Why Mavic Bike Computers Suck

Short answer:  There is no documention online about how to reset their bike computer.  And, boy oh boy, does that piss me off.  

I spent about an hour and a half of my life searching in vain this evening.  Apparently Mavic puts its tech stuff behind some user name password thing.  Someone else (on some page I'm not going to look-up again) said it was similar to the avocet 15 or 20 or 25.  None of those did the trick.  

the stupid thing seems to reset just fine.  But, the moment, I spin the wheel or get on the trainer, it goes back to "SEl."  

Bullshit.  Nonsense.  Utter nonsense.  

I'll never buy another cheap Mavic crappy bike computer again.  Instead, I'll buy a avocet (like I had before), so i can reset it when I need to.  Now, I just have a useless lug on top of my stem. . . while I can just pay to have teh bikeshop redo it for me, when it next trips up. . . well, then, I'll need to pay them another $10 or $15 to redo it. . . in which case, I could have just bought a new one, and then reprogrammed it myself.  

Incidentally, I'm sure I threw away the manual because I was self-assured that no worldwide company would fail to have their manuals online in 2008.  Ahhh, actually, Mavic has those kinds of balls.  

Well, I have to go pick-up my mountain bike on wednesday anyway. . . I might as well bring my other bike in. . . 

kc

getting more resolute

I feel more resolute about committing to training now.  

I thought tonight that I'd like to commit to doing the Strawberry Fields Triathlon up in Ventura.  I need to put together my own plan and get some intensity going.  

K

Laughable - how little I post

it's laughable at how little I post these days.  

Life is hectic.  I have nearly two dozen jury trial stats.  But with every 'yin' comes a 'yang.'  In this case, I have more professional experience and satisfaction in my job than I have ever thought I would have.  Nonetheless, the job satisfaction has occurred at the expense of not only weight, but to a large degree also fitness.  

that said, I would say I regularly row 3-4 times per week, with rowing between 5,000 and 15,000 meters per session (a 15k row, for my money, is worth about a 10k run (6.2 miles)).  I also go to the gym a few times a month and grab a swim.  I've been lackadaisacal about doing mountain or road cycling, since it takes up the most time.  I did more of it in the summer, but less this fall.  

I still consider the idea of commuting by bike to work, but its awfully far (>20 miles one way).   

I thought I would be able to transition to a different county as a prosecutor this fall, but unfortunately they didn't pick me for second round interviews (boo hoo!).  Of course, I wondered whether my husky appearance effected the ultimate results (I suspect it didn't effect my results in hindsight, but initially I thought they have downgraded me because I was more husky than the others).  

I still dream of having 20 hours per week to train -- but one of the benefits of being older and wiser is knowing one's time limits and setting limits.  there's a trade-off between triathlon training and job satisfaction.  I don't think I'm rationalizing, but I simply can't (and won't try) to do everything.  I continue to have regular workouts.  My eating habits could be more healthy, although, in fairness, I eat a 10 pound bag of apples every week (it's eaten on teh morning ride into work, usually two of them) and I eat relatively healthy healthy choice meals during the evenings, or burritos from costco, lots of yogurt, the multi-fruit-veggie drink from costo and a healthy dose of bananas.  

I do have some frozen yogurt (those skinny cow ones are pretty good) with some regularity and hummus and bread, along with regular turkey sandwiches.  It's not that I'm the most unhealthy eater of all time, but, self-admittedly, I could improve my diet and, as importantly my caloric intake should be lower.  

I hope to do a few triathlons next year.  I'm going to have to get real with the schedule and try to set real limits and boundaries upon my demanding girlfriend too.  . . 

k

Scheduling challenge

In fact, the new challenge? to create a workable schedule that contains less rather than more miles and workouts. A functional schedule that truly accounts for my crazy work schedule. . . .

k

20 miles - cycling

I got a 20 mile ride in today which felt pretty good.

I began to think about trying for a triathlon in september -- perhaps one or two. That would give me about 60 days to train, +/- 15 days.

Indeed, I likened this to my first year of law school. That year I did no triathlons, because my newfound education required my focus. Similarly, my new career as a prosecutor, has requred my focus to the degree that I haven't had the focus, time, attention, or energy necessary to be an effective triathlete. Nor even a functional triathlete.

I still have a decent base of fitness -- as shown by today's ride -- at about 14.7 mph. Usually it's more like 12-13 mph -- but I attribute the bump up because not only did I have a flat ride, but also because I have done more rowing and, in particular, more MTB riding. That climbing develops power -- and I could feel the power today. That's good.

