The Biggest Loser

"Not bad for being fat and out of shape." Came the German accented words of my boss. He had just finished a lab time trial test consisting of a 12.13 mile course as hard and fast as you can go. He finished it in 30 minutes 50 seconds. His /watt/kg output is approximately 4.25. This number may mean nothing to you except for me to include that mine right now is approximately 2.something. This is over double what I can put out. Incredible. And he's out of shape. Awesome.

I work with two boys in the lab, one 36 one 44. One CAT 1 level racer, one CAT 3 level racer. I've never heard boys talk about their weight more than these two. Its like being back with the girls in highschool again comparing "L-Bs" as they call them (lbs) and lamenting about how they need to lose more. Both of them have dropped weight in the last few weeks. One is down two LBs and one is down one LB. While I understand the importance of even a 1 lb loss of weight whether it be on the bike or the person, I still find this strangely amusing as I sit there and they talk about their weight and how it should be less. I suppose it's also amusing because they are two of the most fit people that I know, one of them winning the furnace creek 508 (a 508 mile bicycle race-without stopping- through death valley) TWICE, and the other one is training to do it this year. They are fit.

Silly boys. I like them.