To Grand Forks Gazette. Grand Event in Granby Valley.
Many thanks to the Grand Forks Cycling Club for the annual Granby valley July weekend cycle race festival for older riders – this year held 23rd to 25th July. Thanks also to the businesses who provided prizes and food donations. Riders ranged from mid-30s to age 76 including 5 women age 39 to 68. They came from as far afield as Victoria, Comox, Vancouver, Calgary, and Whitehorse. Many bring their partners to make a holiday of it in this scenic, peaceful region.
Olav Stana age 55, Vernon, a Norwegian Canadian and physiotherapist, was a breathtaking winner of the Friday evening hill climb up Hardy Mountain Rd. Olav also won the Saturday morning 40 k (25 mile) individual time trial on the North Fork Rd. in a world class time of 53 minutes 51 seconds. The winner on age standard was Mike McCann age 63 of Whitehorse with an actual time of 57 minutes 48 seconds. The Sunday morning road race however, up North Fork and down Granby and back, went to Derek Tripp age 60, a fish and wildlife biologist from Victoria. Riders in the road race start in 10 year age groups with the oldest going off first. A 60s quartet broke away from the others about half way and were never caught by the younger riders.
A glamourous touch to the road race was having a vintage police Harley Davidson as sweep up vehicle. Event hq and start/finish for all 3 races is Hutton School. For a colourful, exciting, healthy, athletic spectacle be sure to catch the Grand Forks Cycle Weekend next July. Hopes are that this Granby Valley race weekend will develop into a Pacific North West Masters/Seniors Championship.
The Grand Forks Cycle Weekend is cosponsored by the B.C. Masters Cycling Association whose president is Bill Yearwood age 58 Vancouver a high profile aviation safety investigator. Both the Grand Forks C.C. and the B.C.M.C.A. welcome riders of all ages and abilities. You don’t have to be a dedicated top racer to join in the fun.
Yours sincerely,
David Mercer age 67 Victoria. A.k.a. Dr. Velociraptor. Phone: (778) 430-0646
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Age Standards: Various Charts Generated
In order to give plausible age standard times for the various Australian pursuit road races in the BCMCA schedule it is necessary to use a set of different charts. The principles behind each chart remain the same. As base time estimate the time the hypothetical ‘average’ 35 year old male would take who can do a 10 mile individual time trial in 24 minutes (VTTA standard) Then derive the standards for 45, 55, 65, etc, by adding on the traditional BCMCA starting gaps, viz. 3, 4, 5, minutes respectively. Following my suggestion add 7, 9, and 11 minutes respectively to derive the standards for 75, 85, and 95.
For the current (2005 – 2010) BCMCA road races in range of distance/duration a set of 5 age standard charts for group racing is necessary and sufficient. The basic chart is that for approximately 64 k (40 miles) - Maple Bay, Cedar/Yellow Point N. – i.e. a duration for Derek Tripp (age 60) or David Mercer (age 67) of about 1-50-00. Some courses will be about 5% shorter (distance/duration), e.g. Metchosin – Derek Tripp (age 60) time circa 1-45-0. Some 5% longer, e.g. 2010 Cobble Hill – D.T. (D.M.) time c. 1-55-0. Some 10% longer – D.T. (D.M.) time c. 2-0-0. Some 15% longer, e.g. Penticton – D.T. time c. 2-5-0. Call the basic Maple Bay chart B. The 5% shorter chart is A, the 5% longer, 10% longer, and 15% longer charts are C, D, and E respectively.
Charts A, C, D, and E are derived straightforwardly from the basic B chart. Take the appropriate percentage of the B 35 year old, 45, 55, etc. times. Take the appropriate percentage of the B yearly increments for each 10 year age group. (34 – 30 years have progressively less increments than 35 –39 in keeping with VTTA standards.)
Outside the range of 5% shorter than 64 k Maple Bay/ D.T.Time 1-50-0 – 15% longer it is no longer reasonable to employ the customary BCMCA 10 year start gaps of 7 minutes (70s after 80s), 6 minutes (60s after 70s), 5 minutes (50s after 60s), 4 minutes (40s after 50s), and 3 minutes (30s after 40s). Outside the range 5% shorter – 15% longer than base it is necessary to use different 10 year start gaps.
