At the very end of summer we visited the Braslaw district once again, this time with a different crew. Saw a massive 🍫 "Spartak", in half-kilo and kilo options. They even have it at the ⛽️ on the way in. Then we went to that very same safari park, gawked at the 🐻🐰🐱🐑🐗🐎. On the beach near the town, we chatted with some locals. At first they seemed fine, but then they suddenly went off on the treacherous NATO that's ruining their lives. That gave me the push to take my leave, seeing as it was already getting late anyway. Also, unexpectedly at the end we rode to Dpils from the border under our own power, and ended up crushing a whopping 100km. I think there's a chance to repeat it this year. Not only do I have company and a car, but I also caved to peer pressure and ordered myself a direct drive bike trainer.
It's this thing where you put your bike in without the rear wheel (the trainer has its own "pseudo-wheel"). Then you turn on a special program (game?) on the TV, and you ride your bike over drawn hills and dales. Other cyclists ride in this virtual world too, including your friends, and you can hammer it together, just like in real life. True, no matter how much I've asked around, nobody wants to yet, so for me that ➕ is a bit dubious.
Also, when you pedal up a virtual ⛰, the trainer resists to make it harder for you, and when you go downhill — it helps. Naturally, there are competitions there too, and all sorts of nudges to force you to ride more and get healthier. These kinds of things are widely known nowadays in the form of TikTok, Insta, and Facebook as the attention economy. Luckily, in training apps you pay with real 💰💰💰, and not by watching ads. Ultimately, I don't see any harm from the creators of this software pressing your dopamine buttons, it's nothing but solid benefits.
There are various training platforms, and trainers connect to them in a universal way, so I bought the less expensive Zwift Hub. It costs less than the alternatives, with the calculation that you'll buy a subscription and shell out to the creators every month, thereby compensating for the almost subsidized product. This concept is known as the "Gillette principle". I think for the new generation the parallel with game consoles is clearly more relatable, where you buy a console below cost, only to fork over a fortune for licensed games later.