Re: Non riding friend pi**ed me off today

[GRL]

Reality check time rolls round yet again.

You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
****'s.

You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
club, but you lost workout quality.

Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
$200 bike would.

If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
a better workout.



- GRL


" It's good to want things. "

- Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, graphic artist, Visual Basic
programmer)
"Actually34" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> About a year ago, I ditched the health club I belonged to when its annual
> family membership fees approached $1,000 a year (and my kids had both left
home
> to go to college) and took up cycling. I use my bike to excercise while
running
> errands to the store almost everyday, and commuting to work, school or
the
> library. By bicycling and not driving, I estimate I save about $520 a year
in
> gas and wear and tear on the car (more if you count parking fees). I've
already
> repaid the price of my Specialized Hardrock (used) and the modifications
to it
> for commuting. Over the next 10 years, I figure I'll save more than
$15,200
> just in health club dues and auto expenses. Maybe one of these days I'll
> splurge, go hog wild, and trade up to a Co-Motion (I can't afford a
Ferrari,
> but can afford the Ferrari -- well, mabye the Mercedes Benz -- of
bicycles).
> I'll still be up more than 12 grand. Tell your non riding friend to ponder
that
> in all his smugness.
>
> And the environmental benefits are for everybody.
>
> David
>

 

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>
>You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
>****'s.
>
>You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
>health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
>club, but you lost workout quality.
>
>Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
>environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
>$200 bike would.
>
>If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
>pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
>a better workout.

Sure. But is the workout fun?

That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
ride my bicycle.

Is that so much to ask?

-Luigi

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"GRL" <[email protected]> writes:

> Reality check time rolls round yet again.

[brevity snip]

I don't 'get' ballet at all. If a ballet afficionado tried to
get me to understand their passion for it, they'd just be
wasting their breath. I think of that whenever somebody just
doesn't understand my own passion for cycling. It helps me to
be patient with those poor, deprived souls who just don't want
to understand about cycling.


cheers,
Tom


--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

 

[loki]

"Tom Keats" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "GRL" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>
> [brevity snip]
>
> I don't 'get' ballet at all. If a ballet afficionado tried to
> get me to understand their passion for it, they'd just be
> wasting their breath. I think of that whenever somebody just
> doesn't understand my own passion for cycling. It helps me to
> be patient with those poor, deprived souls who just don't want
> to understand about cycling.

Ya. The healthful aspects of cycling - even if one came to the world of
bikes for that reason - are really secondary, a bonus if you will, to the
experience of it all.

--
'Kewl! Mom's on drugs!
We can turn her in and get
a form letter from **** Cheney!' -Bart Simpson

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Reality check time rolls round yet again.
> >
> >You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
> >****'s.

> >You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
> >health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
> >club, but you lost workout quality.

> >If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
> >pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
> >a better workout.
>
> Sure. But is the workout fun?
>
> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
> ride my bicycle.
>
> Is that so much to ask?

Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
attitude.

For me, there were two major factors in picking a bike as my major
fitness vehicle, and I think both factor heavily into the reason bikes
get picked as exercise devices. First, running tends to play havoc with
the parts of my body that have shown vulnerability to injury since my
teens: back and knees. I've been in physio for both, not due to a sudden
injury, but just because they caused me pain in the course of my
ordinary activity.

The second, and equally important reason, was that cycling is also a
form of transportation, which meant I could combine otherwise wasted
commuting time (I wasn't getting anything productive done driving to
work) and reduced the amount of time I needed to allocate to exercising,
since riding and showering only took about 30 minutes more than driving
(and is probably faster than transit). It didn't hurt that cycling was
really cheap compared to driving a car.

It hasn't worked out perfectly: I'm now bike-obsessed, devote as much
time as I can to wrenching, training, and racing, and keep buying more
bike stuff. Worse, I've managed at least one time-off-work injury caused
by cycling. Stupid me.

So, I guess what I'm saying is don't ride a bicycle, because you might
end up like me and enjoy it a lot, and who knows where that might lead.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

 

[the black rose]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" <[email protected]>
>>wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>>>
>>>You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
>>>****'s.
>
>
>>>You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
>>>health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
>>>club, but you lost workout quality.
>
>
>>>If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
>>>pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even get
>>>a better workout.
>>
>>Sure. But is the workout fun?
>>
>>That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
>>the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
>>I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
>>ride my bicycle.
>>
>>Is that so much to ask?
>
>
> Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
> attitude.

