Still new here but need to vent about cycling...

[KSH]

Well Shawn, you have to sit down and seriously ask yourself if this sport is worth dying for. It is worth becoming a vegetable living in a nursing home somewhere for?

Only you can answer that.

If your answer is no... then why not get a road bike and ride for FUN. Ride with friends... ride with cycling clubs... ride bike rallies and keep it tame.

If your answer is yes...

1) Tell your family and friends you are OK with dying for your sport. Let them know you would rather die doing something you love versus sitting around wishing you could do it.

2) Make sure you have accidental death insurance or a pay out that will cover you living as a vegetable. Let your family know that you have set up insurance to cover you in case of a serious accident or death. Give them all the details of the policy and where they can find the papers. Make sure that your funeral will be covered by the insurance. Funerals can be expensive and your family shouldn't pay for your choices.

3) If you do not want to live on life support for the rest of your life after an accident, make sure you sign papers stating that. That way you family knows it's OK to pull the plug on you.

4) Get a will together. Have the will ready to go, BEFORE you start racing again.


Basically, if you decide to race again, make sure you have everything in order before you do it... be ready to die or to live like a vegatable.

I'm not saying that to drive the point home, I'm saying it so you will make a rational and logical decision based on what you love to do. Also make sure you that have everything in order before you end up in another accident. Don't put a financial burden on your family because you made this decision.

Hey, personally... I think if you love something that much... it's worth dying for. Why sit by miserable... wishing you could be out there... only to end up in a nursing home when you are old? Die young doing what you love.

Good luck on your decision.

[Python]

I think KSH has it spot on, except I'll add one thing to what she says and that is PLEASE carry an Organ Donor Card.

Sometimes in life we have to diversify often to keep our loved ones happy. Instead of doing competitive racing, perhaps instead you would consider riding for charity? Maybe organise a ride to raise money for the neurological unit that worked so hard on you or to raise money to help brain-damaged people or some similar worthwhile cause?

Racing might be in your blood just now, but given a chance something like what I've suggested could also get in your blood and be very rewarding for you.

I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do.

[RoadRaven]

Well SmilingCat... like KSH and Python and the others, I have no "answer"... but KSH has listed a really good way to approach this if you want to continue cycling.

Personally, I believe it would be hard to give up cycling forever - I still have young children so maybe, if I was in your position, I would give it up til they had finished growing, and then I would probably get back on my bike again because I love it sooo much.

It is a tough call, and I remember an older friend who smoked and had a dreadful diet and was told to give up the nicoteine and the fats and they would get another 5-10 years. He tried for nearly a year, but his quality/enjoyment of life was minimised and he decided he likes smoking, and he liked rich food and did he want to spend an extra few years feeling miserable and eating what he called "rabbit food" or did he want to relish life and enjoy his final years...

He cut his smoking back a little, returned to his old eating habits, started walking and got an extra year before his heart and body gave up as he slept.

Only you can make this decision, I wish you clarity in your thinking.
Arohanui from EnZed

[smilingcat]

Hi to all,

Feeling tad better today (not to be confused with bitter) .

And to answer some questions. Yes I just needed to write. I'm 49 years old. I'll be 50 come Xmas of 07. Xmas baby I am.

Bike I ride currently is '05 Obera Dama Race with Campy Centaur groupo. Wheels are American Classic...

I have always been a roadie. No cyclocross, tri, or MTN biker. I know not to trust myself on Mtn bike. I might like downhill. So I do not tempt fate.

Yes my judgement is somewhat clouded over by my passion more than anything else. And as Road Raven says, its nearly impossible to give up something you love so much. I did manage to stay away from cycling for the last 5 years. Though I will admit I went on half a dozen rides 6 month after the accident. Went riding with someone, who had gone to the US finals. It was a fun ride albeit my shattered left shoulder was still really weak at that time. I also recognized on that ride that I had to give up riding all together.

Yes I have no problem of dying from doing what I love. I can accept that but not to my housemate or to all my close friends. In my nearly 50 years of living, I have done a lot of things most people would be envious. It's my typeA personality.

And yes I value what others have to say. Its just that intersection (remember boolean algebra) of their comments, wishes ... and what I love to do is pretty small.

The rides I do are recreational im my book. My average speed overall is around 18MPH, stretches of it around 23MPH and top speed around 35MPH. I'm really timid around hair-pin turns and will slow down. Enter the turn around 19MPH and exit the turns around 22MPH. A far cry...

And to KSH. yes my financial are mostly in order. I need to redo few things. I wish there was a way of transferring my assets to my housemate without the intrusion of state/fed gov when I die. My housemate and I are bestest of friends. We are not lesbian couple. but we see ourselves more like a family. sisters of sort.

And to Python. In california we just put a mark on the organ donor on our DL. I should.

As much as I like to buy the bike, I can find ton of reasons why I should. But I do value my housemates well being so I think I'll forgo the TT bike.

1. It'll be fun to ride.
2. It'll be a riot to be in TTs. masters women cat 4 gosh can it be any slower?? any riders in this catagory??
3. if I decide I can sell the bike for maybe just $500 less than what I pay for.
...

I guess I need to spend more time on my cookie business and get back into my pottery. Have two wheels. Several kilns. Okay so this girl's got way too many toys.

or work on some other pet projects like be part of solution to global warming. Have ideas on solar power stuff. Yes I'm still a pretty decent engineer.

And yes I do value all of your comments. and Thank you.

Shawn

[deedolce]

If you have your housemate's name on your accounts, when (and hopefully a long time from now) one of you dies, those accounts will transfer to the survivor. At least that's my layman understanding of it. Ask a lawyer!

[RoadRaven]

Hey there again, cat

Just picked up on point #2 in your last post.

A TT would be a great way to get speed and maximum effort in a minimal risk race situation.

TTs are "supposed" to be flat - so not usually too many treacherous fast descents...

TTs are ridden on your own, so you don't have to worry about other riders being stupid and risking your safety - or conversely, if you feel dizzy or something, you place no-one else at risk as you slow or wobble.

Your speeds are way above what we do... my partner and sons race pace is 40-45kph... but their training rides usually average around 28-30, sometimes less, because going fast all the time is not always necessarily the best training. My average training speed is about 25-26kph, and my race pace is about 30-32 kph (and climbing slowly). Mind you, we have only coarse chip roads - no smooth seal in this country except patches in cities.

But back to TTs... I think they would be a way to race competitively and alleviate your flatmate-sister/friend's anxiety...

Road ~always-been-a-roadie-too~ Raven