This started as a list of the tours I knew about, to facilitate asking for new tours. Somehow it turned into a training log.
Once again, I atrophied during December and now have to work my way back up.
I began on the eleventh of January by riding to Owens and back. This went well, so I rode to Aldi on the nineteenth, and returned by way of Aunt Millie's Bread Outlet. I repeated this tour on the twenty-seventh.
On the thirtieth, I resumed my Saturday tours of downtown Warsaw, travelling about five miles, which is only slightly more than the Sprawlmart Tour. And I forgot that, according to my calendar, something or the other was going on from nine to twelve at 202 West Main Street.
I think it was after twelve before I got to Main street anyway.
I went to Owens East by McKinley Street and dropped off plastic bags, then went to the emergency room at KCH by Harrison and dropped off magazines, then to Goodwill by the Beyer Farm Trail Boardwalk, Arthur Street, Park Avenue etc. and dropped off a battery charger, set of silverware, and a pillow form. Across Anchorage to a perfunctory tour of Meijer, across the parking lot to a "kids meal" at Panda Express.
I shamelessly used a sidewalk to get back to Anchorage Road, then followed Park Avenue (Warsaw) all the way to Market Street. Probably took Wood street to Jefferson and Scott Street to Smith. Bought some pretentious vinegar at Sherman and Lin's, then home. Park Avenue (Winona Lake) had almost no cars parked along it, so I stayed on it instead of zigging onto the one-way portion of the Multi-User Path as I usually do when coming home.
All this was done entirely in walking shoes. My feet appear to have taken no harm.
I should be able to handle fifteen miles easily next Thursday — but I'm going to get ready the night before in hope of getting off before 11:55.
Okay, so it was next Saturday instead.
Google Maps says 14.4 miles, but I'm sure I did more than fifteen: I did a lot of zig-zagging I didn't feel like tricking the program into measuring.
Started with a Tour d'Warsaw; ran errands at the health-food store and the sewing shop, looked at two General Dollar stores and a Sunoco station. Lunched at Subway, then took the Chinworth Bridge Trail to Parks-Schram Road — where I realized that I need a map to go around the south side of the lake to get home, and I've gotten out of the habit of carrying one.
My knees were giving subtle hints anyway, so I thought it well to come back through Warsaw. This allowed me to stop at Owen's West for potatoes, onions, and celery, which left me with a blank shopping list except for a couple of items that I can get only at Aldi.
Going on Saturday allowed me to check out the auction house that moved in where the indoor flea market used to be — getting there accounted for most of the unrecorded zig-zags — but it was still the defunct furniture store that went out of business after the flea market did. This left me rather twilight zoned, but eventually — too late to ride past and look — I realized that I must have seen it in Lakeview Shopping Center, where the pawn shop used to be.
I did the whole trip in walking shoes, and my left foot was quite sore when I got back. It cleared up reasonably soon, but I think I also got the right foot a little sore.
Ride today? I didn't even want to carry out the garbage; it would have blown off the plate before I got to the compost heap. And in addition to being strong, the wind is highly variable.
I did climb a set of stairs a few times on Tuesday.
I should be able to take a Tour d'Warsaw tomorrow, and start regaining what I've lost.
Or thereabouts. In addition to the usual difficulty with tricking Google Maps, I couldn't remember precisely where I'd been. I wrote down each stop, but my paths between weren't exactly straight.
Both feet got very sore. Riding hurt a little, but I really didn't want to walk. I took my shoes off before ordering lunch at Subway, and that rest improved matters a lot. I must carry slippers for walking around in stores. Or maybe sandals, so I can walk on sidewalks too.
My feet recovered almost immediately upon returning home.
Weather appears to plan to hold until Monday, and I have an extra half hour to dress, so I think I Can ride to the dentist. If I can step out by ten on Sunday — and I usually make it — I can roll out by ten on Monday. But I'd better fill my pockets the night before.
No sore feet, almost. I had the wit to take slippers to change into, which may have helped.
The trip out took thirty minutes. Stopped enough to make the return an hour and a half. Details in Banner for this date.
I meant to get an extra mile by coming back by way of Pierceton Road, but my left foot was so sore from the pressure of the pedal that I couldn't think about it — and then the foot didn't bother me much on the way home.
