11 Years

 Eleven years ago today, I wrote my first post on this blog.

I was just returning to cycling after the longest layoff of my adult life:  the months following my gender affirmation suregery.  I could have started to ride again sooner than I did, but I figured that it was better to stay off my bike through the winter and allow a full, thorough healing and formation.

I had no idea of what cycling would be like in my "new" body.  Although I have to pay more attention to signals it sends me, I have found cycling more rewarding than it's ever been.  I am riding, and living, in my true self--and for my own reasons.  I no longer have to impress anyone with my speed, endurance or anything else.  Being on my bike is enough.

COVID-19--Who, except for a few scientists, foresaw that?--has reinforced that lesson: Being on my bike is enough.  It allowed me to endure the ravages of the pandemic-- which struck New York, my hometown, early and hard--with my health (mental as well as physical) intact.  Cycling allowed me to avoid mass transportation and offered me a mental as well as physical release.  And it, along with writing this blog, has brought at least some degree of continuity to my life.  

I am thankful--to ride, to write, and for you, dear readers, for 11 years.

Marlee had yet to be born when I started this blog!

Feel The Burn--In The Right Place!

If you've been following this blog for a while, you've endured, shall we say, a few bad puns.  So I am guessing you can endure one more.

Here goes:  Sunscreen is a sensitive issue for me.

Actually, it's not as much of a pun as it might seem because, well, my skin is sensitive.  I have always known as much, and a few doctors (including my primary care physician and the orthopedic surgeon who treated me after I was "doored" in October) have confirmed it.  Some of that sensitivity has to do with my melanin deficiency:  I burn easily. 

From Bikeradar

So I pay attention to the labels on my suncreen.  In addition to being alert for chemicals that don't sound as if they should be applied to any part of my body (and that, in microscopic amounts, can damage coral reefs as well as other marine life), I also look at the number almost everyone else checks:  SPF.  A higher-number SPF gives you more protection; I've been advised to use a 50.  When I went to Cambodia and Laos three years ago--my second trip in the tropical zone--I packed a 100 SPF sunscreen.

While a higher number does indeed offer more protection, one-third of all sunscreens Consumer Reports recently tested actually had less than half of their claimed SPF.  Moreover, some experts cite the law of diminishing returns:  Any increase in SPF over 50 offers less of an improvement in protection than any increase up to 50.  That argument is based on the fact that a 50 SPF sunscreen offers protection from about 98 percent of Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays:  the ones that burn the surface of our skins. (Ouch!) 

But SPF ratings don't tell us anything about a sunscreen's ability to protect us from Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays.  Those are the ones that penetrate the skin and lead to premature aging.  In the European Union, all sunscreens have to offer at least a third as much UVA as UVB protection.  

Thoug both kinds of ultraviolet rays contribute to skin cancer, B plays a greater role, espcially in malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease.  The good news is, of course, that a sunscreen with 50 USB or more will protect from most of the harmful rays--that is, when it's used properly.  The American Academy of Dermatology recommends using enough lotion to fill a shot glass (two tablespoons), more if you're a larger person.  

The AAD also prefers traditonal lotions over spray-on because the latter disperses the sunscreen into the air.  When you apply a lotion with your hand, more of it ends up on your skin.  And, sprays are generally a bad idea for sunscreens as well as any number of other products because the chemicals used as propellants are bad for the environment as well as your lungs.  (Even if you can't smell it, you're likely to inhale droplets of those chemicals, as well as the rest of the sunscreen, when you spray it.)  And, finally, the AAD "sunscreen pills" are basically snake oil.

Whether you're like me, or darker, you should be using sunscreen when you're out for half an hour or more--even if you're covered up. (UVA and UVB can penetrate fabrics.) At the end of your ride, the burn you feel should be in your muscles, not on your skin.  

A Journey In Memory

Here in the USA, it's Memorial Day.  The temperature hasn't exceeded 10C (50F) since Friday and rain has fallen nearly continuously--sometimes in torrents, other times in a drizzle.  The rain could stop and clouds could break by this afternoon, so some of the festivities associated with this holiday--nearly all of which were cancelled last year, when we were in the thick of the pandemic--might be staged.  So might the some of the barbeques and family gatherings postponed last year.

Photo by Rachel Smook.  From Massbike.

What I hope is that the people who weren't mourned, wheether they died in uniform or on a ventilator, will get the remembrances they deserve.  While this day is intended as a remembrance of those who died while serving in the military, I think it's fitting to recall those (including seven people I knew) who perished as a result of a pandemic that has killed more people in this country than all of the armed conflicts in which we've been involved since World War I.

The Tour of Somerville was one of many Memorial Day events cancelled last year.  This year, it's been moved to Labor Day (6 September).  I think the race organizers chose that date because here in the US, Labor Day is seen as the unofficial end of summer, just as Memorial Day is seen as its beginning.  The only other race cancellations came during World War II, which claimed the lives of its first two winners.

It just so happens that this Memorial Day is the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre, which I mentioned last week.  On 31 May 2021, white mobs descended on Greenwood, the Tulsa community dubbed "The Black Wall Street."  The city's police chief deputized hundreds of white citizens to join those mobs and commandeered gun shops to arm them.  The following day, the Greenwood district was wiped off the face of the earth.  It's estimated that 300 people died, but the true number may never be known.

However we choose to spend this day--I plan to take a bike ride later--it is intended as a memorial.   I try to remember that.