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Adamant Zoroark

catchy catchphrase
is a Contributor Alumnus
New guitar. I got it in December for $350, which is a steal considering the same guitar currently retails brand-new for $850. It's better in every aspect compared to my old LP, which was $100 more (stays in tune better, sounds better, two more frets, just everything better)



BenTheDemon gdi that pic's too hilarious - you have a cool axe there though
 

Lumari

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TFP Leader
Looks like it's my 2000th post on the forums. I've had a ton of trouble thinking up something to do, but I figured I might just as well let you guys in on something I did Wednesday and had been planning for a while anyways. I've always enjoyed biking, primarily semi-long distances, like 40 km / 25 miles, and with summer starting now, I wanted to bike home from uni. It's a pretty long trip though—I go to uni by train, but by bike, it's about 140 km / 85 miles, so that makes for a nice adventure I'd say.

Either way, I used to bike more a couple years ago, so I did another trip Monday closer to home, which was a lot shorter but on much more difficult terrain.


two pics that were taking at the exact same spot fwiw

our own little piece of alps


I completed that practice lap without too much trouble, and since I wasn't reallly tired I assumed that with the easier terrain I should be able to last pretty long before getting actually exhausted—at least long enough to get close enough to home to make it regardless of how exhausted I would end up being. As a disclaimer: in case you guys hadn't figured that out by now, purely physically speaking 140 km technically is really way too much for me to chew, no two ways about it. I suppose it was a possibility to post this in the fitness thread instead, but I probably would've given some guys there a stroke with my "hey I just biked 140 km essentially untrained on the most unprofessional bike you guys have ever seen", and they honestly wouldn't have been wrong sigh... but yeah, to me, this was more an exercise of mental fortitude than of physical endurance. And it honestly went better than expected; I continuously took it easy, with my only priority being to use as little energy as possible, and it worked. Also, as I've said, I haven't been biking enough lately because I was "too busy doing other things", but it was real nice to relive the "trance" that I've always found so enjoyable about it, getting caught up in the cadence to the point where it honestly feels like my legs are being controlled by an independent, separate brain in my abdomen.

Suppose I should stop talking now lmao, here's some pics.
all these pics are in chronological order fwiw


i like clouds

The lack of climbing compared to my home region would seem to make this route a lot easier than the trips I make at home, but there's one catch that easy to overlook: the wind. It's actually really striking how much shelter slopes can provide, and "the wind" can really be as much of a problem as "the climbing"...

First crossing of the Styx. Planning a route is honestly not too difficult, like, just pack a roadmap and pick the villages as you go along, but there's a small catch here in that there's this one river that I have to cross twice on my way home. And naturally it's not possible to cross it everywhere—gotta find some easily reachable bridges before setting out. It's also possible to cross the river by ferry in some other village, but I wouldn't really want that, because having to take an "external schedule" into account is bad news (the only priority is getting home, and having to race to hit some target times on the way isn't helpful), not to mention I wouldn't have completed the trip entirely on my own.


YES THAT IS A LITERAL EGG VENDING MACHINE. no that's not a common sight around here as far as I know lmao. I suppose it's meant to be an inventive way to provide 24-hour service, which is... actually really clever, gotta give them that, but still, "egg vending machine", so fucking rad lol.


These lanes are so fun to dash through, really no better place to just get into that trance that I love so much. Though, on this particular one (or on a similar looking one later, I forget), the wind was blowing right into my face, which made it a LITTLE less pleasant than it otherwise would've been haha.


does this route ever not get scenic :)


ok so apparently that egg vending machine was not the only one p_p i really swear these things are not a common sight around here lmao.


Train station, yup. Clearly the train is a nice "escape" in case the trip turns out to be too much to chew after all—I mean, you already have the "bike ticket" from taking your bike to uni, and with the subscription that comes with a uni scholarship taking the train is free anyways. The funny thing is, though, that this route has this huge blind spot without any stations, and naturally it's right in the do-or-die part. This particular station is about halfway (where you really should be getting without too much trouble if you have any hopes of completing the trip), and the next station is like 15-20 miles before home (at which point you are way too far in to be forfeiting anyways and should be able to complete the trip on adrenalin alone). It's still a nice option to have around in case of a flat tyre I suppose though haha.


