Two Wheeling

Biking Today Was a Real Trip!

The temperature wasn't too cold.......somewhere around 20. But the bikepath was impassable with all the ice and snow, so I stayed on the streets. Lots of slush and Neil Avenue was one big ice patch. I only saw one other twowheeler, though I take comfort in knowing  my friend, Paul Rozelle, is still riding. 

I guarantee you when spring arrives in a couple of months it will feel wonderful...........this has been one long winter........and we're just through January!

Us twowheelers are meeting at the Tip Top for happy hour after work today. Please join us if you can. 

This Has Nothing to do with Biking

With this weather I haven't been able to bike much lately........I rode to work 2 days last week, but so far this week's been a bust!

So, I've been spending some time surfing the internet.....I'm amazed at what you can find there. Beth and I went to a presentation at our good friends' church last week and a fellow got up and talked about the pornography epidemic in the U.S. as a result of the easy accessibility enabled by the internet. "50% of the men here this evening are addicted to porn," he declared. I'm not one of the addicts, but I slouched down in my pew just the same.

The internet's a pandora's box, full of wonderful information, but also containing lots of risks if you don't know who you are or if you are lost or prone to wandering..........

But I want to focus on the GOOD things you can find on the internet. For example, last weekend I drove to Ann Arbor to watch my youngest son, Corey, run in "The Dual " against the Michigan wolverines. Corey's a walk-on for the OSU track team. He's a redshirt freshman and this was his first collegiate race. I was very proud of him as he finished 3rd in the 800 and helped OSU upset 17th ranked Michigan. Unfortunately his mother didn't get a chance to see him run.

When I got home from Ann Arbor, I spent a little time surfing collegiate track websites in the hope of learning a bit more about track. I never ran track and I'm still trying to learn everything I can so I don't embarrass Corey in front of his friends. I found a website, www.runnerspace.com, that has lots of interesting information about track. They even have videos of lots of races from the Olympic Trials and other big invitational meets. Imagine my surprise when I noticed a video entitled "The Dual--OSU v. Michigan 800m." Sure enough, as I clicked and watched the video, there Corey was. Not only did Beth get to see Corey's race on this video, we were able to email it to his sister at Miami and to his brother who is scuba diving in Bali. If you're interested, you can watch Corey's race at http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&member_id=3990&video_id=8296. 

Then, today...........our law office was closed due to the weather, so I was working from home. This afternoon, I shoveled the driveway and then came in and got on the computer. For some reason, I thought of Ireland. Beth and I will be spending 10 days there this coming summer with several of my Klatt Brother bandmates and my good friend, Parker MacDonell and we will be playing music in several pubs. I have been to Ireland twice before and absolutely love the natural beauty of the country and the friendly people there. I also love the smell of the peat that they burn in their fireplaces. As I surfed the web this afternoon, the thought crossed my mind, "I wonder if you can buy peat in the U.S. to burn in your fireplace." I quickly googled "burning peat" and 10 minutes later I had ordered 22 pounds of genuine Irish peat to burn in my fireplace. 

The internet also permits us to keep tabs on (and live vicariously) our son, Brandon's, packpacking trip around the world. You can follow him, too, at www.wheresmorgan.com. 

I'm sure you can get into lots of trouble on the internet, but so far for me the benefits have far outweighed the risks. 

Stay warm on these winter days........we'll be twowheeling again soon! 

Annual Checkup on my Social Experiment--Year 7

I had my annual checkup yesterday at Northwest Family Physicians with my favorite sawbones, Paul Dusseau. Paul's been my doc and friend for 15+ years and is super awesome..........and thorough! Even though he knows me well, he started with a review of my family history which ain't so great. Grandfather on father's side, moderately overweight, high blood pressure and heart disease (died of heart attack in early 70s).... grandfather on mother's side, moderately overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure, suffered massive stroke at age 65 that left him debilitated for rest of his life.....father, prostate cancer at 65. (Thankfully, we do have SOME good genes among our female ancestors.)

I'm 52 and the oldest of 6 children. Other than my brother, Greg, who is a contractor and very health conscious, my brothers and sister look like average Americans......10-30 pounds overweight. I'm not aware that they have diabetes or high blood pressure, but with our family history I worry about them.

After measuring, poking and prodding me for over an hour, Paul pronounced that I'd live for another year......in fact, he told me I'm in excellent health. For the record, I am:

                                    5 ft 9 inches (1/2 inch taller than last year.....I must have been slouching)

                                    169 pounds  (5 pounds lighter than last year.......drinking less beer)

                                    110/80        blood pressure

                                    all other vitals normal

I'll get the results of my blood work in a few weeks, but it should reflect that my blood sugar is normal and my cholesteral is a tad high (runs in the family).

To what do I attribute my good health? One thing.......bicycling to work. How do I know? Because it's the only thing I do. When I began bicycling to work 7 years ago, I dropped my health club membership and haven't "exercised" in the conventional sense since then. I just ride my bike to and from work and do an occasional recreational ride (e.g. TOSRV). 3 days per week I do 5-10 minutes of very light weight work and core strengthening in the basement. One other thing I'm proud of.......I take no prescription or over-the-counter meds which is, sadly, pretty unusual among my peer group.

