At last fall's union meeting, I won a $100 reimbursement on any sort of "self-development" course, program or resource. Here it is eight months later and I still haven't found anything. I don't want to waste it by not using it at all, or worse, by using it foolishly.

Yesterday at work I was leafing through a catalog and found a couple of things, which led to a third possibility. I don't know much about these things and thought I'd ask here.

Two choices at a local center for "mature adults" are Introduction to T'ai Chi and Gentle Yoga.

Are one, the other or both advisable for cyclist wanting to build flexibility and core strength?

Alternatively, I could join the corner gym for three months.

What do you think?

I've been really turned on to swimming lately.

Hi tsl,

I'm biased; my husband has been doing tai chi for over 30 years. His balance and coordination on a bike are superb. It also depends on the type of people you are most comfortable with. I've found tai chi people to be (in general) extremely far left to the point of crunchy. (No offense meant, but don't know how else to say it.) Yoga folks tend to be a little more mainstream.

Just don't take golf lessons

Golf lessons don't work. They always promise you an extra 20 yards. Problem is, they tack it on at the end, when the d&% ball is already headed into the woods!

Interesting!!

My wife has taken tai chi with her acupuncture training. I would support your observation with some exceptions!!

From my yoga perspective, I think you should sign up for those sessions. I find I try some of the stretches every day and I do think my flexibility has improved. You'll leave the first class with skills you can practice at home.

My personal choice would probably be yoga. Many of the cycling training programs now include yoga in their off season training plans.

I agree on the yoga. I rode for decades without stretching. And then my back went S-P-R-O-I-N-G.

A yoga-like stretching routine got me back on the bike.

Hmmm... I didn't realize there were sociological issues involved.

Being in the library business, I already work with extreme left leaning types, although "crunchy" isn't a word I ever though to apply to them. I think of them as more soft and mushy, like tofu or boiled noodles. Extreme right wingers always seem brittle to me, as if one new idea would crack their world into a million pieces.

At either end, I just let their hyperbole drift out the other ear, smile and nod, and resist the urge to pat them on the head.

Interestingly, even In Real Life the advice I'm getting is based on the types of people attracted to the activity, not the relative merits of the activity itself. I guess that means I'll have to try them both.

Ah. Missed JT's post while breakfast was cooking.

FWIW, the one guy I know who teaches T'ai Chi is a libertarian.

TSL,

My self-help program this spring is to take 8 hours of Park Tool bicycle maintenance classes. The REI Flagship store in Seattle is offering the full Park Tool School curriculum over two days (next weekend) for $125. It's geared toward people who are not maintenance beginners but who are not yet advanced.

It's like tai chi, only you have an Allen wrench in your left hand and a third-hand tool in your right...the only politics involved are Campy vs. Shimano.

You may already be beyond this....

bb