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bicycling

Squirrely

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Squirrely! “Squirrely” is a characteristic unwanted in cycling; especially for group riding. The squirrely rider is unpredictable: he or she swerves and/or wobbles; and doesn’t hold a straight line. When riding close to others, this can cause unintended contact and subsequent crashes; and nobody wants that! It’s a long time since I’ve done any group riding; but maybe I should think about finding a way to get some. If I’m to do RAGBRAI next year — or any year! — I’ll be riding with many other cyclists. If you’re unused to group riding, it’s unnerving to suddenly be in a big pack of riders. They say that practicing on rollers is a good way to develop the skill of holding a straight line. I don’t have rollers; and I don’t want to get too much stuff too soon. My new place has more room than the old one did; but there’s no reason to hurry to fill it up. Let me have some elbow room! When I’m riding, I notice that I tend to be squirrely, especially when handling a water bottle. Sometimes I swerve all over the bike path! That sounds like a good excuse to use a Camel-Bak; but I need to be able to use the water bottle while holding my line. For weekend long rides, I do use the Camel-Bak; but I have a bottle of electrolyte drink to deal with. I got to thinking about this topic because of some odd squirrel sightings in the past week. I saw one that had a very short tail; and I thought maybe it had been injured. Today, I saw a similar squirrel; and these two sightings occurred several days and a mile or so apart. Unless those “bushy tailed rats” (my brother’s term) are terrific treetop travelers, I wonder whether some kind of mutation has struck the local squirrel population!

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Put Friction to Use

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Put Friction to Use Put friction to use with the Bike Friction Generator Headlight. It fits most bicycles: BMX, e-bike, and more! Set includes headlight; tail light; dynamo; and necessary tools. Spare cable, too! Lights are 12 volts/6 watts. They make a great item for a bicycle tour packing list; especially if you’ll be far from places to charge up your lights; or unable to buy batteries. $23.24 I’ve never tried a light like this one; but I can see the advantages. No buying dry batteries, the cost of which adds up fast. There aren’t any cables creating clutter in the home. You don’t have to worry about what you’ll do if you forget to charge your lights; and have a pre-dawn ride planned. Just hop on the bike and ride; and put friction to use! I remember reading that using this type of light does slow your speed slightly; perhaps by one mile per hour. As long as you aren’t racing, that might not matter. A concern of mine is that cable. Will the Bike Friction Generator Headlight short out in heavy rain? I had that problem with my earliest bicycle computers; and it drove me crazy. Shorting cables might be a problem if I ride this afternoon. There’s a chance of T-storms; and it isn’t fun to get caught out on a bicycle when the lightning starts to fire up. But maybe I’ll skip the ride today; I think I actually need the break.

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Get a Move On

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Get a Move On I had to get a move on. The place where I rented an apartment since before Katrina was sold; and I had to find another place. Fortunately I had some months to look around; and that’s lucky, because I could get my hand surgery out of the way. I had adequate time to recover before I really had to get down to the business of packing. You never know how much stuff you’ve got until you have to move it all! It makes the 100 things challenge seem quite appealing. Per my brother’s suggestion, I had ordered a pack of twenty-five 12 x 12  x 12 inch boxes. I wish I had ordered fifty! I had many other boxes (in many sizes!); and it was barely enough. Today was moving day. I moved only a short distance; and yesterday I was able to get the key and start bringing in things. Some friends who have an SUV offered to help me; and we took as much as the vehicle could hold. I made several trips by hybrid, hauling stuff in the trailer. Even so, there was plenty of stuff left for the movers. I began at 6:00 am — first I pedaled my road bike over to the new apartment. Then I walked home; hitched up the trailer; and got several loads done before I had to wait for the movers to come. They arrived around 10:00 am; and while they were loading up the van, I had time to take another load or two with my bicycle trailer. When they were ready, I rode ahead and they followed. It was 11:30 when we finished; and then I had to wait for the phone company to come and set up my Internet/WiFi service. By then, I felt like I could take a good nap in a box! (I bet Dr. Seuss could have done something with that idea!) Thankfully, I didn’t have to cook lunch. My sister-in-law very kindly ordered a food delivery for me! My new abode seems very cramped at the moment. There are boxes everywhere; and I’m too tired to deal with unpacking everything tonight. Until I get all the boxes emptied out, I have to deal with one of the maddening aspects of having my stuff all over the place: I keep losing things! Hauling all those loads let me get a move on; although not very fast. In fact, I resorted to my granny gear because of the weight I was pulling. So, despite my low mileage today, I got plenty of exercise!

