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bicycling

I’m Shot

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I’m Shot! I’m shot today; and I don’t mean firearms.  Why does a COVID booster have me waking up the morning after — feeling like the morning after? I was really tired; and my arms and legs ached. I figured I was in no condition to attempt a 40-mile ride; so I did a slow-paced 10 miles or so. I’m on vacation this week; so maybe I can do that long ride tomorrow. It might be interesting to do it on a weekday! I can leave the Camel-Bak full; and keep the rest of today’s ride food to use tomorrow. I need to get to the grocery store for bananas and grapes; but not right now. As I said, I’m shot! I hope I feel better later today; and maybe I can go then. I’ve got a cooking project in mind: a garbage soup! The freezer was getting too full of plastic boxes of this and that; and I need to clear them out. Garbage soups are interesting; I’m never quite sure exactly what I’ll come up with We’ve got an eye on TS Fiona. It doesn’t look like she’ll pose any threat to New Orleans; but you never know. Weather is weird, anyway. We had a few mornings when it was almost cool; and now it’s heated up again. I’m starting to get hungry. Whatever for? I didn’t ride 40 miles, after all. Maybe it’s because I’m shot?

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Keep Cool

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized /

Keep Cool Keep cool with the Arctic Zone Cooler! I have something similar to this; and it’s handy for taking lunch to work. In hot weather, I often take it to the salvage store with me. That means using the trailer, because the cooler takes up most of the space in a pannier. The Arctic Zone Cooler comes with four reusable freeze-packs for keeping your lunch or drinks cool. The cooler can fold for easier storage. Today I rode to the salvage store; but I left the trailer home. I had an appointment to get the latest Covid booster at 11:00; and didn’t want the extra weight dragging along to slow me down. Instead of a cooler, I brought along an insulated bubble envelope with a “blue ice” in it. As it turned out, I didn’t get much that I needed to keep cool. As the morning went on, the wind seemed to strengthen; and of course I had a headwind on the way home from the store. The clouds were gathering, too; and the forecast is for scattered T-storms by 4:00 pm. So I’m glad I got in my riding this morning. Another way to keep cool is to wear sun sleeves. My favorite thing about them is that I need to use less sunblock! Sun sleeves feel hot when you first put them on; but after you get moving and start to sweat a bit, your arms feel cooler. Convection? So far I haven’t tried leg sleeves; but they work the same way as arm sleeves. Maybe I’ll get some one of these days. In the meantime, I have to plan tomorrow’s long ride. I found some Gatorade Whey Protein bars at the salvage store; and got five of them. I won’t eat all of them during one ride; but the rest will keep for later rides. My pass through the store also yielded a can of Sport Shake that I can use as a recovery drink. It wasn’t a bad haul; and now I’m just trying to keep cool.

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I Miss These

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized /

I Miss These! I miss these Breakfast Ovals! I found them at the salvage store a few times; but that was long ago. Breakfast Ovals became an instant  addition to my Shop once I tried them. I like berries; and as I remember, there’s some cinnamon in these, too. Thankfully, I don’t have any food allergies; but for those who do, these ovals contain no tree nuts or gluten.  Breakfast Ovals are easy to carry along for a healthful snack; or they make a quick pre-ride meal. Oh, how I miss these things! I hope the salvage store has them again sometime. By the way, it looks like the weather will probably be OK for this coming Saturday’s ride to the salvage store. This time though, I think I’ll leave the trailer home. Sunday’s forecast is a bit more uncertain. I certainly hope I get to ride; but if I can’t, I must remember that it’s not a disaster. Sure, I want to keep working towards my Love to Ride goal; but after all I hit the 4000 mile mark yesterday. After today’s miles, I have about 988 to go. All I need to do is keep riding as usual; and I’m going to make it!

