AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist:

Apologies for posting late. I didn't feel like writing when I got
back from Pierceton yesterday.

Someone in church today, when told that I'd been to Pierceton Days,
said "On your bike? That's a long ride!"

Google Maps said that Bethel Baptist Church, where I borrowed a picnic
bench to change into walking shoes, is 5.9 miles from Winona Lake
Trails. It took me about three-fourths of an hour.

It was a bit farther coming back because I dislike Pierceton Road. I
had Van Ness all to myself for its entire length.

This was a figure-eight tour. I went to the farmers' markets in the
morning, came home for lunch and a nap, then rode to the festival.

Since I wanted to nap early, I followed Clarke Street to Owen's Market
instead of using the Beyer Farm Trail. I used to use Fort Wayne on
such occasions, but dealing with the new "bike lane" is distracting.
(At least it's on the "no parking" side of the street, but they
painted the lane in the "please right-hook me" position.)

I bought two pints of cherry tomatoes and the three smallest yellow
squash at the fairgrounds market. (I ate one of the squash for lunch
today, in a stew with a small eggplant from last week, a mini-sweet
pepper, half a small cucumber, . . . and some minced Spam. I was
surprised that cooked cucumber isn't bad when it's in the chorus, with
no chance to solo. (I detest un-pickled cucumber.)

I bought a big fat tomato to eat tomorrow or the next day, and four
small ripe tomatoes at the courthouse market. I ate half of one of
those on a bacon sandwich for my bedtime snack that night.

I put two veggie boxes in my panner before going to Pierceton, but
there was nothing to buy and bring home. After my first lap around
the grounds, I took my hat-brim out of my emergency kit and left my
helmet on the bike. If I'd done that after locking to a telephone
pole, I wouldn't have gotten a watermelon stain on my new do-rag. I
was uncomfortable after sitting down with my melon slice, and put my
helmet down at the end of the table. Then the do-rag felt warm, so I
threw it into the helmet. When I went to put them back on, there was
a red splop on the do-rag. I washed it at the water fountain (the
turned it back on, yay!), but it didn't come out. Then I put my visor
on over the wet do-rag, which was very cool. (The do-rag and my
jersey are in the washing machine now. I left them soaking all
night.)

On my second lap, I checked out all the food trucks, but everything
was "jumbo". So I went to a church tent and bought a $3.50
"tenderloin". It was, of course, a breaded porkburger, but they
deep-fried it to my order and had a reasonable assortment of
condiments. It was tasty and satisfying.

Off to Van Ness! I turned a street too soon for fear of overshooting
Wayne Street. I never found out its name before it turned right,
became Fourth Street, and ended on Wayne.

I turned off Wooster at 250 E and came back through Sprawlmart. Partly
to avoid the section of Wooster that Google Maps marks as particularly
suitable for cycling, and partly because I wanted to try out the new
Tastee Freeze.

Here comes the part I set out to write. I don't know where all the
above blither came from.

I gave the sandwich and side-dish menu a hasty glance, then looked
over the soft-serve menu. The only small dish was a "pup cup", so I
ordered that.

It came with two dog biscuits and no spoon.

Ice cream isn't as easy to eat with a knife as watermelon is.

Before leaving, I noticed that they also have hand-dipped ice cream,
and that menu offered a kiddie cone.

------------------
I do know where the blither came from: I wrote this post just before
my nap, a little after I should have already been in bed.

And now it's past bed time.


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

Monday, 5 August 2019


Today was the third time in a week I rode to Kilainey's to buy our
supper.

On Tuesday, I used the flatfoot and went dressed in shorts and shirt.
On previouse trips I'd squashed the carry-out box bungeeing it to the
top of the detachable basket, so this time I detached the basket and
bungeed an Amazon box to the rack. This worked well.

I got tired of kiddy-bike pedalling before I got there -- the cranks
are forward, but not forward far enough that I can straighten my legs,
even when the seat is so high that only my toe-tips touch the
pavement. So on Thursday, when I came back from Sprawlmart and
decided to buy supper after putting my jersey into a bucket of water,
I hunted up an old jersey, loaded the pockets, and rode the road bike.

I can't carry stuff in the pockets of my jeans on my road bike. Well,
I *could*, but I don't like it. I could carry a purse, but I don't
like that either.

It was much easier to bring back a sandwich on the road bike. I
carried the Amazon box in a pannier, so I didn't have to un-bungee it
before I could put the sandwich in and re-bungee, *and* it didn't take
nearly as many bungees to do the trick, since I had anchor points well
away from the box instead of under it.

So today, when I didn't lie down until after I brought the laundry in,
and rose from my nap with just enough time to dress, put corn in the
steamer, and fetch a sandwich, I dressed in the old jersey -- it's
easier to put on than the one designed for a full day of riding, and I
didn't want to get the the new one sweaty for such a short trip -- and
popped the Amazon box into a pannier.

