A Pandemic Retrospective

 2022 is drawing to a close and so it seems is the daily drumbeat of negative health news. No matter what you believe about its origin, its seriousness, the effectiveness of vaccines, or public health policies here or abroad, Covid19 has brought change in the way we live out our lives. Fewer people are deathly ill with it now, although the disease itself is with us for the long haul. What changes has it brought for you? For me, my outside sales job went from frequent trips to knock on customer doors to more (home) office based email, telephone and internet contacts. It works, as 2022 is my biggest sales year so far, despite many challenges. 

Do you remember "two weeks to flatten the curve?" The New York Times first reported on  "Flattening The Coronavirus Curve" on 4/11/20. Parents off work for a couple of weeks were trying to entertain bored kids out of school for the same duration and bikes were a good way to do that. Many bikes needed service or repair, but the shops were all also closed.  I started to help people in bigger numbers fix their bikes around this time and a friend sent me a poster (as a joke I think) that said "Prattville Bike Shop." So crammed in among the boxes and cars in our garage, I worked on bikes when I could. For my birthday in 2021, we got rack shelves and a workbench and organized half our garage space into a real bike repair shop. Daughter-in-law Alisha sent a Prattville Bike Shop sign that I put on the door of the garage drink fridge and we hung bike theme stuff on the walls. The shop became a Galatians 6:10 ministry for me. "As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone...."  Really, my life needs to be that way, not just the shop. It operates in the afternoons when my workday is over, or in the early mornings, or on weekends. 6 - 10 people are helped on average every week. All kinds of bikes, from multi thousand dollar carbon Cervelo, Pinarello and Guru race machines, to Wal-Mart cheapie kid toys. We even made it to Google maps! We have never charged anyone for the work done at the shop or for parts that we have on hand. Sometimes, people who can and who want to offer to make a donation. We gratefully accept and appreciate them. They range from boxes of parts, tires and tubes to tools, and even cash. Earlier tonight, I placed a reorder for supplies on Amazon and donations make this easier for me. We continue to service bikes donated to the local club for re-homing and when we started doing that, the club reimbursed me for the parts and supplies I had to buy for the bikes. I am pleased that we are at a point with donations now that we have not had to get any money at all from the club this year. Recently, we met a woman at the club office to get her a re-homed Specialized Sirrus from the mid 90's for her husband, with a helmet and a safe cycling guide. A lot of (free!) work and parts went into it, but it's a solid bike and the new bike day smiles are always worth it.

 The Covid-caused home based work schedule has opened up early mornings for me to ride during the week. I absolutely LOVE my little peloton! They put up with me for starters. They're loyal, encouraging, and just nice people to know. The mix of who rides on any given day is changeable but the spirit of it is the same no matter what. I appreciate them all. I discovered recumbent bikes this year too. A relocating friend clearing out a garage led me to take a road trip to New Orleans to pick up a Bacchetta Corsa V60. After a 10 hr or so learning curve, which included some tip overs and silly looking Fred Flintstone action, it clicked and I was comfy on it. I ride further and faster on it than my upright bikes, although climbing hills is harder. There has been improvement through practice as well as a second recumbent that is better configured for hills and rough roads.

Riding more has helped my effort to get slimmer, which in turn makes riding easier. I've gotten as close as within a pound of the original goal, but my weight floats back up again a pound or two. I'm happy though.  I started the year heavier than I have been in decades and with poor test results for cholesterol and blood sugar. In April I got serious about eating better and exercising more. I dropped about 40 lbs by Thanksgiving. Now to keep it off. My total miles this year will be a personal best and so will the average pace. Climbing is down some, not uncommon in aging riders. Miles up and weight down is a winning combo.

What else in 2022? I was the moderator of our church presbytery this year. Kind of like a meeting chairman for about 50 churches in our part of the state. We had some additional special activity this year with some national and international church issues and it took time from my schedule. I feel blessed to have served though and to have met some fine leaders from other churches who attend the meetings. I also served as a "borrowed elder" for another local church to help train some men to assume leadership roles there. I am the chaplain in the Trail Life USA (a church based scouting style of group) troop that meets at our church, preparing and delivering a devotional message each week, and I teach Sunday school to adults. I've filled pulpits a couple of times for Baptists and Presbyterians this year too.  

 Being home more has given Sharon and me more time together. We enjoy just hanging out, doing errands together, anything really. We have become stay-at-homebodies for sure. Thanksgiving was our 46th anniversary and it gets better every year. Her thing is reading. She reads books like I ride bikes. Maybe more so. We each could probably do a little more of what the other does and gain from it. I still write a lot of letters. A number of new fountain pens have joined my collection this year and my interest in them has been re-kindled. I enjoy fitting vintage nibs in new pens to get the best of both. The hot rodded pens then see service in the writing of letters.

