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More bike riding
I’ve managed a few more bike rides lately and found the cycle pathways are now pretty extensive around here. My rides have been focused on the new section of highway but I decided to check how far the path went in the opposite direction. I didn’t know if it had been extended very far because last time I tried to go that way months ago, there was an abrupt end just past Malaga (neighboring suburb). Well, now the pathway goes on quite a distance. I don’t know exactly how far but once I managed to get almost as far as where my client that I support as a carer lives. I think I can get there but just made a slightly wrong turn along the way and ended up coming back closer to home. I eventually used a map app to find my way back to the highway to get home and it was fine.
This week I went riding for what I intended to be a much shorter ride. I started late due to a delay caused by forgetting something at the store. So my time was limited before it got dark. Anyway, I started out and just past the ramp onto the highway, I noticed a few cars along the side of the road and a few people climbing the hill and doing something. I thought maybe people were getting together to do something on the fly. I don’t know what but it was an odd thing to see. As I rode closer to my turning around point, I saw fire vehicles and then ambulances coming from the direction I was heading. I just knew it was related to what I saw and when I did get back there, a whole bunch of emergency vehicles were there and something was happening up on the hill and a vehicle was blocking the pathway. I still don’t know quite what happened there as no news stories have appeared. I did see some sort of pop up tent sort of thing when I passed by the first time but nothing has appeared to explain it even though it blocked traffic quite a bit at the time.
The next day I went riding back in the same direction and the tent thing was gone and I realised there was a broken fence there now. I don’t recall it being broken before but maybe it was. I wonder if a vehicle went off the road and up the hill…it’s a long way off the road though, so that doesn’t really answer my questions. Hopefully I will find out more in the next few days in the community paper or somewhere similar.
Anyway, that next bike ride turned out to be my longest ever ride. I went into Ellenbrook and stopped at the shopping center to get a drink or two. It was a warm day but I wasn’t overly hot, just a bit dehydrated. I did have my water bottle but wanted to save that for the return trip. I got a couple drinks and took one with me in my backpack/purse and still had most of my water. I went back out and rode a bit further from home before turning around. This was a big mistake because my left knee started hurting and there was considerable uphill riding. My newish bike is good with hills and has more gears than my old one but it was still hard-going and I wish I hadn’t gone any further out. I mainly was hoping to get a good view of the hills out that way but it didn’t quite work in my favor that time. The lighting just wasn’t right. I was relying more on my right leg to pedal but it wasn’t enough to take pressure off the left knee. The ride back too heaps more time than it should have and I ended up getting off the bike and walking up the last hill towards the overpass of the new roads because I just couldn’t pedal any harder. Once to the top there it was a fairly easy ride and I just had to deal with a slightly darker area once off the main pathways. It’s not dark exactly just not as well lit as the pathway was. That only lasted a few minutes as the distance to our house from there is only a kilometer.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to further exploration of the local bike paths and hopefully finding a way into Perth. I think it’s quite possible for me to get into the city within an hour given the right pathway. The way I’d tried before has always been slow going due stoplights and less convenient paths so these new ones might make it a much better journey.
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Exercise
After seeing the new doctor last week, I felt like a freeze had been melted on my exercise (or lack of it). I think it just put me in the right frame of mind to get back to what I needed to improve my health. Anyway, I have started back to riding my bicycle again since that’s what I most enjoy for exercise. In recent months the only other significant exercise had been swimming some of the time I took my client (as a carer) to the pool.
I had to prepare a bit before riding as my bike’s been sitting unused on our patio for a long time. The tires were flat and it was very dusty. It’s also been rusting more and more after being outdoors for so long. I want to get a new bike some time and give this one away. I’m sure someone more able to could fix it up just fine and it would be great for someone.
A local highway has been extended near us and some parts have already opened. There’s a lovely bike/pedestrian path that runs alongside it and it goes halfway to another suburb that is kind of out in the country. But not really in the country any more. Just not quite city either. Anyway, I wanted to try out the new path and it seemed I could get there without too much trouble from home. So I tried it out and it’s lovely. Mostly flat and straight so there was little strain on my knee. That’s been what has put me off riding a lot because I just hadn’t had strength for riding up and down hills like I had been doing. I was able to keep a steady pace without getting too sore. At one point the path loops around and goes under the highway. This part runs alongside a road which I can’t identify yet. I think it might be one that goes to a local Aboriginal community but there’s no signage in that area to be sure. Anyway, the path continues on the other side and then it ends abruptly near the remaining construction on the road. It will be good when it’s finished because there will be an easy way to get to the next regular suburb in that direction.
