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The Water Cooler, Scuttlebutt, Chit Chat Thread

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The Water Cooler, Scuttlebutt, Chit Chat Thread

Old 02-07-18, 10:57 AM
  #2426  
TheKillerPenguin
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Right?! I watched that so many times as a kid. Every once and a while I get the urge to check it out again but I worry that I will ruin a childhood memory doing so.
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Old 02-07-18, 07:24 PM
  #2427  
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So Nate Brown has just bought a house in Nashville, and his brother Jonny has moved here as well. Should be pretty cool having two of the fastest Americans in the world living right down the road (when they're not racing in Europe!).

I hope they don't decide to do any easy workouts on roads I have KOMs on...
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Old 02-07-18, 08:30 PM
  #2428  
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Regarding biathlons...

There was some kind of competition with another pair of competition - boxing and chess. Apparently you box a round then play chess for so many minutes.

The picture of the boxers sitting at a chess table seemed really incongruous.
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Old 02-07-18, 09:31 PM
  #2429  
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Originally Posted by TheKillerPenguin
So, that doc was thinking PPI, but I was at my GP yesterday and she is 99% sure it's actually asthma,

I hope it's asthma anyway, seems way easier to manage than silent reflux. Also kinda excited to see what racing and training are like when I don't feel like I am drowning in mucus most of the time, has a way of taking some of the anger out of your legs when you're on the edge.
I recently learned about bronchiectasis. My grandfather was diagnosed with it and it is apprently congenital and often misdiagnosed as childhood asthma. I'm due for a dr appointment and planned to get scanned for it (seems like its just a chest xray). Maybe ask? Usual disclaimer here, I'm not a doctor. Not offering medical advice, just passing information I have recently learned based on a small amount of info you have given.

(Learn About Bronchiectasis | American Lung Association)
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Old 02-08-18, 07:35 AM
  #2430  
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Originally Posted by Ttoc6
I recently learned about bronchiectasis. My grandfather was diagnosed with it and it is apprently congenital and often misdiagnosed as childhood asthma. I'm due for a dr appointment and planned to get scanned for it (seems like its just a chest xray). Maybe ask? Usual disclaimer here, I'm not a doctor. Not offering medical advice, just passing information I have recently learned based on a small amount of info you have given.

(Learn About Bronchiectasis | American Lung Association)
They did take a chest x-ray and fortunately everything looks normal. The thing that has made this so hard to figure out is this congestion is really mostly in just my right lung and asthma affects both, but I've had pneumonia in my right lung when I was younger so I guess that makes it more susceptible to congestion issues. The doc noticed I have a little trouble emptying all the air out of my chest, like I have to push harder to get the last bits out. I always thought that was normal, and assumed it was also normal for breathing to get shallower towards the end of hard workouts and races. I guess that's not how breathing is supposed to work though!
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Old 02-08-18, 09:58 AM
  #2431  
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Originally Posted by furiousferret
Thanks for the well wishes everyone.



Probably recency bias but that landing may be one of the coolest things I've seen in my life.
Sorry to hear, being there for her and the family through their sadness is one of the most important ways to help.

The landing of those boosters was so freaking cool, kind of reminded me of an old B Movie Sci Fy with the long slender rockets landing like that "Take me to your leader earthling!"
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Old 02-08-18, 10:14 AM
  #2432  
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A teammate and I were just on the local morning show for the Amgen TOC route announcement. I thought we were just going to be backdrops but they asked us to give the local riders' perspective on the routes and what the race means to cyclists.
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Old 02-09-18, 01:33 PM
  #2433  
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We got a bunch of contractors here and and being paranoid that everyone wants to steal my stuff I always keep my pitbull in the back and pretend she's crazy af so they dont see us as a soft target.

It never works, these dudes all have 2-5 pitbulls, and can pretty much death stare at dogs.
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Old 02-09-18, 01:48 PM
  #2434  
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Tried to drive into work today..but Snowpocalypse 2018 made the roads absolutely terrible so I turned around after it took me 25 minutes to get maybe 7 miles.

It hasnt snowed since this morning now..

We got lucky, at least the where im at in the southern half of the county. They forecasted 6-9 inches of snow, but i dont see that happening the way the storm is moving (we are on the southern edge of it) unless the storm shifts south
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Old 02-09-18, 02:50 PM
  #2435  
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Originally Posted by furiousferret
... being paranoid that everyone wants to steal my stuff ...
I don't lock my house or have a key (wife does).