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Clipped

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment, Uncategorized /

Clipped! It sounds funny to talk about clipped when speaking of toe clips. They aren’t the same thing as riding clipped in. I’ve used two different styles of toe clips: the kind with straps; and the strapless variety. The type with straps were OK when I was still on the trike. I didn’t have to worry about my balance while I reached down to snug the straps. On a two-wheeler, that would have been a different story; so I got strapless clips. The clips with straps had a problem, anyhow. I never could get the one on my left pedal properly fastened. I guess that’s what comes of being right-handed! I like being able to simply put my toes into those strapless clips. It’s easy to pull my feet out; either to the side, or towards the back. Riding without toe clips (or being clipped in) sure feels weird now. It makes me feel like my feet aren’t securely on the pedals; and might slip off at any moment. In wet weather, this is worse.   The MTB cleats shown above are what I use on the road bike. Wait a second. MTB stuff with a road bike? Sure, why not? I’m not planning to race; and trying to walk in roadie shoes is very awkward. I have to almost walk on my heels; and that is most contrary to my usual gait. Maybe I’ll move up to roadie shoes one of these days; but there’s no  hurry. So there it is: riding clipped is more efficient than using platform (i.e. plain) pedals. Once you’re used to it, you don’t want to leave it.

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odd day

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Odd Day This has been an odd day. It always seems that way when I skip the Sunday long ride. But now and then I need the break; and I needed to go to Whole Foods, anyway. If I do the long ride, it’s late morning by the time I get back home; there’s more road traffic; and the store is quite crowded. So off I went; and  arrived at the store just as they opened for the day. I got bananas, and my main reason for hitting Whole Foods: sunblock. Unfortunately it wasn’t on sale today; but I had to have some. Of course I got some other stuff too, such as hummus. I really miss hummus when I don’t have it! After I got my load from Whole Foods home, I set out on the road bike. I did a short ride today; only 19.23 miles. It was about 9:15 by the time I got going; and getting quite warm. Back home again, I did some cooking; then I had to ride over to the drug store. Incidentally, that new hybrid sure feels different from the old one! I looked up the specs online; and, as I suspected, the cogs are larger. The old hybrid’s cassette was 12-30, seven speeds. The new one is 14-34, and seven speeds. I believe the rings are the same size; but those bigger cogs sure make a difference! It looks like I can expect good riding weather for much of the week. The tropics have gone quiet again. I hope they don’t decide to flare up for Christmas! That would be something new; and an odd day, indeed.

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First Fall

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

First Fall I’ve had my first fall with the new hybrid already; and it wasn’t about autumn foliage, either. It happened on the way home from the salvage store. When it’s time to ride up the access road to the top of the levee, I shift to my granny gear. Unfortunately, I’m not used to my new bicycle’s shifting yet; and that’s how the problem came about. When I had twist-grip shifting, I had to turn the shifter towards me for lower gears. These new thumb-lever shifter work differently.  I  have two levers; and for lower gears, I have to push one of those levers away from me. I forgot that; and inadvertently put the bike on the biggest ring. Halfway up the access road, I finally noticed that on the gear indicator. The bike had become very hard to pedal; and I decided to dismount and walk. When I got off, the weight of the pannier pulled the bike over; and pushed me down with it. My left knee got a nasty scrape as a result. I guess every new bicycle comes with a learning curve; and all I can do is learn. But it was great to be able to ride to the salvage store again. Speaking of first fall, maybe we can expect some real Autumn weather in a few more weeks. Maybe. I remember once we got a cool front on October 6; but that was many years ago. However, a few mornings with temperatures in the mid-70s gives me hope. My knee feels sore from getting bashed this morning; so I might do a shorter ride tomorrow. I’ll see how things are in the morning. It looks like we’ll have good riding weather!

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Wouldn’t you know

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Wouldn’t You Know! Wouldn’t you know! I rode my new hybrid to work today; and by late morning it was pouring. The General sure got christened!   I’m not parking the General in the same place where I used to park my old hybrid. I found some bike racks that have a security camera right there! It’s a shame that I have to be so paranoid about my property; but obviously some people can’t be trusted. This morning I saw the hand specialist about that bone spur. The doctor gave me a cortisone injection at the site (after spraying on a generous amount of a numbing agent!). The injection site might feel sore a few days; and the real effects might not show up for a week. But after that, I should have relief from the pain for six months or so. I hope it isn’t raining tomorrow morning. I want to go to the salvage store; and my new hybrid doesn’t have fenders yet. The shop didn’t have the right size in stock. Ditto for tire liners. VERY handy if  you live where it rains a lot! I have quite a list for the salvage store; but I still need to be careful not to drag home too much canned stuff! But I need bread; I want hummus; and I’m low on yogurt. It’s also fun to browse through that store to see what I can find. I was working on a Page in my web site this evening; and it suddenly has a most peculiar quirk. The links in it go to the site’s landing page! I don’t know how that happened; and it’s too late to call my “help desk”. They aren’t there weekends; so it must wait until Monday evening. Wouldn’t you know, a big problem like that crops up when I can’t do anything about it.

