Riding Without A Mask: I told you so!

So the scientists at CDC have finally caught up with centuries of best practices and common sense and issued new mask guidelines. They are all entirely consistent with those I offered my readers over a year ago. Perhaps next time people start dropping like flies someone at the CDC or DHS or somewhere could do the unthinkable, step outside what can be proven at that very moment, and offer guidance based on centuries of fighting communicable diseases and common sense observations like public drinking fountains have been kept sanitary for centuries by sunlight. 

When the science isn't in yet, offer SOME guidance based on experience. Obviously you're perfectly willing to admit you got it wrong after the fact, so just take a good scientific wild-assed guess, make the standard "Do no harm", and give us your best guess confident you'll do at least SOME good. It's hard to imagine getting this so wrong it's worse than leaving people to figure it out for themselves and all the ways THAT can go wrong.

I just have to wonder, did the CDC not read the DHS Lab's reports regarding the fact that direct, noon-day sunlight at sea-level, like at noon in Manhattan, kills COVID-19 to undetectable levels in less than 3 minutes? SMH. If the best that can be said for the CDC is they aren't making things worse, then how is that better than having no CDC at all? They have a huge budget, and spend it on hand-wringing and 2nd guessing themselves?

 

Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover ... err... Car

I have twice now been fortunate to live in a city in California where I don't really need a car. Getting work and home in the same zip-code is really key there, or working from home in my case. Although this piece makes a good run at it, it is very, very hard to describe the sense of freedom & belonging, two things rarely found under the same roof, from NOT having to climb into a car 10-times a day. I love both the tech of cars and driving, but never a good idea to make something you love a chore, and commuting is a chore!

 

 

When I saw the count - 50 - I immediately thought of this Paul Simon song, but really love this cover, so went with it. Enjoy the music while you read the article, preferably while sitting at a Bistro Table with a friend outdoors on a sunny day. Cheers!

Spin-Class Death: Just Say NO!

When I'm out riding I try to avoid entering ANY enclosed spaces, as we here in the high desert enjoy an especially potent UV sterilizer in the very intense sunlight we get at 3,000ft elevation. When at the Apple Valley Airport I wait outside in the sun until my HR returns to normal, don the mask I bring with me, and pop inside to use the Men's Room. (despite my best efforts, wearing a mask is impossible if you want a good workout at ~ 80% of max HR, and according to Dr. Fauchi, unnecessary unless you go indoors or stop to talk to people)

I then leave the building and use the outdoor faucet at the BBQ area to wash my face, hands and fill my water-bottles. In summer I like to fill up inside at the water cooler, but not worth the added risk in winter, so I just go back outside in the warm sunshine and breeze. 

 

Only if you have a death wish...

By contrast, what NOT to do is ride a spin-cycle in an indoor spin class. Breathing hard around others in an enclosed space is just begging for COVID-19. In short, here's what not to do...

One of those instructors taught a 60-minute high-intensity indoor cycling class just four hours before his symptoms started later that evening. The instructor and students were all stationed at least six feet apart, but none wore masks while working out, per the facility's protocol, and the windows and doors were closed. The instructor was facing the class, “shouting instructions and encouragement,” the report says, and, presumably, spreading infectious respiratory droplets containing the virus. Over the next week, all 10 people who attended the class tested positive for COVID-19.

BTW, I can't think of any good reasons why more building owners up here in the high desert, where humidity is in the 5-15% range most of the time, haven't been installing swamp coolers and ripping  out their AC units. Swamp coolers (evaporation coolers) work by exchanging all the air in the cooled space every 3-5 minutes, so MUCH, MUCH safer than AC units which recirculate all of the air they move. They also take 40-60% of the power to operate.

Perfect Muscle Milk

For most of the last 15 yrs, after hard rides, my legs, especially the two quad heads at my knees, really hurt, ached and burned a little, despite massage and Advil and nutrition, this would last for 2-3 days, sometimes bad enough to keep me awake at night. 

