happybday29475

Y'all might be interested in a current article in the NYT, "Carbs During Workouts May Fend Off Colds"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/we...off-colds.html

topflightpro

This is probably true, but again, correlation does not equal causation.

furiousferret

I was always told we're at a higher risk for colds and the flu during the winter because with the cold weather we're more apt to be in close contact with others.

After having something last year that put me out from mid November to mid January, I decided to get a flu shot this year.

himespau 

I think it's the cold air that weakens our immune system (we use up more energy, so less for the immune system, plus fighting cold weather may induce a stress response and stress hormones have been known to weaken the immune system) but also the dryness of the air (especially heated indoor air) strips the moisture from my skin making it more easily damaged and the skin is the primary barrier, our first line of defense, that stops 99.9whatever% of potential infections when it's happy. Then maybe we spend more time indoors rebreathing other people's air that may contain viruses, handling the same potentially contaminated fomites. All that works together to make us more susceptible to viruses, and, once they start spreading, the higher incidence of them leads to increased likelihood of getting exposed to an infectious dose. But the cold weather bit (and cold, wet weather), is mainly about making us more susceptible than somehow causing a virus to sponanteously appear in our bodies. Well, I suppose many viruses are sensitive to heat and UV light, so maybe they can survive slightly longer outdoors when it's colder and darker, but that's not likely to be a huge factor.

hubcyclist

All I know about colds is that I just got over the most annoying cold ever, lasted 2-3 weeks, and it wasn't bad in the sense I was congested or runny, just this weird upper respiratory thing that made me cough a lot, so it was just bad enough to keep me from riding at all. But yeah, my parents are totally convinced that exposure to cold air will give you colds.

Found someone on craigslist selling 9sp shifters and front mech for $40, might finally be foolish enough to change my hybrid into a drop bar once I get a crankset and travel agent for the brakes. Seems inexpensive enough to not be too guilt-inducing.

revchuck 

I did that to my FCR3, the predecessor to the Escape. It came as an eight-speed, so I found some RSX 3x8 shifters and the Travel Agents and drop bars and it came out pretty nice. Good commuter.

topflightpro

This sounds like an interesting event, even for this forum: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/08...a-cycling.html

Harlan

I did this to a Giant Seek with disc brakes. I got the right brake levers and bar end shifters, kept the 3x8 gearing.

I have a spare drop bar with brake levers made for "the other pull", not short reach brakes, but discs or vs or whatever else. No shifters though. Yours if you pick it up.

carpediemracing 

Brought trailer 100 miles away so a fellow promoter could use it.

Brake line gave out when I was parking the trailer, based on the fluid that I unknowingly left there. I got half a mile away before I had to stop, barely avoiding crashing into stuff. Bought some brake fluid, put 1.5 bottles into the master cylinder. Did some math, realized that I'd need a pint every 2-3 minutes for a 2 hour drive home, remembered I had AAA for 100 miles of towing, Googled the distance (97 miles), and called AAA.

Although it sucked initially (brake pedal goes to floor and 5000 lbs vehicle is not stopping), being prepared (by having AAA) was an absolute lifesaver. Although it took a couple extra hours out of my life it could have been a lot worse.

carpediemracing 

***

Enthalpic

I agree that pathogens -not cold itself- make people sick but just for fun I did a few searches and there is some rather weak evidence cold weather can increase pneumonia risk (with a potential mechanism). Also warming the patient during surgery reduces post-operative infection rates.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27744405
"Among the 10.7% of temperature-related pneumonia hospitalizations, 8.7% and 2.0% were attributed to cold and hot temperatures, respectively. Most of the temperature-related burden for pneumonia hospitalizations in Hong Kong was attributable to cold temperatures, and elderly men had greater susceptibility."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27181350

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8606715
"Two hundred patients undergoing colorectal surgery were randomly assigned to routine intraoperative thermal care (the hypothermia group) or additional warming (the normothermia group).... Surgical-wound infections were found in 18 of 96 patients assigned to hypothermia (19 percent) but in only 6 of 104 patients assigned to normothermia (6 percent, P = 0.009). The sutures were removed one day later in the patients assigned to hypothermia than in those assigned to normothermia (P = 0.002), and the duration of hospitalization was prolonged by 2.6 days (approximately 20 percent) in hypothermia group (P = 0.01)."

tetonrider

i think this got really overblown. it was a simple comment that temperature doesn't cause infection. sure, there might be some correlation, but as @topflightpro said above, correlation is not causation.

