#cycleblr

The tale of a man who discovered a magic potion that PREVENTED him from turning into a monster

With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson

There once was a man who called himself Dr. Cykyll. He loved to ride his bicycle. Every day the weather permitted, he would ride his bike everywhere he could: to work, to friends' houses, to the market, to the bank, to the park… anytime he needed or wanted to go somewhere, he would go on his bicycle. On weekends and holidays, Dr. Cykyll would go on trips to towns and special locations hat were a little further away just to enjoy the extra cycling these places allowed him to take in.

But Dr. Cykyll noticed that a strange thing happened when he would ride his bicycle, especially on hot days. He discovered that after a long stretch of riding, his pep and endurance would start to wane. He became less able to maintain the speed or distance that he knew he could ride. He became irritable and edgy. His thinking became less sharp and more confused. In some of the worst times, he became unable to ride his bicycle at all. He became MR. DEHYDE.

But Dr. Cykyll was a smart and alert man, and he sought a solution to his problem. One day he made a wonderful discovery. He discovered that, if he prepared a magical potion created by combining one part of oxygen with two parts of hydrogen, he could go longer distance and ride faster without turning into Mr. Dehyde, or even feeling the warning symptoms of the change starting to happen. Furthermore, even if he started to turn into Mr. Dehyde, if he drank more of this special compound even the symptoms would disappear and he could continue his cycling for as long and as fast as he wanted. He had found a cure for the transformation!

Dr. Cykyll got online and did a little research and discovered this wonderful, magical compound was called "water", and that it was pretty common and had been available for some time. This was a bit of a bummer to him, as he was thinking of patenting the formula and making a bunch of money licensing the manufacture of it. But in the end he was happy to be able to guarantee that he would never have to worry about turning into Mr. Dehyde again.

I haven't ridden a bike in maybe 15+ years aside from a recent test of an ebike. But I'm not looking for an ebike, due to financial reasons.

I just need a bike that'll be reliable to commute with. Unfortunately I don't know the commute distance because I don't have a job.

I'm 5'3 and a bit overweight, living in a suburban area, so mostly sidewalks and the occasional asphalt when sidewalk is not available. Mostly flat land with the occasional hill.

In this blog I have made many references to what was my favorite bicycle shop in Wichita,, KS, and that wasTom Sawyer's Bicycle Shop. Well, in the latter part of last year (2023) the owner decided to retire, and rather than turn over the reins to someone else he closed the shop. Tom Sawyer's had been a Wichita institution for decades, and when it closed the news was reported on the evening news.

Wichita has quite a few excellent bike shops, and when I needed my bicycle repaired (the tires had gone flat some months earlier) I took it to Bicycle X-Change, the longest-standing bike shop in Wichita. (I think that may have been true even when Tom Sawyer's was still in business.) The conscientious worker I spoke to brought to my attention that the drive train was also rusted out, and in order to make the thing rideable it would cost about $189. This was one of those $120 Walmart mountain bikes, and clearly doing the repairs was not cost effective.

That was a few weeks ago. I got paid this past Friday - lotsa overtime on the check - and so yesterday I went to Bicycle X-Change's east location to get a quality used bike. (Even with overtime I don't make all that much money.) I found this great 7-speed bicycle that suits my needs just fine, and so now I am back on the streets again!

I rode my bike home from the shop on E. Central Ave., about 7-8 miles I reckoned, and maybe I didn't set any speed records but I got some great exercise and took a few more steps in getting back into the swing of health and fitness. In fact I like the bicycle, and the feeling I get when I ride it, so much that I rode it to work yesterday evening.

Followers of my blog (who, I understand may have gotten a bit fewer in number over the past year or so) have probably noticed that my posts have gotten quite few and far between. Like I posted a Labor Day post last September and haven't posted anything in the seven months since. Some of my followers may have stopped following me, and I can't say I blame them. For those of you still following, perhaps you are wondering, "This guy was so gung-ho about his health and fitness journey. What the hell happened?"

I'll be frank: I think I've been kind of depressed over the past few years. I have slacked off on my exercise journey pretty badly, and my weight has gone up to nearly as high as it was when I began my journey almost ten years ago.

Many years ago, the Hanes clothing company had an ad campaign that I think was called "Inspector 16" Inspector 16 was a tough, no-nonsense clothing inspector, and her catchphrase was, "They don't say 'Hanes' until I say they say 'Hanes'!"

I feel the same way about my health and fitness journey. Yeah, I've been sidelined. And maybe I've had some issues. But, dammit, my journey isn't over until I say it's over! I've come back from getting hit by a car in the Walmart parking lot, and then three months later getting my left leg run over by a guy who robbed me. I shall come back from this, too.

A little news on what's going on here in Wichita: At the beginning of March, the owner of Tom Sawyer's Bicycle Shop (a business I have revferenced many times on this blog) decided to retire after 60 years in business, and the bicycle shop is now permanently closed. There are other good bike shops in Wichita, but I will miss Tom Sawyer's. On a more personal note, about a month ago I had my sleep tested and discovered I have severe sleep apnea. The test revealed I stopped breathing (with a "stop" lasting 10 seconds or more) on the average 63 times every hour. The same test showed I responded well to a C-PAP machine, so I am in line to get one soon.

