Yesterday I had my wisdom teeth removed, and you know - the procedure was not at all bad. Kind of fascinating actually. But the aftermath is the difficult part. My head is splitting even with the painkiller cocktail I am taking, I feel weak and drowsy, and I can't ride a bike for the next few days. But the worst part is eating. For the next week I am supposed to transition from a cold liquid diet to a warm soft one, before I can have regular food again. It isn't easy to procure real meals with these restrictions, especially for a cyclist who is used to consuming lots of calories. For the first day or two the dentist suggested "yoghurt, ice cream and fruit juice," but that is way too much sugar. It occurred to me that with a blender I could liquify normal meals (salmon asparagus smoothie, anyone?), but I don't own one and didn't feel like buying one just to use for a few days. So instead I got some baby food, and it is surprisingly tasty. In a day or two I can graduate to mushed bananas and various soups.
Planning this diet is making me think more about eating during long, strenuous rides. I am not very good at minding my nutritional intake while cycling and have not yet figured out a system that works perfectly for me. For one thing, I simply don't feel hungry when riding strenuously, and I've learned that forcing down random food just to prevent bonking will only make me feel sick. Heavy and sweet foods, such as the pastries cyclists like to eat in cafes, make me nauseous. Dense crunchy things such as energy bars get stuck in my throat and then come back up no matter how hard I try to wash them down with water. Through trial and error, I've learned that I need to stick to soft foods that are easy to swallow, are not too sweet, and are nutritionally dense. Generous bites of a banana every now and again. V8 juice in one of my water bottles. And those soft chewy fruit cubes that are sold in health food stores. If I stick to foods like that, I can eat without breaking my stride and feel good.
Only problem is, those things are difficult to carry on the bike without making a mess, and it's also hard to get enough calories out of them on longer rides. Watching some of my riding partners squeeze gels into their mouths, take pills, and mix powders into their drinking water, I am beginning to understand why that sort of thing is done. Still, I am extremely reluctant to go that route and I am highly suspicious of nutritional supplements with mysterious, "scientifically-formulated" ingredients. Mostly that is because I have to be cautious with my diet for health reasons, and many of these supplement mixtures, even if they are "all natural," have ingredients that can affect hormone levels. I simply do not know what a large concentration of, say, soy or whey protein will do to my system, and I am reluctant to experiment. That is why I've been staring at, but still haven't opened this enormous bottle of electrolyte powder I've been sent to try. The last and only time I had an electrolyte drink, my high school tennis coach fed it to me and I promptly passed out. Understandably, I am reluctant to try one again.
A friend who is a runner and occasional cyclist recommended some soft chews and natural gels, which she says come the closest to feeling like eating normal food while keeping her energy levels stable. I bought a couple of samples, but haven't tried them yet.I guess what I really want to hear is that even when doing long and strenuous rides I don't have to resort to any of that stuff, that there is some magical combination of regular foods I can make do with instead. Can one ride a randonnéeon bananas, V8 juice and peanut butter? Most serious cyclists I talk to think that's a terrible idea and believe scientifically-formulated nutritional supplements are a must. I am still deciding whether to take that plunge. But for now I will stick to the soft diet and will continue to be the girl with a mangled banana sticking out of her jersey pocket. Once I am back on the bike that is!
I was in the Ride Studio Cafe the other day, when a woman came in to buy a cycling cap. She was already wearing a cap - one that looked to be from the early '80s, faded yellow with "world champion" rainbow stripes. She looked around the shop and tried on several of the caps they sell, but seemed restless and her eyes kept wandering over to me. I was wearing a white cap with rainbow stripes, very much like her own only newer. Before she even approached me, I could sense that she was attracted to my cap. I thought that she was going to ask me where I bought it. Instead she asked if she could have it, buying me a Rapha hat as a replacement.
Mark Westman kindly allowed me to post his hi-def picture of the right side of the West face of Huntington. The Harvard Route takes the left hand spur in this picture. Phantom Wall is directly above the climbers. "Jared Vilhauer and Tim Dittmann making an attempt on the Phantom Wall last Saturday". Make sure you dbl click both photos for full effect. Thanks Mark!
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Everyday, climbers inquire about thinly covered crevasses, glacier conditions, or that “bergschrund” on top of the Emmons. And we’re here to share what we know about the 
So why are we sharing this geeky science information? Well, we like it, but also because climbers have been noting the PVC poles buried on the glacier and have asked, “What’s the plastic pipe all about?” Those PVC poles are the measuring sticks. If you keep your eyes peeled on your next summit attempt, you may note one or two of them on the Muir Snowfield, Nisqually, Emmons, or Ingraham Glaciers. If you do see them, please do not disturb or remove them. 
