Matt

As an endurance athlete, I've always worked well in the heat and also enjoy it. However, here in Santa Cruz, we've had two weeks of foggy days with two hours of sun in the afternoon with highs in the high 60's. Sucks, doesn't it?

Ok, folks, the Tour de France starts Saturday. Arguably the most spectacular endurance event in the world. And it's in the midst of a huge drug scandal again. http://www.cyclingnews.com has good coverage. Anyone going to follow it? If so, who is your favorite? I'm picking Basso or Ullrich.

This is exactly right. That doesn't mean you can't write a book on--or be a leading authority on--animal rights.

Why did I click on that link? Why? WHY?

Are these trick questions? This threw me off so much I had to look just to make sure.

Classic!

I munch on bananas and cucumbers. But I'm weird.

Agree. Good points and suggestions. Carrying the food is something people often forget about or find too inconvenient. But it's easy. And being vegan isn't all about having to cook exotic meals every time you eat. Keeping it simple is right on and a great way to jump right in. Another thing that pushed me back to veganism was basically putting in my own face the cruelty that animals face. Reading Erik Marcus' Meat Market this past year made it easy for me to decide to find good vegan stuff to eat. It was all about awareness for me.

I don't think it's crazy talk at all. It is easy to avoid animal products, but it's not as easy avoiding animal products and getting a balanced diet. Especially for those who are coming off of meat which is not only readily available everywhere, but a staple just about everywhere. With $10, being hungry, and a drive through that spits out very tasty stuff in less than 3 minutes, for meat eaters it can be hard to think about going to the store, buying stuff, and really be concerned about your health when 99% of your waking hours are spent in high stress and overload situations. They just want to feel good by eating the food (because there obviously are questionable nutritional benefits). I've been there and done that. I think that the ideal is focusing on not doing this destructive behavior, but what I've said is a reality for many people. It's also easy to select your food if it's already made in a cafeteria. It's getting the balanced meals when you can't visit a cafeteria--which for most people is all the time--if you haven't cooked a lot before or planned out meals, that is the trick. I agree totally that going vegan is the way to go and really should be the future for everyone. No corporation or health system is ever going to promote the right way to do things, only the most profitable. Veganism and fitness are the best preventative medicines. But I think until we realize that the transition is difficult for some people, then we can frame approaches to encouraging them to become vegan. I hope those thinking about veganism but not immediately able to make the jump are not scared off because they can't just do it "cold turkey". My $0.02.

Road cyclist here, primarily. I'm incorporating some weight training starting July 1 and will be racing (if all goes well) mainly criteriums starting January 2007. Anyone who comes to the Santa Cruz area, let me know--we'll ride! This is one of the greatest road riding areas in the country, IMO!

This might depends what you are training for or if you are just a "weekend warrior". I eat pretty much the same as the average person would but the evening before and in the morning of a longer ride I generally eat more complex carbohydrates such as pasta or energy bars. I also think investing in a good electrolyte replacement drink is of value, and I usually consume it before, during and after the ride. Clif makes a vegan electrolyte drink, and there are many others out there. Beware the recovery drinks with protein; many of them have whey in them or other animal-derived protein. Here's clif's link: http://www.clifbar.com/eat/shot_drink.cfm?location=shotdrink

Craig, I empathize with you! Calcium is easily obtained from any number of sources. Even soy milk now has as much or more calcium that cow's milk. I'd agree on the carbs idea. Get some complex carbs going and you'll be good. I often carry bananas around now primarily so I can digest them more easily. I also wouldn't worry about slipping off the veganism thing. I've done it a number of times and I've found that I've really had to work hard to get it as part of my daily routine and at the same time get good balanced meals and enough calories at times. I have 50-60 hour a week job and I'm raising two kids, along with trying to get fitness in. So for extremely busy people, including myself, it's hard without a plan. And it's not just a matter of being "easier" or more accessible. For me, it's trying to maintain relationships with others while raising two kids. For others, including you, it's 24/7 work. But beware the comments that tell you to eat one thing that will solve all your problems. There's no substitute for planning balanced (and great-tasting) meals. It's never easy, but you have the right choice in front of you. Just take little steps right now, and when you have the time, make a plan and make your eating purchases and choices around that. It really helps.

