My Feet Are Screaming

My feet are officially protesting! This week was a whirlwind of exercise:

• Biking: Crushed 25 miles commuting to and from work.
• Lifting: Hit the weights twice, feeling the burn!
• Walking: 🇪🇸👣 Explored Madrid and Segovia on foot (over 20 miles!), on my layover to Granada for work.

It’s safe to say my legs are singing the blues, but the good kind! This dedication is all for getting ready for AIDS Lifecycle next year.

Speaking of which, we have liftoff on the fundraising front! 🚀🚀🚀 A HUGE thank you. You’re the fuel propelling me forward!

This coming week will be tough to get a ride in. Yet, I’ve got a secret plan for next weekend, involving sweat and some stunning scenery. In the meantime, the gym and running shoes remain my best friends.

Want to help me reach the finish line (both physically and financially)?

Every dollar counts! Donate here: https://giving.aidslifecycle.org/participant/JanVanBruaene

Let’s make this happen together! 🚴‍♂️💪

October 13, 2024 alc2025

It’s Been Hot in California

Returning home from Belgium was a bit of a shock. From the chiller, straight into the oven and over 95F. Pfft.

First, I headed to Tahoe for a company meeting. I was able to run a bit and golf (not my forte).

I also made it out on the bike several times during the weekend. On Saturday, we did a 25 mile ride with the team. On Sunday along Coyote Creek trail, we ran into quite a few animals: foxes, chickens, wild pigs, turkey, vultures, dogs, and hundreds of cats. Yet, no coyotes.

I am mindful not to ramp up my training too fast, not to get injured, and to let my head cold subside.

Fundraising status: dry and hot, just like the weather. Please add some water. https://giving.aidslifecycle.org/participant/JanVanBruaene

October 9, 2024 alc2025

Back in the Saddle

This past week I was in Belgium, where soccer is king, cycling the prince, and cyclocross the jester.

Coincidently, the UCI world championships were happening in Zurich. That meant there was plenty of cycling on television.

In the end, the women’s elite road race was more exciting than the men’s. The Dutch team and Demi Vollering shot themselves in the foot and allowed Kopecky to get back into the race and win the gold. Yes, Lotte Kopecky was lucky, but only after she showed great grit in tough weather.

Sunday’s men’s elite left me wanting more. Tadej’s attack with 100km was near sure suicide. Yet, there was no teamwork among the chasers, in part due to the tantrums from Remco. When things got going a bit, he wanted more and derailed budding teamwork. Tadej is the deserving world champion.

While in Belgium, I took advantage of buying some bad weather cycling gear: gloves, leggings, and a warm cap. However, a Team Belgium cycling jersey remained elusive. I must have visited over 5 cycling stores with no luck. I’ll order it online.

I finally got back in the saddle with a few slow and easy rides, with the longest being near 20 miles. I am looking forward to my ride with Team South Bay Blaze on Saturday to kick off my ALC training in earnest.

Fundraising status: ready to blast off. Can you add some fuel? https://giving.aidslifecycle.org/participant/JanVanBruaene

I also created an Instagram ALC2025 Highlight group to follow along.

October 1, 2024 alc2025

Warming up

My training has been slow. I am still traveling. I am in Granada, Spain for work.

Granada is a destination for many professional riders during the early spring months to get ready for the season. You will cross paths with Pogacar or the entire Bora team. Victor Campenaerts’ son was born here while he was at a training camp and was joined by his pregnant girlfriend. The Vuelta a Espana has some of the most grueling mountain stages in the Sierra Nevada of Granada. Granada is serious cycling.

It pains me when I see cyclists pass me on my walk to work. I haven’t been on a bike in a month.

My training this week has been slow: two 5K runs, a swim session, and lots of walking.

Next week, I heading to another holy site of cycling: Belgium, where I plan to ride a little.

Fundraising status: to be started. $0.

September 20, 2024 alc2025

Aids / Lifecycle 2025, the Final Ride

We’re vacationing in Europe at the moment on the beautiful island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea. The weather is balmy and there are a lot of cyclists touring the island. The climbs of the Tramuntana mountain range look daunting. And yet, there is no cycling on my calendar. We are here celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and are hopping between towns, calas, and beaches.

