Category Archives: cycling

Bicycle Safety

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And no, I’m not talking about your safety while riding a bicycle. I’m talking about the safety of your bicycle. 

I just opened our resident portal here in California to report that my kitchen light is flickering when I saw a note that two bikes had been stolen from our supposedly secure parking garage. Having had one of our vehicles broken into already and seen people in the garbage dumpsters who I’m pretty sure don’t live here, I have never considered leaving my bike in the garage. 

Instead, when I’m not riding it, my bike lives in the entry way,

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or next to the stairs (both of which David hates, but I get busy you know),

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or on the balcony which really makes the most sense to me.

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There are lots of bike riders in San Jose. When you ride around you see bikes locked up but that’s clearly not enough because, additionally, you’ll see they have a wheel or the seat removed for extra safety.

It was really interesting when I was home in Tulsa last week. I was getting into my car after picking up my pizza (vegan) and noticed a family ride up on bikes. Well, maybe it was a family with a lot of kids or a family with their kids and their kids friends. But in any case, there were at least eight people and eight bikes. 

Do you know what they did when they got to the front of the restaurant? They got off of their bikes, parked them and went in the door to eat. There wasn’t a lock among them. All the seats stayed in place as well as the wheels. 

I reflected about the bikes here in San Jose and came to the conclusion that bikes are much safer in Oklahoma. 

I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, though. Does it mean Oklahoma has less thieves? Less active people? Better things to steal? 

As I ponder this, I’ll continue to ride my bike and keep it safe. In the living room. I mean on the balcony. 😉

W is for Wrists

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I’m really mad at my wrists. It’s not even their fault but, nonetheless, I’m mad at them anyway. You see, it’s my wrists that are keeping me from riding my bike and forcing me to get my miles in on the Lifecycle in the gym.

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I’m really grateful to have the Lifecyle, though. This way, I won’t lose any of my cycling gains. But the experience in the gym is nothing like the experience of riding on the trail. 

I miss the freedom of being on the trail. I miss the wind in my face and saying hi to the planes as I pass the airport. I even miss saying hi to the other runners/walkers/cyclists on the trail and them looking through me as if I’m not there or ignoring me altogether. 

Once my rides went over an hour, it felt like my hands were starting to fall asleep. A quick search of the internet told me that I was experiencing Handlebar Palsy. Nice. 

This overuse injury comes from compressing the ulnar nerve with the handlebars. So after reading this, I started to remember my gloves, which gives me extra padding. I also started making sure that changed my grip position frequently. I thought it was working and didn’t seem to have tingly fingers until last Friday. And then it was one step past just tingly fingers on my left hand.

I could barely grip anything. I couldn’t write with a pen (I’m left handed) and I had a hard time doing much of anything with that hand. Well, this woke me right up. I need my left hand! 

Over the course of the day, it worked itself out but it was scary enough to me that I’ve decided to forgo my real bike in favor of the Lifecyle until I can get a new bike. Or get this one fitted to me so it doesn’t cause this problem. It’s possible the handlebars are too low for me. I’ve wondered if the bike is tall enough. 

So I’ll be visiting the bike shop here very soon and getting fit for a bike that will ft me right. Because I sincerely love cycling. It’s the best! 🙂

E is for Exercise

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I do a lot of exercise. Believe it or not, I even like it! I’ve been a walker for a lot of years. For most of my walking miles, David has been with me and I think of it as our alone time where it’s just us and no distractions. But even when David hasn’t been home, I still walk. 

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I was waiting to lose down to a certain weight to start running again. I used to run a lot in the early 1990s but felt like I was just too heavy to run now even though my walks were getting faster and faster and I had friends on the runkeeper app encouraging me to just run.

When we moved here, I left the scale behind. Because I had no idea if I was at the magical number that would allow me to begin running, I just started running. And it was hard. No, it was HARD. 😀 I ran quite a lot of distance back in the day and I just don’t remember it being so hard back then. Of course I was 25 years younger so that could’ve had something to do with it. But I persevered telling myself, “pretty soon, this will be your warm up”.

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Now, I’m not there yet but I have been able to to gradually increase my mileage and I’m now up to two miles a day. Best of all, I’m getting air all the way down to the bottom of my lungs the whole run. Which is great since I like to breathe.

And cycling. How I love that. I’ve been doing that twice a week since I got my bike. I go a little further each time and it’s just fun. 

Every day living here in Downtown San Jose, involves a lot of exercise. Unless I have the dog or  something really heavy, I always take the stairs. Our apartment is on the third floor and the garage is even one floor further down. I walk every where downtown. Library, grocery store, post office, dinner. It’s great. I’ve been more active here than I have been in a lot of years.

And I like it. I really do. I love feeling strong when I’m walking down the street. I love feeling accomplished when I get done with a run or bike ride. I know this is good for my health but it’s also good for my mind. I am a rare person who doesn’t wear headphones while exercising. I have deep discussions with my inner self and I come to a lot of conclusions, make a lot of plans this way.

If you don’t exercise every day let me encourage you to give it a try. Even just a ten minute walk to start is better than nothing at all. Then work your way up little by little until you are enjoying more physical and mental well being. You’ll be glad you did! 😀

C is for Cycling

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I had two conditions for moving to California. One, that we could live downtown and two, that I could have a bike. Well, I’ve got them both. 

I love, love, love living downtown and I also love this bike. Even though I’m pretty sure it’s the wrong kind. I went to get a bike a week or so after we got here. I was actually looking for a different one but they didn’t have it. So I chose this bike. 

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I chose it because it’s pink and black, it was there, it was a good price and it didn’t have skinny little tries on it. I must admit that at my weight, I’m terrified of those skinny little tires. I’m pretty sure they make Fatties for folks like me. 😉

Anyway, I do like this bike. It’s pretty and it’s a nice ride except it’s almost too easy. I understand, from my novice point of view, that there must really be a difference between a bike made for the street and a bike made for off road. I really would like a bike that is a little harder to ride. 

This morning, as I rode into a strong north wind, I got the resistance I wanted although my fingers about broke off from being so cold. I try to hit all of the hills I can find to give myself a little bit of a tougher workout.

I do know I will get another bike some day soon. When I get that one, I will go to someone knowledgeable, tell them what I want to do with it, share my fears about the tires popping and let them help me select a bike that’s appropriate for what I want to use it for. 

Until then, I’ll continue to ride the bike I have and love every minute of it. Because riding this bike now is just as fun as riding one was when I was a kid. 🙂

*This was written after my Tuesday a.m. bike ride. 

 

Wheeee!

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I rode a bike! I haven’t been on a bike since I was a kid but I rode one today. Here’s my experience. 

The biggest thing I learned is that while I might be able to run with my mouth open, I should most definitely not ride a bike with my mouth open. LOL! I’m pretty sure my protein intake is higher today. 😉