Magic Spot Flowing

My Spanish is, to say the least, rusty. At one time in my life I could do literary analysis in Spanish and probably knew more technical poetry terms in Spanish than in English. These days it’s pretty much limited to “Hi, how are you?” (”Hola, como estás?” for those who didn’t just translate that in their heads.) Okay, not really, I can still say a variety of things and read and write pretty fluently, but my vocabulary and fluency has really dropped off because it’s not refreshed regularly.

So when I saw Isa’s post on vegan food blogs in Spanish, I was like, awesome! Vegan food from other cuisines, plus the opportunity to refresh my Spanish with language that people actually use, rather than arcane items like sinécdoque (a word I learned first in Spanish V AP and only later in English). And the linguistics geek in me (who am I kidding, the linguistics geek that IS me) jumped for joy at the chance to learn about recipe register in another language.

I like CreatiVegan particularly because the recipes are given in English and Spanish. The English translations are a little rough but all the more charming and linguistically interesting for it (also much better than I could do translating my recipes into Spanish). I love the look of the Rollitos de berenjena con verduras [Little Eggplant rolls with vegetables] in Gastronomia Vegana — very creative, I’ve never thought of using eggplant as a tortilla replacement. And El Delantal Verde [The Green Apron] is just pretty!

By the way, Google Translate thinks that the Tarta fria de yogur (which looks lovely) should be called “Tartan cold yogurt”. I think Google might be confused about what country we’re in…

Is there a name for the following phenomenon?

But Siobhan said we have to use those words [Special Needs] because people used to call children like the children at school spaz and crip and mong which were nasty words. But that is stupid too because sometimes the children from the school down the road see us in the street when we’re getting off the bus and they shout ‘Special Needs! Special Needs!’

The passage is from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and it describes something I’ve noticed about group labels. First, one group, which is socially disadvantaged, is labeled something, call it X. Then X becomes a ‘nasty word’, as Christopher puts it, so people who don’t want to offend the Xes start to call the group that was called X something new, say Y. But if nothing has changed about the status of the group (or if it has improved but they are still disadvantaged), other people promptly begin using Y as a nasty word, and the cycle repeats.

This is a part of the phenomenon that became marked in the 1990s as “political correctness”, but it’s been going on for longer than that (there’s a fairly long cycle of names for the group currently labeled black people, for example, going back much longer than that, as well as others) and the behavior labeled ‘political correctness’ is really a) the renaming part, whereas I want a name for the part where the word becomes contaminated and b) an extreme, and may be partly a political construct anyway.

I don’t know if there is a word for this phenomenon of words becoming contaminated in connotation because of their denotation. It’s fairly straightforward from a sociolinguistic point of view — because the word refers to a disadvantaged group about whom some people think badly, the people who think badly use it with a connotation of insult, and it gradually acquires a connotation of insult. Once it’s not desirable to give insult to those people, because of a change in their status or a change in culture (or both) a new word is required. It also applies to some extent to curse words — the words are taboo because the things they refer to are taboo, and any new words invented for the referents tend to also become taboo. (Although there is also a reverse process through which curse words are bleached, such as ’suck’ and ‘damn’. Damn is less bleached, but I think on average it isn’t regarded as very offensive, and it’s certainly bleached of its original meaning referring to damning someone to Hell. ‘Suck’ is bleached for almost everyone younger than a certain age now, I think. I last got in trouble for it from a particularly obnoxious high school teacher; I generally don’t use it at work, but I doubt anyone would really notice or care if I did, whereas ‘damn’ or ’shit’ are still things I actively try not to say at work even though they’re also fairly bleached for me.)

Anyhow, I’d like to be able to just use a word for the contamination/replacement process without having to describe it conceptually or by metaphor every time. How does everyone feel about “the epithet cycle”?

One of the things I’ve done the past two weekends (in addition to a 50K ride, a 14-mile ride, and a birthday party) was take a local League of American Bicyclists-certified Road I class.

The goal of a Road I class is to take any cyclist who can ride a bike and teach them basic-to-intermediate traffic cycling competency (level label depends on your definition of basic or intermediate), both on the legal and practical side, including road skills and emergency maneuvers.

