The iPod and Imposed Safety

I'm still having trouble finding a bike at the gym that works well for me.

I listened to an article about a guy talking through all the mistakes you can make in weight training if you are a bike rider. He was pretty much saying that everything that I was doing was wrong. Bummer. But, rather than pay him money (which was his goal) and hire his company to correct me, I think I will just try and incorporate some of the stuff that he said into my routine.

So, yesterday afternoon, I added some standing squats as the first thing after the bike ride. Will work the weights up - I think I was doing about 130 or 140 yesterday. Amazing how much more total energy those take - home much more winded you are after each set. Then I do some sitting squats on a machine, then some leg extensions. By the time I get to the leg extensions, the quads really scream. My logic is that most of the hard work is done early in the standing then sitting squats, so I am not overbuilding the quads with the extensions. I'm probably full of bologna...

Also hit a sit-up milestone - got over 400 my something. I sort of lost track, but know for sure I was over 400.

Also signed up for the Iron Horse Classic in Durango in May. I find that I really need those upcoming milestones to force me to improve my fitness. Without that stuff, it is just too easy to "put it off". With the January backcountry trip coming up with my son, if forced me to get started in November on building the fitness level, then these next milestones will force me to keep it going.

The backcountry trip is a big deal. I have learned the hard way that I am putting not only my life but the lives of others around me at risk, and it is just not OK to approach these trips casually. Last year I caused a real problem (though not with lack of fitness - just with a really bad judgement call), and I really want to make sure that I never do that sort of thing again. The cold is bad enough - I have to work hard to make sure that I don't let my body temp drop in the extreme conditions - but then if you add onto that any lack of fitness or preparedness, it is just the height of irresponsibility. More about the adventure last year in another post...

Listening to the Fredcast podcast, he asked a question about whether or not we should be outlawing the use of headphones while we ride. Made me think. I actually sent him an email with some feedback.

Here is the deal. I think that we all listen to the iPod (I will use that term generically as-in "Davenport" or "Frigidair") for different reasons. The issue at hand is whether or not the use of the iPod is distracting, and creates more danger on the road because of this distraction. If the answer is yes - that there is increased danger because of the distraction - should we then legislate the use of the items as a way to increase safety and reduce risk.

My Soapbox - the whole risk thing and the government's role in reducing risk.

The government should prevent lasting and mortal damage to one individual (or group) by another individual (or group), to a reasonable extent. That is the key word - "reasonable".

In this case, it is silly to think that listening to the iPod doesn't create a distraction. Get real - that's why people plug in to them - for the distraction in one way or another. Is a more distracted rider less safe than a less distracted rider? Of course. However, the greatest risk is posed to the rider themselves - not the government's job to force me to reduce my risk to myself.

Just like the bike helmet laws - or any helmet law for that matter. It is not the government's job to force me to wear this stuff. This should be my decision.

So, short answer - heck no don't legislate this.

But guess what, I ALWAYS wear a helmet. And I rarely (can't even remember the last time) listen to the iPod while I ride. I DO listen to the iPod while I work out - because I want the distraction.

But I LOVE to ride my bike. I have ridden bikes for 50 years in one way or another, and I still love it. Even on a grueling "survival" ride like the Triple Bypass, I love the riding. I love the sounds and sights and feelings. I love the thinking that happens while I ride. I love it all. (Well, OK, maybe 8 hours into a "survival" ride there isn't a lot of love happening, but later than night it is there for sure, and the next day...) So, why on earth would I plug an iPod into my ears while I ride, and distract me from this thing that I love doing? Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Some of the buddies that I ride with have taken to listening while they ride. Good manners and a conservative nature keep me from telling them I think this is stupid, but it really is kind of a slap in the face. I ride by myself a lot - probably most riders do. If I take a ride with a buddy, then it just seems like good manners to ride with the buddy - not to close myself into this little bubble with an iPod. When my buddy Ted started wearing them, it took me a while to get used to the fact that I might say something to him and he wouldn't hear because of the iPod. I find that now when I ride with him and I know that he is "wearing", I pretty much behave as-if I am riding alone, and that he just happens to be another rider riding close to me. If he has something to say or wants to talk, then he takes the headphones off and initiates conversation. We ride "together" for a while, until he plugs back in, at which point I am riding alone again. This is really a sad thing, isn't it? It just goes along with this whole disconnection that we have been going through as a culture.

