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-   -   Bicycling & health benefits of? (http://www.cyclebanter.com/showthread.php?t=254877)

Joerg[_2_] October 15th 17 06:02 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On 2017-10-09 21:09, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 09:02:59 +0700, John B wrote:
On Mon, 9 Oct 2017 11:33:38 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Are you guys old enough to remember Paul Dudley White, M.D., the
eminent cardiologist and father of preventive cardiology through
exercise? Really cool guy who served as Eisenhower's and LBJ's
cardiologist. He believed in cycling, but he thought pushing a big
gear was a better than spinning. Oh well, every guy is entitled to
one mistake, right?



He also said "A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an
unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and
psychology in the world." -- Cheers,


As a licensed psychologist, I've been telling this to people for years.
Get outside, get some fresh air and sunshine with some exercise and most
people will feel better- some better than they will from talking to me.
Even if the client has a bona fide depressive disorder (versus just
being disgruntled or overly stressed, which are normal parts of the
human experience) regular exercise will usually help at least some.
Your overall health will improve, your sleep will improve, your
waistline will improve, your bones wil improve, your muscles will
improve.



Not sure about that waist line. Has never worked for me. All the rest,
yes, sure.

The old saying "walking off a tantrum" has its meaning.


And a walk is inexpensive.


Not really when seen per mile. I walk about two miles every day so
that's around 700mi/year. A pair of $30 sports shoes wears out within a
year so 4c/mile. I get more than that out of a road bike rear tire.
Sandals don't wear out that fast for whatever reason but can't be used
much in winter.


Our grandmothers knew what they were about when they told us to get out
of the house, go play outside and don't come back until lunch time.


Yup. My parents were of the same opinion. What I see nowadays concerns
me. Often kids are flooded with so much homework that they barely get
out. Some parents stuff them into pre-school and kindergarden (which I'd
never do to a kid) where they can only play in a prescribed manner, not
free. Then many older kids sit in front of a stupid video game or cell
phone screen all day long. To the point where they aren't even
interested in a driving license, let alone a hiking or cycling trip.

I am eternally thankful that my parents let me ride, ride, ride. Tens of
miles some days. "Where did you go today?" ... "All the way to the big
river 15 miles away" ... "Oh, cool". Occasionally I took homework along
and finished that way out there in some forest. I still do that when
having to tackle a difficult engineering design.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

[email protected] October 16th 17 09:08 AM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 5:58:02 PM UTC-5, Joerg wrote:

But there is that small subset of people that if you have rails to
trails so that they feel relatively isolated from asshole drivers
WILL take up cycling and gradually grow in confidence. Especially
with the help of bike clubs.


There are a lot of those people, it is not a small sub-set. I'd venture
to say the majority of riders in our area. This is clearly evidenced by
the number of riders who cart their bikes to the bike path, unload and
then start their sports ride or mixed-mode commute.



Thankfully I live in a city that has miles and miles of bike trails in town and out of town. Several hundred miles in total trails. It definitely helps get people on bicycles. There is a bar/town about 10 miles down one trail. In the summer there are several hundred people riding to the bar and back several evenings a week. I don't really care if the net benefit is a detriment to them or not. Or whether they are healthy or not. As long as they are riding a bike, its good. The trails see a lot of activity. I don't know if these people would bicycle without trails or not. Some would not. Some would.

John B.[_3_] October 16th 17 12:16 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On Sun, 15 Oct 2017 10:02:00 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-10-09 21:09, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 09:02:59 +0700, John B wrote:
On Mon, 9 Oct 2017 11:33:38 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Are you guys old enough to remember Paul Dudley White, M.D., the
eminent cardiologist and father of preventive cardiology through
exercise? Really cool guy who served as Eisenhower's and LBJ's
cardiologist. He believed in cycling, but he thought pushing a big
gear was a better than spinning. Oh well, every guy is entitled to
one mistake, right?


He also said "A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an
unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and
psychology in the world." -- Cheers,


As a licensed psychologist, I've been telling this to people for years.
Get outside, get some fresh air and sunshine with some exercise and most
people will feel better- some better than they will from talking to me.
Even if the client has a bona fide depressive disorder (versus just
being disgruntled or overly stressed, which are normal parts of the
human experience) regular exercise will usually help at least some.
Your overall health will improve, your sleep will improve, your
waistline will improve, your bones wil improve, your muscles will
improve.



Not sure about that waist line. Has never worked for me. All the rest,
yes, sure.

The old saying "walking off a tantrum" has its meaning.


And a walk is inexpensive.


Not really when seen per mile. I walk about two miles every day so
that's around 700mi/year. A pair of $30 sports shoes wears out within a
year so 4c/mile. I get more than that out of a road bike rear tire.
Sandals don't wear out that fast for whatever reason but can't be used
much in winter.


