Notent Notables
Red Sox Win: I've not yet become bitter about the Red Sox success. Their success is still a more than acceptable alternative to Yankee domination. I'll even go on record as saying that, until the Red Sox even the all-time World Series count with the Yankees, I wouldn't mind Boston becoming the dominant team in baseball. Say what you will about Red Sox fans, they don't take winning for granted like Yankees fans do, and won't take winning for granted as long as their pre-2004 history is fresh in the minds of most members of Red Sox nation. Plus, as a Mets hand, I still have the '86 upper hand over the Red Sox while the Yankees remain despicable.
Rockies Lose: Disappointing, but the layoff clearly killed them. Two weeks ago this series would have at least gone back to Boston.
NFL in London: I taped Sunday NFL Countdown as well as the Giants-Miami game itself because it was being played in Wembley, just a few miles from where I lived last year. American Football does have a strong cult following with Brits. Sky carries games to satellite subscribers and Madden is a popular video game. I loved that a regular season game was played there. I think if they do start playing 1 or 2 games internationally every year, London should be a regular spot in the rotation. I don't buy the argument that the travel caused the sloppy game. They traveled either on a charter flight or first class. And these guys are professional athletes. They can handle the intangibles that come with playing a game in Europe. I do think that the thin soccer turf played a role in the sloppiness. If they ever have a Super Bowl in London, they'll have to prepare the grass a long way in advance. And the other reason that the game was crappy is that one of the teams is terrible.
Musky Fishing: Sunday I spent 8 hours on a boat trolling along the St. Lawrence hunting for Musky. Musky fishing is like the lottery: it's all luck and the odds are against you. We dragged four different lures and didn't see a single fish. You don't even get bites because you're never holding the pole; they're mounted on special devices. And yet, the old saying is so true: "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work." The day was cold but sunny. And the company - my dad, my cousin Brian, and my uncle Tony - was excellent.
Century Ride: Last Sunday I biked 113 miles from my house in Manlius to our cottage in the Thousand Islands. This is the route I took. One of the reasons I wanted to do it was to get a feel for how hard it is to bike that far and that long. I trained a little in preparation biking in the hills around my house that were steeper than any I'd find on the actual route. I left before sunrise at 6:50am and arrived at 3:45pm for an average speed of a little less than 13mph. I stopped a lot - almost every 30 minutes - mainly because my back bothered me. My bike is too small for me; I think on a perfectly fitted bike I'd have stopped much less. Halfway through I realized I could connect my backpack to the back of my bicycle and that really helped with the back. After that, my knees bothered me the most. I must be in good shape, because my leg muscles held up fine and I didn't have any muscle soreness afterwards. My knees, back, hands and toes felt creaky for a day then I was fine.
A century ride is, I think, considerably easier than running a marathon. A marathon is a nonstop battle against pain. Running involves the entire body. Biking is all legs. Actually, it's only half legs. The other half is gravity and momentum. You can rest on downhills. All you have to do is grind up the hills and keep yourself going on the flats. If you've only used a mountain bike your entire life, like I had until a couple years ago, you'll be amazed at how much faster a road bike rides. A century ride is much more similar to a climbing a mountain. Some parts are easier than other parts, and overall you just have to chop away as much as you can before you take a little break. Anyway, consider this an open invitation to anyone who wants to try a ride with me next year. It's a great, satisfying test of athleticism and endurance.
Rockies Lose: Disappointing, but the layoff clearly killed them. Two weeks ago this series would have at least gone back to Boston.
NFL in London: I taped Sunday NFL Countdown as well as the Giants-Miami game itself because it was being played in Wembley, just a few miles from where I lived last year. American Football does have a strong cult following with Brits. Sky carries games to satellite subscribers and Madden is a popular video game. I loved that a regular season game was played there. I think if they do start playing 1 or 2 games internationally every year, London should be a regular spot in the rotation. I don't buy the argument that the travel caused the sloppy game. They traveled either on a charter flight or first class. And these guys are professional athletes. They can handle the intangibles that come with playing a game in Europe. I do think that the thin soccer turf played a role in the sloppiness. If they ever have a Super Bowl in London, they'll have to prepare the grass a long way in advance. And the other reason that the game was crappy is that one of the teams is terrible.
Musky Fishing: Sunday I spent 8 hours on a boat trolling along the St. Lawrence hunting for Musky. Musky fishing is like the lottery: it's all luck and the odds are against you. We dragged four different lures and didn't see a single fish. You don't even get bites because you're never holding the pole; they're mounted on special devices. And yet, the old saying is so true: "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work." The day was cold but sunny. And the company - my dad, my cousin Brian, and my uncle Tony - was excellent.
Century Ride: Last Sunday I biked 113 miles from my house in Manlius to our cottage in the Thousand Islands. This is the route I took. One of the reasons I wanted to do it was to get a feel for how hard it is to bike that far and that long. I trained a little in preparation biking in the hills around my house that were steeper than any I'd find on the actual route. I left before sunrise at 6:50am and arrived at 3:45pm for an average speed of a little less than 13mph. I stopped a lot - almost every 30 minutes - mainly because my back bothered me. My bike is too small for me; I think on a perfectly fitted bike I'd have stopped much less. Halfway through I realized I could connect my backpack to the back of my bicycle and that really helped with the back. After that, my knees bothered me the most. I must be in good shape, because my leg muscles held up fine and I didn't have any muscle soreness afterwards. My knees, back, hands and toes felt creaky for a day then I was fine.
A century ride is, I think, considerably easier than running a marathon. A marathon is a nonstop battle against pain. Running involves the entire body. Biking is all legs. Actually, it's only half legs. The other half is gravity and momentum. You can rest on downhills. All you have to do is grind up the hills and keep yourself going on the flats. If you've only used a mountain bike your entire life, like I had until a couple years ago, you'll be amazed at how much faster a road bike rides. A century ride is much more similar to a climbing a mountain. Some parts are easier than other parts, and overall you just have to chop away as much as you can before you take a little break. Anyway, consider this an open invitation to anyone who wants to try a ride with me next year. It's a great, satisfying test of athleticism and endurance.
posted by Prof. A at 10:08 PM
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