when I get the trainer set up I am going to let my wife decide the platform.

Zwift, rouvy, or wahoo system. What ever she picks decides my fate.

They all suck balls after a while. Zwift, at least, allows some social interaction. My wife uses Rouvy. If I were simply interested in scenery, I'd use Trainer Road.

I like Zwift more than I like riding alone in the dark IRL.

Fantastic fall Friday.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dc7271a20.jpeg

Me too, or not being able to grab the brakes with cold-paralyzed hands, but it's all relative, isn't it?

I have what many consider to be a high stress occupation in a field that has more than its share of drug and alcohol dependency. Most of my work involves monetary amounts that are far more than my malpractice coverage, so there is always the pressure of not screwing up and stress that goes with it. Couple that with client expectations for turn around and other things, and it can pile up. Fortunately, it is not the type of stress that is personally demoralizing.

The one thing that I've learned is that if there is any time when it's important to keep up your fitness, exercise and diet, it is when you are stressed. While that is the time when it is easiest to skip the exercise, it is also the time to push to get more. It also helps to vary things and not just rely on one form of exercise.

It also helps to waste time on the internets. ;)

We will be heading that way tomorrow afternoon. I am afraid the weather won't be quite so sunny but we have reservations at a restaurant near Rittenhouse Square for our 30th anniversary.

Visiting General is a good way to accomplish that. :innocent:

I thought that disc brakes solve that problem. :innocent:

I'm not a good stress manager and have dealt with crushing job stress before. It changes your whole life. Hoping you can relax for a bit and your new job will be better for your mental health.

For years, our club members had a Tuesday and Thursday ride in terrible rush hour traffic. I'd do them when I could because I like the people but when I retired I only did them a couple times and no more. The Tuesday ride I do now has routes that are carefully chosen to avoid commuters, for the most part.

After a year of not doing the weekend club rides I am more sensitive to traffic and don't want to do routes I have done for years. I've spent more time on the bike path than I ever thought I would and I want to do more dirt riding, too. A friend says he might sell me one of his gravel bikes and that sounds like a way to avoid cars, too.

Maybe I'll take the mtb out this afternoon and cruise around the hills.

I don't chase people down any more. More problem than it's worth. I'd rather be appreciative I didn't get smushed.

Made it through another morning of grinding by hand. The little lady even ground the second batch. I need to lube the spindle because it squeaks a bit. I'm surprised these things are about $100 new. I should check eBay and see what a 1970ish one with patina goes for.

I must be slow because I rarely catch up to naughty drivers. :foo:

I don't ever approach cars or even gesture at them. Just want to stay as far away from them as I can since typically two things will happen: (i) the occupants will be aggressive and you don't know what they will do, or (ii) the occupants will be scared, go into defense mode, and you don't know what they will do. Too many guns in cars, among other things, around here to take those chances.

Only bad things can happen if you confront a vehicle. You're not going to "win."

After some fits and starts, my first smart trainer ride is complete.

It's weird. I find erg to be very counterintuitive and the erg downward spiral sucks. I'll give it a little more time to get used to it for threshold-ish stuff, but I have doubts that I'll ever warm to it for sprinty stuff.

Erg mode is merciless. Avoid.

When catching up with drivers that have endangered me, I find that they're typically very receptive to feedback and are grateful for the learning experience.

Ha ha - j/k.

I wouldn't say that... I'd just say that it doesn't reflect the dynamics of cycling in the real world. :innocent:

Do you just ride in slope mode or something? That's the closest to what a good dumb trainer does, right? Resistance increases as wheel speed increases?

I think that Wahoo's System (I don't know which vowels they've omitted :rolleyes:) could be pretty interesting. It's absorbed all of Sufferfest (which is my favorite in terms of setting power zones, instead of simply scaling zones based off of FTP) and they seem to have added some new, less punishing ride options with video, and the new phantom ride thingie seems like it could be really cool (camera footage from an actual ride/pro race and you have to match the [scaled] efforts of the rider; you can also use this to re-ride one of your previously recorded outdoor rides). I'm not sure if it has any social, fake ride aspect, but I would expect not.

You should visit a big city's downtown sometime. Drivers generally can't get a half mile down the road before hitting a red light.

British accent: "Thank you for alerting me of my error, good sir. This has been a teachable moment, and I will certainly be mindful when passing cyclists in the future!"

No lights here in the boondocks, obv.

Brown Squirrel vicinity is pretty suburban looking, tough to catch a car in that environment.

It's even tough in some big cities. Salt Lake City for instance doesn't have many areas where cars have to stop/go constantly.