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Long-Distance Cycling

16 Comments / BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

FAVORITES I have my favorites, just like anybody else. Here is one of my favorite books: [The Complete Book of] Long-Distance Cycling! So far I’ve never been able to try the mega-distance rides mentioned in this book; and even if I wanted to go for it, RAAM is quite beyond me! But if you want to put in the training, Long-Distance Cycling offers practical advice: physically building up to long rides; mental aspects of mega-miles in the saddle; and nutrition for long rides. Maybe you could call it my Cycling Dream Book! $11.66 My longest ride since my hand surgery was 22-23 miles. That’s half of what I was doing late last year; and I hope I can work back up to 40-mile rides soon. I must think more urgently about RAGBRAI 2024! That includes food; but will my favorites be adequate fuel for an average of ~65 miles per day, for seven days straight?  

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Small Things Matter

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

Small Things Matter Small things matter. For example, pennies, which many seem to despise these days, add up. So I save mine! Small things come into play during bicycle rides. Sometimes it means when I make my turnaround. This can make the difference between getting caught by a train at a railroad crossing; or having time to safely get over the tracks. Today, when I went out, there was a freight train idling perhaps a half-block short of the crossing. When I came back over an hour later, the train was still there; but less than two minutes later, as I reached my front gate, that locomotive horn began to blow. If I had ridden even a quarter-mile farther, I would have had to wait for the train.  On the way home, I stopped for a minute to watch a ship on the river. The flag on the stern staff was fluttering around too much for me to get a really good look at it; but I noted the ship’s name. After I was home, I googled it; and found that the ship was from the Marshall Islands. Today I didn’t make deliberate efforts to go hard; but I did have a headwind on the way home. Same old story, that! In fact, it was blowing at some 15 mph. I’m now home with the problem of completing my packing for next week’s move. I’ve got some things that are awkwardly sized and/or shaped for boxes. There are small things that I use so much that it doesn’t make sense to pack them just yet. A few times I’ve even wished I hadn’t stowed away this or that into a box — and taped the box shut. It shows me how much small things matter. I may be able to get into the new place the day before my planned move; and that would be great! I can measure the floor space; and decide where I want to put my furniture. Then I can start bringing in small items. That will mean numerous short trips using hybrid and trailer — but as long as I can do it, I’m getting a head start!

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Hee Haw

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Hee Haw? Hee Haw was the name of a TV show way back when. Anyway, I found myself thinking “hee haw” yesterday, when I tried out my new Camel-Bak Mule. I couldn’t figure out how to manage the drinking tube; so I guess I have to find a YouTube (no pun intended) that can show me what to do! My old Camel-Bak didn’t have any such complications as magnetic tube holders; and if it hadn’t developed a split in the shell’s fabric, I would have kept on using it. Aside from that split, it still had plenty of wear left in it. Why this model of Camel-Bak is called “mule”, I don’t know; unless it’s because the pockets can hold enough stuff to fell a mule. That would be great for a long ride, if you don’t mind the load on your back. I’m not back to a full load of water just yet; but I’ve begun to pack along the tube of Chamois Butt’r. I’m tying to extend my Sunday ride by a mile or so each week; and while I’m at it, I need to work back towards my full load (3 liters of water; Chamois Butt’r; toilet paper; and cable lock!) Gosh, I feel like a pack mule now. Hee haw! Yesterday I did 22.7 miles; and I think next Sunday I’ll aim for 25 miles. That’s still a long way from RAGBRAI‘s average of 65 miles per day; so it’s a good thing I’m not aiming for this year’s ride!  

