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More How To\’s

Now for some more how to\’s! You\’d think this would be easy: to be a cyclist, just get on the bicycle and ride! But since so much seems to have been written about it, I must conclude that it\’s not quite as simple as that. Need some more how to\’s? Here\’s how my own personal How To has unfolded over the years: I started riding an adult trike. My legs said, \”Wow, we love this!\”; so I kept riding. I soon discovered that riding the two miles or so to work didn\’t satisfy me; and I started putting in extra miles before going to work. Before long I was rising earlier and earlier in the morning so I could ride those miles. Next I got my first pair of cycling shorts; and I noticed how undressed I felt while wearing them. It took a while for me to get used to it, and stop feeling indecent. Before I knew it, I was doing longer and longer rides on Sunday mornings. I started to take along food, extra water, and electrolyte drinks. My interest in long-distance cycling grew. Then I got in my first 50-miler; and I thought more and more about doing a century. So I set my mind and worked up to it — and I did it! I felt great about this considerable accomplishment. And all that was before I graduated to two wheels! Then, over a period of about 15 months, I got going on a hybrid; and then a road bike. I decided to let the old tricycle go; the guys at the shop had told me that it was \”on its last legs\”, and I didn\’t use it much any more. I kept riding, and realized that I was hooked for life.

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Day 13

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Love to Ride; and it\’s Day 13 so soon? Why the four-leaf clover? Well, they do say that 13 is supposed to be unlucky. Might as well be forearmed. Despite the forecast for strong wind, I rode to the salvage store. I wanted to load up on snacks to take to work. The store\’s make-your-own-grab-bag offer is terrific for that. I brought along the zip-lock bag (large size) that I got when I was last at the store two weeks ago. Today I got 39 things in the bag, which boils down to about 13 cents per item. Some of those things cost over $2.00 in regular stores. I\’ll not weary you with a complete breakdown, but I found candy bars; 4-packs of Snackwell\’s sandwich cremes; and more! Of course that\’s not all I got; I also bought bologna; canned goods; and other stuff. By about 9:00 I was heading for home. That\’s where you could that Day 13 brought my dose of bad luck. I had a headwind, as I had known I would. I checked the forecast, after all! Now it\’s 12:45 pm, and there\’s a wind advisory in effect. T-storms are also possible at any time. I had thought I might go for a spin on the road bike this afternoon; but common sense says I\’d do better to stay under cover.

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Another View

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Another view never hurts; so let\’s take a look. If you ride a bicycle, that makes you a cyclist, right? Not everyone agrees, and that\’s okay. We don\’t have to call ourselves cyclists because we ride bicycles. Sometimes I wonder whether I, myself, am a \”real\” cyclist. Yes, I ride regularly. I have a road bike, and do most of my miles on it. I use padded cycling shorts, and have cold-weather gear such as leg warmers. When I first took to riding, I immediately discovered that my legs liked the feeling of pedaling; and they still love it! I enjoy putting in the miles. Well, most of the time I do. Is that what makes one a cyclist? If so, then count me in! But am I out there training for hours a day, five or six days a week? No, I\’m not. Do I have a training schedule of any sort? Not exactly. Do I train seriously? Not if the lack of a coach means I\’m not serious; and is my diet up to scratch? Definitely not. I don\’t go everywhere by bicycle, and seldom have dreams about riding (I don\’t dream much at all, for that matter. Blame it on the sleep disorder, I guess). I don\’t have a bucket list full of cycling tours to make once I\’m retired. Those long tours sound wonderful, but my finances dictate otherwise. So now, am I a cyclist; or not a cyclist? Do I need another view from an impartial second party? I don\’t think about it too much, or I\’d drive myself crazy. I just ride.

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Day 12

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Love to Ride, Day 12! There was almost no wind this morning.? But there were fog patches, and some of them were pretty dense. I started out wearing eye protection, because it\’s warm enough that flying insects are a problem. Thanks to the fog, I had to take those glasses off so I could see! I tried anti-fog spray once, and the fumes burned my eyes; so I don\’t bother with it. The fog was also a problem in a different way. I wanted to do some force exercises; and those exercises can see me hit 22-23 mph. Foggy conditions aren’t the best for such work; and when it’s hard to see what’s ahead of me, I get nervous even when I’m riding at a more moderate pace. There\’s no telling who might be up ahead, dressed in dark clothing; with no lights; and minimal or no reflective material! Today, however, my legs weren’t quite up to scratch. Maybe I used too hard a gear; or maybe I still wasn’t sufficiently recovered from the hard efforts I made earlier this week. Maybe it’s just that it’s Friday; and by this point in the week I’m plain old tired. I hope to ride to the salvage store tomorrow; but tomorrow there will be wind! The forecast says it will strengthen from 13 mph at 7 am, to 18 mph by 10 am. The wind will get even stronger; and there\’s a wind advisory in effect from late morning onwards. I\’m glad I can expect to be back home by 10 am! Day 12 brought fog; but maybe that\’s better than a stiff headwind!

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I Need a Mirror

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I need a mirror! Correct body position is important; but how can we know whether we\’re doing it if we can\’t see ourselves? Unfortunately I don\’t have a mirror on rides except the handle-bar variety; and it doesn\’t let me see myself. Even if it did, it won\’t help me if I don\’t know what to look for! One suggestion is to watch your shadow; but you have to have the right conditions at the right time of day to benefit from that. Even having a coach alongside would do only so much, I suspect. Developing good posture habits means that you need to be constantly aware of what your body is doing. On top of that, even if you have that awareness, how can you be sure that what you\’re doing is correct? As to the lower back, I have rather a tendency to arch my lower back backwards. After a while it starts to ache, and I have to pay special attention to keeping it straight. My right hand has something of a tendency to go numb and tingling. I think that\’s from gripping too tightly, which can easily happen in wind conditions that make the bicycle hard to control. Holding correct posture is complicated when you\’ve got a loaded Camel-Bak on your, well, back. But I think I\’d rather be slouched than have dehydration problems. All the same, I need a mirror that lets me see myself as I ride!

