Where I’ve Been…
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, I didn’t even get to write about my first solo ride outside this year, which was quite funny. All tailwind for the first half, all headwind for the second. It wasn’t, but was, funny.
We’re in the final stretch on five projects at work and the closeout is probably the toughest part of the job. There isn’t an easy part, really, but the closeout takes the most coordination and paperwork. All the while, I’m getting a full education on energy and solar power generation.
I’d say I can find time to write, but I’m so enmeshed in doing the job in front of me, I just don’t have the inspiration at the moment. Back a year ago, I knew my job so well, I had all sorts of time to think about writing, recovery and bikes. Today, I just don’t have the space for it in my noggin.
That said, I don’t imagine I’ll be posting this rarely for much longer. Things are going very well with the closeout progress and I should have a new job or three starting in the next week or so… and then I can start the process all over again!
My First Ultra-Cool Triathlon of 2024!
Yesterday was magical; a full triathlon, my first since 2012, and in my usual unorthodox way!
My daughter was working and my wife is out of town with her best friend from childhood, so I had nothing to do… but golf with my friends. I rolled out of bed later than usual and got ready to go. Unlike a normal golfing event, the weather outdoors was unfit for golf (well below freezing), so we took it indoors at a local course that has several indoor screens for the winter months. This was to be a first for me; I’ve never played video game golf before.
I showed up early and took a few minutes to get some practice swings in, and then we were right into it. It took several holes to get loosened up and to get the feel of it, but Dale and I ended up with a real shoot-off going into the last two holes. He was up by two strokes after 14. He bogied 15 and I parred, pulling to within a stroke.
16 was a disaster. Dale birdied and I bogied for a two shot shift. I was down, but I wasn’t ready to say I was out.
17 was a beautiful par 3 at 155 yards and a gentle crossing breeze from left to right. a perfect 8-iron for me. I put it on close enough for a 2-putt for par. Dale bogied, pulling us within one.
18 was a gloriously long par 4 and I absolutely uncorked one on my drive, ending up at 280+. Dale hit his normal 215 from the advanced tees, right in the middle of the fairway. He had a way to go, though and parked one 30-yards from the green. My second was a dead-on 7-iron from 172 with a bit of a helping crosswind. I parked it within a few feet for a tap-in birdie. Dale laid up a little short and ended with a bogie for a two-stroke swing and I took the indoor Sunday title by a stroke. I had a 79, Dale an 80.
Next was a stint on the bike. I didn’t go very long, just 30 minutes, because I knew we were bowling in a few hours… so, the second and third legs of the indoor triathlon.
Bowling was tricky in the second game. I was over-hooking my usual go-to ball and couldn’t move far enough right to get the angle right. First game 211, second was a 158, but I switched to a lighter hooking ball for the third game and hit a great run at the end for a slick 214… but Dale’s run was just a little bit better and he pipped me in the last frame for a 216. He took the title back!
We laughed about that for quite a while before departing. I headed home and watched some TV with my daughter before turning in for the night. I slept, surprisingly, like a baby. I miss my wife. I miss having her here to talk with, to sleep with.
And for that, I am so thankful.
Back On The Trainer…
We in Michigan, specifically lower to mid-Michigan, were treated to a lovely (not really) four inches of snow Friday… We’ve gotten more snow in March than we did in February (it feels like all winter, really… it’s been a lousy March). The roads are clear but it’s brutally cold. Cold enough I didn’t want any part of riding outside, so I readied the trainers for my wife and I yesterday morning.
This gets interesting for today, though… I’m golfing indoors with my bowling buddy, Dale and his brother-in-law. It’ll be my first time on a screen, but with this lousy weather, I’d rather get out and swing at a screen than not at all. I’ve been getting in my practice swings so I’m interested to see where I am at the start of the year compared to the end of last year.
Then, we bowl this evening. So, to ride or not?
