Diet

I went cycling with a group yesterday through the Adelaide Hills, a magic day and a great ride. I am still frustrated by my fitness. By most standards I am very fit for my age, ride to work every day, walk with my wife, play fun, aggressive table tennis with my step son, have my own aerobic exercise regime, go off on my own riding for an hour or so in the hills once a week, but I go riding with a team and I am just left in their dust. I am getting better at riding up close in the pack, am riding further than before, but these guys I ride with are not pro cyclists, they are just regular guys, many older than me.

My friend Tony says that it is more technique and simply spending more time on the bike.

However, the point of today's story is about one of the guys I rode with who is super fit but also suffering from a blood clotting condition and has been on blood thinning drugs for a year. What amazed me was that if he had a crash, cut himself in any way, he would simply bleed out. What a terrifying thought! He stops treatment in 3 weeks which is terrific for him.

We got to talking after the ride and I was very curious about his condition. I thought that maybe his diet caused his condition, which makes his blood clot around his lungs. So, in my normally blundering way, asked him about all aspects of the situation. At the heart of it is that he loves Pepsi Max, and a bottle of wine a night. His doctor said that he should cut back on the Pepsi, and I assume that he backs off the wine a bit too because of the blood thinning alcohol.

I would have thought his doctor would have said, 'Well, there is the main culprit. Stop drinking that poisonous Pepsi!', but no, he should cut back on it. I was floored. There are so many horrible chemicals in there that it is hardly surprising his body is reacting badly, especially as with the onset of this condition he was competing at a very high level.

Now this is only my opinion, but I don't think this guy would suffer from this again if he removed some things from is diet, or at least allow himself a single glass of wine a night. What I see is that he keeps his body in a complete state of distress and it got fed up with him. I liken it to a Ferrari engine. This is a high performance vehicle, but he puts dirty fuel in and expects the car to run normally. The engine is working extra hard and inefficiently to clear the dirty petrol out of its system, but it never gets a chance. The next fill up is dirty again.

Although it is none of my business, next time I meet him, I will ask him about this again. He is actually working against himself! I don't get it...