Of a Sunday

[ksmith]

Nice ride this morning, a shade over 11 miles. Went to the stretch of road, did 6-7 circuits, explored some nearby bike trails, then to home before the heat set in.

At the risk of committing a sharing violation, a question--does one's butt ever get used to biking, or do you just deal with the numbness? I also have to keep shifting my hands around since the pressure points that contact the handlebars tend to numb after a while.

In other news, writing committed today. This is not a good book for Jani, being much more CODE-like than any of the others. In CODE, she was alone, forced to trust people before she felt ready to do so. What alliances she formed were tenuous, forced upon her by need and circumstance. In RULES, LAW, and CI, she manages to build some semblance of a support group, friends and lovers who will back her up, provide her refuge, provide some anchorage. By the middle of J5, that's all gone pretty much by the boards, and the scenes that show this gradual (or not so gradual) cleaving are, frankly, not a lot of fun to write. The hits just keep on coming, and the Jani that remains after the smoke clears is...not quite herself. She has no time to adjust or assimilate, and being one of those people who tends to react outward...

Maintaining some semblance of control over all this should prove an interesting exercise.

As I was pondering all this, I thought back to Lois Bujold's one-line synopsis for MEMORY--"Miles hits thirty--thirty hits back." It's an illustration of the sieve that my mind has become that while I recalled the line, I forgot the title of the book and had to look it up on Amazon. Since this is one of my favorite Miles books--I'll take the angsty one over the funny ones any day--I was a little annoyed with myself for doing that.

I was able to direct that annoyance outward when I read one of the MEMORY reader reviews. This person made the comment that they consider MEMORY fantasy rather than SF because of the depth of character exploration and the importance of social and political interactions and details to the story. What tech is there is seen as unremarkable by the people in the story, and never adequately explained to the reader. Therefore, it may as well be magic.

Yeah, like the whole Illyan thing--never explained a whit and anyway, you know, bio and med ain't real science. And as we all know, when we drive a car, we like ponder and discuss the process of internal combustion because it's like soooo freakin' remarkable that we've yet to adjust to the sensawunda.

When it's your book being assessed in such a manner, you gripe and bitch, but in most cases there is some restraint exercised because you're the author and are therefore supposed to rise above the petty urge to track the reviewer down, break into their home, grab them by the scruff of the neck and...explain things to them in a level tone of voice. But one is liberated somewhat when it's another author's work one is defending. In cases such as this, you are allowed to track down the idiot and commit explanation by cranial immersion in a common porcelain device. Repeatedly, if necessary.

Sunday. Day job on the morrow. *blech*

Comments

[amyirene-40.livejournal.com]

There are bike seats made for women - I'm told they are padded in different places and somewhat more comfortable.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the butt gets numb. You might (as suggested) look at different seats, although you'd really need a good test ride to make a rational choice. I know I had to change seats on one of my previous bikes to prevent "problems." You might also look into padded cycling shorts, if you aren't already using them.

And one reason for the dropped handlebars on road bikes is to provide a wide variety of hand positions for longer rides. do you wear gloves? Bike gloves also have padding in strategic locations.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I have one--the guy replaced the default seat when I bought the bike. It's gel-filled and everything.

I don't even want to think about how the default seat would feel.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I passed a rider today who was wearing bike gloves. I may look into them--I have enough problems with tendonitis without doing anything to aggravate the problem.

I predict a change of seating in my future. I'm not using padded cycling shorts. I've been avoiding cycling clothes because, well, they look great on slim, well-conditioned riders...and I'm neither.

[amyirene-40.livejournal.com]

Cyclists wear those goofy clothes for a reason - they really are more comfortable. As for the padded biking gloves, my brother, Mister The Seat On My Bike Has No Padding At All Because I'm Such A Tough Guy, wears them.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I really want to start serious biking, and I even live in a place where the weather allows cycling 350 days a year. Unfortunately (and amazingly) there are very few bike lanes and the roads are (understandably) narrow, so there are very few safe places to go biking. Unless I want to ride out to Kaena Point and back every weekend. Which maybe I should think about doing, since I'm a bit tired of the stationary bikes in the gym!

blech...

[(Anonymous)]

Sunday...day job tomorrow...I can empathize. After all, I work in the same place.

Peter

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

We have bike lanes in scattered locations--newer roads have them, older ones don't. You couldn't pay me enough to ride on a main drag without a bike lane--I pass cyclists who do so several times a week and blast it, they scare me. I've heard the we-have-a-right-to-use-the-roads, too argument,but when you're surrounded by large, heavy vehicles driven in some cases by people who shouldn't be allowed to own a Matchbox car, well, I think that argument withers and dies on the vine.

Granted that I've only done this a few times, but I find that this outdoor ride lightens my mood for the rest of the day. I'm not really extending myself, so it's not runners high. Maybe it's just the sense of accomplishment at getting the workout done in the morning and the enjoyment of being outdoors and actually moving around that instills it.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you're not a joiner, but are there any bike clubs in your area? I'm looking into joining one next year that offers organized rides at all different levels of fitness. Safety in numbers...?

Re: blech...

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I know you. So, you didn't get swept out in the latest round of...restructuring?

It's fun being a worker bee these days.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I also lack a lycra body -- at age closer to sixty than fifty, most rational jurisdictions would ban skin-tight clothing on aesthetic grounds. However, I have found that loose-fitting cycle shorts are available, at least in the male genre.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I've been able to find decent shorts through Athleta--light, wicking knit, a little longer than mid-thigh, loose-ish without being baggy, with a liner.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

You need gloves, as others have suggested.

And bike shorts. Yes, I know they look geeky but they work. For those that are less than fond of spandex, you can get shorts that look like regular shorts on the outside but have a padded liner. You can see examples of these at Terry Bicycles at http://www.terrybicycles.com/ and http://www.llbean.com

I have a couple of pairs of these that I wear for cycling around town. When I'm going to be on the bike all day touring, though, then I go with the spandex. And as long as you're surrounded by other cyclists also wearing spandex, it doesn't look too bad.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Nice comments on Memory, which is also one of my favorite Miles books.
I may have to steal the "cranial immersion" line...

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Gloves and bike shorts it is...

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

I was not actually *drinking* tea when I hit the Miles rant. This is good, for my partner would have been most disturbed by me choking on my tea in a fit of laughter and spraying the laptop with tea.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

*grumble* I've seen those same arguments used to support the contention that Lois' work, and any SF work that features exploration of character, social issues, or "soft science" isn't "hard" SF. I've just never seen someone drop the SF entirely and compare such work to fantasy.

They gave the book 4 stars--it's not as though they disliked it. I just find their definition of SF silly.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

...and both are now on their way, courtesy of LLBean.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I don't think the laptop would have been too thrilled, either...especially if you add sugar.