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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC6/1/15 6:16 AM |
Vision
Last week!
TeChnically, I still have 20/40 vision. That was what it has been for a couple decades. I didn'have 20/20 vision because of astigmatism that are difficult to correct. I'm not a good candidate for LASIK.
However, I do feel my vision isn't as sharp as before even though I could see the eye chart. The only problem is there's no way to correct THAT.
That's one very big reason to give up cycling on "the open road" for many. It may indeed be time for me.
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield6/1/15 12:06 PM |
Presbyopia?
I know, that doesn't make sense.
Maybe you should have an appointment with an excellent ophthalmologist. I'm assuming your eye doctor last week was an optometrist. But go for getting corrective lenses and see how it helps. Astigmatism is no hurdle. It's a small investment and the results may surprise you.
Anecdotally, my GF doesn't require distance correction. But you know the "count-down" pedestrian signals? My 20/x00 corrected sees them plenty early to take my foot off the pedal when making the intersection ain't happening. At first she didn't even realize the sign was there.
And these days glasses are definitely fashion accessories. Of course that makes it a larger investment!
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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC6/1/15 8:11 PM |
quote:
Maybe you should have an appointment with an excellent ophthalmologist.I'm assuming your eye doctor last week was an optometrist.
Nope, I saw both.
quote:
Astigmatism is no hurdle.
But it is.
Sorry, you're a little late to the party. We had this discussion a couple pages back. Glasses are not magic. It's boring science. It works to many, but only to different degree to others.
Should I stop riding because I don't have perfect vision? I never had perfect vision to begin with. Many others still rides with even worse vision than I do. So it's a personal call. Given I've been riding with poor vision for all my life, I don't feel that's a deciding factor. Though a factor nonetheless.
The question is still the same. I've crashed 3 times in 2 1/2 years. The cause of them are a combination of several factors, vision being one of those factors. But there's no solution to the cause such as some magical glasses that hasn't been invented. Nor could I just take some pill to quicken up my reflex. Or I could move to a different part of the country that don't have potholes!
I'm going to stop riding for riding sake. I'll still ride to work, ride to the destination that are within riding distance, especially if the roads are good and the weather nice. But I'm not going to drive 45 min to join a 30 mile group ride every weekend at max heart rate just so I can say I improved my speed by 0.01 mph this season over last! I'm going to stop riding for speed or "performance riding".
Looking back, I never really enjoyed the competition (however friendly the group rides were) anyway. It's just a "fitting in" to be taken seriously by the group. I need to find a new group of riding buddies who're more into enjoying the ride rather than "friendly" competition.
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield6/1/15 10:00 PM |
I doubt you are but still I hope you're not offended by my joining without reading the whole thread. I've had my own existential crises to address and sometimes it's hard to read, listen or watch something that echoes such an internal state.
That stinks about the corrective lenses. My ophthalmologist was able to fit me 20/20 with contacts for the first time so I thought your astigmatism might be corrected too. Fitting those lenses took months, trial and error.
These next paragraphs support the "maybe not so fast" argument.
As for max heart rate training I don't think it's healthy or at least healthy after a certain age for most everyone. And if someone has ever taken enough time off to truly lose fitness, 80% efforts cannot be taken lightly, so seductive though they are.
"Drive to ride" has never appealed to me. I've lived in cities and suburbia and decent routes have never been hard to find. I suppose being drawn to mountains or prairies unencumbered by traffic lights and stop signs is more influential to lots of riders; I get it. Just like I "get" flogging myself for a performance edge, because I had for years. These days though exercise is for health. Hey, today I saw a weight under 220 for the first time in years; maybe it's working.
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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC6/2/15 10:33 AM |
I'm not offended. Though you might have detected a tad of impatience when it comes to glasses because that's an issue I had lived with all my life. I felt I've already exhausted all possible solutions and just resign to live with it.
My basic defense had always been, my mtn biking skills served me well when I encounter uneven surface that are unavoidable. Simple stay balanced on the bike and ride through it. So, not seeing ALL potholes had never been much of an issue in the past..
However, my automatic reflex might have dulled after 4-5 years of not mtn biking much. So this last one caught me by surprise and I wasn't able to stay on the bike after I got knocked off balance.
My not-so-existential-crisis is, I'm in an area of extensive good riding opportunity and a vibrant cycling culture. Yet I was not able to find riding companion to enjoy it. There's no racing club in Westchester. So unlike the NY city bike club, where the wannabee's got their chance to race in the racing club, Westchester riders racer or non-racer, ride in the same club. There's pressure to go-as-fast-as-one-is-capable-of-without-puking on majority of club rides.
I don't have to ride with the club. But I do get bored if I ride by myself ALL THE TIME. Especially if I keep on riding as much as I have been (because the riding is quite good in surrounding area, if I only have good company with ride with). Hence the decision to ride less, to counter the boredom. And do more of other activities instead.
Also, after my dented rim (of car), I've started to noticed the roads are in worse shape lately. In years past, most roads got their holes patched by June. Not this year. So the change of weather pattern might have also made the area roads less safe than what I've been used to. That doesn't go well with enjoyable riding
It's a bit of a shame that I can't really enjoy the area as much as I would have liked.
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