Ow

Something that’s bothering me lately is the extent to which people,
especially in the bike movement and on my cycling, have been arguing
within themselves. And not in a nice way. In a mean way. You’re either
with us or against us. You’re a primadonna if you want a follow-car.
You’re not a fun person if you don’t like the Naked World Bike Ride.
You’re a progressive nazi if you don’t want to try to find some
sponsorships.

In programming, it’s called an if-then statement. You’re on or off. It
is or it is not.It’s very binary, or digital.

But I read this very interesting article about Aristotle, and his
concept of things that are vs. things that can be.

A rock is a rock is a rock. And you can measure it, analyze it, dissect
it with a series of yes/no, on/off, 1/0 questions.

But the other type of “thing” is about things that can be. A group of
people, for example, may be a bunch of dysfunctional grab-asses. But
they can be a well-organized, politically savvy group under different
circumstances. Maybe it’s leadership. Maybe it’s a cultural change
around them. Maybe it’s just a way of communicating that cuts to the
core issues. Issues, as in plural. Because the opposite of digital is
analog, defined as having an infinite number of variables.

Sound like anyone you know?

I really believe that there’s something rather analog about person, much
less a group of people. So many histories. So much baggage. So many
little prejudices, such as not trusting people who make more than $8.45
an hour. Or feeling like people who just started riding are doing it
because it’s cool, whereas you’re doing it because it truly MEANS
something.

And then there are the little problems of simply communicating. Some
people express their opinions strongly and forcefully. Other people need
to think and weigh in. Some people genuinely feel it’s their way or the
highway. Whereas others would feel awful if the group lost its strong
voices, and to avoid rocking the boat, they say nothing

Anyway. If I had one wish for Christmas, it’d be for the patience to ask
more questions of my friends and teammates, and listen to their infinite
number of variables. I’d wish for a more analog Christmas.

Oh, we’re getting heavy now.

Went to 24 Hour Fitness, which is a very different experience than the
little basement gym at work. More stuff, more people, less room. It made
it harder to do the workout that I’ve come to enjoy, which is doing the
weights and core in a circuit. I like the circuit better because my
muscles recover a little better between sets, and I use good form.

However, I don’t know if a circuit is necessarily better than doing,
say, all my core stuff, then all my squats, then all my other core
stuff, then all my lunges. I certainly feel more sore today having done
the latter. But that could be, as I alluded to before, because I’m
piling on the weight.

Where “piling” = 115 lbs. on the squats with 8 reps. Twice. Yes, yes,
yes. I’m weak. It’ll get better. I promise.

Anyhoo. Only my squats were really done in a “set.” Everything else was
done in a sort of haphazard circuit.

• 10 minute bike warm-up
• 5 sets squats: 45-95-95-115-115
• 2 sets of lunges onto squishy thing: 0 lbs, 20 lbs
• 2 sets of regular lunges: 0 lbs, 20 lbs (reach down)
• 3 sets of 40 crunches
• 2 sets of 15 ball roll-outs
• 2 sets of 40 russian twists
• 2 sets of 20 back arches (1 on the ball)
• 1 set of reverse sit-ups

Lunch ride today. Easy. Further updates as events warrant.