bicycling Archives - Page 96 of 123

Heybike Cityscape

Heybike Cityscape Electric The Heybike Cityscape electric bike is a power-assisted way to cruise around town. The battery can last as long as 40 miles; and the integral rack lets you carry panniers for your shopping needs. So far I haven’t tried an e-bike. The Heybike Cityscape is modestly priced as e-bikes go; but most e-bikes are way beyond my budget. They’re heavy, too, thanks to the battery. I doubt that I can carry this bicycle up the three steps to my front door. My muscle-powered hybrid can seem heavy enough! I’ve seen a few e-bikes, though; and the buzzing sound they make is rather annoying to me. I wouldn’t want that noise right behind me as I’m riding; and neither do I want to disturb the neighborhood with it. Today, however, I had no need of any power assist. It was gloriously un-windy this morning. Maybe that’s why I felt stronger than usual; and at times was pedaling at 15 mph or more! Even so, somebody on a fat-tire bike went whizzing past me. Those wide tires make quite a whirring sound. And think of the effort required to push such wide tires so fast! Getting back to wind, I hope Ian doesn’t change paths. If he does, we’ll get more wind than we want! At present, New Orleans is on the outer edge of the “cone“; and in fact, Wednesday is forecast to be “breezy”. I guess I’d better go for a ride tomorrow, in case wind conditions prevent a Wednesday ride. If I do ride Wednesday, I might wish I had a Heybike to help get me home!

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Light up the Night

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment / CAL

Light up the Night I sure need to light up the night. If I don’t, I can’t see where I’m riding! A good, bright headlight is essential; especially if you don’t want to plod along at walking pace. I’m always complaining about the people out there who are in dark clothing; who wear minimal or no reflective material; and who do not use lights. Some of them are jogging, or walking the dog; but some are on bicycles! I don’t want to be among them; and when I’m riding, I want to move! So I’ve got to be able to see where I’m going. Light up the night! A tail light is almost as important as a headlight. People coming up from behind need to know that you’re there; and if they don’t have headlights, they might not see you in time! When on the road bike, I put the tail light on the seat stay; and when I use the hybrid, I put it on the back of the rack. I like to use the tail light in steady mode. I used to wear a white blinkie on my left wrist; but it wore out. Even with fresh batteries, it wouldn’t turn on. I couldn’t find a new one; but the one I had served me for many years! I use a Micro Red LED Light on the back of my helmet. Even with all those lights, I want reflective gear. I don’t care what color mine is; just so it’s highly visible. Incidentally, lights and reflective gear aren’t only for night riding. They’re a good idea at high noon. Even at that time, it can be hard to see a car that doesn’t have its lights on. How much harder it must be to spot little old me on a bicycle!

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Combos

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food / CAL

Combos! Combos were once one of my go-to foods for long rides. I like the combination of crunchy and salty; and with low blood pressure, I actually need the salt. The cheese pizza-pretzel hybrid seen here is interesting — Italy and Bavaria pairing up, you could say. I tried other varieties of Combos, too — Baked and Pepperoni Pizza. Along with this snack, I tried miniature gumdrops; and even pieces of various candy bars. As time went on, however, I discovered that Combos don’t have the sustenance I need for long rides. Then I began to drift towards Clif Bars; and currently rely on Gatorade Whey Protein bars and Clif Builder’s Protein bars. Anything with chocolate is a problem on a sunny day, even in cold weather. I learned that years ago; but a number of the bars I use have chocolate coating. All I can do is put up with the messiness. Speaking of cold weather, ours is a ways off yet. Our high temperature today reached 95 degrees; and the heat is going to stick around a while. On top of that, there’s a potential hurricane threat in the making. Last I knew, the most likely track took the storm to the western coast of Florida; but it’s too soon to say where that thing will go in the end.

