Paris

The terrorism in Paris isn't about religion, nothing to do with Islam (which strictly forbids such acts) and nothing to with countries or cultures; this is about power, inciting violence against muslims (the very people they purport to represent) in an effort to increase the numbers of radicals to join their cause.

Do not play into their hands by seeking retaliation against muslims, immigrants, refugees, Syria, etc. If you do, you become as much a terrorist as these scum, as you're helping them achieve their agenda.

Blast from the past

While having a clear out at home, I found a couple of old cycling magazines from six years ago that I'd kept...well, because I was in them! 

I was interviewed in 2009 by Cycling Weekly for its monthly Cycling Active magazine and its Health & Fitness for Cyclists Winter Riding Guide, where they wanted to encourage cyclists to make the most of the winter by joining indoor cycling classes from which they would benefit, i.e., not aerobics on a bike! At the time I had only just got into coaching as a profession after leaving my Civil Service desk job, so this article was before my classes became even more specific, with better and seamlessly mixed music. 

The gym studios didn't have power meters back then and, indeed, most places still don't but Cassie and I have our own Wattbike at home, so we can transfer our applied training knowledge that we know works in practice and transfer it to our classes, regardless of any metrics; HR monitors are good, power meters even better, but what makes a great coach stand out is how they engage you beyond the numbers. 

Anyway, although it makes me cringe - I'm not one for self-promotion, letting the quality of my work do the talking - here is the interview with me in Health & Fitness for Cyclists, which was then used (with added details) in Cycling Active about training-specific indoor cycling in general:

Revised class schedule

Within a few months of Cassie becoming a self-employed coach/PT/instructor like me, she has already gained quite a few regular classes (as well as coaching and PT clients) and we've made a few class swaps between us.

So, this is our current combined weekly schedule, maybe you can join us:

Monday
0700 - Bannatyne's Grove Park (Rob)

Tuesday
0930 - Cadence Performance (Rob)
1130 - Cadence Performance (Rob)
1830 - Bannatyne's Grove Park (Rob)
1915 - Calso Health & Fitness (Cassie)
1930 - David Lloyd Kidbrooke (Rob)

Wednesday
0645 - David Lloyd Kidbrooke (Cassie)
0700 - Bannatyne's Grove Park (Rob)
1900 - Nuffield Bromley (Rob)

Thursday
0700 - Cadence Performance (Cassie)
1000 - Bannatyne's Grove Park (Rob)
1945 - Nuffield Bromley (Rob)

Friday
0700 - Bannatyne's Grove Park (Rob)
0915 - Nuffield Bromley (Rob)
0935 - David Lloyd Kidbrooke (Cassie)
1815 - Bannatyne's Grove Park (Rob)
1900 - Cadence Performance (Cassie)

Saturday
0900 - Cadence Performance (Rob)
1000 - Cadence Performance (Rob)
1000 - David Lloyd Kidbrooke (Cassie)

Sunday
0900 - Cadence Performance (Cassie)
0900 - Nuffield Bromley (Rob)
1000 - Cadence Performance (Cassie)
1000 - Nuffield Bromley (Rob)

Big Brother meets Snake-Oil Salesman

Have you seen the TV ad for the latest scam from 23andme.com? It's as bad as the "blood type diet" bollocks.

Although previously banned by the USFDA, because DNA can't predict, e.g., the likelihood of heart disease, they are suggesting you can make health decisions based on DNA while the small print says "for informational purposes only", i.e., it's useless.

Talking of small print, I read a review on Amazon that says it better than I could:

"the fine print is that, even if you decide to opt-out of their research program and don't give them any "Self-Reported" information, they still sell their partners more than enough data to connect your name and location (among other things) to your genetic information. For instance, they collect your "Web Behavior Information" including your IP address, operating system, your ISP, browser type, cookies, anything you mention in your emails to customer support, and worst of all: web beacons. These are special cookies that track all of your browsing history. A cookie from Facebook can instantly give 23andMe access to your FB profile name. Any profile picture you post on 23andMe can be downloaded by an app developer. App developers are given access to your traits. How many people in a specific zip code of a small town have 1) red, curly hair 2) are good at sprinting 3) have bad teeth 4) poor memory 5) and diabetes? All of this data -- combined with your "web behavior and genetic information -- makes it incredibly easy for any app developer (or drug company) to identify you (even if the developer (technically) only has access to your "anonymous" id number). It is especially easy to identify males who have some sort of relatively uncommon disease. Overall, 23andMe's privacy FAQ is very misleading, and possibly illegal."