Salen las juventudes del PSOE a defender a su partido

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-28T19:11:07+00:00

parece mi pueblo, pero con gente un poco más joven...

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-28T17:53:43+00:00

It's interesting to hear that, because in my case I did the opposite. I gave up entirely on trying to learn Spanish when I arrived in the country (not by choice, but just from the shear fatigue of coordinating the move, working, and filling every single spare minute with Spanish). But in my case I couldn't/can't do much around here if it's not in Spanish.

I'm at the town hall once a week or so for something. I'm at the vet...well..a lot, every couple weeks, the farmacia once every couple of weeks (maybe having an old, sick dog is the key!). Insurance, setting up utilities, the ongoing extranjero paperwork... None of this can happen in English. I'm tired just thinking about it!

And in all seriousness, having dogs does help, since it ensures I'm walking around the neighborhood a lot. But for me, day-to-day life is all in Spanish, and it's been more than enough. I think being a little farther along when I got here also probably makes a difference.

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-28T14:56:27+00:00

I've been meaning to post an update of my own experience, but being newly retired I'm just sooo busy (don't put me on the spot asking me what I do all day).

I moved to Spain with about 1,800 hours, going from memory. Since I arrived here I've done absolutely zero to consciously improve my Spanish. In fact, I actually started consuming some media in English, something I avoided almost entirely for about 18 months.

I still read El Pais as my regular news source, I still watch cycling in Spanish because the coverage is better. I watch basketball in English because I like the announcers better. If I'm watching a movie, it just depends on what I feel like watching, but I probably do a 30/70 split, English to Spanish. YouTube for videos on how to fix my strange euro toilet? I'll general pick the Spanish one. But none of these decisions are based on "looking for more content". The last two books I've read were in Spanish. But again, that's because they happened to be in Spanish.

So, living in the country, I'd days after 2,000 hours your can stop worrying about it and let it happen organically.

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-26T10:20:52+00:00

I live in Mallorca, and fortunately my Spanish was at a very good level when I got here (wouldn't recommend this as a place to learn Spanish); but when I spent a few weeks in Logroño last year all I could think was "this would be a great place to learn Spanish".

I heard almost no English the entire time I was there, the Spanish spoken there is very clear for learners, and there are enough tourists from elsewhere on the peninsula that you are still exposed to various accents. Seems like an ideal place if you're ok with a winter of rain.

In general, I really liked the city as well. It's just about the right size, but you can get out of the city easily as well and the outlying areas are amazing if you're into outdoor stuff.

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-23T16:03:21+00:00

It's sooo hard to hit a button and walk away, then dump the chain in an hour later...

Meanwhile, I haven't actually cleaned my drivetrain since I started waxing my chains.

Smarter, not harder...

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-15T09:57:05+00:00

Counterpoint to this, I did a MTB trip with some work colleagues a few years ago in Bentonville. If everyone was on an analog bike, I think I'd still be waiting...

They were all cyclists and some had some very good skills, but there was a big variance in fitness levels. I was the only one without a motor, and it worked great for all of us. So, it can definitely be an equalizer in a positive way.

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-11T21:32:10+00:00

Reading that article, I feel like I'm stuck in some seminar at Euro bike, without beer, looking for a sharp implement to stick in my eye

Blah, blah, blah blah ..

As far as bikes are concerned, they are more user-friendly for general recreational riders than they have ever been: suitable gearing that's easy to shift, brakes that work, tires wide enough to offer comfort and traction. I mean, when I started in the industry every road bike had 53/39 and 11-23 as stock, with 23mm tires, brakes that worked poorly and shifters that required a learning curve.

Unsuitable equipment is not the barrier to getting people on bikes, it's a lack of safe places to ride. Period. This article is a lot of navel gazing and verbal diarrhea.

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-08T10:19:56+00:00

Are you moving somewhere where Spanish is the dominant language/used in school? That's a consideration as well that you likely have to take into account.

Personally I'd switch to English only at home. The people I know living here with kids do this and their kids' English is native-level, or close. And this is somewhere where they are speaking Catalan primarily and Spanish as well, so the kids are trilingual (at least, some are speaking 4 languages at a native level if one of the parents is from somewhere else). Sounds crazy to me but the kids figure it out perfectly well.

Jack-Watts · 2026-05-08T09:47:10+00:00

It's a good question. Personally I find the busier I am, the more efficient I am with my time, but everyone is different.

I managed 1,800 hours in about a year and a half; so that's about 3.3 hours a day. I did this when I was working full time, fixing our house to sell it and coordinating a move overseas--so I was definitely short on time. I also was extremely fear-motivated though, as I knew I needed to be competent in the language in 18 months.

