Dog Days

Faces of Team Dicky was pretty good yesterday. I couldn't tell if that was my hair or Neil's.

Yes, the frame geometry stuff was boring yesterday. I warned you. I wasn't gonna get all "Bicycling Magazine" on you and use creative similes and metaphors (Has anybody actually ever seen a scalded monkey climb? Who's the demented primate hater going around scalding monkeys anyways?) to describe a frame that still only exists on paper. Look for a more animated review once I put parts on the 3-D titanium manifestation of what, as of now, is only an idea.

I got a call from my doctor's office last Friday. Some of you with long term memory abilities might remember that I had a physical last Tuesday. Anyways, I got the "Mr Dillen, all your numbers looked good, but...."

But?

That word hardly went in my ears without a twinge of angst. The doc says my iron level is low, and that means I'm a-n-e-m-i-c. Awesome. Before anybody points out the obvious, yes this is somewhat linked to my vegetarian lifestyle, but let me explain. I have not been the most thorough vegetarian, and I figured something might slip through the cracks. If you want to read through this article for a better explanation than I can give, have at it. The gist of it is that my lifestyle (endurance racing, commuting, "training", vegetarian, what-not) puts some demands on my iron needs that I failed to address.

"Many men and women who engage in regular, intense exercise such as jogging, competitive swimming, and cycling have marginal or inadequate iron status"

"Three groups of athletes may be at greatest risk of iron depletion and deficiency: female athletes, distance runners, and vegetarian athletes."

Insert the "F WORD" here.

The good news is that it can be dealt with, and it's hardly a major issue like a million other things that could go wrong with a human body. Iron supplements and increasing my intake of Vitamin C to allow the absorption of more iron are the first steps. The bad news is that I need to cut back on coffee or stop drinking it altogether (today is day three without coffee). I only drink a small 4 cup pot every morning, but knowing that it is hindering my health is enough reason to let it go. I've already had to deal with the guilt of drinking a recreational beverage that has some environmental and labor issue concerns, not to mention it's the world's most commonly traded commodity after crude oil. Maybe a cup here or there, but it can no longer be a daily habit. Oh well, I still have beer. If at some point I have to choose between beer and health....

Since I've been a vegetarian for ten months I kinda figure this mighta been affecting me last summer as well, especially when I was riding a shit ton more, and traveling (thus eating like shit on the road). At least going into this year I'm aware of what's going on, and I have plenty of time to turn this boat around before I get into the stormy seas of the "season".

I'm sure people are gonna wanna chime in with veggie advice, meat lover "I told you so's", and holistic crystal rubbing suggestions. Have at it. Just know I have a plan, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be fine with it. I'm not gonna go back to eating meat when I know the answer to my problem is pretty gosh darn simple (See how calm I am? I went from the "F bomb" to gosh darn).

Just in case that all seemed kinda glum and boring here is a picture of a puppy The Pie has been bottle feeding.

This little girl is the sole survivor of a litter of eight, and although she doesn't necessarily look like a dog we have been re-assured that she is, in fact, a dog.

Back to nonsense tomorrow, I promise.

And a friendly reminder:

The Breck Epic site still does not have all the blogger info up yet, but you can go vote for your favorite three bloggers if you already know who you want to send to the Breck Epic. Go here and vote, or go here and wait for more info if you wanna be a knowledgeable voter.