The Lead Out, #001 – About getting older, staying fit and actionable health data

Hi there! 👋🏻

This is the first edition of The Lead Out, a newsletter for subscribers. It contains a bunch of carefully curated links, covering all kinds of cycling related topics, and lands in your inbox every two weeks, on Saturday morning.

If you’d like to receive it too, subscribe to Pédaleuse.

Enjoy!

As I’m getting older (I’m almost 37, and getting closer to 40), I’m starting to focus more on health and fitness. And since I have read Outlive, a book about “the science and art of longevity” (which you should definitely read too) and did some research about the topic, I have been sucked down an internet rabbit hole of “old and fit” stories. It’s been quite interesting, though, so I’ll share some of the things I read.

• My mother got on a bike. It changed her life. – The author’s mother started cycling when she was 62: “Turns out, my mother’s cycling habit meant that she was checking many of the boxes — health, novelty, community and purpose — needed to age well.” In other words: it’s never too late.
• Dan’s journey back to health and fitness – Maybe Dan read Outlive too, because he recently started his journey to get fit again (he’s in his forties). The series will run on GCN for the next six months. I’m curious about Dan’s approach, as I’m trying to do something similar.
• Peloton is a media company now, with media company problems – Interesting read, even though I don’t own any Peloton equipment myself (I don’t have the space and prefer riding outside). It was mainly the tech/media aspect that caught my attention and kept me reading.
• Cycling themed illustrations by Eleni Debo – I really like these, especially the one she made for This Is Collossal’s Chain Reaction exhibition. She has Belgian roots (just like me), and created a beautiful set of cycling illustrations for the Belgian magazine Bahamontes.

Also, I’m a bit obsessed with gathering health data and I’ve been wondering how I can make it more actionable. Then these small fitness trackers – from a company called Whoop – started showing up everywhere: professional athletes wear them, and several YouTubers I’m following wear them too – even alongside their smart watch, so that made me wonder. From what I can see the Whoop’s added value is in giving you useful insights you can act upon, based on the data gathered. Seems like something I definitely need to try. If you have one, let me how it works for you. A reply to this email will go straight to my inbox.

See you for the next one!