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Password

BACK ISSUES, bicycling / CAL

Password I’m very lucky that my bicycle doesn’t need a password. If it did, I’d have a hard time just getting out the front door to ride! It drives me absolutely crazy to have to use a password to access so many things. I try to keep a list; because I simply can’t remember all those “keys”. Too often, I get the response that username and/or password are incorrect; or don’t match. Then I have to reset everything; and it’s a terrible waste of time. It makes me feel like the person in this pic, buried in books and apparently in despair. There’s a game called Password; and I wish it were only a game. It isn’t a game when I can’t get into things when I need to. Unfortunately there are people who are only too ready to rip off everybody else. They sure make things inconvenient for the rest of us! Today I did just a short ride; and I tried to take it easy. Yesterday I rode rather hard; and my legs are tired. I better ride a little earlier tomorrow, because the forecast is for a hot day. Up to 95 in the afternoon; and tomorrow is the first day of Fall! Maybe somebody gave Fall a password that it can’t remember.

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I’ve Barely Started

BACK ISSUES, bicycling / CAL

I’ve Barely Started! I’ve barely started my cycling adventures, as I see when I read a book like this. I’ve never been, as the tile says, miles from nowhere. Most of my miles have been logged within 25 miles of home; and I’ve never been on even a one-night bicycle camping tour. Imagine touring the world by bicycle! (What would Phileas Fogg have thought of that?) I’m certainly not ready for such an adventure; and doubt that I ever will be. If I did decide to go for it, I’d need some warm-up rides first; such as RAGBRAI. Or even RAAM, or PBP. Okay, I’m getting sarcastic here. To be more serious, I doubt very much that there’s any round-the-globe route that can avoid climbing; and I’d want a touring bicycle. My budget can’t take that just now — I had to replace my hybrid not two weeks ago; and it was not cheap! The back jacket of Miles from Nowhere describes Barbara and Larry Savage as “near-neophyte cyclists” when they began their two-year journey. If beginning cyclists can manage such a trip, then theoretically, I should be able to do it. After all, I have 60,000+ miles in my legs! Unfortunately I also have some health issues that make such an undertaking impractical. So I guess I’d better stick around home; but really, I’ve barely started!

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I’m Shot

BACK ISSUES, bicycling / CAL

I’m Shot! I’m shot today; and I don’t mean firearms. Why does a COVID booster have me waking up the morning after — feeling like the morning after? I was really tired; and my arms and legs ached. I figured I was in no condition to attempt a 40-mile ride; so I did a slow-paced 10 miles or so. I’m on vacation this week; so maybe I can do that long ride tomorrow. It might be interesting to do it on a weekday! I can leave the Camel-Bak full; and keep the rest of today’s ride food to use tomorrow. I need to get to the grocery store for bananas and grapes; but not right now. As I said, I’m shot! I hope I feel better later today; and maybe I can go then. I’ve got a cooking project in mind: a garbage soup! The freezer was getting too full of plastic boxes of this and that; and I need to clear them out. Garbage soups are interesting; I’m never quite sure exactly what I’ll come up with We’ve got an eye on TS Fiona. It doesn’t look like she’ll pose any threat to New Orleans; but you never know. Weather is weird, anyway. We had a few mornings when it was almost cool; and now it’s heated up again. I’m starting to get hungry. Whatever for? I didn’t ride 40 miles, after all. Maybe it’s because I’m shot?

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Keep Cool

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized / CAL

Keep Cool Keep cool with the Arctic Zone Cooler! I have something similar to this; and it’s handy for taking lunch to work. In hot weather, I often take it to the salvage store with me. That means using the trailer, because the cooler takes up most of the space in a pannier. The Arctic Zone Cooler comes with four reusable freeze-packs for keeping your lunch or drinks cool. The cooler can fold for easier storage. Today I rode to the salvage store; but I left the trailer home. I had an appointment to get the latest Covid booster at 11:00; and didn’t want the extra weight dragging along to slow me down. Instead of a cooler, I brought along an insulated bubble envelope with a “blue ice” in it. As it turned out, I didn’t get much that I needed to keep cool. As the morning went on, the wind seemed to strengthen; and of course I had a headwind on the way home from the store. The clouds were gathering, too; and the forecast is for scattered T-storms by 4:00 pm. So I’m glad I got in my riding this morning. Another way to keep cool is to wear sun sleeves. My favorite thing about them is that I need to use less sunblock! Sun sleeves feel hot when you first put them on; but after you get moving and start to sweat a bit, your arms feel cooler. Convection? So far I haven’t tried leg sleeves; but they work the same way as arm sleeves. Maybe I’ll get some one of these days. In the meantime, I have to plan tomorrow’s long ride. I found some Gatorade Whey Protein bars at the salvage store; and got five of them. I won’t eat all of them during one ride; but the rest will keep for later rides. My pass through the store also yielded a can of Sport Shake that I can use as a recovery drink. It wasn’t a bad haul; and now I’m just trying to keep cool.

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I Miss These

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, Food, Uncategorized / CAL

I Miss These! I miss these Breakfast Ovals! I found them at the salvage store a few times; but that was long ago. Breakfast Ovals became an instant addition to my Shop once I tried them. I like berries; and as I remember, there’s some cinnamon in these, too. Thankfully, I don’t have any food allergies; but for those who do, these ovals contain no tree nuts or gluten. Breakfast Ovals are easy to carry along for a healthful snack; or they make a quick pre-ride meal. Oh, how I miss these things! I hope the salvage store has them again sometime. By the way, it looks like the weather will probably be OK for this coming Saturday’s ride to the salvage store. This time though, I think I’ll leave the trailer home. Sunday’s forecast is a bit more uncertain. I certainly hope I get to ride; but if I can’t, I must remember that it’s not a disaster. Sure, I want to keep working towards my Love to Ride goal; but after all I hit the 4000 mile mark yesterday. After today’s miles, I have about 988 to go. All I need to do is keep riding as usual; and I’m going to make it!

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Clipped

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment, Uncategorized / CAL

Clipped! It sounds funny to talk about clipped when speaking of toe clips. They aren’t the same thing as riding clipped in. I’ve used two different styles of toe clips: the kind with straps; and the strapless variety. The type with straps were OK when I was still on the trike. I didn’t have to worry about my balance while I reached down to snug the straps. On a two-wheeler, that would have been a different story; so I got strapless clips. The clips with straps had a problem, anyhow. I never could get the one on my left pedal properly fastened. I guess that’s what comes of being right-handed! I like being able to simply put my toes into those strapless clips. It’s easy to pull my feet out; either to the side, or towards the back. Riding without toe clips (or being clipped in) sure feels weird now. It makes me feel like my feet aren’t securely on the pedals; and might slip off at any moment. In wet weather, this is worse. The MTB cleats shown above are what I use on the road bike. Wait a second. MTB stuff with a road bike? Sure, why not? I’m not planning to race; and trying to walk in roadie shoes is very awkward. I have to almost walk on my heels; and that is most contrary to my usual gait. Maybe I’ll move up to roadie shoes one of these days; but there’s no hurry. So there it is: riding clipped is more efficient than using platform (i.e. plain) pedals. Once you’re used to it, you don’t want to leave it.

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odd day

BACK ISSUES, bicycling / CAL

Odd Day This has been an odd day. It always seems that way when I skip the Sunday long ride. But now and then I need the break; and I needed to go to Whole Foods, anyway. If I do the long ride, it’s late morning by the time I get back home; there’s more road traffic; and the store is quite crowded. So off I went; and arrived at the store just as they opened for the day. I got bananas, and my main reason for hitting Whole Foods: sunblock. Unfortunately it wasn’t on sale today; but I had to have some. Of course I got some other stuff too, such as hummus. I really miss hummus when I don’t have it! After I got my load from Whole Foods home, I set out on the road bike. I did a short ride today; only 19.23 miles. It was about 9:15 by the time I got going; and getting quite warm. Back home again, I did some cooking; then I had to ride over to the drug store. Incidentally, that new hybrid sure feels different from the old one! I looked up the specs online; and, as I suspected, the cogs are larger. The old hybrid’s cassette was 12-30, seven speeds. The new one is 14-34, and seven speeds. I believe the rings are the same size; but those bigger cogs sure make a difference! It looks like I can expect good riding weather for much of the week. The tropics have gone quiet again. I hope they don’t decide to flare up for Christmas! That would be something new; and an odd day, indeed.

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