Ah, but does Luigi *want* to make it to the podium?

I know I don't. I'll never be a racer. But I can have fun seeing how
*far* I can ride. That's a whole 'nother story (and a whole 'nother bike).

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts

 

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
>> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
>> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
>> ride my bicycle.
>>
>> Is that so much to ask?
>
>Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
>attitude.

What if I don't want the podium?

Seriously.

Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
being handed to me in one form or other.

When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
but me.

I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
ride my bike.

-Luigi

 

[Fx199]

>Subject: Re: Non riding friend pi**ed me off today
>From: Luigi de Guzman [email protected]
>Date: 8/15/2004 6:52 PM US Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <[email protected]>
>
>On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
>>> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
>>> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
>>> ride my bicycle.
>>>
>>> Is that so much to ask?
>>
>>Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
>>attitude.
>
>What if I don't want the podium?
>
>Seriously.
>
> Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
>being handed to me in one form or other.
>
>When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
>me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
>but me.
>
>I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
>ride my bike.
>
>-Luigi
>


I agree...When I'm on my bike alone I'm free...the only person I'm competeting
against is myself. "junk miles" be damned...<snicker>

 

[Roger Zoul]

Luigi de Guzman wrote:
|| On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
|| wrote:
||
|||| That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
|||| the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable
|||| results. I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed.
|||| I want to ride my bicycle.
||||
|||| Is that so much to ask?
|||
||| Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
||| attitude.
||
|| What if I don't want the podium?
||
|| Seriously.
||
|| Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
|| being handed to me in one form or other.
||
|| When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
|| me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
|| but me.
||
|| I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
|| ride my bike.

Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.

 

[Claire Petersky]

"Roger Zoul" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Luigi de Guzman wrote:

> || When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
> || me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
> || but me.
> ||
> || I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
> || ride my bike.
>
> Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
> imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.

Plus, training rides are fun.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

 

[Hunrobe]

>"Roger Zoul" [email protected]

wrote:

>Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
>imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.

I think Luigi's point was that the mere term "training rides" implies that the
ride is secondary to the training. That's why he put quotes around the word
"training". I'll bet he still does intervals even if he doesn't call them that.
Of course if he doesn't that could explain why he regularly gets whupped by old
geezers.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

 

[R15757]

Claire Petersky wrote:

<< Plus, training rides are fun. >>


To me, suffering for my sins on some brutal
climb is one of the best things about bicycling.
I don't really enjoy racing though.

Robert
magnolia road a few days ago
just for fun

 

[Bootboiler]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 23:22:27 -0400, "GRL" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Reality check time rolls round yet again.
> >
> >You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
> >****'s.
> >
> >You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
> >health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
> >club, but you lost workout quality.
> >
> >Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
> >environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
> >$200 bike would.
> >
> >If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
> >pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even
get
> >a better workout.
>
> Sure. But is the workout fun?
>
> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
> ride my bicycle.
>
> Is that so much to ask?
>
> -Luigi

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like.

-Queen

 

[Luigi de Guzman]

On 16 Aug 2004 14:26:05 GMT, [email protected] (Hunrobe) wrote:

>>"Roger Zoul" [email protected]
>
>wrote:
>
>>Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it doesn't
>>imply that you have to compete with anyone other than yourself.
>
>I think Luigi's point was that the mere term "training rides" implies that the
>ride is secondary to the training. That's why he put quotes around the word
>"training".

Correct.

>I'll bet he still does intervals even if he doesn't call them that.

Well, it's route selection, mainly. One road is long and flat, and
it's fun to go like hell on it. Another is hilly and winding and
quiet, so cranking up and spinning down and ducking into the curves is
fun, too.


>Of course if he doesn't that could explain why he regularly gets whupped by old
>geezers.

Fat bastardy has its many drawbacks, yes.

-Luigi

>
>Regards,
>Bob Hunt

 

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 15:41:55 GMT, "Bootboiler"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle
>I want to ride it where I like.
>
>-Queen
>

You know, I almost forgot about that.

and there's the bit at the end of "fat bottomed girls" where he goes

GET ON YOUR BIKES AND RIDE!

 

[Roger Zoul]

Hunrobe wrote:
||| "Roger Zoul" [email protected]
||
|| wrote:
||
||| Why can't you take a training ride? It's riding your bike and it
||| doesn't imply that you have to compete with anyone other than
||| yourself.
||
|| I think Luigi's point was that the mere term "training rides"
|| implies that the ride is secondary to the training. That's why he
|| put quotes around the word "training". I'll bet he still does
|| intervals even if he doesn't call them that. Of course if he doesn't
|| that could explain why he regularly gets whupped by old geezers.

