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Thankful for Cycling

11.25.2012 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

“Oh, I need this,” cooed Pat, as we headed out from home on a Sunday morning ride.

“This” was a bike ride. We’d just gotten home late last night from four days on the road for Thanksgiving. It was great. We stayed with our son and daughter-in-law and our brand new grandson — our first grandchild. So, we had lots of time for family bonding, lots of time sitting around watching their 70-inch TV screen (some action scenes made Pat nauseous), and lots of time eating more than we should have. It was great.

I got out for a couple of walks. The first day we were there, I set out to circle a large soccer-baseball complex near their house, and found that there was no quick way to do it. I wound up walking about four miles, and in the unseasonably mild Minnesota weather, I was soaked through with sweat when I got home.

Saturday’s weather was more seasonal. I walked a little over a mile to see a bald eagle nest near their house, and was treated to the sight of two eagles — one that flew about 50 yards from tree to tree while I looked on. I was a lot more bundled up for this walk, with temperatures in the low to mid 20s (-3C) and a biting wind. But it was better than the previous day, when we went to the movies. While we walked from the parking lot to the theater, the 25 mph wind cut through our jackets, and without hats or ear protection, we were really cold.

Now, I know hearty northerners ride in these conditions. On my walk to the eagles’ nest, a cyclists passed me, bundled up in a heavy parka, thermal cycling tights, thick gloves, and a skull cap. Tough guy, I thought. But we’ve lived in Austin for 12 years now, and our blood must have thinned out. My personal cycling cutoff is at 40 degrees (4C), and I’m mighty chilly even at that temperature.

So our ride this morning was a pleasure. Even with a brisk south wind, we pedaled easily over to the Veloway and did some laps. Good crowd out there today. Pat has been dealing with some work-related challenges, and she was glad to get on the bike, because ideas and solutions seem to come to her much more readily while cycling than while poring over a computer screen in the home office. As they did today. When I peeled away from her a couple of blocks from the house to continue my ride, she was already eager to get back to try out some things that came to her on the ride.

I tackled some local hills, and found that the pounds I tacked on over the holiday made themselves felt. Okay, I slipped from my careful eating campaign, and I’ll have to renew my efforts in that regard. But to ride in a short-sleeved jersey and shorts on a 65-70 degree (20C) day in November is something I’m thankful for at this time of year.

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Categories // cycling, Odds 'n ends Tags // cold, Veloway, wind

The Biking Cold

10.02.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

When we took our club ride Sunday morning, our area had just come off some good soaking rains that lasted much of Saturday. The forecast called for almost no rain chances Sunday, so I dressed accordingly. I wore a polyester base layer under my jersey and my lightest pair of arm warmers.

Once again, the forecasters were wrong. The temperature, which was 68 (20C) at the start of the ride, seemed to be falling as we reached our turnaround point. On top of that, the rain that was supposed to have moved out of the area paid us a visit again, in the form of mist.

After the first 15 miles, I was bathed in sweat on the inside, and wet from mist on the outside. (I suppose a treatise on the so-called “wicking” properties of base layers merits it own post at some point.) Coupled with the morning breeze, the wetness made me feel a bit chilly, arm warmers or not.

I felt good at the end of the ride, as I showered and wiped down the bikes. But by late afternoon, I could tell something was wrong. That telltale tickle formed at the back of my throat. I downed a couple of aspirin and settled back to watch football — no, Ryder Cup — no, football — no, Ryder Cup…we wound up sticking with golf, and I didn’t do my throat any favors by yelling at the American team as they blew a comfortable lead.

By bedtime, I felt lousy. It was by now a full-blown cold. My nose ran like a faucet, and I had that overall blah feeling. I got through a day of work Monday, slept poorly Monday night, and had an unpleasant day at work on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening is when I get a chance to ride during the week, because that’s the day I get home earliest. But I wasn’t in the mood for riding. I just wanted to eat that hot comfort food my wife had made for dinner, and sit back to watch TV. (I can’t believe that cement-footed Bristol Palin wasn’t voted off of “Dancing With the Stars.”)

Now my wife says she feels the tickle in her throat. And the dog has an ear infection, so she’s sleeping as much as possible. I know these seasonal colds are just things you’ve gotta put up with…but I missed my ride today. I hope I’ll be able to get out Friday evening.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // cold, illness

The Threshold for Unpleasant

02.05.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

One of our club riders wanted to go shorter than the planned route this morning. I thought that was a good idea, and planned to join her. But she wanted to leave at 8:15, and the B ride would be leaving at 9:15. Except for one thing: No one had posted a B ride for the day. I emailed her that I would wait until the weather improved.

We’ve been spoiled over the past two weekends, with decent riding conditions, even in chilly weather. Today was different. We had rain Saturday, rain overnight, and when I went out to pick up my morning paper, it started to rain again. In addition, the wind had shifted overnight in advance of a cold front, and was now blowing briskly from the north. The temperature was in the lower 40s (5C). So we had that nasty combination of chilly temperatures, brisk wind, and rain. Even though I had happily ridden in colder weather than this last week, the combination of the three created a threshold for unpleasant riding conditions for me. I decided to wait it out.

Lately, I’ve been reading blogs by randonneurs who live mostly in the eastern U.S. They tell of riding 100-plus miles in conditions much worse than what I faced today. I’m not in their league yet. I was content to sit back, read the morning paper, and drink some hot coffee while waiting for conditions to improve.

My wife Pat was up for a ride, too. “I was thinking, ‘If I can just wait till noon, it’ll work,'” she said. But a check of the radar 10 minutes before noon showed more rain just moving into our neighborhood. The temperature had hardly budged since 5:30 this morning. Pat decided to pack up her gear and head for a local health club she had quit just yesterday. They allow her to stay on until the end of the month, so she decided to take them up on their kindness. This time.

I decided to stay home and do some work. But by 2:30, the rain had passed, roads were starting to dry a bit, and although the temperature was still the same, I decided to get in a short ride. I did 15 miles in the neighborhood and on the Veloway, and was glad I’d put in the effort. I was also glad I’d waited to do it.

But our club president posted online that he and two others had shown up at 8:15 a.m. and done a nice 53-mile ride, which included a tailwind for their return leg. He gently chided us weather wusses by quoting Shakespeare’s Henry V St. Crispin’s Day speech:

     We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Okay, point taken. You happy few rode and had a great time. But I knew I would see several club members, including the ones who rode with him at a Super Bowl party this evening, and I decided to check with them.

Pippa, one of the “band of brothers” who rode (even though she’s a sister) admitted they did hit some rain on their ride. But it was light, and was over by the time they reached the 10-mile mark.

“It started raining again when we were just a couple of miles from the finish,” she said, “but it didn’t really start to pour until we had reached Starbucks and were inside getting our coffees.”

But others took one look at conditions and had similar reactions to me and Pat.

“I went to spin class,” said Jordan, who has been organizing most B rides since moving back to the area from out of town. “And I wasn’t the only one.”

Jerry admitted he did the indoor spin thing, too, and they ran into one of our better A riders there as well. The rest said they just stayed indoors and decided to skip riding today.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I liked my rides to be “pleasurefests” as opposed to the “sufferfests” of some A rides. That includes riding conditions, not just effort. I suppose I need to HTFU, but for now, I think I’ll continue to KBAPMFU.*

*Kick back and put my feet up.

 

 

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Categories // Cold weather Tags // cold

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