Midnight Bike Ride

Sept. 12, 2022  

Today is bike day. For me at least. After running 11 K in bare feet two days before, I wanted to give my recovering knee a little more rest. But at the same time, I wanted to stimulate my cardio and also to build my leg strength. Hence, cycling, because it is a much lower-impact activity for the knee.

I chose a course that has many hills and some long straight roads. It allows me to practice hill climbs as well as sprints. 

I took a brief fuel stop at a convenience store near Morita Architects Partnership. I ate an egg sandwich and drank barley tea. It hit the stop after a 10 K + ride with a 700 m uphill near the end.

After filling my stomach, I enjoyed my ride back home in high spirits. I increased cadence on uphills in top gear, and injected the pace on straights in low gear. This way I was able to develp different kinds of strength. 

I hope to do some core training tomorrow night or on the morning of Wednesday.   

Midnight Calorie-Burning Solo Cycling Party for Rehabilitation

Nov. 25, 2021

22.15 K: 1:06:44

Ave: 19.9 km/h

Max: 43.5 km/h

Cal: 305 kcal

It was such a productive day. I woke up at 8 and went to my office in Akasaka 11:30. I had a corporate seminar to teach between 1:30 and 5:00 p.m. It went well. I started preparing for a new seminar for next January. It feels good to be ahead of schedule. 

On the train back home my eyes were heavy, partly because I woke up an hour earlier than usual (I usually get up at 9), and partly because I have come to naturally feel sleep before midnight ever since I started cutting down on caffeine in-take. The effect of reduced caffeine in-take is quite remarkable. I fall asleep more easily than before. My sleep is less fragmented. I dream a lot. And I generally wake up refreshed. It feels good. I will continue to reduce caffeine in-take, especiallly in the afternoon, because the effect of afternoon caffeine in-take lingers on 6 hours to 12 hours after the in-take. Twelve hours after you take a cup of coffee, 25 % of the caffeine contained in the coffee is still in your blood system. Some of its molecules block adenocine receptors. Adenocine is a natural sleep inducer. It attaches to an adenocine receptor, and makes you sleepy. And once you fall asleep, the absorbed adenocine is used to synthesize ADP, AMP, and ATP. But if you take in caffeine, adenocine recepters are all blocked by caffeine molecules, a lot of adenocine remains in your blood system. It still remains in your system even after you wake up. This is why you often still feel sleepy when you wake up the morning after you had too much coffee on the previous day.  Many people drink more coffee immediately after they wake up. But it only makes the already vicious circle even worse. I learned this from a book called "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker. It helped me start a new habit. I believe many people will benefit from it if they want to improve the quality of their sleep. 

Though I was fairly sleep when I got home, I wasn't too sleepy to get out and do some workout. So, I quickly changed into my cycling outfit and hit the road. Tonight I put on a pair of Temres gloves, and had shoe covers on. They worked like a charm. I didn't feel cold at all. It is a great improvement from the previous night. I even had a headband on to keep my ears warm. So, I felt pretty comfortable throughout the ride. 

The below is my usual training course. It is rich in undulation. There is a long straight good for a steady cruise. It is quite a versatile course that is exciting to ride. But I may explore a new route soon for a change, because variety is the spice of life.

 

Midnight Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Nov. 24, 2021

21.8 K: 1:04:13

Ave: 20.1 kｍ/h

Mx: 40.7 km/h

Cal: 294 kcal

It's been a while since I last hit the road on my Calle. It was generously given to me years ago by a friend of mine from my childhood, Dr. Furumoto of the Furumoto Orthopedic Clinic. "Calle", by the way, means "street" in Spanish. I learned it a few months after I started learning Spanish on a language learning app called Duolingo. 

The "Calle" is pleasant to ride, because it's lighter than my chrome molybdenum steel bike. The lighter weight is mainly because of its material: aluminum. Aluminum is a common material for beginners' bikes. The only downside is its limited ability to buffer vibrations and impacts that the tires pick up from the road surface. But as long as you are going on relatively well-maintained roads, an aluminum bike is a pleasant choice. It's sturdy and won't easily break.

Anyway, back to talking about my ride tonight. It was awesome. So refreshing. I love riding late at night. The air is cold, but crisp and clean. Traffic is little. I feel safe riding at night, because approaching cars can be noticed very easily way before they come right behind you because of their bright head lights. 