But my computer....
Encrypted, GPS tracked, video logged and streamed to cloud and if I could buy a taser to go off if the lid was opened I would (nah - I'd get sued).
I did have the pleasure of having my daughter's fully tracked phone stolen and even with the sim replaced, I could turned in the GPS path and the txts bragging about the stolen phone to the police. That story (after the police got the phone back) flew around high school campus real fast, my daughter said everyone was kinda getting out of her way and staring. Her phone became known as "that phone".

Last edited by Doge; 02-09-18 at 02:54 PM.
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Old 02-09-18, 11:31 PM
  #2436  
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I bought a new hard drive for my work laptop and installed it Wednesday. Spent hours loading stuff into it Thursday with the help of a young guy who somehow cloned a driver from his laptop into mine so I could get on-line. It's almost ready, have to wait for the IT guy Tuesday to load the program for the job server. I had no idea.
Been using a loaner another guy was nice enough to let my borrow. Working on cars is weird.
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Old 02-10-18, 08:33 AM
  #2437  
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A guy I knew in college is competing for the US in the Olympics. We were friendly, but not friends. Still, it's nice to see someone my age can still compete against some of the best talent in the world.
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Old 02-10-18, 09:58 AM
  #2438  
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That's cool! Which sport?
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Old 02-10-18, 01:08 PM
  #2439  
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I got 3 Dahanger Dans, the lateral pedal hook bike hanging thing. They rock. Bikes hanging nicely on the wall and an extra foot or so of space beside my door. Good invention.
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Old 02-10-18, 05:27 PM
  #2440  
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Originally Posted by TheKillerPenguin
That's cool! Which sport?
Ice hockey.
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Old 02-12-18, 12:26 AM
  #2441  
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I was just talking with my teammate in the hotel about the popular question of why people aren't starting and sticking with racing.

Its hard.

Yeah, all sports are hard right? Then I realized - marathon, fondos, triathlon - these are a different breed. Cycling is more akin to gymnastics, ball sports, etc. Cycling is a competitive sport. What other sports have guys over pro-sport age going out for serious competition a dozen or 5 dozen times a year, training basically always? Definitely not running or tri for the vast majority. Sure a few people take these super seriously like a real sport, but most of these people train hard or not so hard for a key event or two, just to finish or try and go faster than last year. Do you see huge numbers of 34 year old amateur any sport going out and grinding out season after season? Not really. I don't know one person who actually competes in ANY sport other than people I met racing bikes.

Just a random thought that I didn't wanna start a whole thread over.
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Old 02-12-18, 07:50 AM
  #2442  
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Another difference between cycling and running is the time commitment. A really fast 5k is under 20 min. A slow 5k is 30 min. You can train for a 5k on 30-min to an hour a week. And if you have small child, put them in the stroller and run with them.

Yeah, if you want to do a marathon, it's going to take longer, but a lot of folks just do 5ks and 10ks.
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Old 02-12-18, 09:21 AM
  #2443  
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While I think racing is accessible to those who seek it out, I do think bike racing does a bad job at marketing itself, or maybe host towns do a bad job at helping bike races market themselves. In the towns around where I live, once the winter passes, I always see banners and other prominent displays advertising whatever 5k is happening.

Of course, I think the big thing is that people aren't that motivated by racing bikes. People like to get faster and go longer distances, but I don't think people really care about beating other people. I think with running and less competitive cycling, people are motivated by personal bests, and may even train to improve, so I think generally that is all they need to scratch whatever itch they have.
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Old 02-12-18, 11:15 AM
  #2444  
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Originally Posted by aaronmcd
I was just talking with my teammate in the hotel about the popular question of why people aren't starting and sticking with racing.

Its hard.

Yeah, all sports are hard right? Then I realized - marathon, fondos, triathlon - these are a different breed. Cycling is more akin to gymnastics, ball sports, etc. Cycling is a competitive sport. What other sports have guys over pro-sport age going out for serious competition a dozen or 5 dozen times a year, training basically always? Definitely not running or tri for the vast majority. Sure a few people take these super seriously like a real sport, but most of these people train hard or not so hard for a key event or two, just to finish or try and go faster than last year. Do you see huge numbers of 34 year old amateur any sport going out and grinding out season after season? Not really. I don't know one person who actually competes in ANY sport other than people I met racing bikes.

