Cathy

Why I’m vegan

The abuse of these infant calves is merciless. There is no excuse for skinning animals alive and shocking them time after time with electric prods when it’s obvious they are too weak to stand.

Veganism for me started when I was in Vermont stuck in road construction beside a veal lot. I didn’t become vegan overnight, but immediately reduced my intake of dairy products, including Ben & Jerry’s, whose headquarters ironically, was just a few miles down the road from that veal lot.

“Operations at Bushway Packing, Inc., a veal slaughterhouse in Vermont, have been shut down by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vislack, pending further investigation. The footage that an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States obtained was truly shocking, showing calves only days-old being shocked and prodded, and live calves being left in piles of dead calves.” —VegNewsletter

I’d hoped I could read more about the shutdown of the slaughterhouse without seeing any photos. I couldn’t bring myself to click play on the video on the HSUS website. The still image is almost too horrifying to bear.

Wish this was a nationwide public service announcement

#3) When in doubt, wait: If you can’t allow the bike 3 feet of space, wait to pass until you can — just as you would for any other slow-moving vehicle.

From the Los Angeles Times, How to minimize accidents between autos and bicycles, by Christie Aschwanden. Six simple tips; short and sweet. #2 would have prevented my collision with a car, except that the 87 year-old driver apparently never saw me. I wish this information was more widely understood by drivers. Hmmm….maybe a few questions on state drivers’ tests?!

I would add –
Understand that when the wind is gusting 30mph (or even 10mph) a cyclist may have a hard time holding their line. In other words, a cyclist may be dealing with weather and road conditions that drivers are unaware of….thus the 3 foot MINIMUM.

Massage gizmos

Of all the massage gizmos in my possession, more than I wish to enumerate here, there are two (maybe three) I would buy again.

First is the Theracane. I got one just before Tejas 500 and I think it contributed to my finishing in good shape. I usually get neck and shoulder pain after a few hours of riding. At other races Jen has leaned an elbow into my trapezius (trapezii ?) periodically. At Tejas I left the Theracane hanging near my food table. Between laps I’d grab it, inflict a few seconds of torture to my neck, traps, and rhomboids, and return to riding with significant relief.

(Another note on this subject: I noticed after about 30 hours of riding that I got a lot of neck/shoulder relief by moving my arms way back on my aero bars, so my wrists were practically resting on the pads. In other words, I was too stretched out on my bike. Not saying this is always the case, but you might try moving closer or farther away if you’re having neck/shoulder pain.)

So why did I wait so long to get a Theracane? I’ve known about them for years. Well, I have a stick; like go in the forest and pick up a stick, that approximates the same functionality so I didn’t think I needed one. I can say now, that besides being more portable, the Theracane is capable of more precision and generally works better than a stick.

Speaking of sticks, the other thigamajig I’d buy again is the Original Body Stick. Unfortunately you can’t find these laying around in the forest. The Body Stick offers a kinder, gentler neck massage than the Theracane. Not to say it can’t hurt like H-E-2*L if you’re sore. The Body Stick is simple, and portable, and you can use it standing up, or sitting down to massage neck, back, arms and legs.

Which brings me to all those other whatchamadoozies. It’s not that I don’t use them. Well, the ones that require another person really don’t get used, but I do use the other self-massage doohitchies. The problem is, 85% of the time it’s either not convenient, or I just don’t feel like rolling around on the floor. While body weight inflicted torture is unique and works well for some areas; i.e. piriformis, the strength and contortion required usually make the floor models less relaxing.

So what’s number (maybe) three you ask? Don’t get too excited. It’s the Travel Stick. Nice if you need a shorter version to fit in a smaller suitcase, but generally the length is not as good as the Original, and mine has had a funny plastic smell for years that makes it less pleasant to use.

Riding indoors

I’ve been looking forward to the changing seasons; the time of year when I spend more time riding indoors. I know many people hate riding in one place, but for me its a nice change of pace. After a few weeks of “taking it easy” with no pre-defined workouts, riding my rollers is a nice transition back into real training. They give me a break from cars and wind, a chance to watch some movies and catch up on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and the opportunity for longer, steady paced rides that are hard to do on mountain roads. Not to say I prefer my rollers to riding outdoors, but in Southern Colorado never too much time passes without some sunny, dry days.

Of course there will be snowshoeing and backcountry xc-skiing. Probably not much skate skiing, but there are groomed trails in New Mexico a couple hours drive from here. I may finally check those out. Or I could make a trip to Craftsbury for a skate ski intensive.

Mostly, I’m looking forward to a few months of little travel, lots of work, and hibernating at home on my rollers and local forest trails; putting as few miles on the Jetta as possible.