First Outdoor Tandem Ride of 2024! It’s Just Like… Riding A Bike (With A Twist)
And in shorts and short-sleeves no less!
That’s right folks, we had one of the strangest weather events I can ever remember, a 70° day (23C) in February! And my wife and I made the best of it.
I was home before 4 in the afternoon, prepping the tandem for duty. We chose to leave the gravel wheels on the bike, rather than swap them out for the road wheels, along with the chain.
We were rolling shortly after 4:30.
I was more than a little nervous about how the afternoon would go. We hadn’t been on the tandem since November or December.
The nervousness was unnecessary. We rolled out like it was riding a… erm… bike.
I found myself overworking quite a lot, and my wife noticed. She quipped, “I feel like I’m soft pedaling… my breathing doesn’t sound anything like yours!” I was breathing pretty hard, so I eased up a little bit.
We ended up putting in a little more than 15-1/2 miles and we loved it. We both missed the tandem immensely. It was a perfect afternoon for a ride!
Sadly, we’re back to normal late-February weather today, so it’ll be back on the trainers. That’s fine with me, though! We got the taste for the tandem again!
Finally, in really bad news, that friend of mine passed away Monday morning. Not much more to say about that.
One Of The Great Keys To Life In Recovery (And Outside Of That, For Normal Folk)
I was thinking about how well my wife and I are doing in our marriage this morning. This is easy to do these last couple of years. Then I jumped to work and how I’m having a bit of a crisis of confidence there. This was anticipated, but I’ve gotten to a point where I’m done living in that. It’s time to move on. So, how?
I asked myself, in a bit of a meditation, well what am I doing right in my marriage that I’m not doing at work?
The difference came quickly. In our marriage, I focus only on that which I can change (from the serenity prayer); me. I don’t do that at work. I look at how other people treat me (or better, how I perceive they treat me), what I perceive things others say mean (oh, God can I get lost there!), and, put simply, a bunch of bullshit that I’m really bad at interpreting, anyway. At home I’m calm, collected, content. At work I’m on edge, almost all of the time because I don’t want to screw up. Instead, I should be focusing only on that which I can change; me.
A sense of calm washed over me and I began seeing where I can improve and also where I’m excelling, that I’d missed because I was so busy worrying about what all the young kids think of the old guy. Upper management wanted the old guy in the office to help the kids become better project managers. I don’t know much about my field, but I know a ton about being a great PM. I can focus on learning all of the new stuff, and allow myself to make mistakes, while giving of what I have to contribute; my experience and strengths.
One of the greatest principles in recovery is to focus within so we can radiate out. We don’t focus out in the hope some will radiate in. The more I focus out, the harder life is. Now, this is where life gets messy; if I start making life decisions based on focusing out, on what I believe others think or believe… well, let’s just say this is where bad life choices breed.
Instead, if I focus within with honesty, humility, and a desire to be of use to others, I can’t lose.
Humorously, there’s another place this great principle is championed; “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
Yep.
Disc Brakes Vs. Rim Brakes; He Shall Set The Strawman Up… So Rim Brakes Can Knock The Strawman Down. So Sayeth Tririg.
I’m riding loophole science for a while, and I’ve found yet another cycling instance in the Tririg Aero Rim Brakes. Whilst, and at the same time, wondering if they’ll fit on the Venge. Hot damn, they’re pretty!
They’re not cheap, though. A couple Hundred Dollars each, they’re snazzy. Let’s get into the fun stuff, though. Not even a minute-thirty into the clip (1:25) the guy gets to the first strawman whopper:
“At the time of this transition (from rim to disc brakes), there were a lot of poorly designed aero rim brakes being asked to grip an all-carbon rim, so the comparison was unfair at best, rigged. If you pick a strong rim brake, give it a good set of pads and ask it to grip an alloy braking track, there’s no appreciable difference in either power or modulation to discs.”
Now, at that point he breaks into a riff about weight, because if you figure an alloy brake track (I’m assuming still a carbon wheel for aerodynamics), yes it adds weight, but weight isn’t necessarily the problem, and it’s not all that much for a brake track. Aluminum brake tracks add heat. Heat delaminates carbon fiber and aluminum brake tracks wear far faster than carbon brake tracks… um, by a lot (that’s a loophole science term). I should know. I rode through a brake track cracking incident on a set of 1999 Rolf Vector alloy wheels and wrote about it here. Also, and this is really great, he jumps into yet another twist about alloy rims vs. carbon rims and spokes.