Just a random thought that I didn't wanna start a whole thread over.
It boils down to risk reward. Bike Racing is a high risk sport, and for the average cyclist has little reward. In a beginner race (Cat 4 or 5) you typically have a straight 1 in 30 chance of winning, but at least 3 of those guys have put in over 10 hours a week for over a year, and another 3 are just naturally talented. Racers say you don't need watts to win, and that's true, but it also takes years to get comfortable enough in a race to win that way, and you're probably going to go down a few times learning it.

Its a sport designed where 10% win 90% of the races, the only saving grace being the upgrade system. Even then 4's and 5's are really competitive; no one out there just bought a bike at WalMart last week. Everyone is putting in a lot of time to get fast.

As a bop Cat 4 racer, the only reason I stick it out is because I believe my high watermark in this sport hasn't been achieved yet.
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Old 02-12-18, 11:34 AM
  #2445  
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Originally Posted by furiousferret
It boils down to risk reward. Bike Racing is a high risk sport, and for the average cyclist has little reward. In a beginner race (Cat 4 or 5) you typically have a straight 1 in 30 chance of winning, but at least 3 of those guys have put in over 10 hours a week for over a year, and another 3 are just naturally talented. Racers say you don't need watts to win, and that's true, but it also takes years to get comfortable enough in a race to win that way, and you're probably going to go down a few times learning it.

Its a sport designed where 10% win 90% of the races, the only saving grace being the upgrade system. Even then 4's and 5's are really competitive; no one out there just bought a bike at WalMart last week. Everyone is putting in a lot of time to get fast.

As a bop Cat 4 racer, the only reason I stick it out is because I believe my high watermark in this sport hasn't been achieved yet.
Cycling is also much more demoralizing than running.

You go run a marathon, and there's almost definitely someone slower than you, and a group to run with, and you'll get to finish if you're able.

It also doesn't matter much if there's a group with you or not, you'll go essentially as fast as you would otherwise.

It's hard to stick with a sport that demands lots of training just to avoid getting your teeth kicked in and then not even being allowed to finish. It takes a certain masochist to race bikes, both psychically and mentally.
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Old 02-12-18, 12:18 PM
  #2446  
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Originally Posted by Flatballer
Cycling is also much more demoralizing than running.

You go run a marathon, and there's almost definitely someone slower than you, and a group to run with, and you'll get to finish if you're able.

It also doesn't matter much if there's a group with you or not, you'll go essentially as fast as you would otherwise.

It's hard to stick with a sport that demands lots of training just to avoid getting your teeth kicked in and then not even being allowed to finish. It takes a certain masochist to race bikes, both psychically and mentally.
Quoted for truth.

You have to suck so much on your own, to pay to suck in a race.
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Old 02-12-18, 12:39 PM
  #2447  
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I've said it many times but it bears repeating: Normal people have no idea how much work it takes to be a mediocre bike racer.
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Old 02-12-18, 01:47 PM
  #2448  
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I've been thinking about medal counts, now that the Olympics are on. Am I the only one bothered by a raw count.

For example, if Country A had 2 gold, 3 silver and 14 bronze, and Country B had 12 gold and 6 silver and 0 bronze, Country A would be the winner because it has 19 medals to B's 18. But I think 12 golds is more impressive than 3.

I feel like it should be weighted. For example, Gold could be worth 3 points, Silver 2, and Bronze 1. I think that would give a better picture of which country won.
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Old 02-12-18, 02:06 PM
  #2449  
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Originally Posted by topflightpro
I've been thinking about medal counts, now that the Olympics are on. Am I the only one bothered by a raw count.

For example, if Country A had 2 gold, 3 silver and 14 bronze, and Country B had 12 gold and 6 silver and 0 bronze, Country A would be the winner because it has 19 medals to B's 18. But I think 12 golds is more impressive than 3.

I feel like it should be weighted. For example, Gold could be worth 3 points, Silver 2, and Bronze 1. I think that would give a better picture of which country won.
Back when I ran track, at meets, a 1st place was worth 5 points toward your team's total, 2nd 3 points, and 3rd 1. I've sort of used that as my own internal metric ever since.
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Old 02-12-18, 03:22 PM
  #2450  
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Originally Posted by caloso
I've said it many times but it bears repeating: Normal people have no idea how much work it takes to be a mediocre bike racer.
It even takes work to be a decent non-racing Fred. If I want to do the faster club rides, ride with the racers, etc., I have to do at least 10 hours per week. Last year I dropped off to less than 10, even 5 hours some weeks and it really shows. My worst year in decades on the bike.
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