• Cyclling Amid SARS

    From Joy Beeson@21:1/5 to All on Fri Apr 3 10:07:45 2020
    I don't ride as much because I have nowhere to go. Riding in circles
    is only marginally better than riding rollers, and my all-time record
    on rollers is five minutes.

    I may have Dave dump me out in the country about twenty miles from
    home. We did that for walking more than once. (But not twenty
    miles.) The only one I remember clearly was on a trip to here, to see
    his parents, from Albany New York, where we lived at the time. We
    drove from the motel to a grocery and I walked back, taking a side
    trip to see the shore of Lake Erie. There was a housing development
    on the beach; every single house was either on wheels, or very, very
    cheap.

    Pity we've forgotten that simple way to deal with storms and high
    water. I don't think they even build on stilts along the lower
    Mississippi, which used to be universal.


    I have an appointment on Monday at a place where I've never gone
    before, so I rode out today (April 2) to make sure that I could find
    it. Since the shortest route there crosses US 30 on Parker, a
    notorious intersection, I rode south and east to cross on 325 E,
    making a two-mile trip into thirteen.

    Along the way, I dropped a bag containing two old bathmats and four
    cans of lumps-in-gravy cat food on the walkway in front of the animal
    shelter. Two employees were walking dogs; one tried to get me to pet
    his dog.

    I wish I could buy canned cat food without stiffeners added; Al
    greatly prefers gravy and broth.

    I must give up using the Heritage Trail as a shortcut to Roy Street.
    The parking lot was full, and there are hundred of houses in walking
    distance. The Trail isn't wide enough to avoid pedestrians.

    I think I can continue using Chinworth Trail; there I can go out into
    the lawn when I meet someone. And I can use any driveway to dive onto
    Old 30, which is quite usable on the west side of town.

    Not to mention that there are few nearby homes, and the only parking
    is at the now-closed City-County Athletic Complex. Well, the last
    time I used Chinworth Trail I did see two cars in the Chinworth Bridge
    parking lot, which is about as many as it can take, and I met two
    dog-walking families on the Trail.

    When planning this expedition, my first thought was to take a meatloaf sandwich, since all eating places are closed (Not to mention that
    there aren't any until I'm almost home), then I reflected that I
    couldn't wash my hands before eating, and there's no comfortable place
    to sit, so I added an extra candy bar to my emergency rations.

    In the event, I had no lunch at all, save for some nibbles while
    preparing supper. So much for the theory that exercise makes you eat
    more! I did have honey in my tea, but only a teaspoon or so. I'm
    fat, and I had other things to think about.

    Having stopped nowhere except Forefront Dermatology, for not much
    longer than it took to send a text saying that I'd found it, I got
    home in plenty of time to plan supper and prepare a dish that takes an
    hour to bake and at least half an hour to assemble.

    And I dug some winter onions to go with it, so one could say I did a
    little gardening too.

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

    I have to carry more water than I think I'll need, because some of the
    places where I used to top off are closed, and I dare not enter those
    that are still open.

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

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  • From Joy Beeson@21:1/5 to All on Sun Apr 5 12:32:54 2020
    I didn't get a wind sprint on the last leg of Thursday's trip.

    The main street of the village wasn't lined with parked cars on both
    sides, and there was no traffic for me to keep up with.

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

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