A Milestone, and a Crash
Written on 04/20 at 11:55 AM by Andy Posner
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A little over a month ago I went through another one of my down periods, during which I felt incapable of doing anything. For a while I was afraid that I would find it impossible to complete my thesis, and I was also very disappointed with the fact that I had once again ceased riding my bike. When I finally started feeling better, I quietly resolved to ride my bike at least an hour a day, not so that I could achieve glory in cycling, but more importantly so that I would avoid falling into periods of inactivity. Granted, I had already tried this before, with rather unimpressive results: I made it about 20 days into the goal before I started overtraining (feeling tired, having trouble sleeping, etc) and had to stop. Yet something felt different this time: I was riding, not with the aim of becoming the fittest cycling in the world, but rather with the goal of feeling fit and happy. With that positive attitude, I started riding, and I haven’t stopped since. Yesterday I completed by 30th consecutive ride, and not only have I lost some weight, but I also feel very fit, very happy and I have managed to do all this without the usual overtraining!
I was thrilled to reach this milestone yesterday, and indeed the first 35 miles of the ride were absolutely beautiful: my friend Mike and I rode a good, hard pace over country roads in Massachusetts, the weather was great, and I felt really strong. Unfortunately, as we were cruising back to where we had parked our cars (finally enjoying a tailwind) we both went down at one of the worst railroad crossing I’ve ever ridden across. Pictures and details after the jump.
Photos of My Cervelo Race Bike!
Written on 04/06 at 12:56 PM by Andy Posner
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As readers of this blog must have deduced by now, I am rather obsessed with bicycles. I have gushed about my folding bike, my 29er mountain bike, the trailer for my touring bike, and the recent upgrades to my racing bike. In line with that passion that borders on obsession, several months ago I upgraded my racing bike to a new carbon fibre frame from Cervelo, a carbon fibre fork from Easton, a carbon fibre handlebar from Zipp, and a beautiful, lightweight clincher wheelset from HED. Though I got the bike in December, the rather long and cold winter here dissuaded me from doing much riding outside, and I haven’t put in serious miles on the new bike until now. I wanted to share some photos of the bike and describe its rather amazing qualities--namely, light weight, stiffness and an incredibly smooth, comfortable ride. Read on for more photos, details and thoughts on the bike.
I Finally Complete a Bike Race!!
Written on 10/13 at 11:36 PM by Andy Posner
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I have had a bad run of luck at bike races. After longing for years to try my hand at racing, my fist two events last year were, well, unsatisfactory. My first race, back in August of ‘07, didn’t go well for the simple reason that I was grossly out of shape and overweight. I gave up 10 miles into the race, as I was unable even to keep up with people riding 1970’s steel bikes and jeans! The great thing about that race, however, was that it inspired me to get back on the bike and start training again. I immediately signed up for the last road race of the year in New England, the Jamestown Road Race, and began training hard. On October 13th, I entered the event 10 pounds lighter and fairly confident that I could keep up. Unfortunately, that race ended in disaster as well, as I crashed just 8 miles in.
This year I was determined to, at the very least, finish the damn race!
An Epic Ride
Written on 09/15 at 12:04 PM by Andy Posner
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Yesterday I headed out to do a 90 mile ride from Providence to Wellesley College and back with a group of 5 racers on the Brown cycling team. When I woke up it was raining pretty hard, yet I received an email confirming that the ride was still on. For a moment I hesitated: on the one hand, I knew that if I went out it would be a long, wet, cold slog, but on the other hand, I knew that if I stayed inside I would regret it. Also, given my long-term goal of doing an ultra-endurance cycling race, I was keenly aware of the need to become accustomed to training in any and all conditions. So at 7:50 AM I left my apartment and met up with the other riders.
At first, the roads were wet, but no rain was falling. Within half an hour of our departure, however, the heavens opened up and we were all instantly soaked. Fortunately, I had a rain jacket with me which, though it kept me dry, is made of PVC and doesn’t breathe, so I was soon covered in sweat instead of rain. It became clear that the rain wasn’t going to abate anytime soon, and I started fretting about hypothermia and other neurotic concerns. The ride itself was fast--averaging well over 18 MPH over slightly rolling terrain on beautiful back roads.
Meet My New Folding Bike!
Written on 08/31 at 06:29 PM by Andy Posner
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I am now the proud owner of a Bike Friday folding bicycle. The name of the particular model is the Pocket Rocket, and it is a beautiful, fire-engine red bicycle that rides like a regular road bike but folds down small enough to fit into a suit case that can be checked in at the airport. I got this bike because in order to meet my goal of riding my bike at least an hour a day for 10 years, I will have to have a bike that I can take with me when I travel by bus, train and airplane. Of course, I recently upgraded both my race bike and my mountain bike, but the fact of the matter is that when it comes to cycling, few are more obsessed and in love with the sport than I! It is rare in life to find an activity that guarantees health, fitness and happiness, and for me cycling is just such an activity! So far I have ridden 10 days in a row, and I feel absolutely fantastic. Read more about the bike (and see more photos!) after the fold.
A Personal Challenge: Cycling At Least An Hour A Day For 10 Years
Written on 08/24 at 11:14 AM by Andy Posner
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Al Gore’s Challenge Inspires My Thesis, and My Own Challenge
Al Gore recently challenged the U.S. to get 100% of its electricity from renewable energy within a decade. I was so excited and inspired by the challenge that I decided to switch my thesis topic in order to look at some of the issues raised by that challenge; specifically, I want to understand how to address the intermittence of renewable energy sources through geographic distribution, energy storage, smart grid technology and innovative demand side management.
Around the time that I read Al Gore’s challenge, I came across a completely unrelated article about a guy--Jim Langley, the former technical editor at Bicycling Magazine--who, in 1990, set a goal to ride his bicycle at least an hour a day for ten years. Not only did he meet his goal, but the streak is alive to this day. After I read that I thought to myself, hmm, wouldn’t it be interesting to spend the next 10 years devoting myself to meeting Al Gore’s challenge and eradicating poverty through my micro-credit initiative, while at the same time riding my bike at least an hour a day? And so it was that I decided to challenge myself to achieve the goal of riding an hour a day for 10 years. Hopefully by the time I have accomplished it the planet and human society will be as healthy thanks to clean, renewable energy that doesn’t impact global geopolitics as I will be from the riding. Read on to find out why I’m doing this and for details of the challenge.
- Meet My New Folding Bike! (Poetry & Musings)
- Green Microfinance: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in the United States (Ideas)
- Executive Summary of the Capital Good Fund Business Plan (Ideas)
- A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States? (Ideas)
- Photos of Some Upgrades to My Bikes! (Poetry & Musings)
Green Microfinance: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in the United States
Click here to download a PDF of my complete thesis. Questions and comments are much appreciated!
My masters thesis in Environmental Studies at Brown University looks at how microfinance--the provision of small…
A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States?
Micro-credit has undoubtedly been a runaway success in developing countries as a tool of both poverty alleviation and economic development. To date, some 100 million people have been reached by micro-loans, and Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank…
Tonight, the Oneness of Things
It is late and my mind should be drifting through the colorful abyss of deep sleep, yet instead i find that tonight sleep will not come. I am like a hungry flower who dreams of bees so ardently that all…