Oh well, I think I am swimming upstream on this one.

Sort of reminds me of a friend I had in high school. Early on, we were young boys, and experimented with lots of different ways to rebel against whatever needed rebelling against at the time - usually anything that smelled like authority. Drugs and booze were certainly part of that. For me, it was just a learning experience, and I learned a couple of things. First I learned that this stuff reduced my "control" over myself, and I didn't like that. Second, I learned that this stuff reduced my ability to "be" where I was, and I didn't like that. Paul (my aforementioned friend), on the other hand, found that he loved all of that stuff. We remained friends, but drifted in different directions. We used to hunt together on his uncle's farm. I'll never forget the last time I hunted with Paul. I picked him up at his house well before dawn. I sat on his bed and watched as he injected himself with something he was addicted to. He mostly slept as we drove to the farm. I remember he spent most of the day making sure that he stayed high - usually he stayed and "rested" someplace while I hunted. I remember clearly seeing the giant difference between us, and realizing that we would probably not hang out together anymore.

The last time I saw Paul he was out on parole. I don't think the parole lasted long - I think that he ended up back in jail fairly soon.

For Paul - for whatever reason - life was something to escape from. He used drugs to escape. For me, spending the day in the field was heaven. I loved hunting, and loved being "in" the field, truly experiencing the woods and meadows and wildlife around me. Why on earth would I dull this experience that I loved?

It is the same with the iPod - and media in general - today. We use "The Box" as our new G-d or our new Drug. We can't let ourselves unplug and "be" where we are - we have to tether ourselves to "The Box".

So, each of us should decide - not the government. If a person "needs" the iPod while they ride, I guess I've gotta ask why. They must not love the riding in the same way I love the riding, or they wouldn't drug-up to do it.

Next: More on the whole "government imposing safety" thing...

3 December workout thoughts

Thursday, 12/3:

High today was about 13, so no time in the saddle. However, had a decent workout for about 90 minutes. Just starting to use the weight machines for the legs.

I'm starting to feel stronger - that nice tightness in the legs between workouts. I would sure like to be able to find the time to work on upper body groups too, but that just doesn't seem real likely right now.

Sit-ups - did 200 first set, 100 second set, then stopped. In between while resting, did bicep curls with little weight - 10lbs first set, 12lbs second set.

The workouts at the gym serve the purpose of helping me stay in shape, but I just can't find that "zone of presence" - that thing that this is all about. So, I will continue to use this little blog as my point of accountability to use the gym for that purpose, while waiting for the opportunity to participate in some ZOP (Zone of Presence - I like that!)

Talked to my brother last night about potential fishing trips. I think he has resigned himself to no more fishing until spring. I keep looking at the power plant lake at Council Grove, thinking that we can probably fish the smallies all winter there. I really want to get out on some water.

What is it about the thought of fishing that is so attractive to me? For sure I like the "preparation" stuff - the rituals that are associated with the fishing. For both fishing and hunting, these "preparation rituals" are a gigantic part of the activity for me. Getting all geeky over which lines I want to keep in my tackle, when I will use them, what baits and lures I think I want to try out, listening to podcasts to learn as much as I can from other guys. This is big stuff to me.

So, I'll keep thinking about it, and wondering if we will get a chance to get out this winter or not for the smallies.

One last thought. Why did the Honeylocust keep their leaves so long this year I wonder? I am looking out my office window, watching the birds on the feeders in front, and noticing again that here in December, the Honeylocust leaves are still about 50% attached to the trees. Brown and dormant of course, but like the White Oaks, a good portion of the dormant leaves are still attached.

The Training Plan

For the last 3 or 4 years, I have been pretty busy making excuses for why my fitness level is less than it should be. It was probably 4 years ago (maybe it was 5...) that I had a kick-ass summer, and was in great shape. I felt like I kept up with all but the best on the climbs, and was rarely passed on the flats. I felt like a machine.

Then, in the fall, I ended up in the hospital with what the docs insisted was a heart attack. Long story short, after spending the night in Intensive Care, the docs did one of the catheder deals to watch the blood flow around my heart, and discovered arteries that were clear as mountain morning air. But, they also found that an enlarged heart was squeezing an artery that runs along the front of the heart, which is what created the psuedo heart-attack. Funny thing - the doc took my wife aside to ask about drug use - apparently some recreational drugs enlarge the heart. Nope, she was pretty sure that wasn't the issue.

