I saw my Shadow this morning, after I returned from swimming. Of course, the sun was not out yet, but I saw her. Does that mean winter will go away? If I see her tomorrow, will spring come sooner?
I have been wearing my sandals to feel warmer. The socks make them feel lots warmer. I went for a bike ride on Saturday which felt great until I came to the part where I was riding into the wind. The arctic wind. I forgot my camera and my phone, so you can take my word for the fact that there was still plenty of snow by the side of the road, but it was slowly melting, running in streams across the road, moistening the dirt and flipping off my tires and onto my back. I rode over a hill that challenged me last year, and it must be shorter now, or less steep, because it just was not as difficult.
I have been thinking about getting a lighter bike, or maybe one that has more gears in the top end (I never use the low chain ring) or one with less rolling resistance. I am sure my brothers have lots to say about that, as do the folks at the local bike shop. Then I climb on my old faithful, the one I bought so I could chase my four year old son up and down dirt roads when we took the training wheels of his ride, and it feels so good, and it climbs hills so nicely, I can't imagine riding anything else. If I want to haul less weight up hills, I could lose some myself, instead of asking the bike to do it for me. I do not really need to pedal down hills, and my tires roll just fine. As a side note, he has owned four bikes since that one, two of which he still rides.
I was going for another ride yesterday, but I took my daughter for her annual birthday shopping trip to the mall. It was unusually quiet yesterday afternoon. I wonder if something else caught everyone else's attention.
I signed up for another triathlon. I found my way to the computer in the wee hours of the morning, since the last one filled up so fast. This one still has space left, so you ladies out there still have chance to join me in August. I am looking at another local one for September. They suggest I register soon, because the event will sell out quickly. So far, they have 12 signed up, which does not include me yet. It is a longer distance event, which will be a challenge for me. As my brother said, we all have our dreams. I am looking forward to the challenge.
This morning, just to show up the groundhog, it snowed. We do not even have a fresh inch on the ground, but things are white again. I am not sure he could climb out of his den under all the snow if he lived here. They are saying the fog comes back tomorrow. If it stays as warm as they say it will, I might take the bike out again. I will take my foghorn with me, to be safe.
4 comments:
I always have lots to say about bikes, but--without watching you ride at all--I can offer this:
I switched to a different rear set of chain rings a few years back, when I felt as if I needed more higher gears. Can't remember whether I swapped wheels at the same time. The original wheel was getting pretty tired, with broken spokes, etc.
Anyhow, I thought I needed the higher gears.
Then I started paying a little attention to speed. Not because I want to go fast per se, but because I get bored covering the same territory all the time, and if I could take the same workout time and see new things, that might add spark. I wasn't trying to beef up the workout or become a speed demon.
As I studied how I could punch up the speed a bit, I ran into the notion of high-intensity bursts during a workout, which helped, and helped with a few other things too. Not a big deal.
But here's the thing: As I got a little lighter on the bike, and put some other parts of my riding in order, I found myself more and more moving to the middle part of the rear gear cassette. I have always known that cadence is key to good riding, but my legs haven't always been on board. I was prone to using higher gears at lower cadence to try to boost speed.
Nowadays I try to keep my cadence as high as possible, not worrying so much about speed--although it translates into much better speed results. To keep cadence high, I need to make sure I'm not mashing the pedals every time I go around. You can't do that and go around fast. To keep my toes light on the pedals, I switch to a lower gear.
In lower gear, with a lighter touch, and higher cadence, I go faster. I don't need those smaller sprockets in the back.
There are a few physiological reasons for this, one of them being that as your cadence increases, your heart starts pumping more blood--more so than when you switch to a higher gear and hold a slower cadence. Boosting cadence actually gives your muscles more gas.
Everyone's needs are different, but you might play with adjusting this or that about your riding style, to see what it does for you. You may find a little more speed in your legs without having to change equipment.
I still do use the highest gears on my bike when I'm going down hills, but on the flat I'm usually somewhere in the middle--going fast, but controlling it more with the speed of my legs than with the effort of each stroke.
MrJ I notice that when I am riding my bike I ride at different speeds; slow on the uphills and fast on the downs.
I am glad you saw your shadow, then you could take her out for a walk in the snow. It is nice to know that winter will be over, whether it is sooner or later. I hope your brother has arranged some sunshine for us, no more rain!!
I think your brothers will be able to show you what they are talking about regarding bikes when we see them in a few more days.
and the other thing- I think it is the current lack of money that everyone seems to be enjoying that pulled people away from the mall. I have noticed the same trend wherever I go around here whether it is the mall, or just Target or WallyWorld.
MrJ: I could get toe clips too, but I never made it that far either.
KMoo: We must be related. I ride that way too. My high intensity bursts seem to come at the bottom of the hill and end at the top. Then WHEEEEEE!
As far as the mall is concerned, it was the same day as some big fooball game that everyone stayed home to watch but us. WallyWorld seems as busy as ever.
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