Get rid of the shoes. The feet are self healing and will grow to
accommodate even black top pavement.

I would add, before you start you say it is impossible, that Zola Budd
set the world 5,000 metre record running barefoot. Her mile best of
4:17.57 in 1985, still stands as the British record. Barefooted.



Our grandmothers knew what they were about when they told us to get out
of the house, go play outside and don't come back until lunch time.


Yup. My parents were of the same opinion. What I see nowadays concerns
me. Often kids are flooded with so much homework that they barely get
out. Some parents stuff them into pre-school and kindergarden (which I'd
never do to a kid) where they can only play in a prescribed manner, not
free. Then many older kids sit in front of a stupid video game or cell
phone screen all day long. To the point where they aren't even
interested in a driving license, let alone a hiking or cycling trip.

I am eternally thankful that my parents let me ride, ride, ride. Tens of
miles some days. "Where did you go today?" ... "All the way to the big
river 15 miles away" ... "Oh, cool". Occasionally I took homework along
and finished that way out there in some forest. I still do that when
having to tackle a difficult engineering design.

--
Cheers,

John B.


Frank Krygowski[_2_] October 16th 17 03:37 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On Monday, October 16, 2017 at 4:08:32 AM UTC-4, wrote:


Thankfully I live in a city that has miles and miles of bike trails in town and out of town. Several hundred miles in total trails. It definitely helps get people on bicycles. There is a bar/town about 10 miles down one trail. In the summer there are several hundred people riding to the bar and back several evenings a week. I don't really care if the net benefit is a detriment to them or not. Or whether they are healthy or not. As long as they are riding a bike, its good. The trails see a lot of activity. I don't know if these people would bicycle without trails or not. Some would not. Some would.


I think there's no doubt that bike trails get more people on bikes... on the
bike trails. They function as linear parks, and they're popular that way. As
I've said, I enjoy well-designed bike trails, except when they're crowded.
The random motions of pedestrians and novice cyclists can be scary.

Well-designed, well maintained Bike trails generally a good thing, but there are
a few detriments. One is that they are frequently promoted and funded as
"transportation" facilities. They really should be paid for out of park funds,
because in almost all cases, 99% of their use is recreation, not transportation.
That would allow their rather high cost to be applied to real bike
transportation problems.

They're also promoted (e.g. by Joerg) as facilities that will cause great
surges in bike mode share. But that almost never happens, mostly because most
of them use abandoned rail line routes that don't connect enough traffic
generators. So boosting mode share is a false sales pitch.

Another problem is the idea that if bike trails exist, cyclists should not ride
on roads. This idea is in the mind of some motorists, like those that have
yelled "get on the bike trail" when I was on a quiet country road nowhere near
a trail.

But that mentality also exists among some cyclists. The major long-distance
bike trail in our area has a gap of a few miles where the owners of the
right-of-way don't want to sell. It's no problem, because it's parallel to a
very quiet country road. But some riders complain that they can't ride beyond
the gap because they'd have to ride on (gasp!) a road. In one online discussion
where I pointed out how peaceful the road is, I was told "Some of us just don't
want to ride on roads."

So, while I'm OK with building bike trails, I'd like them to be promoted and
financed more honestly. And I think we need to do plenty of education, plus
enough legal work, to ensure that we aren't forced off the roads onto the
trails.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski[_2_] October 16th 17 03:47 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On Monday, October 16, 2017 at 7:16:37 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote:
On Sun, 15 Oct 2017 10:02:00 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-10-09 21:09, Tim McNamara wrote:


And a walk is inexpensive.


Not really when seen per mile. I walk about two miles every day so
that's around 700mi/year. A pair of $30 sports shoes wears out within a
year so 4c/mile. I get more than that out of a road bike rear tire.
Sandals don't wear out that fast for whatever reason but can't be used
much in winter.


Get rid of the shoes. The feet are self healing and will grow to
accommodate even black top pavement.


Perhaps Joerg should buy a bucket of latex rubber, dip his feet in it and hold
them over a fire to harden the rubber. If pre-Columbian Amazonian Indians
could do it, he could do it.

See https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ians-goodyear/

- Frank Krygowski

Joerg[_2_] October 16th 17 03:52 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On 2017-10-16 04:16, John B. wrote:
On Sun, 15 Oct 2017 10:02:00 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-10-09 21:09, Tim McNamara wrote:


[...]

And a walk is inexpensive.


Not really when seen per mile. I walk about two miles every day so
that's around 700mi/year. A pair of $30 sports shoes wears out within a
year so 4c/mile. I get more than that out of a road bike rear tire.
Sandals don't wear out that fast for whatever reason but can't be used
much in winter.