Gotta say, there's _nothing_ I love more about travelling than the whole "diner by night" feel, if that makes sense—it's a large part of the reason why I actually really enjoy nightly car rides back from vacation. Clearly, then, it's pretty rad to be able to experience something similar by bike :>


not bad looking for a highway imo :o


some of y'all might like ponies idk


Figuring out where to go next! Navigation is clearly super duper important on a trip like this, and I honestly would never even want to rely on a GPS rather than on a roadmap. To me, it's honestly really simple, something as essential as navigation should never ever depend on battery life / "be on a timer", and I'd much rather come off a little primitive than even have to keep the possibility in mind of a phone battery going "haha fuk u tdp" on me while I'm biking through a dim dark spoopy forest in the depth of night. All I gotta focus on is getting home, "getting home before my battery runs out" makes for too much noise really. My brother actually had it happen to him once when he was driving to his uni dorm at the other side of the country on his motorbike while relying on his phone GPS for navigation and then had his battery die on him on some dark highway he had never been before. He worked around it by turning on his laptop in his backpack, plugging in his phone charger, and setting the speaker to full volume and proceeded to barely make it, but yeah I'd much rather avoid a situation like that lmao. Not to mention that I wouldn't bring my laptop on this trip in the first place :^)


There's kind of a paradox in "water", honestly. It's 100% essential to have around in order to be able to complete the trip at all, and the standard 1,5 litres per day (cba converting it to gallons sorry) really won't do—but at the same time, the more water you pack the more baggage you have to be carrying, and if you bring a full 5 L right away, you'll likely have to forfeit from the amount of luggage alone :( I brought one bottle at first, intending to buy another one and (if necessary) a third one on my way. I actually anticipated I'd be needing that second bottle sooner than actually turned out to be the case in practice, which honestly made me a little miffed because I had been carrying those 1,5 L twenty kilometers longer than I really needed to sigh.


i still like clouds


It's funny how the sunset is more apparent here than on the next couple pics lmao, but this is probably the prettiest pic of the bunch, so I'm not complaining.


Including this one to appease user: GatoDelFuego. Was a pretty curious case though, that cat was sitting by the side of the road, and it didn't move an inch even though I biked right by it and also got to like a foot from it while taking like twelve pictures.


Second crossing of the Styx. I really don't care much for that industrial park in the background, but literally crossing a river by bike is a pretty cool feeling no matter how you slice it :o


dark spoopy forest (~o.o)~ truth be told it's just another one of those lanes with trees by either side that I already included a pic from, they just look a _little_ different by night haha.


After that final pic, I was getting tired and just wanted to get home, and thus concluded that adventure :) and everyone's probably only here for the shoutouts anyway, so...

P Squared
It's kind of hard to write a shoutout for someone that was my best friend a thousand posts ago and is my best friend now, because ideally nothing changes in the mean time lmao. It's not always easy to keep it that way though, because you being my best friend has this unfortunate side effect of making you the natural dumping ground for my (often not exactly standard) overthinky and dumb problems where I really should be slapping some sense into myself instead. Which is quite frankly a really poor way to show my gratitude sigh, and that makes me feel bad—there are a lot more fun things that we can, and fortunately do, talk about, like the badassity and hauntingness of those One Piece characters that we both like. And since I got ELO's Time the other day, I doubt there's anyone that truly understands how much that album gets ruined by that one parallelism error in the lyrics. Also do remind me to check out Dual Destinies whenever I can, looks like time is getting pressing with Ace Attorney 6 coming up :0 Whatever happens, as far as I'm concerned we'll be the GP aces for a long time to come :)

Recreant
Thanks for, uh, irrevocably fucking up my youtube recommended songs list, I suppose? If someone had told me two years ago when I still read the OU forum that I once would be engaging in caps lock wars and exchanging music and gossiping with the user then known as Ohioisonfire, then I would have had trouble believing that, but hey, I'm not complaining :) Thanks for being silly and for letting me be silly, for being serious just as easily when it's needed, and for accepting me the way I am, you're a great friend that I'd trust with anything. And while you mayy overthink stuff pretty hard at times, it'd be kinda hypocritical of me to make a big deal out of that heh. Try to become a bit harder to troll though, I'd like a little more of a challenge there :^)

anto
You deserved that hardest worker award so badly that it isn't even funny, but alas... they definitely don't mean it that way, but it'd be nice if people took everything you do a little less for granted. Who's gonna keep me from burning out otherwise lmao, you're a great Flying Press leader and a great friend and I can't say that I'm getting tired of working with you just yet. Though we really haven't been talking as much as we should lately, pretty sure I've still got a pile of songs to dump on you lying around somewhere :(

horyzhnz
Thanks again for inspiring me to pick up GP checking and for helping me with prose changes in a dim and distant past haha, I never would've been able to achieve as much on the forums otherwise. But this isn't 1k anymore, you're not dead anymore, and most importantly, since the GP chat became a thing, you're not just my former teacher anymore, you're one of the people that make me stick around this site and I like being around. I mean, you always seemed like a cool dude, but I didn't quite expect you to be this chill lmao. I know we haven't been talking for long, but whether we're just spamming food pics or discussing uni suckage or other Serious Matters, I hope that won't change anytime soon :) I will find you a Dutch cryptid some day, I promise...

