New Year's Resolution
Thursday, 3 January 2019 My resolution for this year is to wear my cleats before the first of October. Double points if they are the fleece-lined shoes and I need to wear bread bags over them. I have, optimistically, been saving bread bags. Since my walking shoes are sandals, to block the wind I wear newspaper sleeves over two pairs of socks, and put on a pair of knee hose to hold them in place. So far this winter I haven't needed foot windbreakers, but I keep a pair of knee hose in my tool kit and make sure I have several newspaper sleeves just in case. The newspaper sleeves have been useful for other things -- when I found some ripe catnip last fall, putting the twigs I cut off into a newspaper sleeve kept me from losing any seed on the way home. Today, I accidentally bought a pile comforter -- a very thick blanket -- for ninety-nine cents. After rolling it as tightly as I could, I stuffed one end into a grocery bag. (I carry a bag of bags at all times; they come in handy for all sorts of things.) Then I needed to tie the handles together to keep that bag from skinning back as I stuffed the other end into another bag, but the handles lacked inches of meeting. Then I saw a stray newspaper sleeve in my empty pannier. It stretched rather alarmingly when I pulled fiercely to tighten the grocery bag, but held, and I tied it in a bow knot. I didn't un-wrap it when I got home. Weather Underground says that Saturday will be a good day to ride, and Google Maps says that going to Aldi by way of the animal shelter will be eleven miles round trip, which is about right for the third excursion of my come-back. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ It was a good ride. Pity I have no other reason to go to the animal shelter. I chickened out of tomorrow's dump tour. I didn't feel like packing the bike this evening. J.B. |
New Year's Resolution
On Sunday, January 13, 2019 at 8:11:28 PM UTC-8, Joy Beeson wrote:
Thursday, 3 January 2019 My resolution for this year is to wear my cleats before the first of October. Double points if they are the fleece-lined shoes and I need to wear bread bags over them. I have, optimistically, been saving bread bags. Since my walking shoes are sandals, to block the wind I wear newspaper sleeves over two pairs of socks, and put on a pair of knee hose to hold them in place. So far this winter I haven't needed foot windbreakers, but I keep a pair of knee hose in my tool kit and make sure I have several newspaper sleeves just in case. The newspaper sleeves have been useful for other things -- when I found some ripe catnip last fall, putting the twigs I cut off into a newspaper sleeve kept me from losing any seed on the way home. Today, I accidentally bought a pile comforter -- a very thick blanket -- for ninety-nine cents. After rolling it as tightly as I could, I stuffed one end into a grocery bag. (I carry a bag of bags at all times; they come in handy for all sorts of things.) Then I needed to tie the handles together to keep that bag from skinning back as I stuffed the other end into another bag, but the handles lacked inches of meeting. Then I saw a stray newspaper sleeve in my empty pannier. It stretched rather alarmingly when I pulled fiercely to tighten the grocery bag, but held, and I tied it in a bow knot. I didn't un-wrap it when I got home. Weather Underground says that Saturday will be a good day to ride, and Google Maps says that going to Aldi by way of the animal shelter will be eleven miles round trip, which is about right for the third excursion of my come-back. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ It was a good ride. Pity I have no other reason to go to the animal shelter. I chickened out of tomorrow's dump tour. I didn't feel like packing the bike this evening. J.B. Hi Joy. I always enjoy reading your posts, even if I seldom post replies. About four years ago I made a New Year's resolution to not make any more New Year's resolutions, since I never did seem to keep them. I am happy to report that I have successfully kept that resolution ever since. Pureheart in Aptos P.S.-I've also enjoyed my visits to your website. |
New Year's Resolution
On Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:11:26 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: Thursday, 3 January 2019 My resolution for this year is to wear my cleats before the first of October. Double points if they are the fleece-lined shoes and I need to wear bread bags over them. I have, optimistically, been saving bread bags. I realized today that I'll never wear my fleece-lined shoes again: to change into sandals, I'd need to change socks too, and that's a bit much when one is sitting on a cold iron bench. Better to put on walking shoes and stay in them. I do remember peeling off a layer of socks before putting on my cleats, and putting them back on when I got where I was going. That was when my metabolism ran a bit faster. I must have been a bit of a wimp the last twenty years. I'm pretty sure that today was the first time I've had to deal with a frozen water-bottle valve since we moved from New York to Indiana. Perhaps this was because it was my least-favored bottle; it's possible that I haven't used it in cold weather before. Two better bottles were in the pannier keeping warm. The bottle itself never froze, and I was able to clear the valve by closing it and opening it again. The original plan was to ride to the Chinworth Bridge and come back by way of Penguin Point (local fast-food chain). But after I'd plowed through a cold wind to where Rotary Park is going to be, I thought about the acres and acres of mowed lawn on both sides of Chinworth Trail, hung a right at the ball park, and went zig-zag to Penguin Point. I wanted to say "straight to Penguin Point" but the residential streets don't allow straight-line riding. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
New Year's Resolution
On Wed, 06 Mar 2019 23:38:54 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: On Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:11:26 -0500, Joy Beeson wrote: Thursday, 3 January 2019 My resolution for this year is to wear my cleats before the first of October. Double points if they are the fleece-lined shoes and I need to wear bread bags over them. I have, optimistically, been saving bread bags. I realized today that I'll never wear my fleece-lined shoes again: to change into sandals, I'd need to change socks too, and that's a bit much when one is sitting on a cold iron bench. Better to put on walking shoes and stay in them. What kind of cleats are you using? I use the Shimano SPD cleats and you can walk in those shoes. Granted that the shoes are a bit heavy and the soles are stiff but they are still "walkable". I do remember peeling off a layer of socks before putting on my cleats, and putting them back on when I got where I was going. That was when my metabolism ran a bit faster. I must have been a bit of a wimp the last twenty years. I'm pretty sure that today was the first time I've had to deal with a frozen water-bottle valve since we moved from New York to Indiana. Perhaps this was because it was my least-favored bottle; it's possible that I haven't used it in cold weather before. Two better bottles were in the pannier keeping warm. The bottle itself never froze, and I was able to clear the valve by closing it and opening it again. The original plan was to ride to the Chinworth Bridge and come back by way of Penguin Point (local fast-food chain). But after I'd plowed through a cold wind to where Rotary Park is going to be, I thought about the acres and acres of mowed lawn on both sides of Chinworth Trail, hung a right at the ball park, and went zig-zag to Penguin Point. I wanted to say "straight to Penguin Point" but the residential streets don't allow straight-line riding. -- Cheers, John B. |
New Year's Resolution
On Thu, 07 Mar 2019 13:58:50 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote: What kind of cleats are you using? I use the Shimano SPD cleats and you can walk in those shoes. Granted that the shoes are a bit heavy and the soles are stiff but they are still "walkable". Olde Tyme slot cleats. My main reason for not walking in them is that I can't have new ones, and it wouldn't take many miles of walking to wear the cleats off. I was all gung ho when clipless cleats appeared, and vowed to get that kind the next time I bought shoes. But I'd just bought new pedals with replaceable bearings and they never did wear out. The last I heard, no clipless pedal works with a pedal that can be used with ordinary shoes. I presume there are double-sided pedals with cleat-holders on one side and toe clips on the other, but I settled *that* way back when my first pair of "touring" shoes wore out. I thought for a bit about being more careful with the new shoes, and not walking in them -- and then realized that the best compromise between walking shoes and riding shoes was to wear one and carry the other. I haven't heard of touring shoes for decades. They were stiff-soled walking shoes with tread on the sole that kept them from sliding out of the toe clips -- but the tread wasn't very deep, and soon wore off. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
New Year's Resolution
On Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:29:07 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: On Thu, 07 Mar 2019 13:58:50 +0700, John B. Slocomb wrote: What kind of cleats are you using? I use the Shimano SPD cleats and you can walk in those shoes. Granted that the shoes are a bit heavy and the soles are stiff but they are still "walkable". Olde Tyme slot cleats. My main reason for not walking in them is that I can't have new ones, and it wouldn't take many miles of walking to wear the cleats off. I was all gung ho when clipless cleats appeared, and vowed to get that kind the next time I bought shoes. But I'd just bought new pedals with replaceable bearings and they never did wear out. The last I heard, no clipless pedal works with a pedal that can be used with ordinary shoes. I presume there are double-sided pedals with cleat-holders on one side and toe clips on the other, but I settled *that* way back when my first pair of "touring" shoes wore out. I thought for a bit about being more careful with the new shoes, and not walking in them -- and then realized that the best compromise between walking shoes and riding shoes was to wear one and carry the other. Yes Shimano makes, or has made, at least two models of double sided pedals that can be used with either cleats or flat shoes. I use them on my "Bangkok Bike" as in heavy city traffic I prefer not to use cleats. I haven't heard of touring shoes for decades. They were stiff-soled walking shoes with tread on the sole that kept them from sliding out of the toe clips -- but the tread wasn't very deep, and soon wore off. -- Cheers, John B. |
New Year's Resolution
On 3/8/2019 12:29 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:
I haven't heard of touring shoes for decades. They were stiff-soled walking shoes with tread on the sole that kept them from sliding out of the toe clips -- but the tread wasn't very deep, and soon wore off. I think touring shoes still exist. These days I think they all come with areas of the sole that can be cut out to access screw holes for cleats. In any case, when I'm in cycling shoes, they are Lake brand from many years ago that fit that description. I recently noticed my previous touring shoes on a basement shelf. I think I stopped using them simply because the colors faded, and/or my wife wanted us to get new matching ones; I forget. In any case, these would work fine for me and would probably look fine if I could dye them black or dark brown. What do you know about dyeing shoes? -- - Frank Krygowski |
New Year's Resolution
On Fri, 8 Mar 2019 11:02:13 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 3/8/2019 12:29 AM, Joy Beeson wrote: I haven't heard of touring shoes for decades. They were stiff-soled walking shoes with tread on the sole that kept them from sliding out of the toe clips -- but the tread wasn't very deep, and soon wore off. I think touring shoes still exist. These days I think they all come with areas of the sole that can be cut out to access screw holes for cleats. In any case, when I'm in cycling shoes, they are Lake brand from many years ago that fit that description. I recently noticed my previous touring shoes on a basement shelf. I think I stopped using them simply because the colors faded, and/or my wife wanted us to get new matching ones; I forget. In any case, these would work fine for me and would probably look fine if I could dye them black or dark brown. What do you know about dyeing shoes? https://www.ritdye.com/instructions/how-to-dye-shoes/ -- Cheers, John B. |
New Year's Resolution
On Fri, 8 Mar 2019 11:02:13 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: What do you know about dyeing shoes? Very little. There used to be a shoe polish called "Skuff-Kote" or some similar spelling that did a good job of changing oxblood shoes to a uniform brown -- which was a surprise to me; there being no oxblood shoe polish available, I'd been using brown (in those days one polished shoes every Saturday night) and it didn't change the color any, but then they got scuffed . . . There's a bottle of black shoe dye in the laundry room in the same sort of bottle Skuff-Kote came in -- a sponge on the top, and you squeeze it against the shoe a couple of times to make the dye start coming through, then when you are done you hold it under running water so the dye won't clog up the sponge. It's meant for touching up scuff marks and faded spots on black shoes, but I used it on the brown soles of my black sandals and it worked well. But I have to re-apply it now and again. I don't know whether shoe dye is still available. My can of black shoe polish got put away with the lid loose and was unusable the next time I wanted it. So I confidently went to Owen's (Kroger) expecting to see it in the pharmacy aisle next to the Dr. Scholl's innersoles, and it was gone. Haven't seen shoe polish anywhere else, either, but I haven't been looking desperately hard because I still have a can of brown, and that waterproofs black shoes just fine. Not to mention that going out hasn't been a bit of fun the last few months. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
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