I'm thankful for my father. He died when I was 26. He was a tall 6'4 big man (I'm 5'7). He died of heart disease. Lived on a very rich diet full of french creamy sauces and such and got very little exercise, especially since he lost a leg (tumor) when he was a young adult. Before that he was very athletic and won state tennis championships. After the tumor he got into ping pong for several years but then gave that up and the most exercise he got for 20 years was getting to and from the car.
What does that have to do with cycling? He was a different sort of role model than Machka's parents - but a role to learn from nonetheless. Like "do something besides this". I was already into cycling and even though I had and rode a bicycle some I was mainly riding motorcycles and dirt bikes. His lesson steered me more heavily into bicycles. What you like is largely a choice (or can be), and then you find nuggets of truth and watch for rewarding outcomes to reinforce your choice - that's how I think of it anyway. Attitude Engineering. I also became vegetarian after he died eating a meat rich diet (meat dominated every meal).
I just passed the age when he died (57 shortly after his birthday). So it's been on my mind. Living longer than a parent feels strange in some ways. Like I'm not well seated or something.
To me one of the scariest things (that I've witnessed in others) is to discover that you can't do basic things like climb a flight of stairs. That won't happen to me as a result of slow deterioration because I'm testing myself physically every day. The easy stuff is not a question if your whole life is made up of harder efforts. Most of the people on BF can't identify with that level of inactivity but it happens in the real world. Many people seem to reach a point were their goal is to exert themselves as little as possible. Then it's a downward spiral to the grave - as is life itself but only faster.
I'm not saying all my fears are rational and scientific. They're obviously shaped by isolated events. If I had not changed my own life or even modeled mine after his, a negative destiny is not the only outcome. But if my irrational fears have contributed to me being on a bicycle a lot more then so be it
