Athlete Vaporists?

kel

FuckMisogynists!
Went for a run earlier over the moors, it's raining and thunderstorms over the way a bit, black brooding clouds, white mists, wet glistening stones, grass, reeds and other greenery, splashing through the muddy puddles, rain dripping off the front of my cap, merino hoody for perfect temperature regulation, inov-8 Race Elite shorts for ahem... zero chaffing, Altra Lone Peak 4.5 for stunning stability and grip over even the most challenging terrain - and DexShell socks for dry and comfortable feet no matter which shoes I run in! No phone, no tracking, no tech - okay some materials tech in the clothing but that's all - just me, the weather and the moors!

- pure delight!
 

Marlon Rando

Well-Known Member
Don't catch a crab!
too funny! we won a 2,000 meter race today and no one caught any CRABS! but lemme tell you, rowing on the Hudson River aint the Charles.
wakes come very often, this am the river was like glass Mostly toward the end we were slammed by a few swells. oh bonus, we watched a bald eagle scoop up a fish out the water! wish i could have taken a pic to show here.
 

kel

FuckMisogynists!
I've never seen an eagle, at least not up close - occasionally off in the distance here in the UK, but that's all. I have seen film footage of what you describe... like this????


I seem to have hit a nice solid patch with my running, 5 miles a day up and over the moors, some pain but nothing debilitating - actually powering up the steep bits here and there today. At least a dozen little slips where a stone or some gravel give way underfoot - and all is good - tendons, ligaments and muscles are taking it all - no sprains, strains or twisted ankles. Famous last words hahaha...

I have to say, a little toot about an hour beforehand really does help 🐀
 

GetLeft

Well-Known Member
Bald eagle population on the rise here in the U.S. I'd seen very few live until the past few years. Now I see them somewhat regularly. They are stunning. Ospreys aren't a bad watch, either.


Something I'd never seen, however, was an electric bike pulling past me on my mtb ride. The access to the trails that I most commonly ride is an unpaved path of dirt. Stones strewn across and pounded down every couple of years so the mandatory utility trucks can get to towers and lines. It's all up hill. A good way to get the heart pumping before cutting off into the trails at the top of the climb.

Today, as I'm climbing, I hear some stones turning beneath tires and turn around to see a guy who was probably my age-ish (maybe a bit younger), long baggy sweat pants, big back pack, tie dye shirt. No huffing or puffing. Just some sort of pedaling that wasn't the kind of pedaling I'm used to and some random clicking of 'gears' that he couldn't seem to figure out. Didn't matter 'cause the 'bike' just kept ascending at the programmed rate with or without his awareness. As I watched him pull away, there was no change in cadence as the terrain changed nor sign of increased effort on the part of the rider due to increased incline. He just kept going up. It really wasn't a mtb. And he was not a mtb rider. This guy could no more have gotten up that hill on a bicycle than I could have on a unicycle. As he passed, no eye contact, no acknowledgement of the pass (you cross paths with some one on a trail, you acknowledge them.) He was probably embarrassed. In my estimation, he had no place being on that trail with that 'bike.' I squeeze every freaking thing I can out of myself to get up and down those trails. Sometimes I do ok, sometimes I don't. Gauging fitness, etc. I felt that if this guy were to go home and tell someone he had ridden those trails on a bike, it would be an untruth.

I guess I had this on my mind since the other day when I saw another guy booking along on the side of a highway that connects my town and the one (better stated, one of the ones) where I go to drink good beer. Cycling on those roads tends to be hard. Going long distances on flat highway calls for conditioning. How hard to go at it, when to go at it hard and when not to go at it hard. All that know how is born from hours in the saddle. The guy I saw had no idea what it took to get from one place to the other on that road. He was using his vehhicle as an easy, quick form of transportation. 'Easy, quick form of transprotation' does not appear in the definition of 'bicycle.'

I'm sure some will take offense at this post, but now my personal opinion is that ebikes are not bikes. I'm meeting up with a childhood buddy who has three ebikes. He's into them. One is for mtb riding. I'll be heading down for a long ride there next weekend. He wants to ride with me. Jeez. Not happening. Want to ride with me? Get a bike.
 

kel

FuckMisogynists!
Bald eagle population on the rise here in the U.S. I'd seen very few live until the past few years. Now I see them somewhat regularly. They are stunning. Ospreys aren't a bad watch, either.