For the current (2005 – 2010) BCMCA road races in range of distance/duration a set of 5 age standard charts for group racing is necessary and sufficient. The basic chart is that for approximately 64 k (40 miles) - Maple Bay, Cedar/Yellow Point N. – i.e. a duration for Derek Tripp (age 60) or David Mercer (age 67) of about 1-50-00. Some courses will be about 5% shorter (distance/duration), e.g. Metchosin – Derek Tripp (age 60) time circa 1-45-0. Some 5% longer, e.g. 2010 Cobble Hill – D.T. (D.M.) time c. 1-55-0. Some 10% longer – D.T. (D.M.) time c. 2-0-0. Some 15% longer, e.g. Penticton – D.T. time c. 2-5-0. Call the basic Maple Bay chart B. The 5% shorter chart is A, the 5% longer, 10% longer, and 15% longer charts are C, D, and E respectively.
Charts A, C, D, and E are derived straightforwardly from the basic B chart. Take the appropriate percentage of the B 35 year old, 45, 55, etc. times. Take the appropriate percentage of the B yearly increments for each 10 year age group. (34 – 30 years have progressively less increments than 35 –39 in keeping with VTTA standards.)
Outside the range of 5% shorter than 64 k Maple Bay/ D.T.Time 1-50-0 – 15% longer it is no longer reasonable to employ the customary BCMCA 10 year start gaps of 7 minutes (70s after 80s), 6 minutes (60s after 70s), 5 minutes (50s after 60s), 4 minutes (40s after 50s), and 3 minutes (30s after 40s). Outside the range 5% shorter – 15% longer than base it is necessary to use different 10 year start gaps.
Dr. Velociraptor Lapses.
I apologise for again not getting the medals to the event – this time the Comox Dove Creek omnium. (Medals for missed events will be publicly awarded at subsequent events.) Unfortunately I have not yet managed to drag myself into the 1990s. So I hadn’t checked my email for over a week when I decided Friday night to confirm the weekend race schedule. To my chagrin the Saturday morning hill climb individual time trial had been moved back 2 hours requiring a 5 am rising for the long drive. Also, owing to computer illiteracy I was unable to access the race bible (to ascertain race hq) through Google, and there was no phone number or directory listing for the race organizer. Then I was reliably informed that none of the events could count towards the overall since the road race was not an Australian pursuit but divided like the crit into separate A and B races, and there was no previous form for the hill climb.
In pique and frustration at 10 pm Friday night I decided, “To hell with it. I’m not going. Save myself $200. Catch up on my music and writing. Etc.” Even from a selfish viewpoint this was a bad decision, since reactive, which I regretted the next morning. More broadly and shamefully I was not considering that I was letting down others who were counting on me for the medals.
Moral: check your email at least every 3 days; don’t leave confirmation of the race schedule until the night before; don’t just think of yourself. I probably need to think more of the virtue of serving rather than the ego of winning. There is more to life than cycle racing. But there is more to cycle racing than winning.
Woefully behind with race descriptions and Velociraptor competition results and standings – another of my flaws is overestimating what I can do. Hopefully, the race free weekend August 8th will enable me to catch up. For now know that Steve Bachop 45, Emile De Rosnay 37, and Louis Watson 33 are doing well in the A men scratch. David Mercer 67, and Bill Yearwood 58 are leaders in the A men comprehensive age standards. Rino De Biasio 76, and Stephen Muir 48 are near the front in all 3 B men competitions: Australian pursuit, scratch, and comprehensive age standard.
Points are from 10 for 1st down to 1 for 10th in all 5 season-long Velociraptor competitions. Every BCMCA event counts in all the Velociraptor Competitions whether hill climb, criterium, or A/B road race – not just Australian pursuit road races and time trials – even if the event does not count toward the BCMCA overall. Try out the BCMCA events which are distant from your home region. Yes it’s expensive and time consuming but view it as a break, a mini-holiday. Take a partner, friend, or family. Make contact with other racing cyclists. Enjoy the ambience. Encourage cycling friends, runners, triathletes, etc. who are not dedicated racing cyclists to race for fun and fitness. Emphasise that BCMCA caters for all ages and abilities. Point out that BCMCA races are safer than sanctioned cycle races and club league races. Draw attention to the Adonis and Aphrodite qualities of BCMCA members.
In pique and frustration at 10 pm Friday night I decided, “To hell with it. I’m not going. Save myself $200. Catch up on my music and writing. Etc.” Even from a selfish viewpoint this was a bad decision, since reactive, which I regretted the next morning. More broadly and shamefully I was not considering that I was letting down others who were counting on me for the medals.
