LUNA-TICS TEAM ROOM: Year-round "Looney" fun.

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

Chuck B is from Carbondale, IL and this is also the home the Southern Illinois University, home of the Salukis. Salukis got their name from Persian greyhounds, so I am guessing that Chuck's reindeer is going to be a fast runner/flyer. All I know is that the Saluki basketball team can sure give some fits to other teams in the March Madness tourneys.....


Congratulations, Chuck, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer, Saluki !

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Congratulations, Donder (aka Marie) on earning $8.04 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

Raoul's home base is Zurich, a city ranked among the top places to live. We know that Raoul's a traveller based on his team profile photo and some of his team forum comments. Maybe he's even been reindeer trekking. While many of us might not think of reindeer out and about in the nearby Swiss alps, apparently there are some reindeer options available at a ski resort or two. These reindeer aren't going to pull a sleigh. No, you'll be handed a pair of snowshoes and you'll trek alongside your reindeer to a small hut. Lunch is cooked over an open fire...and some say this is necessary fuel to get you back from your reindeer walk. Wonder if these reindeer carry an emergency flask?

And, if you can't get to Switzerland, reindeer treks are available in other parts of the world (Nataliya says this is available everyday at her reindeer farm). Those in the UK can go to Cairngorm Mountains in east Scotland, where there are some free range reindeer. Yep, reindeer are not just for Christmas anymore, and the free range isn't just open to cows and chickens. Like the Swiss reindeer, you can trek alongside these reindeer. Watch out for the antlers...





Congratulations, Raoul, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer, Trekker !

[Kristine Strasburger]

Packing reindeer..... who knew? Daily advances in knowledge and fitness....who knew rowing to the moon could be so rewarding? Congratulations to all the new reindeer rowers joining the ranks!

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

"If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead!" said the Grinch - and a ginormous tree branch was tied to the top of Max the dog's head. That's how Max the Dog became Max the Reindeer in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Needs must - and we make do with what we've got sometimes. Peter G has fully earned his reindeer - and no doubt will earn his Holiday pin!


Congratulations, Peter G, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer, Max !!

[Kona2]

Day 21 or 22 of 33

Concept2 donation $$$ by entire Rowing Universe = $ 11,818.20

Concept2 donation $$$ by our team = $ I don't know - I didn't add it up today $ 272.78



Headed towards the final third of the Challenge, now....and teammates are doing well. We have 52 reindeer (I think). So far, about ten percent of the participants in the Rowing Universe have made it to the Honor Board...and those ten percent have really been earning some Concept2 donation dollars! Keep pulling !


Season meters as of 224/365 = 97,849,455 m

Total meters on the day = 495,659 m

Oars in space (participation) = 34 percent

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:



4.15 MM bg
2.45 MM Ronnie
1.65 MM Brian M
1.5 MM Sam
1.4 MM Dana
1.35 MM David T
1.25 MM Ted
1.15 MM Dan W
750 K Dennis
550 K Mike M
500 K Jay R - a cool half million !
250 K Raoul
250 K Kristine
150 K Laurie

Thanks, everyone, for rowing with us!

Adian 440 m
Anita 3,500 m
Sam 4,000 m
Jim m
Nataliya 4,500 m
Fritz 5,403 m
David T 6,000 m
Zander 6,012 m
Ian 6,452 m
Tony m
Marty 7,012 m
Adam 7,500 m
Jeff P 7,500 m
Bernie 8,053 m
Cathie 9,000 m
Baz 10,000 m
Brian M 10,000 m
Mike C 10,000 m
Mike M 10,000 m
Peter G 10,000 m
Rebecca 10,000 m
Tim G 10,000 m
Tim K 10,000 m
Jay R 10,136 m
Laurie 10,207 m
Jane 10,279 m
Andre 10,819 m
Greg C 10,868 m
Teresa 11,241 m
Dan W 11,679 m
Harold 12,000 m
Michelle 12,000 m
Roger m
Tammy m
Ronnie m
Dennis 13,500 m
Kristine 14,000 m
David A 14,679 m
Ted 15,000 m
Jay 20,120 m
Raoul 20,327 m
Dana 20,587 m
Marie 21,012 m
bg 26,627 m
Chuck B 27,829 m

About the 12.12.12 ....number patterns like this mean that the Americanized way of writing the date can agree with the European convention - for once. Peter H should like that. Some say that we humans are hard-wired to look for patterns and significance in repeating numbers. Could be it's just fun to do, and a lot easier to remember a special date when it falls on a repeater number. Mars is 12 light minutes from the Sun. And Jupiter takes 12 years to orbit the sun. Whoa....that would be one really long rowing season.

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Congratulations, Apple the reindeer (aka Pat S - thank you for letting me name your reindeer Apple) on earning $6.00 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!

[Raoul]

Kona, It's great to read your stories about every single reindeer.

