Today is my niece's birthday. She'd be five today.
Part of what, at times, keeps me from working at is a lack of being able to measure my progress. I need something tangible to look at, to analyze, to track.
The workouts my sister came up with for me are fantastic, but I couldn't see day to day or even week to week measurable improvements. So today I picked up a scale that measures percentages of body fat, muscle and water, and gives me a BMI (no, it doesn't mean bowelmovement indicator) number.
The trainer, in addition to be boring, wouldn't work with my cyclometer for reasons I talked about once before. So I got a second cyclometer and rigged it to the rear wheel.
The number from that will seem high. That's because of the low resistance of the trainer vs trail or road riding. For that reason these numbers are useless for comparing the trainer to real rides. However, they'll still be consistant within themselves, so can be used to measure progress trainer ride to trainer ride.
Distance: 10.911 Miles
Max Speed: 32.1 MPH
Avg Speed: 22.1
Time: 29:41
Temp: 76F
Calories: 462.5
Fat Calories: 59.4
SCALE:
Weight: 167.6 lb
Fat: 21.4%
Water: 53.6% (should be 55 for my age)
Muscle: 39.0%
BMI: 24.2 (25 is too high and I'm aiming for about 20).
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Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Reply to Readers
I've had several visits over the past few days from people looking for info on cyclometers. So here is a link to several. Take time to read the reviews as well as the product details in order to make the best choice.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Prediction
It'll be Lance Armstrong quitting Astana and moving to another team prior to riding in the Tour de France, not Contador.
-- Lance Armstrong is NOT being paid to ride with Astana. He is riding as a volunteer.
-- Armstrong is a legend and he's certainly been given the most beneficial of physical gifts for any cyclist. He's literally born to ride. But, at 37 his physical gifts will be doubted and his shelf life is extremely limited. He's a high risk, strictly short term investment.
-- Contador, on the other hand, at 25 and having won the '07 Tour, is taken to be a known commodity with 8 - 10 strong years ahead of him. He's considered a low risk, very long term investment. Astana wants him to be the next Armstrong and lead them to several Tour victories over about the next decade.
One of two things will happen.
Tensions will rise up and Contador will attempt to quit, which will lead to Astana asking Lance to leave.
Or.
Lance will voluntarily bolt Astana to lead his own team, because he'll for damn sure be getting offers.
When it happens, who will Johan Bruyneel remain with? I don't think it will be Lance.
-- Lance Armstrong is NOT being paid to ride with Astana. He is riding as a volunteer.
-- Armstrong is a legend and he's certainly been given the most beneficial of physical gifts for any cyclist. He's literally born to ride. But, at 37 his physical gifts will be doubted and his shelf life is extremely limited. He's a high risk, strictly short term investment.
-- Contador, on the other hand, at 25 and having won the '07 Tour, is taken to be a known commodity with 8 - 10 strong years ahead of him. He's considered a low risk, very long term investment. Astana wants him to be the next Armstrong and lead them to several Tour victories over about the next decade.
One of two things will happen.
Tensions will rise up and Contador will attempt to quit, which will lead to Astana asking Lance to leave.
Or.
Lance will voluntarily bolt Astana to lead his own team, because he'll for damn sure be getting offers.
When it happens, who will Johan Bruyneel remain with? I don't think it will be Lance.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Lance Rides Again
UPDATED
Not long ago Lance Armstrong announced that he would race again and that he inteneded to be a part of the Tour de France.
So far he doesn't seem at all like the old Lance. He's too damn meek. He doesn't really seem like a guy out to win the Tour. I find that difficult to buy. Lance is a control freak, maniacally competitive and a master at spinning any situation.
He has ridden in support before, he has put riders on his team ahead of himself if they were physically more prepared than he was, but only for lesser races.
I think his meekness is feigned. I think he's juggling reality and perception to keep team Astana together and prevent Alberto Contador from bolting. I think he'll throw his teammates bones, riding in support in lesser races, helping them to lesser glories, but when it comes to crunch time, Lance will be lead rider.
But let's assume that's incorrect. Let's assume that Lance really is riding just to get his name in lights, just to get exposure for his foundation and his cause. Let's pretend that just showing up is good enough.
