Zwifting: PC vs iPhone

I had been using my laptop to run Zwift and it worked great. I got an Ant+ adapter and it picked up all my sensors. I was also able to use the Zwift Mobile Link app, too.  However, since I was sharing the laptop with my son it became difficult to ride when he was using the machine, and he was starting to use a lot more frequently.  That meant that I needed another solution. 

I was picking up my Synapse at Brookfield Bicycle Center after getting it overhauled, I think I had a 3K miles on the cassette and chain, and it was shifting like crap, and as I was talking to Shawn about Zwift he showed me this dongle called an Apple Lightning Digital AV Adapter.  It has two ports, one for power and another for HDMI, which meant I could connect my iPhone directly to my TV and run Zwift that way.  

Zwifting made better thanks to the Bicycle Center in Brookfield!

The Bicycle Center was having a Zwift and CycleOps smart trainer demo the week before Thanksgiving.  

As part of the test ride, they were holding a little contest to see who could sprint the fastest. I had arrived straight from work and wasn't really thinking that I would give a try but it looked so easy so I gave it a go.  

I got on the CycleOps Magnus trainer wearing my work pants, an undershirt, and my right pant leg stuffed into my sock. Fortunately, I was wearing sneakers due to my broken ankle and that being the only type of shoe that I could wear with my brace.

Discovering the world of virtual cycling

I try not to think to far ahead in my cycling activities at what future accomplishments I might achieve because you never know when Mr Murphy is going to pop up.

yêu em thời gian dài (Love you long time)

Day three of my of Labor Day Mountain Biking weekend I headed up to Milford Town Forest in Milford, MA, the home of New England Mountain Bike Association's Vietnam Mountain Biking Park. Due to the holiday weekend I couldn't find a guide so I decided to do a self guided tour with a little help from the ViewRanger App.

I was so excited that I was finally riding the Milford Town Forest that I didn't think to turn on route recording after 10 minutes in.  This isn't a paid endorsement for ViewRanger, but let me tell you, that the accuracy of the software and the map was spectacular and I was able to ride mostly self guided.  There is even an Apple Watch App, too, so I was able to check where I was without having to look at my iPhone.  The only downside to the Watch App, however, is that it doesn't orient in your direction of travel, and with the map oriented to the north and you are heading south you are looking at the map upside down.

Viva La Nassarica

My company gave us the Friday before Labor Day off this year giving me a four day weekend which I planned largely to mountain bike.  I have to take my daughter to Boston on Saturday so I thought I would hit Nassahegon State Forest on Friday and then Rockland on Saturday, Sunday ride local and then Monday, Milford Town Forest, aka Vietnam.

I posted an inquiry on the NWCT NEMBA Facebook page to see if anyone was available to act as a tour guide and found that a former Crankfire alumnus, Derek, was willing to give me the nickel tour.  He brought his dog and was rocking to some some killer metal throughout the ride.