We have not may reindeers in Switzerland, but a lot of other deer is running around. Unfortunately not in Zürich itself. But Switzerland is so small that a two hour train ride is good enough to put you in the middle of the alps.
If you have a lot of luck (or are very unlucky, depending on the point of view), you will be able to meet the one and only bear of switzerland.

This is M13. A very romantic name for a so called "problem bear". He illegaly crossed the border from Italy to Switzerland without valid papers! (Obviously no one explained the concept of borders to that guy. )
He quickly learned how to catch sheeps (which have no idea about bears at all) and how to break into cabins to get food.

At the moment, he's doing what good bears do in winter: he felt asleep.
Good for us as Swiss people have no experience with bears at all. Last year we were visiting Canada. It was very embarassing to find out that the bear-proof bins in canada were also swiss-proof.
A nice Canadian teached us how to open these bins.

Another thing about Zürich is that the guys who created this "top place to live" ranking were probably visiting this town in Summer.
Summertime is great here but the best thing you can do in winter is indoor(!) rowing or take one of the trains to get away and reach a place with real snow.

The trip from Zermatt to St. Moritz with this train in winter takes about 8 hours and is real fun. Take a book and a camera with you and enjoy the scenery.

The story about the trekking reindeers in Scotland is great! I never was in Scotland until now, but if I ever go there, I will check out the backpacker reindeers!
I was also not aware about the possibility to do reindeer trekking in Switzerland. For sure it's possible to ride a cow. We have tons of cows and some of them are ready for a slow trip.

Rent-a-cow. Why not? Fresh milk always available!

Anyway let's do some rowing and wait for next summer to exchange the indoor rowing saddle with golf clubs.

[Kona2]

Great to see a posting about the real Zurich ! The Swiss are not the only ones who cannot open the Canadian bear-proof bins....

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

Some might guess that Tim K's reindeer is named for Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles...and with songs like "With A Little Help From My Friends" that wouldn't be a bad guess for a member of the reindeer squadron. Tim is from Manchester, NH and what a great place and fun state this looks to be! Rail trails all over the state (went down a few of these virtually thanks to some of the rail trail groups like the Derry Trail people who provide short videos of the ride along the path), waterfalls that were used to power up textile industry, and bridges with cool names like Hands Across The Merrimack. Raoul says that it only takes a couple of hours to get across Switzerland by train...well, New Hampshire and Vermont together might be about the size of Switzerland. Fiercely independent place this New Hampshire, and was first with a State Constitution. Its motto is "Live Free or Die" and it is this motto that serves to provide the reindeer name of Ringo. John Ringo wrote a science fiction series called Troy Rising, and the first book in that series is Live Free or Die. The book details how the earth is freed from alien conquerors. Maple syrup is involved. Really.


Congratulations, Tim K, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer,Ringo !

[Kona2]

Another rower meets the Concept2 donation milestone... and frees a reindeer!

Bernie is from Wanganui, NZL on the west side of the North Island. The Whanganui River offers up many recreational opportunities, and really like the looks of The Mountains to the Sea Cycle Trail. Wanganui's city web site says the Mountains to Sea cycle trail encompasses the alpine majesty of Mt Ruapehu, tranquil indigenous forest, an historic old coach road and two national parks as it winds its way from the Central Volcanic Plateau to the coastal shores of Wanganui. Pretty sure it's a mountain bike trail...and there are some active volcanoes in the midst of things. Lord of the Rings filming took place all over New Zealand...and rumors are that the soon to be released The Hobbit movie was filmed in the Waikato region which is north of Wanganui.

Don't know if Bernie is a Lord of the Rings fan (how could he not be!?), but we do know that he is an avid fan of the singer PINK (aka Alecia Moore). So we'll name his reindeer PINK because that reindeer is sure to know all the reindeer songs.


Congratulations, Bernie, on earning the Concept2 donation and freeing your reindeer, PINK !

[Kona2]

Wowzer, mates! Another teammate has made it to the 200K milestone in the Holiday Challenge!

Who knew that Buster would be requesting a fog light version for his antler lights??! I guess all that San Francisco Bay area fog has this reindeer planning ahead for all kinds of sleigh weather !

Congratulations, Buster (aka Robyn) on earning $ 6.24 in Concept2 donations thus far and earning your antler lights, and the coveted Holiday Challenge pin !! Way to row !!

[Kona2]

Woohoo and hooyah! Gotta love all the Concept2 challenges for helping teammates power through more meters - and reach new milestones!! Congratulations, Jane, on achieving a TWO million meter rowing season! We wish you many, MANY more !!

[Kona2]

My, my, my...Cupid has been putting more meters on the honor board and has now exceeded 400,000 m for the Challenge. Simply amazing, and in the time honored tradition of earning reindeer...it's another step in the progression. Jay's reindeer Cupid now has a tail wag in addition to the flashing red harness and antler lights.

Way to row, Jay ! Your reindeer has earned a bit of swagger to his reindeer walk!

[Kristine Strasburger]

Loved your post, Raoul! Nice swagger there, Jay! And congratulations, Jane! Way to row, team!