SpokEasy

SpokEasy

BACK ISSUES

What a Changeling!

BACK ISSUES /

What a Changeling! What a changeling weather is! Ours has been quite capricious just lately. Maybe it’s because we’re currently in the Capricorn zodiac sign date range? At any rate, day before yesterday the morning temperature was around 39. Over last night it got up to about 57 — nearly twenty degrees warmer! The wind wasn’t nearly as strong as on Sunday, so riding wasn’t bad. I didn’t need as many layers; and I didn’t have to fight so hard against said wind. Alas, a big change is in store! This afternoon the high was about 73 degrees. Tonight, it will go down to the low 60s; and there’s a good chance of rain or even T-storms. The wind is strengthening, too; and that doesn’t make me very happy. Tomorrow will be another high-in-the-morning day, with a cool-off as the day goes on. Then, tomorrow night, down to around 38 again; and strong wind besides. Luckily, severe weather isn’t expected. But geez, what a changeling atmospheric conditions are! Thinking of riding in that cold and wind makes me want to groan. I’m not thrilled about riding in the rain, either; especially when the temperature is below 80 degrees. Add strong wind to a downpour, and I can hardly see where I’m going; even in the daytime. I often hear people complain about these frequent changes in the weather. “You never know how to dress!” is a common remark. They’ve got a point. As for me, I keep the cold-weather cycling gear handy.

What a Changeling! Read More »

Achilles’ Heel?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Achilles’ Heel? ?? Achilles’ Heel is quite famous; or maybe infamous is more like it! Have you ever noticed that one particular part of your bicycle seems more prone to causing problems than the rest of the machine? It’s rather like Achilles, of Greek legend. He was invulnerable, except for his heel. My road bike’s Achilles’ heel seems to be the rear derailer hanger. I’ve had to replace it three or even four times in less than six years! I now keep a spare on hand at all times, because it takes the bike shop about a week to get a new one; and while I wait for it, I miss a lot of riding. I don’t know why that rear derailer hanger is so prone to damage, unless it’s because of its placement on the bike. I does rather stick out; and if the bike falls and lands on its right side, the derailer hanger is a very likely impact point. You’d think the pedal sticking out would catch the bike, wouldn’t you? Or the handlebars. But the rear derailer hanger still takes the brunt. Maybe the weight of the cassette comes into play. It would be nice if we could all make our bicycles impervious to whatever bumps, falls, etc. we’ll ever encounter. Unfortunately there’s no River Styx at hand.   This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” ABOUT ME I began this website primarily as a way to present the story of how I accomplished a century ride on an adult tricycle. Other riders of adult trikes might want to know whether it’s possible. It sure is! You can read all about it in My Story. I live in New Orleans; and  retired in January 2023. More time for cycling! Website designed by Cecile Levert © This website is the property of its author. DISCLAIMER I am not a cycling coach; nor a health professional. This site is based on my own experiences, opinions, etc. If you need help, please consult the appropriate professional.   FRESH FROM MY JOURNAL Done! May 6, 2024 Halfway May 5, 2024 Do-si-do? May 4, 2024 Rain Drill? May 3, 2024 Load More TRANSLATOR

Achilles’ Heel? Read More »

Logging

BACK ISSUES /

Logging? Uh, wait a minute, there. Not those logs! I\’m not Paul Bunyan, you know. I don\’t think I\’m ready to try birling, either. Neither do I have a wood-burning stove to feed. But a cycling log can be handy. You can keep notes in any notebook, or be fancy and get The Cyclist\’s Training Diary. I kept both for one year; the inexpensive drug-store notebook as a \”rough log\”, and the expensive one as a \”fair log\”. It was worth a try, but the \”fair log\” turned out to be as much of a jumble as the \”rough log\”. My far from stellar penmanship didn\’t help much. I\’ve since returned to keeping my ride logs in 5-subject notebooks from the drugstore. Usually I do a page per day, even though that sometimes means only two lines on a page. It\’s a waste of paper, true, but it makes it a lot easier to find any particular date. Why keep a log? You might want to go back and check something from an earlier ride: was that the day I saw the bald eagle? When was that morning when the fog was so terrible? Or, you might want to see whether your average speed has improved over time. It\’s also a good idea to have some kind of maintenance log, to keep track of tune-ups, repairs, etc. Some cyclists simply enjoy logging the miles, and watching them add up (I plead guilty?). The advantage to not having any kind of pre-printed log means you can tailor your log to your exact needs. And maybe, one day, we can toss them in the water and have that birling match!

