[993] My Thoughts on Sports Simulation Games

I've been playing video games since I was a teenager. I've always been partial to computer role-playing games (CRPGs) and sports simulation games like WWE Here Comes the Pain, NBA 2K18, Forza Horizon 4, and the latest I play which is Pro Cycling Manager 2022.

One big thing I've noticed when I play sports career simulation games is that they're not as realistic as I like. What I mean is that your character's development is highly unrealistic. You start out sucking ass so bad but if you play patiently and game the system your character can be one of the greatest of all time at the end of one season.

One possible solution I can think of for this unrealistic progression would be to copy the CRPG way. Start off in a similar tier as your opponents. Let's use basketball as an example. Start your career as a decent bench player with decent stats that can make you useful early on. Make the player hit goals during the season that can slightly increase his stats. Give him buffs that will make him play better or worse, similar to what happens to athletes in real life.

You can't tell me NBA 2K does this because your career player usually starts with a rating in the 60s while decent bench players probably are in the low to mid 70s. Then during the course of the season you can finish with a rating in the 80s. When the offseason comes in that's when you give the player the opportunity to give massive leaps to his stats while working on his game.

Or maybe I'm one of the few that wants to have a realistic career simulation game. I honestly don't know. Maybe give players the options of what kind of career simulation they can experience.

Out.

[992] Inner Tubes

A few days or weeks ago my bike tires finally flattened due to either lack of use or the sealant not sealing anymore. I wasn't really regularly inflating them but to see them flat on the trainer was disappointing.

I'm going to install the inner tubes I bought way back in 2021. No more tubeless and tubeless sealants. Here's why.

• Sealant quality. I'm pretty happy with the sealant I'm using. However even though it's price has dropped considerably it is sort of a pain in the finances to reapply sealant every two to three months. Now I don't know if those more expensive and well-known sealants last longer but at the moment and with my current components I'd rather not spend on expensive sealants.
• My rims. They're not tubeless ready. I just followed along with some videos I saw on youtube on how to convert rims to tubeless set ups. It worked, I've had tubeless tires for a little over a year, but I think I should take a break from doing this to my bike.
• I rarely use my bike anymore. You read that right. I've been spending more time jogging lately than riding my bike. I can't get a decent ride around the village and I really don't want to ride outside during the weekdays so I'd rather jog. I mostly use my bike what my dad is here and I go ride with him for a kilometer or two.
• I can now build a real tubeless ready wheelset with narrower tires. This is maybe the most bullshit reason but I can finally upgrade my wheelset while keeping my current wheelset as reserve. To no surprise though I'm still sticking with an 11-50T cassette, but I'll be looking for narrower tires as I wrote before. Maybe 32-35mm. Or if I can find the parts and tires, a 650b setup.

Out.

[991] Life Musings

I met my very first friend when I was around three or four years old. He was my neighbor. We've been relatively good friends since. He and his family have moved abroad but we still manage to stay in touch and communicate once in a while.

His mom passed away last Monday May 15, 2023. She was seventy-four. It's a good thing he was here since the week before. She was already sick and he flew over to spend some time with her and maybe say goodbye, but I was not expecting this to happen.

I'm getting older.

Out.

[990] Slump

I've been slumping in terms of fitness lately. Or maybe not. Let me explain.

I've been jogging thrice a week now: Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays. My initial reasoning was that I couldn't do 3km for two straight days, but to be honest my motivation has been slumping lately.

It's a challenge for me to try to break out of this slump but I guess real world stuff is affecting my focus on fitness. Heck, I haven't even ridden my bicycle in weeks.

So yes, I'm in a slump.

Out.

[989] Exercise Update

The past few jogs I've decided to stop looking at my heartrate watch and mobile phone. I decided I would just jog and try to be mindful of my pace. I didn't need to see my pace, nor my heart rate.

Zone 2 sure it's nice but I guess I was shackling myself too much on my jogs trying to make sure I was in that zone. I wanted to stick to this certain pace that I believed would keep me in zone 2. However I noticed that before I stopped looking at my watch I was already maintaining my pace but I wasn't in zone 2. I was mostly in zone 4. I was getting frustrated.

So I stopped looking, maybe the past three or four jogs. I would jog three kilometers and the only time I would use my watch and phone would be to start and end my jog. My phone would still have an audio notification whenever I jogged one kilometer and gave some metrics, but really I wasn't paying too much attention.