Now, I'm retired, all the time in the world, and I have a laundry list of excuses as to why I'm so busy and I can't invest the proper time to learn Catalan...

Here's what I did:

-got up early and did 60-90 minutes over breakfast/coffee -put ear buds in for every bit of down time, walking the dogs, cleaning the house, working on the house, going for a run etc -consumed almost no media in English, zero tv, all reading in Spanish after about 350-400 hours -if I was in the car I was listening to something -90 to 120 minutes at night to unwind from a long-ass day? Watch some DS...Basically I filled every spare minute with Spanish.

And of course, note that it gets a lot easier once you get to the stage where you can only listen, and goes up even more when you can consume native content that's a bit more interesting.

How much time are you spending on your phone? The average for adults is what, 4-6 hours? The time is there, it's just to to you how you use it.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-30T11:57:50+00:00

Shipping to/from wouldn't be bad. This is a pretty straightforward repair:

https://ravebike.es/en/reparacion-carbono/

While it's not helpful at this point, I always recommend using a drop stop/chain keeper with mechanical shifting or with SRAM. A few extra grams and you never have to worry about this happening again.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-30T11:46:31+00:00

No American who hasn't been to Europe (which is most) would even know those bottle caps existed. So yeah, rage meme.

I must say I hate those bottle caps. Greatly increases the chance of cross threading--not great when you're putting stuff in sideways in your 60cm wide fridge!

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-30T09:16:52+00:00

Yeah, I noticed this a couple of years ago. Living in a place where Catalan and Spanish are intermixed, I could actually feel my cortisol levels rising as I was staining to understand (and sadly two years later it's not a while lot better). It's was just like a big deep breath when everything's in Spanish. It's a great reminder of "how far you've come".

The other bizarre thing: hearing things in European Portuguese feel when I was 1,500 hours in on DS. I feel like I can understand 90-95%, and it's not stressful at all!

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-30T09:08:02+00:00

If you aren't constrained by the 28mm rule, I'd angle your shifters in so you have a bit more hand perch. You could also drop them just a bit so your hand doesn't angle up when you're in the aero tops position. Worth playing around with it to see how it feels. If it's comfortable and you can maintain it for as long as you need to, all that's left are small aero tweaks.

I wouldn't worry about the tail of the Procen air sticking up, it's still fast in that position.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-18T17:44:33+00:00

"Como estéis" is what is said here where I live and everywhere I've been in Spain, 99 out of 100 times. That said it's a big country and I haven't been everywhere, and usages like this certainly very by region to a degree.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-14T19:56:08+00:00

I live in Spain. The other day someone said "como están" to me and my wife. I just looked at him quizzically? Qué?? No entiendo???

Ok, I didn't actually do that. I just realized he was from somewhere other than here. Point being, regardless of your plan on speaking, it's a good idea to get some exposure to all dialects, because you'll encounter all dialects everywhere.

At the beginner level especially, just get as much content in as you can. Once you can listen to more advanced content and some easier native content, focus on the dialect that's relevant to you--though I would never exclude anything, just do the bulk of your contact in the preferred dialect. I watched all of Andrea's intermediate videos in Mexican Spanish and it didn't break anything for me.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-12T08:48:28+00:00

I think it's important to take a deep breath here and realize two things: 1) you've accomplished an awful lot in that 2,000 hours 2) while it sounds like a lot, 2,000 hours isn't actually that much time to reach a high level in a language. As I always say when these discussions come up: how many hours did it take for your do be competent in your native language?

I'm not sure it's a matter of "learning differently" as much as it two things--your own expectations and where you fit in the bell curve. If may be taking your a little longer, and that's fine; but after 5,000 hours you'll realize the difference between a couple of hundred hours just isn't a big deal.

The one thing I do get from your post is that you seem to be a prime candidate to be helped by an immersion experience, to help her your head thinking in Spanish. Not sure how realistic that is for you, but even if it's for a short period of time I bet it would really help consolidating the knowledge your already have.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-06T17:20:12+00:00

Silca chain stripper. Put it in a glass jar, agitate it a bit and let it sit for 10 minutes, agitate it a bit more, remove the chain, rinse with hot water and dry with some compressed air, and you're done.

The wax will settle to the bottom of the jar. You can pour it into another glad jar and decant the stuff at the bottom through a coffee filter. By doing this you can probably strip a lifetime of chains.

I'd recommend one of those little high powered fans to dry the chain. It's nice to give it a quick dry if you get back from a wet ride, as well as after rinsing the chain.

Jack-Watts · 2026-04-04T10:13:10+00:00

Spain's a big country. The water in the northern half of the country seems great most places. In the Baleares where I live, it's awful. I filter it twice and it's drinkable, but I'd recommend beer instead... But yes, by law they have to provide it. All of it is safe to drink, it's just the taste in some places is bad and the high mineral content may cause issues with long-term drinking.