However, my lack of running and swimming presents problems.

My thought was to run morning workouts and evening workouts -- except when I'm in a trial.

Lack of Tracking - Profession v. Exercise

I continue to flounder. Sort of.

This week I had a particularly poor exercise regimen. I just wasn't quite up to it. I worked out, something like, Tuesday and Friday. I also played tennis on Saturday, but, as always, I'd hope of more. Hell, I'd _dreamed_ of more. But I just didn't have it.

I finished a jury trial on Tuesday -- Wednesday the jury returned (guilty, which is what I wanted :-)). However, in doing that trial, I had to sacrifice other things. Namely, lesser exercise. Trials just take a bunch out of me, and leave me exhausted at the end of the day (although, invigorated through the day).

Nonetheless, it could well be that I use work as an excuse for not doing what I want to do (and not being responsible to myself). My girlfriend tells me to be easy on myself -- easier said than done.
I consistently explain to her that the reason I have climbed this far up the mountain is _because_ I'm an over-achiever, not despite it :-).

I think I'm ready to get into a nutrition software site and start trackin some things that way. That could be quasi interesting. I'll go all out on that for a while and see where it goes.

Incidentally, my nutrition hasn't been great, but it hasn't been abysman either. Just thinking off the top of my head: I had a cobb salad friday evening for dinner, I had a club sandwich (with fries) for lunch that day. I had oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast and an apple. And I had some natural smoothie earlier today. So, the broad pieces seem to be there. . . but less than stellar exercise habits coupled with below average nutrition can make a mess over a 20 year period of sloth. . .

hmmm. . .

kc

More measurements

Though I'm sure self-retrospective thought is more appealing to an audience, rather than pure data, some of the blog's purpose is to record my own history. And, without data, self-reflection is difficult. Thus. . .

N: 17.25
B: 16.00
C: 48.00
US: 48.75
LS: 44.50
T: 24.50
H: 46.00
Wrist: 7.50
forearm: 12.75

body fat caliper data:

P: 25, 25, 21, 30, 20; kept: 25, 25, and 21
S: 63, 56, 54, 59, 62; kept: 56, 59, and 62
T: 16, 15, 12, 12, 12; kept: 15, 12, and 12.

Result: 28.31%

Incidentally, the test which measures using weight, waist size, forearm and wrist calculations came up with 38% (105 ponds of fat available for loss). Huh. I'm still in a better spirit than I thought I'd be. I **do** know my eating habits over the past few weeks (particularly last week) have been less than ideal. I need to work on that. I think I'd like to repurchase and reuse the fitday software. See, http://www.fitday.com/ (somehow I think it may have been nutrifit before. . . but. . . not sure).

time to go ride 15 miles and go do girlfriend duty.

kc

DATA: Measurements

Here are the measurements for the week:

P: 26, 19, 23, 26, and 25; remaining: 23, 26, and 25.
S: 61, 61, 60, 59, and 60; remaining: 61, 60, and 60.
T: 17, 20, 17, 17, and 18: remaining: 17, 17, and 18.

body measurements:

N: 17.00
B: 16.00
C: 48.00
US: 47.50
LS: 44.25
T: 25.25
H: 45.50
Wrist: 7.25
Forearm: 12.75

According to the caliper measurements, I have 29.89% body fat; according to dr. hamilton, i have a 29.13% body fat. either way, I need to lose about 60-100 pounds.

ROWING

On a brighter note, I had a really strong 6000 meter row last night. It turns out it was NOT a personal best, just a second personal best. My best time for a 6k was on 06.06.05 at 24:09.9; last night it was 25:30.3 -- the two times are a world apart.

Second -- I also learned that my rowin machine has 3104 kilometers on it (i bought it used with 199 kilometers on it). Therefore, I've rowed 2950 kilometers or 2.95 million meters. I purchased the rowing machine in march 2005. 38 months later I have 2.95 million meters, which is an average of ~18,000 meters per week rowed. (roughly 90 minutes of rowing exercise per week on average). Importantly, it's an all weather tool -- no matter whether it is hot, cold, or raining outside, i can always row. I spent $600 bucks on it (roughly) 3 years ago and I've consistently used it. I would highly recommend it.

Moreover, the concept2.com website is really excellent. It lets you look at other rowers' times and see where you measure up challenge wise.

Finally -- I did finally clean up the blog as best I could. I removed the dead links. I do hope to add more links. I suppose I'll need to look through the links I have and then go back and do some searches for some other cool stuff I find.