I've heard that he has no chance of winning and that he is therefor embarrassing himself, cycling and the Tour de France.
I don't believe that those things are even possible.
Regardless of Lance's goals, intentions or finishing status, the simple fact that he's interested in the Tour brings it greater recognition, prestige and credibility. Millions, maybe tens of millions, who would not otherwise give it a glance or a nod or even care that it was going on will follow it simply because his name is attached to it.
UPDATE: For those of you who think The Tour fails to gain "recognition, prestige and credibility" simply by the fact that Lance chooses to ride in it, here's a link to a story citing a 47% decline in viewership between the '05 and '06 Tours. How many millions does that translate to?
Lance rides the Tour de California and suddenly the quaint little family stage ride the race sponsors explodes from an average of 700 riders to over 5,000. That's more than 7 times, more than 700%, of what they're used to seeing. How much money does that translate to just for this very minor stage race? It is, in fact, a race that few people had ever heard of until Lance decided to ride in it, yet reaping enormous benefit thanks to nothing but his presence.
And what if, despite the extreme measures Lance and his team are taking to show the world that they are dope free, Lance should be nailed for doping? Then the Tour and all the haters get to point and scream to Heaven, "See! See we told you!" and still he has given them reason to smile.
So the Tour cannot be embarrassed, cannot lose, cannot be harmed by Lance deciding to ride again.
Win, lose, drop out, unless Lance fails a drug test, an extremely unlikely event, neither he nor his foundation can be anything but helped, though it doesn't take much contemplation to figure out that winning The Tour brings a lot more attention, recognition and financial gain than losing.
Not long ago Lance Armstrong announced that he would race again and that he inteneded to be a part of the Tour de France.
So far he doesn't seem at all like the old Lance. He's too damn meek. He doesn't really seem like a guy out to win the Tour. I find that difficult to buy. Lance is a control freak, maniacally competitive and a master at spinning any situation.
He has ridden in support before, he has put riders on his team ahead of himself if they were physically more prepared than he was, but only for lesser races.
I think his meekness is feigned. I think he's juggling reality and perception to keep team Astana together and prevent Alberto Contador from bolting. I think he'll throw his teammates bones, riding in support in lesser races, helping them to lesser glories, but when it comes to crunch time, Lance will be lead rider.
But let's assume that's incorrect. Let's assume that Lance really is riding just to get his name in lights, just to get exposure for his foundation and his cause. Let's pretend that just showing up is good enough.
I've heard that he has no chance of winning and that he is therefor embarrassing himself, cycling and the Tour de France.
I don't believe that those things are even possible.
Regardless of Lance's goals, intentions or finishing status, the simple fact that he's interested in the Tour brings it greater recognition, prestige and credibility. Millions, maybe tens of millions, who would not otherwise give it a glance or a nod or even care that it was going on will follow it simply because his name is attached to it.
UPDATE: For those of you who think The Tour fails to gain "recognition, prestige and credibility" simply by the fact that Lance chooses to ride in it, here's a link to a story citing a 47% decline in viewership between the '05 and '06 Tours. How many millions does that translate to?
Lance rides the Tour de California and suddenly the quaint little family stage ride the race sponsors explodes from an average of 700 riders to over 5,000. That's more than 7 times, more than 700%, of what they're used to seeing. How much money does that translate to just for this very minor stage race? It is, in fact, a race that few people had ever heard of until Lance decided to ride in it, yet reaping enormous benefit thanks to nothing but his presence.
And what if, despite the extreme measures Lance and his team are taking to show the world that they are dope free, Lance should be nailed for doping? Then the Tour and all the haters get to point and scream to Heaven, "See! See we told you!" and still he has given them reason to smile.
So the Tour cannot be embarrassed, cannot lose, cannot be harmed by Lance deciding to ride again.
Win, lose, drop out, unless Lance fails a drug test, an extremely unlikely event, neither he nor his foundation can be anything but helped, though it doesn't take much contemplation to figure out that winning The Tour brings a lot more attention, recognition and financial gain than losing.
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