Quote from: Rupert on March 02, 2026, 06:25:56 AMI have just had a quick 4-day escape to Val d'Isere. It's an expensive trip. So why niggle about the £9 beer? I say enjoy it, the sun's shining, it makes little difference to the cost of the holiday.

I hear you.  I bought the €9 beer last time in Val D'Isere, but only so I could forget the €11 coffee.  (Clearly didn't work)

>>keep increasing the distance

This works!  Our benchmarks are much smaller for now.

My son beats me in a 20 metre sprint from the traffic lights.  50 metres, no contest currently.

As his fast twitch capability is going to develop ever faster than mine declines, it could be an interesting benchmark to track... max distance where son beats Dad, over time.

Quote from: DrCool on January 07, 2026, 12:39:25 AMAnother goal is to outlift my 14 year old as long as I can. Not sure how long I will be able to keep that up but I have to keep the kid in his place for now. 

  very familiar story.  My 11 year old is a good cyclocross and mmountain bike rider / racer.  I'm trying to stay faster than him for as long as possible.

I love the dynamic as its win / win.  He wants to beat me and I think I'll be proud when he does.  We'll see.  Hopefully in about 10 years!  Probably 5, but please not sooner.

https://fortune.com/2025/12/07/openai-stock-market-risk-sam-altman-alphabet-google-gemini/

Fascinating study.

My grandfather suffered with Parkinsons in his last years.  A keen golfer before Parkinsons took a firm hold.

It warms the heart seeing science connect the dots in this way.

Quote from: ergophobe on July 28, 2025, 10:37:32 PMMuch Ado About Zone 2
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40560504/

TL;DR - the idea that Z2 is best for mitochondrial adaptations and fat oxidation is mostly based on observational studies of high-volume elite athletes. The rest of us can get a lot of benefit from higher intensities.

Interesting stuff.

I'd be curious to know how they are defining elite and the rest of us.  e.g. is there a training volume threshold identified where z2 and under becomes more beneficial.

I find myself as a cyclist believing I should be doing more zone 2 and lower training, but time crunched and impatient, squeezing in more zone 4-6 work in lunch hours or evenings twice a week in a good week.  I try most weeks to to get a weekend long ride (3-4 hours) around zone 2 but without a power meter and usually without HR monitor, meaning at best I feel my way towards z2 and try to resist going harder.

Just let another batch of ancient domains renew.  I'm ready to let them go now.  Not sure if there's much value (suspect not as most are .info keyword domains, many with some hyphens, though in some OK, high volume spaces).

Ultimately I could just switch off the auto-renew, but figure it may be worth a shot to see if there's any appetite for someone to acquire some of them.

Where do you go to shift old domains?  Sedo?  Some other marketplace?

That took some digging...

It stuck in memory as was one of the very few times I've been quoted in a newspaper.  Early SEO agency career days...

https://web.archive.org/web/20050914190253/http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/search/story/0,15886,1458696,00.html

Autolink

Sounds like something Google did about 20 years ago.  Can't remember the name of the feature, but suspect they quickly rolled it back after the uproar.

Quote from: ergophobe on October 02, 2024, 02:30:52 AM
I have tried and failed several times. Last year I broke my toe trying and had to take 5 weeks off.

Today, at age 61, I did it in 60:21

Congrats!  Sounds like a fun challenge.

OK

Some thoughts I could add here, but more if in the IC area.

Just realised I'm almost 2 years on from starting to get back to regular exercising.  In terms of fitness goals, its going well, though if anything am in danger of pushing to obsessive levels by my own (low) standards.

I think I posted a bit earlier in this thread that I started cyclocross training, which led on to some racing, which led on to a lot more racing, which led on to taking training a lot more seriously, which is just about where I am now.

The new cyclocross season starts this Sunday.

In June I took on a personal trainer to help introduce some weight training having not done this in any serious way for 10+ years.  This has been a great help.  Very targeted to my cycle racing objectives and quick to feel the benefits.

Now I find myself trying to strike a balance between:

The fitness work...
1. Long bike ride to maintain base fitness (doing OK here, approx. 1 per week) - also throw in commuting by bike which adds another 30-40 miles a week or so.
2. Weight training - 1x PT session, 1x individual per week (meeting this mostly)
3. Coached Cyclocross skills training - 1x per week (nothing over the summer, but starting up next week and usually make this)
4. Interval training - just not doing this at the moment and need to get on with incorporating it
5. Racing!  This will be approx once every 2-3 weeks September to February with a quite spell through December.
6. Almost

The diet... I'm making much more considered choices with what I consume.  Balancing carbs at the right time, proteins, etc.  Cutting out alcohol around races and reducing generally.  Not scientific precision here, but conscious choices.

The bikes... some focus needed here to stay on top of maintenance and ensure races aren't compromised by the equipment.

Rest... consciously trying to get more sleep and plan rest days to avoid fatigue.

I feel a completely different level of health and fitness vs. 2 years ago, where the motivation to kick start was equal measures of physical and mental health improvement after losing some regular routines through the pandemic.  Plus hitting mid-40s, accepting that the peak was long behind me and wanting to take control of the things we can control.

Quote"You're someone who has trouble doing things for secondary gain."

Yep.  I love cycling, first, and secondly, I know its good for me, physically and mentally.

Cyclocross racing is a whole load of fun.  Not sure its wholly good for me physically.  I tend to have as many bruises and cuts on my legs and arms as my 6 and 9 year old boys.  There are far easier ways to stay fit, but I'm glad that at least cardiovascular and cognitive health appears to be a side benefit of competitively riding bicycles.

Quote from: littleman on August 12, 2024, 08:29:25 PM
Cycling maybe?

"... rowed at Harvard"

I was reading yesterday there's quite a link between rowing and cycling.  More specifically: rowing is one of the sports most transferable to cycling, due to the spinal position and the link with a machine that you're working to propel forwards.

Still a remarkable achievement, but I suspect a much stronger candidate than the average survey respondent.

Quote from: ergophobe on July 31, 2024, 03:38:19 PM
7.5 years ago (Jan 2017), 18yo Alex Yee posted on Twitter:

"Note to #MyFutureSelf be patient and embrace the processes. Do your best in what you love and maybe one day you'll be the greatest."

This morning, at age 26, he won the gold in triathlon

Somewhat local hero.  I dropped my 9 year old at the local velodrome yesterday morning for summer holiday mountain bike club.  In the clubroom they were showing the triathlon on the TV, with one of Alex Yee's triathlon kits framed on the wall and about 20-30 members of his former triathlon club cheering on.  The club run their cycle training sessions out of the velodrome and apparently Alex used to train here with them.

Also, the record holder at our local Parkrun, etc...

Great to have these examples to point our kids at.  Ergo, I'll share that quote with my boys.