update from Coach Joshua Dean Powers

There's a special place in heaven for coaches, and today we hear from Coach Joshua Dean Powers who is still of this earth, despite the efforts of many Phoenix residents to kill him while he rides his bike. Josh sends us this fine photo a man pushing a used toilet down the street in his shopping cart. The things you see from your car.

He also sent a fine photo a an extremely large member of the general population riding a motorcycle down the highway. Sorry, that one wouldn't upload, but you get the idea.

The man who can throw 6.2 watts per kilogram in form is doing fine, thank you. He's still working at the cabinet shop. He's still cohabitating. He's still riding and coaching. And he's made a nice recovery from a battle with illness.

Coach Josh informs me my elevated heart rate at spin class of 186 bpm, as opposed to the normal 182 bpm, could be a result of a few factors: there's less body in my blood now that I am no longer in form and my heart has to work harder, the spin classroom is hot and there's no wind passing over my person to cool me, I'm not in the shape I used to be in, and I just have to get over it as it no longer matters.

Coach Josh may well be attending a wedding in the near future, but I am saddened to inform you that it will not be his. Jimmy Railey, one of the two big diesels on the Tour de France Challenge Team, is engaged to be wed. Yes, this is big news. The real estate mogul who once entertained a blonde in Paris who was so beautiful she would make a Bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window is going down the aisle for an encore. Thus far, no one knows how Jimmy's best friend Patrick Kildow is taking the news.

Mr. Kildow has turned the bachelor lifestyle into an art form. Readers of this space will recall that when Patrick rode the Tour, his only piece of onboard technology was a watch he borrowed from his girlfriend, who he called once during the month he was away. "Hi, it's me. I've been kinda busy." Since then, the patron saint of single men everywhere has upgraded his technology to include a humble cycling computer. And his girlfriend took her watch back.

I ran the theory of which people "shut up and ride" versus "those who bitch" and Coach Josh thinks my percentage were off by a bit. According to him, the "shut up and ride" population is only 5-10% of all riders. He leans more toward the 5%. Those who bitch make up 90-95%.

Coach Josh is thrilled that I will be teaching spinning and salutes the mission. He's taken a few classes himself and finds that spinning can be a productive part of a fitness program, especially for members of the General Population.

Coach Josh wishes you well, and hopes you're getting lots of sleep, drinking plenty of fluids, icing where it hurts, and having fun.