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Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed Healthy Living

Is this the bike of the future?

One of the things that I notice every time I return home from a trip to Europe is our lack of bike infrastructure. There are many reasons for this, obviously, but one is surely the lack of bike commuters. Americans mostly use bikes for recreation and exercise, not transportation. This wheel may change that. Oh […]

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Athletic heart Atrial fibrillation Cycling Stuff Exercise inflammation Uncategorized

Endurance exercise and the heart — a mention in the New Yorker

Do you exercise a lot? Have you been at it for years? Are you the type that rides around the neighborhood to make a 98-mile ride into a century? Do you get squeamish if you can’t exercise for 24 hours? Are you curious about that beautiful machine in your chest? You know, the rhythmic coordinated […]

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Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed Social Media/Writing/Blogging

A cycling adventure in France: Riding the giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux

(This blog was born from writing race reports for a masters bike racing team. What follows is of that form. It’s a little longer than I like, and, therefore, as an antidote, no more than a few hundred words occur without an image.) It’s intriguing how experiences get burned into the brain’s memory center. I […]

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Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed Reflection

Dear Motorist: We are you

The thing about people who ride bikes is… …we are people. Human beings. The life of a person on a bike depends on the humanity and compassion of motorists. Here is a poignant 4:42 second video that I hope you will watch, and then share with others. (After the video is a post I wrote […]

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Cycling Stuff Doctoring General Cardiology General Medicine Health Care Healthy Living inflammation

NSAIDs — Yet another dubious “health” product at CVS

Now that the ‘healthiness’ of products sold at CVS stores is a matter of public discourse, it seems a perfect time to mention the common pain relievers known as Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). It just so happens that two FDA advisory committees are meeting today and tomorrow to discuss the cardiovascular risks of NSAIDs. The […]

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Athletic heart Cycling Stuff Healthy Living

100 is the new 80…If you are good to yourself (and lucky)

“There has been a change in your prescription,” said the eye doctor, a wise and bald man, who could have been mistaken for an economics professor at Princeton. “It’s improved?” the 30 year-old cardiologist asked. Better, improved, always the reflex for athletic cardiologists. “Doctor…you have been to the pinnacle and passed it. Your eyes, like […]

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Cycling Stuff Healthy Living Reflection

Dear America: Embrace the bike culture…It’s heart healthy

I love cycling. Being outdoors, pedaling, feeling the swoosh of the wind, these are all sensations that more people should enjoy. They are sensations of happiness. And oh, does the heart love happiness. I also love my country. America is an amazing place. If you take a moment to really look past the mundane of […]

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Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed Cyclocross Reflection

Leadership, teamwork, volunteerism and goodwill…makes stuff work

(Editor’s note: You can skip the words and toggle down to the images at the end.) This past week was about bike racing. As most of you know, I (and my wife and son) race bikes for a local cycling team. Our title sponsor is Papa John’s Pizza, which is headquartered in Louisville. It sounds […]

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Cycling Stuff Exercise Healthy Living inflammation

Prolonged exercise leads to heart damage — pro/con debate

Dr. Larry Creswell, of the Athlete’s heart blog, just posted an interesting debate from the Journal of Physiology. The question of whether longterm endurance exercise leads to heart damage is a hotly contested issue in cardiology. For those who are curious about this intriguing topic, his links lead to very readable prose. Larry suggests paying […]

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Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed

Not your average 10 year-old…

In bike speak there’s an action verb called ‘shredding.’ This boy is shredding. I have only three comments; then watch this beautiful 3-minute video. 1) What does his mother think? Surely, he’s not a first or only child. 2) British Columbia is a place I want to visit with a bike. 3) Love youth. #whatwereyoudoingat10 […]

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Cycling Stuff Reflection

Why didn’t anybody listen to Lemond? Why don’t we learn from history?

I began cycling for real in the 1990s. This was in no small part due to Greg Lemond. He was an American sporting hero. And, as history teaches us, he still is, now more than ever. History reveals so much. Darn hindsight is crystal clear. In the late 1990s through 2005, when Lance Armstrong’s unbelievable […]