Feminist reflections on fitness, sport, and health
Apps like Workout Locker and SweatPass and Fit Locker force you to complete physical exercises like pushups before unlocking social media apps like Instagram.
I haven’t tried them but I’m curious.
Have you?
See I Have to Do Five Squats Before I Open Social Media
The Canada women’s national rugby union team plays world-champion England today at BMO Field in Toronto as part of The Rugby Rematch Tour, and Sarah and I have tickets! Woohoo! See Canadian women’s rugby aims to deal England its 1st loss in 41 matches during upcoming double-header.
A few years ago, I blogged about the controversy over the proposed smaller ball in women’s rugby and tonight, the women will use the smaller ball. The game is Canada vs. England but the real experiment might be the ball size.
World Rugby introduced a trial using a size 4.5 rugby ball (about 3% smaller than a standard size 5, but weighing the same) across the women’s Sevens circuit and the 2026 WXV Global Series—featuring high-profile matchups between England’s Red Roses and Canada.
Against, read Smaller balls for women’s rugby ‘worst decision ever’.
You can read my older post to see why I’m not convinced.
I saw a reel recently where a cyclist asked her followers a simple question: do you always wave to other cyclists? She called the wave a small act of good vibes. Her view is that waving adds up to a better cycling community for everyone.
There’s different ways of waving, of course. There are different levels of comfort with taking one’s hand off the bars. Some of us just lift two fingers off the handlebar. Some people just nod. And then there’s the full on very enthusiastic wave below.
There is some hierarchy in the world of waves. Mostly it breaks down along predictable lines. Some riders in full kit on expensive bikes don’t wave at people on rental bikes or everyday bike commuters.
It’s a credential check. Are you a real cyclist or merely someone riding a bike?
I wave at everybody on a bike out on the open ride. It’s a bit weird in the city where there are so many people on two wheels.
And I think waving matters. There’s lots of social science behind why it matters so much explained in the Instagram reel linked below.
Sociologists call this kind of contact a “weak tie”: not your close friends, not your family, but the loose, low-stakes connections with people you’ll likely never speak to again. A wave between strangers on bikes is about as minimal as a weak tie gets, and it still counts.
There wave sends a message: I see you. You’re one of us out here.
So my advice? Wave. Wave at the kid on the BMX. Wave at the person on a wobbly rental bike. It costs you nothing, and for someone, it might be the whole reason the ride felt okay.
H/t to the Instagram reel that got me thinking about this and for the explanation of the work done by waves.
Why? Because that’s where the adventure lives. I love this message, and it’s a great fit for my word of the year EXPAND.
What are you going to try this year?
I’m thinking maybe curling.
There’s learn to curl here in Guelph.
See also Queer curling league Out on the Ice expands to Guelph.
Curious about why people love curling? Check out this guest post by Karen Houle.
To be clear, I love my job. I still find lots of what I do for work energizing and important. And I plan to work for quite a few more years yet.
But as friends start to retire– here’s looking at you Nat, Tracy, and Diane– I’m a little jealous of the freedom and flexibility that comes with not working.
It strikes me especially in the fall when we have glorious days but the evenings get dark so early. Wouldn’t it be nice to go for more weekday rides?
I suspect the challenge will be, when I get there, finding other people to ride with. I’m not a big fan of riding alone. I envy Nat who is both retired and who prefers solo riding.
Are you a cyclist retired from paid work? How did you find people to ride with? Is it really as good riding on weekdays as I imagine?
What are your evening wind-down rituals? I know we’ve blogged about this before in a group post about winding down, but I’m reaching again for help.
My Garmin watch keeps suggesting that in light of my demanding, stressful days that I develop a wind-down routine. I’ve asked here before about de-stressing exercises.
But maybe there’s more to winding down than exercise? (Joke. I know there is. I’m just not very good at it.)
I am good about putting my phone away when I go upstairs for bedtime. I do some stretching and mobility exercises. I can’t read in the evenings because of my eyes but I potter and tidy while listening to audiobooks. I usually watch one show. These days it’s Slow Horses, Dark Matter, or Ted Lasso. I’ve just finished Ride or Die, Strange New Worlds, and Dalliance. (Friends have recommended Lanterns, Spider-Noir, The Other Bennet Sister, Detectorists, Leftovers, and Dark. Anything you’d add to the list?)
