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

[Thor MW]

Whoop, whoop and a whole lotta fireworks! The full moon was extra bright over Qatar yesterday as Ed worked on his Steve Austin impression and became a six million meter man! Congratulations and amazement, Ed! We wish you many, MANY more millions in your extraordinary erging career!

Way to go Master Ed. And also to Will S and Dan O'.
Keep on rock'n

[Kona2]

A long posting...apologies.

A frosty day dawns and finds Team Luna-Tic at the number SEVEN spot overall in the Virtual Team Challenge rankings, with 66 teammates in our virtual boat....and ROOM FOR MORE! Please take a minute while perusing your logbook to slide the cursor over to the Teams heading and click on JOIN to participate in this Challenge. Whether you row or ski-erg a little or a lot, all the meters are worthy meters !

Here's a link to the individual Challenge contributions made throughout the Erging Universe at this time: http://log.concept2.com/challenges/vtc/2017/individuals
One popular goal is to contribute in the top ten percent, which today would be anyone with a Challenge Total that is greater than 22,195 meters. Don't find this too daunting at the moment. Really. It is a looooong Challenge, and many come out of the start gate fast....the trick is to maintain a steady pace that fits for you. The first two weeks of the Challenge are the hunting and gathering time of additional teammates for many teams. We, too, like to get additional teammates for Challenges and there are often those who participate in this Challenge with us yet belong to other affiliations throughout the year. It's all good. At the end of two weeks, the teams are set. You can't add or subtract players.

The REAL virtual team challenge starts at the advent of week three. The historical background here is that moons ago, we would see a boatload of team members and meters suddenly appear for a virtual team at the last minute. Very deflating for those who thought the boat in front of or behind them was fully visible. There are still those who don't post all the meters until the last minute - all depends on how you want to play the Challenge. What the Luna-Tics team generally has chosen to do is to celebrate the accomplishments of its team members, and happily post where we are in the regatta...but not stress about it anymore. We are here to enjoy what we do and to push ourselves a bit extra during the Challenges.

Our resident artist AJ took time a few years back to design our virtual canoes. When you reach 100,000 m...you earn your virtual canoe. At 200,000 m...wow! It's so much easier to steer and go faster with the paddle that you've earned. Up the creek with instead of without is always better. At 500 K, a sanity check and a bathtub brigade membership. At ONE million...well, you're probably certifiable anyway, but there are some pretty special boats that have appeared here, too. Haven't asked AJ for further work on this - he is a busy guy with many interests. So go after those canoes and paddles and bathtubs! The meters contributed will truly float the Lunie boat in this Challenge...and you'll find that YOUR personal meter vault grows as well. Win win for sure.



1 Boston Rowing Federation On-Water 898,172m 161 5,579m
2 ARIEL TOY Virtual 666,373m 50 13,327m
3 Age Without Limits Virtual 647,099m 111 5,830m
4 Free Spirits Virtual 634,532m 105 6,043m
5 Narragansett Boat Club On-Water 557,780m 49 11,383m
6 ANCIENTS Virtual 550,870m 31 17,770m
7 LUNA-TICS Virtual 524,453m 66 7,946m

Day One of the Challenge, finds the Lunies with:

and a and a host of very important other meter totals as well. They are all important. It is obvious that many are keeping their Challenge goal setting options open. And, not surprisingly, there are some individual milestones that have been achieved!

MILESTONES...Bragging RIghts...Celebrations:

6.0 MM Ed
2.65 MM Tombeur
1.5 MM Angelo - whale of an update!
1.4 MM David T
1.05 MM Ron
900 K Andrew - and number THREE on the overall individual meter contributor tally for the Challenge!
500 K Matthew R...a cool half million
250 K Tim M
200 K Chip

Thanks, everyone, for rowing and ski-erging with us!

Tony 1,111 m ....a palindrome !
Debbie 3,115 m
Ross 4,985 m
Kevin 5,000 m
Melissa 5,000 m
William H 5,000 m
Matthew R 5,021 m
Bernie 5,031 m
Dan O' 5,320 m
Larry 6,035 m
David W 6,453 m
Jeff M 7,016 m
AJ 7,017 m
Teresa R 7,472 m
Noel 8,132 m
David T 9,000 m
Tim 9,000 m
Patrick Hsr 9,636 m
Janice 10,000 m
Louis 10,000 m
Peter G 10,000 m
Doug 10,370 m
Minnie 10,501 m ...a palindrome!
Howard 11,246 m
Stuart 12,528 m
Ron 14,141 m ...a palindrome!
K2 16,424 m
Will S 16,520 m
Wim 16,908 m
Tombeur 17,028 m
Chip 21,097 m ...he moons us!
Steve W 21,097 m ...he moons us, too!
danwho 22,500 m ...what we have here is an epidemic of mooning!
Norma 2..3...4...5...6 m ....Shaun must be over the moon!
David A 24,600 m ...another moonshot!
Andrew 34,543 m ...a palindrome of the count up and down variety!
Ed 42,195 m .....he moons us!
Angelo 136,748 m ...empties the whole meter piggy bank!

And, finally, in the what-was-new column...there are always some hidden gems in your world ...things you had NO IDEA were there. The Denver Curlers was one of these. Curling is a sport I'd really only seen on Olympic coverage...and maybe some team building events held at off sites up in Breckenridge, etc. Who knew that there was a club with competitive leagues and classes?! They held an open house to introduce their non-profit to the public yesterday. The stones or rocks they glide over the ice are 42 lb granite stones from an island off the coast of Scotland.