The only downside is the low temperature makes your toes and hands so bloody cold that they almost feel numb. Next time I will put on better gloves (防寒テムレス) and  nylon shoe covers that I wear when I ride my motorcycle. They are oversized and wrap your whole shoes and cover your shins too. Hopefully, the cold won't bother me on my next ride. 

  

Midnight Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Nov. 10, 2021

21.8 K: 1:03:41

I rode my chrome molybdenum steel road-racer tonight. It's heavier than my aluminum bike. But it's more comfortable as the material has greater ability to absorb shock than aluminum. 

Though a chrome molybdenum steel bike is far heavier than some of the latest road racers made of the latest material, that is carbon, the total silhouette of a typical chrome molybdenum steel bike is sexier than that of a typical carbon bike because of its generally thinner composite parts. 

When I cruise along the road on my chrome molybdenum steel bike, I feel like I have become one of the competitors in the Tour de France in the 80s. Back then, athletes were generally more muscular because there still didn't exist a carbon bike, and it required the riders both greater leg and arm strength to drive forward their vehicles which are very heavy by today's standard. 

But as I said in one of my previous posts, heavy is good, because I mainly ride for the purpose of strengthening my legs. 

I feel more comfortable than the last time cycling with cleated shoes. Once you get the hang of them, it's a lot easier to transmit your power onto the vehicle with cleated shoes. 

I have a cycle computer on my chrome bike, so I can tell how fast I am going, and how far I have covered, and so on. The display shows the battery is low. I need to hit a dollar shop tomorrow to buy a couple of button batteries. 

Midnight Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Nov.1, 2021

21.8 K: 57:19.00

It's been a week since I last rode my bike. I don't remember why I didn't ride it for such a long time, but one thing that changed when I got my left knee injured is I stopped pushing myself too much when I was not in a mood to work out. Tonight I was in a mood, so I hit the road. 

I was afraid I had become a little unfit from a week of absence from cardio workout. But I was wrong. I felt very energetic. I found it easier than before to climb hills, and I cruised on flats on heavy gears with ease.

I slashed nearly 8 minutes from the previous two records for riding the same distance. I covered in less than hour what used to take me more than an hour. And I don't feel like I pushed myself that much. I feel I'm slowly recovering my cardio capacity. 

Next time I would like to cover 31.8 K and see how long it takes. Once I get used to that distance, my next milestone is riding a full marathon distance. I haven't entirely given up my hope of running a full marathon in bare feet again. So, I want to cover the distance on bike so as not to forget the feel for it.     

Post-Work One-Hour Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Oct. 27, 2021

21.8 K: 1:05:49 

It was such an awesome day today. It started with some in-bed lying leg workout that I had begun a few weeks before as a way to avoid further complication of my left knee issue. Former physical trainer for the New York Mets, Jeff Cavaliere says in one of his You Tube videos that a knee injury is primary caused by some abnormal tension onto the knee joint, and it often stems from a weakness in the hip joint. The leg workout mentioned above focuses just on that, the hip joint. What I do is that I bend one of my knees and spread it wide outward, and then bring it back inward as I eventually straighten the knee and squeeze the leg farther inward so that the inner thigh contracts. I do it 20 reps with both right and left legs. 

Two lessons that I taught in the evening were both great. I had an awesome time listening to my students. They seemed to have fun also. 

I got a video recorded for a coming corporate seminar. It is one of my top priorities for this week. So, its completion means a lot to me. 

Then finally, I wrapped up the day with an hour-long bike ride as I listened to my favorite audio, Brian Tracy's "Eat That Frog", which guides you out of an ineffective habit of procrastination and constant frustration of constantly feeling buried with work.  The gist of his lecture is this: get on with the most important and relevant task first till you complete it no matter how challenging it may be, instead of giving in to the temptation of finishing small and easy, but insignificant tasks at first.  

Midnight One-Hour Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Oct. 21, 2021

21.8  K: 1:05:05

As the funky discomfort in my left knee subsides, I feel I'm getting stronger and stronger each day. Five nights ago I biked 18 K, four nights ago 11.8 K, yesterday, 17.6 K, and tonight I covered 21.8 K! 