One might ask why I took the class, given that I am already a fairly competent traffic cyclist. Two reasons: 1) I wanted to learn the emergency maneuvers, and make sure I had no gaps in my knowledge; 2) I wanted to find out if I’d like to learn to teach the course.

The class was interesting. I feel like it’s a lot of material to cover, and you have to be extremely organized to teach it in the minimum 9 hours allotted to the class per the manual. The presentation that we had was a little bit disorganized, and somewhat marred by technical difficulties. I don’t want to criticize the instructor too much because as I said, I think it’s a demanding class to teach in such a short span of time.

To some extent, I wonder if it’s realistic to put the entire class into one unit at all. The people in our class really had a big range of abilities and a big range of interests. I think there are some things that everyone should know to traffic cycle even if all they’re planning to do is ride short distances, but other things aren’t so relevant to everyone, like discussing narrow country roads, nutrition and hydration, and cycling clothes — highly relevant for people planning to ride in those conditions or for longer rides, but not so relevant for people who plan to do mostly short-distance city cycling.

I felt that some of the variation in usefulness could have been addressed just by the order in which everything was presented, addressing the essentials first and extras later, and some could have been addressed by keeping certain topics really on the simple side unless there was interest in spending more time on it. Our instructior did some of this — for example, we didn’t spend much time on nutrition and hydration — but we did spend a lot of time discussing parts of the bike and cycling clothes. Certain parts of the bike are really relevant, but spending time talking about the more obscure bits can detract from basics like wheels, brakes, saddle, chain, etc. Likewise, it’s highly relevant for everyone that it’s recommended to wear a helmet, gloves, and glasses, and a rain cape or light, breathable coat if it’s wet (and have fenders if possible), but not so relevant for everyone to discuss wicking clothes and bike shorts — it really varied in our class on how interested people were (and I was probably the most interested and I already knew that stuff).

There was also some material in the slides which I felt wasn’t extremely important, like “Bike only turn lanes” and “Bike only thru lanes” (same slide). Both pictures were of the intersections near Sand Hill and El Camino in Palo Alto (it was fun to see places that I recognize on slides; several of the pictures were areas that I ride regularly) and they’re quite rare situations and it’s normally pretty clear what to do, so I thought that was a bit of extra information which could honestly be skipped since it’s a generalization of principles you learn separately (directional positioning at intersections — stay to the left of right-turn only lanes). Another slide showed a similar but more extreme situation, on Page Mill at I-280, where both right lanes are right-turn only so the bike lane switches from right to left and you have to merge across. This is not a fun merge, but it has the same basic characteristics as any other merge across right-turn only lanes, just more so.

Everyone in our class could ride a bike just fine; there were no ‘true beginners’. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to teach in the alloted time if there were, since as it was we barely covered scanning, signaling, emergency maneuvers, road position practice, and road test in the time we had, and I think the people with less practice still need more practice, though I was very, very impressed to see them all ride on El Camino Real without completely freaking out!

Incidentally, our instructor was trying very hard to deter people from believing that El Camino is a dangerous and unpleasant road to cycle, and I can understand that, because it’s important for being an effective traffic cyclist to not be intimidated by roads unnecessarily. El Camino is not, as multilane arterials go, all that awful in many places, especially if you know how to position yourself correctly and ride assertively. However, I think she should have been more realistic and acknowledged that many, many competent traffic cyclists (like me) don’t ride much on El Camino because it just isn’t enjoyable. I mean really — if I have my choice of El Camino, Alma, Bryant, or Middlefield through Palo Alto, guess which one I’ll choose? Bryant, of course, because it’s the most fun and it’s pretty efficient (and also convenient to my house). The others are all pretty unpleasant, although because El Camino is so wide in most places I probably would prefer it to Middlefield or Alma. Sure, people can choose the others, should have the right to do so, and sometimes do, but realistically most cyclists will avoid heavily-trafficked arterials most of the time.

The most important part for me, aside from emergency stopping and turning, was a reminder about recommended road positioning. I generally ride as recommended by Effective Cycling, the book by the guy who developed the Road I class curriculum, but sometimes I get lazy and I ride further right than I should because I don’t want to annoy motorists, and that’s not safe behavior. My safety is more important than their brief annoyance, and I should position myself and ride assertively because I’m protecting my safety when I do.

