[996] Life Updates

Yesterday my daughter graduated from grade school. She'll be starting junior high school next school year.

It was a very amazing feeling seeing her graduate, and the bonus of getting an academic award only made my day even better,

Days like yesterday are meant to be treasured and used as motivation to keep on fighting.

Out.

[995] Bike Update

I rode my bike a few days ago to test my inner tubes. Holy cow I got tired easily. I only did two kilometers or so.

I guess that's what I get for not riding for a few weeks, or even months. Maybe I'll go out to ride again tomorrow and see if I can get my legs back. I always thought jogging would help me maintain stamina for riding but different muscle groups I guess.

Out. 

[994] Gravel Bike Build Revisited

This is connected to this previous blog post of mine about a new gravel bike dream build.

I'll be honest and realistic, I really want a GRX system for my bike but based on specs on Shimano's website the biggest low gear a GRX rear derailleur can have is 42T. Based on how fit I am and one short but steep climb I took I really need at least one gear ratio that's at least 1:1. Which means only one thing.

I'm going with the Shimano GRX 2x11 hydraulic brake, mechanical shifting. It'll have the ST-RX600-R and the ST-RX600-L brifters, the RD-RX812 42T max rear derailleur, the FD-RX810-F front derailleur, the FC-RX600-11 crankset with the 46/30 gearing, a BB-RS501 Tiagra bottom bracket, an 11-40T CS-M7000-11 SLX cassette. Basically you get my drift, all Shimano components, all GRX compatible, even the brakes. I've also decided to go with the Shimano SPD PD-M530 pedals instead of the Shimano Saints just because the former is cheaper (or at least I think it is).

Thinking about it I can also go 1x with the FC-RX600-1 40T 1x crankset with either the 11-40 or 11-42T rear cassette. If this is the case then I'll be using the BL-RX600-L left brifter instead. Come to think of it, this isn't that bad an idea since I don't plan on riding too fast anyway.

I didn't add a saddle before and I think I'd like to try the Brooks C17 all-weather saddle. Yes it's not the leather Brooks saddle but it is an all-weather saddle. And it's still Brooks. It also seems to have a positive review from a bike website I trust.

So there, some updates from my previous post where I was too lazy to add a decent groupset. Although I have heard the Sensah has a hydraulic braking mechanical groupset about to come out soon.

Out.

[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.