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bicycling

Reach Out

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Personal Care /

Reach Out 🫱🏼 I can reach out more now! Today the physical therapist extended the splint; and I can extend my arm farther. I’m looking forward to being rid of that thing. Even though I can reach out more, using my left hand is awkward. My arm gets tired quickly because the splint is not weightless. For that reason, I’ve developed the habit of keeping my elbow flexed and the arm close to my body. Thank goodness I’m  no longer worried about how I’ll manage if a hurricane heads our way. Evacuation would be enough of a hassle even if I didn’t have an arm out of commission! I just hope we don’t get a late-season storm. Late Season 🍁 A late season hurricane isn’t impossible; but the tropics are expected to remain quiet during the coming week. So we can relax for a bit! And I’m waiting to be able to ride again. How well must I be able to reach out before I’m able to manage the steering? I don’t ride with my arms fully extended; the elbows are supposed to have some bend in them. If your arms are straight and rigid on the bike, steering will be a lot harder; and you also will have a harder time if you hit a bumpy patch in the road. When I’m out of the splint, I have to get back some arm strength, too; but I don’t know how soon I may add a bit of weight to my therapy exercises. The scar area still doesn’t take well to weight! 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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October!

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Outdoors /

October! 🎃 I wonder what Minnesota looks like in late October!  Today really feels like October — now that October is near its end. It was only 59 degrees this morning; and the wind was strong enough that there was a wind advisory. Sometimes I reflect on those days of RAGBRAI; and the towns along the route. Is Brown Park coated in frost now? Is the photo-op tractor in Fairbank getting snowed on? Come to think of it, I suppose it’s been moved into a barn or garage. Or maybe covered by tarpaulins. Keep Warm ♨️ So now I’ve got to keep warm. It won’t be quite cold enough for hand warmers tomorrow; but 53 degrees is pretty darned chilly as far as I’m concerned. I want to go for a walk in the morning. How do I keep warm when that splint makes sleeves a problem? Maybe wear an arm warmer under the splint; and leave the arm inside the jacket? I’ll definitely need a head cover! The older I get, the more sensitive to cold my noggin becomes. Cooking would help keep my kitchen warm; but this activity is still a problem. I don’t seem quite ready for heavy-duty vegetable chopping; and the splint weighs down my arm. I hope I’m back up to it soon! 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Cartwheel?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Cartwheel?🤸🏼 Cartwheel? This looks like the remains of a very decrepit wheelbarrow; and it could use some wheel lights to brighten it up. It looks like Hurricane Melissa is going to do a cartwheel. Her direction has changed to WNW; and she’s expected to veer towards the Northeast. Melissa has become a monster; I don’t know how big she is, but any Cat 5 storm is a monster. On top of that, Melissa is a slowpoke, which gives her more time to intensify. I’m glad we’re out of reach of that hurricane! Out of Reach 🤜🏼 Yes, we’re out of reach of Melissa — for now. But over the last few days, her behavior has been erratic; and I, for one, don’t trust her to take the predicted path. Riding is still out of reach for me. It’s getting very tiresome. How long will it be before my arm can extend itself properly; and how quickly will it regain strength? When I can get back on the bike, will the action of holding the handlebars/steering prove good therapy? I’ve got to ask the therapist about that. Would kitchen work, i.e. chopping veggies, be good rherapy? Last time I tried it, it still made my left elbow ache; and strained the incision. But I’m getting weary of microwave meals! 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Wrong Way

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Wrong Way 🔙 Sometimes things rub me the wrong way — literally. The hinge on my arm brace rubs against the outer side of my elbow; and I’m very tired of it. I’m tired of the brace, too, of course. I remove it to do the physical therapy exercises, and to shower; otherwise, I’m still stuck with the dratted thing. Incidentally, I hope I’m not doing the exercises the wrong way. That would do more harm than good; but I have another PT session soon. Then I can get any concerns addressed. Meanwhile, I have to watch those tropics. I hope it won’t come to an attack by a hurricane. But that system that’s approaching the Caribbean has strengthened somewhat; so we can’t afford to ignore it. Those Tropics! 🌀   Those tropics are a nuisance; and they have us all keeping watch from June through November. By the way, it would be great if Iconic Protein Drink could give me the power of a tropical storm! When I’m finally back on the bike, that is. The thought of a hurricane is another thing that rubs me the wrong way. The preparations are a nuisance even when I don’t have one arm out of action. And every time I think my ribs are better, I find out that maybe they aren’t. So I hope that those tropics simmer down. 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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How Soon?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Personal Care /

How Soon? 🕰️  Of course I’m wondering how soon I might ride again. Before I left the hospital, I thought they said, five weeks; but I suspect it will be longer than that. Yesterday I got the surgical dressings off. I may take the brace off to shower; and it was wonderful to be able to wash my hair. I wasn’t like being at a spa; but it still felt good. I’m now allowed to  walk to my heart’s content. I hope I feel more energetic tomorrow; but the sheer difficulty of finding a comfortable position in bed makes sleep very difficult. No wonder I’m sort of spacey. I’ll soon be starting some physical therapy; a home health care person is coming in a few hours to give me an evaluation. Physical Therapy 💪 Once I’ve had the physical therapy evaluation, I might have a better idea of how soon I may ride again. I hope it’s not too long! When I get the green light to ride, I’ll start with the hybrid. It might be some time before I get a new road bike. The poor road bike that I had can’t be salvaged. You should have seen the wheels — some spokes gone; and others sticking out at weird angles. The front fork had been damaged, too; and the frame might have sustained damage that doesn’t show externally. That can happen with carbon fiber; and they say you should never ride on a cracked frame. It might fail drastically at any time. Then you could be in a situation that no physical therapy can fix. 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Hanging Loose?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Hanging Loose? 🥱 Is that splint on my arm thinking of hanging loose? It doesn’t feel quite so tight in the last day or two; especially on my forearm. What a relief that is! “Hanging loose” sounds sort of like hang-gliding; and I remember the Gossamer Albatross. I sure don’t have that kind of leg power! I’ll be glad when I can again use what leg power that I have. I’m tired of  sitting around; but for now I can’t do much else. Well, I’m glad my head didn’t get bashed up! That would be much worse than flabby legs. And even before the accident, I could have used getting my abs to tighten up! Tighten Up? 🪢   Working my core is a good way to tighten up said abs. However, I’m not sure how soon I may perform curls (very like crunches); and of course a left-sided crank plank is out if the question. I’ll probably get to ask some questions soon about what exercises I may do. It will be great to be out and walking again. I need some fresh air; but I’m not quite up to vigorous walking yet. But do I need it! My belly might end up hanging loose if I can’t burn off some calories!   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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Helmets Save Lives

