Detritus

What little snow we've had this winter is gone, except for a large pile on the north side of my town's multi-story parking structure- stuff that was scraped off  the top level by the plough and won't be gone until June.

In many places the road along the fog line is liberally sprinkled with glass from jettisoned beer bottles- it's a minor miracle that i haven't punctured yet.

i used to wonder how so much brown and green glass wound up on the road until i witnessed some yahoos tossing out their beer bottles so as not to be caught with open liquor in their car.

i'm not sure what makes me angrier- the fact that people are consuming alcohol whilst driving or that they feel entitled to just toss their trash along the roads.

When i ride in more rural parts, i see a lot of beer cans and 12 pack cartons strewn along the right-of-way. One time i remarked to a riding companion that the overwhelming majority of those cans were from one or two of the more common brands of "light" ("Lite?") beer.  He pointed out that the reason for so many light beer cans being tossed was that they were ashamed to leave evidence in their cars that they actually drank such dreck. i mean, if you're going to drink beer, drink real beer. Ah well...

Along with the beer cans and bottles, i lately notice an alarming number of hard liquor bottles out there. Empty 750ml vodka and whiskey bottles are frighteningly common. When i find myself on an evening or nighttime ride i especially worry about this.

Among of the odder things i've seen are vanilla extract bottles. At the last couple of years' 3 Speed Tours there were dozens along the shoulder of Wisconsin 35. i wonder if under-agers were spiking their soda with the stuff...  How's that for desperate?

It's depressing to me that so many people feel it's okay to scatter trash along the highways and streets. i have on a couple of past occasions been able to scoop up someone's trash and toss it back to them at the next stoplight, but i don't think i'll do that any more since i never know who may be packing heat.

Of course, not everything i encounter on my rides is useless. Last Sunday i found a crisp dollar bill in the gutter- yea me! For some reason, 12mm box wrenches are a regular find, as well as the occasional pliers and other small hand tools... i once came back from a brevet with a claw hammer in my seat bag. You miss these sorts of things when behind the wheel of a car.

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Every Ride is a Recovery Ride

About 130 kilometers.

My total road distance for January, excluding errand rides. i don't usually count those distances because they're taken at only a bit higher pace than my walking speed (spoiler alert: i mosey on foot.)

i wasn't keeping track in December or November. i'd be surprised if it broke 200km total.

2017 wasn't a good year for my riding. Although i did manage to do three 200 km brevets, an invitational or two, and a long day's ride on Wisconsin's Wild Goose Trail and another on the Badger State Trail. 

With a few exceptions, i found that i've been having increasing difficulty being able to ride fast enough to keep out of my own way. i've never had tons of stamina, but in recent years, what stamina i've had has been ebbing. My doctor gave me a good going over last year, but nothing is obviously wrong. i live in denial that it's an age thing.

So, i've been practicing an attitude adjustment. i no longer try to chase down that guy up the road, nor step up my pace to keep up with any rider who passes me... for the time being.

Today there's an inch or two of snow on the roads and it's about 15 degrees American outside with a stiff wind. i'm holed up and considering my options. i do want to attempt some longer brevets this season- the first one of our club's rides is in April, so there's a lot of work ahead of me.

Downstairs my wife's bike is on the trainer. Her goal is to be able to do the two days' Lake Pepin 3 Speed Tour as discomfort-free as possible. We've done seven of these rides so far and we're really looking forward to it. i admire her ambition. As for me, i detest indoor riding- so much so that i sold off my wind trainer and rollers a few years ago- i hardly used them anyway, but now i'm regretting that decision. i think that tomorrow i'll be taking her bike off and setting up my own- have to start somewhere...

Basically, i'm at kilometer zero. Time to quit whingeing and to get busy.
                                                  
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It's all uphill.

The Neoplasm

The thing about cycling is that it isn't generally a nocturnal activity. We spend most of our hours on the bike in the broad daylight, most often through the long hours of a sunny summer day.

i suspect that most of us ride in short sleeved, short legged kit, exposing large areas of skin. How many of us ever think about sunscreen?

In younger days, it never occurred to me to grease up. If i took a sunburn on the arms, no matter... it faded to a deep farmer's tan in a day or two. Noxema cream and maybe Bactine spray provided enough temporary relief. In the days before findings about ozone layer depletion, no one really gave sunburn a second thought.

Look at some photos from the golden age of cycling. Here's an example:

Gino Bartali & Fausto Coppi

Take a look at Bartali's arms. This is a typical cyclist's tan.

My version was never quite so dark, but by early June my arms, legs, and from my neck up were usually pretty brown for someone of Northern European Mongrel lineage.

Another artifact of sun exposure was the well defined oval on the back of the hand from our gloves. My favourite style was- and is still- the gloves  with a crocheted back.

This spring i noticed what i first took to be a wart on the back of my hand:

Yeah, i know.. yuk.

 Denial is a deep river...

So, i finally took myself to my doctor who immediately referred me to the dermatologist.

 Welp, when you need to schedule an appointment with a specialist, don't be in a hurry.

Turns out the good doctor cannot see me before mid-September, but i will be seeing his P.A. in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, it grows. i hope it won't take until September to be rid of it.

