[KLizotte]

Don’t forget y’all that there are protests planned for Jan 20 & 21!!!!

[KLizotte]

They need a new course to generate excitement. Last year’s was definitely “meh”. Highways don’t do it for me.

[KLizotte]

@cvcalhoun 151753 wrote:

I’m assuming that a broken wrist or ankle would impair your driving as well as your cycling.

Yeah, esp since they both occurred at the beginning of the summer so I was down and out during the nice weather. Was.not.fun.

[KLizotte]

@Judd 151752 wrote:

Car miles were down those years too. Is that from moving?

Nope, in the same apartment bldg since 2008. It helps that the Pentagon City area keeps growing in terms of amenities (Whole Foods!!!). I also use and abuse Amazon Prime so very little need to go to stores.

Also, my vacations in 2015 were overseas and HI so I didn’t use my personal car. In 2016 I didn’t go on any vacations; first time in my life I spent every night in my own bed.

[KLizotte]

On New Year’s Eve I compare the year’s mileage to those on my bike. For the fifth year in a row, the bike came out victorious!

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In 2015 I broke my ankle, in 2016 I broke my wrist. Sigh. That explains why the bike miles are low those two years; I cannot explain why the car miles correlate so strongly with the bike miles though.

[KLizotte]

This is one of those times when it is best to send a cash or a check given the very limited options. She can send it in a card with a bike on it and a nice note about how she hopes he will use the money.

[KLizotte]

Hi, welcome to the forum! It’s nice to see we will have a new ride to look forward to next year.

Just a head’s up that the ridewithgps link does not work. It goes to the site okay but there is no route. Please double check it!

Thanks.

[KLizotte]

It could have been taken by a drone. Attach a GPS unit to the sucker and off you go….

OTOH, flying drones outside is illegal in DC.

[KLizotte]

My 2017 goals:

1) Not break any bones. Gotta break that streak! (pun intended)
2) Lose a minimum of 20 lbs.
3) Finish the entire C&O (I’ve been doing it in pieces).
4) Get faster at climbing hills (see goal #2).
5) Go on vacation (wasn’t able to this year); preferably with bike.
5) Buy a townhouse/condo that will easily and safely store my bikes and car within a half hour commute of work. This may be the hardest goal of all.

[KLizotte]

@rcannon100 150979 wrote:

Did you see ConsularRider??

What service are you using?

No, but I am jealous that ConsularRider has access to such amazing areas to ride. There is some really good biking infrastructure in Germany and some amazing scenery in the southern part of the country.

I am a subscriber to CycleOps Virtual Trainer. They offer uploaded videos from other subscribers as well as professionally done videos of rides around the world. The speed of the video slows down/speeds up based on the rider’s speed and since I have a smart trainer the resistance adjusts automatically based on the gradient profile. The videos vary greatly in quality so I do a quick preview before riding. Right now I’m getting a better workout than I would if I just relied on my short commute. Like all VT products out there, they also offer targeted training programs and there are real time races as well (though not nearly as often or as sophisticated as Zwift). I want to try Bkool next since they seem to offer a combo of Zwift and CycleOps features.

Anyway, I’m enjoying traveling the world from my living room (and making vacation plans). I’ve been to Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, South Africa, parts of the U.S., etc. I’ve found a video that shows cherry blossoms in Japan and who knew Taiwan was hilly!? I was really hoping to be able to “ride” through Australia and see some kangaroos but there are only three videos from Australia and didn’t show what I wanted. Sad face.

I also really like the videos from this company: https://veloreality.com/ but their software doesn’t control the resistance on my trainer so it will only record watts/speed (because the manufacturer of my trainer won’t play nice with them).

Between the software and the smart trainer, my indoor riding is way more engaging than using the dumb trainer and watching movies. That said, I’m still greatly looking forward to warm weather and getting outdoors.

[KLizotte]

@consularrider 150985 wrote:

If it is the one at Rotfelden it is way south of me.

I googled camel farm + Germany last night and was rather shocked to find out that the one your cite experienced a horrific barn fire three years ago. The camels there had been used for charitable purposes so it was particularly sad. That farm is located SW of Stuttgart.

This particular farm is located SE of Munich. I highly recommend biking in that area; is absolutely beautiful.

[KLizotte]

Well, I discovered one advantage of using a smart trainer tonight. I climbed a 25% grade hill at a whopping 1.3 mph and didn’t have to worry about falling over! Whoohoo!

I also passed a camel farm – in Germany! :confused:

[KLizotte]

Well now we know he doesn’t shave his legs.

[KLizotte]

I grew up minutes from the NH border and if you lived in a similarly snowy environment you will be rather shocked by the rather limited, and often ineffectual, snow plowing that occurs in these parts. It can take days for 4-5 inches of snow to be removed, even on the main roads. And yes, we get a lot of black ice. Snow doesn’t evaporate like it does out west; rather, it turns into gray slush that thaws/freezes depending on the time of day and takes eons to disappear.

Worst of all, most drivers in this area seem to be from the southern US and have no experience driving in slippery conditions and think SUVs are safe to drive at 65+ MPH regardless of the road conditions. Many folks use summer tires all year round. I have a 4WD Subaru Outback with all sorts of winter gizmos (even the side mirrors have heaters!) but I have never taken it out to play in the snow in the DC area because I am afraid of all the other drivers. Be careful driving and cycling when the yucky stuff hits. This ain’t Alaska!

[KLizotte]

Competitor or the same folks?

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