Something I'd never seen, however, was an electric bike pulling past me on my mtb ride. The access to the trails that I most commonly ride is an unpaved path of dirt. Stones strewn across and pounded down every couple of years so the mandatory utility trucks can get to towers and lines. It's all up hill. A good way to get the heart pumping before cutting off into the trails at the top of the climb.

Today, as I'm climbing, I hear some stones turning beneath tires and turn around to see a guy who was probably my age-ish (maybe a bit younger), long baggy sweat pants, big back pack, tie dye shirt. No huffing or puffing. Just some sort of pedaling that wasn't the kind of pedaling I'm used to and some random clicking of 'gears' that he couldn't seem to figure out. Didn't matter 'cause the 'bike' just kept ascending at the programmed rate with or without his awareness. As I watched him pull away, there was no change in cadence as the terrain changed nor sign of increased effort on the part of the rider due to increased incline. He just kept going up. It really wasn't a mtb. And he was not a mtb rider. This guy could no more have gotten up that hill on a bicycle than I could have on a unicycle. As he passed, no eye contact, no acknowledgement of the pass (you cross paths with some one on a trail, you acknowledge them.) He was probably embarrassed. In my estimation, he had no place being on that trail with that 'bike.' I squeeze every freaking thing I can out of myself to get up and down those trails. Sometimes I do ok, sometimes I don't. Gauging fitness, etc. I felt that if this guy were to go home and tell someone he had ridden those trails on a bike, it would be an untruth.

I guess I had this on my mind since the other day when I saw another guy booking along on the side of a highway that connects my town and the one (better stated, one of the ones) where I go to drink good beer. Cycling on those roads tends to be hard. Going long distances on flat highway calls for conditioning. How hard to go at it, when to go at it hard and when not to go at it hard. All that know how is born from hours in the saddle. The guy I saw had no idea what it took to get from one place to the other on that road. He was using his vehhicle as an easy, quick form of transportation. 'Easy, quick form of transprotation' does not appear in the definition of 'bicycle.'

I'm sure some will take offense at this post, but now my personal opinion is that ebikes are not bikes. I'm meeting up with a childhood buddy who has three ebikes. He's into them. One is for mtb riding. I'll be heading down for a long ride there next weekend. He wants to ride with me. Jeez. Not happening. Want to ride with me? Get a bike.

I think this is a fair observation, it's not for me either, although I can certainly appreciate why people do like and use them - literally the difference between being able to go out and enjoy a ride, or being a puddle of exhausted mess half way up the first hill.

Hey ho... each to their own?

Take a spare bike with you when you visit your mate and make him ride it??

==

I have had a setback with my running... and a bit of a realisation that I am not really happy with! My running shoes were a year old, and silly me had not realised that they had started to deteriorate, too late... torn up loads of little bits here and there in my legs coming down a particularly steep hill. All the support gone. Toes jammed up the end of the shoe. Heels sliding about everywhere. It all happened so fast. Of course now I look back all the warning signs were there and I didn't pay attention - this is the last time I will make this mistake.

Turns out if I am running 15 miles a week I need a new pair of running shoes every 20 weeks... I was fast approaching double that distance every week, so that would be a new pair every 10 weeks.... at £135 a go that's not a cheap do, and the environment implications do not fit with my ideologies one little bit.

I feel conflicted. Obviously I need a good supportive running shoe running over the terrain I do, but at the same time, don't want to be binning a pair every few weeks on a ~£650 a year running shoe budget or tearing up tendons and muscles because I have overuse a pair to the point of collapse.
 

His_Highness

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
I have so many pairs of running shoes because the bottoms wear out before the tops start looking shabby so I keep them for non-running things like going to the store, mowing the lawn or walking around the neighborhood. Using those "not good for pounding the pavement" sneakers saves wear and tear on the "good for running" sneakers.