So life has shifted for me under Covid, but not all has been negative. Some changes are neutral, some have been positive. Sharon and I both got Covid around the same time in June. That was not fun. I will be pleased to not see Covid in our house again, ever. In fact, Covid could disappear and all the restrictions be lifted and that would be great! We can keep the lessons learned about remote working and efficient fast food drive through, but lose the arguing over booster effectiveness.

Thoughts for 2023? Do you make New Year resolutions? I don't. There are some things that I do think about for the year ahead though. Becoming more intentional in my prayers, especially for the welfare of others. Continuing to read through the Bible in a year as I have done for quite a while now.  Reading more of other books. Continuing to fit in the pants I have reduced down to. Riding more. (including some longer distance routes with Randonneurs USA. Working on a P-12 award). I passed along the baton of RBA (Regional Brevet Advisor) for RUSA to other, capable, hands this year and next year I rotate off the board of the local bike club and out of my 2 chairman roles. I will not be a church moderator or borrowed elder next year so there will be some time available to relax, reflect, or work on more bikes at the shop! I'll continue to work for a living while there is work to be done. In February, there will be a company wide meeting in Phoenix to hear about plans and strategy. 

However your 2022 has gone, I wish you a happy New Year and hope your 2023 is a great year. I pray that God extends his grace to you and blesses you. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Things that change and things that stay the same

 We enjoyed some unseasonably warm weather today. It was perfect for a late winter bike ride (65F at the start, 80F at the end!) save for the 25 mph wind gusts that gave us a little problem. I picked the route to shield us from most of the wind. Another group in the bike club did a route with 20 miles dead into the wind before turning and getting a tailwind back home. We had a route that mostly went 90 degrees to the wind and had trees often to soften it when we had to head into it. It was behind us for much of the way home. I averaged 14.2 mph on the ride today (C pace is 13-15 so I was about in the center of the advertised range)  My avg speed for the over 63,000 miles ridden since I started as an adult in 2001 is also 14.2.  Which is to say, no matter what bike I ride, whether my weight is up or down, my riding pace is pretty predictable. I don't ride for speed anyway.  I ride because I really enjoy it. I enjoy the sound the bike makes as it's pedaled and the tires roll over the paving; as the chain moves around the gears and through the derailleurs. I like how my legs feel when they are working to move me where I want to go. I enjoy the company and conversation of other riders, the stories shared at store stops, the undulation of the highway, the signs of color in the fields and trees we pass, I could go on. When I enjoy a bike ride, I am enjoying God and the creation spread out before me. Eccl 9: 7,9 captures the essence of it. There is war in the world, there are troubles because we inhabit a broken, sinful place. yet there is joy too.

" 7Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 9 Enjoy life ...."

Today we met an African American couple at a store stop and I talked to them about getting bikes and joining us.  Since we were a bunch of white folks, they might have been skeptical.  I shared with them who Major Taylor was (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Taylor) and about our sponsored  race team the Red Tails (named for the nickname of the Tuskegee pilots in WW II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen). I asked the gentleman how old he thought I was.  He missed by about 20 years too young.  "It's because I ride.  You should too!" I said. Told him about our free bikes at the club Outreach as well.

I called our son last night and we had a nice conversation. We shared about our jobs and both of us are blessed to have the jobs we do. For me, doing the same things week in and week out with customers, co workers, etc. helps insulate me from perceiving the passage of time. Retire? Why? I have a job I like, it pays better than being retired and comes with benefits. Some obvious, some less so. Another thing that stays the same.

People from my past cross my mind from time to time. That probably happens to a lot of people. Today I went digging to see if I could find my 1st ever friend, John White. He lived next door and was 9 months older than me.  Our moms were friends and we played together in diapers, and later overalls and jeans.  We lost track about age 10 when we moved to another town. I'd heard later he got into drugs, got straightened out and worked for an airplane manufacturer. I found his obituary today. He died suddenly in 2004. It is a reminder of the passage of time when people I knew (or still know) finish their time here and move on to what's next. So my long ago playmate  is on my mind tonight. But so is the joy of the ride today and the promise of another ride soon to come. Maybe even tomorrow.  Here's a picture of my 1st bike ride, with my dad (died in 1996). John is the one watching, back to the camera.

"I'm Singin' In The Rain"

I usually keep an eye on the weather in the run up to a ride. If it's going to rain, I don't go.  I've certainly ridden in rain, all day in fact, but nice weather is what I prefer. Rain is in the forecast all week and when 10:00 rolled around this morning, it was misting almost heavily enough to be called a drizzle. I posted the ride, but only 1 taker was interested and she decided to stay dry. After saying I too would skip, I hopped on the bike anyway and set out.

