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

[just27]

Thanks to those who posted welcomes and encouragement for Orion. I read them to him when he got home from school ... Its all a good math lesson for him.
Jane

Hi, Orion: You just provided me with a good math lesson! I was puzzled by your profile statement "I want to row sectillion" (I'm thinking, maybe some rowing term learned from your mom) so I went a-Googling and discovered big numbers beyond everyday millions, billions and trillions.
Million
Billion
Trillion
Quadrillion
Quintillion
Sectillion
Septillion
Octillion
Nonillion
Decillion
No Gadzillion? Gadzooks!

Which made me question how many million in a billion and I find that it depends on where you are:
In the UK: 1 billion is 1 million millions and 1 trillion is 1 billion billions
In the US: 1 billion is 1 thousand millions and 1 trillion is 1 thousand billions
Some of the many things I can ponder on the way to the Moon. (Which is how far, again? And is that in UK or US math?)

Chris/27

[Kona2]

Don't ask me about the moon meters - See the posting by Dickie - he has the meters or thousands or millions right!

It seemed that there should be an Ernestine (snort snort) moment somewhere in there.

[kgallagher]

Good reminder! I think what happens is that even though people may be altering the date to show actual day rowed, when it is posted for the university/club/team standings (which is where I take the daily number from), I cannot tell whether the meters entered were done on a specific date. I just take a snapshot of the number and call it good. It is definitely imperfect.

OH! I SEE! I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THE REFERENCE WAS FOR YOUR SAKE. I THOUGHT PEOPLE DIDN'T REALIZE THEY COULD CHANGE THE DATE. THANKS FOR CLARIFYING FOR ME. I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW THE UNIV/CLUB/TEAM STANDINGS WERE LISTED. I GUESS I NEVER CHECKED OUT THAT PART OF THE SITE.

And by the way, how different is the rowing machine experience from the water rowing experience? Must be a heck of a training ground if so many water rowers do this in the off season!

TRAINING ON THE ERG IS VERY COMPATABLE TO ROWING ON THE RIVER ONLY IT IS EASIER TO SET THE BOAT. THE OVERALL MOTION AND APPLICATION OF POWER IS THE SAME. THE DIFFERENCE COMES INTO PLAY WITH THE UPPER BODY AS YOU COME INTO THE CATCH. IT IS SIMILAR TO SCULLING (TWO OARS, ONE IN EACH HAND) ONLY ON THE WATER YOU REACH FORWARD AND AWAY FROM YOUR BODY INSTEAD OF STRAIGHT AHEAD. IT IS DIFFERENT FROM SWEEP ROWING (TWO HANDS ON ONE OAR) WHERE YOU PIVOT TOWARDS THE SIDE OF THE BOAT YOUR OAR IS ON. THE C2 ERG IS A GREAT TOOL AND THE IMPROVEMENTS THEY HAVE MADE OVER THE YEAR ARE BRILLIANT. (I'VE BEEN ROWING FOR OVER 20 YEARS, SO I'VE BEEN ON THE OLDER MODELS.)

KEEP UP THE IMPRESSIVE WORK EVERYONE!
KARYN

[acrewer]

I will just add that the C2 (all models) is a VAST improvement over Big Blue Bertha as we used to refer to the erg we had in college. That was something that looked like it dated back to the Spanish Inquisition (or Armada.)

What I've noticed is that there is no consequence on the erg to racing up the slide. In a boat, that causes a check, or brake. Imagine 8 bodies averaging 170 lbs each being thrown at the back of the boat! Smooth slow slides and quick drives make a boat go fast.

Gina

[Kona2]

FULL MOON TONIGHT - Row by moonbeam!

Yo Luna-Tics! A crew of pirates overtook the boat during the night! Signal beacons indicate we suffered no human losses and bruised egos appear to be healing. Time to hoist the colors, mateys - and chase those boats in yet another position round!

Season meters to date = 38,618,304 m

Total meters on the day = 231,558 m

Congratulations on a whopping 42 percent participation! Keep those oars at the ready!

