Classic "I didn't have time to make this short"

I don't have time to write an account of this year's Tour des Lakes,
so heres some clippings, followed by incoherent remarks:


From Facebook:

[I did take time to break it into paragraphs, which Facebook does not
allow.]


The road through the Fish and Wildlife Area turned out to be gravel.
It was pounded nice and flat, but I dared not ride very fast because
the ditches and potholes were hard to see. There were even a couple of
yards of washboard.

<P> I saw blue arrows as I was going through North Webster and
backtracked them, but never found Checkpoint Two. I did have a nice
lunch at Pizza King.

<P> Backtracking led to leaving North Webster on a different street
than the one I'd marked on my Google route map and I got confused. I
just checked and I *do* have a map of North Webster I could have taken
along. Duh.

<P> Though uneasy at times, I did get to the Barbee Hotel, where I
couldn't resist ordering a tenderloin. The fries alone were twice what
I should have eaten. (I did have enough sense to put three-fourths of
the meat into a sandwich bag and put it on ice.) Luckily, I found an apparently-stored-and-forgotten picnic table at the top of a hill on
300 N and had a good long after-binge rest.

The machines for Touch-A-Truck were still on Canal Street when I got
back to Winona Lake.



From the Banner:

Monday, 12 July 2021

Dave was sad to hear that Weather Underground says that Wednesday will
be a good day to go on a training ride. He's frowned on my
participation in the Tour des Lakes ever since he had to come hunting
for me after I came down with heat prostration. But, since I was lying
in the shade with plenty of water, I'd brisked up by the time he found
me.

This year I will spend at least half an hour in the Pizza King no
matter what, and I plan to come straight home after checking out at
checkpoint two.

***

Checked Google Maps: if I come straight home from Checkpoint One,
it's only thirty miles, which I can handle. And straight home passes
fairly near to Pizza King. But closer to another pizza parlor.

[snip]


Wednesday, 14 July 2021

[snip]

I didn't come back from my all-day ride very tired -- I'd have
sprinted through the village if the car ahead of me hadn't had to stop
for some pedestrians, and I did come close to getting back up to
speed.

I did refrain from sprinting on Sunset -- a long stretch with no
intersections, but I think I could have if I hadn't been afraid of
using up my endurance.

I think that many stops to sit and rest helped. At the TippeRiver
Downs gazebo, I did a few repeats of my evening exercises.

Google Maps predicted twenty-two miles. I think that when I plug in
the way I actually went, it will be a tad more.

Pleasant day, but I desperately need a shower. My do-rag, jersey, and
bra are soaking in a bucket.

***

I packed four bags of ice yesterday and put them into the freezer.
When loading the bike this morning, I reflected that there was a long
stretch of the route where I couldn't hope to refill my bottles, and I
was taking only two, so I might want to melt some of those ice cubes.
In the event, I did put some into my tea when it got too strong -- and
too warm. But two bottles lasted from CCAC to Walmart, with water left
over. But I did dump 9.25 ounces of orange-pineapple juice into the
bottle of tea and, later on, several ice cubes.

[Surely I must have mentioned somewhere that my last stop on that ride
was the county fair, where I ate a rather large bowl of pistachio ice
cream for my supper, but it's not in these entries.]



Sunday, 18 July 2021

[snip]

I've been planning and training for the Tour des Lakes for months --
and when the morning dawned, I didn't wanna go. Went, and had a
pleasant time after the sun came out.

It would appear that someone complained about arrows stuck to the
pavement, I can't think why else they would stick them them to yard
signs instead. This made them hard to see; at one intersection, I went
straight through, then stopped and looked and looked; I didn't find
the sign until a group behind me turned left. Worse, putting up yard
signs is more trouble than putting a piece of tape on the pavement, so
they stuck them *only* at corners, not the set of three specified for
Dan Henry marks, and I saw only one confirmation arrow, in a long
stretch where there might have been turns.

