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bicycling

heat index

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Heat Index Be careful when the heat index rises! At of  1:17 pm, yesterday, it was 95 degrees; our heat index was 103; and there was a heat advisory in effect. Today isn’t any cooler; and the lack of clouds doesn’t help. I  dragged myself out of bed at 4:10 am; went out at 5:00 am to ride some laps around the park; and then did about 29 miles on the levee. That let me finish by 9:00 am or so; and it was already brutally hot by that time! In heat like that, my ride food get half-melted; and my water and electrolyte drink don’t stay cool. I waited until I finished my ride to go feed the cat. He won’t starve if he gets his meal a few hours later. The poor thing is lonely, I know; but my friends return  tomorrow evening. They’ve been in England, where it’s cooler than it is here; and I hope the heat index doesn’t give them too much of a shock when they get back! In this heat and blazing sunshine, I’m using up a lot of sunblock. What a mess that stuff can make! It’s the payoff for not having to wear multiple layers. When it’s as hot as this, I wonder how Grand Tour riders manage to keep from collapsing. Well, tragically, sometimes they do collapse. How many years of acclimatization does it take to race like than in the heat?

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Precovery

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

PREcovery? Sometimes I “recover” before I ride. Recovery is a vital part of any exercise program; but  precovery? That’s right; sometimes I down my recovery drink before I go out riding! My usual pre-ride snack is a banana or a cupful of grapes; often with peanut butter. Sometimes I’m out of peanut butter; or I’m simply not in the mood for bananas. I don’t always have grapes on hand; and I don’t have time for a real meal. Going for a first-thing-in-the-morning ride on an empty stomach isn’t the best idea. At least, it isn’t for me. I’ve heard about fasted training; but I think I’ll skip it. Even with that pre-ride snack, I often get hungry before I’m back home; and my morning rides usually aren’t much over one hour long. I have to have something; so if that recovery drink is sitting in the fridge, I’ll grab it. Once in a while, in spite of a pre-ride snack, I get too hungry before I can get back home; and that’s why I carry a few GU-Gels with me. They’re my emergency rations, because I don’t need to bonk! Today I didn’t go out on the road bike. I had some errands to run; and the apartment search goes on. I also wanted to tune in to a webinar about Medicare that my employer is hosting today; that’s information that I’ll need in the not-so-distant future. Unfortunately my laptop couldn’t connect to the program. I guess it doesn’t have enough memory. I’m sure it was recorded, though; and maybe I can listen to it next week, when I’m back at work. When I ride anywhere now — even if it’s a short trip — I need something as precovery to cool me off before I go out. This morning it was in the low 80s before 7 am!  

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more power to me

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

More Power to Me? Sometimes I wish I had a power meter. Does a power meter mean more power to me? Unfortunately, it doesn’t; but there are times when I wonder how much wattage I can generate while on the bike. Such a device can let you know how strong a lightbulb your efforts can light up! I suspect that my wattage is quite low. It’s been a while since I did much of anything by way of force development; and force is a component of power.  On top of that, I’ve been tired for the last few months; and when you’re low on energy isn’t the best time to push force work. Besides that, these devices are a bit beyond my budget. But if you can afford them, and wish to do serious training, the Favero is easily installed; and its rechargeable batteries last up to 50 hours. Speaking of tired, that’s how I felt on the bike this morning; and I’m on vacation! I didn’t have to get up at 4:30 am to ride; but that meant I missed seeing the full moon over the river.? I rode only 16 miles; and while I’m off work, I’d rather put in 18-20 miles per day. Well, we do what we can. I’m halfway to my Love to Ride mileage goal for 2022; so as far as that goes, more power to me!

