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Falling
Just before Christmas, I got a new tube for my bike after it sat on the patio for most of last year. It was mostly a matter of procrastination that kept me from taking care of it. First I was travelling and then it was winter when I came home and the weather wasn’t great for riding. By December, I’d started to get an itch to ride again and so we took the tire into the shop and had the tube changed. I noticed a few days later there was no cap on the tube and rode to the shop to get one for it. I’d only taken shorter rides so far and this was my longest ride since I started back again. It all went well enough and I got to the shop and got a new cap. I also booked the bike in for a service. It did go the better part of a year without use so I suspect there’s stuff to adjust and oil and whatever else needs doing. I had actually left home with the idea I would drop it off without considering I need to book ahead of time. Anyway, it’s going in tomorrow to be serviced and I will either walk home or take a bus or perhaps a bit of both.
I stopped into the shopping centre afterwards to look for something and then stopped into one of my favorite tea shops to get a drink. I had taken a cool bag with two different reusable cups, depending on the shop I visited. One is plastic and has the logo for the shop where I ended up. The other one is generic and is made of glass. After I got my drink I started on my way home and put the drink in the basket with the bag. All was going well on the way home as I made my way towards the pathway next to the highway. I stopped at the corner of a busy road and a quiet side street to wait for traffic to clear so I could cross the road to the sidewalk on the opposite side. I’m not sure what happened while I waited but suddenly the balance of the bike started to tip over and I felt things happen in slow motion as I landed on the ground, fortunately, more on the side street. A vehicle stopped and a lady got out to check on me. She helped me up and I was okay for the most part. Just a bit shaken. My first thought as I was landing was that I was going to lose most, it not all, of my drink. Surprisingly it was fine and nothing much spilled. It wasn’t until later I thought of the glass cup inside my bag. That was also fine. As for myself, I had a bit of a graze on both my hands and my left knee but felt okay. After thanking the lady for her assistance, I walked across the side road into a little park to have a bit of a break and drink my tea. Then I got back on and went home. I was pleased to be able to increase the load on the gears so I could travel faster and got home more quickly than with the low gear settings. The only issue was the friction on my hands was uncomfortable for much of the ride. Once home I had a shower and cleaned up the slight wounds and was able to relax.
Things got a bit sore over the next couple of days. Not painfully sore but enough to be uncomfortable. I did go to pilates on Friday morning and later to the gym. My shoulders were quite sore that night. Not sure if it was due to exercise or injury or maybe a bit of both. There’s still some soreness in my left shoulder where I landed but it’s not terrible. Also, my knee is a bit bruised but not terribly so. I’ve just been taking it a bit easier before I have to take my bike in tomorrow. I’m hoping it’s not as windy as expected tomorrow as I hate riding in strong winds. Still, it will be warm so shouldn’t be too bad Also I’m hoping nothing got knocked out of whack when the bike fell. It all happened so slowly that I doubt anything was likely to be damaged. After all, I basically fell while at a standstill.
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Spring cycling
I hadn’t been out on my bike much lately due to a tube that had exploded and hadn’t been replaced. Happily the Scientist sorted this out for me. But then I noticed the back tire was looking bare so I went to the bike shop to see about new tires. I had been going to the shop where I bought the bike but it’s just a bit hard to reach and it’s even harder to get home unless the Scientist drives to the shop to get me. The current shop is in Morley, which I can ride to within forty minutes and also there is a bus that goes directly to and from our area. I dropped the bike off and picked it up the next day. I’d wanted to get a service too, but it was school holiday time and they were really busy. So I booked it in for last Thursdays.
Meanwhile I took my bike out for a proper ride for the first time this spring and it was a good ride. I made sure to avoid overdoing things. I turned around after forty-five minutes and came back just in time for sunset, which looked pretty cool. This ride was particularly nice because it went into new territory on a path that opened recently along new stretches of widened highway.The only negative for me was the fact that it became clear that my intention of riding to Midland along this path was going to take a lot longer than I intended. I’m not sure how much shorter the trip is from the previous ways of getting there. I never quite reached the goal and the trip took over an hour before. Hopefully I will get fit enough to do a longer ride and have a break in the middle in the next month or two.
So the bike went into the shop last week and then I didn’t hear from them for a couple days. I tried to phone but only got an answering machine. Then On Monday I called again and it was ready so I was able to collect it and ride home.