But back to winding down in the evening, aside from watching our favorite shows. What do you find helpful and relaxing? What’s your bedtime routine?
You know it’s an exciting find when you immediately start thinking of who you can bring with you to ride it next year and when it makes sense to come again. Friends, get ready for invitations!
We loved loved loved the Old Railway Bike Trail | Algonquin Provincial Park.
It’s short, just 16 km, so it’s not worth coming just for the trail, but as part of an Algonquin camping trip, it’s perfect.
It’s a rail trail, but it’s not boring. The trail runs through the forest, not along Highway 60, except for one very short section. It’s not dead straight or completely flat. I love the curves and the bumps on the trail.
Here’s the official trail description, “The Old Railway Bike Trail is a leisurely family bicycle trail during spring, summer and fall. During the winter, the trail is a multi-purpose winter recreation trail. For most of its 16 kilometre distance the trail follows the abandoned bed of the historic Ottawa, Arnprior, and Parry Sound Railway, opened in 1896 and decommissioned in 1959. The Old Railway Bike Trail runs from Rock Lake Campground to near Cache Lake.”
As usual, our photos don’t do the twisty bits justice because we were too busy riding.
Neither of us is a technically skilled cyclist, but we both love off-road riding. Lately, I’ve been thinking that one way to describe the trails we like is as fun but not dangerous at all, like mountain bike paths designed by cyclist parents for their kids.
Oh, if you don’t have bikes or don’t want to bring bikes with you, they also rent bikes. Shout out to the staff at the bike rental booth who fixed Sarah’s brakes when we were going to rent a bike because her brakes were stuck on. Thank you.
I think it’s one of my favorite full body exercises. It’s great for all body strength and conditioning. See here.
What is it? “A farmer’s carry (also known as a farmer’s walk or loaded carry) is a full-body strength and conditioning exercise that involves holding a heavy weight in each hand and walking for a set distance or time.” (from Gym Shark)
I feel like I’m training for carrying all the groceries in at once.
Lately I’ve been feeling strong doing them with 40 lb kettlebells. The big challenge is grip strength but I can do two lengths of our gym, down and back.
Anyway, just when I was feeling strong, this video came across my newsfeed.
Wow.
WOW.
Maybe Tracy and I peaked too early with our Fittest by Fifty plan. The headlines right now are all about a new trend, the Superfit Sixties. Or maybe the trends are just following along with us as we age?
Anyway, the Superfit Sixties stories are all over my newsfeed, because of course they are.
What are the Superfit Sixties all about? See The rise of the superfit sixties — here’s what it really takes.
“Modern day sixtysomethings are aware that age is not a deterrent to some of the most challenging athletic goals, and a new tribe of hard body sexagenarians is emerging. Members of the superfit 60+ers put in longer hours at the gyms than any other age group, and average 8+ visits to the gym each month, and it’s not just gentle classes such as yoga drawing them in, it’s high intensity workouts and tough training regimens, according to Nuffield Health. The biggest rise in sports participation in recent years in among older populations, with running and cycling having massive growth, according to Sport England. Over the past 12 months England Athletics has had a 12% increase in members aged 60+ joining running clubs; and British Cycling reports over 74% of those aged 60+ saying cycling is not just to enjoy the scenery but also to seriously improve fitness.”
I don’t have much to say about this, though I am feeling pretty fit in my sixties. I’m not riding quite as much as I like, but I have been doing lots of new things, and doing a fair bit of strength training. For the first time since my knee replacements, I’m back doing squats in the squat rack, 3 sets of 155 lbs this week, and I’ve been deadlifting again as well.
Diane posted a check-in on her #26in2026 and that’s prompting me to check in on mine. After all, fall is my last chance. I knew it wouldn’t be good. It’s been a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Summer and lots of things we planned just didn’t happen. So many bad things happened that we started saying we shouldn’t even plan anything because we were certain something new would happen and cancel our plans. At this point, some things won’t happen because of busy schedules (travel, 100 km bike rides), and others won’t happen because the weather for them has passed (Snipe sailing, bike packing, river tubing). The Ice Cream bike ride tradition won’t happen because Slickers has closed for the season.
Other things are possible, but not likely–like riding 3000 km this year!
But I can still make some things happen, like a spa day!
