Well hello Mr Stan - great to see you here again.

I've been absent a while (sabbatical to the antipodes) but did my first row of 2025 yesterday.

I have a plan to get back to where I was in October but it's going to take a few weeks.

Small steps though.

There's a thread below from @Mike Channin saying that he's done 100xHM in this calendar year.

That's impressive.

We all perhaps have a favourite distance or interval piece that is our "go to".

This might be because of the time we have available to use the C2 or because it suits us physically/CV ...

I think a lot of the above is beyond me in terms of pace and understanding.

I am however inspired to set a little target of my own beginning in January.

I've not done anything over 15k in perhaps 18 months. I'm now finished for a while (I was planning a sneaky trip to the rower today but - 3 days ...

And I'm going to do my best to avoid it by going to the other side of the world for a few months.

My wife and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary next month and since pretty much the first day together we have said that we will visit Australia/New Zealand to celebrate this milestone.

So we ...

I am going to use both beginnings.

And then this to introduce a new faction.

Even though he knew that this would be his final time in this chamber, Drew could not help himself. The speaker from one of the more "enlightened" parts of the Central European Territory was once again banging on about ...

Yes Mike, I was thinking of tailoring the time slots to meet the lower activity level.

I think timing is key.

I'd be looking at April next year. First because the clocks will have changed and lighter evenings may be more welcoming. Second, many will have individual season targets that might ...

A suit with the characteristics of say a smart phone cover which stiffens upon shock?

Or I have him moving more slowly but having been unconscious for a while. Makes rescue easier as well.

I prefer the second opening. Perhaps I'll have both.

Some years ago the club attempted - successfully - (I think twice), a challenge to have somebody rowing every minute for 24 hours.

The day was split into 30 minute segments with 48 rowers completing the line up.

Given the global spread of the club, whilst it may be tricky to have somebody do a ...

Apologies for the stream of consciousness here.

An alternative beginning might be from the perspective of a group which has infiltrated the construction site with a view to sabotage. I lead up to the planned event as though they are successful only to find that they are in fact controlled by the ...

Interesting - thanks guys.

In terms of his perspective (and ignoring literary licence and going for the scientifically accurate), the "nudge" he got from the part being fitted needs to be enough to send him beyond help quickly but not enough to damage him/his suit. If he nudged away at 200m/sec ...

Every decent story needs a good start.

There are some established ways of doing this.

A straightforward timeline driven, first person description.

A retrospective view from later in the storyline.

Jumping into an event which grabs the attention.

I'm playing with the above (and more) but for the ...

Thank you Mr Plum.

Do you mean that I can use this record as a target as well?

Sooo many people with pretty graphs, although I'll observe that they are all males.

Do you ladies not create graphs to track progress?

I'm just about weening myself off thinking that each session I do on the erg needs to be an hour at max speed for that day. Last few sessions have been the C2 ...

Morning.

Having clawed my way to 45th (as at time of writing) thanks to a friendly rivalry with Eric M I may be forced into a pause.

Getting to that place has seen me pass 8m lifetime recorded and also just over 100k for the present team challenge.

I think however that a weekend gardening - and ...

And that is 8 million recorded metres.

Not quite on the nose.

I had a pop at the work out of the day yesterday which was 20cal x 20 with 20r. Did not go well.

I blew at around 5k (which I've not recorded yet) and felt as weak as a kitten.

I have been doing steady state (for me) 10k to 1 hour sessions. Then a few days away indulging in too much alcohol and ...

Agreed Iain but we're looking at a journey of two/three generations and an Apollo type capsule is unsurvivable for that long.

The plan is for the torus to be able to spin to provide an illusion of gravity - variable of course - but nonetheless provide some "up and down".

I think however one might ...

Thanks.

So volume is 50bn cubic metres.

A bedroom or living room might be say 4 x 4 x 2.5 metres or 40 cubic metres. Say 3 rooms per family of 2. Or 120 cubic metres.

Take out say a third of the total space for services, common rooms, spaces too small to use for people.

Take out another third ...

Respect on doing circa 20k regularly.

For me that would be 90 minutes+ and I fear that my wife would assume I've left home and change the locks!

I have found that my pace over an hour has improved since May (unsurprising as I've done just north of 500k now) but as might be expected is plateauing ...

I'm sorry to hear about the stroke but delighted that you seem to be making a recovery.

I'm not yet retired - although these days I do work four days a week - but I still struggle to make an hour or 75 mins a day to exercise.

I've noticed that Iain.

I've also seen in the past some of those who do the mega metres be in a challenge until the last few days and then switch allegiance. That is also a practice that leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Having thought about the issue of acceleration a little more, I'm going to cheat.

I did think about adopting the "Everest" method, i.e. establishing refueling stations on the "out" leg and using conventional rocket engines. I think however the difficulties of finding these stations in the vastness ...

I thought is said Autumn GOLD - and I'm thinking why is Mike writing about cider?

I tend to listen to my body when less than 100% and go where it takes me.

I don't have a store of HR data to refer to when feeling a little under the weather so just not pushing the envelope is where I need to be ...

I'm hoping to go past 100k by this Sunday after a few days away enjoying the walking in North Yorkshire.

I agree on the inclusion of rowers who are in the team but not signed up for the specific challenge.

Perhaps C2 should by default enrol everybody who has "Free Spirits" as their team and then ...

Great to hear from some names from the past.

I hope you are all well and enjoying the erg.

I've been away for a few days and expected to fall down the table and am pleasantly surprised to have dropped just 2 or 3 places, one of which I hope to recover this afternoon.

As Mike says, it would be ...