On the way back I realised there’s an overpass for cyclists and pedestrians being created. It’s mostly done but the paving isn’t completed. Also from this direction there will soon be open good paths to reach Whiteman Park near us. I have gone there by bike in the past but it was scary to ride alongside the sometimes heavy traffic. Now there’s a pathway going straight to the park and into the park. Much safer now. The highway is supposed to be opening the section closer to us this weekend so I hope to make a journey to Whiteman Park soon, unless the pathway is still blocked.
I’ve done two bike rides and have done swimming this week, which is far better exercise than I’ve done for a while. It’s one of those things where it’s easier to continue once I get going on a regular basis. I’m hoping that I can keep it up. I’ll be seeing my new gp for follow up on Monday and hopefully that will help keep the momentum going.
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Bad dairy
I didn’t exercise for three days running and the weather was warm so I headed out on my bicycle in the afternoon to try to get back on track. The ride was good for the most part and I noticed I am not having to work quite as hard to climb hills as I did before. I guess this getting fit thing is paying off now. :)
My first stop was at some markets in a suburb a few kilometres away to buy a needed item for someone in the household. Then I popped over the big shopping centre across the road to buy bread before heading back towards home. My next stop was the Indian food shop that lies in a somewhat different direction. I would have taken a direct route but there are lots of roadwork areas along that path and I was uncertain how well I’d be able to cycle there. Essentially I rode most of the way home and travelled to this shop to buy curry paste for Game Fanatic.
They didn’t have the paste that we’ve been buying in stock so I got a couple different others to try. One of them was a Sri Lankan paste (which turned out to be quite bland). I needed to spend $10 to use my credit card so I wandered around an checked the fridge at the back. I discovered a bottle of mango lassi there and added that to my small haul.
The ride home was a bit more eventful because the chain on my bike suddenly popped off and I couldn’t get it back on properly. I ended calling the Scientist who was to meet me at a nearby shopping centre parking lot to help out. I walked the bike there and tried again and was able to sort out the chain but it was too late to call the Scientist again. Fortunately it’s only about a five minute drive from home. He was able to take the purchases home while I rode home.
I drank a bit of the lassi while on the way and it was bit thicker than I expected but not so much that I made note of it. The ride home from that point was uneventful from that point. I got home and had a shower. My appetite was almost non-existent and I hadn’t eaten very much during the day so it surprised me. I was able to eat a bit of food later in the evening and that didn’t sit well with me all afterwards. I felt more sick to my stomach than I had before. This wasn’t the stomach churning feeling I’ve had since the election.
I did sleep reasonably well but woke early and thought I should check out the bottle of the lassi which was in the fridge. I only drank about half of it before. I discovered there was no use-by date on it so I’m inclined to believe it was sticker that was removed previously. I should have checked it out when I bought it and paid for it. I’m guessing I had some sort of food poisoning from this…either that or it was coincidental. Needless to say, I won’t be drinking any more of it and I probably won’t ever buy any dairy products from that shop again. Sigh.
At least the bike ride went well though. :)
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Bicycle
Two or three weeks ago, I discovered the chain on my bike had completely dried out and was showing signs of rust. It was a particularly wet winter this year so I guess that may have contributed also. My bicycle is over ten years old and it rides reasonably well but it does squeak a lot, even after it’s been serviced. It’s also showing signs of rust on the body. Not terrible shape but could be better.
