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Drying Up

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Drying Up I was drying up today. The humidity level is 59%, which is rather low for us; and on top of that, apparently I didn’t drink quite enough. Adequate hydration is an important part of cycling; and as usual, I used my Camel-Bak for my long ride today. To determine whether you’re drinking enough, they say to weigh yourself before and after your ride; and if your post-ride weight is a pound or more below your pre-ride weight, you’re dehydrated. I came close to it today: I lost nine-tenths of a pound; and usually I gain at least a pound during the weekly long ride. The problem with keeping up with hydration needs, is the need for pit stops; and that’s going to be a bigger issue now that the weather is getting warmer. It’s hard to find a balance between drinking enough; but not so much that I need a restroom every half-hour! Another reason I was drying up today was the headwind. Before I got back home, it was up to 16-17 mph; and as often happens, I was breathing with my mouth open a good part of the time. “Keep your mouth shut!” is, perhaps, a natural rejoinder; but nose-breathing doesn’t work well if you have exercise-induced rhinitis. It’s also hard to breathe through my nose when I’m exercising hard! It’s the final week of the April Love to Ride challenge; so I want to be sure I rack up some miles. Today I did 44.20; and I have six days to ride some more! It looks like there’s some rain chances tomorrow and Tuesday; and I hope the weather doesn’t wash out Love to Ride.

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The Dark Side

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Dark Side Does everything have its dark side? It sure seems like it sometimes; and it even includes bicycle touring! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, I’ve been cycling for over twelve years; and cycling means dealing with headwinds; cold; rain; and so on. It isn’t all fun and games, no matter how much I love to ride. Of the Big Four mentioned in the video, wind is the one I deal with the most. I sure had it on the way home from the salvage store this morning; and I was relieved that I didn’t have the trailer. Sometimes the wind blew from the side; and a pair of loaded panniers didn’t make the bicycle any easier to control. Other times I had a headwind; and it was up to 16 mph before I got back home. Naturally I looked for ride food! I’m always on the lookout for new ride foods! I found a few bars that I haven’t tried before; and I’m always pleased at a prospective addition to my on-bike menu. The dark side to my trip to the store wasn’t only the wind on the way home. I bought a few more canned goods! Every time I use up a few cans, I just buy more; and so I’m really spinning my wheels there. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly left its mark on me: stock up whenever I can, in case something keeps me indoors for a long time. Witch of the East? It looks like tomorrow will be windy, too; and of course it will be an easterly wind. The dark side of my Sunday long ride! I’ll try the Dang bar as ride food; but of course one bar won’t last me 40-50 miles. I have some other bars, too, e.g. Gatorade bars. The store seems to be running out of the Gatorade bars, so I have to be on the lookout for something else; but over the last few months I laid in a good supply of them! Afternoon temperatures are now in the low 80s; and soon it will be warm enough in the mornings for short sleeves. Can you imagine that? Of course short sleeves and no leg warmers mean I’ll need to use a lot more sunblock! That’s the dark side of not having to bundle up.    

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Rack Your Brains?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Outdoors /

Rack Your Brains? Don’t rack your brains for ways to transport your bicycles! A bicycle rack on the rear of your car seems like a great way to carry your “wheels” to a trailhead. However, this article caught my eye today. We sometimes need to take bicycles somewhere by car; but be sure your license plate is not obscured. I don’t know whether the authorities in the USA are as particular about this as they are in Canada; but why risk big fines? You don’t need to rack your brains to know that you’d rather keep your money! Anyway, if I could drive somewhere else to ride, where would I go? That depends in part on how much time I have at my disposal; and also how much ready cash I have! If I wanted to ride, say, the Natchez Trace ; I have to get to the trail first. Natchez is a bit over 168 miles from home; and even supposing I could drive, several hours behind a steering wheel leaves me exhausted. Feeling Adventuresome It isn’t a good idea to start a long ride when you’re already worn out; so I would want to go up there the day before hitting the bike trail. Here is where the money comes in!  If I don’t want to camp, I need a motel; and accommodations/meals get expensive. That’s on top of the cost of the gasoline required to reach Natchez. If I do camp, I have to pack along a tent, cooking equipment, and so on. Merely thinking about it makes me tired! The Tammany Trace is much closer to home; but it still takes at least an hour’s driving to reach the trailhead. I’ve ridden part of the Trace while participating in Tour de Cure; but the TdC route includes only about six miles of the trail. So far I never had the chance to ride the entire Trace. Of course the MRT is right out there; and I ride that all the time. It sometimes gets monotonous, though; and every time notions of relocating poke at my mind, I always think I want to be close to a variety of bicycling trails. I’ll have to rack my brains for some good ideas! Wait, didn’t I just say, Don’t rack your brains? Maybe I should listen to my own advice.

