Part 1: Smart Trainers Turn Your Road Bike into a Versatile Home Exercise Bike

Cycling has been my primary form of cardio for 30 years. I started riding the exercise bike in a health club in my early 20s, and continued through many moves and many different clubs. About 15 years ago, I became a committed road cyclist, but in the 4-5 cold months, I continued with the ex bike at the gym. Fellow cyclists would sometimes ask me if I used a trainer indoors, but I wasn't interested, I liked the electronic exercise bikes.

Although a dedicated ex bike user, I was never fully satisfied. I liked variation, and the offerings were not great. The original Lifecycle had a "random" mode, which I don't think wasn't really random, but offered more variety than almost anything else I have encountered since.

Well, fast-forward to Covid times, and I have become a trainer convert! Some weeks ago, I ordered a Saris M2 smart trainer. A smart trainer is controlled by a device (app on your phone). When riding in ERG mode, it makes you ride at the effort you signed up for. Start pedaling slower, and it increases the resistance. And you can create any profile you want.

There are three somewhat distinct types of app-driven stationary cycling. One is the augmented reality approach, where you cycle through an imaginary route, and the resistance matches the topography. Another is competition, where you ride a virtual road race. The third, the one I personally use, is more mundane; you simply pick a program, and the resistance shifts accordingly over the course of the ride. Just like my Lifecycle from 30 years ago--except I get to create the program.

Like so many things cycling, the apps are pitched toward the super-serious cyclist. The claim to analyze your performance and present optimized training plans. I suspect there is a lot of hype in there, but it is easy to ignore. I just created a bunch of different programs I like, and I have plenty of variety.

(see Part 2 for my tips on getting started, including some important accessories.)

Building distributed tech hubs to drive economic prosperity

Devolution of infotech in the US away from Silicon Valley/San Francisco is a topic I've been sporadically obsessed with for a while. So absurdly ironic that the industry which makes things virtual has such a strong value on physical centralization. This article covers the issue, hoping that Covid-driven remote work arrangements break the cycle. I sure hope so...though I do remember a similar sentiment at the dawn of the internet, but perhaps we weren't ready then. 

So many benefits to geographical diversification:

• Ability of employees to live where they want--both in a different part of the metro from the office, and different metro entirely (or not in a metro per se).
• Diffusion of entrepreneurship, wealth and concommitant benefits to other parts of the country--some of which really could use it.
• Optimization of the labor market, both for employees and employers
• Savings to employers on the high cost of office space. Savings to employees on 
• Savings of time can benefit employees and employers. As a 10+ year full-time-telecommuter, that was my rough philosophy--I get half the time saved, employer gets half the time saved. 
• Nuances, such as the fact that (salaried, mostly) employees can adjust working hours to match their personal productiivty. Even for jobs that have core hours, you can decide whether to "stay late" to finish a backlog, or come back to it when you get a second wind at 10:00pm.

Before It Became a Hell-Hole, Bosnia Was a Peacful, Multi-Ethnic Place

The Equilibrium Principle

Covid stats are through the roof. Sad, but predictable, if one understands equilibrium states. The average person, I think, isn't equipped to have a mental model of how a highly contagious disease works. The USA went into "lockdown" in March and April, just in time to prevent exponential spread from getting out of control. It worked. The curve was flattened.

Then we came out of lockdown, with mixed results. Overall though, while Covid numbers were bad enough, they remained well short of exponential. Mask usage--which has vastly out-performed expectations--very likely helped, as did good weather.

As the months wore on, a combination of complacency and fatigue set in. Complacency, that Covid, while still a problem, seemed to be bubbling along at a bad but tolerable level. Fatigue, for all forms of social isolation, including mask-wearing.

And then in the blink of an eye, the combination of change in weather, resumption of college, and the fatigue has got us in the worst state yet. 2 months ago, my pessimistic scenario was that we might be in 70% as bad a situation 2 months from now, in the depths of winter. Given that in many places we are close to maxing out ICU capacity, I can hardly bear to think of how bad it could be come January.

Covid Questions I Would Like to See Answered

Why Haven't There Been More Outbreaks at Health Clubs?

How Likely Is It That a Sleeping Partner Will Catch Covid?

Does CPAP Help Prevent Getting Covid?

What Is the Equation for Viral Load Over Time?