Turns out, prolonged intense exercise also enlarges the heart. Duh. Note to self: Maybe cut back on the intensity of the training...

So that became a great excuse for me, and while my mind still thought of my body as the fit machine that climbed those Italian Alps, my body was rapidly progressing toward a lesser and lesser state of fitness, and I constantly justified a lower workout regiment with the whole enlarged heart thing.

I flaked out on a couple of backcountry ski trips in the winter for various reasons, but the reality was that I was not really fit enough to keep up with the younger guys in the trip. I barely survived some long and grueling endurance rides - rides that I should have survived much more easily than I did and not slowed down my buddies.

Then, this fall, my job situation changed, and I had some time on my hands. I started to ride a bit more - trying to find 2 days a week when the weather would let me ride. I have managed to avoid the big "November Gain" that usually happens to my waistline. I am headed toward avoiding the even worse "December Gain" that usually happens. I have a backcountry trip scheduled for early January, and 6 weeks before the trip, I am actually feeling pretty good about being able to perform well.

So now, I find myself beginning to focus on next summer, and what level of fitness I might be able to achieve by May. I find myself looking at rides that I have avoided for the last several years, thinking, maybe...

So I'll keep a log of how I am coming against these lofty sights. The snow is falling outside, and the temp is about 10 degrees. No riding for the next few days - it will be workouts in the gym for me for the next week I am afraid.

Yesterday, I was able to get out for a quick Canterbury spin before the weather turned bad. Only a 30 minute spin, with a bit of climbing. Tried wearing the warm kit, but it is still (and has always been) too small for me. I need to give that one away - I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it...

The Beginning

It was on a bike ride recently that I came to understand something really foundational to myself.

Here it is:

• People pay me to manage projects of transition, and to think strategically. They pay me to move them forward toward something. I am very good at this – seeing future possibilities and good ways to achieve these future possibilities.
• I talk lots about things like learning to focus on the here-and-now, and learning to really experience “the present moment”, but I am really lousy at it.
• I have a very “addictive” personality, and this leads me to become very passionately involved in “hobbies” in my life.
  

So, the above facts sort-of bounced around in my brain for years, and I kept them very separate from each other. My life continued to roll frantically down a path that kept me always focused on the things that people pay me to do well, while at the same time deep inside I realized that I needed to get better at living in the moment. These things seemed very much at odds with one-another, but I never really thought much about it.

It was that third fact that would join the two pieces together, though it took a bike ride on a beautiful Colorado Autumn day to allow my brain to let that fusion occur.

Here is the scene:

I was 45 minutes or so into a ride. It is a common ride – one that I take often. I call it the Crowfoot ride, since it follows a road called Crowfoot Valley Road for much of the ride. It is perfect in that it is slightly uphill for the first 10 minutes or so, then starts to slant more and more upward, until finally it climbs at a nice steep pace for 10 or 15 minutes. Then it flattens quite a bit, but still uphill, for another 5 – 10 minutes. Then you turn around, and head back, and the joy begins as a reward for all the work to this point. I head south going out and up, then turn back north for the ride home. So, this is the perfect ride when there is a south wind. On this day, there was a wonderful south wind.

I had worked really hard all the way out. After making the turn and heading back, it became an easy 25 MPH ride along the ridge with a tailwind. This is such joy for a bike rider – a nice tailwind. I hit the steep downhill, tucked, and flew down at 45 MPH+, letting the bike slow to 30 MPH as the hill decreased.

My G-d, I thought, what is it that I love so much about this? Pure clarity, nothing else on my mind, wonderful ideas popping in occasionally to be mulled around in the idea polisher of my little brain.

And right then, the realization crystallized like a bright shining stone falling out of the polisher. All of my “passions” had this thing in common – they allowed me to focus completely on the thing that I was doing, and within that focus and presence, a joy and peace seeped out and surrounded me with a feeling that I longed for in my life. Those were the moments when the magic presented itself.

And from that realization – from that polished little stone of understanding falling out of the tumbling little mess that is my brain, was born the understanding that this little log of ideas – this blog – was the place where I could process those ideas into words that I could remember.