But I'm going to have to stock up on frozen meals Real Soon Now; there
are only six different sandwiches, and Dave has informed me that he
doesn't ever want to eat Thursday's sandwich again. I wasn't very
fond of it myself; I'd be inclined to pick the thick-thick slices of
overgrown cucumber out and put in some meat.


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

On 8/10/2019 11:33 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:



Monday, 5 August 2019


Today was the third time in a week I rode to Kilainey's to buy our
supper.

On Tuesday, I used the flatfoot and went dressed in shorts and shirt.
On previouse trips I'd squashed the carry-out box bungeeing it to the
top of the detachable basket, so this time I detached the basket and
bungeed an Amazon box to the rack. This worked well.

I got tired of kiddy-bike pedalling before I got there -- the cranks
are forward, but not forward far enough that I can straighten my legs,
even when the seat is so high that only my toe-tips touch the
pavement. So on Thursday, when I came back from Sprawlmart and
decided to buy supper after putting my jersey into a bucket of water,
I hunted up an old jersey, loaded the pockets, and rode the road bike.

I can't carry stuff in the pockets of my jeans on my road bike. Well,
I *could*, but I don't like it. I could carry a purse, but I don't
like that either.

It was much easier to bring back a sandwich on the road bike. I
carried the Amazon box in a pannier, so I didn't have to un-bungee it
before I could put the sandwich in and re-bungee, *and* it didn't take
nearly as many bungees to do the trick, since I had anchor points well
away from the box instead of under it.

The last time my wife and I went out to dinner, it was on our tandem.
She had about half of her pasta dinner left over, so they gave her a
standard styrofoam takeout box. Luckily, they put the box into a plastic
bag - because the standard box wouldn't fit horizontally into the
tandem's rear rack bag (it sits on top of the rack) or into its
handlebar bag. But still, when we got home, some of the pasta sauce had
leaked out into the plastic bag.

Obviously, we need rational standards here! Takeout boxes should be
sized to fit bike bags, and vice versa!

Back when I had the old style Scott aero bars on my touring bike, I was
pleased to find that they made an excellent carrying rack for styrofoam
takeout boxes. Add a bungee cord or two and everything just worked.
Those were the days!


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Mon, 12 Aug 2019 13:39:26 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 8/10/2019 11:33 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:



Monday, 5 August 2019


Today was the third time in a week I rode to Kilainey's to buy our
supper.

On Tuesday, I used the flatfoot and went dressed in shorts and shirt.
On previouse trips I'd squashed the carry-out box bungeeing it to the
top of the detachable basket, so this time I detached the basket and
bungeed an Amazon box to the rack. This worked well.

I got tired of kiddy-bike pedalling before I got there -- the cranks
are forward, but not forward far enough that I can straighten my legs,
even when the seat is so high that only my toe-tips touch the
pavement. So on Thursday, when I came back from Sprawlmart and
decided to buy supper after putting my jersey into a bucket of water,
I hunted up an old jersey, loaded the pockets, and rode the road bike.

I can't carry stuff in the pockets of my jeans on my road bike. Well,
I *could*, but I don't like it. I could carry a purse, but I don't
like that either.

It was much easier to bring back a sandwich on the road bike. I
carried the Amazon box in a pannier, so I didn't have to un-bungee it
before I could put the sandwich in and re-bungee, *and* it didn't take
nearly as many bungees to do the trick, since I had anchor points well
away from the box instead of under it.

The last time my wife and I went out to dinner, it was on our tandem.
She had about half of her pasta dinner left over, so they gave her a
standard styrofoam takeout box. Luckily, they put the box into a plastic
bag - because the standard box wouldn't fit horizontally into the
tandem's rear rack bag (it sits on top of the rack) or into its
handlebar bag. But still, when we got home, some of the pasta sauce had
leaked out into the plastic bag.

Obviously, we need rational standards here! Takeout boxes should be
sized to fit bike bags, and vice versa!

Back when I had the old style Scott aero bars on my touring bike, I was
pleased to find that they made an excellent carrying rack for styrofoam
takeout boxes. Add a bungee cord or two and everything just worked.
Those were the days!


This is simply a matter of style. As can be seen, innumerable times
here, the technique is simply to hang a plastic bag from the handle
bar and let it swing in the wind :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On 8/12/2019 6:13 PM, John B. wrote:
On Mon, 12 Aug 2019 13:39:26 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 8/10/2019 11:33 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:



Monday, 5 August 2019


Today was the third time in a week I rode to Kilainey's to buy our
supper.

On Tuesday, I used the flatfoot and went dressed in shorts and shirt.
On previouse trips I'd squashed the carry-out box bungeeing it to the
top of the detachable basket, so this time I detached the basket and
bungeed an Amazon box to the rack. This worked well.

