’t going? Ease up. There\’s always tomorrow.

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Ever and Always?

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I wish my rides were ever and always like today\’s! You know those days when things go better than you expect? My ride this morning was like that. It was one of those days. I felt tired and sleepy, and didn\’t really feel like going out. I had to prod myself into pulling on the cycling shorts; pumping up the tires; clapping on the helmet. And do you know what? The ride went great! Almost no wind. My warm-up mile + \”cool down\” final 0.21 miles pulled my overall average speed down to a bit over 14 mph; but \”laps\” 2 and 3 saw me average a shade over 15 mph! For several years, \”increase cruising pace to 15 mph\” has been on my list of goals. It looks like I\’m at last making some progress towards that goal. When I\’m not faced with a stiff headwind, that is. Now that I\’m a bit faster I can ride a tiny bit farther, too. What a day it would be if I got fast enough to ride twenty miles before heading off to work! But that\’s a long, long way off. I have to take it one step at a time; and there will be plenty of days when going for a ride will be a real slog — especially if it\’s raining. The important thing is to keep riding enjoyable, so that I keep doing it: ever and always.

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Step by Step

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Step by step is the way to take it; whether trekking through the Outback, or racking up the cycling miles. I thought this article was amusing; but I\’m not quite sure where I\’d place myself on that scale. I\’m most certainly not a First Time Cyclist. After almost nine years of regular riding, I\’ve racked up 41,000+ miles. I don\’t think I\’m a Beginner, either, despite my average speed still hanging around 13-14 mph much of the time. So am I an Amateur cyclist? Proper cyclist? Maybe Avid? How many years of regular riding does it take to make a  Seasoned Cyclist? Do I really need to be at the point where a 75-mile ride is \”short\”? Can I hurry the process by eating a lot of curry, pepper,  cinnamon, etc.? (Ha-ha. Bad joke). One day I might be able to figure it out. Meanwhile, I\’ll just ride on; and take it one step at a time..

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COFFEE!!

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Oh, coffee! I\’ll bet a lot of people out there were wondering when I would  fi-i-i-nally get around to blogging about this topic. I hear a lot about how coffee and cycling seem to go together. We hear about the casual group ride to the local café; or about having a shot of espresso before a race. It\’s all lost on me; I\’ve never been a coffee drinker. I begged a taste of the stuff when I was about six; and was off of it for life. Not that I really have anything against this beverage. I like to smell the roasting beans, and to smell coffee brewing; but the taste is too bitter for me. I get my caffeine from Diet Coke! There was a time when the Turks were trying to capture Vienna. If they had, they would have had the gateway to western Europe. The Turks themselves didn\’t conquer  Europe — but their Kaffee did!

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Wildlife

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Oh, the wildlife I\’ve seen while out riding a bicycle! Armadillos. Raccoons. Opossums. Rabbits. Coyotes. And yes, even bald eagles! There\’s one creature, however, that I would not like to meet; and that\’s the shurale. That part about having to wear your shoes on the wrong feet made me think of Charlie Chaplin as The Little Tramp. I read an article about him years ago; and it said that the shoes that Chaplin wore for that act were so big, that he had to wear them on the wrong feet just so they\’d stay on. Getting back to the Shurale, I guess I should be glad that he\’s Russian. It doesn\’t look like I\’ll go riding in Russia any time soon. Another article I read about him says he likes to waylay drunk people. Good reason to eschew booze, I\’d say. I\’m glad that the wildlife I\’m likely to encounter on my bicycle rides is birds and small animals. Even a little critter can be hazardous if it suddenly darts right out in front of you; more than once a squirrel has come close to running right under my front wheel! Large animals such as moose and bear are different. Use great caution if you ride where encounters with them are possible. For example, hikers are advised to put jingle bells on their footwear so that animals hear them coming. Bikers need to do something similar, I suppose. The catch is that bicycles don\’t make much sound. Group riders, keep talking. Solo riders, make like Caruso? So what if you can\’t sing; at least bears, moose, etc. will hear you. You don\’t want to surprise them. I\’d need to learn a lot more about that if I wanted to go for a cycling tour through the back country.    

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What Was Different?