Pity I didn't have my cleats with me — there are no stops between 250 E and home, so it would have been quite reasonable to wear them. Don't know how I would have carried my shoes — my panniers were so full that I skipped Aunt Millie even though we are low on bread.
I wonder whether Dr. Scholl makes a wooden orthotic?
I walked a mile and climbed a few flights of steps. Feet did not complain. The spots that get sore always feel numbish, if I pay attention, and I frequently get wrinkles in socks I'm not wearing — not on the numbish balls, but between there and the pads of my toes.
Finally a ride long enough to wear cleats! My fleece-lined cleats were too warm, but I think the ventilated Duegis would have been too cool.
I ended up resenting the space my walking shoes took up in the pannier, since I changed into slippers whenever I stopped. I did wear the walking shoes for the trip from Goodwill to Panda Express.
No complaints of any sort out of my feet, yay!!
Got home with enough energy to improvise tacos out of the flour tortillas I'd bought at Aldi and stuff we had around, but collapsed afterward. Perked up just at bedtime, of course, but I slept reasonably well and woke up early.
Google Maps has truly weird ideas of how to get to Panda Express, most of them heading west on Route 30 when the store is to the east. I substituted the gas station next door.
Sometimes I get nostalgic for the paper map and knotted string method of finding out how far I've gone. I'd buy a paper map if they still made them!
Must be a map program that I can buy and download somewhere. One that will allow you to use walkways, ride through parking lots, and step over curbs.
Hah! I had a moment of thinking that they had upgraded the walking mode to allow curb crossing, but upon enlarging the route, I saw that I'd been allowed to go the wrong way on Provident Street. Which is an adequate substitute for cutting through the Pillbox parking lot.
Recalculating . . .
I wore cleats — the fleece-lined shoes — even though this was a stop-and-go tour. Instead of carrying walking shoes and slippers, I took my everyday sandals: better than the oxfords in case of a long walk (I could put on the heavy socks I carry whenever I think there's a chance I can buy winter shoes), and they take up less room in the panniers.
I checked between Brower's Furniture and the Visitor's Center: I can ride short distances wearing sandals. And I seem to have gotten over the trauma of getting a blood blister while riding my little front-porch tricycle barefoot; I didn't mind unprotected toes hanging out.
Sandals are much easier than slippers to put on while standing up. And one doesn't worry about getting them dirty or wearing them out on rough concrete.
It looks as though I have no further use for black oxfords. I think I'll still keep looking for a thick-sock pair; perhaps my feet will get less sensitive between now and next winter.
Summary: I didn't get sore feet, and wearing cleats in the city isn't all that much trouble. Helps that I found a sidewalk bench just before I got to the antique store, and could change shoes sitting down. I did all my exploring of downtown on foot.
Route: along Market street until time to jump over to Winona, stop at Lowery's, alleys to downtown, change shoes on Buffalo Street, shop a bit (only purchase was a bag of "original" at The Jerky Shop), look at chairs in Reinholdt's. Back on the bike along Fort Wayne to Subway, then across Beyer Farm Trail to Provident. Was concerned that wearing cleats precluded my usual trip through the curb-separated parking lots to across from the gas station, then remembered that I could go through the Pillbox parking lot to Parker, which I did. (Which confused Google Maps something awful, but no worse than the trip through the parking lots on the other side.)
Thence to the Brower's Furniture — I had a terrible time convincing Google that I'd missed the turn onto Center Street and gone on to Kosciusko Drive — a walk around the Visitor's Center (they have a bench to change shoes on) and across 30 on Center Street to Owen's, where I bought sour cream and Miracle Whip before heading home. I should have gotten a gallon of milk while I was at it.
I think I'll ask it how to walk from Meijer to Panda Express.
Ayup. I told it to start at the gas station, which is almost in the same place as Panda Express. It had you walk to the exit of the parking lot, walk west on US 30 until well past Hidden Lake, then showed a gray dotted line leading back to where you started.
I'd sure like a look at the source code.
But I walked a mile and climbed a few flights of stairs first.
And afterward, I drove the car four or five miles. Considered making a loop on the flatfoot for a perfecta, but it doesn't count unless one goes somewhere, and there's nowhere I can go on a flatfoot.
Also walked a mile and climbed some stairs on Sunday, and plan to do the same again on Monday.