I probably will hit the trainer when I get back from golfing, and before bowling… but I just might take a nap! I could lose to burn a few calories, though. Really, I could use to burn a lot…
Tandem Vs. Single Race Bike: What’s The Ideal Tire Width For Both?
The folks at GCN are at it again! How wide is too wide, how soft is too soft… and what’s fast. As tires go. Look, I’m not going to pretend I know any better when it comes to what you should ride. I know what I’ll ride and I’m very finicky – and not in a way that would go for “wider is better”, though there’s no doubt there’s some interesting truth to the notion.
I ride 24s on the Trek 5200 because fitting 25s is sketchy (it’s a 1999 – they didn’t make bikes to fit 32s back in that era – only 23s, or with a wider rim 24s or certain 25s). I ride a 26 on the Specialized Venge because 28s are a little snug, number one, but the main reason is I bounce when I sprint on 28s. The only way to stop the odd bouncing feeling is to pump the tires to a pressure that negates the gain in comfort for riding a wider tire.
Our tandems are/were different altogether.
We rode our old Co-Motion Periscope with Continental 28s for years, until the Kevlar showed through the rubber (seriously) before switching to Specialized Turbo Pro 28s. Oh, we went through more tires, but they were vastly more comfortable that the Conti’s. We could do 30s easy though wen never got the chance. Our new tandem came in.
With our new Co-Motion Kalapuya I had a decision to make. It’s a gravel bike out of the box and comes with 45mm WTB tires that are lovely on dirt… and atrocious on pavement. We also bought a set of road wheels for the new bike so we could swap them to match different terrains in minutes. Sadly, the 45s don’t work with the 50mm fenders we have that match the bike, so I chose 40s and hoped for the best. The Bontrager 40mm gravel tires are perfect for cruising Michigan’s dirt roads. They provide stability and comfort and they just fit with the fenders.
For the road, we liked 28s on the last tandem, but I wanted to see if we couldn’t increase the comfort with 30s, or even 32s. I tried them both. Either works, but the 32s are superior in the comfort department.
And because we don’t sprint out of the saddle on the tandem, we don’t have to worry about “squish” from wider tires.
Now, 32s on a road bike? No thank you. I know, I know, the boys at GCN say you can go up to 35s! Well, not on any of my single bikes. They wouldn’t fit even if I wanted to ride something that wide (and I wouldn’t – wide is too squishy out of the saddle). Even on our tandem, 32s are great but those 40s are SSSSSLLLLLLOOOOOOWWWW.
And so, they may say wider is better, but I only agree with that so far.
Our Buddy, Dave Begins His Comeback…
If you remember, a while back, my buddy Dave had gotten into a pretty gnarly crash on his motorcycle. As it turned out, he was in really bad shape. If it weren’t for an off-duty firefighter who rushed to his side to apply a tourniquet, he’d have bled out at the crash site. They contemplated amputating his leg for the next week (or more).
Well, he’s gone through umpteen operations and he’s finally entered the recovery phase. He graduated his physical therapy last week and he’s now looking forward to riding his bike(s).
We had some club business to attend to the other day, so I went over for a visit. He’s up and about, walking with a cane that fits him perfectly. Gloss black with a diamond pattern carved into the top third, and adorned with a black grinning skull. He’s limping heavily, favoring his way too swollen left leg, the one they had to reconstruct using abdominal muscles. I won’t go into it more than that. I think that gives a fair rendering of what that guy has gone through in the hope of pedaling a bicycle again. It’s going to be a long comeback, but he has friends lined up to help.
After our club business concluded, we went down to the basement where his gravel bike sat dormant since last summer when the crash happened. He asked me to set his gravel bike on the trainer. He’s hoping to begin riding soon. He just got two step stools so he can climb on without risking banging the bad leg or toppling over… So I set his gravel bike up on his trainer the other day. I changed the clipless pedals out for platform pedals and shifted the bike into a very easy gear – baby ring up front all the way.
