SpokEasy

SpokEasy

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Ebb and Flow

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Oh, the ebb and flow! It\’s part of life, I guess. Our desire for cycling, as one source says, has its seasons. However enthusiastic we may be about riding, there are times when aren\’t so keen about it. That\’s normal. For example, one morning about ten days ago, I checked the NOAA site; and saw that the wind chill factor was below freezing: 27 degrees. YIKES!! I simply couldn\’t face going out in that; and I wimped out and skipped the ride. Sometimes we\’d rather do some activity other than riding, such as jogging. Some people like to swim; or play tennis; or go for a fast walk. Perhaps they\’d love to just sit back and take it easy for a day. I like that last one; especially when it\’s freezing cold and windy. I can curl up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. The ride can wait until tomorrow. All the same, I hope frigid weather doesn\’t provoke me to miss too many days of riding. I don\’t need to get out of shape; but even if I do, it\’s part of the ebb and flow.      

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LAZY!!

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Do I ever feel la-a-a-zy; and do I mean lazy! Now and then I skip the long Sunday ride; and today is such a Sunday. I don\’t mean that I slept all day; I was up by 8 am or so. Next I walked to the drug store to pick up a few things; and after I demolished the pint of ice cream that I bought, I sat down to work at the editing job on my web site. I think I\’m finished; at least, for the time being. Inevitably, I find something else to be tweaked; or I\’ll think of something that might make the site more visually appealing. Occasionally some of the text might need editing. A web site is a work in progress; and it never ends. With the web site work done, at least temporarily, I had to do some work on my road bike! It got rather dirty late last week, because the path was wet when I rode. That always results in grit/dirt getting splattered on my bike; especially on the rear portion of it. I put the bike in the trainer, so I didn\’t have to struggle to hold it up; got that dirt and grit off of it; and lubed the chain. Re: the weather, maybe the groundhog was right. Temperature-wise it feels rather Spring-like today. It\’s very humid, though (not that that\’s any surprise), and overcast. Even when it looks like it might rain, being indoors so much makes me restless. Maybe Spring fever is setting in. Is that why I feel lazy?

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If the Glove Fits

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If the glove fits, wear it. Yes, I know. Most people say, \”If the shoe fits, wear it.\” Here comes my Teutonic side again. The German word for glove literally means \”hand shoe\”. I must be looking around for another pair of those heavyweight gloves called Wombat gloves. The ones I have are definitely showing their age. They\’re — how old? I can\’t even remember for sure; but it seems to me I got them even before the hybrid. If that\’s the case, I had them by early 2012. All the same, they aren\’t falling apart just yet; and I might as well use them up. When the temperature approaches the sub-50 mark, I need heavy gloves, especially if it\’s windy, too. Cold hands make for a miserable ride. In fact, I\’m not sure which is worse: cold hands or cold feet. Maybe we should take a poll? My Wombat gloves are actually much too big. I got them because I could get my hands in and out of them easily; and they were warmer than any other gloves that I had. I hope to find some heavy-duty cycling gloves that fit me better. It\’s easier to work the lever for the chain rings if my hands don\’t slide around inside the glove. The downside to gloves that really fit properly is that it\’s a nuisance to get them off. They say, peel the gloves off inside out; don\’t tug at the fingers. Unfortunately, with full-fingered gloves that makes it rather a pain turning the gloves\’ fingers right side out again, especially when you wear a size Small. Since February has just begun, I can expect cold weather for a while. If the glove fits, wear it; and don\’t put the heavy gloves away just yet!

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Did He See?