I found a cure for that last summer when riding some 150+ mile weeks, and I found it because I remember one of the riders I used to ride with in Sacramento told me it helped him a LOT. I should have listened to him then, but when it comes to getting smart, better late than never. The solution is Muscle Milk. 

32oz Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, & Batman

 I also tried WallyWorld's Equate stuff, but it doesn't have the same effect as MM, and I suspect that's because Equate has fewer carbs, which in MM are probably fast carbs, used to arrest catabolic muscle destruction. No, Hammer Nutrition, there's no such thing as "canniballistic" muscle destruction. Catabolic is the flip-side of Anabolic, which means to break down, and build up, respectively. Catabolic muscle destruction can only be arrested by ingesting carbs very high on the glycemic index, which will create an insulin spike in your blood. There's more to the process, but this is the short story of that process.)

From a very short Google Safari...

Catabolic reactions break down larger molecules, such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins from ingested food, into their constituent smaller parts. ... Anabolic reactions, or biosynthetic reactions, synthesize larger molecules from smaller constituent parts, using ATP as the energy source for these reactions.

 

... and this... 

 

The Anabolic Phase: The 45-Minute Optimal Window

The anabolic phase is a critical phase occurring within 45 minutes post-exercise. It is during this time that muscle cells are particularly sensitive to insulin, making it necessary to ingest the proper nutrients in order to make gains in muscle endurance and strength. If the proper nutrients are ingested 2 - 4 hours post-exercise they will not have the same effect. It is also during this time in which the anabolic hormones begin working to repair the muscle and decrease its inflammation.

 Immediate ingestion of carbohydrate is important because insulin sensitivity causes the muscle cell membranes to be more permeable to glucose within 45 minutes post-exercise. This results in faster rates of glycogen storage and provides the body with enough glucose to initiate the recovery process (Burke et al., 2003). Muscle glycogen stores are replenished the fastest within the first hour after exercise. Consuming carbohydrate within an hour after exercise also helps to increase protein synthesis (Gibala, 2000).

 Quoted from here, because there's just so much nonsense about the need for protein after hard exercise and it's patently FALSE. Carbs, carbs high on the Mendosa Glycemic Index, and only those carbs, prevent catabolic muscle destruction, NOT protein. If you think your body breaking down muscle tissue to create glucose is idiotic and contra-intuitive, imagine your tribe just ran a large game animal to ground (how humans on 2 legs did it - with greater biomechanical efficiency on 2 legs) and now the tigers are threatening. Best run into that cave and hide, because those other tribes that had bigger muscles but no energy left to run? Yeah, they aren't around anymore!

 

While Muscle Milk is a minor miracle, mixing it with milk (they RX water, but ick!) makes a lumpy mess at the top of whatever giant tumbler you mix it in. You can also use an infuser/mixer stick, but that just makes even more mess. I was stirring with a knife to keep the mess to a minimum, and so I could scrape the knife on the edge of the glass, but I still ended up with lumps of dry powder in the back of my throat when I tried to drink it. Just FYI, I cover the ball +1" with Organic Grass-Fed milk (lots of Omega-3 fatty acids in anything grass-fed) and top up with skim milk. YMMV. 

45oz, for those really L-O-N-G rides!

Well, I found the perfect cure for Muscle Milk's goopy lumps. It's called a Blender Bottle, and Walmart sells that too. It's so ingenious I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. Think Cocktail Shaker meets Shake-Weight. The wire ball works like the BB in the bottom of a can of spray paint and blends Muscle Milk perfectly with zero mess left on anything. Beyond that, you get a wonderful (chocolate in my case) milk shake that's delicious and smooth - a nice reward after a hard ride. I'd still stick with left over Gatorade and a baked potato for immediate recovery, hot from the microwave, or freeze-dried from an Odahoan Baby Reds pouch, but after 30-40 minutes sit back and enjoy your MM milkshake!

440 very fast carbs, some from maltodextrin