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Activ Life Wheel Lights

4 Comments / BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment, Uncategorized /

Activ Life Wheel Lights These Activ Life Wheel Lights would have come in handy yesterday! Ordinarily, stuff like this is too gaudy for my taste; but when it’s raining, visibility is extra-critical. These wheel-mounted lights have LED illumination that’s easily visible from any angle. Suitable for riders of any age; and they come in a pack of two. Manufacturer’s lifetime warranty. $26.99 I’ve seen bicycles equipped with such lights; and they certainly are eye-catching. Maybe I’d want some Activ Life Wheel Lights if I did a big ride, such as RAGBRAI; but then, as far as I can see, RAGBRAI riders don’t ride in the dark. I don’t ride in the dark much, now that I’m retired; except at full-moon time. This month I missed it, because yesterday morning it was overcast. Today was more than overcast — it rained like crazy for a while!

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I Lost

BACK ISSUES, bicycling /

I Lost! I lost the gamble with the weather today. ? The forecast showed heavy rain and T-storms beginning late morning or early  afternoon. I figured I would have time to get to the salvage store and back; and besides, yesterday’s forecast was similar. And then it didn’t storm; and it’s annoying to be on tenterhooks all day, waiting for all fury to break loose. On top of that, I wanted the exercise; so off I went. And, as I said, I lost the gamble. The sky already looked pretty stormy at 7:30 am; especially towards the North. While I waited for the salvage store to open, it kept getting darker. Naturally I didn’t like the looks of that! Before the store opened, the first flash of lightning came; and as I was going through the store, I heard rain and thunder. Just before I got finished at the checkout, it began to pour like mad. There was quite a lot of lightning, too; and some of it was pretty close! I waited at least 10 minutes for things to calm down a bit, along with several other customers who didn’t want to get soaked. When the rain eased up, I decided to head out.  It was still raining; but the lightning had moved off somewhat. I was still nervous about riding on top of the levee; but luckily the atmospheric electricity didn’t give me trouble. In addition, I couldn’t be sure when things might turn really nasty again!  By the time I reached home, the rain had almost stopped. There might be more coming; or else other areas nearby are getting heavy downpours. We’re under a flood advisory! So here I am, with a dripping poncho; and multiple cardboard boxes full of stuff — and I don’t need them to get wet. I hope it isn’t raining on Moving Day!

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Noonday Sun

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment /

Noonday Sun I was out in the noonday sun again, just like that mad dog. But if you want to take your pooch along on a bicycle ride at any time of day, this Rotating Dog Bike Leash helps keep your pet safe.  It has a movement range of 180°; so  your pet can move from one side of the bike to the other. It’s quick and easy to attach/detach. I don’t have a dog; but if I did, I think I would want one of these leashes. Sometimes I see people riding a bicycle one-handed, while hanging onto a standard leash with the other hand. What’s going to happen if the rider suddenly HAS to use both hands? That might mean a nasty crash; or having “Rover” end up under the wheels of a car. Or even both! My noonday sun expedition was a hike to the drug store. I rode over 14 miles this morning; and my legs were rather tired. And sometimes I simply don’t feel like having to lock up a bicycle. It’s about 84 degrees; and starting to cloud up a bit. Maybe I ought to go for another ride, because there’s chance for severe T-storms tomorrow. On the other hand, we’ve got an air quality alert in effect. It’s level “Orange”; so I would probably be OK as far as air quality goes. Ultra-violet rays, however, are another story; and sometimes I get tired of slathering on  sunblock!

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