Saturday, September 14, 2019

Friday the 13th: Urine Never Lies

I'm not publishing as the The Paleo Cyclist these days.  I'm saving it all for the ebook. Instead, I will just throw out samples like this one once in awhile.

Meanwhile, I HAVE been doing a bunch of reading about the Paleolithic (the actual epoch, not the diet) and I gotta say, maybe we should have quit while we were ahead.  

More meanwhile, if you find your eyes glazing over when it comes to the statistics stuff, don't worry.  I don't read them either.  Much.  


FRI September 13, 2019 
Miles: 18   Time 1:40   Average Seed:12.9    Weight: 228lbs

I did the same ride with the same mileage and time as yesterday...actually, I was a bit slower this morning, owing to a headwind and I took my time getting from the trail to the trailer.  I plan to ride the same 17.5 mile route for ten days then step it up to 20 miles.  I think I overdid it last month by trying for too many miles too soon.  Also, my average time is inaccurate because my time and speed on the trail is adulterated by my time on the 3 miles out and back from home to trailhead.

I am thinking about pedaling the NoName bike to the shop/trailhead and starting my time/distance/average speed just based on trail time only.  A bit clunky but if I am going to keep records they might as well be accurate.  I could drive to the shop, also...

Another concern based on recent experience is that I am having trouble getting out of bed in the morning, and when I do get up I have zero energy.  I slept through the alarm this morning and that is VERY odd.  Diet?  Old age?  I don’t know.  But it seems highly unlikely that I will be doing any morning riding once the work-a-day starts back up...but if I drove to the trailhead I could do a brisk one hour on the trail, clean up and change at the shop and go straight to work. 

Hmmm...well, it’s worth a try.

10 almonds 60
2 bananas       200
Big Salad        475
4 beers        400
TOTAL       1135

On another note, I have been somewhat troubled by a very dark brown, low volume urine situation.  Normally I pee all the time and a  lot of it but the last two days I haven’t filled a teacup, and what I did produce looked like...well, tea. Based on internet research it seems to be dehydration accompanied by too-strenuous exercise. That seems to fit in with my other symptoms of the last couple days (fatigue, mild confusion, stumbling around on weak legs)...disconcerting, to be sure...thus the beer and I am chugging as much water as I can stand.  If things don’t clear up (sorry, I can't help myself sometimes) I will be seeing the VA Doc.  I have high hopes though.  I HAVE intuited that I have maybe been pushing a little too hard.

UPDATE 620 pm  After sitting on the porch for the last few hours, chugging water and three (soon to be four) 16oz beers I just urinated in an empty water bottle with the top cut off (plenty empties lying around here) and my urine was a glorious bright yellow.  Not clear, but a definite improvement over the root beer I was pissing earlier today.  Still low volume, but overall, a vast and welcome improvement.  So there ya go: dehydration and strenuous exercise.

SAT September 14, 2019
Miles: 14.40    Time: 55   Average Speed: 15.1    Weight:  230

Not much to say.  I am weighing myself daily now because that’s how I did it last time.  How did I gain two pounds since yesterday?  The four beers last night?  I hope not because I’m sorta planning on doing it again tonight.  Hey, it’s Saturday night.  Today I rode NoName to the trailhead (my shop, by some special grace bestowed on me, is RIGHT THERE.  I changed into my bibs and jersey at the shop, laced up my shoes and headed out.  The trail is the only way to go; I have one busy road to cross but all four directions have “yield to cyclists” signs so it isn’t too much of a deal to cross, except that it is also a main road to the local high school so ya got that to consider...but once clear of that road (Mission Road)  you are mission clear for as far as you can go;  the trail, this miraculous rail trail that starts RIGHT AT MY SHOP goes over fifty miles with ZERO crossings of any significance. 

I remember five years ago saying “Man too bad I won’t be around when they finally get the trail up and running...but guess what?  I’M STILL HERE!  AND IT”S DONE!  It really is too good to be true.  And today I did a solid 55 minutes at an average speed of 15 mph.  My decision to limit my record keeping to just trail time is a definite payoff.  While blasting along on flat, almost windless (trees) tarmac (or whatever it is) I would glance down at my speedo, see 14.9 mph and then get down in the drops and pour it on. 

I think this is the stuff.  I think so...



18 comments:

  1. Um NoName bike....? Did I miss something?

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  2. It's that single speed Nashbar I bought a couple years ago. Still a fun bike now that Little Miss is my harsh mistress.

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  3. Ah yes I remember, did you ever pursue the Schwinn Tempo?

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    1. A little. It's still there but the owner has not lowered the price. I did some price shopping on e-bay and the same (almost) bike (frame & fork) are listed at $200-$300...so I am guessing the owner saw this and figured he has a treasure. I can wait. It doesn't have to be a Schwinn. A real jewel will come along, hopefully after I get back to work.

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    2. that is very true, something else always shows up and there are a lot of nice Japanese built 80s road bikes out there. When I see a bike thats been listed for 3 to 4 weeks I feel ok about throwing out a lower price that is in my range, the worst they can say is no.

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  4. My smile is large and I'm happy because TPC is back! You go, Tim Joe!

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    1. Thanks Brian! How cool is it that after all this time my two original readers are still hangin' in there? All the way back to Fat Cyclist in 2011!

      Lately...well, maybe there is a brain chemistry thing taking place due to the diet and workout but lately I have had a mildly nagging back-of-the-head sense that I need to appreciate this time of my life...no that isn't right...it is that I DO appreciate this time of my life. For once, I get that these minutes, these hours right now ARE the good old days. I don't know if my luck changed (it's actually always been pretty good) or if I finally have been given the grace that I always knew would one day come, but brother, life is good.

      Thanks for always riding along.

      tj

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    2. Postscript: After re-reading my comment it occurred to me that the explanation is simple:

      Cycling is salvation.

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    3. Descriptor. I'm with you there!

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    4. Thanks, Miss! With the millions of words written about cycling, there must be plenty of stuff about the endorphin/meditational/spiritual fix one gets with a long ride. I do a ride I call "the Float" where I drift aimlessly around, slowly on my single speed for a couple hours. Often, when I get home, I am not sure where I went. "tis magic, to be certain.

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  5. The random check rewards me with posts to read from my friend TJ. My randomness was a longer time block. I'm glad to read you have found your way back into the saddle. Yup, I'm still selling lumber like it was free and I'm back in the gym this last week with a new group of 7th graders eager to toss up those random 3-pointers while a Coach just wants to see a little bit of D being played. I did another summer tour around Northern Colorado that involved a lot of pass climbing and A LOT of self questioning why I subject myself to this. I need some flat Florida trail cruising to regain my quan. But the beer was cold and the campsites were beautiful.....always better than working. The retirement war chest is still growing and full time beer drinking and finding new week to 10 days tours is starting to be in my future field of vision.
    Be well my friend.
    Jim

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  6. It's been a long time, but I decided to stop by. This was a great post from September. More please.

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  7. Tim, If you read this.... Your brother Bill is about to have open-heart surgery on the 19th of Feburary 2021. He is trying to call you but doesn't have your number.

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