The sweet spot in biking

David L. Johnson wrote:

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 08:20:41 -0700, gds wrote:

Agreed! You need to work hard to get those endorphins going. Cycling
allows yu to break up the continuus hard work of running. Runners don't
coast and runners work hard going downhill as well as up.

Sounds like an argument for a fixed gear.

one thing i've always liked about fixed gears proves this wrong. you
can "coast" (aka rest your legs while spinning) and slack and still look
like you're working your ass off. it's also the reason why it's not hard
to go back and forth between a fixed gear and a freewheeled bike -- you
just relax your legs: if the pedals keep spinning you're on your fixed
if not you've got a freewheel. the one thing i never do anymore on any
of my bikes are the things that don't work on fixed geared bikes: the
little victory dances at the top of hills for instance. lowest common
denominator, i guess.
--
david reuteler

amh wrote:
Badger_South wrote in message . ..

A few folks here have mentioned getting into cycling directly or incidently
after having problems with jogging, a great activity, but problematic for
quite a few after years or even sooner.


How so? I've been running since 1979. No major problems that prevent
me from anything. Running does no damage if done properly (warm up,
down, stretch) with good shoes.


Gee, is this a silly and annoying type of post. I know of someone who
drinks a quart of whiskey a day, eats nothing but fat and is in great
health at 90 years old. Why not then say that if you drink whiskey and
eat fat right, you'll be a healthy 90 year old? Makes as much sense.

-paul

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 16:07:03 -0600, Paul Cassel wrote:

amh wrote:
Badger_South wrote in message . ..

A few folks here have mentioned getting into cycling directly or incidently
after having problems with jogging, a great activity, but problematic for
quite a few after years or even sooner.


How so? I've been running since 1979. No major problems that prevent
me from anything. Running does no damage if done properly (warm up,
down, stretch) with good shoes.


Gee, is this a silly and annoying type of post. I know of someone who
drinks a quart of whiskey a day, eats nothing but fat and is in great
health at 90 years old. Why not then say that if you drink whiskey and
eat fat right, you'll be a healthy 90 year old? Makes as much sense.

-paul

True, but I really don't think he meant it like that... Every runner hears
tales of shin splints and knee problems and soforth; maybe he was mostly
expressing enthusiasm. But I get your point.

What's amazing to me is that anyone could do a highly repetitive activity
like running, even given that the human skeletal system is an amazing
example of architecture (just study the load on the spine).

Hell, examine the architecture of the human foot. If you looked at it from
an engineering perspective, nobody would ever design such a structure and
task it to do what a human foot needs to do normally to locomote, yet in
practice it does all this and more.

In addition, sometimes non-running related injuries can curtail a runner's
career. Runners are fragile things and guys like Shorter and Rogers who are
still running are the exception, not the rule.

He did seem to miss my adjectival use of 'a few', above... ;-D

-B

"David Reuteler" wrote in message
. ..
Claire Petersky wrote:

time for you to start touring, claire. 90+ mile days, lots of climbing.
every night the sleep of angels.

Instead, I wake up at 4 PM, and can't back to sleep. I feel like cat food
all day. That is the sleep of the damned.

I'm thinking of doing this:
http://www.alaw.org/support_alaw/big...pacific_coast/ for 2005. I've got
two close family members with emphysema. It is a horrible way to die, and
maybe I could do something about that. I could hit up relatives for the
money. It's a thousand miles, two thousand dollars, but I think I could
manage both.

It would also justify the acquisition of a new bike, don't you think?


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky wrote:
I'm thinking of doing this:
http://www.alaw.org/support_alaw/big...pacific_coast/ for 2005. I've got
two close family members with emphysema. It is a horrible way to die, and
maybe I could do something about that. I could hit up relatives for the
money. It's a thousand miles, two thousand dollars, but I think I could
manage both.

Ooh. Let us know if you do this, and give us LOTS of
details afterward if you do.

When I get my endurance up, I think I'd like to ride for
cancer research -- specifically breast cancer research. My
mum died of that. That's another horrible way to die.

It would also justify the acquisition of a new bike, don't you think?

Absolutely!

Make sure it's a *red* bike, though. *grin*

-km

--
Only cowards fight kids -- unidentified Moscow protester

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
proud to be owned by a yorkie

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 16:07:03 -0600, Paul Cassel wrote:

amh wrote:
Badger_South wrote in message
. ..