Well, if that's the case, I totally agree with him. I like to train, but
only so I can ride better, ie, enjoy it better.

 

[black]

Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary).


"GRL" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Reality check time rolls round yet again.
>
> You could have saved even more money buying a $200 bike at a place like
> ****'s.
>
> You cannot get the range of workout on your bike that you can get at a
> health club. It is physically imposable. You saved some bucks leaving the
> club, but you lost workout quality.
>
> Buying your dream bike will not save you any money, will not help the
> environment (does not need your help, anyway) any more than your riding a
> $200 bike would.
>
> If all you wanted was a nice workout and to save some gas you could get a
> pair of $40 running shoes and ,,,run. Carry some weights and you even
get
> a better workout.
>
>
>
> - GRL
>
>
> " It's good to want things. "
>
> - Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, graphic artist, Visual Basic
> programmer)
> "Actually34" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > About a year ago, I ditched the health club I belonged to when its
annual
> > family membership fees approached $1,000 a year (and my kids had both
left
> home
> > to go to college) and took up cycling. I use my bike to excercise while
> running
> > errands to the store almost everyday, and commuting to work, school or
> the
> > library. By bicycling and not driving, I estimate I save about $520 a
year
> in
> > gas and wear and tear on the car (more if you count parking fees). I've
> already
> > repaid the price of my Specialized Hardrock (used) and the modifications
> to it
> > for commuting. Over the next 10 years, I figure I'll save more than
> $15,200
> > just in health club dues and auto expenses. Maybe one of these days I'll
> > splurge, go hog wild, and trade up to a Co-Motion (I can't afford a
> Ferrari,
> > but can afford the Ferrari -- well, mabye the Mercedes Benz -- of
> bicycles).
> > I'll still be up more than 12 grand. Tell your non riding friend to
ponder
> that
> > in all his smugness.
> >
> > And the environmental benefits are for everybody.
> >
> > David
> >
>
>

 

[Hunrobe]

>[email protected]

wrote:

>Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
>great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary).

Speak for yourself. I ride because I like to ride. That the merest glimpse of
my lean sculpted body in spandex draws admiring stares from the opposite sex is
just a fringe benefit.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 12:21:08 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >> That's the thing of it. I don't give a **** about the "quality" of
> >> the workout. I don't want quality. I don't want measurable results.
> >> I don't want to be quantified, poked, prodded, or probed. I want to
> >> ride my bicycle.
> >>
> >> Is that so much to ask?
> >
> >Sigh. Luigi, you're never going to make it to the podium with that
> >attitude.
>
> What if I don't want the podium?
>
> Seriously.
>
> Every other sporting endeavour of my life has revolved around my ass
> being handed to me in one form or other.

That's funny, because the same was true for me. One joy of cycling for
me was finding a competitive endeavour where I didn't suck.

> When I'm on a bicycle, I'm free. Nobody dictates anything to me--but
> me. I can go whereever I want, as fast as I want. I let nobody down
> but me.

In fairness, what got me into racing, basically, was that I realized
during my commuting that I was getting pretty fast, and I thought I
would enjoy testing myself against others. It turned out I was pretty
good, and that made racing enjoyable for me.

> I don't ever want to take a "training" ride...ever. I just want to
> ride my bike.

You see? That's the 'tude I'm talking about!

I have joked to my clubmates that I race so that I will be able to
commute faster. It's truer than you might think. There's something
liberating about knowing how seriously quick my commute times now are; I
have seen my average speeds over my 11.5 km commute go up by 4-6 km/h in
two years. I find that at some point it makes riding a bike in traffic
easier and more fun when you're fast enough to keep up.

As one of my benchmarks, I try to outrun an express bus over a
net-uphill section of my commute. I usually win.
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

 

[Neil Cherry]

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:41:53 +0800, black wrote:
> Let's not forget the real reason we like riding bikes - we think we look
> great in spandex (despite all the evidence to the contrary).

I have no idea of what I look like and I don't recognize myself in
pictures. But I do love the fact that I can go out and push for hours
at a time. Today I kept the heart rate monitor pegged at between 160
and 178 (most 160 - 165) most of my 28 mile ride. It just hurts so
good!

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry [email protected]
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)