master's racing--reflections

monday's medical armchair QB

i started racing in 1983; first got a license in 1987.

i remember lining up in one of my first races, and,

seeing the 40+ pack behind me, i thought "look at those old farts."

well, much has changed, and now the old farts are 60+.

[out of sympathy, i let one of them go by me

at the end of yesterday's race.]

while warming up for the first of two races i did yesterday,

i rode with some guys i've known for over 20 years.

our prerace conversations have changed:

yesterday, we talked about one of our friends, steve franzenberg,

who-having survived a bout of cancer-

this year has been sidelined with a heart attack.

the talk then shifted to prostate "problems" during which i realized

the difference between 50+ and 60+ for many is having them.

then this morning, i learned that my friend jason mccartney

is hospitalized with a serious illness.

bike racers work so hard, and train so endlessly--year round--

to get into top and peak fitness.

an unavoidable component of wellness is illness.

when we train, whether we think of it in these terms or not,

we do so in a preventive manner:

we hope to avoid pitfalls and problems.

i urge all of you to consider your overall health

in the same manner.

get your annual physicals, and accept that eventually,

some doc's gonna stick something wiggly up your ass.

the guy in the photo above will-or would-agree that

a preventive wiggle is a cut above a post-mortem one.