I got tired of kiddy-bike pedalling before I got there -- the cranks
are forward, but not forward far enough that I can straighten my legs,
even when the seat is so high that only my toe-tips touch the
pavement. So on Thursday, when I came back from Sprawlmart and
decided to buy supper after putting my jersey into a bucket of water,
I hunted up an old jersey, loaded the pockets, and rode the road bike.

I can't carry stuff in the pockets of my jeans on my road bike. Well,
I *could*, but I don't like it. I could carry a purse, but I don't
like that either.

It was much easier to bring back a sandwich on the road bike. I
carried the Amazon box in a pannier, so I didn't have to un-bungee it
before I could put the sandwich in and re-bungee, *and* it didn't take
nearly as many bungees to do the trick, since I had anchor points well
away from the box instead of under it.

The last time my wife and I went out to dinner, it was on our tandem.
She had about half of her pasta dinner left over, so they gave her a
standard styrofoam takeout box. Luckily, they put the box into a plastic
bag - because the standard box wouldn't fit horizontally into the
tandem's rear rack bag (it sits on top of the rack) or into its
handlebar bag. But still, when we got home, some of the pasta sauce had
leaked out into the plastic bag.

Obviously, we need rational standards here! Takeout boxes should be
sized to fit bike bags, and vice versa!

Back when I had the old style Scott aero bars on my touring bike, I was
pleased to find that they made an excellent carrying rack for styrofoam
takeout boxes. Add a bungee cord or two and everything just worked.
Those were the days!


This is simply a matter of style. As can be seen, innumerable times
here, the technique is simply to hang a plastic bag from the handle
bar and let it swing in the wind :-)

Yeah, but I have handlebar bags on almost every bike. And more
practically, I'm quite worried about having anything that might tangle
my front wheel spokes. I know an avid rider with the (former) habit of
lashing his jacket loosely around his handlebars. He went over the bars
when his jacket sleeve dangled into his front spokes.

However, I did learn a new trick on the last trip to the grocery on my
Bike Friday. I have only small bags on that bike, and I was left with
one plastic bag of groceries that wouldn't fit inside them. But it
occurred to me to unclip the handlebar bag, hang the plastic bag over
that handlebar bag mount, then reattach that handlebar bag.

There was no way the plastic bag could unhook, and the little 20" wheel
of the Bike Friday was way down below the plastic bag. At least for the
relatively short distance I had to ride, it seemed perfectly safe.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Tue, 13 Aug 2019 13:30:49 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 8/12/2019 6:13 PM, John B. wrote:
On Mon, 12 Aug 2019 13:39:26 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 8/10/2019 11:33 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:



Monday, 5 August 2019


Today was the third time in a week I rode to Kilainey's to buy our
supper.

On Tuesday, I used the flatfoot and went dressed in shorts and shirt.
On previouse trips I'd squashed the carry-out box bungeeing it to the
top of the detachable basket, so this time I detached the basket and
bungeed an Amazon box to the rack. This worked well.

I got tired of kiddy-bike pedalling before I got there -- the cranks
are forward, but not forward far enough that I can straighten my legs,
even when the seat is so high that only my toe-tips touch the
pavement. So on Thursday, when I came back from Sprawlmart and
decided to buy supper after putting my jersey into a bucket of water,
I hunted up an old jersey, loaded the pockets, and rode the road bike.

I can't carry stuff in the pockets of my jeans on my road bike. Well,
I *could*, but I don't like it. I could carry a purse, but I don't
like that either.

It was much easier to bring back a sandwich on the road bike. I
carried the Amazon box in a pannier, so I didn't have to un-bungee it
before I could put the sandwich in and re-bungee, *and* it didn't take
nearly as many bungees to do the trick, since I had anchor points well
away from the box instead of under it.

The last time my wife and I went out to dinner, it was on our tandem.
She had about half of her pasta dinner left over, so they gave her a
standard styrofoam takeout box. Luckily, they put the box into a plastic
bag - because the standard box wouldn't fit horizontally into the
tandem's rear rack bag (it sits on top of the rack) or into its
handlebar bag. But still, when we got home, some of the pasta sauce had
leaked out into the plastic bag.

Obviously, we need rational standards here! Takeout boxes should be
sized to fit bike bags, and vice versa!

Back when I had the old style Scott aero bars on my touring bike, I was
pleased to find that they made an excellent carrying rack for styrofoam
takeout boxes. Add a bungee cord or two and everything just worked.
Those were the days!


This is simply a matter of style. As can be seen, innumerable times
here, the technique is simply to hang a plastic bag from the handle
bar and let it swing in the wind :-)

Yeah, but I have handlebar bags on almost every bike. And more
practically, I'm quite worried about having anything that might tangle
my front wheel spokes. I know an avid rider with the (former) habit of
lashing his jacket loosely around his handlebars. He went over the bars
when his jacket sleeve dangled into his front spokes.