***

Looking into the mirror, I'm glad I kept my hat on all during the
service. I washed my hair yesterday and can't do a thing with it.

I ate way too much at the picnic after the service, which didn't go
well with the tenderloin I ate at Barbee on the way back from Syracuse yesterday. The fries alone were more than twice what I should have
eaten, and I didn't leave so much as a piece of chopped onion on my
plate. I did put three-fourths of the meat into a plastic bag that I
carry for just such an emergency, and put it on the ice in my pannier.
I'm planning to have tenderloin melt for breakfast. (I nibbled the
tenderloin square at various snack times.)

I had a good long nap this afternoon, and still felt tired all
evening. It took less than an hour of rest to get over the tenderloin.

------------------

New material:

There is an abandoned picnic table at the top of a hill on 300 N,
which is very convenient. Before, it sat out in the mowed area,
suggesting that the owner sometimes used it. This time the table had
been dragged close to a tree and grass and weeds were grown up around
it; I fear that I left signs that I had been there. Also, the worn
area where vehicles had been parked was smaller and less worn.

I do hope that the owner doesn't decide that it's enough of a nuisance
to be worth hauling to the dump. It appears to be galvanized steel,
though there isn't a trace of rust. It's covered with lichen.

Thursday, 22 July 2021

A card that didn't stick to the table does stick to my fridge, so I
think maybe the table is aluminum.

I thought about trying the card on my bike, but I didn't want to make
more marks in the weeds than I had to, not to mention that the reason
I was sitting at a table going through my goodie bag was that I was
exhausted. I'd meant to lie on my back for ten minutes while reading
the brochure that was in the bag, but I kept getting interrupted by
texts. When I report in, I should be less confusing. Didn't help
that I was confused myself, havng mistaken a stray mark for the
numeral one when copying road names to my map snippet. Confusion
didn't matter to navigation, because I'd ridden home from that table
many times, and the terrain got more familiar as I rode along.

I took my riding shoes, but never wore them. By the time I got out
into the country, I was tired enough to want to be prepared to walk
hills. Riding shoes work a treat when the country part of the ride is
at the beginning, as in my training ride that ended at the fair. On
that ride, I changed at the CCAC, then changed back at the gazebo.

And no, recessed cleats are not the answer. It's the stiff wooden
soles that are the active ingredient.

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

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When Linda was fetching me groceries from Aldi, she put them in the
"reusable" bags that Kroger delivers curbside pick-ups in. "Reusable"
in quotes because at that time, we weren't allowed to have baggers put groceries in bags we'd brought in, so you couldn't bring them back for
a refill.

So I collected quite a pile after I told her that they fit my
panniers.

I habitually insulate my left pannier by lining it with a Kroger bag,
lining the Kroger bag with newspapers, then lining the newpapers with
a small trash bag that has a couple of folded newspapers at the bottom
to soak up the sweat from my bags of ice. On the rack side, I slip a
county map (in a cut-down newspaper sleeve) and a letter-size sheet of
paper folded around snack bags of twist-tie bags between the layers of newspaper.

I started carrying gallon bags when Duck Down & Above sold seconds,
and I sometimes had to re-pack them to fit into my panniers. I never
stopped, because you never know when you'll get the equivalent of a
family-size bag of potato chips with your sandwich. There are (or
should be; I'll have to inspect the folder) also smaller bags for half
a sandwich.

Whenever I parked in the sun, it annoyed me very much that the Kroger
bag is brown. Finally the dime dropped when I was looking for a place
to carry a light-green folder of the sort that one gets one's
discharge instructions in when leaving a hospital. (On inspection, it
proved to be one that insurance papers had come in.)

I slipped it into the pannier between the Kroger bag and the wires,
and there it has stayed ever since -- reflecting sun away from my ice,
and providing me with a flat place to carry papers that are handed to
me naked.