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General Tso

bicycling, equipment, Uncategorized /

General Tso General Tso sounds like something you find in a Chinese restaurant. In fact, I got Chinese take-out for lunch today; and chose the General Tso’s Chicken combo plate. How did that come about? Today I went to the bike shop to get my new hybrid; and all morning I was cudgeling my brains for a name for those new wheels. After all, my other “rides” all had names; so why should this new bicycle get short-changed? I had a hankering after Chinese food. Ultimately I decided to get the General Tso’s Chicken; and name my new bicycle after it! It sure feels different from the old hybrid! For one thing, it’s not quite as heavy. It has disc brakes rather than rim brakes; and they definitely have a different “hand”. The new bike has thumb-operated shifting instead of twist-grip shifters. That, too, feels very different; and will take a little getting used to. I took my bicycle trunk and a pannier with me when I went to pick up the new bicycle. The pannier fits on the new rack; but the trunk is incompatible with it.  I had to borrow a bungee cord to attach the trunk to the rack for the ride home. Later, when I rode to the shop to return the bungee cord, it was starting to thunder. Somebody else seemed to get the storm; and I’m glad my new bike didn’t get rained on — yet. But that day will come; probably sooner rather than later in this climate!  Incidentally, the shop has to order both the fenders and tire liners in the size I need. I hope I don’t get a flat before then.

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Slow Cycling

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Uncategorized /

Slow Cycling Slow cycling apparently isn’t about velocity. It’s about “taking time to smell the roses”, as the saying goes. Not every ride needs to be about beating your own PR; or about pedaling as many miles as you can with as few breaks as possible. I that I’m guilty of the latter. My Sunday long rides are about building endurance, even if I don’t worry about my speed. Ergo I try to take as few breaks as possible. You don’t have to be as slow as this snail for slow cycling; but neither must you “smash” through your usual cycling routes. Take enough time to look around at the scenery; and stop here and there for a photo shoot; or to enjoy a snack. It’s rather hard for me to sight-see while I’m riding. I do a lot of riding in the dark; and as a result have long since developed the habit of focusing straight ahead of me. Maybe after I’m retired I can do a little more riding that will actually let me enjoy the scenery. I won’t have to ride before sunup to be sure I get to ride! Speaking of riding slowly, it’s much harder for me control the road bike while riding one-handed at a slow pace. I think it’s because in a low gear I tend to pedal at a higher cadence. The leg action then makes the bicycle wobble more because I don’t have the gyroscopic effect. I wonder, does an e-bike have the same problem?  Of my three “rides”, the one that was best suited to slow cycling was, of course, the trike. When you’re on three wheels, balance isn’t a problem; and you can pedal as slowly as you like. In a way I miss that; but honestly, I’d rather go faster than that.

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Entrained

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Entrained? Can you say that I got entrained today? I went for a ride on the levee; and as I approached the bridge, a West-bound freight train was crossing over. On the way home, I saw the Amtrak train heading the same direction. Many years ago, I rode Amtrack to Milwaukee, to visit a cousin. For at least 24 hours after I got off that train, my head felt like it was swaying back and forth inside. Is that being entrained? And the story goes that Dvorak got the inspiration for his Humoresque from hearing the clicking of train wheels. I kept today’s ride rather short. On Mondays I usually only ride to work; but for one thing, today is a holiday. Yesterday I did a long ride; and I don’t need to do long rides two days in a row. It was already near to 9:00 am when I set out; and heating up. I’m almost out of electrolyte tablets; and if I’m to ride much over an hour, I need electrolyte drink! That’s especially true in hot weather. I addition, a ride of over 80 minutes means I have to reapply sunblock. The sky was mostly overcast; and that helped to keep me from getting too terribly hot. In fact, it isn’t as hot as usual today.   I wish I had the hybrid, so I could ride to the store. Of course I can walk to the drug store; but they don’t have bananas. And I sure miss riding to work! I thought I just might squeak in enough rides to work to earn the Love to Ride Super Commuter Badge (ride to work 200 times in one calendar year).  But I don’t have a hybrid at present. Come to think of it, I need to use up some vacation time soon; but when I’m not on vacation, I want to ride to work!

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