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Pat on the back
A few days ago, my bike ride turned into a particularly long one due to circumstances. One of those circumstances was that the final section of road on the nearby highway finished. This meant the bike path was open all the way to the end of the new highway. I will point out that it’s unlikely I’ll be travelling the whole way any time soon but it was kind of neat to know it was open.
The other circumstance related to an incident with a family member where I knew I had to speak up about something and it just made me ill to think about it. I was stressed and anxious when I went out and the other conditions were kind of right so I went off with expectations of turning around at the former end point of the path. I found, however, that despite playing my music while riding, I definitely wasn’t hearing it at all.
On that ride I travelled almost 40 kilometers round trip, which was pretty huge. It was kind of good for me to ride hard and long that day even if it didn’t make as much of a dent in the feelings I was having. On the other hand it was also kind of foolish since I had to make a return journey and I was cutting it close to dark. Not to mention I was expected to be back before a certain time so we could “play” a Zelda video game that evening. Anyway, I got back okay but the following day, I was feeling a bit wiped out, physically and emotionally.
Now after missing a day or two of exercise, there’s always a chance I will allow myself to fall back into old habits where I skip it altogether for to long. And with the cooler days it’s even easier to slip more often.
So there I was yesterday and I had spent a good part of the afternoon playing Animal Crossing. That issue I spoke about above was still ongoing although I wasn’t feeling quite as terrible as I’d been before. Procrastination on days that are getting shorter is never a good thing and I finally did get myself read to go out for a ride. The day before had actually been quite warm so it’s a shame I didn’t go out then. Yesterday was somewhat cooler and by the time I went out, the winds had picked up.
I had worn two shirts to keep warm and at the last minute decided to bring along a ratty light jacket just in case. Boy am I glad I had it as I had it on within the first five minutes. It was chilly out there. At this point I thought to myself that I would lower my expectations and just make it about halfway to my original destination (which made for about 65 minute ride). The winds were really strong so I wasn’t making much progress.
I got closer to that point but decided I shouldn’t be so slack and should push on and reach my usual turning point. I was moving rather slowly despite my efforts. I was tiring a lot and my new thing of pedaling while standing up were making it worse. Eventually I started to avoid the standing and just lowered gears to make it the ascents easier.
Thankfully my music was helping to drive my efforts. But I was well behind my usual time based on how far into the playlist I was. I did make it to that turning point and stopped for a couple minutes to recover and to rehydrate. Turning back, I found it even worse and I ended up zipping up my jacket this point. The sun was lower and I was getting chilled despite extra layers.
I ended up dropping to the lowest gears and just focusing on moving continuously rather than at any speed. That was pretty much all I could do and the trip back seemed to go on forever. In the midst of all this, my anxiety would return occasionally and I guess it was distract with the agony of the ride or the agony of the anxiety. I figure I must have passed it back and forth mentally most of the way home.
I did get home okay but I definitely didn’t feel any better. But I did pat myself on the back for making it through. Here’s hoping the next ride or exercise will be a bit easier to handle. :)
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Exercise
I’m still doing my exercise pretty regularly although I did force myself to take a break for a couple of days. Not so much for a needed break as to break up the perfect run of days on the activity app on my watch. It works really well to encourage me to keep moving but I find it really hard to get long runs and then have them broken.
Last Monday I went to the pool to practice my swimming and it all went terribly wrong. Almost nothing was working for me. I felt sluggish and I couldn’t breathe properly and my arm motions were wrong and I couldn’t make it to the end of the 25m lane without stopping…just a bad day at the pool. Then Tuesday I went for my lesson and it went much better. This week I worked on my breathing and I think I got a lot out of it. The adult classes are tailored to what you want/need to learn that was my goal. And there were only two of us that week so we got a lot of time with the teacher.
Since then I’ve been to the pool three times. Two were at my local pool and I practiced on my own both times, managing to swim a full 1000m for each swim. I did have to stop between each lap but I didn’t tire out so quickly and I seem to be getting the breathing a lot better now. I also was given a couple of tips by another person using the pool about my arm movement, which I think helped. Tomorrow I might work on the arm movement a bit more. My other pool time was as a carer with my client, who goes most Wednesdays. I didn’t swim a whole lot but did get in a few laps that went surprisingly easily. I think that helped me regain the confidence lost on Monday. I don’t count the lesson since I had the teacher there the whole time.
Yesterday I wasn’t able to get to the pool due to other commitments so I went out for a bike ride after dinner. I think it had been well over a week since I’d been on my bike and it was great to get out again for a decent ride. I was worried my muscles would have started to weaken but I seemed to do just fine in the end. It wasn’t my fastest ride but I felt I was pretty steady and I didn’t struggle so much riding up hills this time. Maybe that was due to the swimming?
