So the bike is at the shop.
And I want to ride. NOW!
On further reflection I should have taken the bikes to the shop one at a time. I could be riding mine or my nephew's bike right now, but instead I'm sitting at the computer typing this up. I did do something exercise related earlier though. I did 20 sit ups and 40 push ups while listening to the metal/rock related music choice channels. I did them in sets. 10 sit ups at a whack and 20 push ups at a whack. Being a fat guy with relatively strong arms I can do a decent amount of push ups, but just plain suck at sit ups. I don't like them either. I do this thing I accidentally discovered as well. I lay flat on my back and raise my upper body a little bit with my abs then try to hold myself there. If I do it just right my abs begin to twitch. I remember doing it at work last year when waiting for the press to wash up before taking the plates off. There I can lay down on the platforms in such a way as to stretch my back out. I do that occasionally when my back is bothering me. While doing that I think "hey, may as well do that weird plyometric thing with my abs" I remember that after a week or two of doing it at work my abs were noticeably more firm. I'm pretty sure I was skinnier back then though. And now we do other stuff while the machine is washing up, so I don't have as much chance to get it in while waiting for the press to wash up like I used to.
Aside: For a fat guy I sure do make a lot of posts about exercise. Maybe next time I'll make one about Everybody Edits or some other game I play.
Later, blogland.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Keeping it going
I took another ride today. It was actually the same ride as yesterday, but in reverse. I think the route is better this way. Yesterday I only rode the flats for a little bit before it started going all up and down. Today the first half of the ride was by and large very flat and the ups and downs got thrown in towards the end when I was already warmed up with the final mile and a half being nice and flat for a good cool down. I actually ended up going about half a mile farther today because there was traffic in the way making me miss my road. I just hooked the next left and went around the block and home.
In a little bit I'm going to be taking off, in the car this time, to steal my nephew's bike. Then I'll be taking his and mine to the bike shop to get them tuned up. He won't be using his for a bit due to his broken collar bone, so it's really the best time to do it.
Well, time to bolt once again. The shower awaits.
In a little bit I'm going to be taking off, in the car this time, to steal my nephew's bike. Then I'll be taking his and mine to the bike shop to get them tuned up. He won't be using his for a bit due to his broken collar bone, so it's really the best time to do it.
Well, time to bolt once again. The shower awaits.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Exercise is good
I've been attempting to lose the extra weight I gathered over the winter, mostly by biking. I'll be taking off on a nine mile ride of mostly flat roads as soon as I'm done posting this. Yesterday I took a shorter ride, but a decent portion of that was on a dirt road traveling up the easier side of the mountain. I think I may enjoy today's ride better though because I always like taking the bike paths and have planned a portion of the ride to go over a bit of the bike path I'm 99.99% sure is all finished and opened, but the gmap-pedometer is still convinced isn't passable. Then again, it still thinks that the new bridge that was finished last year isn't a bike/running route either. So I guess I should bump my assumption up to 100%, but hey, I haven't been there yet this year. For all I know a crater could have formed like it did on that other chunk of bike path a year or two ago.
So that's the plan, and I'm going to bring this here blog entry to a close so I can go through with it. I also want to make sure I leave early enough that I get home in time for that pony show because Suited for Success is on at 8 this morning and Art of the Dress is the best damned song that FiM has put out yet.
Later, blog world.
Edit: Yup, the path goes that far. It's where the path begins/ends.
So that's the plan, and I'm going to bring this here blog entry to a close so I can go through with it. I also want to make sure I leave early enough that I get home in time for that pony show because Suited for Success is on at 8 this morning and Art of the Dress is the best damned song that FiM has put out yet.
Later, blog world.
Edit: Yup, the path goes that far. It's where the path begins/ends.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Quick update
Despite my efforts to educate the masses on moshing I've failed in a way. I went and accidentally broke my nephew while we were in the pit. We used to weigh about the same as few as 6-9 months ago with both of us hovering around 250. I was always a little more, maybe 5-10 pounds. The winter was not kind to me and I rocketed up to 285ish due to poor diet and depression. Meanwhile he dropped a bunch of weight and is about 190. So when we lined up and charged at each other as we usually do at least once a show, instead of us just bouncing off of each other and having a laugh about it I kinda sorta broke his collar bone. It must've just been the perfect hit because he never even fell down or anything, but the bone snapped in half. Nevertheless if he hadn't lost so much weight I'm sure he would have still had enough muscle and fat in the shoulder region to deflect the force of the blow and we never would have had to leave the show.
