other sports…

[GovernorSilver]

I was briefly into hiking, because I thought my parents wanted to do the Camino de Santiago in Spain on foot. As it turns out, they’re planning to do it on bikes, and they’ll lend me one. So the distance training I thought I was going to do on foot has become cycling distance training, which is fine by me because despite my lack of experience and occasional terror being on a bike, I enjoy cycling more than walking. By “training” here I just mean working up to being able to bike all day – every day for up to 3 weeks, not race or anything.

Played on a “championship” softball team several years ago. It’s one of those local leagues where the majority play to unwind from work, and the minority actually care about winning; and everybody brings coolers of beers to hide from the Park Police. I was a terrible softball player but I happened to be on a team with a good offense. Passing the trophy full of beer around to drink out of as part of the celebration was probably not hygienic but it was a fun time and didn’t seem like anybody got sick. The bar gave us Jello shots on the house, to show appreciation for us choosing to go there after every game.

I’ve been exercising on gymnastic rings. The hardest skills I can do are Skin The Cats, Dips, and Tuck Roll Chin Ups – so I’m not advanced at all. However I got a bruise on my forearm from hitting the wall, cycling on my way back from MVT towards Rt. 1, so that cuts the exercises I can do on the rings in half (any that require the ring strap to be up against my forearm) so I’m switching to parallette exercise.

Speaking of Comic Con, I attended regularly with a couple of buddies in San Diego. They were more active though than typical geeks – one was into long distance running at the time and the other was into cycling and Brazilian Jujutsu. They were the serious comic collectors – I just tagged along and bought only a few things here and there. Around Comic Con time we indulged in the annual heart-attack-on-a-plate of choice: the almighty Carne Asada Fries – french fries w/ carne asada, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, etc. BTW, my avatar is from an anime about a nerd who gradually gets recruited into the high school cycling club.

[vvill]

I think my favourites were soccer, basketball and cricket – wasn’t terribly good at any of those, but just enjoyed playing them informally with friends. I also played a bit of squash, tennis, the rugby equivalent of flag football, and did a few seasons of cross country running, and I grew up with a backyard pool so I’m a decent swimmer. I enjoy ping pong and pool/snooker too. I also did aikido for about 5 years.

RE: Speed/equipment/etc, I rode/commuted for many years on a MTB and never thought there was really a point to getting what I perceived to be a “fancy” contraption (a road bike).

The best thing about cycling is that it’s also transportation. You see a lot more on your bike than in a car, and you tend to ride to places you wouldn’t travel to as easily/often otherwise. Culture-wise, I don’t quite identify with the full on roadie types but overall I like the culture of cycling a lot, and the genius/fluidity of the bicycle as a machine. It’s also easier to participate with people on different fitness levels (whereas in basketball/etc it won’t be fun unless you play with those around your skill level). I do hate how commuters/cyclists are treated/regarded in general though, especially by the law. For fitness: despite putting in decent miles every year I know I’m not as fit as I was when I did other sports regularly (especially since most of those involve running). But it’s less impact which works for my shoddy joints. I’m always trying to mix in more running and other stuff to keep myself healthier overall, to varying levels of success.

[Terpfan]

I’ll be doing bocce this summer. I did softball for two years. Otherwise, no real sports for me. I don’t even really count my cycling as a sport since it’s more a means of transportation with the added benefit of an intense workout if I attack the hills on it .

[GovernorSilver]

@vvill 116876 wrote:

The best thing about cycling is that it’s also transportation. You see a lot more on your bike than in a car, and you tend to ride to places you wouldn’t travel to as easily/often otherwise.

That’s what I like about cycling too, even though I’m a beginning rider and not very good at it. I live in a hilly neighborhood, so i always get a workout of some sort cycling home but I, too, do not treat it as a sport. I’m not a racer – I ride just for the pure fun of it, primarily, with the eventual idea of using the bike for grocery shopping and commuting to work maybe a couple of times a year.

[PotomacCyclist]

Sometimes I commute by bike. Usually just one-way, on Capital Bikeshare, but occasionally two ways. But sometimes I commute by running. I do a run workout starting from work and head home. (On some days, I run to the National Mall or Georgetown and run there, then bike back the rest of the way on bikeshare, or I take Metro after the workout.) I never run commute TO work, because of the sweating.

While it is more challenging to run a set distance than to bike, a run commute is a practical option for intermediate-level runners who don’t live too far away from work. I’d say that for a beginner, the limit might be just a few miles. There are a lot of people in DC and Arlington who live that close to office centers. For those who have been running for at least a year or two, they could be comfortable with (occasional) run commutes up to the 5-8 mile range. (Experienced marathoners would be comfortable with even longer and more frequent run commutes.)