Spy
Join IRC more often imo, I miss your old man rants and anto and toast aren't being trolled anywhere near as often atm as they deserve. Your wisdom always helps me put things into perspective during my unhappier moments, and while those have become pretty rare now, that's no reason for you not to show up. I still hope to add you to the GP team once you stop johning that amcheck :^)

GatoDelFuego
You'll always be the inferior GPTL of us three hue, but your levelheadedness is something that we really can't do without. And there aren't many people around here that care so much about GP as you do, or as much about... your friends in general, and that's really cool u_u hope you can also get your banner some day one way or another :)

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Jellicent
You have a pretty... unique... life to say the least, and I'm seriously impressed with how you manage to stay your upbeat and chill self while other people would've gone half insane had all those things happen to them. Also share some more music with me imo :toast:

Tikitik
Stop dying omg, you're really worrying me :( the SFP staff channel needs you, it's always a better place with you around. I suppose it's easier to keep up with your avatar changes rn, but that isn't anywhere near worth it :(

sandshrewz
I suppose "pumpka" reads kinda similar to "plumberjack", otherwise I have no idea how you could've thought I was skylight for a pretty long while the first time we ever talked haha. The good thing I've heard about you are true, and I really like how you both have your trademark carefreeness and can easily be serious when needed, you're a cool guy.

Quite Quiet
If there were any skeptics re. your staff member capabilities you sure proved them wrong, and gosh it's great to have someone around that can be called on pretty much always. Not to mention that you're a chill dude in general as well.

Toast++ Bummer
It's borderline disrespectful to consider you guys "former" staff with how much you still do for us. You guys are not only cool to be around but also lifesavers on a more than frequent basis, and that's very much appreciated u_u

antemortem Albacore skylight
pleasure working with you guys too—in some of your cases, in other sections of the site too :)

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cant say turskain VaporeonIce NoCheese atsync Altissimo ReptoAbysmal Berry Juice Jumpman16

Thanks for all the support while my 1k team kept punching higher and higher above its weight, I still can't believe I ever ended up topping our leaderboard. Also sorry for my absence in the thread since losing—I still read most posts, I still play, I just haven't been able to achieve anything worth posting. My initial plan honestly was to make my 2k in the maison thread as well, but I haven't been able to strike the proper balance of form and non-idiocy—but rest assured, you guys haven't seen the last of me yet...

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Minus
Thanks for respecting my wishes and concerns re. the gp chat, you're a cool dude u_u

fleurdyleurse
You can be a little immature and borderline batshit at times, but I like your commitment to GP and your genuine friendliness and silliness. No matter what anyone thinks about you, you're a good person that cares about their friends, don't let that ever change :)

astroboy
You are the true bad pun god of this site, and you can be a genuinely good kid and a good contributor behind the self-donned shitposter mask. Stay out of trouble though, I don't like it when you forget how cool you really are :(

Sobi
[8:19 PM] Sobi: give me a shoutout btw plz ty
[11:26 PM] Sobi: remember to give me a shoutout
copy that chief

Lemonade. brightobject Theorymon Winry Haund piikachuu frenzyplant boltsandbombers Hootie Memoric talkingtree bobochan celticpride Tressed Krauersaut Threw Reisen Inaba Berks and more
GPers, writers, SFP people, and assorted categories, thanks for making my job enjoyable :)

Calm Pokemaster Ender Oglemi
hory wasn't the only user that has been instrumental in getting me where I am today. Thanks again for the help / trust / everything guys :o
 
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cant say

twitch.tv/jakecantsay
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Looks like it's my 2000th post on the forums. I've had a ton of trouble thinking up something to do, but I figured I might just as well let you guys in on something I did Wednesday and had been planning for a while anyways. I've always enjoyed biking, primarily semi-long distances, like 40 km / 25 miles, and with summer starting now, I wanted to bike home from uni. It's a pretty long trip though—I go to uni by train, but by bike, it's about 140 km / 85 miles, so that makes for a nice adventure I'd say.
That would have been prime for some Pokemon GO action, please tell me you got it out along the way.

cant say turskain VaporeonIce NoCheese atsync Altissimo ReptoAbysmal Berry Juice Jumpman16

Thanks for all the support while my 1k team kept punching higher and higher above its weight, I still can't believe I ever ended up topping our leaderboard. Also sorry for my absence in the thread since losing—I still read most posts, I still play, I just haven't been able to achieve anything worth posting. My initial plan honestly was to make my 2k in the maison thread as well, but I haven't been able to strike the proper balance of form and non-idiocy—but rest assured, you guys haven't seen the last of me yet...
same. I still play double-Destiny Bond but haven't got anything worth posting / still haven't found the best last mon.

Grats on 2k though man!
 

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