Today, we are going to mix things up a bit and share with you a couple of stories from our own riders who did some incredible IRL events. But first I wanted to offer up some great books to help inspire curiosity and change. courtesy of our friends at Canyon Ranch
Seven motivating books to help you – and your partner – stay on a personal path of wellness.
These are some of my favorite Reads and definitely recommend
1. Atomic Habits - Author: James Clear
Why It Matters: This habit-based book takes a long-term approach to behavior change, emphasizing the small changes we can make and their exponential effect if we can remain consistent.
There are a lot of great practical tools and activities scattered throughout that make all the content very actionable for you! -Sam Barthel, Performance Scientist, Canyon Ranch
2. Canyon Ranch Guide to Men's Health - Author: Stephen Brewer, MD
Why It Matters: “A great book to address the many health issues that can occur and potentially be avoided at different ages of men's lives.” -Stephen Brewer, MD, Medical Director, Canyon Ranch
3. Love Me Slender: How Smart Couples Team Up to Lose Weight, Exercise More, and Stay Healthy Together - Author: Thomas Bradbury, PhD., and Benjamin Karney, PhD
Why It Matters: “Love Me Slender…does a great job in addressing the issue of how couples can work together best in order to lose weight and get healthier,
which also helps to build a better connection.” -Stephen Brewer, MD, Medical Director, Canyon Ranch
4. Mapping Cloud 9 - Author: Steven Kotler
Why It Matters: Kotler provides an inspiring look into the history and science of flow performance research.
The audiobook includes narration and open dialogue from Kotler, and it’s a great inside peek into the mind of one of the best contemporary performance psychology writers.
-Dustin Nabhan, Vice President, Health & Performance, Canyon
5. Peak: The New Science of Athletic Performance that Is Revolutionizing Sports - Author: Dr. Marc Bubbs
What It Matters: “Peak explores the fundamentals of high performance, the importance of consistency, and the value of patience.
The weaving together of content from health, nutrition, and exercise is really well done. And by taking scientific research and presenting it into actionable guidance, it shows the value of full integration.”
-Sam Barthel, Performance Scientist, Canyon Ranch
6. Shadow Yoga, Chaya Yoga: The Principles of Hatha Yoga - Author: Shandor Remete
Why It Matters: Shadow Yoga taught me about a practice that was different from than Vinyasa flow and combined it with teachings from the tradition that I was unfamiliar with.
While learning from drawings was a bit challenging, this provided [a great new addition to my] practice. -Dan Marko, Senior Spiritual Wellness Provider, Canyon Ranch Lenox
7. The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible - Author: Charles Eisenstein
Why It Matters: “This book provides a historical perspective that aligns with today's relevant conversations on climate change,
and highlights how creativity can bring greater innovation towards solving big challenges.” -Dan Marko, Senior Spiritual Wellness Provider, Canyon Ranch, Lenox
Admittedly, this is not even close to the full blog post, I encourage you to check out the complete blog post here:
Mike Nosco was Jack’s brother who served our country and his community as a hero. His life was taken in a car accident. Jack and his family were mortified.
He was a very incredible being and meant so much to the community. Jack took his bike and rode and rode one of the hardest routes.
It was 80 miles, and lots of climbing to where he was able to clear his mind and mend over the years. From that, it grew. Every year, he would do this route.
One year, he found that a good friend was struggling with cancer so he asked ten friends to join the ride with him and donate $100 to this family.
Let’s just say more than a few showed up. And at the end of the ride, he packed his backpack with the money and rode to the family’s house.
They were touched and in tears, and to that grew the Nosco Foundation ride.
The weather was perfect. More and more riders began to show up for the beginning ceremony. We were serenaded with bagpipes and incredible singing to remember Mike Nosco
We rolled out with hundreds of cyclists and incredible guidance of firetrucks and a helicopter guiding us down the road
The day had wrapped up and we rolled to the finish which brought happy and grieving tears to everyone’s eyes. We enjoyed the festivities and great food.
A live auction was held to keep working to raise money for these incredible individuals fighting for their lives and some even gathered enough energy to show up to the event.
Every feed zone was lit with music and all the goodies of Skratch, Bonk bars, and JoJA bars. Everyone was so enthusiastic and the whole route was encompassed with kindness and adventure.
Chris Semo, his wife Melinda, Tammy Sapach, Mari Holden, and Myself all did the ride along with our incredible Jack Nosco. Congrats everyone hopefully more Zwifters will join in next year.
Marianne Mason one of our regular riders recently did the 4th section of the TransAmerica ride from Lexington, Kentucky to Yorktown Victory Monument, Virginia. In her own words,
I am recently retired and was looking for a new adventure a friend who had passed had done it a while ago and had said her trip cross country gave her more confidence than ever. I was intrigued by this as she was a big wig for a company and a very successful
This was an all-women’s tour of 23 initial participants between 60-75 yo. Two were 71 yo & two were 75 yo. Twenty-two finished, as one rider got injured.
This ride started on the West coast 5 yrs prior (COVID added a yr), and was broken up into 4-sections, covering the Northern Tier.
This was the last section, ending on the East coast. Seven out of the 22 rides completed the journey from the West to the East coast.
This was my first time riding with this touring company (women's tours). And I was new to the group. Meaning others had ridden with each other at one time or another.
I initially signed up (November 2021) as I wanted to meet other like-minded women riders, as well as, some folks I was frequently riding with while Zwifting. The ride was 20-days in duration with three rest days.
So, 17-days of pedaling! I covered 873 miles, and 48,983 feet of elevation. The total mileage for the ride was 930.
For safety reasons, I cut out a total of 57 miles. Daily mileage was around 50+ or so, with lots of elevation of 3,400+ best guess.
There were 4 things that Marianne said she could not do without.
REI Blow up Pillow for a perfect night's sleep, A Plastic Cafeteria tray for food (even the chef asked to borrow it) as they ate outside on lawn chairs most nights, her Skratch recovery shakes every night which she carried with her to ensure optimal timing and her homemade granola.
Congrats Marianne for such an incredible accomplishment and a wonderful story. For more about her journey and her tips please go over to her blog post here:
We hope you enjoyed the stores to get you off this week. Happy Monday and stay safe!
As always,
Be Kind, Do Fearless