"Snow Day!!!!!!"

No freakin way!!

Well actually this time it was "ice day", but the result was the same.  One more day where my grandchildren didn't learn anything!  Unless figuring out how to build an androgynous snowman counts?  At various points there was consideration given to boobs, and/or pants, but in the end it was decided to go without both.  They also came up with the decidedly neutral name of Lou!

If he/she looks a bit dirty, it's only cause we built him out by the road while we were waiting for Roo to get back from her run.

But I at least learned something today.  I continue to gain insight into my cycling weaknesses as I take advantage of my pedals.  Because they use 2 independent strain gauges, they give very specific information about right/left power.  The computrainer claims to be able to do this as well, but there is no way it can achieve the same accuracy, simply because it gets all its feedback in one spot, the rear wheel.  And so it was with some chagrin that I realized that my right leg appears to consistently be doing 55% of the work.  Not that it really matters because it is what it is, and although it may seem logical to try to make my left leg stronger, that isn't just so easy to do.  If it was, then why not make them both stronger?  

I learned something else as well when I set out to test the the pedals ability to differentiate left from right.  I did this by completely removing one leg at a time from the pedal, and using only the other leg.  Sure enough, it immediately showed 100% for the functioning leg.   So while that was a good thing, I also noticed a significant difference in my left/right ability to actually pedal with one leg.  Since I've never been very good at this, the big surprise was that with my right leg I could do it fairly well.  I was actually happy with this, and immediately gave the credit to my improved cadence I've gained with my workout strategy.  The left leg however still had an awful dead spot at the top of the stroke, and so this at least I seen as a definite opportunity.

And while you smart guys out there probably figured it out right away, it took at least 5 minutes to hit me like a ton of bricks!!

There can be two reasons why you are producing more overall power with one leg than the other.  The first of course is simply that you're stronger on that side, and as a result applying more force.  

And the second is???  Yup!  Pedalling efficiency!!  Which in very simple terms means, pedalling in circles!!

I'm pretty confident that the two problems are one and the same, and suddenly I smell a serious opportunity at improvement.  I will make it a focus to do the single leg drills required, and it will be interesting to see going forward if my left/right balance improves accordingly.  I'm excited!  

I'll keep you posted.

And back once more to my grandchildren and learning.  I have long believed that our education system would be vastly improved if we took half of the teachers and asked them to find other jobs, while at the same time we pay the other half twice as much.  That's cause only half of them actually have the aptitude for the job, and if we want  to have very high standards, we also need to pay very well.   But with my grandchildren regularly missing days, it reinforced another long held opinion, that they aren't really learning much that needs learned.  Or at the very least, they could learn what they need to learn, in half the time.  

So that's it!  Cut the class size in half, and send the kids only half the time.  I am firmly convinced that for the vast majority of kids this would be far more effective.  They could actually get the teachers attention if they needed it, and the teacher would in turn be able to focus on the right kid, at the right time, on the right topic!

Of course, this will never work, because as we all know, our elementary schools are as much day care, as they are education centres!!

But then again,  we could simply have half day recess eh?  And I ain't kidding!  That would work better than what we do now!  It's something about left/right balance….of the brain in this case...

Tomorrow is bike test day.  I'm scared already!

easy bike ride

"Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward."---Maxwell Maltz

Love

Peter