We talked for a while longer about how things would look for him over the summer and I did what I could to be positive and up beat.
My friend has his work cut out for him, but it could have been much worse. At least he’s on the right side of the grass!
Even In The Cold Weather, We Love Our Bike!
Jess and I rolled out with Mike yesterday morning. It was the opposite of warm, around 38° (just 3 C) with a wind chill of 30 (-1 C). I thought I was properly dressed – heck, I thought I was overdressed, until I stepped outside. The wind cut right though the arms of my thermal and long-sleeve jerseys. My core was protected with a thermal vest, but I just couldn’t see how I was going to stay warm as I was dressed… even with the sun creeping higher on the eastern horizon.
I went in to check on my wife, who had chosen her red Funkier winter jacket… a brilliant choice. I immediately stripped off my top two layers and reached for mine. We rolled the tandem out together and I knew the jacket was the right choice as soon as we passed the threshold of the front door.
I’d spent the morning changing the bike over from gravel to road; wheels, chain, and removing the fenders. The prep time was worth it. The Co-Motion was simply amazing.
I’m still trying to blow the winter out of my lungs and I’m still shocked at how much work everything is after being sick. I’m just not… me. On the plus side, every time I ride, I feel a little better and yesterday’s ride was no different. In fact, for the first time since we started riding outside, I wasn’t nauseous during our ride.
The first half of the ride was all headwind, with a stiff breeze out of the southwest. It was some rough slogging, too. We had a 28-miler on tap but we chose to shorten that by six. We would have had three more miles of headwind and all three of us had our fill as we crested our hill to the turn-off. We start Old Miller with a gradual half-mile long downhill, so with the crossing tailwind, we picked up speed in a hurry.
And what had been hard became easy. Jess and I cruised with Mike on our wheel. He took a couple of turns to share the work and we laughed and talked as we headed home. There were dozens of times I thought about how grateful I was to have our Kalapuya. I’d have ridden the old Periscope with Jess till the wheels fell off, but the alloy Kalapuya is butter next to the steel Periscope (don’t ask me how that works, I won’t be able to tell you. The steel bike should be miles more comfortable than the alloy frame, but that’s not the case).
We got into a rhythm and cruised home with the sun shining on us.
Mike likes to shout out at random, usually once a ride, “I LOVE MY BIKE”. For us, we love ours! And yes, I felt better all day.
Back On The Bike After An Illness Hiatus… and In Shorts & Short-Sleeves, No Less! And Two Days In A ROW!
We had an amazing stretch of weather the last week or so. I was still recovering from whatever funk I was under for the beginning of the nice stretch, so I didn’t bother riding (I felt gnarly enough even I though exertion was a bad idea).
Once I started feeling myself again, though, we had a stretch in the upper 60s (almost room temperature) that had me jonesing for a turn of the cranks. And my wife was all in, too. We chose the tandem on dirt roads, for some crazy reason.
Well, the reasoning was actually sound; no traffic.
I hate riding on dirt for what it does to bikes, but you just can’t beat the lack of motorists.
We didn’t ride many miles over the two days, but they were fantastic… they were also a lot of work! Covid and the flu really took a lot out of me.
My wife was pretty amazing about that, though. At the beginning of the season, I tend to get myself pushing so hard I get close to hyperventilation pretty quickly. Doing this isn’t great when you’re not feeling 100%. She’d just pat me on the back and tell me to ease up a little bit while she’d pushed harder on the pedals for a bit to keep our momentum.
We had a day of rain after that, and the gloomy day ushered in the cold again and Friday was a bowling night, but today is quite promising. We’ll start out around 40°, but temps are supposed to rise another 10° in short order so it’s time to head out to the garage and get the road wheels for the tandem. Fenders will come off, and I’ll clean off the dust from the dirt roads, and we’ll be on our way. We’ve invited the group for the ride, and we’re definitely stoked about riding with the gang again (if a little apprehensive with our lagging fitness). We’ve got a 28-miler on tap, though we may opt for less depending on how we’re feeling. I’m still having a tough time with the fact I’m not near 100% yet.