Enthalpic

^ I'm just highly curious by nature.

revchuck 

Anybody have an orphan 6600 or 7800 right shifter they want to get rid of, or, alternately, a pair of ten-speed Shimano-compatible shifters they want to get rid of cheap? That's all I lack to put together a bike from stuff in my shed. PM me if you do.

canuckbelle

For the second time this year, I've broken a tooth (or filling) eating a (crunchy caramel) protein bar. FML. Good thing I already had a dentist appointment on the 19th to replace some old fillings.

In happier news, my Giro Empire ACC's came today. Very snazzy. Very comfortable. I may pick up some SLX's for summer racing later in the season.

globecanvas

My oldest is looking at colleges. The tuition at West Point sure does look appealing! Actually West Point would be really great for all sorts of reasons. But that 8 year service commitment has a very different perceived cost for the various people involved. For my son it's meaningless, just as anything that occurs more than a week away is meaningless. For me it seems like a reasonable cost/benefit to weigh among all the other considerations. For my wife it is equivalent to sending him off to Ypres 1917.

gsteinb

My friend's son who goes to West Point (my son's best friend) is looking to a full on military career. Kind of interested in as much as I hate the idea. But he's really happy there, and it's fun to visit him and see him in his element. Amazing amount of kids wash out though. And I suppose even more just do what they can to fulfill their commitment and move on. If you can get in there though you're the cream of the crop. Not a lot of schools harder.

UmneyDurak

Eight years commitment is quite a long time. Earning potential over those years and impact on career does need to be taken in to account me thinks.

revchuck 

IIRC, the service commitment after having graduated from a service academy is five years, unless it has recently changed. Additional training after that entails additional commitment, be it grad school, med school, pilot training or other stuff. This is a good deal for the officer involved, since s/he gets full pay and benefits while training and all tuition and fees are paid. I think that has a positive effect on earning potential, and that's not taking into account the networking benefits @Doge mentioned.

globecanvas

It's five years active and three years reserve.

I would consider the service obligation itself is a net positive, both from the point of view of training and general improvement of life abilities, and from the point of view of the actual service. And it's actually a good fit for my son, who's interested in public service as a career. But it's all moot because as I said for my wife "active duty" equals "Antietam."

globecanvas

I know a lot of you have gone through this with your kids, but it's really interesting how different this process is from the parent side, compared to my own experience at 17/18. The decision is incredibly consequential and kids end up deciding based on a bunch of essentially random factors.

hubcyclist

Caveat, this totally isn't aimed at you, so just want to be sure in case my tone is snippy lol I also have to be careful not to get too political! I'm just reading this through my own lens, and not suggesting you feel the following

As someone who decided to work in the public sector, I get a little dismayed at what is considered to be "good" public service versus "wasteful" public service. Many people would be all too happy to see me out of a job, where I think I do a lot of good for vulnerable populations everyday. But be a cop, fireman, in the armed services, people are quick to throw the hero label around and practically worship them (see sports events, a lot of attention given to one side of public sector service and not a lot to others who do more mundane yet vital services for the public good). It's a societal message I think we need to work on, but I think too much emphasis is being placed on one type of public service

globecanvas

The public service my son is interested in is, basically, government. My wife is an elected official.

Doge

I can write you paragraphs on the school thing. I'll save it for PMs.

For the USAFA it is 5 years. 10 years if you are a pilot and 8 (I think) if drone pilot.
The kids are on salary from when school starts.

A competitive cyclist at the USAFA can have a very good life.

caloso

Well said.