A few people on the forum have been talking about doing RAGBRAI next year. RAGBRAI is a 432 mile journey across Iowa that spans 6 days during the last week of July (2008: July 20 - 26). While you don’t have to be extremely fit, a good training regime to prepare for the 400+ mile trek is essential. The site recommends at least 600 training miles prior to coming. If you think about it, that isn’t too bad; 20 miles a day (excluding weekends) for 1 month will net you around 400 miles. Keep that up for a few months and you are good to go. With 8500 people riding you will be around plenty of folk with varying degrees of experience so don’t worry about lagging behind.
I’m still debating whether or not I will take the trip. It means sacrificing a week of vacation time and while I wouldn’t hesitate to do this if I were single, I’ve got a family and their time to think about. I’d be more inclined to go if I had friends that were willing to ride as well. We’ll see.
No other body builder has ever captured my imagination - or the worlds for that matter - like Arnold “The Oak” Schwarzenegger. Prior to Lou Ferigno no one had seen anything like Arnold. Standing 6′ 2″ tall and weighing in at 240lbs., Arnold was a menacing sight. Even more amazing was that he was near perfectly proportioned for being such a large body builder. His intensity, charisma and “I can conquer it all” attitude solidified his status as a legend even prior to his Mr. Olympia sweeps from 1970 - ‘75. No one ever doubted that whatever Arnold set his mind to, he would conquer. From the goal of perfecting his body to cleaning up the California political system, Arnold understood the importance of the pursuit of excellence.
I’m writing this because I was looking at the picture of me below thinking, “Geez, I look like a sucka!” I seriously need to hit the gym, but when can I find the time? I may not get to Arnold’s level but dammit, I’m getting fit by any means necessary.
The good news is that I’ve lost a lot of weight. The bad news is that now my head looks even larger! There is no denying the truth, I have a big arse head.
I’ll be at the rally this Sunday. We need to fix the congestion in NYC for not only the drivers and commuters but for our own health and our childrens. The future of this city is at stake and our lives depend on this bill passing.
If you ride, walk or take public transportation to work, you should be at this rally and support this bill.
I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize how bad it was. Today the NYTimes featured an article detailing just how unhealthy regular outdoor exercise is for people. This certainly isn’t a shock, in fact it was confirmation that I may indeed need to cut back on my riding. The sad and undeniable truth is that jogging, cycling, roller blading and most other outdoor related exercises – in urban areas – are doing more harm than good (long term).
Athletes typically take in 10 to 20 times as much air…and thus pollutants, with every breath as sedentary people do.
While the article didn’t go as far as to say never do outdoor activities, many of the health professionals cited advised against doing said activities near high traffic areas. That is well and good, but when you live in a city like NY, it’s rather difficult to not avoid traffic. The west side greenway runs directly next to the west side highway. Avoiding city streets is easy, but you can never really escape the fumes. Even Central Park during the day is clogged with pollutionmobiles.
Much like the woman featured, I suffer the same asthmatic problems. Since being more active outdoors – and in NYC no less – I have developed serious asthma and lung problems. A nasty hacking cough and constant phlem are my reward for trying to be a fit, economical and ecologically conscious individual.
More information about our current air pollution problem can be found at the American Lung Association’s website. You can also view the State of the Air: 2007 report card and see how your state/county faired.
