Dear Cyclists (or other endurance athletes), Since your heart—a muscle, like any other muscle in your body—is at the crux of cycling performance, I thought a story on a common heart condition might be helpful. The story involves a common cardiac condition called “tachycardia-mediated cardiomyopathy.” Now hold on a minute; don’t click away yet. Let […]
Category: Cycling Wed
Wednesday musings on all things cycling-related
It is Wednesday. Time to write on a cycling topic. My home town, Louisville, KY, on the northern side of America’s obesity belt has shown some flickers of enlightenment these days. Labor day, we had the Mayor’s hike and bike. This drew 7500 cyclists and walkers. These twice yearly (Memorial and Labor Day) cycling events […]
For bike racers, the end of summer marks the beginnings of cyclocross season. Cyclocross? Yes, think motocross, only the motor is the heart, lungs, legs and cerebellum. Here is my 2010 primer on the discipline of cyclocross. Cyclocross (CX) originated in Western Europe and is extremely popular there, however, it is rapidly gaining popularity in […]
This Wednesday it will be easy to combine cycling and medicine. So it was when I saw this prescient story that linked antagonistic personality traits and cardiovascular risk. It was simply impossible to ignore, especially on a Wednesday. Low hanging fruit, no doubt. It was an NIH sponsored study which looked at the effects of antagonistic […]
What was, is not always what is. Things change. This is true in cycling as it is in medicine. Seeing such change takes some observational skill. Looking back on life (‘retrospectively’ is how we term it in the medical world), it is easy to identify such chapter breaks. Far more challenging, though, is to note […]
Do you remember the visceral sensations of angst over an upcoming final exam? Or the first procedure as an independent doctor. A major presentation, perhaps. Life’s exams test not only specific knowledge and skill, but one’s self-esteem as well. And it is the self-esteem portion that creates the stomach churn, the palpitations and the random […]
In America, and in the doctor’s lounge, news about the Tour de France parallels news about Lance. But ask bike racers what they think is the most compelling story of this year’s Tour, and Lance is far down the list. That’s OK for me, it doesn’t diminish the most colossal bike race ever. Want a […]
The good news is you are a “masters cyclist.” Sounds good, doesn’t it? Being known as a master sounds like a winner. Only in athletics, masters is not equal to a master. In athletics, “masters” means you are both an amateur, and old. How old? It varies, but masters are definitely not young. Lance would be […]
“Older” athletes often ask me what else they can do to prevent heart disease. As, by virtue of their athletic lifestyle, most have none of the usual cardiac risk factors. High blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and obesity are infrequent concerns for the competitive athlete. A more vexing, and highly intangible problem for those who compete […]
This week’s installment of cycling verbiage comes as a guest post from a really cool cycling mate. Not only was Brian gifted with competent mitochondria, he also has the yet unidentified gene for crafting incredibly entertaining lists. Yes, he is gifted for sure, but bikes were clearly not made for traversing sand… Here is Brian’s […]
By Tom Moran… Kentucky sure is spectacular at 0620. JMM