So what's different? Physically almost little. I'm jogging at a slightly faster pace. When I check my heart rate I'm still way off of zone 2. I honestly couldn't care less to be honest, because I think now what's more important is I can get some exercise in. Maybe in the future I can try focusing on that again, but I'd rather just jog for the sake of getting physical activity in.

Out.

[988] Latest Dream Gravel Bike Build Dump

So I've been watching a lot of youtube videos about the latest bike tech and news and I've got this urge to start building my dream gravel bike build yet again. So for the nth time here are some components I'd want for my dream gravel bike build.

Just remember that this build is purely a mental exercise. I don't have the funds to buy any of these. Sadly.

• Ritchey Outback Frameset size XS. I have no idea if XS is the right size for me because I'm just basing it from rough measurements I've taken from my current bike, the Tsunami Seaboard CX01. I do like the external cable routing of the frame, as well as the multiple mounting points for bottle cages, fenders, and bags.
• Ritchey Comp Zeta Disc Shimano 11 speed wheelset. Another Ritchey component? Hell yes. And they're aluminum as well. There's no reason I can give for why I chose this wheelset because I've never been that interested in wheelsets and tires since I just bike casually and not competitively. I'd replace the front hub with the SON 28 12 Disc 6-bolt Hub Dynamo so I can have a power source for lights or charging power banks.
• Specialized Pathfinder Sport 700x38 gravel tires. I've heard great things about the Pathfinder tires from the Bonk Bros Podcast, though I'm guessing these aren't the tires they're talking about. If these tires are too thick I can always go with the IRC Boken Plus 700x32 gravel tires. I have no idea if I'll be going tubeless or not so in case I decide to get inner tubes it will most likely be Tubolito's Tubo-CX/Gravell-All inner tubes.
• For the seat post and stem I'm going with Redshift Sports' ShockStop System. I've also heard good things about their suspension seatpost and stem and wouldn't mind having a more comfortable bike when I go out and ride.
• For the handlebar I currently want the Coefficient AR carbon handlebar either in size 38 or 40. This handlebar supposedly gives you a more comfortable and efficient ride. I just hope the science behind the handlebar complements the suspension stem from Redshift Sports.
• For the groupset I'm going with my ever reliable Sensah SRX Pro 1x11. By groupset I mean the brifters and the rear derailleur. The reason why I'm picking the SRX Pro is because it's RD can handle up to a 52T cog. I checked Shimano's GRX specs and the biggest gear it can handle is 42T. And yes, I want a mechanical groupset. None of those battery operated groupsets. The reason why I want a dynamo hub is for lights and/or charging power banks.
• All is not lost though because I'll be using Shimano components for other parts of the drivetrain. Like the GRX 42T crankset and the Tiagra BB68 bottom bracket. At the rear is the Deore XT Linkglide 11-50 cassette. Everything will be pulled by a Shimano 105 11-speed chain. If you're wondering why I "only" picked a 105 chain, it's because I'm less of a competitive and more  of a casual cyclist. My current bike also has a 42T chainring and 11-50 cassette so I think this is more than enough for my kind of riding.
• For brakes I'm going with TRP Spyre brakes. They're mechanical dual piston brake calipers that should be enough for the kind of riding I'm doing. Also today I learned that the TRP Spyre is their road brakes and the TRP Spyke is for mountain bikes. So Spyre it is.
• Finally for pedals it's either going to be a Shimano flat pedal or their Saint SPD dual clipless pedals. I was also considering Crankbrothers but according to some websites Shimano has more durable pedals.

Well there you have it. One option for full groupset, crankset, and brakeset would be Campagnolo's Ekar 13 speed groupset. Reasons why I didn't pick this is because a) I'm not sure the cassette will fit in with my chosen wheelset, and b) their cassettes don't reach 50T. At my age and riding style (take a swig of beer every time you read this in this blog post) I'd rather have big gears in my cassette to help me because I've experienced going up a climb and needing my really big cassettes.

Out.

[987] Suzuki S-Presso AGS

It's really official now that it's in Suzuki Philippines' official website. The Suzuki S-Presso AGS (auto gear shift) is finally being sold here currently for PhP660,000.00.

This is interesting news because I've always been a fan of the S-Presso and now that there's an automatic version, all I need is the funds to buy one.

As a side note I can drive stick but with how bad the traffic here is having an auto is way better for stop-and-go situations.

I still have my concerns about the AGS and the features that come with it but for the price it makes me think real hard between this and Toyota's cheapest Wigo automatic.

Out.