Scrapper Bike FTW
A must watch video of the Scrapper King, doing good in his community.
Lessons Learned About Streching
I have never been able to touch my toes at any time in my life that I can remember. Its something that I have always been embarrassed about. I always had great pain in the back of knees when trying to touch my toes. I even made up excuses like I think something is wrong with the tendons in my knees, or “I heard that some people have misshaped pelvic bones that limit stretching in the legs”. I really felt like it had to be something like that.
Recently my wife and I went to yoga and the instructor keep telling me to pull my pelvis towards the back of the room. I couldn’t tell any difference because the whole yoga thing was new to me and very confusing/painful, and I just used those excuses from above again. One morning, after that first yoga class, while stretching in the shower I remember what the yoga teacher said and tried it, and wah-lah I effortlessly went down 4-6 more inches and touched my toes. Not to mention, that I felt a good stretch not only in my calves but also in my hamstring (which has been helping a lot with knee problems).
So now the question is why didn’t i know this before? Why didn’t some elementary gym teacher see this and correct me? Did you know this? Why didn’t you tell me? If you do know this “little trick” TELL PEOPLE!!!
Now, How do I get my foot wrapped around my head?
Commuting, to Love a Bicycle
I finally got my commuter, a new Salsa Casseroll single speed, and I have fallen back in love with commuting to work. Sure riding my Bianchi 928 t-cube was fast and light, but I alway felt a little silly all kitted up riding 5 miles to work. It kinda felt as out of place as driving a hummer in the city. Now I just throw on some shorts, Jersey (i have them so why not wear them) and some sneakers and cruise to work at a slower pace, and I love it. Now all thats left is to get a rack and panniers, and then i will post some pictures.
Bike Commuting
Here is a great video about Village Voice entertainment columnist Michael Musto, and his thoughts on commuting via bike…
I am looking at getting a bike to commute on. I think that getting on my road machine kit’ed up and clipped in is actually keeping me from riding more. My work commute is on 4-5 miles and the grocery, target, movie theater, etc is just a few miles from my house, but i feel ridiculous riding on my road bike with shorts t-shirt and flip-flops.
25 Miler After Work
Same route as before…
No Soda, Day 2
One day down and a lifetime to go. Yesterday went off without a hitch, and I think today will be easy as well. For the record I want to state that I don’t plan on giving up soda forever, and I will partake in a refreshing soda from time to time. However, I will try to be smart about choosing real sugar over high fructose corn syrup and limiting my self to only one or two sodas a month. I also am getting in the routine of a semi regular riding schedule, now that the sun is out longer after work. I am trying to ride 25-30 miles two nights a week and a longer rides on the weekends. This feels good!
Nutrition
So I have a problem, and the first step is realizing I have a problem. I LOVE soda, but I have to stop drinking it. The funny part is that I also love water, but Soda is my gateway into other bad habits like sugar. I tend to drink one soda a day and partake in a few sugary delights as well. This has to stop. I am really impressed with the guy over at bikerumor.com and his no added sugar experiment for one month (looking forward to reading the results), and would love to try something like that, but I just need to see others do it first so I know what to do. I also have a friend that weighs in every morning and charts his gains and loses, and I feel like that might be a good first start to a drastic nutrition change. So…
DAY1: NO SODA
Breakfast: Russian Caravan tea sweetened with agave nectar. I know I am supposed to eat something, I just don’t have anything!
Lunch: Tuna sandwich with Tomato Basil Soup and green tea.
Dinner/LOST party: White wine (maybe beer) with my wife’s homemade turkey chili
RunKeeper is a Winner
Did a ride after work last night and used the iphone app RunKeeper to chart it. I am so happy with the results – of both the ride and the app. The weather was as good as it gets and the interface to the app was better.
24hrs in the Old Pueblo
One day I might get brave enought to try mountain biking, but for now I will stick to the easy road.