Meetings this morning. Bike ride this evening. Odd bookends for the day, really.
We tried Innsbruck, on Zwift today. I hadn’t been on that course before. Innsbruck, in Austria, hosted the UCI World Championships in 2018 and now its big climb, a 4.5 mile long category 2 hill, is hosting me. There is a certain course here that’s called Achterbahn. And I don’t know if I’ve ever ridden a German rollercoaster, but you have to admit: now that we’re here talking about it, you’re curious.
This climb averages out as a 5.4 percent incline. It gains 1,311 up to the top. It’s steady. You just put your head down and grind it out. It looks like this. And the larger route I rode today looks like this:
I am, predictably, slow, going up this hill. Delightfully slow. I touched 58 miles per hour on the descent though.
It’s going to be a useful January of base miles. Zwift was a gift, and helps keep me from being miffed about the winter. I don’t have to ride through snow drifts. Also, I can’t ride off any cliffs. When the month is done I may have more January miles in the saddle than I’ve ever recorded for the first month of a year. Wouldn’t that be something?
Some things going on back home. This is one of those Have Nots kind of stories:
Alabama started shipping vaccine doses to county health departments, but not to Coosa County, population 10,663.
It's "one of eight counties in Alabama without a hospital and the only one without a public health department."https://t.co/1dheNstlt5#RuralHealth
— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) January 13, 2021
That’s just 50 miles from the biggest city in the state, and it’s world class medical system. And from another Haves part of the world, just 129 miles to the north:
'Rocket City' Picked as Home of New Space Command Headquarters https://t.co/LkO5PCARIk
— Oriana Pawlyk (@Oriana0214) January 13, 2021
Several cities were up to host the Space Force, as you might imagine. And Huntsville makes all the sense in the world. You also can’t help but wondering how deeply Mo Brooks has been involved in this lately.
Speaking of Congress, one of the new members.
Before President Trump, there were only 2 impeachments in our nation’s history: Andrew Johnson & Bill Clinton.
Now, Democrats have cheapened the process by impeaching President Trump TWICE – with 7 days left – setting a dangerous precedent for future proceedings. pic.twitter.com/stnSqt8Mz2
— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) January 13, 2021
His replies are something else. It’s one of those times I wish there was a sorting function. I’d like to see what his constituents were saying his stream. You can imagine the rest, and they don’t matter to a junior member of congress anyway Which is why he won’t reply to this, because I’m genuinely curious.
Rep. Barry Moore, admitting his ignorance of American history, kicks off his time in Congress.
Two terms in Montgomery, national guard, businessman, @AuburnAg grad* … did you really not know this basic bit of information, @RepBarryMoore?
*Same.
— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) January 13, 2021
Sometimes I wonder about the value of ignorance as a positive attribute. Anyone working on that foundation always comes with some combination of self-righteousness, historical illiteracy, contempt, and the utter confidence of perpetual adolescence.
One wonders how people ever trafficking in this stuff ever get elected. A former newspaper publisher friend of mine had the best idea about that. Essentially, he said if you beat down an electorate enough over a long period of time, they figure this is the best they can do. This is what they deserve. Ignorant representatives.
It is its own sort of rollercoaster, but with fewer thrills.
