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The Old Saw

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Who hasn\’t heard the old saw umpteen to the nth times? The good, the bad, and the ugly. The good: this morning I hitched up the trailer for a ride to the salvage store. For less than $29, I brought home a decent haul. For instance, I found boxes of mac \’n\’ cheese, four for one dollar. I already had several boxes of the stuff at home; but when I find a good price like that, I stock up. I found bologna and hot dogs for much less than they\’d cost at the regular supermarket. Bread was $1.25 a loaf; and I even found a Xmas ornament shaped like a choo-choo for fifty cents. I got it to give to my nephew when Xmas comes. The bad: I need bananas, which the salvage store doesn\’t usually have. I wanted 13-gallon garbage bags, but couldn\’t find any. It\’s a good thing I have time to find some before my current supply runs out. Getting back home was rather tough. Normally a 10 mph wind isn\’t too bad, but having that trailer to pull of course made it harder. I had to gear down and resign myself to plodding along. As for the ugly, the forecast for tomorrow doesn\’t look so good. There\’s a 50% chance of rain, and possibly T-storms. The wind will be rather strong, too. I guess I\’ll just have to take a chance, and ride. It\’s the old saw again: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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After the Fall

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What happens after the fall? Crashing while cycling may not be quite as drastic as this (it has me scratching my head and thinking, HOW did THAT happen?); but by all accounts it can be bad enough. An accident resulting in serious or life-threatening injury could have a cyclist reluctant to get back on the bike after the fall. I don\’t know what I would do; I\’m sure that riding again would be terrifying if I were knocked down by a car, or if I went over an embankment. It would be hard enough, I suspect, if I \”only\” got a nasty case of road rash. The idea of such accidents gives a whole different meaning to \”recovery\”. I\’m amazed at that Dutch rider mentioned in the article, pedaling again less than two weeks after fractures in her spine! And she had a concussion as well. Such injuries would probably leave me bedridden for several weeks; and off the bike for much longer. And look at that poor fellow who already was seriously hurt, and got his leg run over by a motorcycle. Talk about heaping injury upon injury! This isn\’t the only thing I\’ve read that gives the mental side of bicycling high marks. Mental toughness must be especially important when coming back after severe physical trauma. I can\’t speak from personal experience, but I guess a major aspect of that is to take your time. So after the fall, as an old song went, \”Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. Start all over again.\”

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I\’ll Take Their Word

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I\’ll take their word for it: it\’s many years since I last drove a car, but this is quite credible. It\’s only logical to think that a driver who is also a cyclist, is going to be aware that there are cyclists out there; even if s/he isn\’t among them that day. Some cyclists ride the wrong way in a bike lane, even if there are arrows to show the correct direction of travel. Some cyclists crash stop signs and red lights. The cyclist-driver will know to keep an eye peeled for such riders, and be prepared to react if necessary. Cyclists have to be constantly aware of their surroundings; and I\’m sure this skill will be transferred to the position behind a steering wheel. Daydreaming while pedaling alongside traffic is inviting disaster; and the same is true of driving a car. Stay alert! A motorist who also rides a bicycle knows what it\’s like to feel squeezed between a long line of moving cars on one side, and parked cars on the other side; and will know of the risk that the poor cyclist might get \”doored\”. That can have disastrous (even fatal) consequences for the cyclist; and drivers need to watch for it. I\’ll bet there\’s a lot more that could be said. As a non-driver, however, I\’ll have to let motorists who are also cyclists fill in the blanks; and I\’ll take their word for it.

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Bad NEW Days?