Get rid of the shoes. The feet are self healing and will grow to
accommodate even black top pavement.

I would add, before you start you say it is impossible, that Zola Budd
set the world 5,000 metre record running barefoot. Her mile best of
4:17.57 in 1985, still stands as the British record. Barefooted.


Oh, I could, since I already walk and bicycle with sandals all summer
long. Problem is, without any shoes one carries the dirt into the house
because you can't switch feet at the entrance door, and that will make
the missus grumpy (rightfully so). Especially when coming back from a
dirt trail.

As for blacktop that is risky because it can get so hot in summer that
it even burns up the most impressive calluses.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg[_2_] October 16th 17 04:00 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On 2017-10-16 01:08, wrote:
On Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 5:58:02 PM UTC-5, Joerg wrote:

But there is that small subset of people that if you have rails
to trails so that they feel relatively isolated from asshole
drivers WILL take up cycling and gradually grow in confidence.
Especially with the help of bike clubs.


There are a lot of those people, it is not a small sub-set. I'd
venture to say the majority of riders in our area. This is clearly
evidenced by the number of riders who cart their bikes to the bike
path, unload and then start their sports ride or mixed-mode
commute.



Thankfully I live in a city that has miles and miles of bike trails
in town and out of town. Several hundred miles in total trails. It
definitely helps get people on bicycles. There is a bar/town about
10 miles down one trail. In the summer there are several hundred
people riding to the bar and back several evenings a week. I don't
really care if the net benefit is a detriment to them or not. Or
whether they are healthy or not. As long as they are riding a bike,
its good. The trails see a lot of activity. I don't know if these
people would bicycle without trails or not. Some would not. Some
would.


Provided that those paths are built correctly it does increase cycling,
big time, no matter what the nay-sayers think or lament. We saw another
prime example again yesterday. 15mi of bike path for a quick ride afte
church. We trucked it there because a friend belongs to the majority of
cyclists who will not ride on roads unless absolutely necessary. On the
road, no cyclists. On the bike path, dozens. It's no problem to use some
quiet roads or even a busy main street where there is a low speed limit
but not major arteries because most cyclists I know won't ride those.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

(PeteCresswell) October 16th 17 10:10 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
Per Joerg:
They say "at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as
cycling or brisk walking every week" or "75 minutes of vigorous
aerobic activity, such as running or a game of singles tennis
every week" plus strength exercises. Following links from that
page tells you that flat riding is "moderate," fast or hilly
riding is "vigorous."


I see the same sort of pronouncements from supposedly-knowledgeable
people in other fields.

Heaven forbid they should express activity in concrete terms like "heart
rate at 85-95 percent of (220 - The Person's Age).

But nobody seems to, so I am taking "Vigorous" to me 85-90 percent of
(220 - my age) until somebody in the know corrects me.

But my cardiologist looks at me funny when I start talking like that....
so go figure.
--
Pete Cresswell

(PeteCresswell) October 16th 17 10:11 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
Per John B.:
The feet are self healing and will grow to
accommodate even black top pavement.


But will my living room carpet grow to accommodate those feet?
--
Pete Cresswell

Joerg[_2_] October 16th 17 10:26 PM

Bicycling & health benefits of?
 
On 2017-10-16 14:10, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Joerg:
They say "at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as
cycling or brisk walking every week" or "75 minutes of vigorous
aerobic activity, such as running or a game of singles tennis
every week" plus strength exercises. Following links from that
page tells you that flat riding is "moderate," fast or hilly
riding is "vigorous."


I see the same sort of pronouncements from supposedly-knowledgeable
people in other fields.

Heaven forbid they should express activity in concrete terms like "heart
rate at 85-95 percent of (220 - The Person's Age).

But nobody seems to, so I am taking "Vigorous" to me 85-90 percent of
(220 - my age) until somebody in the know corrects me.

But my cardiologist looks at me funny when I start talking like that....
so go figure.


There are metrics to that.

https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity.../heartrate.htm

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity...ical-activity/

Jogging isn't my thing but cycling above 15mph is. I think most people
on this NG do that as well. There are the occasional riders like a
neighbor of mine who'd almost fall asleep at 20mph but that is rare.

What also helps is hilly terrain. When I get back from the valley I have
to climb around 1200ft net and be there by dinner time, including lots
of ups and downs. I don't like climbs but it's certainly vigorous
exercise if you go up there without a bail-out sprocket and granny ring
(my road bike doesn't have either).

When the breathing becomes intense and the sweat band needs to be
swapped every 5-10mi that is quite vigorous.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/


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