This incident, coupled with one from last summer has convinced me that I should no longer do this sort of thing. At least not to people I know personally. Unless of course we're both of about the same build.
There have been other developments, but I'm going to leave them for another time.
This incident, coupled with one from last summer has convinced me that I should no longer do this sort of thing. At least not to people I know personally. Unless of course we're both of about the same build.
There have been other developments, but I'm going to leave them for another time.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Moshing 101
I'm going to be seeing American Head Charge this weekend so I thought I'd revive my blog by making a post about it. I haven't seen AHC live since Ozzfest 2001 so I'm rather stoked about it. I though I'd have a little fun here by making a post about the methods of moshing. I'm going to break it down into two parts because I feel it works best this way. Those parts are, for lack of better terms, offense and defense. I'll start with offense because it's the most fun.
The basics of offensive moshing are that you want to be as effective as possible while lowering your own likelihood of injury. So I guess the first rule is don't be stupid. If you see a hardcore dancer being lame and fighting invisible ninjas don't get in the way of the spikey bracelets he's wearing on his wrists and try not to get kicked in the junk. Instead try either throwing yourself at him from a different angle or throw someone else at him because he's a hardcore dancer so he needs to be taken out.
As for basic styles of moshing, it's best to use a visual aid, so here's Sick of it all's music video for Step Down.
That's not everything, but of all of those my favorites are the windmill and the pickin' up change.
Sometimes you're at a show with friends so while on offense it's fun to team up. The most basic of these it to whip your friend out into the pit by hand. Stand at the edge of the pit with you in back and your friend directly in front of you with a few inches between the two of you. hold one hand to the center of his back at slightly below shoulder height and put your other hand on the back of that hand. Then just launch him forward by straightening out your arms. If you put your legs and back into it it's a lot more effective.
Another fun one to do with a friend is the spin up. You should each face each other then hold arms by clasping your hands around his wrists and he does the same to you. You should be holding his left wrist with your left hand and ditto for right to right. If done properly your arms should cross in the middle. Now spin yourselves trying to orbit around a point between the two of you. If you're both of similar weight this should be easy. The fun really starts if you're not of equal weight. If there is a small difference in weights the lighter person will orbit farther from the center than the heavy person giving the heavier person an object (the lighter person) to aim at people as you two move about the pit. If there is a significant difference in weight there's a chance that the heavier person will be able to use the centrifugal force to lift the lighter person right off of the ground. Once this happens the heavier person has the opportunity to use the lighter person as a sort of buzz saw and cut through other moshers as well as the crowd around the pit. This one is a blast and one of my favorite things to do at a show.
Ok, enough about offense, let's talk defense. The most important thing to remember here is to be aware of your surroundings. If you're at bigger shows and festivals you might be at the edge of the pit facing in and be completely oblivious to another mosh pit directly behind you. I can't tell you how many times I've been nailed in the back by someone coming from another pit, but it's enough to remember it and pass along that info. When you're at the edge of a pit you may want to put both arms out with fists forward to protect yourself, but this is actually a bad way to do it. What you should do is similar to what you would do to launch a friend onto the pit. Make a fist. I'm right handed so I make that fist with my left hand. Then put your other hand on the back of that fist. your thumb and forefinger should be at your other wrist. Then put your arms out to an almost straight position. This is important. If someone runs into your arms while they're fully straight out there's a chance your elbow will bend backwards instead of the way it's supposed to bend. Keeping your elbows bent will prevent this. If a person comes towards you at speed use your legs and back to cushion his landing on your outstretched fist. Then if you feel like it, after leaning back a bit go ahead and launch him just the way you would launch a friend. Try to aim for some hardcore dancers or emofags.