On the whole I really feel like the class is likely very beneficial for the people who take it in terms of understanding the theory and practice of traffic cycling, and really gives a strong foundation of skills for riding, thus giving people greater confidence in maneuvering and making them less likely to make common mistakes. I think I’d eventually like to learn to teach it, although I think I’d have to practice a lot so I could be very organized and do it well. I’m also interested in taking a LAB Road II class if any are offered around here, since the instructor mentioned there is such a thing (but doesn’t know if it’s offered here) and it seems to cover the things I really want to learn and definitely don’t know, stuff relating to group cycling and advanced road cycling techniques.

Not too much to report on the route today because it’s my standard quick loop. Stats:

DST: 14.1 miles
AVS: 13.1
MXS: 28
Ride Time: 1:03

Got passed by an asshole motorcyclist on Menlo and a jerk honking motorist on Santa Cruz (near the Sand Hill intersection, same place I almost got sideswiped by a truck), but otherwise unremarkable. It was hot, and my legs were sore from my race home yesterday (not literally a race but I had a goal time and it was windy), and I put off going out until it was hotter and there was more traffic than necessary because I was wrestling with my desire to laze around until the class at 2.

Good points: I think I actually did my first sit-and-spin on any major climb I’ve tried in the area. Up Sand Hill the first section, I was going about 10mph, spinning easily, and even passed someone (I’m sure he could have passed me if he’d wanted, but still, I hardly ever pass anyone there). Only when it got steeper toward the top did I feel the anaerobic work coming into play. Also, I didn’t have to take a break at my usual spot before the second climb. I felt awful toward the top, but I could see the top and I just said, keep going, keep going!

Bad points: I think I need a new helmet because mine gives me a headache when it’s tight enough, and also, I’m starting to feel that funny feeling in the balls of my feet. The recommendation in my Long Distance Cycling book is to try some thin insoles and make sure the shoes are fitted correctly, so I need to try/do those things.

Disappointment is a funny thing.

I wasn’t sure when I got up this morning whether I was going to ride my bike or walk to the train. I hate to admit it but I don’t always like doing a riding commute. Walking to the train is just so simple, and fairly calm and stress-free. If I want to ride I usually shower the night before so as to start clean, which I didn’t do last night, and I normally don’t ride on Pen Committee meeting days anyway because I don’t like to ride home from them through Redwood City.

On the other hand, I am trying to build up a proper base for starting training for W2W, and that means riding pretty much every day, and really, why not ride?

So I was debating my options this morning. I got up early enough to have enough time to decide. And I had decided to ride, got all dressed and put on sunscreen, and then it turned out my back tire was flat. So I had to decide if I would change the tube, or if I would use another bike (still requires refilling the tires at least, also there’s no seat on the old commuter right now, I would miss the train I wanted, etc), or if I would just go take a shower and walk to the later train.

But even though I kind of started out not wanting to ride, I was disappointed that I didn’t get to do it. It’s funny how that works. And it is a reminder that doing the W2W training is going to take a serious commitment and so far I am not really demonstrating that commitment. I recently decided to order a RoadID since I am going to be riding more, and they say that if you have extra space you can put a slogan or something on there. I don’t have allergies or medical conditions so I did have some space. I decided to put “100% commitment”. It came from another phrase I use in a different context, but it seems appropriate to me. I think I will need the reminder when it is windy or early or hot or I just don’t feel like riding that I decided to do this and I am committed, and that it will mean giving up some things to get what I really want. It means checking my tires and everything the night before so I am always ready. It means going to sleep and getting up earlier and not having so many lazy evenings. It means being committed even when there is nothing and no one to hold me to it except myself.

By the way, if you are interested in a RoadID, they sent me a Tell a Friend coupon for $1 off. $1 isn’t much but anyway, if you want it, comment and I’ll send it to you. It can be used by up to 20 people! I got the purple wrist one.

I’ve complained before (though perhaps not on this blog) about the advice given to cyclists to “ride as if you’re invisible”, because it just doesn’t make any sense. If you assume no one sees you, you can’t ride with traffic at all.