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Earth Day 2022

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Outdoors /

It’s Earth Day 2022! Today was the local Love to Ride Ride to Work event. I decided not to participate, for several reasons. One, getting to work afterwards would have meant riding alongside heavy traffic; and I’m uncomfortable with that. Two, and ironically, the official Bike to Work event goes far away from my workplace! I wasn’t even sure of the best route to take to work after leaving the official Bike to Work event. Three, I wasn’t sure how long it might take to do the event; and then get to work. I had an appointment scheduled at 10:15 am; and wanted to be sure I didn’t miss it. The Love to Ride April Challenge has a week and a day remaining; and I’ll keep on riding the way I have been. I’ll probably rack up another 100 miles or so by the end of the month; and I’ll keep chipping away at my 2022 goal of 5000 miles. For Earth Day 2022 I put in 13.2 miles on the road bike; and yes, I did ride to work! But it was just my usual route. Tomorrow’s ride to the salvage store will let me get in nearly 10 more miles; and every little bit helps. Appropriately enough, it was a beautiful day, although the wind had become quite stiff by late morning; and some clouds were gathering. As a bonus, we got off work at 3 pm – something to do with Commencement activities. Working on a university campus does have a perk or two! Outlook for the Weekend It doesn’t have to be Earth Day 2022 (or any year’s Earth Day) for riding; but it looks like I’ll have yet another windy Sunday ride. The forecast predicts gusts up to 25 mph; and that isn’t fun! At least is won’t be cold. I can’t speak for anyone else, of course; but cold weather saps my energy; and wind makes it worse. I’m so glad I found warming packs!

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Early Bird

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

The early bird catches the worm, they say. I always have been the morning lark type; so you’d think I had caught many worms by now! Being an early bird lets me get in my ride before I go to work; and, in hot weather, it means I don’t have to ride in the hottest part of the day. Sometimes our afternoon heat index is over 100 degrees; and I’m not properly acclimated to ride for long in such heat. It might take several months to condition myself to it; and that means very short and/or easy rides at first. By the time I developed the proper conditioning, it would be Fall, anyhow; so I may as well ride before sunup. Not that I was such a morning lark today. I got going late; and wanted a little extra time for breakfast, because I planned to heat some refried beans and rice. The wind was pretty stiff, and of course a headwind on the way back home; and I needed to allow some extra time for it. That meant a much shorter ride than usual! It’s a Challenge! Incidentally, a Love to Ride challenge really does become a challenge by the third week of the month. Normally I take Mondays off from riding; but during a Challenge month I make a special effort to ride each and every day. After several week of this, I start to feel a bit burned out. My trips to the salvage store also mean I must be an early bird. I can’t avoid riding along a highway for about two blocks on my way to the store; and I prefer to do the trip early on Saturday, before there’s much traffic. On top of that, I suspect that the best stuff in that store goes fast; so I want to beat the crowds. Speaking of birds, I must have something of the birdwatcher in me. My father was like that, too. [Embed Read Nature] During my Sunday long rides, I keep an eye out for eagles [link]; bluebirds [link]; and once I even saw some roseate spoonbills [link — don’t I have a blog on this?]. If the early bird catches the worm, maybe it sees the birds, too.

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What Season IS It?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

What season is it? First it got quite warm, into the 80s; and now it’s turned cooler! The wind late this morning felt downright chilly. I was outside eating my lunch; and I had to move so as to get out of the wind. I had a stiff headwind half the way home; and tonight it’s going down to 57 degrees! Has Fall come back? I’m glad I didn’t pack away the leg warmers yet! I’m glad it isn’t hurricane season, although that will begin all too soon; and it seems to last only too long! The roster of this year’s tropical storm names is out; and I hope we don’t exhaust the list. We’re all tired of the endless procession of tropical storms; and the devastation that frequently results. Some poor folks can’t recover from one storm before another strikes. I can believe in climate change when a hurricane develops in May. It didn’t used to be that way. Good grief, Hurricane Betsy was a September storm! It’s still April; but some days it feels like it’s Summer already. So — what season is it, really? Let’s think of it this way: it’s BICYCLE season! For me, that’s pretty much all year long. My Season Sure, it’s hard to get out and ride when the chill factor is below freezing; and all Winter I complain about how miserable it is riding in the cold and wind. I get tired of having to bundle up in multiple layers. My nose drives me crazy in cold weather; and if I had to contend with snow and ice, things would be even harder! I wouldn’t mind living where I’m out of the immediate reach of hurricanes; but that might mean much colder Winters. It’s quite possible to ride in the snow; and a fat-tire bike can help with that. Sometimes, when I’m out for a ride, someone passes me on a fat-tire bicycle. Those wide tires are a bit noisy on pavement; but if they provide better grip on less-than-firm surfaces, I’m sure they’re worth it. I don’t have the space to keep a fat-tire bike; snow is very rare here; and I’m nowhere near a beach; so I don’t need a fat-tire bike. But if I ever wind up in, say, Canada, maybe I’ll want one!