I wore oxfords to Owen's and got away with it.
Got away with wearing oxfords again.
Walked a mile Monday, but after five hours in the kitchen, I was too tired to climb stairs. I'm still a bit worn today.
I was looking forward to the Tour d'Stitches the day after tomorrow, but Weather Underground says I'm going by car. The following day should be glorious, and tomorrow might be passable.
The following day is glorious. I was driven to the doctor, who gave me a prescription for prednisone. No riding until the sacroilliac heals. Riding on drop bars would probably be good for the inflammation — keeping it warm while not putting weight on it — but getting on or off might prove fatal. If I got hurt so bad that time I lost my balance while trying to pick up a scrap of paper, what would happen if I had a spasm while standing on one foot?
Also, riding might aggravate the rotator cuff I injured while prying myself off the bed after yesterday's frequent naps. I never even asked whether I could ride.
I'll probably try the flatfoot tomorrow. It makes a good walker. But it requires that one sit bolt upright, and I can't sit in a chair very long. (I bought it for a knee injury; it worked a treat for that.)
Rode the flatfoot to the end of the driveway and drasined back. Limit was mainly that it was cold.
Printed out a sign that reads "This vehicle is a wheelchair", with an eye to riding it on sidewalks on First Friday. Pity I can't ride it indoors; I can get by with just a cane now, but it usually hurts.
Not only no riding, but I'll have days of bed rest to make up for. Only two naps today, so far.
The rotator cuff isn't very sore.
The flatfoot, that is. It did me a world of good to get a little exercise without putting any strain on the arthritic joint.
I've been leaving the cane in the sewing room when I go to the kitchen.
Plus a tenth or two that isn't in Google Maps' database.
I came out of the Heritage Trail through the event entrance so that I could see whether the damage to the delineator posts had been repaired, but forgot to look. The porta-potty was upright.
Awk! I passed the fountain and didn't look at it. I'll just have to go out again in the afternoon.
This time I'll wear a coat.
I went in by the entrance this time to be sure I wouldn't forget to look at the delineators. They've made the residual damage look like normal wear and tear. One post is missing, a few aren't quite straight.
The jerk was careful to smash away the walls of the upper bowl of the fountain so that water would puddle all around the fountain. He didn't think to — or, perhaps, have the strength to — remove the step for short people, so it's still possible to get a drink without stepping in the puddle. No at all easy to fill a bottle from the reduced stream at the outlet, I suspect.
I came back along the creek and noticed that the new branch leading to Grace College is open for business. Perhaps I'll go that way tomorrow.
I wore a coat, but not enough coat.
What with the weather and having things to do, I haven't been out since Sunday, but I rode a mile then — half a mile before the service, half a mile after — and intend to do it again tomorrow. Perhaps I'll dare to climb the steps to Club 56, just once, and without moving verrrry slowly on the way down.
In the morning today, I took a short loop — out Boys' City and back along the creek — then rode downtown and back — probably a mile total. In the evening I went around the Boy's City loop the other way.
My back hurts, but it's a tired hurt, and I seldom feel direct pain from the arthritic joint. I spent a lot of today sitting quietly, which is hard on a back.
I rode the Fuji! Mounting up didn't hurt, getting off didn't hurt.
I could go to Owen's tomorrow, were it not that I want to save stress for an event at the fairgrounds in the evening. I can't yet walk well enough to attend a fair-type event; I get pretty tired at the fair when I'm healthy. I'm puzzling out how to get the Flatfoot there without riding it on Winona Avenue. The flyer gives no hint as to whether there will be places to sit down. With opportunities to rest, a cane would do and I could ride the road bike and cable it to the fence.
The legs have been ready all along, and the arthritic joint kept quiet. The tired spot in my back kind of liked bending over the handlebars, and didn't get much worse during the trip.
But the arm I injured trying to get out of bed is definitely Not Healed Yet. It's going to be a while before I can go any distance on the drops. Grrr. It's been three weeks already! I took a dose of aspirin on my return in the hope that an anti-inflammatory would speed things up.
The numbness running down my left leg is more noticeable than it was before this incident.
I chickened out of "A Taste of Ag". I couldn't figure out how to get the flatfoot there, and don't fancy maneuvering it through a crowd anyway. I could use one of those canes that's really a stool. The Rollator I've been looking at has a seat, but I'm not sure it would work on gravel.