Moral: check your email at least every 3 days; don’t leave confirmation of the race schedule until the night before; don’t just think of yourself. I probably need to think more of the virtue of serving rather than the ego of winning. There is more to life than cycle racing. But there is more to cycle racing than winning.
Woefully behind with race descriptions and Velociraptor competition results and standings – another of my flaws is overestimating what I can do. Hopefully, the race free weekend August 8th will enable me to catch up. For now know that Steve Bachop 45, Emile De Rosnay 37, and Louis Watson 33 are doing well in the A men scratch. David Mercer 67, and Bill Yearwood 58 are leaders in the A men comprehensive age standards. Rino De Biasio 76, and Stephen Muir 48 are near the front in all 3 B men competitions: Australian pursuit, scratch, and comprehensive age standard.
Points are from 10 for 1st down to 1 for 10th in all 5 season-long Velociraptor competitions. Every BCMCA event counts in all the Velociraptor Competitions whether hill climb, criterium, or A/B road race – not just Australian pursuit road races and time trials – even if the event does not count toward the BCMCA overall. Try out the BCMCA events which are distant from your home region. Yes it’s expensive and time consuming but view it as a break, a mini-holiday. Take a partner, friend, or family. Make contact with other racing cyclists. Enjoy the ambience. Encourage cycling friends, runners, triathletes, etc. who are not dedicated racing cyclists to race for fun and fitness. Emphasise that BCMCA caters for all ages and abilities. Point out that BCMCA races are safer than sanctioned cycle races and club league races. Draw attention to the Adonis and Aphrodite qualities of BCMCA members.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Mental Health and Physical Exercise
One of the aids to mental health is regular physical exercise (see blog ‘Mental Health and Critical Thinking’ 7/1/10). I have monitored the effects of various forms of physical exercise on my own mental state over about 20 years. Also, I have compared these effects with the effectiveness or benefits of other common aids to mental health or forms of treatment. Here are some of my (albeit subjective) findings.
1.Strenuous physical exercise gives a more significant psychological boost or uplift than non-strenuous exercise. By ‘strenuous’ I mean pushing the lungs and heart to near maximum, the point where conversation is not possible. Thus, strenuous exercise is different from jogging, swimming, cycling, playing tennis, soccer, etc., well within oneself.
2. Strenuous bursts of exercise lasting 30 seconds or less are not so psychologically boosting or uplifting as ones lasting 2-6 minutes or more.
3. 1½ hours of (mainly) 4 or 5 minute intervals may give as much psychological boost as 45 minutes all-out effort. The 1½ hours of intervals may include some short 30 seconds intervals.
4. The psychological boost of strenuous physical exercise does not increase significantly above 2½ hours exercise session.
5. The psychological boost of strenuous exercise includes the following: calm; greater optimism; self-confidence; resilience – feeling more able to cope with inevitable, unexpected setbacks and present known challenges; getting things in perspective – some mistakes, problems, deficiencies, injustices, setbacks seem less catastrophic; greater acceptance of life’s imperfections and misfortunes; joy in simple things – clouds, trees, having hot and cold running water, clean safe accommodation, friends, health.
The psychological boost attained by strenuous physical exercise is qualitatively similar to the uplift given by tranquilisers and anti-depressants (when these are working well, i.e. no flat affect, no disruptions of concentration, unpleasant side effects).
6. The psychological boost given by strenuous exercise lasts the rest of the day but is not significantly felt the next day. In order to maintain psychological boost through strenuous physical exercise 3 workouts per week are necessary. These strenuous workouts should be a minimum of 30 minutes all-out or 1 hour interval sessions.
7. It is difficult to separate the psychological boost given by a particular form of strenuous exercise from other psychological benefits associated with that activity, e.g. certain kinds of cycle interval training and success in cycle road racing.
8. Some fortunate individuals can maintain reasonable psychological well-being without strenuous exercise. For those who are prone to mental health problems a physical exercise program may be necessary, working up to strenuous physical exercise. It may be that strenuous physical exercise is more necessary for males than for females for physiological reasons.
