2019 Statistics as Reported by Strava

2019 Statistics

2019 was an interesting year as from the beginning of June I moved to a flat city, just a few meters above sea level... Quite a change from my previous years, spent in a mountainous area with the average running altitude of almost 1000 meters above sea level...

The next table summarizes the running and cycling statistics for the last years.

A few comments on the 2019 statistics.

Running

• Almost the same number of runs as on 2018
• The total distance is slightly smaller as there is a bit less fun running on the plains...
• As there were far fewer climbs, the average speed is increased quite a bit
• The total elevation gain decreased to a bit more than 5/12 of 2018... I spent just 5 months of 2019 in the mountains...

Cycling

• Similar number of recorded cycling trips as in 2018. I used a bike more, but the city commuting is not part of this statistic.
• The distance is less than half of last year, Some of the cycling trips were family style, on my city "Dutch Style" bike.
• The average speed is also less than in 2018, due to the family rides.
• The ride elevation is greatly reduced due to the new much flatter area where I currently live...
• Longest ride is still a respectable 205 km

2018 Summary

With the help of Strava, here are my 2018 end of year statistics:

A few comments:

• Less running than last year, but more serious cycling.
• Taking the cycling into account it looks like the total effort is greater than last year's
• Highest average elevation gain per run
• Longest average run length
• With 122 km average length and 1457 m of climbing per ride, I can say that my rides were no joke

Here is the 2018 summary that Strava calculated automatically. The values are slightly different from the table above as the interval does not exactly match the 2018 year.

And a photo from this year last activity. Skiing in powder with my daughter!

Have a happy 2019!

April, The Month of all Possibilities

It used to be the month of May, but with the climate warming we are experiencing, April seem to become the new May.

It is a month when winter and summer meet, when the forests turn green and the winter is looking for refuge higher and higher on the peaks. April weather can have many surprises, from late snow to sunny and warm days like in summer. The sun gets high in the sky and the daylight is long and generous.

Last year we had a late snowfall so I could ski down to the city for a couple of days before the strong springtime sun melted it quickly. This year the weather is unusually warm and very dry and the sunshine makes it hard to resist indoors...

Here are some photos I took this month while enjoying various outdoor activities around Brasov. This is why I love Brasov. There is so much variety!

Trail running towards Postăvarul Peak

Last ski day of the season on Postăvarul Mountain

Morning mountain run. With snow-crampons on the frozen snow on Piatra Mare Mountain.

Road cycling at the foot of Piatra Craiului Mountain

Cycling by the lakes at Dumbrăvița.

Cycling: Crossing Olt river close to Brasov. I guess it looks good or rafting...

Trail running... Watch out! The brown bears are hungry, out of hibernation

Ski Mountaineering. Going up the steep Alba Valley in Bucegi Mountains 

Ski Mountaineering. Descending on Priponului Valley, Bucegi Mountains 

Admiring the fresh green on Tampa mountain near Brasov.

Hiking through the forest

Cycling on flat-lands

After a break of four years when I only did a bit of utilitarian cycling, this year I started to do a bit more cycling again. Not mountain-biking as before. Since I started to do trail running more seriously,  I feel that running is much better suited for the type of mountain trails we have around Brasov. This time I have returned to road cycling after many years... On roads I am exploring other landscapes around Brasov, not than just mountains. There are many secondary roads with good surface around Brasov, just perfect for road cycling.

The highlight of the cycling season was a cycling tour in the Netherlands. It was a last minute decision. Myself and my wife had some holiday days left for the end of the summer. As she is still recovering from an ankle injury, hiking was out of the question, but cycling was OK. 

Knowing how good the cycling infrastructure is in Holland, I proposed that we could go there for cycling in a safer road environment than in Romania.

My wife quickly searched the web for a fully organised tour. As we have never been cycling in Holland before, this was the safest option to ensure a last minute successful holiday. Most organised cycling tours seem to target the older generation; have short daily distances and e-bike option. Anyway, my wife managed to find a tour operator that had road bike tours on the menu: Holland Bike Tours. As both of us are quite well trained for endurance, we went straight for the most demanding tour they have on offer: Lake Ijssel Round Rrip; 400km in four days.

The tour was very well organised. It was an individual tour. The tour operator provided us with good quality road bicycles and a GPS device pre-loaded with the tour route. They also gave us a set of lightweight tools, a pump and a spare tube. In case we had more trouble, full bike assistance was included - luckily we had no need for it. We only had a punctured tire during the whole trip.

The hotels on the route were all booked by the tour operator, including our luggage transfer from one hotel to the next one on the route.

The GPS device was very helpful ans saved us a lot of time - especially important on the long stages. Due to the many canals that criss-cross the landscape, getting from A to B might not be as simple as it seems... Just using a compass is not of much use for finding your way in Holland...

Cycling on flat-land was tougher than I thought! We live in the mountains, so most cycling routes are 50% up-hill and 50% downhill. Moreover, the mountains protect us from strong winds. Covering a similar distance on the plains felt harder, especially with head-wind. Sure enough, half of the tour we had to work hard against the wind! Even with tail-winds, you still have to pedal, unlike on mountains down-hills...

We both enjoyed the tour very much. The landscape of Holland is as different from home as it can be! It felt like being in a delta, which in fact is the case. What I find amazing is that all the landscape we were cycling through is man-made! Yet, along the route there were many wild areas, with forests, lakes, canals and lots of water birds, reminding me of the Danube Delta.

The second day we had the longest stage. 160km. It was the one we enjoyed the most. It included Afsluitdijk, the 32km dam between the North Sea an IJssel Lake. We had west and north-west winds during this day. The first 40km until we reached Afsluitdijk were quite hard as we battled the quite strong head winds and a few light showers. The 32km on the dam were OK; we were sheltered by the top of the dike so the side wind was not so strong. The cherry on the cake were the last 85 kilometers! We flew most of the distance with strong tail winds along the lake shore and across the plains! Without the tail winds it would have been very hard to reach our destination in time that day.

Here is the route of the second day:

And some photos we took along the four day tour:

Cycling along Afsluitdijk

By the North Sea

Rain on the last kilometers of the tour...