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Did he see, or didn\’t he? I\’m not sure whether our local groundhog saw his shadow. Or maybe it\’s her shadow. For all I know, that famous groundhog up Pennsylvania is actually Phillipa rather than Phil. But that\’s beside the point. What time did the critter come out to do the shadow check? That\’s crucial. Early this morning it was overcast. At about 9:35 am the sun came out for a while, but it didn\’t stay out for long. So tell me: is Winter over, or not? I  finally decided to go to Wal-Mart. Much to my chagrin, they didn\’t seem to have powdered milk in stock; getting that milk powder was my main reason for going there. I did, however, find 18-count boxes of Clif Bars on sale for $16.34. That\’s less than a buck per bar! I usually restrict Clif-Bar consumption to the weekly long ride, so 18 bars will get me through at least two months. I checked the dog-toy section and found two-packs of \”Zany Fetch Balls\”; they\’re very similar to tennis balls. They aren\’t exactly what I had in mind for rolling out my feet, but they\’ll do. So the trip wasn\’t entirely non-productive, and I got some exercise to boot. But I still don\’t know: DID he see? (If not, maybe he needs glasses!)

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Today\’s Special

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And today\’s special is… You’ve probably heard the joke about the kindergarten teacher announcing to her pupils, “Today is Groundhog Day”. One kid turned to a classmate and said, “Am I glad I brought my lunch today!” All joking aside, if you don’t object to eating meat,  how about making a dish using ground pork to celebrate February 2? After all, where does pork come from? A pig, aka hog. Thus, ground hog. I\’v never liked handling raw meat, poultry, or fish; but I’m quite sure you could use ground pork for any dish that usually uses ground beef. Meatballs, for instance. Or meatloaf. Maybe a sauce for pasta? Some kind soup? Now, who’s in the kitchen? Not Punxsutawney Phil, I’ll wager. He’s too busy making his annual forecast; and I\’m too lazy to bother with today\’s special. I just cook whatever I\’m in the mood for.

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Would This Help?

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Would this help? Foot massage? For several months my left toes have resisted flexion; and, at the base of the big toe, it hurts. It\’s a problem for type of exercise which means I must brace the balls of my feet against the floor. I asked my doctor about it; and he thinks there\’s some inflammation there. He suggested ibuprofen. There\’s a catch: taking ibuprofen regularly doesn\’t work for me. After a week or so, the stuff irritates my stomach, even if I take it with food. What else could I try? Once again, I\’m hunting in the ballet world for possible suggestions. Sounds crazy? Maybe it is; but pedaling a bicycle uses the feet; and what helps a dancer\’s feet might help a cyclist\’s feet, too. Should I try rolling out the metatarsals? See here at about 29 seconds. Unfortunately I\’m having trouble finding one of those balls. Ms. Morgan mentions that it\’s a dog-toy ball; but I haven\’t found one in any of the stores I\’ve checked. A tennis ball might help. At work I had one of those stress-relief balls; and I brought it home to try as a foot-massage ball. Unfortunately it seems to be too soft for the purpose. Perhaps something like these toe spacers would help me? Unfortunately the drug-store toes spacers I tried didn\’t work well. I don\’t know whether that\’s because they\’re cheap; or because they happen not to fit my toes. It\’s too cold now to be in bare feet, anyway. Or would this help? Soaking my feet in epsom salts?

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What\’s My Ratio?

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Whats my ratio? Do I have more slow-twitch or fast-twitch muscle fibers? Aside from having a muscle biopsy done, I suppose that determining muscle-fiber composition is a matter of deduction. The fast-twitch fibers come to the forefront during short, hard bursts of pedaling, such as sprints. During a long ride at a moderate pace, the slow-twitch fibers carry the day. We all have both types of muscle fibers, in our own unique ratios. Sometimes I wonder which type of fiber is predominant in my own muscles. When I work at pushing the cadence while in a very hard gear, my legs tire quickly. Does that mean that I have a long way to go in building strength; or does it mean that I don\’t have a lot of fast-twitch fibers? Perhaps both? On the other hand, a high cadence in a very low gear (as when fighting a 25 mph headwind) leaves my legs feeling heavy and tired. Have I become too much of a masher? I seem to be most comfortable when I can ride the big ring with a medium-large cog; and at a cadence in the 70s. Is that mashing, or is it spinning? Or does it really  matter whether I have 3:1 slow-twitch : fast-twitch fibers; the other way around; or something entirely different? Running all those numbers through my mind during a ride won\’t make the ride any more fun. Knowing my exact muscle-fiber composition would be merely satisfying my curiosity. I\’d probably go right back to riding the same way I\’ve been riding; but at least I\’d know: what\’s my ratio.