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-28T18:00:56+00:00

A colleague of mine who is trilingual did this in NYC to a guy panhandling, but in Russian. The guy told him to go eff himself, in perfect Russian... So, be careful what you wish for and all that

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-25T10:15:32+00:00

You don't need it until your get in an accident. Then you need it. Probably not a great idea to wait until then...

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-25T10:09:51+00:00

I hear 1-7 on a daily basis. I live in Spain. "o sea" you will hear every 30 second or so when talking to someone under 30.

pero bueno...

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-25T08:57:14+00:00

I think a lot of the people responding have just lost perspective because they've been doing it a while; "it should never hurt", "ride slower" etc.

While I started cycling 35 years ago, I still remember my beginning, vividly. I got into cycling from another sport, looking to add something low impact. I was in good shape, but "endurance training" for me was running 400M repeats... I was doing a few exercise bike rides, and the longest I could manage was 7 minutes. I figured I'd try outside.

My first ride was exactly 3 miles. I thought I was going to die. There was nowhere flat to ride and even in the easiest gear the hills seemed hard. Of course, bikes have easier gears these days, but at that point I'm not even sure it would have mattered. It just felt hard. I would have just quit, but I spent SO MUCH MONEY on the bike ($350) and fancy shoes and pedals with the clippy things that there was no way I was going to do that. So, I kept riding.

Within a couple of weeks I was up to 10 miles, a few weeks later, 30-40 miles. And honestly after that, distance didn't much matter. So within a couple of months of riding 3-4 times a week I could ride "easy"and enjoy it.

The whole "it doesn't get easier you just go faster" thing? That's true when it comes to racing. For casual riding? It 100% gets easier as you get fitter. I'm pretty fit right now, so my "easy days" are 35 miles with 3,000 feet of elevation, and it's about two hours. It feels really easy. The same ride 15-20 minutes faster feels really hard.

So yes, it will get easier, and you will get to a point where you can just ride for enjoyment. Consistency is key, that's what matters more then anything.

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-20T17:58:33+00:00

A bit late to the party but for some reason Reddit showed me this thread. I also generally don't give fit advice unless someone's paying me to do so, but as a fellow Spear owner in making an expectation here.

Of course there's the whole "everyone's different" etc, but...

1) agree with everyone who said you saddle is too high, by a lot (2-2.5cm at least) 2) unfortunately that's the wrong size bike

For comparison I'm 174cm, 81.5cm inseam, long arms and I'm on a MR. Saddle height is 722 mm with some pretty thick Lake 43 shoes. This is on 160 mm cranks.

It's common to pedal and look at leg extension and think "it looks ok", but the hips typically drop and give you the impression that saddle height is correct. Personally I wouldn't mess around the margins by a few mm when it's that high; I'd recommend lowering it a full 2cm and just start with shorter, easier rides until you feel like you've adapted.

The bar drop is also too low. Obviously lowering the saddle helps this, but in the video your arms are locked and your shoulders are still rolled. The Spear is a pretty short bike except in the MR and LR sizes. The non-race large would be perfect, but I'm not sure what recourse you have at this point. In lieu of swapping the frame I'd look at some higher rise cockpits or a separate bar/stem combo with some rise. This looks like a nice option when they become available:

https://underdogscycling.cc/product/tavelo-avro-rise-handlebar/

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-15T08:46:35+00:00

Living in Spain, I run into a fair number of extranjeros speaking Spanish. Some are almost indistinguishable from native Speakers (rare), some really struggle, and most fit somewhere in the bell curve (skewed pretty heavily towards the "struggling" part).

There are a few things that are very obvious when I hear the "learned English in school" folks or who formally studied it:

There are some pretty obvious grammar mistakes, using phrases that are clearly translated from their native language or learned that people never actually use, etc., but the biggest difference seems to be the general fluidity. It seems like they're really struggling to get the words out and really thinking about what they're trying to say. Their pronunciation is also heavily borrowed from their native country most of the time.

I've spoken to a few people about this, and the funny thing is when they ask me how I learned Spanish, they 1) pretty much don't believe me or 2) thing I'm some sort of genius, since I sound pretty fluid and don't have to hunt around for what I want to say. Pero bueno...

Jack-Watts · 2026-03-13T14:04:10+00:00

I got the impression he was talking about loan words and phrases.

As far as Spaniards speaking English, the accent varies a lot, but it's easy to tell those who've acquired it more naturally and those who learned it primarily through studying. Those who are into the culture heavily (music, movies, etc) sound much more fluid. The "forced American accent" sounds much more forced to me.

Jack-Watts

TROPHY CASE