My favorite running shoes are Brooks Adrenaline GTS and like most running shoes they change up something each year to justify the purchase of the new year's shoe. It's not uncommon for the new year's change to be something I don't prefer compared to the previous versions. For example....the toe box is made wider/narrower or the cushioning technology is updated. It's common to see previous versions of a running shoe to be in high demand because many users don't like the new changes. So.....When I find a shoe that feels good I wait till the new versions come out and pick up the previous versions on sale. Another way to save on running shoes is to select "the uglies". Uglies are the ones where you love the shoes but the only colors left at that point in the shoe's version life are the colors nobody wants.

I never buy the brand new version of a running shoe........
 

kel

FuckMisogynists!
Oh yes!! It's a good strategy and I do similar things myself.

I think I must give mine some pretty serious stresses because it's always the tops that go before the soles start wearing out, but then I am running up and down hills, through bog and pretty tough loose stone trails. I think I have a very low impact running style, knees bent quite a lot when descending so I am still landing mid-foot even though I am coming down pretty steep hills... but of course when you're putting ghat much spring in your leg work it's very hard to judge and I must still be hitting hard!

I've just been chatting to a friend who does similar style running and they recommended the La Sportiva Mutants... they are pretty far from my usual shoe, but definitely seem suitable. That 10mm drop - I am going to feel like I am floating on clouds... I don't know, it just seems wrong to me, I want the very high responsiveness a much flatter shoe naturally provides... maybe I need to just spend some cash and experiment a bit.

edit... wait? There are actually some *good looking* running shoes? 😂

edit 2: just ordered a pair of the mutants, at £115 they are not exactly pricey, reassuringly they haven't changed the design for years; nice write up that actually convinced me to give them a go here https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/la-sportiva-mutant-review/
 
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His_Highness

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
Those mutants look like a solid choice for off-road!

There are good looking running shoes out there....I know because my wife can't pick a pair of running shoes unless she could see them looking good with jeans first :lol:

I'm a support shoe type of runner. Flat feet and pronation. When I was younger I did seek out and enjoy off road running more. Especially when they clear a large section of wooded area a couple miles in for a new housing development. Interesting sights when they start clearing and encroaching on the local wild life. Ran into Florida panther tracks, turkeys, wild boar, deer, coyotes and way too many snakes that look like branches and branches that look like snakes. And...almost forgot about the monkeys with herpes https://www.news4jax.com/news/weird-news/2020/02/03/monkey-sightings-on-rise-in-northeast-florida/

The only time I run without music is when I run the trails. Getting a trail run in just after the sun comes up around here requires attention and respect. If the wildlife doesn't get your attention the hunters and off-leash dogs will.
 
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kel

FuckMisogynists!
Yeah, they certainly seem popular, I struggled to find some in my size - will see - it's very unpredictable, they could be amazing or horrendous *for me* - everyone is different hey!

Your running sounds very (gloriously) different to mine, I see wildlife, but it's moorland birds, maybe deer, the odd hare, a few rabbits, definitely no snakes or monkeys! Although during lockdown I did see a few clowns in suits and dress shoes 'going for a walk' :lmao:

Morning runs are one of the reasons I wish I was a morning person, alas, that's not typical me - I am much more of an evening runner; the hour just before sunset if possible so I can watch the sun go down while running, and after everyone else has headed home for the day.
 

vapirtoo

Well-Known Member
Great info and insight as usual from this group.
I coached and ran track and field for 40+ years.
Shoes and surfaces must be considered for the
distance and time that you are running.
Long distance on hard flat roads will destroy
your legs eventually. Running on varied surfaces,
gravel, dirt, grass, etc allows different major and
minor muscles to move over a range of motions.
This type of muscle confusion is a training technique that prevents
over training.
Those shoes look great for the Moors, thank God you are not on
concrete or track mondo.

Oh yeah E-bikes
Yikes! Do not let assholes ruin your calm!
The guy coudn't look at you cause he is an asshole!

Going riding with an old friend who is using peddle
assist? As long as he does not half wheel me all the time,
pushing the pace, I would enjoy the ride and friendship.
Fuck it, he is your friend not some asshole. IMHO
 

His_Highness

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
@vapirtoo - I didn't know that sidewalk/road running flat surfaces for long distances and periods of time could ruin your legs. Does MTB cross training, warm up stretching/cool down stretching and fartlek training mitigate the issue? I've been long running hard, flat surfaces for years now without issues. There are times I over train after starting back up after taking a break from running and the solution has been alternating between pavement and grass during my runs until the musculature strengthens again and the pain subsides.

