Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Month: September 2012

  • It isn’t pretty.

    Just reading up about training with a power meter for road cycling and ended up on Joe Friel’s blog where he is discussing the issues and challenges of “old” or “aging” athletes. Here is his take on the things that your aging body can do to you.

    Joe Friel

    For the purpose of this discussion let’s say that one is “old” over age 50. By this age it is usually apparent that an athlete is experiencing several life- and performance-altering physical changes: lower levels of testosterone, lost muscle mass, increased risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis (especially in cyclists and swimmers), an increased tendency for acid-base imbalance further contributing to bone and muscle loss, a greater propensity for weight gain, lost soft tissue elasticity with an increased likelihood of injury, reduced enzyme activity, less tolerance for heat, and more. It isn’t pretty.

    I’m thinking that “old” is way beyond 50 for sure, but some of the changes can be quite challanging to accept or adapt to for sure.

  • Sorry Lady

    Just wanted to say I’m sorry to the lady who yelled at me from her car on Assiniboine Ave this morning after I made a radical lane change in front of her car on the Queen Elizabeth Way bridge.

    I know I surprised you and you didn’t see me coming until the last second. It was all my fault. I made a bad decision. I’m sorry.

    I heard you say “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”, well the answer is “No”. If you had hit me you would have been trying to rear end that car in front of you. I’m sure you weren’t trying to do that either.

    I cycle that route every day so there is a chance we’ll see each other again. I made a mistake. I’m sorry and I hope you’ll forgive me and give me a second chance.

  • Old Guy?

    A few weeks back I’m out riding at the lake and I’m on the Jones Road heading north. I notice another rider up ahead and I start to work on closing the gap. I’m thinking this person must be a fairly good rider as I’m not able to close very fast, if at all! For some of the time we seem to be keeping pace and then some of the time I’m closing up a bit.

    Finally, I’m on their wheel, an she slows down a bit and I go by, we say “hello”.  Then she’s pulling along side and passing. OK, it’s on now! Turns out she’s training for a triathlon and doing some intervals. We ride along for a number of kms and I manage to keep her behind me most of the time, but she’s realy putting the hurt on me.

    We round a corner onto Airport Road and slow the pace a bit and talk. We exchange info on our riding life, she tells me about her triathlon training. I mention how I normally never meet up with anybody on the Kenora rides, and she says she almost always has a riding partner. Then it happens. She says to me, “There’s another old guy who rides out of the Longbow Lake area, do you know him?”. Old Guy! Kids these days, just no respect. And by the way you were drafting me for a good portion of the section.