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    What was different about today\’s long ride? After I had been home from today\’s ride (50 miles) for about two hours, the orthostatic hypotension set in. Last Sunday I didn\’t have trouble with it; and I wondered what was different about today. A glance a my ride log gave a hint, to put it mildly. Last Sunday I rode only 29 miles. The previous Sunday I had done a 50-miler; and I did have \”OH\” afterwards. There ought to be something I can do to make a difference for long rides and after, so I don\’t get that annoying dizziness when I stand up. Should I drink more during the ride? Do I need to eat more? That is, if my stomach can take it. For the last 12 miles or so of today\’s ride, my stomach felt rather uncomfortable. Was I eating too much? Maybe I can take along dill pickle juice? It\’s possible to buy shots of the stuff, but I\’m disinclined to spend my money on it for regular use. GU-Gels are enough expense! Salt tablets? At home, yes; but I don\’t know how my system might react to them during vigorous exercise. After all, salt attracts fluid; and I don\’t need to have it drawing blood from my legs; heart; and brain to my stomach while I\’m working on my endurance. On the way home I had an annoying headwind, which made me feel slow and weak. As it turned out, I was a hair faster today than I was Sunday before last. So there\’s the silver lining in the cloud!

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Fall Event!

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There\’s a Fall event coming up! I wish Fall were as beautiful as this where I live! But that won\’t stop Cycle September, which begins next Saturday, September 1, 2018. I\’m signed up and ready to start; and have been spreading the word among bicycle commuters at work. Our team has always done well; and we want to keep it up! September is usually still quite hot where I live; and I think I\’d really rather have Cycle October. Even in September, mornings are often about 80 degrees at five o\’clock; and it isn\’t likely to cool off before October. When it does, it\’s likely to drop forty degrees overnight! But some parts of the nation do start to get cooler weather by September; and in those parts it might actually be a bit nippy for Cycle October! So my Fall event will have to be Cycle September.

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Diet

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My diet needs a lot of improvement! This video was produced by a dancer; but as she states, it\’s not for dancers only. I ought to take a hint or two from it. Junk food is so hard to avoid when I\’m away from home during the working week; and I need to make a greater effort to pack along carrot sticks, apple wedges, etc. to munch on. Aside from their being more nutritious and lower in calories, I could  save the (shocking!) several bucks PER DAY that I all too often spend for snacks! On-bike food is another story; at least for me. My rice cakes come out too soft. Once I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cut it into four; but it was too bulky to fit into my on-bike snack bag very well.  That\’s why I\’ve gotten into the habit of using Clif Bars, and the like. I eat far too many sweets, that\’s for sure! Avoid salt? I\’ve been told — by at least one doctor — to eat salt, because my blood pressure tends to run low. Avoiding gluten would make sack lunches rather a problem, unless I could find gluten-free bread. Sandwiches are much more portable than, say, rice and beans. But as Ms. Morgan says, find out what works for you. The problem with me is, I\’m lazy; both when it comes to diet and my training!

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Big 100

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Today is a Big 100. And for once I\’m not prattling on about Big 100 as in riding a bicycle one hundred miles in one day. Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein! The only music of Bernstein that I\’ve ever become familiar with is the Overture to Candide (after Voltaire). I enjoyed listening to that YouTube very much, although I must say that Mr. Bernstein gets some odd expressions on his face at times. And that bassoonist puffing up his cheeks — that\’s a no-no! (I played a wind instrument for years, so I know). On the whole, though, being able to watch the musicians up close is fun. These professionals make it all look so very easy; even effortless. I know that it\’s hard work, which lets me appreciate it all the more!   

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Frugal Cyclist?

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Am I the frugal cyclist? Or not? For nearly ten years I\’ve been trying to get myself into the tightwad mindset; and it\’s not easy. Maybe it would have been easier if I started when I was in my twenties; but as they say, there\’s no time like the present. If I could just get myself to kick the soda habit, I bet I\’d save at least $50 a month. That money would be  far better spent for things like tune-ups on my bicycles; or to buy GU-Gels and other ride food; or to buy groceries. I\’m thankful that my circumstances don\’t require that I painfully pinch and scrape at every penny; but I could be more careful about my discretionary spending! Like riding a bicycle, it\’s about balance: once necessities are taken care of, spend enough to give myself a few pleasures; but don\’t be such a penny-pincher that I\’m miserable. Speaking of pennies, I\’ve often seen people throw them on the ground and walk away. Why? One penny won\’t buy anything nowadays; but they do add up over time. So I save my pennies; and in that respect, I guess I am the frugal cyclist, after all.

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