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I Had It Hard?

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And I thought I had it hard! What cyclist doesn\’t want to become a better rider? Not that I really need to ask. Most of us do want to improve: we want to be able to cruise faster (raise my hand); or to climb better; or to ride single track MTB trails better. We\’d like to improve our strength by off-bike workouts; although perhaps not to the point where we\’re out cold like this fellow here. From what I\’ve read about it, such a workout level may not be needed for a cyclist looking for increased core and upper body strength. Improving cycling skills isn\’t easy. But however hard I work, I\’m sure I\’ll never approach what a paralympian does  to attain such success. And I thought I had it hard! Can you imagine riding a bicycle when one of your legs is a prosthetic from just below the knee? It seems to me that I\’d feel very lopsided until I became accustomed to using one whole leg, and one leg from the knee up. And then there are riders who use hand-powered cycles. It would take me a long, long time to adapt to such a way of riding. Upper-body strength has never been a — well — strength of mine. It seems to be, at least in part, a result of the way I\’m built. But if lost the use of my legs and wanted to keep cycling, I\’m sure I\’d find a way to manage it — however hard it is.

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Ring In the New?

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Shall we ring in the new? Kettlebells are a workout item that I haven\’t yet tried. An online article by Bicycling demonstrates a few basic moves. I\’m glad to find that kettlebells come in a 5-lb version; and vinyl-coated as well. I\’m not crazy about having vinyl around because it smells weird;  but I guess that a \”bell\” with some sort of coating will help to soften an accidental bump. A few such bumps are probably inevitable when learning to swing that thing around! The vinyl coating should also prevent rust; and that\’s always a consideration in a humid climate.  Here\’s the catch: would I be able to keep up a twice-weekly kettlebell session? Would it be OK to replace one core workout with the kettlebell one? The article says, after all, to keep your core engaged while performing the exercises. It\’s plain fact that the off-bike exercises I\’ve been doing for almost five years are getting dull. Maybe it\’s time to ring in the new! They say you need to change routines sometimes, to \”keep your muscles guessing\”. That\’s supposed to help them to get stronger; and to prevent imbalance issues that can occur if you continually work some muscles, but not others. The change in routine can be good for the mind as well. As to actually acquiring a kettlebell, I think it\’s better for me to buy one from a brick-and-mortar store. I can (sort of) simulate a 10-lb kettlebell by holding a 5-lb weight in each hand, but how about a 15-lb kettlebell? I\’d rather test my ability to heave that thing before paying for it. I just hope that, if I do get a kettlebell, is doesn\’t turn out to be a dead ringer.

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Bad News for Chatterboxes?

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Is this bad news for chatterboxes? I know the weather will be much colder over the next couple of days in much of the USA. Even here in New Orleans, tomorrow night it\’s expected to drop to freezing; and for us, that\’s very cold. But it\’s hard to imagine the weather being so frigid that people are advised against talking while outdoors! And to avoid deep breathing, too! Avoiding deep breathing would be nigh well impossible while riding a bicycle, unless you\’re doing a recovery ride. Such a ride isn\’t intense enough to keep a rider warm; and that\’s not much good on a sub-freezing day, right? I\’d have a hard time of it if I relocated to the North; and the same might go for the Midwest. How would I keep from getting too out of condition during long spells of nasty Winter weather? I\’d have to get used to spending a lot of time pedaling in the trainer! And probably get a set of rollers, too. The drawback to a trainer is that it holds the bicycle up for you; but rollers don\’t. I tried rollers, and it\’s hard to get the hang of them. I think a lot of my trouble with them was that I was overly tentative when starting a \”ride\”; but eventually I sold the rollers. Maybe some day I\’ll try them again. Meanwhile, stay warm, everyone! If you like to chat with a riding companion as you roll along, I hope this cold snap isn\’t bad news for chatterboxes.

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