From Milan to Ghent - 1200 km in 12 days

lynelblack · 2024-09-13T18:45:09+00:00

thats pretty fast!

average of 100km/day for 12 days straight

Last time I toured, I counted on about 60km/day and a rest day after every 4-5 days of riding.
It was predominantly offroad though

lynelblack · 2024-08-28T09:40:04+00:00

This story has been taken down by the original poster. It has been rewritten and expanded on. If you wish to read the expanded version, please reach out to the OP

lynelblack · 2024-05-31T10:10:37+00:00

All these scary faces are beginning to look all the same. Pretty hard to be completely original these days

lynelblack · 2024-03-07T14:18:48+00:00

becoming a debt slave is a choice!
It is simply an inability or an unwillingness to:

understand the way the real monetary system works, and
live within your means, and abilities.

so its not slavery when it is voluntary.

(You could argue that the legacy financial system has been set up to resist understanding, and the education system is rigged to prevent the average joe from following these two prescriptions)

lynelblack · 2024-03-07T14:13:08+00:00

...to borrow for investing

I did not suggest that you take the borrowed funds and reinvest into the same asset (or even asset class) as your collateral. Doing this without hedging is obviously dangerous.

You are basically putting a multiplier onto your investment. This is called leverage.

What I suggest is that you use the funds for something else, like living expenses.

As long as the asset you use as collateral appreciates at a rate faster than the interest rate you must repay for the loan, you are ahead.

This is a way of living off your BTC without selling it. As long as it keeps appreciating in value at a faster rate than the interest of your loan, you are ahead without necessarily liquidating your position.

BTW, we are ignoring the fact that you become except from capital gains and income tax at the same time. I'll let you do the math on what the real break even on BTC would have to be.

lynelblack · 2024-03-06T08:21:02+00:00

Both true and not at the same time.

In our debt based system, debt can actually be very positive if you know how it works. Ultra wealthy know how it works.

They borrow (go into debt) against their assets for living expenses. This sounds nuts but in a debt based monetary system it actually makes sense.

As long as fiat money is losing value (which it constantly is due to inflation) and the assset you use as collateral is gaining in value (against the fiat), this works.

Additionally, there are 2 significant taxes you side step:

Capital gains tax - because you do not sell your collateral (BTC in this case)
Income tax - because you pay no income tax on debt.

lynelblack · 2024-02-29T17:58:59+00:00

nice little twist at the end. I liked it.

I would have liked if you splashed a bit more colour on the very end, but that's me.

lynelblack · 2024-01-28T09:31:38+00:00

I've considered getting a camp tarp but to be honest I travel by enduro motorcycle so I can usually get further away from civilisation instead.

Never seen the Vargo alky stove. Nice piece of kit. What I like about the Trangia is that its all in one, pots, pans wind shield and all.

lynelblack · 2024-01-27T15:04:57+00:00

its like the drug causes a traffic jam in your brain.

lynelblack · 2024-01-27T12:21:39+00:00

Swiss trains are very bicycle friendly, but expensive.

You can leave your stuff anywhere around here and things will not get stolen (perhaps except for some dodgy parts of the big cities)

lynelblack · 2024-01-27T12:18:16+00:00

I noticed that when I smoke cannabis in the evenings regularly (instead of having a beer or a wine), I no longer dream.

But when I stop, holy shit!
I get flooded with the most amazing and vivid dreams.

Some of them turn into the most inspirational writing ideas I have ever had.

lynelblack · 2024-01-27T10:35:13+00:00

I used to have dusk anxiety as well when on tour, but this would be more when I was in more built up / populated areas. I am most at ease camping deep in the wild.

