Long distance bike packing races however brutal they may be look like they fulfil an ideal. They have an activity that’s not that fast but where you can still cover a lot of distance and terrain. The contestants are physically and mentally absurdly fit and still they go through hell. The remoteness of the locations usually creates a special connection to the local people and culture.
It’s something more people should do or at least aspire to.
In this podcast episode a court case is treated (with the public prosecutor) where during a fluke accident a girl riding along on a bike is killed by a bus in Amsterdam.
The thoroughness and consideration with which that is done contrasted immensely with how things run in Berlin and made it clear to me (again) how unserious this city is.
I’ve been playing Breath of the Wild while I’m lying flat and my experience is identical to that of Craig here. All the way back to the gold cartridge I used to have for the NES as a kid.
Not being able to walk for a couple of weeks has been hugely ameliorated by being able to walk, scramble, climb across the continent of Hyrule. The walks and the ‘boredom’ of the game are worth leaning into.
The days are long but the years are short.
One more year over and these are starting to look like a blur, so here’s what changed.
I gave notice between Christmas and New Year 2020 and spent the first three months of the year in a weird in-between state mostly done with the old job, waiting for the new one to start, in between daycare closures and being sick.
Then the new job started and I fell into a blur of work that has continued for most of the rest of the year. It’s been a nice change but also very intense. Details are on LinkedIn.
I haven’t been anywhere in 2021 except to an island in Croatia last September with work which definitely was a highlight.
Will I travel again and why? I have no idea.
I finished Turkish. I now prefer it over German again especially for writing.
I gave up on Chinese and couldn’t motivate myself or figure out how to book the HSK2. I did learn a couple hundred characters which seem to mean the same thing as in Japanese.
I started learning Japanese which is a lot more enjoyable and for basic conversation seems a lot easier. There also has been some strengthening on the claim for a relationship between Turkish and Japanese so let’s see how it goes.
I should have started this way earlier and not listened to anybody who ever said something is difficult. What they mean is that something was difficult for them. Depending on their intelligence, many things may in fact be difficult for them. It shouldn’t matter to me or anybody else.
The daycare was closed at the start of the year until March or Easter, not sure anymore. Most of the rest of the year things were up and running.
We had a nasty burn wound on one kid that cut the summer break short and gave us several weeks of grief but in the end all turned out well.
Then at the end of the year we gave notice. We are leaving one very esteemed Kindergarten for another which I didn’t think would be possible with two kids in the middle of the year, but it is. We even had several more places willing to take our kids.
The kids are doing really well. After a brief bout of gymnastics which they enjoyed a lot, COVID made us switch to outdoor ice skating for now.
I finally killed my old fixie or to be more correct it nearly killed me. With it gone, I could finally shop for a real road bike.
Thanks to a ship blocking the Suez Canal and all the other supply chain difficulties in the world, there was a tremendous bike shortage most of the summer (who knows, maybe it’s still going on?) and I got any random bike I could get my hands on in the €1000 price range.
I also got most of the tools and kit that you would need for cycling. It’s the clichéed guy midlife hobby. The local Rapha store is more convenient and also cheaper than many of the cycling apparel you can buy dropshipped over Instagram.
I seem to have ridden 1231km on it and looking forward to doing many times that in the coming year. The details are on Strava.
I picked up bouldering again which when in a rhythm (every 4-5 days) I’m finding pretty enjoyable.
I got boosted randomly on November 17th which was a lot earlier than I expected and before almost everybody I know. I am now AZ/Comirnaty/Comirnaty.
We survived another year. That’s it. That’s the year note.
The San Diego Loyal got a lot of additional fans with this move. A great example too for European clubs in a lot of ways.
I was saddened by reading that Iepe, a Dutch fixture here in Berlin, had passed away suddenly and far too young.
Wild that even a mild cycling habit at the population level can strongly reduce obesity rates.
The necessity of physical fitness to create peak mental performance has been a well-known fact in esports. Useful to see the documented effects of pushing yourself cognitively within the chess world.
The 1984 World Chess Championship was called off after five months and 48 games because defending champion Anatoly Karpov had lost 22 pounds. “He looked like death,” grandmaster and commentator Maurice Ashley recalls.
I had kinda forgotten about Soigneur, but then I ran into this amazing set of photos of racing bikes in the city. That new race bike seems to be getting closer and closer.
Scooters are not legal in Germany yet but in select locations like here in Berlin you can try them out on private land.
This was my first ride and they are an immense pleasure to use once you get your feet positioned properly. I’m not sure yet what happens if you fall off one but I’m pretty sure it will be bad.
The law allowing these on the road has supposedly been signed but still has to work its way through some German institutions. What will happen when these are legal is obvious:
I hope I’m proven wrong but it’s hard to see how it would go any other way.