Finally, a piece of cycling instructional material backs me up:

People will often tell you to “ride as if you were invisible.” That advice only makes sense where you’re actually hidden by a blind spot. To ride all the time as if you were invisible, you would have to pull off the road whenever a car approaches from behind. You would also have to stop and wait until traffic clears before crossing any intersection. Instead, ride to make sure you’re visible. Wear bright-colored clothes day and night, and use lights and reflectors at night . Ride in the correct lane postition where you can be seen. Also, test to make sure drivers have seen you. This is the safest way to ride.
–John S. Allen, Bicycling Street Smarts

Nice ride today! It was the same route as last year — I talked to an acquaintance of mine who helps organize the ride, and he said they change every two years. But I think my mind had smoothed out some of the hills early on in the route, because I didn’t remember how challenging the Los Altos section was.

I started out a little later than last year, around 8:20, feeling tired, with my legs a little sore, and feeling like I might have a headache. Not an auspicious start, but it improved as I went on. I had a fairly smooth, though slow, climb through the hills, stopping once to take off my jacket and once (at Arastradero Preserve) just to take a break, drink some Vitamin Water, and stretch before scaling the Arastradero/Alpine section. Arastradero has recently been repaved in the worst section, which is rather thrilling. The best part of this section is on Purissima after you climb up, I think — it just feels like you’re on top of the world, racing along on a slight downhill.

Coming down Portola (on one of the brief up sections) there were a lot of cars parked for church, and someone honked at me when I was in the lane. I think they might have been doing the “announce I’m here” thing. Annoying. The other interesting time was when a Prius did creep up on me without me noticing, because the wind in my ears was too loud, but they passed carefully and it was fine. Most of the cars I encountered were completely fine, which is better than an average day. Maybe it’s the Sunday thing.

I enjoyed the brief screaming descent down Sand Hill to Whiskey Hill, although my cue sheet threatened to fall off so I had to stop after the turn and re-attach it. Woodside was absolutely terrific. I’m familiar enough with the road now that I don’t freak out about the speed, so I hit 31.4 coming down and hardly touched my brakes. Some dude was drafting off me for most of the way, too. The view wasn’t as crystal clear at the top today, though overall today it’s clear and warm (and a bit windy), better than yesterday which was just gray and dull.

I picked up a companion for a while around this point, giving him half my Clif bar at the top of Woodside where I paused to change over the cue sheet and eventually losing him on Valparaiso where he stopped to wait for his parents. He wasn’t wearing gloves, which I found just astounding. Gloves are a must for me.

I didn’t get the kind of low coming into the rest stop this year that I got last year, so after a short break and a few bagel segments with cream cheese, I started out, with a new companion. The way back was pleasant (except for the jouncing on Woodland south of University — Dear City of Palo Alto: Please repave that damn road already) and uneventful. I arrived back at about 11:20, so I did go a bit faster this year by about 15-20 minutes. My total riding time was about 2:27, AVS 13.1, distance was about 31.8 miles (this year my cyclocomputer failed to agree with their distance — I’m not sure why). Oddly, when I look back at last year’s report (which contains a warning about the hills — should have read that yesterday) it says I rode in 2:28, but my average speed was 12.5. That doesn’t make any sense unless I stopped for longer this time, which I didn’t. A mystery.

The only other interesting thing to note is that I used some chamois cream for the first time for this ride. I know you aren’t supposed to do something for the first time on a ride day, but I was nervous about chafing and didn’t have time to pick the cream up until yesterday.

I didn’t really like the feeling of it, especially while off the bike, but it definitely helped smooth things out and felt good when I was on the bike. It probably also helped that I remembered to stand up in the saddle more often. I think I’m less sore this year than last (I recorded having more problems with my hands and feet last year), though I’m still tired. This year my hands and feet did feel a little sore and funky toward the end, but not very. I can basically do 20-25 miles before any of me starts hurting (except for some soreness from climbing) which is not unexpected since that’s my commute distance total, but I think it’s better than last year. Given last week’s ride, I think I can safely say that my limit is still around 40 miles. I’d like to break that limit soon, which I imagine will happen as I start training for Waves to Wine.

Like last year, I still have a birthday party to prepare for after all this, so I better go do that!