Last night my gluteal muscles were really feeling the exercise. I wasn’t in pain but I was a bit sore. Even today I’m still a bit sore, mostly on my bottom. I think my gluteal muscles are getting the most benefit from my recent exercise…lol. I’m going to swim this afternoon, hopefully before the pool gets crowded after school time. Maybe I can work out some of the soreness while there.
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Swimming
I’m still doing lots of bike rides although the past couple of weeks has been more limited due to the strong winds blowing. I feel a bit too unsteady when it gusts above 35kph so have done other sorts of exercise.
Our city leisure center was closed for a few months for renovations and reopened last month. Along with that they changed the name of the local recreation programs and relaunched with a special deal of 30 days for $30. This includes pool, spa, gym and fitness classes. Our local center only has the pool and spa but there’s another one not far either. Anyway, I signed up in the middle of the month and started going swimming just about every day for a while. After almost a week I developed a sore next and shoulders and had to take a break from it.
I’m pretty sure this was due to the fact that what I call swimming is definitely not proper form and I think I caused myself a bit of injury after overdoing the wrong methods. So I took a bit of a break and decided that now’s the time I need to learn how to swim properly. I signed up for lessons last week and started on Tuesday.
I have had one forty five minute lesson and already feel a lot more capable although I’m going more slowly than before. I learned how to blow bubbles and do the freestyle stroke properly. Most useful is knowing how to breathe properly which makes a huge difference. The lessons actually give unlimited use of the pool for practice between lessons so once my 30 membership runs out, I’ll still be good. I just won’t have access to the spa. Not that I use it for that long as I find it too hot after a while.
My neck and shoulder were still a bit sore after Tuesday so I took a break on Wednesday. But yesterday I went back and practiced for half an hour. My main thing was trying to get a proper rhythm and to manage to last a full lap. I got in twenty laps of swimming and took in a fair bit of water yesterday. Then today I went back and I already found it easier and my stamina had increased so I could manage a full lap most of the time. Well at least for the first half of my practice. I could feel I was doing it right some of the time and it feel really efficient and much easier on the body. Just that trying to swim continuous laps wasn’t a thing yet. After each lap I’d take a break and try to get my breathing under control. I am getting a bit better at breathing in through my mouth and blowing out bubbles through my nose. But it still feels a bit alien for me. I assume this will get better with time.
So I was taking a break after one of my laps and then a young girl in the next lane said “Excuse me” to get my attention. Then she told me I was a very good swimmer which really took me by surprise. I thanked her and told her I was just learning and then she wished me well and I did the same to her as she is learning too. I was quite touched by this and it really helped my confidence a lot. Of course once I was more self-conscious I started making more mistakes. Although I’m pretty sure that also was due to getting tired. I was trying to reach 750 meters of swimming but then the lane was needed for a real lesson and I decided that must be the warning that I needed to stop and take a break. I’d already been finding it hard to make it all the way through a lap and I wasn’t breathing so well as I had been.
I’m hoping to practice at least two more times before my next lesson but I’m already feeling so much more able than I was. I just wished I’d done this sooner.
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Good
Today was the beginning of another hot spike in temperatures for us. I think it got to 35 C today where we live. At least that’s what the car thermometer said. I had to take the dogs to the vet for vaccinations and a couple other issues and that started at 4pm. We got in rather late due to some emergencies that took priority. It was okay aside from the nuisance the dogs were making of themselves. We finished up just around 5pm and I came home. As it was warm and I was in the right mood, I went out for a bike ride soon afterwards.
It was still kind of hot, so I took two bottles of water with me and put one in my backpack just in case. I got started easily enough and got out onto the bike paths near us. I found today was an easy ride. My heart rate was on the higher side but it wasn’t making me feel ill so I didn’t take any drastic measures to change it. I kept a steady pace all the way to my destination and didn’t struggle all that much with the hills tonight although it was a definite workout.
Once I arrived I parked my bike and went into the shopping center for a few minutes break. I had a banana I’d taken with me so had a bit of a snack and then made sure to drink all the water in one of the bottles. I hadn’t stopped at all along the way. Then I went to refill the water before setting off again. Unfortunately this took long enough that it was just about sunset by the time I got going again. I wasn’t too fussed as it still felt pleasant outside and the bike path is well lit until I get to my neighborhood (where it’s lit but not as well). It did serve as a reminder that I need to get a light installed.