It was great.  For a sense of how it felt:



Riding solo lets me relax in way riding with others can't. I don't need to stay up with anyone, or wait for anyone. I can stop when I feel like it, and start again when ready. I hear the bike better, the chain, the pedals, the shifters, I feel them and I feel how my muscles are working without distraction. I play music in my head. A good cover band doing Roll With The Changes, an Italian acoustic trio doing a fantastic Sultans of Swing. I think about my Sunday School lesson, bike projects, all sorts of things.

Someone called out my name as I passed the public artesian fountain along Autauga Creek. I didn't know who it was, but they knew me from a past ride and wanted to "get back on the bike." Always a good thing, I agreed.

I thought about all the bikes I've fixed for people. (I don't charge. I did appreciate the smoked pork that someone gave me as a thank you though. Also a can of WD-40 from another.) It's a way to minister to people that blesses me as much as it helps them. It leads to some fruitful conversation as well.

The mist-drizzle-sweat all mixed to make me pretty wet. No issue for a wool kit though. I wiped my glasses with a finger when needed and I could see, enough. In the Summer (and for all intent and purpose, it is Summer here in the steamy south) rain on a ride is a cool refreshment. Ride refreshed my friends.

Nice Day For a Metric

Diana, one of the riders in our little back channel C pace group during the shutdown/slowdown times of Corona, has been wanting to push a bit longer in distance. We rode 50 miles last Saturday and today I posted a metric century (62 miles) which a total of 6 riders went on.  The forecast for overcast all day was 100% wrong. It was gorgeously sunny, but also warmed to a very summer-like 86 F before we were done. It was humid and I was conscious of the need to drink a LOT of fluid today. I left the house with (2) 22 oz bottles and a 50 oz Camelbak. I drank all that today and then some.

The ride itself was good.  No dogs anywhere, mostly decent pavement and mostly decent drivers. It was flats and rollers except for a long hill with 2 steeper sections and 2 shallower at the very end of the ride. Depending on whose GPS you want to believe, we climbed 1330', 1550', 1631', or 1825' (from memory, so +/-)  Still, not hard on the climbing. Our pace was decent throughout.  We slowed in a couple of neighborhoods that we went through, but were cruising on Northern Blvd at about 18, which is spiffy for me.

We had a great food stop at the Eastchase Shopping Center. Curbside only at Panera, but several had the app and ordered while we sat in the shade at their tables.  3 of us went 2 doors down to Zoe's.  I enjoyed the basil pesto hummus with pita.  We were 40 miles in at that point and a mite peckish. Other store stops along the way afforded brief rests and refills as needed of water bottles, or bathroom facilities.  I refilled my Camelbak with water at Zoe's.

Just as we approached our turn off Northern Blvd onto Coliseum Blvd/AL River Pkwy, I saw Theo standing next to his bike.  He had a flat. I stayed with him while he changed it. That involved a tire lever snapping on him, and some work to remove and replace his disk brake wheel. (No quick release with that).  He finished the repair and headed off and pfffffpppptttt, flat again. We had just turned the corner and found our group waiting. 2 had to go on, but 3 of us stayed with Theo.  Diana scanned the tire and found a wire sticking in the tread which she was able to extract. Then 3 people who have CO2 tire fill devices, but haven't used them much tried to re-inflate the tire. That was a hoot. CO2 was sprayed around the tire.  A blast of it exploded a tube. It partially filled the 3rd tube, but then all of it escaped as they tried to get it aired up all the way. By this time, Theo was ready to hand me the wheel, with the tire not on the rim quite right either. I took the opportunity to suggest to Brannon, Diana and Theo, that practicing with CO2 fillers in their own driveway with relaxing beverage of choice at hand was really a good idea. Trying to ken it out roadside while bent over and dripping sweat is tougher.  I pulled out the trusty frame pump and pumped up the tire. I did catch my pinkie in the pump while working it briskly and got a blood blister, which served me right for finding everything so amusing. It held air and we were off again.

Congrats to Theo on his first metric century! To Diana for a strong ride, and to Brannon for finishing well.  Rick and Mitch were done ahead of us, but they're B riders and we expected that. It still always nice to have them along on a ride.  I had a decent avg going into that last stupid hill, but dropped from 15+ to 14.6 on the climb. What was I thinking when I ended this route that way? Oh yeah, the challenge is good.