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Are these the bad NEW days? \”The good old days.\” People easily wax nostalgic for times past, even if they may not have been so wonderful. The present has its own set of trials and travails. Bicycling seems to have its own special set of woes. I\’m lucky to have bikes and equipment unsophisticated enough that I can avoid most or all of the problems on the list! GPS? I think my Garmin has it, but I don\’t use it. I\’m a stick-in-the-mud who rides the same path over and over. Yes, it gets monotonous sometimes; but at least I know where I am, and where I\’m going. I\’ve heard of Strava, as who hasn\’t these days; but have only the vaguest knowledge about it. As for KOM, there aren\’t any mountains where I live! I don\’t need to worry about my bicycles\’ brakes leaking oil, or about getting unplugged. I don\’t have a wonky power meter to tempt me to quit my ride. If my Garmin quits during a ride, I just keep riding. I\’ll be able to estimate my distance fairly well, if nothing else. What would I do if my gears used batteries, and the batteries died? I might be stuck in a very hard gear when I was 20 miles from home, with a stiff headwind to fight. Now that would be really, Really BAD. All this computerization sometimes means the bad new days!  

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Doctor on the Path?

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Is there a doctor on the path? There could be, if I had SteadyMD. SteadyMD is a new one for me. I think it would be nice to have a doctor who is into cycling. Such an MD might be better able to help me take care of my cycling-related health issues, than a doctor who doesn\’t ride bicycles. I also thought that SteadyMD might cost less than the health insurance premiums I pay now. I asked around a bit about SteadyMD. Someone told me that it\’s intended for serious athletes who want to really focus on their training, \”trying for that extra 2%\”. It isn\’t meant to be a substitute for regular health insurance. I\’m not into that kind of training, so I\’ll let SteadyMD go. On my current budget, I can\’t afford it on top of my regular health-care premiums. In addition, my present health-care plan includes dental and vision; and  I really need those! There are still plenty of ways to find out about training, nutrition advice, and so on. We can still go out and ride without costly telemedicine — and hope that, if we crash and get injured, there\’s a doctor on the path with us.

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Bringing Home the Bacon

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Bringing home the bacon isn\’t only about being a breadwinner. Bacon seems to be very popular these days. There\’s just plain bacon. I\’ve seen doughnuts with maple frosting and crumbled bacon on top. I\’ve even found chocolate with bacon! What, then,  happened to Maple & Bacon GU-Gel? I tried it last year, and thought it was pretty good; but now I can\’t find it. Maybe it wasn\’t popular enough; and I hope that Salted Caramel and Chocolate Outrage don\’t suffer the same fate! It may sound as if I\’m a big-time bacon fan. I\’ll get a side serving of bacon in the cafeteria at work now and then; but I don\’t cook bacon at home. I remember frying it as a kid, and wasn\’t really much fun. It meant hot fat spitting all over the place; and at the time I was puzzled at how sticky the bacon pan felt when I cleaned it; but I know now that sugar is used to cure bacon. I\’ve never enjoyed cleaning up grease, so I almost never cook meat. The Feed Zone Cookbook includes some recipes that use bacon, such as Angel Hair with Bacon and Sweet Corn (p. 140-141). If you happen to be vegetarian or vegan, I see no reason why you couldn\’t make this recipe and omit the bacon. Or perhaps substitute a half-cup or so of some kind of legume. I bet black beans would be good. Maybe I\’ll try it some day. Meanwhile, I hope GU brings back Maple & Bacon; then I\’ll be bringing home the bacon again.

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Just Tired?

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Am I just tired, or is something else going on? The feedback I\’m getting from my legs when I ride the hybrid now seems to say that the new cassette is quite different from the old one. When I shift to the second-largest cog, it seems harder to pedal than the second-largest cog on the old cassette. The new cassette looks to me like it has six cogs, not seven. The rear shifter won\’t go lower than \”2\”. It seems logical to conclude that the largest cog on the new cassette has been set to 2nd gear. With a range of 14-34 teeth, how many more teeth does the next-largest cog from the 14-tooth one have? Twenty isn\’t evenly divisible by six. I\’m too lazy to actually count all those teeth. Maybe it\’s three more teeth per next cog except for the largest one, when the number of additional teeth goes up by five? Perhaps perception is not reality. Maybe riding the hybrid with its new cassette isn\’t any different from riding it with the old cassette. My legs might be just tired from yesterday\’s ride, making riding of any sort seem harder. To paraphrase Jens Voigt, Wake up, legs!