I'm going to share a secret with you here. The best method for breaking up a spin up. Some people when they spin up will just stay in the same place and spin for a good while. This makes them an easy target. Stand facing them, but slightly off center to them in such a way that the people spinning spin towards you instead of away. That is, stand to the right if they're spinning clockwise and to the left if they're spinning counterclockwise. If you get the timing just right you can launch yourself at a tangent to their circle and strike one of them directly. If you do this correctly they'll just sort of explode and go flying. It's great fun.
Well, alrighty. I've had fun writing this, but it's gone on for a long while so I'm going to wrap it up. Happy moshing.
The basics of offensive moshing are that you want to be as effective as possible while lowering your own likelihood of injury. So I guess the first rule is don't be stupid. If you see a hardcore dancer being lame and fighting invisible ninjas don't get in the way of the spikey bracelets he's wearing on his wrists and try not to get kicked in the junk. Instead try either throwing yourself at him from a different angle or throw someone else at him because he's a hardcore dancer so he needs to be taken out.
As for basic styles of moshing, it's best to use a visual aid, so here's Sick of it all's music video for Step Down.
That's not everything, but of all of those my favorites are the windmill and the pickin' up change.
Sometimes you're at a show with friends so while on offense it's fun to team up. The most basic of these it to whip your friend out into the pit by hand. Stand at the edge of the pit with you in back and your friend directly in front of you with a few inches between the two of you. hold one hand to the center of his back at slightly below shoulder height and put your other hand on the back of that hand. Then just launch him forward by straightening out your arms. If you put your legs and back into it it's a lot more effective.
Another fun one to do with a friend is the spin up. You should each face each other then hold arms by clasping your hands around his wrists and he does the same to you. You should be holding his left wrist with your left hand and ditto for right to right. If done properly your arms should cross in the middle. Now spin yourselves trying to orbit around a point between the two of you. If you're both of similar weight this should be easy. The fun really starts if you're not of equal weight. If there is a small difference in weights the lighter person will orbit farther from the center than the heavy person giving the heavier person an object (the lighter person) to aim at people as you two move about the pit. If there is a significant difference in weight there's a chance that the heavier person will be able to use the centrifugal force to lift the lighter person right off of the ground. Once this happens the heavier person has the opportunity to use the lighter person as a sort of buzz saw and cut through other moshers as well as the crowd around the pit. This one is a blast and one of my favorite things to do at a show.
Ok, enough about offense, let's talk defense. The most important thing to remember here is to be aware of your surroundings. If you're at bigger shows and festivals you might be at the edge of the pit facing in and be completely oblivious to another mosh pit directly behind you. I can't tell you how many times I've been nailed in the back by someone coming from another pit, but it's enough to remember it and pass along that info. When you're at the edge of a pit you may want to put both arms out with fists forward to protect yourself, but this is actually a bad way to do it. What you should do is similar to what you would do to launch a friend onto the pit. Make a fist. I'm right handed so I make that fist with my left hand. Then put your other hand on the back of that fist. your thumb and forefinger should be at your other wrist. Then put your arms out to an almost straight position. This is important. If someone runs into your arms while they're fully straight out there's a chance your elbow will bend backwards instead of the way it's supposed to bend. Keeping your elbows bent will prevent this. If a person comes towards you at speed use your legs and back to cushion his landing on your outstretched fist. Then if you feel like it, after leaning back a bit go ahead and launch him just the way you would launch a friend. Try to aim for some hardcore dancers or emofags.
I'm going to share a secret with you here. The best method for breaking up a spin up. Some people when they spin up will just stay in the same place and spin for a good while. This makes them an easy target. Stand facing them, but slightly off center to them in such a way that the people spinning spin towards you instead of away. That is, stand to the right if they're spinning clockwise and to the left if they're spinning counterclockwise. If you get the timing just right you can launch yourself at a tangent to their circle and strike one of them directly. If you do this correctly they'll just sort of explode and go flying. It's great fun.
Well, alrighty. I've had fun writing this, but it's gone on for a long while so I'm going to wrap it up. Happy moshing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)