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Big Mistake

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

It wasn’t raining when I got up this morning; but while I was getting ready to ride, I heard a drizzle. I just wasn’t in the mood to get wet; so I decided to wear the poncho. I would have done better to use the hybrid; or else leave the poncho at home. Shortly after 5:00 am, a weather site I checked said 7 mph wind. As soon as I got going, I could tell that that wind was no seven mph; and it made bike handling hard, especially with that poncho flapping around! I had to be careful not to sit on the poncho in a way that made me feel like its neckband was choking me. As a result, the poncho flapped all over the place in the wind. I felt so out of control that I needed to stop whenever I wanted some water; and once, I caught the bottom of the poncho on the water bottle. Talk about a big mistake! I didn’t see that the poncho was stuck; so when I tried to start up again, I got pulled down. I hadn’t even reached the point of getting my left foot clipped in; but that actually was good. It kept me from falling and ripping up my leg warmers; but I had to let myself down onto the ground to untangle things. Not the Best Fix I wasted as much as ten minutes trying to fix things so that I could ride. I took the poncho off, and rolled it up; but it wouldn’t fit in the spare bottle cage. It was also too big and bulky for my reflective vest’s pockets; and I didn’t have my backpack with me. In the end, I put the poncho back on, even though the rain had stopped; and I decided to go home. I didn’t get in much over three miles; and I hope for better tomorrow. I hope the forecast isn’t a big mistake; nor even a little one. Tomorrow I’m taking off from work; and I want to visit Whole Foods. Rain chances are most likely in the afternoon; and I want to get home from the store and take off on the road bike! By the way, will an abacus keep me from making such a big mistake again?

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Skywatching

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I’m skywatching again; and I don’t mean stargazing. It’s going to rain tonight, they say; and it could be heavy. In fact, we’re under a flood watch until 10:00 am tomorrow! The weekend might be OK. Rain chances are highest in the afternoons; and I do my riding/errand running in the morning. I want to head for the salvage store on Saturday; and how nice it will be if I find some FitCrunch bars in the grab bag bins! Tomorrow morning doesn’t look good. The forecast is for T-storms, right at the time I normally go out for my morning ride; and for that matter, the rest of the week doesn’t look good. Forget about going for broke and trying for that 100-mile ride day after tomorrow. There’s a 30% chance of showers and T-storms; and that’s bit too high of a risk for me. On top of that, I’m simply too tired to try for a century right now. My web site work is keeping me up too late; and I’m tired all the time. My nutrition is suffering as well; and I’m eating far too much junk food. I’m sure it’s wreaking havoc on my A1c levels! So I need to get back on track; and riding ought to help. As far as tomorrow goes, I can only wait and see what morning brings. Today I was skywatching as I rode; and hoped it wouldn’t start to rain. About five miles from home there were a few drops; but luckily nothing more. I hope the sky is clear enough Saturday morning for me to see the full moon; but alas! The forecast says, overcast. That really has me downcast!

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Atmospheric Intervals?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Uncategorized /

It seems like atmospheric intervals around here. Most cyclists are familiar with the concept of interval training. You go hard for a set amount of time; ease up the effort for a set time; and repeat. Our weather is doing something like that. But what is it about Wednesday? For the fourth consecutive week, we’re facing the possibility of severe weather; and most of the time this storminess has come on Wednesday! We’re all storm-weary; and here in my neighborhood we’ve been much luckier than some folks. No tornadoes so far, knock on wood; and I hope our luck continues to hold. If atmospheric intervals seem bad with T-storms, they’ll be much worse if this season’s tropical storms take up the craze. As usual, it isn’t a bit too soon to start preparing for hurricane season; and from that point of view, even bringing home more canned goods from the salvage store isn’t going too far. The forecast for the next few days looks wet and stormy; and I hope it doesn’t curtail my riding. Why did the weather have to turn bad just in time for a Love to Ride challenge? I won’t be any too happy if this trend continues all month long! I say it’s already gone on long enough. There’s a 40% chance for showers and T-storms Saturday; and they had better wait for afternoon to move in. It will be full moon time; and this one is the Paschal moon. As a rule, I don’t get up at 4:30 am on Saturdays; but if the full moon is on the calendar, I do. So those atmospheric intervals need to take a break Saturday morning!