Logging Read More »

Cooling My Heels

BACK ISSUES /

I\’m cooling my heels, along with the rest of me. This is one of those days when I\’m actually glad not to be riding! It\’s still cold; and the wind is still rather brisk. Early this morning the chill factor was below freezing. Riding in cold weather isn\’t my favorite thing, and probably never will be. But if I want to ride when it\’s cold outside, I just have to do it. Suppose I wind up living where it\’s even colder than it is here, and with snow besides? Dressing for cold-weather rides requires some thought. Plain old experience factors in; I try to remember to write down what I wear to ride on days when it\’s cool enough for me to haul out leg warmers and other cold-weather gear. I note whether I felt OK; got too warm; or was still cold. Even after several years of that, dressing for a ride on a cold day is still something of a guessing game. Tonight it\’s not expected to be nearly as cool as last night, so I shouldn\’t need five layers for tomorrow morning\’s ride. Yesterday I really had to bundle up! You could say I was cooling my heels — and my legs, and my arms, etcetera.  

Cooling My Heels Read More »

Are You Hooked?

BACK ISSUES /

Are you hooked on cycling? It certainly is habit-forming! Do you remember when you first knew that cycling had snagged you? It didn\’t take me long at all; less than one mile, in fact! Maybe being on three wheels was a factor. I wasn\’t trying to learn both balancing and pedaling at the same time. If I had started on a two-wheeler, the cycling addiction wouldn\’t have come upon me nearly as fast, I think. When I moved on to two wheels, I was already a cycling junkie. This made the inevitable frustration of learning to manage a BI-cycle much easier to bear. The process repeated itself when I first had the road bike. Being a beginner on two wheels can be frustrating. If you\’re finding that it seems impossibly difficult, go easy on yourself. Be patient. Take your time. Don\’t give up on yourself too soon. Remember that every cyclist was a beginner at one time. So — are you hooked? Did riding a bicycle grow on you over time? Or was it Love at First Mile?

Are You Hooked? Read More »

Pass/Fail?

BACK ISSUES /

Some tests are pass/fail. Today\’s ride was a test, all right; and a tough one, too. It was 39 degrees, which feels very cold to me; and the wind was 25-26 mph. I\’m glad I had the headwind on the way out! Again, I saw bizarre heart-rate readings; I know very well I wasn\’t in Zone 6! It took a while for more reasonable readings to show up. I\’ve gotta change that battery. With wind like that, it\’s a lot harder to control the bike one-handed, especially when I\’m trying to handle a bidon that\’s stowed in a bottle cage on the down tube. Getting a bite to eat from the top-tube pouch  is often harder, too. The wind today kept blowing the net covering back across the top of the pouch while I was trying to get my \”bites\” out of it. The fact that I was wearing heavy gloves didn\’t help. Even with double socks, my feet were cold by the time I had ridden about three miles. I was wearing a total of five layers above the waist, and slacks over my leg warmers; but my feet seem to be more sensitive. I don\’t think my shoes were too tight, because I could wiggle my toes. I could have used a heavier skull cap, too. Pass/fail: OK, did I pass the test? That depends on how you look at it. In the sense that I rode at all in such conditions, it\’s a \”pass\”. So is the fact that I rode farther than I did last Sunday. Considering that I didn\’t ride as far as originally planned, I flunked. I was tired of spinning in my bicycle\’s lowest gear; tired of fighting the wind. It seems that I\’m still a sissy.

Pass/Fail? Read More »

Bicycling with Arthritis

BACK ISSUES /

I\’m bicycling with arthritis. I\’ve had osteoarthritis in both knees for many years; and in fact I developed it at a rather young age. Why, I don\’t know. I had done jogging in previous years; but much of it was on non-paved surfaces. I always did stretching exercises both before and after. Then, when I suddenly got so chronically, horribly tired, I didn\’t have the energy for jogging; or for much else. Subsequently I was quite inactive for eight to ten years; and then I began to walk to work. Between then and the time I got the adult trike is when the arthritis set in. Luckily my knees don\’t hurt or feel stiff, although they can sound like Rice Krispies® when I do any kind of knee-bend exercise; especially the one-legged kind.  Single-leg squat exercises also tend to make the areas around my knees feel more strained than I like. I wonder whether that means I should avoid such exercises; or whether it means that I need them. Cycling is supposed to be a good activity for people who have arthritic knees, because it\’s non-impact. How ironic, then, that cycling can also lead to the development of osteoarthritis! Either way, I\’m bicycling with arthritis. I don\’t see that as a reason to stay off the bike. We all need exercise, myself not excepted; and cycling doesn\’t have to mean putting in grueling training sessions. On the other hand, always riding at a leisurely pace doesn\’t help me to improve my strength/speed/power. I need to push things sometimes, but not overdo it. It\’s the old \”moderation in all things\”; especially since I\’m bicycling with arthritis.