Cool! Nice to see those newsletters. Thanks, robert. I like getting these!

Thanks for the ideas. I'm formulating a basic outline and will post with more info once I think it's thrown together ok.

Thanks, robert. I popped you an e-mail offline before reading your reply. It likely would be a big undertaking, but I'd like it to be kind of like a "vegan travel wiki" in which all vegans contribute and make kind of an open source travel database which covers restaurants, places to stay, groups, etc. I don't want to spam the boards, but if anyone has ideas of what you might like to see, please share them here. You can send me a PM if you like as well, but posting often helps ideas bounce around and get refined. Perhaps each of you can give your top 3 desires in a vegan travel site, just to keep it simple.

Hello, all, I've been looking for a vegan travel site for the continental United States and haven't really found anything too comprehensive. I'm considering starting a web site devoted to vegan travel, restaurants, regional advocacy groups, etc. and having members contribute to it along with doing research myself. Is this something people would like to see? Or are there any other vegan travel site alternatives out there that you would recommend? Matt

I would be very wary of the "age minus 30" formula to get maximum heart rate. Heart rates vary greatly based on genetics, gender, (and yes) age, etc. The only real way to find max heart rate is to do a test on yourself. Even this is not a real measure as your geneticallly-determined max heart rate--especially if you are not very fit--usually cannot be reached, even at maximum intense effort. My max heart rate is about 205 and I'm 37 years old. Additionally, I have a cyclist friend who is 25 and his max heart rate is 185. So it can vary greatly.

Brett, I wouldn't worry too much about doing the bodybuilding straight off. And I wouldn't worry about you burning too much muscle off doing cardio, either. Sounds like what you did worked well for you, too. I'd say focus on the cardio as it primarily burns fat, unless you go at a very high intensity, in which case you wouldn't be doing it for too long anyway. I'd say go at a comfortable, moderate intensity, but the most important thing is to have fun with it. If you don't have fun, you won't stick with it. Doing weight training will help, as it will build muscle and burn even more fat where muscle increases. But on a general level, my suggestion would be to get your metabolism going first, and that means cardio work. This can be walking, biking, running, hiking, etc. Usually muscle mass doesn't come off too much unless you eat almost no protein and you have nothing left on your body to replace it. So I wouldn't worry there. I'd go 30-60 minutes 5-6 days a week, but be sure to listen to your body. If you are feeling tired and need extra sleep or are having trouble waking up as you normally would, take a day off and see if that helps. Workout, listen to your body and adjust. Everyone's a little different and in different levels of fitness, so see what you can handle. I've also been on and off the bandwagon, so join the club. Your story sounds very similar to mine as well (I'm in a desk job). I'm vegan again, but I don't think there's any shame in admitting that you haven't been. You don't owe your decisions in these matters to anyone but yourself. Anyway, don't worry about talking about that, because it sounds like your intentions are certainly in the right place.

Robert, I just saw this thread and wanted to respond. Seems like you are doing well with the results over time, but I know what happened can be disheartening. The main thing I wanted to say is that you are a tremendous inspiration to everyone here on your site and no one would be here without you. You are an inspiration to me as well, despite me not being a bodybuilder per se; you show what *can* be done against common doctrine in an animal-based-nutrition world, and I thank you for that. Thanks for everything you've done to promote veganism as well. Hang in there, buddy...we're with you all the way.

Welcome aboard!

I've been substituting dry roasted and salted pistachios in place of pine nuts in a number of those alternative cheese dishes and it adds a distinctive flavor. I've also been making a "poor man's pistachio pesto" with just olive oil, garlic, pistachios, and basil, and have let family try it; they love it and have no idea it doesn't have (parmesan) cheese...it tastes *better*! Anyway, I digress...

Here's a link with a pretty darn good explanation and detail about finding your max heart rate. I always try to run or bike 30 minutes with at least a couple longer efforts during that time until I reach my max, then take my max rate on the heart rate monitor. http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm

There you have it . I guess our digestive system is a little primitive compared to theirs.

Great article, Robert. I always enjoy reading what you have to say and you're always very willing to help out others.

Yeah, usually they are ok. It's the high fructose corn syrup that's bad.