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Helmets Save Lives! 🧠 “Helmets save lives.” I can just hear you all now — “*yawn*. Tell me something new.” But I always believed that helmets save lives; and now I’m even more sure of it. This past Monday I was riding; and got hit by a pick-up truck. I was so glad it’s always been my habit to wear protective headgear! My helmet hit the road; then did a sort of bounce-and-scrape. If I’d been bare-headed,  I might not be typing this now. I ended up spending four days in the hospital, including surgery; and now I’m rather laid up. Laid Up 🫤 Being laid up is most tedious. I can’t ride now, of course; when I got hit and went down, my left elbow took the brunt of the fall. It was severely dislocated; and required surgery. When they got me to the operating room, the orthopedic surgeon spoke with me before they gave the anesthesia. He explained that joint dislocation causes damage to tendons and muscles; and that I’d done it “pretty spectacularly”. So I was in a surgical splint until yesterday, shortly before I went home; and now I’m in one of those ROM braces. I’ve got physical therapy coming up; and who knows what all else. I might have been released from the hospital a day earlier; but they wanted to run an MRI to be sure I hadn’t suffered a concussion. The one-day delay gave my sister a chance to get here.  She’s a great help when I’m laid up. 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Which Is It?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Outdoors /

Which Is It? 🤔 Come on, which is it? Are we in for very windy weather; or not? If we are, Wind-Blox Pro are great for reducing wind noise; but the forecast keeps changing! About midday, I saw a forecast for “breezy” conditions tomorrow through next Tuesday or Wednesday. It said that gusts could reach 40 mph! Several hours later, that forecast had been taken down. So which is it? I guess I’ll have to play it by ear again! By Ear 🐰 Playing it by ear is rather galling when I want to plan for a long ride. If I don’t know when (or even whether) adverse conditions will arise, I don’t know whether I’ll need to cut the ride short. Will I need to stay close to home; or can I get away with riding out for 10 miles? Which is it? I’ll skip ear buds; I need to hear what’s going on around me, no matter what the weather. I’m a classical music fan, too; and the pieces I’d be putting on my playlist constantly change volume. I can’t be adjusting the volume all the time while riding. I might also want to stay rather close to home because —  if you’ll pardon the indelicacy — I’m on a course of antibiotics. That can wreak havoc on the GI system! I’m trying Activia to see whether it will settle things; and I hope it does! 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Pumped Up?

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Pumped Up? ✊ We need to get pumped up before a ride, right? There’s not much sense in riding on under-inflated tires. I’m glad I don’t need a “pecky-bird” (as we called these oil pumps when we were little) to inflate my bicycle tires! For several weeks, I’d been having problems with my pump. It did OK on Schrader valves; but wasn’t making a snug seal on Presta valves. It made it rather hard to get those tires pumped up. Good grief, did I need a new pump? So I carried my pump to the bike shop. They tried it on a bicycle that was on display; and it was OK. Apparently I was pushing the pump’s nozzle down too far. Tomorrow I’ll find out whether I can get it right. Get It Right ✅ I hope I can get it right as a midlife cyclist, too. I’m not trying to train for racing; so I might not have to worry that I’ll work too hard. In fact, some intense work is necessary to improve fitness; and I suspect that I might need more of it! Naturally there are days when it’s hard for me to get pumped up about riding; today I felt like that before I was out of bed. I read somewhere that sometimes you can’t wait for motivation to strike; that you “have to prime the pump”. So I went for a ride; and once under way, I enjoyed it! That’s what I need to do to get it right! 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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Safe Route

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Safe Route 🚲 “If only there were a safe route.” How many times do cyclists say that? How often do we feel obliged to use other forms of trasport, because going by bicycle feels like risking life and limb? Yesterday I had a minor varicose vein procedure; and there’s no safe route for cycling to the clinic. The distance is less than 6.5 miles; yet using public transit would be a time-consuming hassle, with at least one change of buses. There’s no way to safely walk there; and in this heat it probably isn’t a wise idea. I ended up using an expensive taxi! Car-Centric 🚙 I often see social-media comments about how car-centric many societies are. Certainly in the USA! And apparently this mindset starts early. Yes, kids still too young for bicycles enjoy riding toys; but when it comes to real cars, there are too many of them. Parking is often a problem. That’s what comes of the car-centric mindset. Here in my home town, there are plenty of motorists who drive like they’re crazy; so no wonder cyclists feel like there’s no safe route. Add to that cyclists who ride the wrong way in bike lanes with arrows showing direction  — when bike lanes exist; on top of having to worry about getting “doored”.  Learn the Dutch reach, everyone! 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 No Layout Found TRANSLATOR

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