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What\’s Afoot Now?

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What\’s afoot now? Today I visited my primary care physician about those crazy left-foot toes. The outcome: he believes I\’ve got tendonitis in that foot. So he\’s put me on a medication for the tendonitis for a month; plus a second med to keep the first one from tearing up my stomach. What a drag! In addition, the doctor wants me to have some physical therapy for my foot. That\’s an even bigger drag, because of course I have to work those sessions in around my job. At least I can continue to ride my bicycle. I think I\’d go bonkers if I couldn\’t! November 6 , 2020 addendum: The foot seems mostly OK, except for the bunion joint (I think that\’s what it\’s called). There\’s so much else going on that I don\’t want to bother about it. So what\’s afoot now? The COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-diabetes. We\’ve had a hyperactive hurricane season; and it\’s not over yet! Zeta came directly over New Orleans, and some folks still haven\’t gotten their electricity back. I was one of the lucky ones; mine was off only 27 hours.

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Day 11

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Today is Day 11 of Love to Ride! I had another good ride, with nice weather. It\’s slightly warmer than yesterday, and a bit windier; but still OK. Maybe I overdid the out-of-saddle work yesterday. Today my legs feel heavy and tired, so I did a short ride; not quite eight miles. I tried to pedal easily; and I stayed on the small ring. I don\’t think you could really say that this was a \”recovery\” ride. I was working a bit too hard for that; and homeward-bound, the wind was strong enough to keep me from staying in heart rate Zone 1 if I wasn\’t going to take too long to get back home. The wind kept picking up all day long; and as I type this, it\’s blowing at 21 mph. I\’m glad I\’m not trying to ride against it! Day 11 thinks it\’s going out like a lion; and this isn\’t March!

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Day 10

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Love to Ride, Day 10! I had wonderful riding weather this morning. The temperature was about 64; the sky was clear; and there was almost no wind. If only it could be like that every day! That would be cyclists’ paradise, as far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t trying to push the pace today; but on a whim, I tried some out-of-saddle pedaling. All of a sudden I felt stronger at it than I ever have before. Maybe my “force” exercises are paying off? I even tried riding over a pipe-hump or three while out of saddle; but unfortunately I don’t seem to be ready for that yet. I wavered all over the place. C’mon core, get with it! I\’m now turning an eye towards the forecast for the next four days. Tomorrow should be OK, at least for the morning ride; but as the day goes on, the wind is expected to strengthen. Friday there\’s a 20% chance of showers. Still not too bad. Saturday the chance of showers increases to 30%; and Sunday doesn\’t look good at all: 70% chance of showers and T-storms. But you never know. Sometimes a 10% chance of rain brings a furious downpour; and sometimes a 70% (or more) chance of rain means not a drop. I\’m glad this is only Day 10 of Love to Ride. That means I still have plenty of time to get in those miles!

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More than Your Figure

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It\’s about more than your figure when you\’re a cycling enthusiast. Like the author of this article, I\’m hesitant about posting a blog on the subject the \”plus-sized cyclist\”. I, myself, am about 15 pounds overweight; so who am I to talk? Cycling can help you to lose weight; particularly if it goes hand-in-hand (foot-to-foot?) with improved eating habits. But changing eating habits isn\’t the easiest thing to do; especially when you work all day; have to squeeze breakfast into the half-hour between the morning ride and heading off to work; and have little counter space for food preparation. If I don\’t prepare the day\’s lunch the evening before, I have even less time for breakfast. To complicate matters of \”eating right\”, I\’m apt to get so caught up in meal planning that I end up doing little else. I can\’t give \”diet\” so much attention when I have other things that must be done; and it\’s no wonder that I tend to backslide after several months of it. As that article says, if you want to ride a bicycle, just do it; even if you don\’t have a figure like a pro tour rider. It\’s still possible to have lots of fun riding! Besides, who hasn\’t heard of \”skinny-obese\” these days? I\’d rather have those extra 15 pounds; some muscle; and some stamina, than have the figure of a prima ballerina; but be flabby and unable to ride for even five miles. It\’s about more than your figure!

Is That Weird?

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Is that weird? No; not E-E-R-I-E. E-R-I-E. Follow the footsteps; I mean, the hoof prints, of the famous mule! A week or so ago I received a notice in the mail about Cycle the Erie Canal; and it sounds wonderful. Much of the trail is away from traffic. It\’s mostly flat, and that\’s great for a life-long flatlander like me. Eight days, 400 miles does sound rather daunting. I could manage 50 miles in one day, I\’m quite sure, but averaging that for eight days straight is another matter. The training plan sounds very similar to what I do as a regular thing, though; so maybe I\’d be OK! Unfortunately it\’s not likely I\’ll get to do this tour. Buffalo, NY is far, far away. The tour itself is not cheap; and getting up there, and back afterwards, would add to the cost. Preparation would mean putting the road bike aside for a while. I do most of my riding with the road bike; but a hybrid is recommended for this trip. Suddenly riding the hybrid all day, every day for over a week would be too much if I didn\’t do something to prepare for it. I\’d especially need to practice a lot of loaded riding, namely, full panniers in addition to the Camel-Bak. I don\’t know whether there are any ghosts along the Erie Canal; if I saw one, I\’d be saying, \”Is that weird, or what?\” It sure would make the Erie Canal eerie! But if you can make it to this ride, have a great time; and watch out for what my brother calls \”fresh mule muffins\”.

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