Monthly Archives: March 2017

Pretty Bad Air, Even though it’s been Windy

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There have been some pretty strong winds the last couple weeks.  I look forward to that because if the wind is going to be blowing over 15 mph, then there are burning bans.  By that I mean that farmers/ranchers and such can’t lite their grass on fire and let it burn.

I hate this.  I understand all the issues involved, but no one seems to be in charge of the whole process.  I’ve been riding back and forth to Lawrence on gravel, the last week, and all the burning along this road is people burning ditches and other grass that has nothing to do with cattle.

Burning permits shouldn’t be issued for ditches.  That is just laziness, plus most of the time, no one goes through the ditches first, so many plastic bottles burn too, which is really bad air.

Yesterday, in Kansas, a semi truck driver from Oklahoma, a 39 year old man, died of smoke inhalation when he drove into a fire, stopped, got stuck and tried to turn around.  This was on pavement.  It is so sad.  Obviously, there should have been something in place to change this outcome.

Since our new “president” has proposed big budget cuts for the EPA, this is probably only going to get worse.  I was thinking about it yesterday, as I was riding.

Nearly every stream and pond I ride by is full of algae.  This is from fertilizers and livestock waste.  These creeks run into the Kansas River, where all the cities along it gets their water.  This includes both Topeka and Lawrence.

I don’t get the whole plan.  I assume that both republicans and democrats alike, want clean water and air.  For themselves and their children.   We obviously need someone to ride shotgun over us to attain this.  People, left to their own, will not take personal responsibility for this.  So why cut the funds to manage these things.  So stupid, as Mr. Trump might tweet.

Anyway, it is going to be 70 again today.  And windy.  The burning ban, Red Alert Day, is only from 11am to 6 pm. so it is going to be a little smokey.  Like I said above, no one seems to be regulating it.

Burning the grass for cattle.

Then it gets smokey.

Burn map from a couple days ago.

Burn map when it is less windy. This is when it really sucks.

Caffeine potentially on WADA’s List of Prohibited Substances

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I saw a Washington Post’s article this morning that said that caffeine is on a list at WADA that lists it as a on  a “waiting list of prohibited substances”.

The article says-

WADA added caffeine to its Monitoring Program for 2017 so experts could study whether athletes are using the substance “with the intent of enhancing performance.”

WADA’s study will continue through September, at which point the agency will issue a three-month notice that the substance will be added to the Prohibited List the following year. To be added to the prohibited list, the substance must meet two or three criteria: 1) It has the potential to enhance performance; 2) It poses a health risk to athletes; and/or 3) It violates “the spirit of sport.”

Caffeine, ie coffee or caffeine sodas, was banned for use in competition before 2003.  But there was a threshold, so you could drink coffee, but not just 5 double espresso before the start of a race.

I guess they are going to do a study to see how much caffeine an athlete can ingest to add in athletic performance.  I hope they aren’t going to be super strict, because from personal experience, just a small amount of caffeine aids in lots of different things, but for sure, athletic performance.

I assume that they are going to set thresholds once again.  The thresholds were pretty high before, so maybe they need to lower them a bit.  I’m sure there are guys out there consuming a ton of caffeine in athletic competition, so I, hesitantly, have to agree a ban needs to be enacted.