This bike wasn’t all that expensive although it wasn’t a cheap one either. I started to consider the value of a getting a new bike versus the cost of service and repairs. I have been looking around at the costs of bicycles lately and the first thing I discovered is the price hasn’t gone up as much as I expected. Also there are lot more casual bikes available and those are pretty much the same price as what I have. The only drawback I’ve found is they don’t have that many gears, seven being the highest on the ones I’ve seen. While I have never used all 21 gears on my current one, I do often use the second set of seven. But then I haven’t used them all that much lately. I probably could get by with the limited gears and I’d gain a rack on the back for storing packages plus a basket at the front. I have a basket already but it doesn’t hold all that much, which makes the idea of cycling to the shops less practical if I can only carry limited amounts of goods. This option really expands the amount of shopping I can bring back. Not to mention it allows more space if I take my camera along for the ride.
I found a model that I like quite a bit so my plan is to put aside money over the next few months and buy it once I’ve reached my goal. Meanwhile I have taken my bike to a local, independently run shop for a service and to see if the chain needs to be replaced. It’s interesting that this small shop charges a far more reasonable price than any of the bigger stores around. I rode the bike to the shop yesterday and walked back. It took me about 45 minutes to walk less than three kilometres which was pretty slow for me. A kilometre is usually about 11,5 minutes to start with and often goes down to 10 minutes when I’ve built up to a good pace.
On Sunday, I managed to walk 12 kms in just over two hours, which was a pretty good time for that distance. Also, it’s quite a bit longer than my usual walk. I normally walk from 6-8 kms at most so this was a bit of a stretch. My feet were pretty sore after that walk and my body was till a bit achy yesterday when I cycled, walked and then did 90 minutes of tai chi and tai chi fan. Some of my muscles were really feeling it when I got home last night.
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Winter grass, cool weather and other stuff
After months of dry weather, we finally got a bit of rain late last month. I was a bit concerned it was going to flood after so much time but we lucked out and it was a fairly steady, and mostly light rain that fell over the course of a day or two. There has been a bit more rainfall since, Â just enough to avoid having to water on our watering days. Tomorrow we are due for a cold front to come through with some heavy rain…will wait and see what happens on that but I don’t mind a rainy day once in a while, even though it will affect a couple things happening. Curiously, the rain must have come at just the right time as we now have winter grass (weed grass) popping up through our yard. It seems to be a lot more widespread for early May than I remember in the past…or maybe we just had that much moisture to start it growing by now.
Similarly, the weather has only recently cooled off much from summer temperatures. It seemed like we went straight from summer to winter within a week or so. None of this gradual seasonal change for us here in Perth. We haven’t closed our windows totally yet but it will likely happen in the next two or three weeks. With the cooler weather, I have noticed joint pain has suddenly ramped up quite a bit and it seems possible I will need to resort to taking some sort of anti-inflammatory medication soon.
After procrastinating about it for months…well, maybe years if you consider it’s been sitting idle for years…I finally got my bicycle into a local shop for repair and service last week. It was a strange thing to be riding after so long but it was a nice strange. That is, it was nice until the wobbles of the bike became evident. Fortunately I had a dual use path to ride on most of the way there so didn’t have the stress of road riding a bike that was not in ideal shape. It seems at least one of the wheels is buckled and it’s not certain what will need to be fixed up to run properly again. In many ways the bike is still in decent shape, at least compared to a lot of other bikes that have sat in sheds for years…it has a bit of rust on the handlebars but much of the main frame is looking okay. Still, it wasn’t a terribly expensive bike even though it wasn’t cheap when bought ten years ago, and if costs to bring it up to speed are too much, I will think seriously about replacing rather than repair.
For the first time ever, I got a flu shot yesterday. I have never felt much need for them in the past but there have been reports that the current flu strains have affected my age group, bringing down even quite healthy individuals. Apparently due to my diabetes diagnosis, I get flu shots for free so I will consider making this an annual thing. Game Fanatic had one last week and Lego Lover gets one tomorrow. He’s obviously not looking forward to this as he doesn’t like needles of any sort. I have gotten some cream from the pharmacy to help numb the area…which it now occurs to me might be a bit tricky since we often have a long wait to see his doctor…I may phone ahead to see if he is running on time or not before heading out.
Our family went to see a movie for the first time in a few years last week. We were all interested in seeing the Lego Movie and had hoped to catch it soon after it started. Both Game Fanatic and I were sick for a couple weeks or more so we delayed it…finally were all well and able to go. And it was really good. There was much to be enjoyed by both adults and kids in the movie and Lego Lover was abuzz for hours after we saw it. I suspect there may be a few new sets being added to his collection soon, which is a bit of a surprise as he’s mostly been buying Transformers toys and the occasional Lego Hero Factory set in the last couple of years.