If we’re talking about rim brakes and alloy wheels vs. carbon wheels and disc brakes, gimme the carbon and discs every day that ends in “y”. Alloy wheels suck, and to put a set of alloy 50s on a bike, they’d weigh six to eight pounds for the set! Carbon is half the weight! Listen through the clip and back it up a few times. There’s a whole forest that goes on for a hundred miles to get lost in over the next five minutes to get around one set of simple truths:
- Rim brakes are lighter than disc brakes. The frames are lighter to support the brakes, the wheels are lighter (less spokes, hub, etc), and the braking in damp and dry conditions is almost as good on carbon wheels as it is with disc brakes.
- Problems arise when it’s wet outside for rim brakes.
- Rim brakes are more aerodynamic, by a long shot.
- When you absolutely, positively have to slow down in a hurry no matter what type of weather you’re stuck in, disc brakes are superior, and by a long shot. They’re also heavier and less aerodynamic.
- Alloy wheels SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. I may need a few more “U’s” in there. There will be no going back to alloy wheels on road bikes.
- Once you get sucked into the alloy or carbon wheel debate and you’re down to “disc brake wheels need more spokes”, you’re cooked. Carbon wheels are better, faster, more comfortable, faster, faster, and take less effort to get down the road than their alloy counterparts. In no debate will that genie go back in the bottle.
The sad thing is, the narrator didn’t even have to go down Crazy Street to begin with. He states the Tririg rim brakes are among the strongest on the market for rim brakes. Stop. That’s good enough, because I’ve only encountered one time in tens of thousands of miles where I had to rely on a whole lot of finesse because my rim brakes weren’t enough on my carbon wheels. Once!
The whole point of this is… I don’t know, it’s a fun topic to write about… But to the point; to take this to the argument we should go back to riding rim brakes with aluminum wheels, or even alloy brake tracks, is like trying to stuff a genie back into the lantern, whilst stuffing the lantern into a thimble.
Bro, it just ain’t happening. Carbon fiber wheels are too good, too fast, and too aerodynamic. Alloy wheels just can’t match up unless you average less than 20-mph (the Campagnolo alloy wheels on my wife’s steel road bike are pretty badass and real spinny). Stick with reality! Carbon fiber wheels are here to stay… and a decent rim brake, set of carbon pads, and carbon wheels is more than enough stop for most every occasion. We just have to be a little careful when it’s really wet out.
Which Bike Gives A Rider More Exercise, A Normal Bike or an eBike? Part Two (Of As Many As I Can Squeeze Out Of This Topic, Cuz It’s FUN!); And A New Name For The Science That Says The Nod Goes To The eBike.
Before I get started, we have to get one thing very clear; I don’t begrudge anyone the right to ride an eBike if they so choose. Notice I used the word “choose”, not “need”? That was on purpose.
eBikes are, without question, badass. I’ve ridden a few, not even particularly nice eBikes, and I’m here to tell you, the smile on my face was grander than I expected. The experience was very cool. I’d still pick my Trek 5200 in a pinch. Or my Specialized Venge… and without question, our Co-Motion Kalapuya over all of them, let alone an eBike.
The normal pedal bikes I have are exactly what I’d want to lose weight on.
There are two ways I know of to go about losing weight whilst, and at the same time, riding a bicycle (e or not). First, you can work up to really hammering on the bike and watch what you eat. This is the quick way to lose weight. The more effort you put into it, including the eating part, the better you’ll do. It doesn’t have to be all gung-ho, though. The second, watch what you eat and putter around the neighborhood as a means of moving your body. You’ll have to watch the diet with a much stricter eye, but eventually, the weight will come off. Over time. Lots and lots of time.
The second option is the eBike way of doing it. You work less, eat less and, but if done right, the weight will come off…
And that’s what burns me about agenda-driven “science”. It bludgeons intelligence to a bloody pulp, while adherents claim that common sense is anti-science.
You know what the claim that an eBike gives more exercise than a regular pedal bike is?
It’s loophole science.
Studies Show You Get More Exercise On An E-Bike over a Normal Pedal Bike? Hang On a Sec, Something Smells Hinky.
I read a post the other day that had me all sorts of fired up. Here’s the headline from the article:
“Why electric bikes actually give more exercise than pedal bikes”
Now, anyone worth their fitness and health knows what the catch is. An e-bike doesn’t “give” more exercise than a pedal bike. Pedal bikes assist the rider, so therefore it is simply preposterous to state that an e-bike “gives” more exercise.
But it’s not preposterous, from a certain point of view. For those who won’t, or can’t ride a regular bike, and e-bike helps with starting out and hill climbing so that particular set of bike rider would absolutely get more exercise on an e-bike… but only because they won’t, or can’t, ride a regular bike.
On average, studies have found that e-bike riders typically ride for longer periods of time than pedal bike riders. Not only do they log more hours, but they log a lot more miles, too. Even though they’re getting some pedal assist, they’re still doing a lot of pedaling – and in fact a lot more.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/20/why-electric-bikes-give-more-exercise/
For a guy like me, the notion is absolutely ridiculous… and I’ll get to that in a minute. Ooh, I may have just discounted my own argument! Watch this!