9. Psychological well-being - buoyancy, resilience, feelings of adequacy, competence, joy in life, enjoyment of life – cannot be maintained solely or mainly by strenuous physical exercise. Inner self-satisfaction is probably a more important component of psychological well-being/mental health. You have to regularly engage in, commit yourself to, an activity which on analysis, criticism, and reflection it is reasonable to hold as worthwhile, as being of intrinsic value. Such intrinsically worthwhile activities might include community service, learning another language, scientific investigation, practicing art, writing, learning the piano. To many, some activities, though reasonably pleasant and satisfying (and more worthy than, say, watching tv, playing bingo, or going to shopping malls or garage sales) might not seem ultimately very worthwhile/of intrinsic value, e.g. collecting country and western (or jazz, classical, or rock) records, gardening, fishing, going on a cruise, hiking, mountain climbing, foreign travel, playing soccer or golf, establishing provincial age running records.
In questions of value it is difficult to separate out bias, mere personal taste, and snobbery. For instance, is being an expert ballet dancer of more intrinsic value than being a good model aeroplane builder?
1.Strenuous physical exercise gives a more significant psychological boost or uplift than non-strenuous exercise. By ‘strenuous’ I mean pushing the lungs and heart to near maximum, the point where conversation is not possible. Thus, strenuous exercise is different from jogging, swimming, cycling, playing tennis, soccer, etc., well within oneself.
2. Strenuous bursts of exercise lasting 30 seconds or less are not so psychologically boosting or uplifting as ones lasting 2-6 minutes or more.
3. 1½ hours of (mainly) 4 or 5 minute intervals may give as much psychological boost as 45 minutes all-out effort. The 1½ hours of intervals may include some short 30 seconds intervals.
4. The psychological boost of strenuous physical exercise does not increase significantly above 2½ hours exercise session.
5. The psychological boost of strenuous exercise includes the following: calm; greater optimism; self-confidence; resilience – feeling more able to cope with inevitable, unexpected setbacks and present known challenges; getting things in perspective – some mistakes, problems, deficiencies, injustices, setbacks seem less catastrophic; greater acceptance of life’s imperfections and misfortunes; joy in simple things – clouds, trees, having hot and cold running water, clean safe accommodation, friends, health.
The psychological boost attained by strenuous physical exercise is qualitatively similar to the uplift given by tranquilisers and anti-depressants (when these are working well, i.e. no flat affect, no disruptions of concentration, unpleasant side effects).
6. The psychological boost given by strenuous exercise lasts the rest of the day but is not significantly felt the next day. In order to maintain psychological boost through strenuous physical exercise 3 workouts per week are necessary. These strenuous workouts should be a minimum of 30 minutes all-out or 1 hour interval sessions.
7. It is difficult to separate the psychological boost given by a particular form of strenuous exercise from other psychological benefits associated with that activity, e.g. certain kinds of cycle interval training and success in cycle road racing.
8. Some fortunate individuals can maintain reasonable psychological well-being without strenuous exercise. For those who are prone to mental health problems a physical exercise program may be necessary, working up to strenuous physical exercise. It may be that strenuous physical exercise is more necessary for males than for females for physiological reasons.
9. Psychological well-being - buoyancy, resilience, feelings of adequacy, competence, joy in life, enjoyment of life – cannot be maintained solely or mainly by strenuous physical exercise. Inner self-satisfaction is probably a more important component of psychological well-being/mental health. You have to regularly engage in, commit yourself to, an activity which on analysis, criticism, and reflection it is reasonable to hold as worthwhile, as being of intrinsic value. Such intrinsically worthwhile activities might include community service, learning another language, scientific investigation, practicing art, writing, learning the piano. To many, some activities, though reasonably pleasant and satisfying (and more worthy than, say, watching tv, playing bingo, or going to shopping malls or garage sales) might not seem ultimately very worthwhile/of intrinsic value, e.g. collecting country and western (or jazz, classical, or rock) records, gardening, fishing, going on a cruise, hiking, mountain climbing, foreign travel, playing soccer or golf, establishing provincial age running records.
In questions of value it is difficult to separate out bias, mere personal taste, and snobbery. For instance, is being an expert ballet dancer of more intrinsic value than being a good model aeroplane builder?
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Mental Health and Critical Thinking
Like many I have had mental health problems throughout much of my life. My mental health challenges or weaknesses include anxiety, depression, low self-esteem (self-berating, self-annoyance, feeling inadequate and incompetent), obsessive-compulsive traits, emotional neediness, and insomnia. Such psychic disturbances are experienced by all at some time or other – they are part of the natural response to inevitable setbacks in life. Whether or not anxiety, depression, etc. constitute mental illness depends on their severity, frequency, and persistence. Although everyone will experience some anxiety, depression, and so on, some will be more predisposed by a combination of genes and childhood training to have psychic problems in an acute or chronic form.
