Say no more.
Stay healthy and enjoy life a little,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Categories
Hilarious video “ad” from Cruzbike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzxDKo9-f4Q&feature=colike
Have fun, stay healthy, and protect your “what what,”
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Categories
Hase Pino Tandem Semi-Recumbent
Hase Pino tandem just arrived. In red….
Cool bike!! Can’t wait to show this.
Have fun and stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
A friend and customer wrote me this morning, following a weekend with beautiful weather. My reply to him follows his note.
On Mon, April 16, 2012 11:03 am, t_d_@____.com wrote:
> I like the bike [Volae Tour] but do not like hills. A physician friend mentioned
> decreasing muscle mass in old folks. Still, I’ve got to drop 15 pounds to
> give myself and the machine a fair shake. That loss would, on hopes, be
> fat and not muscle.
>
> Thanks for the advice.
Hi T_D_,
The best hills are the ones with a view (which means they’re the high ones).
Be kind to yourself, always.
View yourself as a “beginner” athlete, at the start of a new athletic career that you want to last for decades.
Ride/exercise well within your abilities, of technique, of your muscles, of your heart and lungs. Take it easy. Ride so you always have enough “breath” that you can keep up a conversation. The trainer’s term for this is “conversational pace.”
On hills, shift to low gear and take ALL the time you need. Ignore the riders around you. Walk up hills if you feel any discomfort. If you feel pain, stop, rest, relax, hydrate (water). As you ride, over the months and years, your muscles and cardio will improve and you’ll be able to do more. Also, right now and over the years, you’re getting to know yourself in a new way; listen to your body; let it tell you what it can and can not (yet) do.
Stretch after every ride.
Lose 15 lbs? Okay. If you’re serious, I recommend Weight Watchers. My sister did it and got great results. Follow the program, be disciplined, and you’ll get healthier. Forget about losing weight, focus on being healthy and your weight will move to the correct level.
Eat lots of fresh veggies, fruits and nuts — broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, salads, fruits, nuts :-).
All best,
Robert
# # #
Have fun and stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Source
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX, USA Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-Reproductive Health Assessment, Cincinnati, OH, USA University of Vermont College of Medicine, Colchester, VT, USA Alaska Urological Associates, Anchorage, AK, USA Department of Urology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
Abstract
Introduction. Cycling is associated with genital neuropathies and erectile dysfunction in males. Women riders also have decreased genital sensation; however, sparse information exists addressing the effects of modifiable risks on neurological injuries in females. Aim. This study assesses the effects of bicycle setup and cyclists’ attributes on GS and saddle pressures among female cyclists. Methods. Previously, we compared genital sensation in competitive female cyclists (N = 48) to that of female runners (N = 22). The current study is a subanalysis of the 48 cyclists from the original study group. Nonpregnant, premenopausal women who rode at least 10 miles per week, 4 weeks per month were eligible for participation. Main Outcome Measures. Genital sensation was measured in microns using biosthesiometry measures of vibratory thresholds (VTs). Perineal and total saddle pressures were determined using a specialized pressure map and recorded in kilopascals (kPA). Results. Handlebars positioned lower than the saddle correlated with increased perineum saddle pressures and decreased anterior vaginal and left labial genital sensation (P < 0.05, P < 0.02, P < 0.03, respectively). Low handlebars were not associated with total saddle pressures or altered genital sensation in other areas. After adjusting for age and saddle type, low handlebars were associated with a 3.47-kPA increase in mean perineum saddle pressures (P < 0.04) and a 0.86-micron increase in anterior vagina VT (P < 0.01). Conclusion. Handlebars positioned lower than the saddle were significantly associated with increased perineum saddle pressures and decreased genital sensation in female cyclists. Modifying bicycle setup may help alleviate neuropathies in females. Additional research is warranted to further assess the extent of the associations. Partin SN, Connell KA, Schrader S, LaCombe J, Lowe B, Sweeney A, Reutman S, Wang A, Toennis C, Melman A, Mikhail M, and Guess MK. The bar sinister: Does handlebar level damage the pelvic floor in female cyclists? J Sex Med **;**:**-**.
© 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.
Have fun, stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Categories
Cruzbike, personal update.
I’m participating in an adventure race this Sunday. There’s an optional mountain bike segment that I was thinking of doing on a Cruzbike Sofrider. Well…won’t happen this time. I got a stomach virus last week, so my partner and I decided to change our expectations. We’ll just do the foot segment and use this as a “training” race. It’s clearly the smart decision and it’ll still be a blast. Next race maybe the Cruzbike will appear. We shall see.
Have fun and stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Categories
Ticks. Thick with Ticks.
I just got back from a little two-day, one-night jaunt up to…let’s call it a “major wild area within a good day’s ride.” My friend and I peddled, pushed and carried our bikes up an overgrown and flooded (therefore highly entertaining) woods road to a spot where we shouldn’t be, stashed our bikes and camping gear, and then spent a day hiking some beautiful unblazed terrain.