I woke up yesterday to a flurry of sad messages from my cycling team. They were devastated by the news from the AIDS Lifecycle town hall meeting the night before:

AIDS/LifeCycle 2025 will be the final Ride We have made the difficult decision that 2025 will be the last year of AIDS/LifeCycle. This decision was not arrived at easily or hastily. It has become clear that it is no longer financially sustainable for us to produce the Ride due to skyrocketing production costs, which have been exacerbated by year-after-year declines in ridership and fundraising. The Ride has been a significant part of so many of our lives, connected to those we’ve lost, those who live, and the incredible, beautiful community that we’ve helped to create.

News outlets quickly picked it up: After a huge drop-off, AIDS/LifeCycle says next year’s ride will be its last

While I’ve been riding with the South Bay Blaze for the past 3 years, and participated in my first ALC in 2023, many in the team have dedicated decades (!) to the cause. Some have ridden over 20 times to Los Angeles. There had been rumors about fundraising issues and perhaps merging with another cause. Yet, there was no bat signal for help or for ideas. Obviously, the news hit them like a nuclear bomb went off. The shock is real. There will be lots to chat about when we return back home.

Like many upon hearing the news, I signed up for AIDS / Lifecycle 2025. The Final Ride! Our team for 2025 counts already 50 riders strong, with more to (re)join. Let’s make this an epic final ride.

September 13, 2024 ALC2025

Ten Names

The Paris Olympic Games came to a close last night. Tom Cruise completed his rappel-motorbike-skydive mission to pass on the flag to Los Angeles 2028. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop and Dr. Dre double-underlined how LA 2028 is swapping out fine European artistry for Hollywood bling. BAM!

Surprisingly, I was quite invested in these games and caught more than a few disciplines. Here’s a list of the folks which defined the Olympics Games of Paris for me:

1. Remco Evenepoel - double gold. Time trial and road cycling.
2. Femke Bol - an unbelievable strong final 100 meter sprint
3. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone - grace and speed beyond belief.
4. Imane Khelif - politics is never far away from the games.
5. Bashir Abdi - marathon silver with a smile.
6. Steph Curry - Chef Curry whipped up an amazing final serving, Warrior style, to bring home yet another Men’s Basketball gold.
7. Kristen Faulkner - grit and stamina on the bike. Riding to win, she did.
8. Snoop - give that man a gold medal. Authentic commentary.
9. Celine - what an aria from the Eiffel Tower to end the opening ceremony
10. Thomas Jolly - artistic director of the Opening Ceremony had me glued to the television. It was surprising, innovative, and it worked.

August 12, 2024

Google Docs Private View - Highlight and Take Notes, Privately

Far too often, Google Docs creates more work for us than needed. I’ve previously written about how we use Google Docs for collaboration is all wrong. By granting editor or commenting rights to others, we opened the door to endless side discussions and wordsmithing.

I’ve adopted the practice to first read the document in its entirety before commenting. It forces me to focus on the most important feedback and fight the urge to add comments as I read the document.

Yet, how do you remember the notes you wanted to add when you reach the end of a document?

Currently, I download the Google Doc as a PDF. I then highlight and add notes to the PDF.

Yet, this practice isn’t the most productive and hardly streamlined. Hence, the request for a new mode: Private View.

Private View is similar to FilterView in Google Sheets, where you can create a filter of the data, just for your eyes. The filtered data view is not visible to others.

Applied to Google Docs, Private View allows you to highlight sections, add private notes, and add private tasks. All these edits are only visible to you. You can later on convert the notes to public or shared comments, and export highlights and notes.

This mode mimics digitally what many of us, editors and reviewers included, do every day when handed a print copy of a paper.

Most importantly, the hope is that Private View will reduce the work for the original author.

July 22, 2024

First Triathlon

July 14th, 2024. The French national holiday. I completed my first triathlon: the Tri for Fun Sprint Triathlon at Rancho Seco in Herald, CA - 750 meters swimming, 16 miles cycling and 5K running.

