The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/5YDKFyN I did a two-hour plus easy cruise yesterday, in pleasant weather. Out and back on Coyote Creek trail to where it is flooded out from the recent rains, then South towards Gilroy on the lightly traveled country roads on the east side of the valley. During my warm-up I had a mental lapse and almost rode into the back of a parked trailer because I was daydreaming instead of watching where I was going. I swerved and came to a panic stop, but lost my balance and did a slow-motion fall. No harm done. The cool part was that two separate drivers in pickup trucks stopped to make sure I was OK. It’s nice to be reminded there are plenty of nice people in the world. When I leave for my rides my wife always say “have fun, be extra careful” and I promise I will. I think we’ll have to change It to “extra extra careful”. No more daydreaming at 15 mph! The flooded ford on Coyote Creek trail. If this season is typical, it probably won’t clear until May. Fortunately there are det...

https://ift.tt/xDgf4wt Now that my antibiotics have done their job I’m back to riding full tilt. Yesterday was my hard day. But something I read recently made we realize I was doing something wrong. I was doing long (2 hour+) rides for my hard one, with the intervals and sprints tacked on at the end after hours of brisk cruising. That meant my legs were always already tired when I started the hardest part. If instead I did the sprints and intervals on fresh legs after a short warm-up, I’d be able to push harder and get more benefits. I’ve done that for my last couple of hard rides and it feels great. Too soon to tell if it will lead to better results, but I enjoy it more. The long brisk cruising is now reserved for other days. Metcalf Natural Gas Power Plant, About 10 miles from home, was working hard this morning. When it is cold the steam sometimes hangs out near the ground instead of rising in a plume. Pretty Park in the neighborhood across the street from my house. Through t...

https://ift.tt/Vk9HbZR I recently viewed an inspiring video series on Global Cycling Network about the journey of self-transformation of one of their presenters, Dan. He is a retired professional cyclist and at 43 he has been enjoying retirement a bit too much and has felt the first intimation of father time breathing down his neck, so wants to turn it around. This results in a series of 8 videos of before, during, and after. Dan is an entertaining guy and presents technical info in a fun way. The transformation process include relatively little cycling (because at the beginning Dan was burned out about it). Instead the exercise part emphasizes a solid but not excessive regime of strength training and walking. Giving up alcohol for the duration, for a guy who enjoys his pint, also helps. And the results are great, especially health wise. Click here to see a playlist of individual episodes or click the video below for a “super compilation” of all episodes.

https://ift.tt/lbZvyhN I’m on antibiotics for a bacterial infection since yesterday noon, and from previous experience this should make me feel better quickly. I’m referring to the symptoms I reported in my last post . It turned out that I was not feeling better by last Monday, but by then was pretty sure what it was so I messaged my doctor. He sent me for a test the same day and we got the results on Wednesday. This is brisk for the medical system nowadays, it can take weeks to get into see a specialist, but fortunately I did not need to see him in person, and he’s very quick responding to messages. /* TMI ALERT The next paragraph may be TMI about medical issues for some, so feel free to skip it. This turned out to be a recurrence of urinary tract infection I had back in 2021. I’ve had no problems with that area of my anatomy since then because of a procedure I underwent in 2022 . After this round of infection is kicked out in a few days, I’ll follow up with my doctor (Urologist) ...

https://ift.tt/wPL5q8K I rode a lot this week including in some rainy weather. With the weather improving, I was planning on doing longer rides Friday and Saturday. But my body went on strike Thursday night- I got some cold symptoms and a really bad case of the chills, including chattering teeth. I had to crank my electric blanket to high, and had a fistful night’s sleep. But sometimes around 4:00 AM the chills got better. I still had symptoms like headache and runny nose so I took yesterday and today off. Tomorrow is scheduled to be a short easy ride which I may do if I’m feeling better by then. This kind of thing has happened before when I got over enthused.You’re 72 Rich, not 27! OK. so this might be exaggerating a little… https://laist.com/news/kpcc-archive/biking-in-the-rain-have-a-game-plan

https://ift.tt/Pbprd14 We had a few more days of sunshine last week so I got in some good rides. Tuesday my group rode around Chesbro and Uvas reservoirs, with an out an back on Casa Loma road thrown in. After Casa Loma there was a long stretch on Uvas road. Flat with some rolling hills and a tailwind- recumbent heaven! On Wednesday my spare electric assist kit arrived. Last November Swytch had a great “black Friday” sale and I was able to purchase a spare kit which came with two batteries. I was thinking of getting spare batteries anyway, and this didn’t cost much more than the batteries alone would normally cost. Now I have a spare in case my current motor ever gives out, or in the future I could add assist to a different bike if desired. For now I was glad to get the extra batteries which extend my range considerably. I tested this with longer rides on Friday and Saturday, and found that I can now go more than 3 1/2 hours with assist, or more than 50 miles. The sunshine party was ...