What you did today

[Keyrock]

Well, Mother Nature cooperated after all.  The rains stopped about an hour and a half ago and the sun came out.  More rain is on the way, but it's several hours away.  The roads are mostly dry now.  I just ate a sammich and I'm going to hit the bike in about 20 minutes or so.  I should have no problems getting in a good ride and getting back before the next round of thundershowers. 

[Woldan]

How long does it take you to leave the city to hit the country roads where cycling is much more comfortable?

 

I can't even imagine how biking in the city works, you can hardly go full speed anywhere and the stops and goes on traffic lights must make you go insane. Not to mention the lack of inclines and steep hills to climb. Thats no way to increase your endurance. 

Edited July 27, 2014 by Woldan

[Keyrock]

How long does it take you to leave the city to hit the country roads where cycling is much more comfortable?

 

I can't even imagine how biking in the city works, you can hardly go full speed anywhere and the stops and goes on traffic lights must make you go insane. Not to mention the lack of inclines and steep hills to climb. Thats no way to increase your endurance. 

I'm in the metropolitan area of Hartford (the capital of Connecticut), but not in the very center.  Regardless of which direction I go, I have to bike at least 4 miles before I get to less congested roads and don't have to deal with traffic lights that much.

 

I did a shorter, distance and duration wise, ride today, just under 2 hours, but it was more intense.  I did the Avon Mountain climb today, but from a different side than I usually do it.  There are (at least) 3 different sides to go up Avon Mountain.  The West Hartford side (the way I go most often), the Farmington side (the way I went today), and the Avon side (the side furthest away from where I live).  Both the West Hartford and Farmington sides are about 2 1/2 miles of climbing.  The West Hartford side is mostly at a 7 to 8% incline with one section of respite, conveniently placed a little over halfway through the climb, that flattens out to about 3% for a couple hundred yards.  The Farmington side starts out brutal, with about 200 yards at about 12% right off the bat, but the rest of the climb is on average about 6, maybe 6.5%, and there are a couple of sections where it flattens out completely for a while, letting you get your legs back a bit.  The Avon side, which I've yet to do this year (I will), is the shortest, but probably most difficult of the climbs.  It's only a little over a mile, 1.2, I think, but it's 10% the entire time, no relief whatsoever until you reach the top.

[Woldan]

Wha...., 6%, 8% and 12% inclines??? I don't want to be a smug arse but you really should come to Austria, here cycling routes feature several mountains with 1-hour long 20-25% inclines, if you want them or not.  8% is considered a perfectly flat road around her, which are rare.  

  

The upside is, all those painful 20% inclines eventually result in very rewarding 20% declines. And then, rinse and repeat. 

 

Regardless of which direction I go, I have to bike at least 4 miles before I get to less congested roads and don't have to deal with traffic lights that much.

 

4 miles doesn't sound bad, you could actually benefit from it if you use those 4 miles for warm up! I wish I had a warmup section. 

Edited July 27, 2014 by Woldan

[Keyrock]

I take what I can get.  Connecticut doesn't have much in the way of mountains, certainly not sizable ones.  If I want mountains, then I can drive 4 hours north to Vermont or New Hampshire.  Not this year, though, as I'm not doing any real vacation this year and don't want to pay travel expenses.  I'm in super tighten the belt mode for the next year, maybe 2, trying to save up enough to comfortably move a couple years down the line.  It will suck in the short term, but will hopefully be worth it in the long term.  I haven't solidly decided where to move to yet, but I'm thinking around Virginia, North Carolina, or Tennessee.  I'm wussing out.  I'm tired of harsh winters (you live in Austria, so you'd probably laugh at my concept of "harsh winter").  I don't ski or snowboard, nor do I have any desire to, so winter does little for me, except piss me off.  I'm tired of shoveling snow, I've done it all my life, having lived in Poland, (West) Germany, and Connecticut.  I want to go somewhere that still has some winter, but a pretty mild winter.  The areas I mentioned would seem to fit the bill with average highs during the dead of winter in the mid to upper 40s (Farenheit) and lows in the upper 20s.  I don't want to go too far south like Georgia or Florida, where winter doesn't exist and summers are flat out brutal.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Keyrock

[Woldan]

As long as it feels demanding its good. Slowly pedaling up a really steep mountain or speeding up a light slope with 23mph - both will increase your endurance. 

[Nepenthe]

While I've lived in quite a few exotic and warm places, I've never been this uncomfortable in my life (sustained ~30c with Finnish building principles, where walls are supposed to retain maximum heat. Also no AC at work or at home).

[Malcador]

Nice and cool here, high of 21 C.  Pretty swell summer here, not too hot, though far too many rainy days - even if the rain we do get is always at night otherwise it is fairly light.

[Azdeus]

While I've lived in quite a few exotic and warm places, I've never been this uncomfortable in my life (sustained ~30c with Finnish building principles, where walls are supposed to retain maximum heat. Also no AC at work or at home).