Went out for a tour on the flatfoot yesterday, probably a couple of miles: out through Stone Camp, back through the redbud alley (the show has not yet begun), up the new branch of the Heritage Trail until I stopped to take a better look at the bike trail running alongside the walking path, and promptly got tired of draisining. On a wider path with fewer pedestrians, I might have tried starting up crosswise and switchbacking until I got up to speed. Or with a better hip and a better bike, I'd have stood up on the pedals.
Standing up isn't a serious option on a flatfoot.
The usual Sunday mile, and I did the Club 56 climb both before and after the service. At the top of my second climb, I got into push-up position, and counted to twelve. I wouldn't, of course, make any serious effort to lower myself, but I quivered half a millimeter for each count. And just before sunset, I worked in the garden for a few minutes.
Repeated the redbud tour. The redbuds are out, but not at peak yet. This time I followed the Grace College branch all the way to the brush dump, where the trail starts to slope down, and skipped going downtown.
Just before the intersection with Kings Highway, I found a use for gears above 2: I could see the entire dip, the Trail is wide enough for two-way traffic, and there was nobody at all around, so I collected as much kinetic energy as I could on the way down. It felt good to use technique!
Except for that dip, the trip back is downhill all the way; I rode the brakes a lot.
At the intersection, the ditches across the trail have been filled with asphalt, and bind-man's dots have been installed. The cones remain in place where the ditches used to be. Perhaps they are meant to be a permanent reminder that motor traffic is forbidden. I like them better than the bendable posts at the entrances of the older part of Heritage Trail, particularly now that they are wonky and dingy and at least one is missing.
Gardening continues. I've begun moving the compost heap. Left arm still clicks when I lower it.
Biggest strain on the arm was getting the bike in and out of its parking place, but I felt the need to come straight back by Boys City instead of following the Heritage Trail along the creek.
Redbuds brighter, but still not worth the trip. I checked a low-hanging branch, and they are only half open.
Park-Stone Camp 0.4 miles
Boys City Drive 0.2 miles
Pixel Ruler 250 meters plus 250 meters
Google Maps measures only in miles, the legend on the map reads only in meters. ??
Google says that half a kilometer is a third of a mile. That's consistent with a metric century being sixty miles.
So I went nearly a mile.
⁂
In the evening, I rode the flatfoot back and forth and around and around. I'm not sure how far, but it was farther than the Fuji ride. My legs were feeling it a bit on the last few yards, so it was far enough — but awk scrickle, that is all it takes to be enough?
Um . . . it's because flatfoots are harder to pedal. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Walked around the block. Raked in the garden for a few minutes.
In the evening, I walked to the park and back, then rode the flatfoot out to Dane Miller's field. The redbuds made a lovely arcade of the trip back even though the light was gloomy.
Tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be sunny, and the flowers shouldn't fade much in that time.
There's an excellent view of the construction work from the top of the spiral slide, and there's no non-skid on the slide. The neglected seam has worn smooth and didn't catch on my pants. I must walk to the park again soon.
Walked to the park again, climbed the spiral slide again, but people applauded when I slid down, and I scared off the small boy who had been playing with it. Also walked around in the senior center a while. My back hurts a little, so I guess that walking to church tomorrow would be unwise. I should walk an equivalent distance in loops next week, to make sure I can walk that far while being able to stop if I get tired.
For a true simulation, I should walk halfway to church, come home, sit down for an hour, and do it again.
⁂
Before lunch, I rode my Fuji to Miller's widow's field, to test my arm. It was tested sooner and more than I expected: both tires were soft. The pumping was more stress than the riding.
The redbuds were spectacular. They are making a show on all the streets, but on the way back from Dane Miller's field, they almost form a tunnel.
Driving the car everywhere I go is getting old, man!
⁂
And not long before sunset, we both walked to the park to see how the construction went. Hurt enough that I'm definitely flatfooting to church tomorrow.
Friday, I think it was, I walked to Evangel Hill (and up it) by way of the park and every set of steps in the park (except the spiral slide), including the life-guard chair. This hurt so little that I walked to church today — and got away with it! I took a five-minute lie-down in Club 56 before and after the service, but didn't do any extra stair climbing, or descend any steps slowly.