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Marshall Islands

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Marshall Islands I never thought about cycling in the Marshall Islands; and in fact, I seldom though of them at all. Then, a week or two ago, I was out riding and saw a ship that was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. That finally did get me to thinking! The many small atolls are quite spread out; and until quite recently, I wasn’t even quite sure where the Marshall Islands were! Now I know; but what is it like to cycle there? Kwaj bikes are much in use by the residents. These bicycles are sturdy; and they need to be, because of the humid, salty atmosphere. I can believe that the bicycle gears we know so well in the USA quickly rust away in such a climate. Here in New Orleans, a bicycle that’s left out for as few as three days begins to show signs of rust on the drive train. After a few weeks, both gears and chain are completely rusted over; and I’m sure our air isn’t nearly as salty as that of the Marshalls. We do, however, get a lot of rain. Most Kwaj bikes are one-speed; and have coaster brakes. I’m so used to hand brakes that coaster brakes would drive me crazy; and I don’t think that high handlebars would be very comfortable. I never have understood the appeal of “ape hangers”; but it’s obvious that some people enjoy them. The climate is tropical, with an average year-round temperature of 82ºF. That sounds like unending Summer; and if I were to go cycling there, I’d do my riding very early in the day, if at all possible. With that heat, don’t forget the Camel-Bak; and a pair of sun sleeves will help keep you cooler!     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 © 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 ✍🏻 Facebook Twitter Youtube INTERPRETER

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Easter Dinner

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Easter Dinner 🍽️ Today I had Easter dinner, even though Easter is still a week away. I usually have holiday dinners the weekend before the actual holiday, because it’s less hectic. I rode the hybrid over to the local Chinese restaurant; and got the Mandarin Chicken combination plate. Combination plates let me have smaller amounts of several different foods; and to me that’s better than a large amount of just one food. The take-out box just fits in my bike trunk. That’s very handy, because I can ride home from the restaurant in about six minutes. Walking takes more like 15 minutes! I hope I can make up some of the mileage as the week goes on; but the forecast is a rather stormy one. Again. At least it looks like rain and T-storm activity are more likely in the afternoons; and that makes me hopeful. As always, I can only wait and see what happens; but I hope I can get in a good, long ride next Sunday! Real Easter Since I had Easter dinner today, what will I do next Sunday, when it really is Easter? Of course there’s Easter candy; and for sure I’ll have some. I’ll think up something for dinner; and maybe I’ll invent an “exotic” new recipe! Whatever I do, I hope I don’t run down Peter Cottontail while I’m out riding!

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Nemesis

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Nemesis My old nemesis, the wind, is up to its old tricks. At 5 am yesterday, it was only 6 mph, and from the West; so for once I had a tailwind most of the way home. By 10:00 or so, it was up to 18 mph. We were under a Red Flag Warning for two or three days; and I don’t remember when we last had one of those. I’m glad I don’t live in or near a forested area! Yesterday I had a good headwind for part of the way home from work; and I was surprised that there wasn’t much wind this morning. It sure made the trip to the salvage store a lot easier I decided not to take the trailer today; and in fact, I almost didn’t go to the store. When I woke up, I was very tired; my arms and legs felt sore and heavy; and my head was stuffy, too. I don’t know why; but maybe it’s a side effect of COVID booster #2. So I rigged up the hybrid with my trunk and panniers; and rode to the salvage store. Interestingly, I felt better after I got in some miles on the bike! Today I brought home a rather small load; and I didn’t find the two items that I was especially looking for: peanut butter and rolled oats. I’ll keep looking; and someday I’ll probably find them. That old nemesis, the wind, held off; and I hope it continues through at least tomorrow. I’m planning another 50-mile ride; and I get so tired of headwinds!

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Flavor Fatigue

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I think flavor fatigue is setting in. For some weeks, my ride food has consisted largely of Gatorade Whey Protein bars. For weeks, the salvage store has had them for $1.11 apiece; and I’ve been buying them like crazy. Does that save me money? It depends on how you look at it. If I buy a box of a dozen of those bars online, I save perhaps 11 cents per bar. Over time, even that adds up; but Met-Rx bars at the drug store costs $2.99 apiece. It means $1.88 saved by each Gatorade bar; and that’s quite significant. By now I’m getting rather tired of the same flavor of bar week after week; and want a bit of a change. I hope I don’t end up needing Pepto Bismol! Maybe it’s time to haul out Feed Zone Portables again. Flavor fatigue sometimes haunts me when I’m away from the bike; and I get weary of having to haul so much along to work with me. I keep falling off the wagon with my diet; and badly need to get back on track. I’m due to get my A1c levels checked again; and I fear it won’t be good news. How I miss working from home! It made it so much easier if I wanted to make an early trip to the supermarket. Now that I’m working on-site, I have to get to the store; get the stuff that I want; take it home and put away perishables; and then get to work for 8:00 am! It makes me feel rushed; and I don’t like that. When I was home all day, it was easier to keep my diet in check; and avoiding flavor fatigue was easier. Those were the days!