After completing the AIDS LifeCycle (ALC) ride in 2023, I had been looking for a new goal.

I signed up to be a Training Ride Leader (TRL) for my ALC team. This meant often that I was sweeping the ride and supporting the new, yet slow, riders. I wasn’t pushing myself.

The real workouts were now happening in the gym. I joined a new gym in November. I lifted weights, completed HIT classes, and I started to swim. Nothing gave me as much energy as a 5:30am swim in the outdoor pool. The idea for a triathlon hadn’t hatched yet. As I still was experiencing some plantar fasciitis in my left foot, I wasn’t running.

Fast forward to the spring. The ride around Lake Tahoe in May was my first big goal. So what’s next? I wasn’t riding ALC this year. I started dreaming of doing a triathlon. My swim workouts became more deliberate. I bought new running shoes and started short runs. And in June I bit the bullet and signed up.

The Tri for Fun was indeed a lot of fun. It went by in a heartbeat. I felt great and never like I was suffering. That doesn’t mean it was easy either.

Swimming in open water was harder than I thought. Not that there were waves. I bumped quite a few times into others and often got of course to the buoy. I never felt I was in my regular and steady swim rhythm. I exited the water towards the back of my age bracket.

Perhaps because it was a race and my first tri, my breath and heart rate showed it. Only by cycle 5, did I feel I could relax a little, and only for a short while. Then I got back in overdrive. It is surely something to work on in future races.

Cycling was great. The course had rolling hills. I could catch up to many ahead of me. It is my strongest event.

The run went much better than I expected. It was a dirt road with rolling hills. You had to push yourself a bit. You also had to watch out for rocks and when crossing cattle gates. I had prepared a great motivational Apple Music playlist that got me into the zone. Rocky, Eminem, Darube.

My transitions were smooth. Having a tri suit makes them easy. I didn’t need a wet suite as this lake was warm.

What’s next? I had a 100 mile ride early August. I am toying with the idea of a half marathon in October, as I won’t have too much time cycling and swimming in September and October. If I want to do an Olympic-distance triathlon, I will need to be more deliberate about my training. We’ll figure out the next goals in August.

July 14, 2024 healthyLifestyle

Gravel Stages Are Here to Stay in the Tour De France

Today, the riders in the Tour de France completed the dreaded stage 9, the gravel stage with 14 gravel sections.

The gravel, cobblestone, and cyclocross specialists were ready. The rest were fearful. GC contenders not called Tadej were praying not to lose time.

It turned out to be a wonderful spectacle, an epic battle, and feast for the eyes.

Gravel stages are here to stay. They bring spectacle without the horrendous and tour-ending crashes of the cobblestone stages. Also, Lady Luck plays less of a factor with fewer mechanical problems. So, yeah for gravel and nay for Roubaix.

Image Source: Tour de France website

July 7, 2024 cycling

Non-Alcoholic Beers Are on the Rise

My Belgian family may disown me for writing about and especially drinking non-alcoholic brews.

I started drinking them to get under my ideal fighting (read: cycling) weight. I’ve been quite surprised by the taste and their availability.

It is no surprise that breweries are looking for new growth opportunities. THC is kicking their bud.

Data: Caulkins, 2024, “Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022”

Here’s a ranked list of my favorite brands:

• Go Brewing is an exciting company with many great tasing brews.
• Lagunitas IPNA is well balanced and very close to a regular IPA. It is more and more available in restaurants.
• Sierra Nevada Trailpass
• Heineken Zero is refreshing and widely available in restaurants and bars. It is my safe bet.
• Guinness Zero tastes amazing, and quite similar to the original.
• Best Day Brewing
• Bravus Brewing — Non-Alcoholic Golden Light
• Blue Moon Non Alcoholic is too sweet, yet drinks very easy.
  
• Athletic Brewing is omni-present. You can find it at most supermarkets. Yet, Athletic Brewing tends to be harsh on my stomach.

PS - If any of these breweries need a little marketing help, hit me up. I’ve got a script ready for a funny and catchy commercial, appealing to the athletic demographic and rooted in an experience after our weekly training rides.

June 30, 2024