Bicycling with Arthritis Read More »

Is It Over?

BACK ISSUES /

Is it over; or is there still more to come? It seems as though the worst of the rain has bypassed my neighborhood, unless it poured before I was awake. It might have done so; and given the forecast, I decided not to try going out for groceries. I didn\’t even get up until past 10 am — what a rare luxury! I wish I could do that more often; because, when I can, I feel all the better for it. The forecast still says there\’s a 90% chance of showers in the next hour or so; and the wind sounds like it\’s getting stronger, too. The low temperature tonight will be below 40 degrees. Tomorrow it will still be windy; and cloudy until mid-morning. The chill factor will be most unpleasant, I\’ve no doubt. It\’s likely to feel like the temperature is below freezing! How to dress for a ride in such conditions? Layering! 1) undershirt; 2) long-sleeved blouse; 3) vest (in my case, an old cycling jacket sans sleeves); 4) cycling jacket; 5) leg warmers; 6) double socks; 7) skull cap; 8) heavy gloves. And possibly yet another windbreaker; and maybe an old pair of slacks over the leg warmers! The problem with that is, my Camel-Bak pockets don\’t have much room for me to stuff clothing into them because of all the other stuff I carry. If I start to feel too warm, the best I can do is to unzip things. I\’m glad it\’s not expected to rain tomorrow. Cold and wind make bike handling difficult enough. Rain only makes it harder; and chills me through on top of it all. So, is it over? Rain, rain, go away!

Is It Over? Read More »

Missed Mist?

BACK ISSUES /

I missed mist this morning! After last night\’s forecast, I expected to be like the person in this pic: almost blind in the fog. Much to my surprise, it wasn\’t very foggy; except for one stretch where any fog tends to be heavier, anyway. It was a relief to be able to see where I was going; and I\’m glad that I missed mist. I could have worked on my speed, because I could actually see where I was going; I but decided to stick with my plan to ride short and easy. When I\’ve skipped a day because I didn\’t feel very well, it\’s probably wise not to jump right back into the intense stuff. Now I\’m checking out tomorrow\’s forecast; and it isn\’t at all favorable. It\’s going to be one of those strange days when the high temperature is in the morning, with the mercury falling all day. Early in the day, the wind will already be 15-20 mph; maybe up to 30 mph by afternoon. Rain is all but certain. A grocery run seems unlikely; and I guess I\’ll have to put the bike in the trainer if I want to get in a little exercise. By Sunday the rain should be over, but the wind will still be strong; gusts up to 30 mph. I wish such winds wouldn\’t occur on the day when I have a long ride planned. At least it should be a tailwind on the way home. Maybe I should swap things around and do my long ride on Monday? A three-day weekend comes in handy in more ways than one.

Missed Mist? Read More »

Anybody?

BACK ISSUES /

Has anybody out there done a bicycle tour? It didn\’t have to be in the mountains; and if I were to make a bicycle tour, I\’d be wise to tackle one that\’s mostly (preferably entirely) flat! Did you do one of Adventure Cycling\’s tours? Those epic tours sound terrific; but I think a shorter, van-supported tour would be a good idea for my first tour. Baby steps, they always say! I don\’t have a touring bike that can be rigged to carry a lot of gear. I could probably rent one; but I\’d have to have it well in advance of the tour, so I can practice. If, like me, you\’re at sea about touring bikes, this video might be a good starting point. What did you do to train up before the tour? How long before the tour did you begin training? I expect that a lot depends on current fitness level. I can ride 50 miles in a day; but 50 miles a day for days on end is another matter. If you don\’t live in hill country, but had a mountainous tour planned, what did you do to prepare for climbing? There are tricks such as riding hard into the wind, or pushing for a high cadence in a very hard gear. But how much of such work is needed? And what about pacing? How fast do these bicycle tour riders go? My long rides currently average about 13 mph or a bit more; is that too slow? Sometimes the open road seems quite alluring. Other times I think, Not so fast. Anybody?  But one never knows. I think I\’ll keep the option open.  

Anybody? Read More »