Such as the maps I picked up at the beginning of the Tour des lakes. I
looked at the maps, then slipped them into the folder. Whenever I
wanted to consult one, I would slide it partway out, then push it back
in.

The following Friday, when I was organizing my panniers for Saturday's
Farmers' Markets, I pulled the papers out of the folder.

Not until then did I notice that on the back of each map was a list of
the checkpoints, with exact locations, total distance, and the
distances between.

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

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On 2021-07-29, Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

When Linda was fetching me groceries from Aldi, she put them in the "reusable" bags that Kroger delivers curbside pick-ups in. "Reusable"
in quotes because at that time, we weren't allowed to have baggers put groceries in bags we'd brought in, so you couldn't bring them back for
a refill.

So I collected quite a pile after I told her that they fit my
panniers.

I habitually insulate my left pannier by lining it with a Kroger bag,
lining the Kroger bag with newspapers, then lining the newpapers with
a small trash bag that has a couple of folded newspapers at the bottom
to soak up the sweat from my bags of ice. On the rack side, I slip a
county map (in a cut-down newspaper sleeve) and a letter-size sheet of
paper folded around snack bags of twist-tie bags between the layers of newspaper.

I started carrying gallon bags when Duck Down & Above sold seconds,
and I sometimes had to re-pack them to fit into my panniers. I never stopped, because you never know when you'll get the equivalent of a family-size bag of potato chips with your sandwich. There are (or
should be; I'll have to inspect the folder) also smaller bags for half
a sandwich.

Whenever I parked in the sun, it annoyed me very much that the Kroger
bag is brown. Finally the dime dropped when I was looking for a place
to carry a light-green folder of the sort that one gets one's
discharge instructions in when leaving a hospital. (On inspection, it
proved to be one that insurance papers had come in.)

I slipped it into the pannier between the Kroger bag and the wires,
and there it has stayed ever since -- reflecting sun away from my ice,
and providing me with a flat place to carry papers that are handed to
me naked.

Such as the maps I picked up at the beginning of the Tour des lakes. I
looked at the maps, then slipped them into the folder. Whenever I
wanted to consult one, I would slide it partway out, then push it back
in.

The following Friday, when I was organizing my panniers for Saturday's Farmers' Markets, I pulled the papers out of the folder.

Not until then did I notice that on the back of each map was a list of
the checkpoints, with exact locations, total distance, and the
distances between.

I remember the first time I visited an "Aldi's" in Missouri.

I saw some people loading groceries into their car; they were nearly done.

I said: "I'm going that way, I'll return your cart for you". I did not understand the reluctance they showed, but they gave me the cart.

I got to the store and saw that you got a quarter back for returning the
cart. I turned and rushed back to the family to give them their quarter,
but they were already leaving.

I was so embarrassed.

Then I saw people shopping with handguns strapped to their hips and nobody blinked an eye. What a different world than here in California.

I remember growing up with gun racks being very common in pickup trucks. It all began changing in the '60's with the Black Panthers carrying their
rifles around in Berkeley.

Anyway...Aldi's is kind of like Trader Joe's and I understand the founders
are brothers.

Pureheart in Aptos

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On Fri, 23 Jul 2021 12:12:23 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

It would appear that someone complained about arrows stuck to the
pavement, I can't think why else they would stick them them to yard
signs instead.

An old entry in Facebook says that the arrows were on signs because it
was raining and the arrows wouldn't stick to wet pavement.

I couldn't find the new entry that "notifications" said was there, and
all but three of the old entries are gone.

The more I see of Facebook, the more I wish that my nieces and nephews
hadn't forgotten how to use e-mail. At one time, they used bouncing
robins to co-ordinated every get-together; now they can't grasp that
social e-mail doesn't follow the same rules as business e-mail.

The first thing I learned in typing class in the forties was that
there are different formats for different kinds of letters, and nobody
had the slightest difficulty with the concept. Now everything is one
size fits nobody.

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

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