The ride back was even better than the ride there. It was such easy exercise that I didn’t feel as though I was working all that hard. It’s really interesting how that happens some days and then others just the simplest ride can be so hard to get through. The temperature had dropped a bit once the sun set and I found myself riding through pockets of cooler air. But as I got closer to home there were pockets of warmer air that I was hitting. I did stop briefly to take a photo of the pretty night skies fairly early on in the ride back.
Pretty sky during ride home When I got home I was feeling pretty good. I think this sort of exercise releases those endorphins and I felt like they were really flowing tonight. Even hours later I’m still feeling pretty good.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher with possible high temperatures that we don’t get in November ever. Just another tick in the evidence of climate change, methinks.
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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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Fitness reboot
During the last quarter of last year, I really slacked off on the exercise and, subsequently, on a reasonable diet. I’d probably been drifting in this direction before but once my iron levels became low, I used it too much as an excuse to avoid exercise. It’s a domino effect when it happens and by the end of the year, I had become fairly unfit and all the improvements accumulated over a couple of years seemed to be undone.
In December I was quite conscious of the need to get going again but the holiday season makes it really difficult. I decided to wait until after the holiday period and start anew. I’d already had the experience of really struggling to keep up with the Scientist when we were out and about. He does walk pretty quickly but I used to be able to almost keep up. : ) At this point I was absolutely exhausted within a short time. Anyway, about week to ten days into the year, I finally got back into some serious exercise. I started out with a target of doing exercise 3-4 times a week and increased the number of days to five once I regained a bit of fitness.
Several weeks later and I am not quite back to my former fitness but I am pretty close and I am back to riding the bike and getting out and about on foot in the area. Last week I stopped in at the shop where I bought the bike over a decade ago and bought a new seat and drink holder. The old seat was in pretty bad shape and I finished many rides with more discomfort than I felt was absolutely necessary. Yesterday I returned for the bike to be serviced and to get tires and brake pads replaced. I’m happy to report I picked it up today and it was riding so much better.
It also helped a bit with my confidence while riding. As much as I enjoy cycling, I’ve always been a bit too nervous to ride properly on the road very much and tend to stick to dual use paths most of the time. This just makes it feel more secure while riding…mainly less likely to fly over the handlebars or fall on the road or anything like that.
I was also pleased when riding my bike to the shop yesterday that I can again climb certain hills without having to dismount and walk the bike uphill. The fitness is coming back and I just need to stick to my routines and keep an eye on my eating.
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Absent-minded
My bicycle came out of the shop on Tuesday, fitted with lights, a new lock and a bike computer along with replacements of some of the more standard parts. It looked almost shiny and new. I didn’t end up riding it that day. The Scientist and I managed to get it into the car by removing the front tire (which is easily removed). I was emotionally frazzled and not really up to dealing with rush hour traffic while riding. I don’t tend to ride on main roads much but I would have needed to be quite alert just to cross the heavy traffic.
I was finally able to take it out for a spin today after rainy skies cleared up a bit. I still had the threat of rain but it was likely to be only brief showers and I was willing to risk that. I had a letter I needed to post so gathered that along with my mini-backpack and I was off. I found it really tough to ride today and felt like my legs would hardly move. I had on my heart rate monitor (for exercise) and I was reaching 150 bpm pretty easily. I decided that lack of activity the past couple days had put me a bit out of shape. Anyway, I managed to ride about 2 kilometers before I realised I wasn’t wearing my bike helmet. I have never done that since I’ve lived here. I never noticed my hair getting wet or how the strong winds were blowing my hair around more than usual. Once I noticed my mistake, I felt kind of naked. I phoned the scientist and asked him to bring my helmet for me, which he did reasonably quickly. It was lucky I was mostly riding on bike/foot paths because helmets are compulsory on road bikes.
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Upgrading the bike
I went off to the local bicycle shop yesterday to enquire about a more suitable lock for my bike. The shop was organised rather oddly, in my opinion. I did find a section on one wall which had a selection of locks and some other accessories but I had to wait to speak to someone. When this finally happened, he took me to a completely different location where they had some of the same locks along with other brands. Other accesories were organised in similarly odd ways.
So the lock situation was sorted out and I decided I would finally take my bike in to get a full service. I’ve had it for three or four years and never had anything done to it so it is probably due. I know the brakes aren’t quite right so that is a good reason in itself. So next week I am taking it in for service and having the lock installed along with a cycle computer and a light set. It may seem like a new bike when I am finished.