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Eggciting?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Today’s ride wasn’t particularly eggciting; even though it’s Easter. In fact, I thought of buying a half-dozen eggs when I was at the store Friday, but they weren’t on my list; and I forgot to get them. No big deal — I’m really not a big fan of eggs; and they weren’t on my mind when I went out for a ride. Well, not real eggs; but I was thinking of the candy eggs I planned to eat when I got back home! I pulled back the mileage today. I thought of pushing for 50 miles; but was too sleepy to get up for a 5:00 am start. On top of that, the weather forecast was on my mind. From what I read online yesterday, things were going to get stormy by early afternoon; and I wanted to be home before it began. I was delayed in reaching the bike path, thanks to a long freight train. That wasn’t eggciting at all; and in fact, it was quite an aggravation. A few miles into my ride I saw what looked like rain falling in the distance. I’m glad it was far away; and not falling on me! I kept watching the clouds the entire 40.4 miles that I rode, hoping it wasn’t going to storm. I didn’t see anything eggciting today: no eagle; and no rabbit. I did see some flags on ships at dock: South Korea; South Africa; and one that I think was the Marshall Islands. For once the wind on the way home tended to be a TAIL-wind. Good thing; my legs were rather tired by mile 35. I got home around 10:45 am; and by then the forecast had changed to say, T-storms late tonight; and maybe into tomorrow morning. Looks like a wet ride to work!

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Stick to Your List

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Outdoors /

Stick to your list when shopping, they say. I don’t always do it; and if I followed that rule to the letter, I might miss some good bargains. When I went to Whole Foods day before yesterday, sunblock wasn’t on my list; but I saw it on sale and got it. If I’m ever able to take my dream bicycle tour, my wish list would be extensive; and it might be hard for me to “stick to your list”. If neither my hybrid nor my road bike will do, Item Number One is a touring bike! The next question is: is this tour self-supported? If it is, I have to look into camping equipment; and this is where the list gets long! I’ll need a tent; and that’s barely the beginning! A waterproof tarp to put under the tent is a must. The List Goes On So, I have my touring bicycle; my “ground cloth”; and I have my tent. Don’t forget, though: on a bicycle tour you need to eat; and by all accounts, that’s a lot of food! It’s too expensive to buy ready-made food all the time; so self-supported bicycle touring means outdoor cooking! Cooking isn’t all that needs to be done. We’ve got to wash our clothes, too! Pack along some mesh laundry bags to protect your more delicate items of clothing. Incidentally, what clothes do I need for a tour? They say, if you’ve packed clothes for a few days, you’re good to go for weeks; just “recycle” things. All well and good; but I have to consider what weather conditions I can expect. Some kind of rain gear is a must; and keeping arm and leg warmers handy isn’t a bad idea, even in Summer. Don’t forget spare tubes; and a basic tool kit is also a must. So is a first aid kit. Omigosh, how can I “stick to your list?” For every item I think of, I extend it to several more!

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Slow Burn?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Am I in a state of slow burn on the bike? Yesterday I went out on the road bike; and put in 17.4 miles. I had a pretty stiff headwind; it felt like I was working hard; and my calorie burn of 400 seems a bit low. Maybe because I, myself, was slow. My legs felt tired; I didn’t want to push it; and I averaged all of 11.35 mph. It’s a good thing I wasn’t trying for that century ride, after all! I began this morning with more slow burn. At 5:15 I went out for a short, slow ride on the hybrid. It’s full-moon time; and I hoped the clouds would part enough for me to see that moon. They didn’t; but at least I got in a few miles for Love to Ride! Of course I went to the salvage store; and for a change I didn’t bring home any canned stuff. I wonder, however, just how much of my “stash” I should keep in case a hurricane decides to head our way this season. The salvage store still has those Gatorade Whey Protein bars; and as long as I can, I’m going to buy them to stash away for long-ride food. The drawback to those bars is, the chocolate coating gets half melted when the weather gets warm; and when I try to pick up a piece of bar, it’s apt to disintegrate. Most bars have the same problem! It looks like tomorrow will be cloudy; and possibly foggy before 8:00 am. The Easter Bunny will need a good headlight! As for me, I just hope the T-storms they’re predicting wait until at least 2 pm to break out.

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The Stuff of Nightmares

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I call it the stuff of nightmares when I dream that something goes wrong with my bicycle! Last night I dreamed that I was riding the hybrid somewhere; and after a halt for a stop sign, the bicycle’s wheels suddenly wouldn’t turn! I don’t know what made me dream that; but dreams are weird. The totals at a store’s check-out often seem like the stuff of nightmares, too. I rode to Whole Foods this morning; and YIKES! I spent $72.26; and that’s a lot! It wasn’t all food, though. My preferred sunblock was on sale; and when it is, I’ll buy some even if I have four tubes at home already! I got two tubes; and that right there was nearly $26. My steamer basket is positively ancient; and I decided to get a new one. I bought dish soap, too; and about half my total was non-food stuff. I found Nuun on sale; so I got some of that, too. It will keep; and I decided to buy a few RXBars for ride food. After I was home from Whole Foods, I got ready to go out on the road bike. The forecast said the wind was 9 mph, but it was more like 12 mph; and up to 17 mph by the time I got back home. Wind sure can be the stuff of nightmares! I hope it won’t be as windy tomorrow. I want to go to the salvage store; and I want to take the trailer. Wind, of course, makes hauling that thing harder. Sunday looks like it will be cloudy again; and I hope any T-storms hold off until afternoon — not only for my ride, but for Easter egg hunts!

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