There are a number of aids people employ in order to maintain mental health or alleviate or cope with mental illness, or weakness (flaws, dysfunction). These aids include: physical exercise; creative activity – art, music, writing; meditation, Tai Chi, yoga; attention to diet; medication; religion; talk therapy – which may involve developing emotional awareness of self and others, and exposing oneself to discomfort and response modification. In addition, there are social factors, not so much within the agent’s control, which greatly help mental well-being, self-confidence, resilience, and mood, e.g. money, leisure, security, friends, having a good job, finding a romantic partner, social appreciation and status.
As part of my mental health regimen I have tried all of these aids except religion. (I have studied, explored, and tried to understand religions but never been a believer or practitioner.) Buying into an authority figure (or institution) who purports to have the definite answers – beyond questioning, intersubjective evidence and testing, clarifying terms – brings comfort and meaning to most human beings. Personally, though, I think it healthier individually and socially, and more noble, to learn to accept some uncertainty, not knowing, differences in belief, priorities, preferences, and perspective. Submitting to a religion, authority figure, institution or guru provides a security blanket but why not learn to deal with life without one, without simplistic, dogmatic rules? Instead of giving way to the tribe/herd/guru-follower mentality why not develop careful, open, critical thinking even though this involves work and discomfort?
Letting go of the self, merging oneself with beauty, goodness, kindness, justice, universal love, connexion with all things is a beneficial practice. Such an attitude, however, is different from dogmatically embracing beliefs and rules asserted by some human being as self-proclaimed agent of God or Divine revelation, or as a guru whose alleged insights are beyond logical or conceptual thought, or the need for evidence and questioning.
Even if it were empirically established that those who believed in, say, the Greek Orthodox faith, (or Jungianism, say), were significantly happier than those who did not would this be sufficient for becoming a member of the Greek Orthodox Church (or a Jungian)? If it could be empirically established that you personally would be happier if you became a member of the Greek Orthodox Church (or a Jungian) would this be sufficient ground for learning to suppress open, critical thinking and inculcating wholehearted (unshakeable, unfalsifiable) belief? If you would be happier given a lobotomy would you have one?
There are a number of aids people employ in order to maintain mental health or alleviate or cope with mental illness, or weakness (flaws, dysfunction). These aids include: physical exercise; creative activity – art, music, writing; meditation, Tai Chi, yoga; attention to diet; medication; religion; talk therapy – which may involve developing emotional awareness of self and others, and exposing oneself to discomfort and response modification. In addition, there are social factors, not so much within the agent’s control, which greatly help mental well-being, self-confidence, resilience, and mood, e.g. money, leisure, security, friends, having a good job, finding a romantic partner, social appreciation and status.
As part of my mental health regimen I have tried all of these aids except religion. (I have studied, explored, and tried to understand religions but never been a believer or practitioner.) Buying into an authority figure (or institution) who purports to have the definite answers – beyond questioning, intersubjective evidence and testing, clarifying terms – brings comfort and meaning to most human beings. Personally, though, I think it healthier individually and socially, and more noble, to learn to accept some uncertainty, not knowing, differences in belief, priorities, preferences, and perspective. Submitting to a religion, authority figure, institution or guru provides a security blanket but why not learn to deal with life without one, without simplistic, dogmatic rules? Instead of giving way to the tribe/herd/guru-follower mentality why not develop careful, open, critical thinking even though this involves work and discomfort?
Letting go of the self, merging oneself with beauty, goodness, kindness, justice, universal love, connexion with all things is a beneficial practice. Such an attitude, however, is different from dogmatically embracing beliefs and rules asserted by some human being as self-proclaimed agent of God or Divine revelation, or as a guru whose alleged insights are beyond logical or conceptual thought, or the need for evidence and questioning.
Even if it were empirically established that those who believed in, say, the Greek Orthodox faith, (or Jungianism, say), were significantly happier than those who did not would this be sufficient for becoming a member of the Greek Orthodox Church (or a Jungian)? If it could be empirically established that you personally would be happier if you became a member of the Greek Orthodox Church (or a Jungian) would this be sufficient ground for learning to suppress open, critical thinking and inculcating wholehearted (unshakeable, unfalsifiable) belief? If you would be happier given a lobotomy would you have one?
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