Sit Down. Sit Up.
SIT DOWN. SIT UP.
UP FRONT
EDITOR'S LETTER
MOVE MORE: SAVE MONEY, GO FASTER
Generally I have found that if you stay out of shape, you get a much better workout. Push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, running—everything is more difficult and more intense, and you're worn out in way less time. Right?
Sometimes lately I have wished this broken logic were true. But, alas, after a lifetime of a reasonably consistent level of good fitness and weight management, I’m as heavy and out of shape as I’ve ever been. New baby, longer hours, more stress, less time. Life, in other words.
I can’t help but feel surprised though. I’ll be 44 for this year, and my knees act like they are 65. You never think you’ll feel the effects of aging when you’re younger and hear those “old” people complain about their aches and pains.
So I was a bit shocked in my thirties to discover how long it was taking to bounce back from certain activities.
Like that time a bit more than 10 years ago when I was aching after a long day working on my 1958 English Ford Thames 40 oE van in the shop of my friend Ray Nierlich. I hobbled my 34-year-old body into his front office and complained about my back, knees, feet, etc.
“How old are you?” he asked.
I replied.
“Shut the [hell] up and enjoy it.”
Ten years later, I understand: These are the days.
You’ve just got to work through whatever you think is holding you back because the benefits of being in shape and dropping excess weight can have a big effect on your enjoyment of our sport and in any part of an active life.
I could stand to lose about 10 percent of my 220 pounds. I’d considered other ways to forge an advantage on two wheels that didn’t include skipping dessert. Many of us do.
In my (former?) mountain-biking circles, it’s not atypical to find somebody—who’s stretching their Lycra more than intended—show up with a wickedly expensive new bike or new components that shave a few grams of weight. Same with trackdays. Stretchedout leathers and carbon-fiber or titanium parts on the motorcycle do draw a chuckle. Start at home, as they say.
I wondered how much horsepower I would “gain” by losing weight and posed the question to Kevin Cameron regarding the net effect of dropping 20 pounds from a sportbike. “Maybe a bit over 5 horsepower,” he said.
“I’m figuring a 400-pound bike, 30 pounds of fuel, 220-pound rider, and 180-horsepower engine, which comes to 3.6 pounds per horsepower. Then I divide the 20 pounds notionally lost by that 3.6 and get 5.5 horsepower. And proportionally less if the engine power is less—at 120 horsepower the ‘gain’ would be 3.7 horsepower.”
I like how he said “notionally.”
And that’s just “free” power gained by spending less on food, ignoring the rest of the benefits of losing weight.
How much would you have to spend to drop 20 pounds from your motorcycle in the aftermarket? Are you kidding?
On one hand, shedding a few pounds is simple math. Burn more than you put in the furnace. On the other hand, it’s tough to see friends who ride or run four days a week order some fantastically awesome cheeseburger and icy cold, frothy, delicious IPA with the perfect balance of bitterness and piney undertones... Where was I? Oh, yeah, eating less and exercising more.
I looked up Dani Pedrosa on motogp. com, and it says he weighs 51 kilograms, or 112 pounds, making me about a taco short of two Pedrosas. I’ll never be a jockey like your average MotoGP racer, but after all this sitting down it’s time to do some sitting up. Surely these guys have a cheeseburger once in while.
MARK HOYER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THIS MONTH'S STATS
9
NUMBER OF 2015 BIKES IN THIS ISSUE
one
NUMBER OF MAGAZINE EDITORS ON THE PODIUM AT PIKES PEAK THIS YEAR
108
NUMBER OF POUNDS DANI PEDROSA WEIGHS LESS THAN ME