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Fish Or Cut Bait

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Fish Or Cut Bait We can’t cut bait forever! Sooner or later, we’ve got to fish. I’ve been in a fish or cut bait situation for over three months. I was working hard to convert my old  spokeasy dot org to this dot net site; and I must confess, there’s still a good bit of editing to be done on Products. I thought at first that perhaps I should complete all the editing before launching dot net. But I can’t stay in that fish or cut bait mode forever; and if I did wait to finish all that editing, this dot net site might never get out! Cycling shorts make the ride more comfortable! Speaking of products, Pearl Izumi® shorts are a favorite of mine. When I first had the tricycle, I rode for some months before I bought my first pair of cycling shorts. They took a bit of getting used to. At first cycling shorts made me feel like I had nothing on below the waist; and I kept checking to be sure I was dressed! Now, I can hardly imagine more than a very short ride without them. This morning I put in 39 miles on the road bike; wearing cycling shorts, of course. I’m glad I was home by 11:00 am; because about an hour later, a heat advisory was posted. It felt hot enough while I was out there riding; and it isn’t even officially Summer yet! I need to go to the drug store; but it’s thundery. I don’t want to get caught in a T-storm!

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Heat Exhaustion

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Heat Exhaustion Heat exhaustion is an appropriate topic at present. Anyone engaged in outdoor activity needs to be mindful of it; and that, of course, includes cyclists. Ride early in the day if possible; and avoid going out in the noonday sun. I get off work at 4:30 pm; and the heat index this afternoon was 107! Fortunately I have only 2.5 miles to ride; and when it’s hot and sunny, that’s quite far enough. Before I went to feed my friends’ cat, I added some ice cubes to my water bottle. They didn’t stay frozen for long. Summer isn’t officially here yet; but it’s quite light by 6:15 am. Soon I’ll need to begin my Sunday long rides at 5:30 am; and even when I do, it’s very hot by the time I get home several hours later. I wish I could stop at several points to put both water and ice into my Camel-Bak; but that would mean going well out of my way. I already have some sun sleeves; Protect your arms from UV rays while keeping them cooler. and maybe I’ll get some leg sleeves, too. Another problem with heat is the effect it has on my ride food. Most ride foods that I use get very messy when it’s hot; and I end up smearing bar coatings on my shorts in an effort to get my fingers halfway clean. That’s another form of heat exhaustion: I’m tired of the heat making things more difficult!

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Super Commuter

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Super Commuter? I ride to work when I can; but some days I just have to skip it! I fear I’ll not become a super commuter. The Super Commuter badge is one of many that you can earn by participating in Love to Ride. To get it, you must ride to work 200 times in the year — I suppose that means the current calendar year. I’ve been slogging away at it; and I am now 38% there. That means I rode to work 76 times so far in 2022; and I have to ride to work 124 more times by the time the Christmas break comes. As well as I could count, there are 131 working days left. I did my best not to count days when I won’t be going to work: vacation; tomorrow’s ophthalmology appointment; and so on. That leaves little leeway for days when I can’t ride to work; and there are bound to be some such days. Sometimes the rain is simply too heavy; and/or there’s too much lightning overhead. The disruption of a hurricane is always possible; and if I need surgery on that bone spur, I’m likely to lose at least a few days. Thus I guess any dreams of earning the Super Commuter badge are as much fantasy as dreams of riding a unicycle. I’m not sure I could manage one of  these! I suppose that riding a unicycle is vastly different from riding a bicycle; but I bet it’s fun once you get the hang of it. After all, it took some doing for me to get going on two wheels; and now, I can’t imagine being unable to ride!

