All posts by Mike

Are Ketones the solutions to Life, The Universe, and Everything?

Personal stuff, Tdf trip planning


As most know, Kevin has epilepsy, and has been getting an increasing number of seizures lately at work, and occasionally elsewhere. Thankfully, he has about 20 seconds warning before they hit… otherwise, riding a bike would be a bit too exciting. It’s already bad enough when he has a seizure out on the road, and I’ve got him flat on his back, looking like he’s in a bad way, maybe people thinking he crashed and/or got run over. Gets old having to explain to people he’s fine, he’ll be back on his bike in a couple minutes. But you also start thinking about all the people who just fly by when it looks like someone’s in real trouble.

He’s tried various different meds over the years, and even has a computer implanted (or rather, planted) on top of his brain. Literally. As in, saw the top of your skull off, stick in a computer, then stitch everything back together. But even with all that, he’s still getting seizures.

Traditionally, for reasons unexplained, he has very, very few seizures in France. So we’re hoping the upcoming trip might put them on pause for a while, but it’s also possible that since this is going to be a very short and intense trip, it might not be optimal for seizures this time.

But there is a plan B. There’s this crazy, impossible-to-follow diet, call Ketogenic, that tricks your body into thinking you’re starving and changes brain chemistry in a way to reduces seizures. OK, we ruled it out previously because it was so tough to stick to, but now, you can get exogenous Ketones (basically ingest ketones directly into the body instead of processing them through food). And if you work hard enough at the research, you can find stuff from 2019 showing that exogenous ketones work to reduce seizures, just like the ketogenic diet does. What hadn’t happened, yet, was proof that ketones were safe to take in that fashion.

That was then, this is now. Ketones have also been shown to improve athletic endurance and speed… finding their way into… bike racing! And since they’re (so far) legal, they’ve become quite a big thing, and have proven themselves safe.

So guess what Kevin’s going to be on shortly? Praying that it works! Only downside is, if it makes him even faster…

From Tuesday’s heat to today’s cool & wet on Skyline- things change fast!

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Before getting to the most-rides-
Sunday’s plan was for the full coast run, Pescadero & Tunitas. But once up top and viewing the fogged-in coast, that plan was scrapped without too much thought. In the days before my hand’s sensitivity to cooler weather, it would have been no big deal. But Sunday’s ick would have required that I’d brought my electrically-heated gloves along, and I just wasn’t interested in yet another ride with winter gloves.

So we headed south on Skyline to Page Mill, then descended into Los Altos via Moody. We did take a slightly-different route past the golf course; instead of turning left, we headed right. In the end, you still climb about the same amount. No big hills, just 51 miles. Meh.

Tuesday, our first fling with real heat in the SF Bay Area. Yay, got to dispense with base layers and leg warmers! Sharp contrast to this-morning’s ride, where it was cold & drizzly up on top.

My power was nowhere to be found today, but Kevin at least was feeling a bit better, with his knee telling him it’s there, but no sharp shooting pain like before. But while there’s no power, endurance isn’t an issue, so maybe I’ll be OK in France.