Month: February 2024

Whiplash and The Tank

Whiplash?

After reaching 29,000 miles on The Tank, my Surly CrossCheck, the other day, I switched to riding Little Nellie, my Bike Friday New World Tourist. As expected the switch from a drop handlebar bike to a more upright riding position made my neck feel better.

It’s been a puzzle as to why my neck has been so sore recently. It occurred to me that maybe I have whiplash. Back in late October I was stopped at a traffic light aboard Big Nellie, my Easy Racers Tour Easy recumbent. The driver of an SUV rear-ended me. He didn’t hit me hard but I didn’t see the impact coming so I wasn’t braced for it. My recumbent does not have a head rest. I am wondering if my neck snapped backward.

A couple of days later I switched to riding The Tank and now I wonder if the impact and the switch to drop bars gave me whiplash. In any case, my neck soreness is slowly going away. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks it’ll be a thing of the past.

Should I Modify The Tank?

The neck thing reminds me that I haven’t been super happy with The Tank recently so maybe it is time for some tweaking. My first thought is to put it on a diet. The bike was sold with cheap, lightweight Kenda tires. I loved the way the bike felt when I test rode it but when one of the tires failed in the first year I decided to put some heavier, more durable Schwalbe tires on the bike. The bike has a compact double drivetrain. The combination of the higher gearing on the drivetrain and the heavy tires may be what is souring me on the ride quality of the bike.

As a first step to remedy this issue, I ordered a couple of Panaracer tires, the kind that I used on Big Nellie for many years. They weigh about half as much as the Schwalbes. Of course, the weight savings comes at a price. The sidewalls are not as stout which sometimes results in blowouts as the rubber ages. I’ll have to keep an eye out for small gaps in the sidewalls as they age. Also, Panaracer tires don’t have a thick rubber tread so I can expect them to last less than half as long as Schwalbes.

After 29,000 miles, I expect The Tank’s rims to meet their maker soon. I could replace the stock Mavic rims with stronger, lighter weight Velocity Dyad rims. The Dyads work really well on both Big Nellie and The Mule.

If the tires and rims help, I will consider swapping The Tank’s drop bars for flat bars, as I did with Little Nellie. My guess is that this will cost $200 or so.

Thoughts on a Day Off

Errands Galore

It’s been 19 days and 488 miles since I took a day off from riding. I planned to take today off so I could donate blood. And so I did. I walked to the bloodmobile at the hospital down the street. I opted to give a unit of whole blood instead of a double red. The latter involves extracting twice as much hemoglobin. It’s not a big deal but I’d prefer not to feel like I’m living at altitude for the next week.

After my blood donation, I walked to the bank to get some cash. Oddly, getting cash is something that I used to do on a weekly basis but I use cash about as often as I use gasoline these days.

While at the bank I realized that I had neglected to get a t-shirt after donating blood. It’s not like a need another one but why not? So I walked back to the Bloodmobile to claim my prize.

I walked home and drove to the drug store to pick up a prescription. The pharmacy charged me $125 for a two-month supply of my asthma medication. Last month it charged me $112 for a one-month supply. I am not complaining about my good fortune but this is just another example of the inscrutability of the US medical system.

After the blood donation it was off to the barbershop to get a trim. I didn’t specify what I wanted so I got what I deserved, something close to a crew cut. It’ll grow back.

After a stop at home for lunch I drove to the voting place down the street and voted in the presidential primary. It was weird seeing only three names on the democratic ballot, two of whom have absolutely no chance whatsoever.

Seeing an octogenarian’s name on the ballot reminded me. It’s time for a nap.