 

It has been the same deal here in Sweden, but atleast it's going to be cooler in the coming days.

[Nepenthe]

 

While I've lived in quite a few exotic and warm places, I've never been this uncomfortable in my life (sustained ~30c with Finnish building principles, where walls are supposed to retain maximum heat. Also no AC at work or at home).

 

 

It has been the same deal here in Sweden, but atleast it's going to be cooler in the coming days.

Yeah, meanwhile we're projecting around 30 for the rest of the week and mid-thirties for the next one. My window thermometre was showing 32c at 6:30am...

[Raithe]

Heh, I had a friend who just got back from Columbia and was told that they'd had cooler weather over there then the UK has been having the last week or so.

[Serrano]

I saw one of these and now I want one so badly 

 

http://youtu.be/u82XViQUBEI 

[Keyrock]

 

Yeah, meanwhile we're projecting around 30 for the rest of the week and mid-thirties for the next one. My window thermometre was showing 32c at 6:30am...

 

Damn.  I know latitude isn't the only determining factor for an area's climate, but that has to be very unusually hot for a country as far north as Finland.

[Keyrock]

I saw one of these and now I want one so badly 

 

http://youtu.be/u82XViQUBEI 

A 404 Not Found Error?  I dunno, I never thought they were all that special.  I'm more partial to Google Chrome's Aw, Snap! Something Went Wrong Error.

[Labadal]

Spent all my time in the basement floor. It's cool and has good air conditioning.

[mkreku]

Speaking of heat.. I've been sleeping with my balcony door open:

 

 

Heard a noice when I went to the bathroom, looked up, saw that. It's around 10 cm (4 inches) from ass to nose (scary tentacles not included). Never saw a bug that big in Sweden before.

 

I think it plans to kill me..

[Labadal]

I'd run around and scream like a little kid and yell at my mom to kill it. I'd look myself up until the deed was done.

 

Err, I mean that I would man up and tell my underlings to stomp it to death. Lords like me do not bother with mere insects.

[Gfted1]

My grandmother waged war with grasshoppers. Every day she would walk around her house patrolling her rose bushes, and whenever she would encounter one she would calmly take her shoe off and beat it to death.

[Woldan]

Speaking of heat.. I've been sleeping with my balcony door open:

 

 

Heard a noice when I went to the bathroom, looked up, saw that. It's around 10 cm (4 inches) from ass to nose (scary tentacles not included). Never saw a bug that big in Sweden before.

 

I think it plans to kill me..

Be careful, those super huge grasshoppers have a nasty bite. Years ago one landed on my shirt and bit me, the wound was bleeding for an hour. That was such an unexpected attack. O_o

This is a female specimen, look at the ovipositor.

 

Also, think its funny to see people from Finland and Sweden complain about the heat, 30 degrees is perfectly normal in Austria and considered ''Warm' - unless temperature climbs close to 40.  We have kind of cold winters though. 

Edited July 28, 2014 by Woldan

[Malcador]

30 C isn't all that bad, used to get that back home a lot. Humidity and the smog make it worse, the latter more so.

[Elerond]

Also, think its funny to see people from Finland and Sweden complain about the heat, 30 degrees is perfectly normal in Austria and considered ''Warm' - unless temperature climbs close to 40.  We have kind of cold winters though.

It is normal in Austria to have temperature to go over 30 degree of Celsius at night?

[Woldan]

It is normal in Austria to have temperature to go over 30 degree of Celsius at night?

On hot summers - yes. Summer last year we had 41 degrees followed by weeks of humid 38 degrees and no wind.

 

What I did today: more classic strongman exercises. 42Kg dumbbell power cleans and pressing with shoulder only and no leaning. Fun exercise. 

Edited July 28, 2014 by Woldan

[Elerond]

 

It is normal in Austria to have temperature to go over 30 degree of Celsius at night?

On hot summers - yes. Summer last year we had 41 degrees followed by weeks of humid 38 degrees and no wind.

 

What I did today: more classic strongman exercises. 42Kg dumbbell power cleans and pressing with shoulder only and no leaning. Fun exercise.

 

I though that last summer was hottest summer in recorded history of Austria, so I would not take it best example of normal temperatures.

[Woldan]

A temperature increase of 1 or 2 degrees for a couple of days doesn't make it tons hotter than other summers. Just a bit to break a record. Personally, I found the 35 degree Celsius for 5 weeks with no wind and high humidity more uncomfortable than a couple of dry 39-41 degree days. I remember I did a bike tour along the Danube river on that record breaking day and I did 75km, I was surprised when I read about the broken record later that day. 

[Azdeus]

 

Yeah, meanwhile we're projecting around 30 for the rest of the week and mid-thirties for the next one. My window thermometre was showing 32c at 6:30am...

 

 

That really sucks, I don't envy you that. We're expecting 28c tomorrow and then a dropoff to around 20 on wednesday. But SMHI is about as reliable as wild guessing for their predictions, so I fully expect that by tomorrow they'll have done a 180 on that forecast.