I've been successfully increasing my cycling distance over this course of time. Meanwhile, there is little discomfort in my recovering left knee. I feel increasingly confident about continuing along this line, making it a habit to do an-hour bike ride for daily long, slow, cardio. It's a tentative alternative to an-hour jog that I used to do before injury.  

While cycling, I listened to Brian Tracy's audio to refresh my memory of effective self-management. A series of 7 seminars over a period of 4 months is just going to begin soon. I want to refresh my knowledge by putting some new information into my brains. An-hour bike ride gives me a great opportunity to do just that.   

Midnight Bike Ride

Oct. 20, 2021

17:62 K: 57:01

I went out for a bike ride after work tonight. It was for a little less than an hour. I rode the one in the pic. It's one of the two road racers I have. The one I rode on my previous ride is aluminum. This one is chromium molybdenum steel. It's heavier than aluminum, but more flexible. It's superior to aluminum in its ability to absorb shock. I prefer this bike to the other bike, though I tend to ride the other one more often because this bike requires me to put on cycling shoes with cleats. It's too much hassle for a casual ride. But tonight I put on proper cycling shoes and hit the road on the chrome bike just because I wanted to get the feel for it after a long time. 

It took a while to get used to setting the cleat on the holder. I also almost forgot to release the cleat when making a stop, and almost fell on the side. 

Traffic was minimum since it's midnight, but it was scary at times because some car drivers passed me without keeping a safe distance off me. I learned to stop to let cars go and to start kicking the pedals again after they were gone. You don't want an accident, especially on a no-manned road past midnight.

I extended the riding distance from 11.8 K to a little more than 17 K. Total riding time almost reached an hour. Still far from my standard in terms of the expected training duration for long slow cardio exercise. But it's a good and steady improvement from the previous ride. 

I hope to ride for an hour next time.  

Midnight Half-Hour Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Oct. 17, 2021

11.8 K: 33:28.27

The rain is gone. The moon is out. The rainy clouds carried with them the residual humidity of the autumnal rainy season. What is left behind is chilly and crisp air of mid fall. It was in this crisp cold air that I rode my bike into tonight.  

After doing interval training on bike yesterday I gained confidence in my ability to do more cardio workout that involves dynamic leg movements of greater intensity and resistance. 

As my doc friend suggested cycling as an athletic activity more friendly to my injured left knee, there is little discomfort with kicking the pedal with my left foot, not just on flat roads, but also when climbing hills. 

Today I only covered 11.8 K in 33 minutes. But soon I would like to make an hour of long slow cardio my daily routine just as I used to before injury. 

Español, Bike Ride, & Run

April 5, 2020
Studied Spanish more than 6 hours on Duolingo. Finally reached the top in the Gold League past midnight. Spanish is an unbelievably fun language to learn. Grammar is simple, and sounds are fun to pronounce. I can't believe I didn't learn it sooner.

Went for a short bike ride at night out to Narita. Everything was closed or closed earlier. It was cold at night. I regretted I didn't had my pair of Temres gloves on. They are the best damn gloves to resist cold winds and even rains.

April 6, 2020
Went to the Minato City Hall in Akasaka to get a copy of my family register in the afternoon. Went there by bike. Parked it near Metro Akasakamitsuke Station, and walked up a hill toward Aoyama Icchome. City Hall is on the left a 5-minute walk from the parking lot. A clerk said there's parking on the basement floor of the building and that it's free! Should've checked it in advance. Oh, well...

Got a picture taken for my passport at Bic Camera, and headed for 1000 City in Chiba where the passport bureau is. Got there shortly before the office closed. Officers were helpful, and I completed all my application procedures in less than 20 minutes. The bureau was far from crowded. I was one of several people there were. My passport is going to be ready in a week. I am supposed to pick it up at a passport office in Funabashi which is between my home and office. It's easy access.

Ran before dinner after coming home. Hit the nearby park to do some barefoot run. School kids in uniform were playing soccer. They were let out early due to the coronavirus thing. They are supposed to distance themselves from each other, but three kids were facing each other close, lying on the grass and chatting with each other as they played games on their smartphones.

Jogged for 20 minutes and did a 200-M sprint three times and got burned out.

Had butterbur（ふき=fuki）for dinner. Madam Fumiko collected heaps from the backyard. It was delicious.