“They” say people who ride e-bikes ride more miles? Well, in my case it’d be hard to believe, but let’s say I’d do better than my 4,000+ miles if I had an e-bike. I’d get into trouble on a few of those rides because I’d run out of range, unless I carried a spare battery, which I wouldn’t because a big ole spare battery would look like ass in the back pocket of my cycling jersey! So, I’d run out of juice on my ride… and I’d have to pedal harder to keep up on my 30-pound e-bike paperweight over my 16-pound Specialized Venge.
Meaning? I could actually get more exercise on an e-bike. Even a guy like me.
Damn. Well, don’t that beat all. It’s thin, but a funny mental exercise nonetheless.
And Now I Do Have Covid…
I was planning on heading over to see my friend at his house Monday. Jess was going to be late getting home and I didn’t have anything else to do. I went through the day feeling great till about 3:00. I felt a little hinky and thought I might have to take a day off. I knew I couldn’t go see Craig.
After work, I headed to the pharmacy and picked up a couple Covid tests and took one the minute I got home. Negative. Fantastic, it was just a little bug.
I worked from home. One of the beautiful things about our company, they’re tough and demanding, but they protect Personal Time Off amazingly well. They’ll allow remote working at the drop of a hat, for any reason whatsoever. I’m not a big fan of remote working for personal reasons. I begrudge no one their right to work from home, I just do better in the office. That said, when I’m sitting here with Covid and I don’t want to miss a week’s vacation, I’m all in!
I was joking around with my wife, who was home because she works remote most days, that with the fever I had, I can’t believe I tested negative. She challenged, immediately; “I think it was too soon”. So, cockily, I went and grabbed another test and swabbed my nose deep and defiantly. About two minutes of the fifteen was all it took for the second line to appear. It took nine days from the time my wife got it till I showed a symptom.
And now it all makes sense. I’m working from home till next week, without using a day of PTO. I do love the new company I work for!
Via Con Dios, My Friend…
There’s no easy way to write this post, so it’s going to be short. A friend I’ve recovered with and bowled with for years found out he had cancer about a year ago. The doctors gave him a 70% chance of recovery and he proceeded with the treatment, which was brutal. As you’d expect.
After completing the round of chemo and radiation, he went in for a checkup and was told the cancer that was in his throat and mouth moved aggressively down. Hip, liver, everything low. They treated him again, but it didn’t take. You wouldn’t expect a good outcome from aggressiveness like he’d seen. Still, he had a great outlook throughout the treatment until this week.
When my wife and I weren’t doing so well, Craig used to stay late after the Friday night league was done for a little practice and bowling talk along with our friend, Noel. I was thinking about that last night as I drove home…
He’s on comfort care, now, spending the last days he has with his wife. From the text I saw last night, he’s made his peace.
Cancer sucks.
How Don’t I Have Covid?
My daughter brought Covid home from work last weekend. We didn’t know it at the time, but we think that’s how it all started. Crazy thing was, she was only mildly sick for a day or two. My wife was next, around Wednesday, and her symptoms were considerably more obvious. I picked up a test before heading home from work Thursday and she tested positive that evening. I didn’t bother, figuring if my wife had it, I did too. As close as we are, there’s no way I could have escaped. Or so I thought.
I worked from home Friday alongside my wife. I got a lot done and was surprised to be as productive as I was from the home base.
We took it easy binge-watching The Rookie over the weekend and having a lovely time staying in… we even got a couple of trainer rides in. We did cut it short, at a half-hour, to keep from overexerting ourselves. I felt a little sore, but had no symptoms to speak of. I felt surprisingly good, actually. I figured this was my first stint at “asymptomatic”. My wife never stopped kissing throughout.
Finally, before the game yesterday, I tested. The second test in the pack I brought home for my wife. I don’t want to work from home. I don’t like it, but at the same time, I wanted to have Covid so I didn’t have to make it weird by going back to the office.
Long story short, I don’t have Covid. We can only guess is my immune system kicked in and kept it from festering because my wife and I didn’t maintain six inches of distancing, let alone six feet. We snuggled on the couch together and slept next to each other.
That brings about another problem; what to do about work?! I decided not to make a decision. I’m going to float it up to HR what to do. I don’t want to anger anyone or make them feel insecure because of my presence. But I’m good to go at the same time.
More on the dilemma later…
My First Real “A” Since There Were 19s In Front Of The Year
The last time I was graded on an assignment was something like 1990… 34-years ago, give or take. For my new job, the company pays for a 60-hour course based on the solar industry. Sadly, most of it has to do with residential solar, but it breaks into the industrial/commercial solar fields just enough to be useful. The course costs just shy of $900.