What a blast. We had great weather, by which I mean sun, rain and fog. And we had…great balls of tickage. I’ve never seen so many ticks. We picked maybe 30 off our clothes (that we saw) and three or four out of our bodies (those that we found, as of now) and discerned three different varieties including the infamous “crawling spec of dirt,” also known as the deer tick.
For Pete’s sake. Talk about a dampener on your fun. Give me rain or wind or mud, any day. Hoping I don’t catch something from the little cesspools of disease.
Now I have to clean and sterilize all my clothes, camping gear and shoes and boots and panniers. I’m wondering if I don’t have to pick over the bikes as well. What a mess. (But what good clean fun we otherwise had.)
I Recommend to others who plan to go out this year:
– Permethrin for treating your clothes.
– Deet
Learn more about ticks. There may be ads on this page for tick resources and there are also some pages here, at the University of Rhode Island TickEncounter Resource Center.
Insect and tick-repelling clothing.
Stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Between my place and Prospect Park, there is currently 400 meters of construction that will eventually result in a beautiful separated bike lane. This project was unfunded for some 20 years, till now, and has included laying new pipes, and piloting around a construction robot doing I don’t know what, and generally digging up a road that used to be fairly smooth by New York City standards. As it is now, with the temporary patch jobs they do each time they finish a parcel of work, it’s the roughest #%&! road you can imagine. Take a washboard road, add 50 speed bumps of all sizes and shapes, intersperse each speed bump with a pothole or two, throw on some gravel and rocks, and put it on an incline, and you’ve very nearly got this road (at this time).
Needless to say, I avoid it when I can, but it’s the shortest route to The Park. A bad road is unpleasant on a standard frame bike, but with an SF, you can post (raise yourself off the seat). On a bent, you can’t. So, every few days, I’m reminded of what I like about fully-suspended recumbents or — if I’m riding an unsuspended bent — what I might have done to make this stretch more comfy.
Here are a few tips for smoothing out your own local worst road.
1. Full-suspension. If you’re shopping anew, consider full-suspension recumbent bikes or trikes. If you know you’ll be on bad roads, there’s no replacing the safety and comfort of keeping all wheels — whether two or three — in contact with the road at all times.
2. Steel is real. Favor steel recumbents over (non-suspended) aluminum bents. While a steel frame can’t absorb potholes, it does have a marvelous capacity to absorb road vibration and this goes a long way towards improving control on bad roads.
3. Fat tires, baby. Speaking personally, 1.5″-wide tires are my minimum for city tires and I like them at low pressure. My favorite? Schwalbe Big Apples. These are “balloon” tires. They’re relatively light, flat resistant, grippy, have low rolling resistance, can run as low as 35 psi, and provide “built in” shock absorption.
4. Big tires, baby. 26″ wheels roll over the rough stuff better than 20″ wheels. I realize that means we’re talking about high-racers and there are reasons why high racers are sub-optimal in the city, but there’s no getting around the benefit of big wheels. If you decide to look at this solution, check out a Cruzbike Sofrider or Cruzbike Quest: big wheels without the typical high-racer’s seat slope.
5. Sling mesh seats. While I love hard-shell seats for climbing hills, a sling mesh seat is comfort factorial on bad roads.
Would I put it all together? Say, a fully-suspended HP Velotechnik Street Machine Gte or Scorpion fs, with Big Apple tires and an Ergo Mesh seat? Or a dual-suspension Cruzbike Sofrider with 26×2.15″ Big Apples? Yeah, I’d consider it. At some point it may become overkill, but I’m not sure we’ve yet reached that point.
Stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
Maria Parker Shatters the Sebring 24-hour Course Record by a Whopping 7% on a Cruzbike Vendetta.
Beating men and women alike, Maria completed 474.5 miles in the 24-hour non-drafting race, shattering the previous course record of 442.6 miles. (For those who are reading this blog entry at some time in the future, this was in the 2012 race.)
Jim Parker writes:
Maria “…finished the 24-hour non-drafting race with an amazing 474.5 miles, beating all the men, too. Timothy Woudenberg had the second best finish on his NoCom and was the only other recumbent rider among the top nine finishers, the other seven all being men riding DF bikes. She surpassed Sandy Earl’s course record of 442.6 miles by a whopping 31.9 miles.”
Maria Parker’s blog entry about the race:
Jim Parker’s blog entry about the race.
http://cruzbike.com/results-bike-sebring
That Maria Parker is an amazing athlete. And that Cruzbike is one incredible machine.
Stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson
The number one regret, related in a book on this subject was:
“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse, spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai. The blog garnered a great deal of attention and it led her to write a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
What might my own regrets be?
It’s entirely possible that I’ll regret never having written a book (that
wasn’t a work-for-hire). I might also regret it if I don’t travel to a
few places. I think Germany would be one of those places, maybe the
countryside of France, and maybe Norway.
I might also regret it if I never bicycle across NY State or something
like that.
I think I’d also regret it if I don’t manage to live and die in love.
The following article relates the story.
Top five regrets of the dying
By Susie Steiner in The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
By Susie Steiner in The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Stay healthy,
Robert
————
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson