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Obliging

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Obliging What do sunflowers do when it rains? Today the weather was surprisingly obliging to me, considering the forecast. Showers and T-storms were predicted; and last night a flood watch was posted. When I went out on the road bike, the sky was overcast; but it didn’t rain. I also got to work dry; but about 11:30 am it started to come down hard! I was disappointed, because I wanted to eat lunch outdoors; but when it’s pouring, alfresco activities are out of the question. In fact, we had a flood warning for a while! The weather was obliging again while I rode to the drug store after work; and then home. All the same, I wore my poncho. Helps keep you — well, less wet — on rainy rides. I didn’t know when it might start pouring again; and it’s a big nuisance to have to stop riding to put on the poncho. I have to remove my helmet and reflective vest; put on the poncho; replace the helmet; and put the reflective vest on over the poncho. That last is important, because otherwise the poncho flares out to the sides too much. When I try to look behind me, all I see is that yellow plastic! Around 6:30 pm it began to drizzle again. Heavy rain is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning; and the flood watch is in effect until noon tomorrow. Itsy Bitsy Spider would have a hard time of it! After tomorrow, we’ll have a few sunny days; and I hope it’s enough to dry up all the mud. The weekend looks sunny; and it’s a three-day weekend, too! I can ride a little extra!      

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Forgetful Friday

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Forgetful Friday Sometimes we just go totally blank! Today was Forgetful Friday, all right! First, I forgot to put on my chest strap. Maybe that’s normal, because the last time I used the road bike was Sunday. I didn’t notice until I turned on my Garmin, and saw there was no heart rate reading. I wanted to get out there and ride; so I decided not to bother with my heart rate today. Tracking your heart rate can help with your training Then, after I had carried my road bike down the steps, I noticed that I had forgotten my cell phone. Back in I went to get it; and I turned off the bike’s tail light while I was fetching the phone. Then I forgot to turn the light back on! What next; will I forget how to ride a bicycle? I hope Forgetful Friday never gets that far! How Friday Went I was pessimistic about this morning’s weather. The forecast looked like it might be too stormy to ride; and in fact we got a huge downpour around 1:00 am. I heard it raining; and there was lightning and thunder as well. At 5:00 am, the sky was partly clear; and it wasn’t raining! I was both surprised and relieved; and went for a ride. Even so, it felt like taking chances, because the weather can change very quickly. It began to drizzle a bit shortly before I got to work; and I’m glad it didn’t really rain again until a little later. I felt sorry for the Tour de Rouge riders. I figured they were pedaling through the rain; and I hope they didn’t have such conditions all the way from Houston! I hope Forgetful Friday doesn’t extend past today. I must remember to get some cooking done this weekend; and I don’t need to forget my appointment with the rheumatologist on the 18th. For one thing, I want to discuss what I can do about that bone spur in my left hand. When I’m on the road bike, it makes shifting from the small ring to the big ring painful; I hope this doesn’t make me cranky! and it affects other aspects of my daily life as well. I’m not in a hurry for surgery; but I can’t think of any other way to get rid of that spur. If only Forgetful Friday could make it go away! Share via:

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Confusion

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Sorry for the confusion: I hadn’t planned for the new dot net version of this site to be live so soon; and I didn’t even realize for some time that it was live. Now the dot net is in Coming Soon mode. Please see the old site (www.spokeasy.org). Dot net has tons of editing to be done; and since I don’t have eight hours a day to work on it, this is going to take a long time.

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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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Clear at Last!

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Clear at last this morning; and I don\’t mean only that we\’ve had no rain for a few days, although of course I’m not complaining about that! But for at least three days, there was a freight train blocking my usual access to the levee bike path. That train sat and sat; and it was very frustrating to have to take a half-mile detour over rough streets, especially given the road-construction messes all over the place.  This morning the train was finally gone; the crossing was clear at last; and there was a pile of ties next to the crossing. I had wondered whether there was work being done on the tracks. Several years ago, trains would sit in one place for days on end; and it was infuriating. Then when a pile of ties appeared, I finally knew what was going on. When I was coming home from this evening, work was in full swing; and the crossing was a mess. I had to walk my bicycle over the tracks and loose rocks. I\’m lucky I didn\’t have a big load of groceries; and I\’m glad I was able to cross where I did. Otherwise I would have had to ride against a pretty stiff headwind to the other crossing! I hope that railroad work doesn’t last long. It’s not fun riding over bad surfaces; and I’m not quite sure whether it’s worse on the road bike, or when I’m hauling that trailer Tomorrow is full-moon time. The forecast is for mostly clear weather, so I should get my \”fix\”. I have some concerns about the condition of the bike path, though. I chatted briefly with my next-door neighbor when I got home; and she said something about a big hole in the levee. I\’m crossing my fingers!

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streetstrider blue elliptical

StreetStrider

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StreetStrider is a word I hadn\’t heard. At a recent visit to the dentist, his assistant was talking about it, although she couldn\’t remember its name. (Image from www.amazon.com) It amounts to a mobile elliptical trainer. I\’ve seen people using these, and making considerable speed. It must take a while to figure out how to coordinate working those \”ski poles\” with \”running\”. This machine gives a full-body workout, yet is easy on the joints. If I had one, it might be an acceptable alternative to my usual off-bike work; exercises that I do to improve my core and arms/upper body. As usual, however: WHERE would I keep it? Despite the name of this machine, I\’m not at all sure I\’d want to use it in the street. From what I\’ve seen, riding the StreetStrider involves considerable swaying back and forth; not what you\’d want if there were motor traffic at your elbow. I suspect that maintaining a straight line on the StreetStrider requires a lot of core strength. I\’d probably need to develop a lot more of that. Do not, of course, forget your helmet. This machine looks quite stable with its three wheels, but I\’d still want head protection, just in case.

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Catrike

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My apologies. Catrike doesn\’t look at all like my old tricycle, but I don\’t have a pic that does. The March 2019 issue of Adventure Cyclist carried an article about Catrike. A Catrike is recumbent style, and has the so-called tadpole wheel configuration; two wheels up front, and one in the back. This trike that I used to have has what is called delta configuration. There are about nine different styles of Catrike. I quickly found myself eyeballing the description of the Pocket model, designed with shorter riders (under 5\’8\”) in mind. Seeing as I\’m barely five feet tall, even a Pocket model might be hard to fit to me; especially positioning the pedals so that I can ride without stressful overextension of my knees, because I  have short legs. The Trail model is for recreation and touring. That, too, might be a good one for me. Or the Road model. If I ever get into \’bents, that is. They do have their drawbacks. You can\’t pedal out of the saddle. I\’m not sure the entrance into my current residence is wide enough to let a Catrike through. I know my old tricycle couldn\’t fit; I tried it. I\’ll keep on pedaling my road bike for as long as my body lets me, but the Catrike is something to keep in mind when that evil day comes when I can\’t manage two wheels any more.

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