Milestones!
30 K = Joseph B
1.7 MM - Dan

ONE Million Meter Watch:

Barbara with (39,909 m) to go! She's in the red zone! Doing double training!
Tom with (82,203 m) to go!
Kristine with (95,895 m) to go!

TWO Million Meter Watch: These 2 are definitely in the red zone!

Darryl with (26,879 m) to go!
Gabriella with (28,745 m) to go!


March Madness:

5K = 10

10K = 11

And the Pot of Gold goes to:



Jane 25,033 m
Dan 19,825 m
Chris 18,029 m
Darryl 16,192 m
Mike 14,460 m
Barbara 13,998 m
Peter H 13,050 m
Mitch 11,157 m
Gabriella 10,016 m
Tom 10,000 m
Joseph 10,000 m (was this a first 10K?)
Mary 7,244 m
Tony 7,108 m
Steven 7,071 m
Jan 7,000 m
Andrea 6,396 m
Karyn 6,179 m
Pat B 6,058 m
Rowin 6,000 m
Tim 5,000 m
AJ 5,000 m
BJ 4,050 m
Orion 1,702 m
Rae 1,000 m

Great rowing by an amazing team!


PS - Sorry for delay this AM. My namesake, Kona the golden retriever, had a cut that required attention. If any of you have ever had a dog that had to wear an elizabethan collar...you will understand that the rest of the morning has been as traumatic for her as the first part was for me!

[Kona2]

Thanks Karyn and Gina for supplying info on rowing vs erging. Could you please explain a little more about what these two phrases mean:

1. set the boat


2. racing up the slides

[bg]

PS - Sorry for delay this AM. My namesake, Kona the golden retriever, had a cut that required attention. If any of you have ever had a dog that had to wear an elizabethan collar...you will understand that the rest of the morning has been as traumatic for her as the first part was for me![/quote]


nothing to apologize for..hope you and kona are doing well...barbara

[just27]

A crew of pirates overtook the boat during the night! Time to hoist the colors, mateys - and chase those boats in yet another position round!

Kona the golden retriever, had a cut that required attention. If you have ever had a dog that had to wear an elizabethan collar...

I noticed that new maraudering crew last night when I uploaded my log ... looks like an interesting team (!) ... which I thought about for a few minutes until Orion's 1600 popped up right before midnight ... "wow, he's up late ... nah, Jane's posting."

Good luck to K-9 Kona with the space collar. We had a basenji that needed to wear one ... he wouldn't move an inch while it was on. Only time that dog had ever sat still.

I was also going to ask about the rowing v erging terms. Are we officially "erging" and is it an erg, not an "indoor rower"?
Chris/27

[Toothdoc]

toothdoc

[acrewer]

To 'set' the boat means to balance it. American shells (Pocock, etc) usually have a U shaped hull. Italian shells often have a V shaped hull. The U is easier to balance but the V goes faster if it's balanced. If the boat is not 'set' then one set of oars is higher than the other (port vs starboard) and the boat is very hard to row.

Indoors, setting the boat is usually not a problem. In a single, an unset boat can capsize easily (ask me how I know!)

Racing the slide means reaching the front of the slide ahead of your teammates. All 8 oars need to move in unison.

Gina

[kgallagher]

Thanks Karyn and Gina for supplying info on rowing vs erging. Could you please explain a little more about what these two phrases mean:
1. set the boat
2. racing up the slides

To add to Gina's great explanation:
The set of the boat is simply the balance of it. When on the recovery (the point in which the oars are out of the water and you are moving up the slide towards the catch) the ideal is to have all the blades off the water and the boat balanced. It's not so easy to do this, but when you do, it's sweet. On an erg, which sits on solid ground, this isn't a problem. The erg is always set.

Now, the "racing up the slide" issue. When you are on the recovery and coming forward you want to move slower than you do during the drive. If you are racing up the slide, generally, your butt is getting up towards your heals too quickly. As Gina mentioned this causes a check (or thrust) in the boat that slows the boat down and can also throw off the set (balance). It also doesn't allow the body to "recover". Longer time on the slide allows your body to rest and prepare for the next hard stroke.