The Covidian Spring

Welcome back friends! It's been a delightful Spring so far, after a very rainy late Winter. Well, other than that life has changed significantly for many people due to the Corona Virus Novel 2019 and associated Covid19 disease. Politicians have had a field day with it, with some only paying attention to scientists when the observations seemed to lean their way. So far what we know is, 99.8% of people have NOT gotten ill from it yet (some had it and hardly knew it). That still means many people have been sick and a higher than usual (for colds, flu, the illnesses we mostly think of when a virus is mentioned) number of these have died. Unusually strong counter measures were enforced starting in March, and for many people, unemployment ensued, anxiety attacked and short tempers with disagreers on the best course of action flared.  But the aroma of tea olives and jasmine, wisteria and honeysuckle is still no less sweet. The birds sing and the weather has been great to ride a bicycle. Riding is an excellent way to burn adrenaline and order your thoughts away from the screaming headlines. Exercise is one of the ways you can protect yourself from illness we are told.

Our local club and my national randonneur outfit went on hiatus when the mandatory gathering restrictions came out.  The local club has just this week opened back up since our area saw an easing of restrictions effective 5/11. I've been riding pretty much my regular schedule all along, either solo, or with just a few friends I know are not sick and we keep a good distance apart. No handshakes, etc.  I'm right on my average for mileage and just a hair slower in pace for this point in the year. I'll be 67 this year and if 1 mph is all I have to concede in order to keep going 3,500/yr, I can live with that. It's up and down though.  Yesterday I rode a 50 mile loop I've done several times over the past 10 years. I was quicker by about 1/2 mph than the previous best.  Go figure. Brisk headwind for 10 open country miles coming in too. It was less help behind me in the shaded outbound portion than it was an obstacle coming back in, and that is always how wind works for me. There's been so much wind this year that I hardly care anymore. Just ride. Slow down when I have to, speed up when I can.  Manage the effort level and don't let myself get too winded  (haha, right?).

I've really enjoyed helping people with bike questions and user level repairs. Our garage has seen a steady stream of projects from bent wheels to  stuck shifters to rehabbing donations so they can be re-homed. Our club has been doing a weekly FaceBook live class for bike stuff during the shut down and it seems to be doing well. I certainly enjoy teaching them. They're aimed at mechanical beginners, not cycle gurus.

We've been doing church via Zoom and that has worked out okay for the most part.  I also teach Weds nights and do Sunday school that way.  We'll have our 1st in-person worship next Sunday with alternate pews only and families at least 6' apart. No passing the collection plate (on a table in the back instead) or communion while it's not safe to touch things and pass around. I'm hopeful that it comes together as we plan.

Work is little different for me. I worked from home before, so no change there. I can't just drop in on people, but I do go when requested to meet a customer. Again, distance, no touching.  I am sad for those furloughed or whose jobs have evaporated during the shutdown.

You'll be shocked and amazed that there have been no new paint jobs or bike re-builds. I am still happy with what I have. I continue to be the leading Alabama sales rep for Selle-Anatomica saddles, although they pay not a cent in commission. :)  2 friends ordered 3 saddles between them after trying mine and a 3rd friend borrowed my spare today to test out. Our Sunday Social ride was a rain out, but I met the saddle borrower and a friend needing crank arm puller assistance under a former bank drive through canopy and conducted bike business there instead.

You know, if the bike uptick continues after the covid all-clear sounds, I may be able to switch from selling pre-engineered metal buildings to doing bike fitting and repairs for cash money instead of just for fun. I'm not betting on it. There would be more likelihood if cycling infrastructure (bike lanes, bike racks, bike traffic signals) were in place.

I'll leave you with this funny story.  Yesterday on the ride, one of the other cyclists turned and asked me, "surely someone has suggested you check your saddle height, because your hips really rock a lot."  It made me laugh because I'm pretty well versed on bike fit :).  I actually know people who like to ride behind me because they get a laugh at how funny I look. (Dana A, I am thinking of you here).  What's really a treat is when my friend Frank and I ride together. We BOTH rock and often in opposite directions. Side by side we are highly entertaining I'm sure!  No, my legs are properly extended at the bottom of my pedal stroke and the saddle height is comfortable. I push hard on the pedals and the bike rocks side to side at times and my hips do too.  It's just an idiosyncrasy.  I'm such a goof on an old lugged steel bike, often in baggy MTB or touring shorts (unpadded as a rule), Keen sandals and wool, on a leather saddle. No electronic shifting (or brifters for that matter), carbon or Ti anywhere. yet somehow, I still love to ride and can't remember a ride I didn't feel glad to do (even if I was ready to be done somewhere before the end of it).  Some pictures from a Sunday Social ride.  My Rivendell Rambouillet behind Barbara's Rivdendell Clem L. I suggested that bike to her and was amazed she got it. She loves it as I do mine.  Then there's me at my most comfortable, in non spandex and just cruisin'.  With that, I'll cruise on out and wish you all tailwinds until next time.