I think the social experiment I began conducting on myself 7 years ago is working and I encourage you to join me. If you can find a way to bike or walk to work just 1 or 2 days per week it can have a profound impact on your health.

I hereby waive my HIPAA rights if you wish to share this information with friends and loved ones.

"TwoWheeling".....the surest way to personal, environmental and community health!

Obesity Epidemic......A National Security Issue?

Many of you know that I threw away my car and began twowheeling to work 7 years ago after hearing Dr. Bob Murray at Nationwide Children's explain the childhood obesity epidemic that has overtaken the U.S. I was flabergasted. "How could a nation as wealthy and educated, and obsessed with dieting, exercise and vanity, as the U.S. be the most obese nation in the history of the world?"

I theorized that since it is "optional," exercise would never work to keep Americans healthy and fit and I wondered how we might make exercise, or "activity," MANDATORY. I decided to conduct a social experiment on myself and I got rid of my car and began to bicycle the 20 miles round trip to my office. If I didn't get on the bike each day, I didn't get to work.  

After 7 years, I have concluded that walking and bicycling for everyday transportation does work and can, along with proper nutrition, solve the public health crisis that threatens to topple the health care system. (In addition, as I've discussed on this blog over the years, twowheeling has many other personal, environmental and community benefits.)

We MUST solve the obesity epidemic. We are well aware of the impact obesity has on our individual and public health, but it doesn't stop there. An article in today's Columbus Dispatch, "Hefty recruits may soon seat it out in fat camp," details the impact of the childhood obesity epidemic on military recruiting. Maj. Gen. Tom Bostick, the head of Army recruiting, says that obesity looms as a "bigger challenge for us in the years ahead than any other problem that keeps young people from entering the military, including lack of a GED or high-school diploma, misconduct or criminal behavior and other health problems such as eye or ear problems." "I'd say that out of every 10 applicants that come in, probably 3 we couldn't take--they are obese," according to Sgt. Daryl Bogan, a recruiter in Columbia, S.C. This squares with childhood obesity statistics in Franklin County and the U.S. that show that roughly 25% of our children are clinically obese.

Regardless of your views on the war or on the military generally, national defense is serious business. When we're too fat to defend ourselves, we're in trouble, don't you think? 

I Hit the Hooded Merganser Lottery!

One inch of freshly fallen snow was too beautiful to pass up......so I hopped on my son, Corey's, hybrid this morning and took off down the bike path. Corey's our youngest and a sophomore at OSU. He runs middle distance on the OSU track team and they're getting ready for a dual with Michigan this weekend at Ann Arbor.

I can comfortably navigate through 3-4 inches of snow on the hybrid and I've come to really enjoy icebiking. Corey actually inspired me to start icebiking a couple of years ago. I marvelled at his dedication and how he'd run in the snow and  bitter cold and decided, "If Corey can do it, I can too............and I was right." Ironically as I was headed south on the bike path, I spotted a tight group of 8-10 runners coming in the opposite direction. As they got closer, I could tell they were "real" runners, dressed mostly in scarlett and gray. "Hi, dad," Corey said and high-fived me as we passed. "Go Bucks," I replied.

There were literally thousands of Canada geese in and along the Olentangy river this morning.....and a few mallards. But at North Bank Park, I saw a group of smaller waterfowl in the river ahead. As I drew closer I identified them as hooded mergansers. Occasionally, maybe once or twice per year, I'll spot a pair of these beautiful ducks on the Olentangy......once I saw 4 at the same time. This morning there were at least 20 in the group..........wow, that's not something you see every day!

I guess icebiking is like Forest Gump's box of chocolates...........you never know what treat you're going to get!  

A Body on the Bike Path

After a 2 week hiatus to heal from wounds sustained in 2 crashes on black ice, I was back at it on Monday. It was cold, but dry, and the ride in was invigorating. It was still daylight when I left for home at the end of the workday, so I decided to take the Olentangy bikepath instead of my normal winter route up High Street. As I crossed Long Street, a jogger coming in the opposite direction yelled, "They've got the path blocked up ahead and you may not get through." A TV news van parked on the bike path further piqued my interest so I decided to check it out. 

200 yards down the path a Grandview police cruiser was blocking the path and the officer told me I'd have to turn around. "What's up?" I asked. "Crime scene," was his curt reply. I turned around and headed back to HIgh Street. As I passed the TV crew I asked them if they knew what was going on. "They found a body near the bikepath." "Not a bicyclist?"I gasped. "No, the body's been there awhile, but they think it might have been a homeless person."

As I rode on, I recalled the 1000's of times I have scanned the river on my way to and from work. I'm usually looking for wildlife, migratory birds and such.......but occasionally the thought has crossed my mind that someday I might see a body. Apparently a jogger discovered the body this week, but it just as easily could have been me. I imagine a gruesome discovery like this could haunt you for some time.

In my mind's eye, I replayed memories of all the homeless people that I've seen living along the Olentangy.  One man, in particular, came to mind. He lived under the Third Street Bridge for several years. He slept in a cardboard box on a narrow, 4 foot slice of ground between the fence bordering the bikepath and the river. With all the spots to select from, I always wondered why he chose this precarious one. I recall thinking, "Hell, he could roll over in his sleep and be right in the river."

Sometime in October I noticed that the man and his box were gone. I remember thinking,"That's good, he finally decided to move to a safer site." I pray that he did.