 In more recent years i had gotten in the habit of greasing up my nose, and lately gotten better at remembering to doing my ears, neck, and arms as well. The thing is remembering to stop and re-apply the goop every 90 minutes or so. It never occurred to me to do my hands as well-  they were covered, right?

i ought to be more mindful about sunscreen, especially since i had a small "hot spot" removed from my temple a couple of years ago...  Denial isn't a river in Egypt.

A few days ago i heard a radio interview about how many if not most off-the-shelf sunscreens don't live up to their advertised SPF ratings, sometimes by less than half. The FDA doesn't test sunscreens for their efficacy- they depend on the manufacturers for that information. This does not inspire confidence. Do the research. Consumer Reports just published their findings. Seek it out.

And, no matter which brand of sunscreen you chose, remember to use it.                           

Time to escape...

10 AM, Tuesday...

Time to escape from the noise of the edgers and leaf-blowers and lawnmowers, the reek of 2 stroke fumes and the rotting grass in the back of the dump trucks..

The racket of the slamming of the tailgates...

The soundscape and ambience of suburbia on a weekday morning.

i'm going out for a ride.

i hope i can safely dodge the landscapers' pickup trucks and dump trucks with their over-wide and overloaded trailers that make up the bulk of the traffic on a fine morning in the suburbs and exurbs.

i will ride for the next few hours before the thunderstorms roll in and try to get away from this cacophony that is invading my space and making me edgy.

Hope to be back later.

Feel free to join me.

Be safe out there.

Damned Raccoons!!

Last week's campout provided a harsh lesson from Mother Nature:

Never leave your bike out where a hungry raccoon may nosh on your Brooks saddle!

Nature, "Red in tooth and claw."

i dunno... maybe they like the taste of Proofide?

Crashing

A quick scan of YouTube will bring up a plethora of videos of bike crashes: Tours de France, local road races, car vs bike, track stackups, simple "fails," et cetera, ad nauseam.

Call it the Pornography of Pain.

The internet is full of all kinds of pornography, from mundane skin shows to snuff films. Gruesome viewing at best.

Watching a bike crash video can be oddly fascinating in a gothic sort of way- i will admit to having looked. The slow-mo replays reveal that crap happens and crap happens fast. Sometimes it can be instructive, but i fear that many a viewer  may just be a voyeur. i'm sure that there are bike-haters finding a great deal of entertainment in the pain of the riders: just read the comments, but keep an emesis  basin nearby.

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else."
-Will Rogers.

Over the years, i've been in my share of crashes. A couple in races, and many solo efforts. Sometimes it was slick pavement, sometimes inattention, sometimes through the actions of others. My worst injuries were from largely solo falls- broken teeth, acres of skin, a shoulder separation, stitches, and technicolour bruises.

One day in my youth, i went arse-over-teacups when a borrowed fixed wheel decided to strip out when i was stomping into a sprint. When i got home, thanks to a Good Samaritan, i had to ask my poor mother to help me out of my jersey. She nearly fainted when she saw the abrasions on my shoulders (i don't know how i didn't land on my face!) that had been hidden under the fabric.

"Are you going to give this up now?"
"No. Why?"
(She hated that i rode...)

(Full disclosure: i do sometimes wish there was footage of that crash. i still don't know how i landed.)

We fall, we get back up, we keep riding.

"I would invite anyone who thinks that crashing... is risible, that they try it  themselves sometime..."

What disturbs me are the people who really enjoy the crash films, watching them again and again... i suspect that there are even those who stage them at the expense of the riders for their entertainment. i would invite anyone who thinks that crashing full bore into barriers, or going off the road into ravines, or getting tangled in a 30-rider stackup is risible, that they try it themselves sometime... then we'll see if they still think it's  funny.

Indolence

Late February. Today the temperature will be above freezing and the roads are generally dry and ice-free. The first brevets of the season are but a few weeks away. The bikes are softly calling my name (can't you hear them?)

And i am sitting on my butt. The more i think about the many small tasks lurking for me downstairs, the more rooted i'm become.

On the workstand hangs my trusty road bike, a c.1982 Specialized Allez, like the ones featured in that classic flick "American Flyers." The bars freshly retaped in blue Velox, awaiting a second coat of shellac, the chain needing a good flush and oiling, perhaps a bottom bracket regreasing, and a thorough cleaning. i started in yesterday and took my sweet time about the retape... maybe it'll be done later today-

or tomorrow.

In a corner leans the beginnings of another project: the newly built alloy-rimmed front wheel for my '71 Phillips 3 speed, the bike i hope to complete in time for the Lake Pepin ride in May. The rear wheel awaits its turn, and i've compiled the shopping list for the rebuild, just trying to decide if i'll bother with a repray or leave it its faded and scuffed team-issue matte black... been hanging fire on that one for almost 3 years.

The big accomplishment of the year was restoring my Mercian to operational status- a project that was about 12 years in the process.

The rest of the fleet awaits attention: Colette, my venerable  PX-10, did receive new tape last week but still needs a good going-over. My go-to bike for general riding around, she's the highest-mileage machine in the stable.

i've never been much of  a hard-charging get-it-done kind of person, but these winter doldrums have really take hold lately. i know that i need to get outside and ride today, but mostly i feel like curling up with a good book, after checking in on the Retrogrouch , Mid-life Cycling, and Lovely Bicycle...

Ah, well... let these be the worst things i have to face today. Time to get moving. See you on the road.