The sad state of society

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on July 11, 2012 at 11:45am

Today's Bikeyface seems timely.

Duppie said:

You are right, and that is sad, isn't it? That we have a build a society where it is considered unsafe and inconvenient to ride your bike on the city streets, and instead we resort to going to a gym to get our exercise in?

That's also how I've always interpreted Blumenauer's quote.  Not as an indictment of the fact that people do want a workout, but that it is generally accepted that a gym is the best place to get a workout, because our streets are unsafe and inconvenient, and that we are willing to sit in a traffic jam to go to a gym. (I see this last thing happen everyday at ID Gym: Cars idling, waiting to park in the lot)

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 11, 2012 at 12:27pm

Even in a perfect bike world you cannot get as good a workout on the road as you can on a trainer.  On the trainer you are in greater control of the variables that generate resistance.

Duppie said:

You are right, and that is sad, isn't it? That we have a build a society where it is considered unsafe and inconvenient to ride your bike on the city streets, and instead we resort to going to a gym to get our exercise in?

That's also how I've always interpreted Blumenauer's quote.  Not as an indictment of the fact that people do want a workout, but that it is generally accepted that a gym is the best place to get a workout, because our streets are unsafe and inconvenient, and that we are willing to sit in a traffic jam to go to a gym. (I see this last thing happen everyday at ID Gym: Cars idling, waiting to park in the lot)

GabeW (not the other Gabe) said:

But isn't the point of a spin class to push yourself really hard?  You'd rather they do that on the LFP on a tri bike? :D 

Maybe it's more convenient for a city dweller to get an hour of hard training in quickly and near home/work on a Tuesday evening and save the long fast ride on the open roads out of the city for the weekend?

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Permalink Reply by S on July 11, 2012 at 12:32pm

It's not just the cars on the roads that make working out on a bike inconvenient. I've seen a lot of threads where people on the chainlink have expressed annoyance and/or anger at various athletes on the lakefront path (whether triathletes or 'lycra clad lance wannabes').  The roads in the city aren't really the place to try to ride hard and a sizeable fraction of the posters here don't want them trying to ride hard on multi-use paths after 7am so it's either the gym or driving out to the countryside. 

Duppie said:

You are right, and that is sad, isn't it? That we have a build a society where it is considered unsafe and inconvenient to ride your bike on the city streets, and instead we resort to going to a gym to get our exercise in?

That's also how I've always interpreted Blumenauer's quote.  Not as an indictment of the fact that people do want a workout, but that it is generally accepted that a gym is the best place to get a workout, because our streets are unsafe and inconvenient, and that we are willing to sit in a traffic jam to go to a gym. (I see this last thing happen everyday at ID Gym: Cars idling, waiting to park in the lot)

GabeW (not the other Gabe) said:

But isn't the point of a spin class to push yourself really hard?  You'd rather they do that on the LFP on a tri bike? :D 

Maybe it's more convenient for a city dweller to get an hour of hard training in quickly and near home/work on a Tuesday evening and save the long fast ride on the open roads out of the city for the weekend?

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Permalink Reply by Michael A on July 11, 2012 at 12:32pm

There are some great places to get in hill repeats, sprint practices and intervals  But all of them require you to pay a lot more attention then a stationary trainer

The computrainers at HPI use your bike and set the resistance according to your FTP (the amount of watts you can sustain for 1 hour)  You can bury yourself in the workout and not have to worry about other riders, cars or even saving enough energy to make it back home. Also being able to do this in a climate controlled environment in this heat is a HUGE plus. I am not saying it should replace outdoor training, but it is a great benefit to add to your training regimen.

 Most of my team that uses HPI ride their bikes to the studio to ride their bikes indoors

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Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on July 11, 2012 at 3:37pm

My guess is that less than 10% of the people that would use this equipment are actually training for a race/triathlon here (in this picture). Thus, the irony/humor of training on a machine when it's a beautiful day out.

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Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on July 11, 2012 at 4:05pm

So let me just make sure I understand the chainlink philosophy.

If you ride a hardcore training ride on a stationary bike you're an ironic joke.

If you ride a hardcore training ride on the LFP, you're a danger to others.

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/nasty-bike-on-bike-crash-o...

If you commute and ride for pleasure you'll get the workout you need to be competitive in a race/personal goals.

Duppie said:

You are right, and that is sad, isn't it? That we have a build a society where it is considered unsafe and inconvenient to ride your bike on the city streets, and instead we resort to going to a gym to get our exercise in?

Got it. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by David Barish on July 11, 2012 at 4:11pm

Cut the gym guys/gals some slack.  We would all rather be outside.  There are times when I go to spin class because my day makes commuting unworkable.  We all have choices we make and to each his/her own.  I think I have passed by that gym in the picture. Is it on Lincoln south of Diversey?  I have ridden by on my way home and called out, "second position..."

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