Chris said:

I was also going to ask about the rowing v erging terms. Are we officially "erging" and is it an erg, not an "indoor rower"?

An indoor rower can refer to any type of rowing machine that is used indoors. The Concept 2 ergometer technically is a type of indoor rower, which happens to be the model of choice for actual rowers. Since it is called the C2 Ergometer it is more commonly referred to as the erg and the act of rowing on it erging.

Hope this helps. Don't hesitate to ask questions. I love this sport and will take advantage of any opportunity to talk about it.

Karyn

[Trouble1]

PS - Sorry for delay this AM. My namesake, Kona the golden retriever, had a cut that required attention. If any of you have ever had a dog that had to wear an elizabethan collar...you will understand that the rest of the morning has been as traumatic for her as the first part was for me!

nothing to apologize for..hope you and kona are doing well...barbara[/quote]
Over the years we've always had multiple dogs in the house. Therefore we've had several opportunities to have dogs in an
Elizabethan collar. You really have to feel sorry for them, they bump into everything but you have to giggle. The best visual is when they would go to get a drink from the toilette with the collar on. Wish Kona a speedy recovery.

Tim P

[DuluthMoose]

Don't hesitate to ask questions. I love this sport and will take advantage of any opportunity to talk about it.

Karyn[/quote]


So Karyn and Gina I'm curious about the proper way to set (or trim as I call it in canoeing) say an 8 person hull with both lighter and heavier rowers? or with a significant tailwind? or with a significant headwind? Also does the way you load the rowers in the hull for set factor in that the stern will naturally lower than the bow in a fast moving hull (paddling up the hull speed wave)? And are there any small gorilla sized folks that are any good in racing hulls? Thanks. Darryl B.

[Kona2]

39 more rowing days left in the 2008 season!


Wow! Wake up! It's a blue sky day!And you were splendid rowers yesterday, Luna-Tics! Thanks everyone for helping me get through the ER and Discovery Channel moments of the day! We now also have a hawk with a broken wing stationed out in the garage in the cat carrier to keep it stabilized (something seems inherently wrong in knowingly putting a bird into a cat carrier even when the cat is not in it). Birds of Prey volunteers will be picking this one up this morning. Trust me, heavy gloves and a quick towel over the bird with a scoop into the carrier....but I digress.

Season meters to date = 38,809,726 m

Total meters on the day = 191,422 m

28 percent participation (Friday is a rest day for many)

Milestones!

40K Joseph
500K Pat B
800K Jane
1.6 Mary
1.6 Chris

Million Meter Watch:

Barbara with (28,892 m) to go! Will she cross the finish Sunday or Monday?

Two Million Meter Watch:

Darryl with (10,511 m) to go! Is today the day?
Gabriella with (28,745 m) to go!

And as incentive!
Angelo with (209,923 m) to go!
Dan with (297,801 m) to go! You can do it - you have 39 days!

March Madness Challenge:

5K = 4

10K = 11

And the Pot of Gold goes to:



Jane 26,129 m
Darryl 16,368 m
Rowin 15,118 m
Chris 15,032 m
Jan 15,000 m
Tim 14,981 m
Mitch 14,231 m
Peter H 12,291 m
Pat B 12,020 m
Barbara 11,018 m
Joseph 10,218 m (this guy is knocking out those 10Ks these days!)
Mary 7,243 m
Steven 7,055 m
Tony 6,633 m
AJ 5,000 m
Tina 3,085 m

Thanks to all we are in 11th place overall in year-round team rankings.

And through day 7, NARC we are in 3rd place among the virtual clubs, and 5th overall! Way to row Luna-Tics!

[DuluthMoose]

I can't stand the suspense of it all!!! So this morning I boldly went where at least I have not been before in the galaxy and went across into the 2 million meter zone for a year. And I sure pity those slackers: student 2, student 9, and student 7 that I waved at as I went by. I'm sure their taskmaster will continue floggings until their rowing improves! Now to go celebrate with a jelly donut and a cup of coffee raised to salute the Luna-Tics who provided the inspiration. (And don't expect to goose the moose into a try at 3 million...)