However, I did learn a new trick on the last trip to the grocery on my
Bike Friday. I have only small bags on that bike, and I was left with
one plastic bag of groceries that wouldn't fit inside them. But it
occurred to me to unclip the handlebar bag, hang the plastic bag over
that handlebar bag mount, then reattach that handlebar bag.

There was no way the plastic bag could unhook, and the little 20" wheel
of the Bike Friday was way down below the plastic bag. At least for the
relatively short distance I had to ride, it seemed perfectly safe.

Nope, just tie the "handles" of the common plastic sack together and
slide up over the handlebar until they catch on the brake levers and
ride away :-)

With the usual width of the bike's handle bars the bags will be swing
outside the radius of the front wheel.

I once passed a cyclist carrying 6 live chickens to market, three
hanging from each handlebar end :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On Tue, 13 Aug 2019 13:30:49 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

However, I did learn a new trick on the last trip to the grocery on my
Bike Friday. I have only small bags on that bike, and I was left with
one plastic bag of groceries that wouldn't fit inside them. But it
occurred to me to unclip the handlebar bag, hang the plastic bag over
that handlebar bag mount, then reattach that handlebar bag.

There was no way the plastic bag could unhook, and the little 20" wheel
of the Bike Friday was way down below the plastic bag. At least for the
relatively short distance I had to ride, it seemed perfectly safe.

When I don't want a plastic bag to move, I pull both handles through a
hole, pull until the contents are tight against the pannier or rack,
then tie the handles around something to maintain the tension.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

I rarely eat all of my lunch, so every wallet and notebook contains a
few fold-top sandwich bags in a "pill pouch" ziplock bag. And I have
some gallon bags and twist-ties in a ziplock snack bag in a folder
slipped between the layers of insulation of my cooler in case I get an
entire bag of chips with my sandwich.

Even when a carry-out box fits into my pannier, I don't like carrying
half a sandwich in a box big enough to hold an entire meal -- when I'm
out long enough to eat lunch, I usually stop at three or four stores,
so I can't spare the space. And I don't want insulation between an
incubation-temperature sandwich and the ice in my cooler.


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

On Sat, 01 Jun 2019 23:36:54 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

[snip]

. . . -- on Pierceton
Road, I get tired of being alert, so I cut over on 250 E to Wooster or
go south to Wilcox. Perhaps that is what he means by "fitness and
speed".

Pierceton road is in the sour spot of traffic. On a busy road, there
is always a car behind you, and you continuously deal with it. On a
back road, you can relax until you hear a motor a mile away getting
gradually louder. On Pierceton, it's * signal that I've seen him, get
over to let him by, resume normal riding for up to a minute, repeat
from *. It's exhausting.

And no, I can't just mope along in the "please pass me" lane; that
leaves me no way to notifiy the overtaking driver that I'm aware of
him. And if he doesn't see that I've gotten over just for him, he'll
think I'm a stationary object.

In continuous traffic, each driver can see that the previous vehicle
has moved over, and knows that overtaking is being done.

And on US 30, one can ride where there is plenty of clearance already
and nobody needs to move over. Pity one can't do it for more than a
mile or two without getting a flat.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

On 8/24/2019 11:34 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
On Sat, 01 Jun 2019 23:36:54 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

[snip]

. . . -- on Pierceton
Road, I get tired of being alert, so I cut over on 250 E to Wooster or
go south to Wilcox. Perhaps that is what he means by "fitness and
speed".

Pierceton road is in the sour spot of traffic. On a busy road, there
is always a car behind you, and you continuously deal with it. On a
back road, you can relax until you hear a motor a mile away getting
gradually louder. On Pierceton, it's * signal that I've seen him, get
over to let him by, resume normal riding for up to a minute, repeat
from *. It's exhausting.

And no, I can't just mope along in the "please pass me" lane; that
leaves me no way to notifiy the overtaking driver that I'm aware of
him. And if he doesn't see that I've gotten over just for him, he'll
think I'm a stationary object.

In continuous traffic, each driver can see that the previous vehicle
has moved over, and knows that overtaking is being done.

Yes, motorists play "follow the leader."

I generally default to a lane centered riding position. I ride at the
right if the lane is wide enough for safe passing, but only a small
percentage are. In lanes that are sort of in between width - say, wide
enough to share if the motorist passes slowly - it's common for me to
"release" once my mirror shows they've slowed.

But I've noticed that motorists do tend to play "follow the leader." If
the first passing motorist changes lanes, following ones do as well,
apparently thinking "Oh, _that's_ what I'm supposed to do!" But if a
motorist passes too closely, following motorists tend to do so as well.
Unless, that is, I control the situation by moving further left.

--
- Frank Krygowski