Arm still precludes drop bars. I'm getting so shut-in that I'm planning to flatfoot to the emergency room with magazines this week — after a practice run to Grace College. I think I'll come back by streets to avoid the hills on the Heritage Trail. Which means wearing my rear-view-mirror hat.
Went first to vote in the Grace College gym, then went hunting for the entrance to the Heritage Trail. Since I already had a clue, it wasn't as difficult as finding my way out of Grace College had been when I rode in by Heritage Trail. That was before the Good Friday incident, on my road bike.
It's impossible to persuade Google Maps to measure anything approximating my route, but the distance from the wooden bridge to the dormitories looks about the same as the distance from that bridge to the Entrance, and that's only a mile or so.
On the other hand, the distance to KCH from there is only two and a half miles, and Walgreen's is a mile and a half. And I did make a side trip into Fairlane Mobile Home Park. I considered returning to Kings Highway through the brush dump, but the recent rains have left dirt roads a mess.
I think I could work my way up to riding to the Pillbox in a week or two.
Call it ridewalking, as I'll have to dismount for every stoplight and every upslope.
I rode to Owen's yesterday. Much to my surprise, I didn't need to switchback on McKinley Street. Perhaps my occasional stair climbs have done me some good.
I stopped at the Trailhouse on the way out, but forgot to ask where my adjusting barrels are. The brake levers touch the handlebars when I brake really hard; they should be adjusted before the cable stretches any more. I didn't try twisting the black things that look like bumpers.
On the way back, I actually used the wide sidewalk on Market Street. Chicanery and on-street parking have rendered Market Street unsafe for pedal-powered wheelchairs. I also used the wide sidewalk on McKinley as a comfortable place to wait for a chance to cross Winona. Traffic was rather heavy.
I also dug in the garden; it doesn't appear to have made my rotator cuff any worse, even though I forgot to take aspirin at bedtime yesterday.
Today more digging, and a brief expedition to the park to see what event was running past the house. "Joe's Kids", whatever that is. I think it's to buy treatment for crippled children.
I walked to Sprawlmart once, so it's reasonable to hope to work up to a Sprawlmart tour. But I can't come back by Wooster Road, as I would on a road bike.
I wonder whether I could take the beaten path between Sprawl One and Sprawl Two, as I sometimes do on the road bike. On the one hand, I can draisine, on the other hand you don't steer a flatfoot, you aim it.
Pedalling a flatfoot is sufficiently different from pedalling a road bike that I suspect that I'll have to drop my distance, pitiful though it will still be, when my arm has healed. But I'd do that for fear of re-injuring the arm anyway.
Some pain in my hip walking to church, resumed halfway home, felt a twinge or two from the right knee when almost home. I was late, so no stair-climbing before the service, but I had a climb and a lie-down just before leaving after wiping the fridges after the service. Lying quietly for five minutes is really boring. I varied it by pressing my back to the carpet for a count of twelve, then relaxing for a count of twelve — until that got boring.
Yesterday evening, I took a lap around the village on the flatfoot and felt a twinge in my left upper arm when braking. The spot remained painful, and remains sore. I think it has been sore for some time and I haven't paid attention.
Just tried raising my arms. The sore spot wants me to stop when my hands are about level with my shoulders.
Today I actually moved visibly when doing twelve "pushups" before lying down in Club 56, but it didn't feel as though I were straining anything.
This morning I can raise my arm all the way, but I thought it wise to do it only once. It's probably just as well that I can't hang the laundry on the line today.
Rode to Owen's again. Impressed a bystander again. I don't recall getting that on the road bike; perhaps some instinct tells them that this bike is different. Maybe it's because I fumble around about getting started more, giving time to start a conversation. Or maybe it's a more-talky set of people.
Rode around the village a little later on — after everything but the ice-cream shop closed for the night.
I'm developing a theory that road bikes encourage you to under-exercise the small, ineffective muscles that are all that an upright allows you to use. The gears on the flatfoot aren't as excessively tall as they used to be, and I've used second gear on visible upslopes.
Not to mention that I never need to switchback on McKinley.
Bummer getting started after walking through the tunnel, though.
No sweat about riding downtown to buy *** and look at fabric — except that I can't go by Winona or Market street or Center. And I'm not all that fond of Jefferson.