How Do People In Recovery Handle The Alcohol-Related Culture So Closely Tied To Mountain Biking And Road Cycling?
If you’re in recovery, becoming a cyclist may come as a little bit of a shock when we see just how much alcohol is tied to the cycling culture. Especially for mountain biking, but only because mountain bikers meet at a trailhead in their vehicles. When they’re done riding, bikes are packed up and coolers come out, along with the lawn chairs. For road cyclists, that only happens during special events. In our group, we come from a 10-mile radius to meet at my house on the weekend. We ride a route and those few who park in our driveway complete the ride with us, but most everyone else disperses in the final few miles to ride home. On special ride nights, like Tuesday night, cyclists change their clothes and flood the local watering hole after the ride.
In cycling, if you look close enough, alcohol is everywhere.
So, how do we handle that and maintain happiness as a cyclist? I have a few tips I can pass along.
First, I have to check my mental and spiritual fitness. If I’m in a place in my mind where I can’t be around alcohol comfortably, I seriously have to evaluate whether I need to refrain from attending, or get my melon fixed so it isn’t an issue any longer. If my spiritual and mental fitness is good, the likelihood being in proximity to alcohol will be a problem diminishes significantly.
Second, in the rare instance I was mistaken about my spiritual and mental fortitude and being around those who are drinking becomes a problem, I have to have a quick out. Nothing is more important than my recovery. Certainly not sticking around for an after-party. If I find myself feeling squirrely or off, I book. In this, my wife is one of my fellow riders and we share our lives in recovery, so she always has my back, and I have hers. If we find that we need to leave, neither is the least bit afraid of saying so, and we are, without hesitation, gone.
Third, see one and two. You can’t go wrong. The world didn’t quit drinking because I did. I shall let it spin on as it does, and adjust myself to it. We learn over years and years of recovery that life is not about “what I get out of it”. Recovery is about what I bring to it.
I make sure everything I bring to recovery, life and cycling is the best I’ve got and the rest simply works out in the wash. For me, the drinking culture that surrounds cycling has never been that big of a deal. It’s not about what I get out of that culture, it’s about what I bring to it. As such, my wife and I have attracted a whole host of non-drinking cycling friends. We are a very close pack, and it’s a beautiful thing.
Long live cycling. And recovery in it.
I’m Listening To My Body Today…
I was listening to my body yesterday.
It was wonderful to kinda take a backseat in my brain and let the melon committee meeting happen.
At some point, the representative that handles my body jumped up in the middle of the din and said, “You want a balanced breakfast this morning! Let’s see… blueberry pancakes (fruit group) with maple syrup (veggies), scrambled eggs (protein), and some bacon (more protein). Yes, make it so”. And the melon committee cheered, “Hear, Hear”, they said in unison. “Well played!”
I did as the committee instructed. And I was happy. It’s wonderful, on that rare occasion, when everyone in the melon committee is in agreeance.
Covid, Then Flu, And A Total Lack Of Motivation
I’ve been sick for two weeks, now. First it was a stint of Covid. Then, another week with the flu… and a fairly painful week at that. And I’m just guessing that it was the flu.
I’m about tired of being sick, I can tell you that. Worst was being in pain for so long. Covid was better than I’d expected. The flu, or whatever the hell it was, was worse. No normal flu symptoms, just fever and intense fever pain, mainly in my back. Riding through that mess was simply not possible.
It was an ugly couple of weeks, but I’m starting to feel better. Thursday was reasonable, yesterday was an improvement and I woke up feeling much better today. Still a little sore, but I don’t feel like a train hit me, so that’s a good thing!
I don’t think I’ll ride the trainer today, either. I think I’m going to take one last day of laying around so I can finally put all of this behind me and get back to feeling better. It’s feels like it’s been a long time.
Fit Recovery 