It’s a good way to get in workouts without requiring that much additional time. That time is going to be taken up by the commute no matter what (unless you work from home). Running does take a little longer than biking or Metro, but not that much longer, at least compared with CaBi. Road bikes would go much faster. But I enjoy biking and running, so I don’t mind if I spend a little more time on the “commute.”

Note: I didn’t always like running. When I first started running as an adult, back in 2008-2009, I experienced quite a few injuries. Almost non-stop injuries for the first 12-18 months. Partly because I already had good aerobic endurance from swimming, but insufficient core stability, leg muscle balance, leg strength and durability for the impact of running. Thus, I kept running too much too soon, much more than my legs could withstand at that time. I got smarter about training. I added core-focused total-body strength workouts (not bodybuilding). I also transitioned to lighter, less structured running shoes. I think all of that helped to get me past the injuries. After the injury problems, I went about 4 years without any overuse injuries, until last year. I think that had more to do with not taking enough of a break after the Challenge Ride, which was 3 hours of moderately-hard effort. I did a run hill workout just a couple days later, which was a really bad plan. I irritated both quads and never really recovered for the rest of the year. I’m fine now, but the last half of 2014 was very frustrating. I appreciate the freedom of being able to hop on a bike or run and do an easy session at any time. I couldn’t do that last summer and fall because of the injury.

[dplasters]

I played lacrosse from grade school through into college but stopped after some knee problems. Worked hard to get back to where I was physically before the knee pain and decided that I’d very much like to lower the damage I’m doing to them and walk properly in my old age. Started playing more golf then. I run 2-3 times a week to make sure I’m still able to move at a good pace and get some impact work in.

I do miss lacrosse though…

[Phatboing]

…. Sports?

[creadinger]

I played soccer as a kid, but then when I got to high school I finally realized I sucked. I switched to volleyball, which was a much more natural fit. I played through college on a club team, and we lost in the national semi-finals 2 years in a row, which is my high water mark for sports. At tournaments it was cool beating big D-1 teams and they’d always ask us where the hell Millersville U. was. Unfortunately, because of knee issues like tendonitis and bursitis I took a lot of ibuprofen in high school and college.

In grad school I hardly did anything then when I moved to this area I played a little volleyball again but got frustrated at not being able to play at a high level, and the knee issues came back with a vengeance. In 2004, I got myself a mountain bike, and have ridden at least a couple thousand miles every year ever since. As a supplement to riding I also do yoga, which keeps me from being stiffer than re-bar. I try to go 1-2x/week, but sometimes it’s tough to get out of bed at 430 in the morning to go workout.

[PotomacCyclist]

Ralph Macchio (“The Karate Kid”) at Awesome Con this weekend. He said that he didn’t learn that many martial arts moves for the movie, only enough to make it look good.

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Just to add a little bike content here: the hanging bike art piece in the convention center, plus guitar art, kayak art and bar stool art.

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[wheelswings]

This is a delayed response (these past couple weeks have been chaos), but I wanted to say thx for the really interesting and funny replies on the “other sports” thread. You all deserve Elite from me!

I loved reading the comparisons with skateboarding, ice hockey and other sports. I promise I won’t be pulling any cycling jerseys over Dickie’s head. The ultimate Frisbee sounds incredibly fun… we tossed Frisbees at my work retreat last fall and it was a blast even tho my Frisbee often went in the opposite direction from where I intended. Awesome to travel with your own couch, rcannon100… The skiing and horseback riding sound fun, too, though as noted, it’s easier to just get on your bike and ride. I love lordofthemark’s description of his athletic career and his biking obsession – bravo. And I hope that Rod’s yo-yo expertise will become a non-solitary endeavor for at least a day so we can all see his tricks. I also want to hear more about vicegrip’s wreck diving. I will not be taking up Tim Kelley’s offer for pickup basketball. Speak of uneven playing fields…. :+)

As vvill and others noted, the amazing thing about riding is it gets you where you need to go. So it may be a sport but it’s also reliable transportation that’s ready and waiting when you are. And it turns the commute into a deliciously fun and hedonistic escape amidst the overlapping obligations of boss-care, childcare, and eldercare. I think some of us would have been institutionalized long ago were it not for sports, and the bike builds that into the day, everyday… got to get to work, after all.

Thanks again,
w&w

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