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Hit and Run

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Hit and Run? I hope I never end up in a wreck like this! Am I guilty of hit and run? Today I dropped my bottle of electrolyte drink; and my rear wheel ran right over it! Not that I ran; I was still about six or seven miles from home, and needed that drink. I had to stop; turn around; and ride back to pick it up. Weather certainly pulls a terrible hit and run sometimes, as in the case of tornadoes. I don’t know why I’m attracted to such videos; and I also have a thing about violent volcanic eruptions! Shipwrecks, too. Maybe it’s morbid curiosity; or maybe I like to breath a sigh of relief and think, thank goodness I wasn’t there! This morning I needed to go to Winn Dixie; and they recently changed their hours. They now don’t open until 7:00 am; and I didn’t get out on the road bike until around 8:45! I decided to make it short today — 29 miles — and it got quite hot before I got back home. The clouds towards the South and East were building up; and around 12:30 pm I began to hear the grumble of thunder. By 1:15 pm, it was right on top of me! The lights flickered; and both my window units kicked themselves from Low Cool to Fan. But the storm was moving fast; and in 15-20 minutes it seemed to have passed. Give Me a Hand! This coming Friday I see a hand specialist about that bone spur; and I hope we can take care of it soon. But if surgery is required, it’s better to wait until after June 20th. Until then I’m still caring for my friends’ cat; and a fresh surgical site on the hand doesn’t go well with scooping the litter box! I also hope any surgery will require minimal time off the bike. I guess I can set up the hybrid in the trainer prior to surgery. If I have to have hand surgery, maybe this will let me get a bit of exercise while I recuperate. After the “hit and run” on my hand, I might not be able to do much for at least a few days; and I lifting bicycles around is bound to be on the thou-shalt-not-do list!

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Steady Does It

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Steady Does It! Helpful for adult riders who need an assist with balance. Steady does it; especially when you’re on two wheels! If you’re an older beginning rider; and balance is a problem; the Stabilizer Wheel Kit can help. Unlike the adult trike that I once had, this assembly can fit through standard-width doorways. I have three steps up to my front door; and one time I struggled to wrestle that trike up the steps and to the door. Only then did I learn that the rear wheel assembly was a bit too wide to get in through the doorway! If you’d rather skip this stabilizer kit; but aren’t sure how to get going on a bicycle; this video might help. Whichever route you take as a beginner, don’t rush things. Steady does it! Remember the tortoise and the hare. At the time I began on two wheels, I was only vaguely aware of training wheels for grown-ups; and never used anything like it. Speaking of stability on the bicycle, my friend who gave me the trailer says she felt more unsteady while trying to pull it. If anything, I feel more stable when I’ve got the trailer. How’s that for weird? Steady does it, too, when I’m out for my long Sunday ride. I frequently voice my frustration that my pace doesn’t seem to be improving; but if I’m shooting for 40 miles and more, a slower, steady pace is better than taking off like a rocket; and then fizzling before I’m halfway through. Pulling back the effort might be better in this heat, anyway. It got into the high 80s today; and tomorrow will get hot, too. No matter what the calendar says, Summer is already here.

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Bananas

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized /

Bananas! Bananas are a popular food with cyclists! Today I finally got to the supermarket; and picked up some bananas. A favorite pre-ride snack of mine is a banana with peanut butter; and I was without bananas for something like two weeks! I didn’t have grapes, either; and grapes are another pre-ride favorite. They’re good with peanut butter; and also with — can you believe it? — hummus! This morning I discovered that there will be no more pre-work runs to the supermarket. I thought about going there first; then feeding the cat; and then heading out on the road bike. I decided to go take care of the kitty first; and when I got home from that, I changed into cycling shorts for the ride to the store. When I got there, I saw a sign posted at the entrance announcing new hours; and that new schedule began several days ago. They now open at 7:00 am; not 6:00 am. It’s a good thing I didn’t go to the store first thing! When I got home from the store, I put the groceries away; and got ready to go out on the road bike. The bananas I got aren’t as ripe as I like; but it was great to have one again. Then I filled the Camel-Bak; cut up a protein bar; and changed my blouse for a cycling jersey. It felt weird to start a ride so late: it was at least 8:30 by the time I got rolling. Maybe that’s why it seemed so hot; and that, in turn, was why the Propel tasted weird. I made this short for a Sunday ride; largely because I started so late; and because it was already getting hot. Besides, tomorrow is a holiday; and I can put in some more miles!

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