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Bruised
It’s a couple days since I had my little bike accident and I think today was worse than yesterday. Yesterday I was a bit sore and uncomfortable but I didn’t feel the aches and pains. This morning I had the aches and pains. Just after my last post, I found the neck soreness was getting worse much faster than I liked. I was pretty sure it was just muscle and nerve stuff happening but I was a bit nervous about it so called the Health Direct line…which, as usual, said to go to the hospital. They say that for almost everything. I think there has been one instance when they didn’t tell me…actually two…Once was when I had a centipede bite, I think. Last time I called was when Lego Lover had the rash breaking out everywhere and I was allowed to wait until the next morning.
I managed to wake the Scientist in the worst part of his sleep cycle. There was very little traffic on the way to the hospital but there were middle of the night roadworks going on closer to our destination. It was a rather bewildering journey through the detours and orange lane divider thingies…used to be cones but these are much more upright. The parking lot seemed pretty quiet when we arrived. This could have been deceptive like the last visit we had. But fortunately the waiting area in triage was all but empty. I got in and was seen pretty quickly by a junior medical officer. The nurse came and asked the usual questions and then took my blood pressure as the doctor came in. My blood pressure was 160/95 or thereabouts, which is very high for me. The doctor said it was probably the stress of being there…fair enough. After some poking and prodding and heaps of questions it was determined that I was okay. Aside from soreness, I had felt okay up to that point…but then I started to feel a bit sick and woozy so the doctor had me lie down instead of sitting on the bed. At the time I thought perhaps it was hunger as it had been many hours since I’d eaten much of anything.
The doctor went away to check with the senior medical officer and to write a letter for my gp in the event I needed follow-up. Meanwhile the nurse came to do a proper clean of the graze that runs from my elbow halfway down to my wrist. I obviously missed a few spots of dirt when cleaning. It stung rather badly but I ended up with a bandage that covered the entire area, unlike what we concocted here at home. It seemed it was going to continue to sting and throb through the night but it did eventually ease.
About an hour after we had arrived, we were on our way home. By that time, the waiting room was a bit busier but still pretty quiet. When we got home, I checked my blood glucose and it wasn’t low at all. When it goes low enough the body will kick in so that it rises…Hard to know about that. I also checked my blood pressure because the high readings were of concern to me. My blood pressure was back to being pretty low at 100/60, I think. I checked it again to be sure and it was the same. So my theory on the wooziness is perhaps my blood pressure had a sudden drop, which made me feel ill. It’s kind of curious they didn’t check it a second time at the hospital, especially seeing they had left the cuff on my arm the whole time I was there.
I’ve taken it easy the past couple of day and this afternoon I had a headache so took some ibuprofen and went to lie down for awhile. I ended up dozing off and napping off and on for a couple of hours. I hadn’t expected that today because I’d gone to bed reasonably early last night. But I think my sleep was rather broken due to waking often due to discomfort from both the bruises and being overly warm. Last night the temperature was cool enough that the air conditioner hardly came on. But the humidity was high enough to make it feel unbearably warm at times. I’m hoping to be a bit more active tomorrow. Unlike yesterday, the aches and pains don’t seem as bad tonight so I’m hoping that’s a good sign.
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Curse of the newly resurfaced road
Back when I was a kid, I only three or so bicycle accidents. I don’t remember the first but apparently I ran into our mailbox while going down our driveway. That was probably when I was new to the bicycle. The two I do recall both occurred pretty much in the same place on a newly resurfaced road. I’m not quite sure why the road had to be done twice in close succession…but I had a spill while going around a bend on the road.
Fast forward over thirty years…this evening I had another spill while trying to move from a newly resurface road onto a newly replaced footpath/cycle path. I had moved to the road to go around a couple who were walking and didn’t turn enough when moving back to the footpath and went flying…I’m now sporting some lovely scrapes on the left arm, hand and knee. My neck and shoulder have started hurting more recently and seem to be getting worse rather quickly…So will leave this for now and go rest the battered body.