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Hydra?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Hydra Sometimes working on a web site feels like I’m fighting the Hydra; or some such monster.  When my material transferred from the old site to the new one, it skewed a lot of things. I have to edit almost everything to delete the old code that’s showing; and I have to re-insert pics all over the place. At least I can drag-and-drop pics from the old web site; and that’s much faster than having to hunt for them in my Photos app. I’m told I have this problem because my new site has a different theme from the old one; and I didn’t realize that the new site had gone live already! Please bear with the mess while I work to clean it up; and I’m afraid that might be a while. I have a day job; and can do only so much in the evenings. The weather sometimes seems like the Hydra. It doesn’t have seven heads; but it can be beastly, like the wind this morning. I tried to ride on the levee; but it felt like I was making no headway at all. After about half a mile, I turned tail and went to do laps around the park. Even that got cut short. During my second lap, I suddenly remembered something that I needed to take care of at home; and I was afraid I’d forget it if I kept riding. So I went home early. Strong wind is forecast for tomorrow, too. It’s blowing at 14 mph right now; and it looks like things won’t calm down much overnight. More Wind The weekend will be rather windy, too; but I want to get in my miles! I feel like I got cheated today; and I don’t want to lose more miles. I’m considering ride food for Sunday. Probably I’ll use those Gatorade Whey bars, since I have them; but I hope to find some good ride food at the salvage store. Incidentally, my hauls from that store are a bit of a Hydra, too. Every time I use up a few cans, I buy more!

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First Taste of Summer

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

First Taste I got my first taste of Summer this morning. Some afternoons have given us temperatures of 80 degrees; but this is the first morning that it’s been warm enough for me to ride without leg warmers. At 74 degrees, it was still cool enough for long sleeves and my vest; and I wore my lightweight skull cap. I decided to go ride in the park. There’s a wind sock near where I get on the bike path; and one look told me that the wind was pretty strong. When that sock extends from its pole at a 90-degree angle, the wind is  a good 15 mph! It isn’t fun riding against a breeze like that for 6 or 7 miles. There was also uncertainty about the weather in general. It wasn’t raining, but it was overcast; and who could say when it might begin to pour? I began my ride a little earlier than usual; and was home earlier. I checked the weather online; and guess what? Tornado watch until 11:00 am! Luckily nothing happened today aside from some pretty strong wind. While I was riding Sunday, I saw a ship named, Asphalt Sailor. I almost forgot about it; then this morning it suddenly popped into my mind. The flag flying from the ship’s stern wasn’t stretched out enough for me to see it clearly; but I thought it looked like Sweden. Today I googled the ship’s name; and it’s registered with the Marshall Islands. H’m. I never thought of doing a bicycle tour there; but it looks like there are possibilities! Before I think about that, I have to keep the local weather in mind. We’ve had our first taste of Summer; but Friday night it’s supposed to drop to 50 degrees!

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Simple Arithmetic?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

It’s simple arithmetic to determine how much time you need to ride 100 miles — or is it? Yesterday I rode 50.7 miles; and my time in the saddle was 04:21:55. Theoretically, then, my roll time for 100 miles should be double that; but that’s supposing ideal conditions. A headwind at some point is all but certain; and that will slow me down, and tire me faster. Suddenly doubling mileage isn’t the best idea, anyhow. I can’t decide whether to push for that century ride this month; or put it off while I do more work that will (I hope!) improve my pace. If I opt for that route, I won’t be ready for about two months; and in June it can be very hot! I think I also need to get used to eating more on the bike than I’ve been doing. Yesterday’s on-bike menu was: two Gatorade Whey Protein bars; half an RXBar; and two GU-Gels. Simple arithmetic showed a calorie total of 985; but my bicycle computer’s ride data showed a calorie burn of 1545. That left me 560 calories “in debt”; and maybe it’s why I started to feel so tired towards the end. I might actually need to eat a little more before I begin a ride, too. I don’t want to eat a huge meal, though, because I don’t have several hours to let it “settle”. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I need to start my long ride early! There’s always the weather to consider. I don’t want to designate a day as Century Day; and then be forced to call off the ride for a T-storm.

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