A few folks here have mentioned getting into cycling directly or
incidently
after having problems with jogging, a great activity, but problematic
for
quite a few after years or even sooner.


How so? I've been running since 1979. No major problems that prevent
me from anything. Running does no damage if done properly (warm up,
down, stretch) with good shoes.


Gee, is this a silly and annoying type of post. I know of someone who
drinks a quart of whiskey a day, eats nothing but fat and is in great
health at 90 years old. Why not then say that if you drink whiskey and
eat fat right, you'll be a healthy 90 year old? Makes as much sense.

-paul

I have to agree that the sweet spot is just getting on the bike
and doing it. Jim Fixx found the sweet spot, permanently, some years
back. So much for that line of thinking. Bicycling is a mode of
transportation that just happens to be enjoyable to many of us.
Warm ups, yeah about 3 miles into it I start to get warm, and don't
have to look silly in public getting ready to bike.
Bill Baka, 3 bikes and counting.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Badger_South wrote:
I've hoped that this higher plane would be available on the bike, but
wasn't sure. But for me, when in this state while jogging was as clear as
night and day. Biking can be a bit too mild - even when you're highly
trained and moving at 20mph easily, you're not really in the 'zone'
(whereas a beginner would be).

I wonder if it involves giving yourself a low-grade concussion,
or production of endorphins to mask the pain in your gut and your
knees...

Focus on the horizon (or the crest of the next hill) while you're
riding, and avoid bobbing. You'll zone.

--Blair
"They call it jogging because
crack and self-mutilation were
taken..."

Claire Petersky wrote:
It would also justify the acquisition of a new bike, don't you think?

err, i went down the coast from seattle to los angeles in 2002 on a, uhh,
bike bought for the occassion.

http://www.visi.com/~reuteler/tourin...calicoast5.jpg

no harm in buying a year or two ahead of time, either. gotta train ya know.
--
david reuteler

(amh) wrote in message . com...
Badger_South wrote in message . ..
A few folks here have mentioned getting into cycling directly or incidently
after having problems with jogging, a great activity, but problematic for
quite a few after years or even sooner.

How so? I've been running since 1979. No major problems that prevent
me from anything. Running does no damage if done properly (warm up,
down, stretch) with good shoes.

Oh, how I wish that were so. Perhaps my track coaches in school
didn't teach me to do these things properly, but I think they did -
they were pretty smart guys. Despite all these efforts I had to give
up running about 10 years ago to save my knees.

Cycling has been a wonderful alternative. I don't feel the same
"high", but I do so love doing long climbs, so I suspect it's a
similar experience to a runner's high. The mental distractions
(gears, traffic, etc.) aren't so bad once you get a lot of miles in
your legs and it becomes second nature, but it still probably detracts
from exercise-induced nirvana.

I'm now doing some swimming for my off-season training and it seems to
have similar characteristics (once you get your body past the "oh
s--t, I have to BREATHE!" sensation). No traffic to worry about, and
once you get into a rhythm, the laps just keep going by.

Still, I can't wait to get back on my bike...

JR

Paul Cassel wrote in message ...
amh wrote:
Badger_South wrote in message . ..

A few folks here have mentioned getting into cycling directly or incidently
after having problems with jogging, a great activity, but problematic for
quite a few after years or even sooner.


How so? I've been running since 1979. No major problems that prevent
me from anything. Running does no damage if done properly (warm up,
down, stretch) with good shoes.


Gee, is this a silly and annoying type of post. I know of someone who
drinks a quart of whiskey a day, eats nothing but fat and is in great
health at 90 years old. Why not then say that if you drink whiskey and
eat fat right, you'll be a healthy 90 year old? Makes as much sense.

-paul

No it isn't the same. Whiskey and other alcohol are known to cause
liver damage and intestonal problems not to exclude of people allergic
to alcohol. There is now way to drink large amounts of alcohol and not
do liver damage. Alcohol reacts chemically with the human body to
produce those affects. You may or may not be able to survive with
those issues but they are happening regardless.

Running is different in that it doesn't react with the body. If you
take measures to reduce injury (stretch, wear proper shoes, don't over
do it, eat properly, etc) the body will adapt to the running just
fine.

Subtle difference but none the less important.

Andy