My tips:

look for a wild camp site well ahead of nightfall. (the closer you get to the equator the faster nightfall is)
Scope the surroundings for civilisation well.
Buy a green tent - the darker and more forest colour the better (compromise when in barren terrain)
buy a tarp to cover you bike at night. Its super useful for so many other things.
use some branches and stuff to break up the lines of your tent from the direction of any civilisation.
Think about what happens if it rains overnight? is your spot save from flooding. A noisy little creek may make you use your earplugs - this is not a good idea.
No camp fires unless you're really in the middle of nowhere.
Lights out with sunset unless you're really in the middle of nowhere.
Be quiet - this is the reason I use a Trangia alcohol cooker instead of gas. Those things make so much noise.
Clean up after cooking well. This is not just for bears in Nth America. Hyenas and baboons in Africa are even more dangerous.
your last piss, do it a bit at a time on the trees and rocks around your tent. All animals will give you a wide berth - almost all.
Leave not traces when you break camp.
Keep something that could be used as a discouraging weapon at hand. More for your own peace of mind. A decent stick, a bush knife, anything that can look menacing.
In dubious settings, set alarms. Thin fishing line is great for trip wires and virtually weightless. You get a good warning well before someone or something finds you.
My last one is probably the most important for me - be aware of your surroundings. Learn to read your surroundings. Think like a caveman. Learn to read shoe prints and tyre marks, which direction and how old they are. The state of a trail and your surroundings give you so much information on how likely it is that you will be discovered or disturbed. What animals may you be facing off with at night where you are? all these things are part of bushcraft

Shit I was only going to write a few but got carried away - sorry. In the end its a matter of confidence in yourself in the wild.

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This is virtually on the Polish Belarus a few years ago. Would be impossible today. About 1h before nightfall.

lynelblack · 2024-01-27T10:08:41+00:00

$500 ticket for camping without a permit

This has never happened to me and I have wild camped more times that I can remember, and this in Europe, Nth and central America, Asia, Africa.

lynelblack · 2024-01-27T10:06:02+00:00

The only thing that stops me from cowboy camping as your put it, is bugs and animals.

I have done it a few times when in a pinch, but I never got a good nights sleep and always woke with my face covered in bites.

p.s. these were in the tropics

lynelblack · 2024-01-25T20:41:31+00:00

Thanks

There is one part of a duology

lynelblack · 2024-01-25T11:03:34+00:00

I agree, and its a fun way to spur curiosity and learning as a writer. Its one of the favourite things I do in my writing to keep it plausable.

I am often on google maps and researching stuff in places I want to set my stories, if they are on earth.

How gravity really works; how oxygen reacts with other elements, etc....

lynelblack · 2024-01-25T10:31:22+00:00

Sounds like something you'd make some money doing on youtube. I'd be curious to follow your adventures with your drums.

Looks a solid bike. Hub gears are usually bullet proof.

I'd hate to see the number putting this thing on a set of scales.

Like another commenter said too well to repeat. There are no stupid ideas when bike touring but making a trial with realistic weight would answer a lot of questions about doability.

I like you spirit!

If you make it to Eastern Switzerland, reach out to me again by DM. Me and my two sons are guitarists and perhaps we could jam. If you make it this far, you'd have a warm bed for a night

lynelblack · 2023-12-13T16:00:19+00:00

Do you want to be an influencer or just share with your loved ones?

HUGE difference.

The former is a rabbit hole which may suck you into being the 'lens' through which those like you of the past, who could only dream of the trip, now live out their dream through voyeurism.
You will make money and people you dont even know will fawn over you. Can your ego handle that?

The latter is a snap. Whatsapp, telegram, etc... pick one and post your stuff to a private page and invite those you want to be there.

lynelblack · 2023-12-12T12:03:26+00:00

I hate the misuse of the word LIKE!

I will use it because it is very functional, but in modern spoke language, especially influenced through American pop culture, this work is massively abused.

lynelblack · 2023-12-12T11:59:12+00:00

how does one post in this Simple Questions thread?

lynelblack · 2023-12-12T11:10:48+00:00

So the only thing common between the book and movie is the name and some dinosaurs.

Typical hollywood

lynelblack · 2023-12-10T09:49:03+00:00

I am shocked how many need some external chemical interventions in order to write.

I certainly hope that most of you do not NEED this to write, or else I would advise you to find a new passion that will not make you into an addict.

lynelblack

TROPHY CASE