Here's what wemt on this week.

Sunday, June 27, I biked home from the hotel after an overnight shift. I stopped at Kwik Shop on the way home to get some drinks. Then I biked to Scooters to get another white chocolate iced mocha and caramel muffin, and then biked home to get some rest.

Monday I was up quite early to get another WCIM and muffin from Scooter's for Becky, and then to bike to the Howard Johnson. I didn't have to work that morning, but there was a new clerk there doing her first shift completely on her own, and the owner wanted me there in case she had any questions or something out of ther ordinary happened. (Everything went pretty smoothly so I rested for the most part.) Then I biked home.

Tuesday was a rest day.

The month of June ended on a bit of a sour note. On Wednesday I got a call asking me to come in and work the afternoon shift. So around two, I carried the bike outside to ride it to work. Then I realized something: the front tire was flat! So I got it back inside and pumped it up; it seemed to hold the air, so I rode it to work. I worked until eleven that night, and as I prepared to go home I checked my tire and (as I was sort of hoping wouldn't be the case) the tire was flat again. Just my luck, I had a slow leak. So I walked my bike home.

Thursday was the first day of July and I really wanted to start the month with a weight training workout. I was thinking of running to the Y, but Becky asked if I could go to Scooter's for another WCIM. So I aired up the front tire, biked to Scooter's for the WCIM and delivered it to the apartment, then headed to the Y for weight training.

It's been awhile since I posted a selfie so I thought I'd take one and post it. The yellow sunglasses were a gift from my son that I recently found: I like the style and color of these, and I don't really need the sun-blocking of the really dark glasses of my last selfie. Anyway, I did my weights that afternoon, and when I got done my front tire was still aired up enough that I could ride home.

Friday I was scheduled to work the overnight shift, but I got a call from the afternoon clerk telling me she didn't feel good and could I work that shift for her. So I aired up my front tire and rode in to work in mid-afternoon, taking my air pump along with me.

Saturday morning I got off at seven. The front tire needed air, so I aired it up and rode home with a stop at Kwik Shop for food and drinks. Then that evening I rode back to the hotel with the pump in my travel bag to do the overnight shift.

I have been thinking about calling this current phase of my health and fitness journey "The Mustache Journeys". Why, you may ask? Well, I got to thinking about it. I am rebuilding my fitness after an extended layoff. I am covering old ground for a second time as I gain back progress I may have lost. But during the gap in serious training, I grew a mustache (perhaps you noticed in my selfies). I had been to my son's place in south Wichita prior to the trip two weeks ago, but my mustache never had. I had been to Tom Sawyer's Bicycle Shop priort to my most recent trip, but my mustache never had. And I had ridden my bike to the town of Schulte prior to my ride yesterday, but I had no mustache in those earlier rides. So maybe I'll call this phase of my fitness journey The Mustache Journeys to commemorate the new me in honor of that part of my appearance that is really new.

[STOP LOOKING AT ME AS IF I'M WEIRD!!]

Here's how I did last week.

Sunday, May 16, started with a ride home from the Howard Johnson. I got some sleep, and then later that day rode my bike to Scooter's for a white chocolate iced mocha.

Monday the 17th the day started with a ride to Scooters, then a stop at the Kwik Shop up the street for drinks, and then a ride to the YMCA for weight training.

Tuesday was a rest day. Wednesday the 19th was my payday, so it was early to rise for a ride to the ATM, a stop at Walmart, and a trip to Scooters for mochas. I was planning on weigfht training that afternoon, but a ride back from a doctor's appointment fell through and I had to call my grandson for a ride. (Jordon has a driver's license. Where on earth did the time go?)

Thursday was an early ride to Scooter's. (Am I ever glad they didn't move in next door. I'd be missing out on so much exercise!) Later that day was a ride to the Y for weight training. I was on the ride home when Becky called to suggest that another mocha would be nice, so I turned around and returned to Scooter's. Since I'd done weight training, I asked for a shot of protein in my blended mocha. Made it all the better!

Friday was a morning trip to Scooter's, then an evening trip to the Howard Johnson hotel for the late night shift.

Saturday, May 22, started with a ride home from the hotel and a few hours of much-needed sleep. When I got up, the weather report said there was a 60% chance of rain, but I had purposed I was going on a long ride today so I decided to risk it and head south on Hoover Road for K-42. The rain held off, and that afternoon I paid a visit to the town of Schulte.

Schulte is a very small town in the Wichita metro area, best known as the home of Peter the Apostle Catholic Church and church school. It was only about an 8-mile ride to get there, but it is the first town outside of Wichita proper I have visited since resuming my fitness journey and so I was glad to make the return visit.

There was a southerly breeze of about 15 mph, adding a bit of challenge to the ride there. I took a ride home on one of the rural roads west of the city, meaning I could shift the bike into the higher gears and do a little speed training. Then it was back into Wichita on the Prairie Sunset Trail, a stop at Walmart for groceries, home for a much-needed shower and a ride back to the Howard Johnson for another overnight shift.