I run a lot of hard flat "garbage" miles when I'm not getting ready for a local road race and I haven't done one in years. Thanks for the info...I'll keep an eye out. Admittedly I find myself doing physical inventories more often now that I'm old.

Edit: With four decades experience I'd love to hear your opinion on the barefoot trend and stretching. I've had some folks tell me that stretching before a run can cause injury and that I should limit myself to a easy warm up since I'm done chasing personal records.
 
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kel

FuckMisogynists!
I'm done chasing personal records.

Yeah 100% - how to ruin a perfectly good run, bike ride, whatever... I did it for a while, but it really stopped me enjoying the run and the scenery, the soundscape, the buzz, the whole thing... it really did ruin it for me! It also made me look at expensive tracking technology and want to spend money on something that I really shouldn't be.

Re. injuries, I just see these as part of the territory, I throw myself at hard things... so I am not sure what else I should expect? Every time I hurt myself I think 'oooh that's going to make that bit really tough!' and restart a regime of L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in the morning and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM / sulphur) in the evening along with a healthy dose of Fulvic acid (FvA) - highly recommended to get a really good source of this stuff and fill your face with it - it's really really good for healing and general well being. I am so much tougher now than I was when I started this it's ridiculous, I still seem to be getting tougher every day. Two years ago I was overweight, combusting tobacco and could barely breathe after my first couch to 5k lesson hahah - I was a wreck! Now I can run fo an hour and a half over the moors (I'm still a wreck at the end though heheh).
 

vapirtoo

Well-Known Member
Hey folks
MSM wow haven't seen that supplement in a while, but it works keeping inflammation at bay as does turmeric/ginger combo.
Kel your environment of varied terrain and excellent air is great! Keep enjoying that scenery, I kind of envy you?!
OK, many moons ago I was running 5 miles a day on a wooden boardwalk in Far Rockaway NY. Great air, great views;
the wood felt great as it gave a little with each step. I did this for two years just to stay active.
I started coaching for a club team, and as a safety measure, I would run with the kids, around Baisley lake for cross country season.
The lake's running trail was all concrete, and after the very first practice, each knee felt like a bad headache. I never felt that before,
the practice was light- 3 miles 30 to 40 min, but that hard surface had really hurt my knees!
The next morning everything was back to normal, but that really taught me about surfaces.
Oh yeah, As a college runner I was looking for more fitness, so one night in the middle of winter I
put on the wrong shoes, ran 10 laps around that same lake -13 miles- and developed the worst case of shin splints.
Took a month of light training to recuperate.
So... Brooks, New Balance, Adidas and Saucony(soft) all give reasonable support, and they all wear out sooner than
you can feel- adaptation.
Stretching is over sold! I could never touch my toes as a child. My range of motion is sub par, but I've
never dislocated anything Ha Ha. Kung Fu and yoga were ugly, still are. I would let my athletes stretch only after an
intense sprint dynamic workout. I stretch when I'm warmed up, and even then I just try to get the needed
movement activated.
Last thing, I've never had anyone drink too much water. I've read that this could happen, but all my athletes
needed all the hydrating that they could get, me too.
 

GetLeft

Well-Known Member
@kel the wrist devices are kind of fun. I could never know for sure how far and how long I'd ridden. Nice to have that info. My device monitors my sleep, too! Which makes no difference other than now I know I average an hour of deep sleep a night. Now if I could only get the darn compass to calibrate :lol:
 

Marlon Rando

Well-Known Member
Where is that?
Mid Hudson River Hyde Park/Poughkeepsie area, A great river for rowing when the tide is right.
training on the 4 man shells this week for this Saturday Regatta, getting pumped up for it and everything fucking hurts in my body from coach pushing us. mind you were only racing a 1500m as a novice crew.
mixed 4 is one race, and a women's 4 in another. 4 man shells are fast AF but trickier to 'set' (balancing) but if the crew is in sync that boat can really Sing!
20210807150113103-207016.jpg
 

vapirtoo

Well-Known Member
The Hudson looked fairly calm in the picture. The size of that river and the commercial boating
making wakes seems very intimidating for such skinny racing shells. Mad skills not to mention
conditioning! Try to keep everyone singing!
 