All these years of planning for when I'm old and crippled, I thought it would be the legs that failed. I never gave thought to losing the use of an arm.
Pushed the cultivator around the garden, then hacked with the hoe a little.
I don't think Market Street going in is as hazardous as it is coming back; no parked cars, at least. I must take a closer look the next time I cross it.
I could also get downtown by taking the boardwalk. I rode to the hospital yesterday, and didn't get tired. My arm ached afterward, though.
And Smith street is as safe as it ever was. I just need to figure out how to reach it without using too much of Winona.
This time I walked across Winona without dismounting, and rode through the tunnel. Not too hard to avoid the un-repairable pavement. (They have to wait until it's bad enough to justify the expense of ripping all the pavement out and starting over, to avoid the disasters that happen after an overpass is lowered.
When I was in school in Indianapolis, somebody *did* repair the pavement under an overpass by putting down a new layer. A lot of trucks got their tops peeled back before the authorities figured out what had happened.
I woke up at two, realized that I had time to take exercise, packed up some magazines, and rushed off without checking the radar. I regretted that when it started sprinkling and there I was dressed all in cotton. But I made it to Owen's porch just as the heavens broke open, and didn't get *very* wet dashing from the porch to the entrance. And it had all blown over by the time I bought a loaf of bread and a pork chop — which pork chop I forgot to bake for supper tonight — we had hot dogs instead.
I think I'll go to the Trailhouse tomorrow and buy a pair of fenders.
Arm is really sore this morning, but it doesn't mind bearing my weight, and it does mind being held up as if to rest unmoving on the bars of the flatfoot. I'm going to try riding the Fuji to fetch my prescriptions.
Trip to Owen's went well, so I tried riding to the fairground farmer's market and back this morning. I hope to be able to visit both markets next Saturday.
I think that drop bars are less strain on my rotator cuff than upright bars.
The "bike lanes" on Smith Street are dirty. I attribute this to substituting fog lines for lane dividers, which gives car drivers the idea that it's better to right hook than to let tires touch the sacred bike lane.
Walked a mile, climbed a flight of stairs, and counted to twelve in the morning. In the evening, I walked as far as the trailhouse to see the remains of the festival packing up.
Yesterday I walked to the village to buy a lobster-claw clasp and look into some of the tourist shops. My legs hurt on the way back, but in a "you should have done this sooner" way rather than a "you have done too much" way.
Went shopping by car this morning. Put in quite a lot of walking in parking lots. I went into the airlock of Workout Anytime for a better look at the machines. The row next to the windows was all stationary bikes: "I've got a real bike". The next row was all treadmills: "I just walked here from way over there!". I turned around and walked out.
I should get a pedometer so that I'll know how much walking I did on such occasions. But pedometers appear to have been getting more expensive and less reliable of late.
Pure sitting scheduled for Race Day.
Summer coming on: I've dug out my gray linen knickers, I'm wearing my sleazy-thin short-sleeved cotton jersey, and my thinnest linen scarf is waiting with my helmet — but I'm still wearing the plastic gloves that fit inside fuzzy gloves.
Wikipedia claims that cycling gloves are for keeping the hands warm! But I tried to correct a punctuation mark once, and I will NEVER attempt to edit Wikipedia again.
I'm feeling so good now that I'm going walker shopping. Actually, to the Pillbox is hardly any farther than to the emergency room, and I've done that ride on the flatfoot more than once. But I just might cross Route 30 afterward and come back the long way.
⁂
I overlooked something very obvious: IT MEMORIAL DAY!!
I observed a car decorated with flags in a way I consider disrespectful, and reflected that I had to give the driver a pass because it was Memorial Day, and later I reflected that because Memorial Day fell on a Monday this year, the veterans don't get the cemeteries to themselves on the actual day this year — and I still didn't twig until I wondered how to open the automatic door at The Pillbox.
I put in nearly two extra miles — I was nearly to The Entrance before I realized that I'd forgotten my shopping list. Since it's 2.4 miles to the Pillbox, that makes seven.
2.9 to Martins, 3.4 to Dubois, 4.3 to Ace Hardware, 5.8 back to Winona Lake — add in the two extra miles and I'm pushing eight.
I need to practice using both hands to brake when startled. I wonder how one goes about doing that?
Continue to Part Two
2013 Rides
2014 Rides
2015 Rides
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