Now, I can’t remember making a big deal about it on this page, but I didn’t do very well in school. I had a very tough time learning if I didn’t find the subject matter exciting and within my very small wheelhouse. Geometry? Aced it, almost without trying. This explains, partly, why I love construction and estimating. Algebra? Sucked at it. I was so bad I had to take Algebra 1 twice before moving on to Algebra II. Science? Rocked it. Economics? Knocked it out of the park. English? Well, that was a tricky one. Writing, I did well. Reading, I sucked at. I couldn’t comprehend what I was reading. It was a disaster. History? I did well with some, not so well with other things. The Revolutionary War and the formation of the United States I loved (freedom, or the concept of personal liberty, anyway, is a fun topic to look at against the rest of human history). There was a lot of social trouble there, too. The better I did socially, the better my grades. I barely made it into college because my first two awkward social years were horrible. My second two, where I stood up to a bully and started dating a lot, were fantastic. Then, college, oblivion, and recovery.
After 30-years of recovery, I went back to school for work. I had a lot of fear, but they offered a free starter course that didn’t count against the grade the company paid for so I was able to ease back into education, and I aced it. I found much of the course exciting and interesting. I was worried about getting into he real course, still. I get nervous when it counts and I don’t know what I’m doing.
I started out gangbusters on the course that counted. Two 100%s, but I did struggle on some of the tests. Nothing below an 80%, though. Some of the electrical concepts were exceedingly difficult to grasp and the instructors loved trick questions. I managed, though. I had a tough time getting through the course with work picking up, though. I received an email from my instructor about two-weeks in that stated I needed to pick it up. I was about four lessons and one graded assignment behind (one week). With all of the work I’d picked up, I was having a tough time getting everything done. Rather than complain, I hunkered down and doubled my effort. My grades suffered slightly, but I definitely caught myself back up. With two weeks to go, I had just four lessons left, with a quiz for each one. And I was just below a 90% for the course. 89.3% by my math.
I wanted an A so bad.
I kept the gas on but tried to pay better attention, and I used the printed material as well. The online course was mainly videos-based and proved an awesome way for me to learn. If I missed something I could back it up and re-focus. This especially helped because I was pulled away to tend to actual work in the middle of lessons. I could come back later and back the lesson up a couple of minutes to catch up, after things had calmed down. Then, with the printed material, it really cemented everything in. I finished the lesson quizzes out with a week to spare and an 84, a 96 and a 94 for a 90% on the nose. An A-, but an A nonetheless. Funny thing was, the course is pass-fail. 70% or better and you pass.
The truth is, my kids are vastly more intelligent than I am. They get A’s like they’re going out of style (my youngest is over a 4-point and my oldest regularly makes the Dean’s list). They, thankfully, inherited their mom’s brains with my drive and discipline mixed in there perfectly. Point is, I wanted to match my kids’ efforts to show them that, if we put our minds to it, we can do anything. Even us old dogs.
And so it was. I sent my Certificate of Completion in to the upper management at 5:01 Friday afternoon. Recovery is badass. Without it, there’s no chance for what I just did.
Science Finds Saying “Science” Finds Random Things To Be Environmental Disasters Is, Indeed, An Environmental Disaster!
It’s high time for a little rant. Keep in mind, when I was a kid, science was worried about a famine brought about by global cooling (we were all supposed to be dead by now, according to science) and acid rain. I’m not about to get bent up about what I’m going to look at in this piece.
First they came for your garden. Did you know your garden is five times worse for the environment than that of a professional farmer? A person can’t make this shit up:
I can tell of a greater nuisance to the environment that increases CO2 much more than a backyard garden. It starts with anyone who is on the right side of the grass and thinks having a garden should be done away with so a government can control the means of food production right down to a freaking cucumber. They are bad for the environment.
Now cats are an environmental disaster.
Have you ever noticed, the one thing these toxic assholes don’t label as environmentally unhealthy is their own dribble? By the way, cats that are treated well are without question emotionally attached to their owners. Our three are awesome… and they don’t require the same babysitting as dogs do. Not that I wouldn’t love another dog or two, I most definitely would. They just don’t fit in with our road trip lifestyle so we opt for the much easier to care for cats as pets.
I can surely tell you, I’ve had about enough of this silliness where people have so little to complain about, they have to resort to trying to show cats are an environmental disaster. Whenever I hear crap like that again, this is what I’m going with; actual, real science shows the best way for the environment to recover is for people who constantly one-up each other with what’s new on the environmental hitlist is for those people to pull their bottom lip over their forehead and suck. Hard. Please show us how it’s done.
Rant over. Phew! Where’s the Tylenol!
Fit Recovery 