WisePenny

unknown. unmember.
@kel the wrist devices are kind of fun. I could never know for sure how far and how long I'd ridden. Nice to have that info. My device monitors my sleep, too! Which makes no difference other than now I know I average an hour of deep sleep a night. Now if I could only get the darn compass to calibrate :lol:
I love my sleep feedback and my running app. Plus mine has storage on it so I can use it to play music - just my watch and bluetooth earbuds, keeps me light and unencumbered for my runs! I like hearing my km splits and overall time and reviewing my run afterward on the app.
 

VapeEscapist

Medicine Buddha
-snip- 'Easy, quick form of transprotation' does not appear in the definition of 'bicycle.'

I'm sure some will take offense at this post, but now my personal opinion is that ebikes are not bikes. I'm meeting up with a childhood buddy who has three ebikes. He's into them. One is for mtb riding. I'll be heading down for a long ride there next weekend. He wants to ride with me. Jeez. Not happening. Want to ride with me? Get a bike.
I'm with you 100%.

These are mopeds and calling them bicycles is insulting, inaccurate, and dangerous.

Exercise?

Environmentally friendly?

Responsibly piloted?

Hardly.

100 years of literal blood, sweat, and tears, by mechanical cyclists, to fight for a meters width lane to ourselves and now all of the sudden we are surrounded by motor vehicles again.

I did 5 hours on my Trek FXS4 yesterday. 3.5 hours were in Manhattan after 8pm. (Yes I got caught in the thunderstorms.)

I saw a middle age woman riding down 2nd Ave in the bike lane on an e-bike, no helmet, climbing at speeds near myself and the roadie nearby, no respect for lights or crosswalks. I'm shocked there aren't more fatalities, though anything less than death is less reported, so there's likely tons of injures. Mechanical cyclists ride irresponsibly all the time as well, but now we have people who aren't fit to pilot their heavy vehicles and have barely a surface understanding of the physics involved with actual cycling.

On the west side bike path they have signs saying no motor vehicles or e-bikes, and when I tell you 8 out of 10 riders I passed last night were on an e-bike, I'm not exaggerating.

E-bikes should have been called MOPEDS from the beginning and should be treated as such under the law. Full (disc brakes) stop.
 
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vapirtoo

Well-Known Member
Wow, that is harsh, but on point.
Yes they are mopeds, licensed and insured?
These days common sense is endangered like
everything else.
Welcome to the future where everything is
overused and extreme. My favorite hiking trails,
mobbed; my fav. bike routes, dangerous after 9AM.
I've seen bikers -non assist- blast through intersections,
weave around walkers and yes no helmets please.
I'm too old to be fucking around with idiots, powered
or regular. I pick my routes carefully with sunrise keeping
my ass off of the pavement. My morning peeps seem safer.
 

VapeEscapist

Medicine Buddha
I pick my routes carefully
My route to Flushing should be -30 minutes. To make it safer I go well out of my way and it's closer to 45.

I often add mileage to favor a safer route, and any time I can use a route that's completely separate from traffic, I do.

People often look at me funny when I tell them I use the Triboro to get to Manhattan. They think it's somehow dangerous because the fence is short, and the path is narrow. Meanwhile, the sheer density of riders on the Queensboro makes it infinitely more dangerous. Ever since they finished the 2nd Ave bike lane, I think I've used the Queensboro twice.
 

Marlon Rando

Well-Known Member
The Hudson looked fairly calm in the picture. The size of that river and the commercial boating
making wakes seems very intimidating for such skinny racing shells. Mad skills not to mention
conditioning! Try to keep everyone singing!
it was, however this river can turn on a dime, yesterday for example the current was calm around 5pm so so calm water, as soon as we got off the launches and started our warm up rows the currents turned on us and then the 'cells' started to roll in, coach wrapped it for us and we headed back to dock. yep happy started early for me :cheers: the weather this week is reaching unbearable temps for training so we see how this Saturday race turns out if at all?
 
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