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Easy Does It?

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Easy does it; at least, sometimes it does. When we decide we want to become a better cyclist, what do we do? We train. What does \”better cyclist\” mean? If we want to do a long ride, whether on our own or in a group, it means training up. Training is how we improve the ability to ride longer; or faster; or even both. Wanting to become a racing cyclist means even more training. I can easily be tempted to do hard efforts, trying see how fast I can go. The temptation strikes often enough when I should be riding at a steady, moderate pace; or even doing an easy ride. But I know that this isn\’t a good idea, even for a recreational cyclist. For the serious cyclist, overtraining is a constant specter. Even seasoned pro cyclists must guard against overtraining. How do we go about that? In the days before Garmins and power meters, they used RPE. Some even say that using RPE has an advantage over using all these electronic devices, because athletes using RPE are better in tune with their bodies. I take the lazy way out and use a Garmin. It lets me keep tabs on my heart rate as I ride; and if I start feeling too \”gaspy\” I\’ll check my heart rate. I might need to ease up! After a ride I\’ll consult an RPE chart and think about how my ride felt on average, and determine my RPE from that. Sure, go hard sometimes. It\’s how we get stronger. But when the day comes for an easy ride, well, easy does it! Post

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Out for a Spin

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Going out for a spin can turn into hard work. Today I got in 40+ miles. On the way back home, as usual, I had a headwind; and it seemed to be strengthening. The forecast that I checked last night said, 7 mph wind; but it felt stronger than that. And in fact it was. After I got home I looked at the weather site again. The wind had risen to 10 mph before I finished my ride. When the breeze finally swung around so it was behind me, the fartlek mood struck. I made three efforts of 20-30 seconds to see how fast I could go; specifically, I tried to reach at least 20 mph. At least twice, I made it; and in fact, I touched 22.9 mph! I was spinning at a fairly high cadence much of the time, at an average of 83 rpm. I also averaged 83 rpm during yesterday\’s ride, when I was specifically working on low-gear, high-cadence pedaling. That ride is probably why I felt a bit tired today. I usually don\’t do that on Saturdays, but maybe I need to get into the habit. It\’s funny about spinning. In its own way, spinning is as tiring as mashing. It makes my legs feel oddly heavy. Mashing, on the other hand, is apt to make my legs feel burn-y. It\’s something to  keep in mind when I go out for a \”spin\”.  

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Cashing In

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I wish I were cashing in. Don\’t we all? I know, I know. This isn\’t a financial advice site. I\’m not qualified to dish out advice about money, except this: If you don\’t NEED to spend it, DON\’T spend it. Even then I\’m none to good about following that bit of wisdom. What\’s money got to do with cycling, anyhow, you say? We know there are pro riders out there. How do they handle their finances? How much does a pro cyclist earn, anyhow? From what I\’ve read here and there, it depends on the team\’s budget; the rider\’s ranking both in the cycling world in general and within his/her team; whether the rider is a domestique or a contender; and so on. Some of the highest-ranked pro riders earn big money. It looks as though even a \”newbie\” can earn more in a year than I do at my job. Sounds pretty good, doesn\’t it? But openings on pro cycling teams are few; and how many cyclists are there on this planet? Millions? BILLIONS? And look how many make it to Tour de France. Fewer than 200 each year. A career as a pro cyclist is usually comparatively short. A rider might turn pro by the late teens/early twenties, and leave the pro peloton by about age 43; or perhaps sooner. There\’s always the risk of a career-ending crash; and a team might go out of existence on short notice. Therefore I\’d guess that pro cyclists must save for the future like the rest of us. They\’ll need have something to live on after cashing in their chips, and retiring from the pro circuit.

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