Red team won...

[bg]

Whoop, whoop and a whole lotta fireworks! The full moon was extra bright over Qatar yesterday as Ed worked on his Steve Austin impression and became a six million meter man! Congratulations and amazement, Ed! We wish you many, MANY more millions in your extraordinary erging career!

amazing!!!!!! woooooooooooo hooooooooooooo and congrats :]

[danwho]

Whoop, whoop and a whole lotta fireworks! The full moon was extra bright over Qatar yesterday as Ed worked on his Steve Austin impression and became a six million meter man! Congratulations and amazement, Ed! We wish you many, MANY more millions in your extraordinary erging career!

amazing!!!!!! woooooooooooo hooooooooooooo and congrats :]

Congratulations, Ed !!!!!!
While searching for an image I could use for this awesome event, I came across this Qatar license plate. Doesn't quite scream 6 million, but it has 6's, and that Arabic symbol strongly suggests an erg to me. It was destined.
By the way, do you get the Rolls out often?

[Kona2]

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Andrew has crossed the 100K Challenge meters milestone....and earned his canoe....now...if there was only a paddle (give him a few days and he'll have that).

[Edscapade]

Whoop, whoop and a whole lotta fireworks! The full moon was extra bright over Qatar yesterday as Ed worked on his Steve Austin impression and became a six million meter man! Congratulations and amazement, Ed! We wish you many, MANY more millions in your extraordinary erging career!

amazing!!!!!! woooooooooooo hooooooooooooo and congrats :]

Congratulations, Ed !!!!!!
While searching for an image I could use for this awesome event, I came across this Qatar license plate. Doesn't quite scream 6 million, but it has 6's, and that Arabic symbol strongly suggests an erg to me. It was destined.
By the way, do you get the Rolls out often?

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the picture! I am a car guy... It has been amazing to say the least to see the many cars over here. On some Fridays I go to a certain area of Doha to see what I call the parade of cars. One of my Qatari employees made it so I could go. On a daily basis you see Rolls, Bentleys and Ferrari's out and about. (Hard for me to keep focused on driving) ha ha. But at the place I go on Fridays is amazing - You will see many Ferraris (many different models), McLaren's, Porsche, Lamborghinis, Koenigsegg (Unbelievable car), Bugatti Veyron, Aston Martin. Many of these are multi - million dollar cars. then on the other side of the street you have the Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs from new to the old. I am a kid in a candy store. Very privileged to be able to attend and see some amazing cars.

Quick story - It was about 2 years ago, I was looking at the cars in our parking lot and I noticed the RR. I came in and was talking to my Engineers - who owns the RR out there? They said it was my Qatari assistant. So I brought him in and asked him about his cars, because I had seen his new Corvette. He began to tell me that his Dad buys him a new car for his birthday every year since he was 16. He is 26 now. He has Ferrari (fun to drive)! 69 Camaro - immaculate shape, 70 Mustang, 80's corvette, Porsche 911, Mercedes and the very fast McLaren. When I met his dad - he is around my age, I said will you please adopt me... It is fun to be around and look and drive the cars sometimes. Out of my league for sure, but it has been great to actually touch my dreams over here.

Happy Rowing All,

Ed

[Kona2]

We've passed the ONE million team challenge meter milestone!

One Lunie canoe (thus far) in the virtual waters of Moon River! Many other teammates getting closer to dragging their canoes off the shore and into the water! Whatever your distance goal (and some are keeping their options alive for ALL the distances), you will want to be part of the ArMOONda!

1 Boston Rowing Federation On-Water 2,536,184m 204 12,432m
2 Age Without Limits Virtual 1,494,002m 134 11,149m
3 ARIEL TOY Virtual 1,287,239m 52 24,755m
4 FRENCH INDOOR ROWERS TEAM Virtual 1,254,486m 119 10,542m
5 Free Spirits Virtual 1,205,371m 122 9,880m
6 ANCIENTS Virtual 1,064,945m 33 32,271m
7 LUNA-TICS Virtual 1,054,099m 75 14,055m
8 Fitness Matters Indoor Rowing Virtual 982,897m 74 13,282m
9 Narragansett Boat Club On-Water 929,208m 53 17,532m
10 Indoor Rowing Islas Baleares Virtual 795,496m 65 12,238m

Here's a link to our individual challenge team contributors: http://log.concept2.com/team/2537/vtc/2017

The New Year's Eve virtual celebration might well be over (but the seeds of future drinks have been floated out there!)....MANY thanks to Jane! My champagne was very tasty!

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:


1.4 MM danwho
1.4 MM Doug G
1.2 MM Norma
1.05 MM Will S
50 K Wim

Thanks, everyone, for rowing and ski-erging with us!

Wowzer! Some real surprises in today's numbers! Nine palindromes, six half moons, and a whole lot of teammates getting some meters into the team meter piggy bank! Important to remember that all meter contributions are welcome....it's going to add up! Way to go Lunies!

Tom 500 m
Steve W 4,334 m ...a palindrome !
Ross 4,919 m
Chuck 5,000 m
Tim K 5,000 m
Tim M 5,000 m
Bernie 5,019 m
Matthew R 5,019 m
Noel 5,022 m
Steve G 5,265 m
David T 6,000 m
AJ 7,022 m
Larry 7,032 m
William H 7,376 m
Ian 8,003 m
Wim 9,002 m
Chris H 9,510 m
Patrick Hsr 9,602 m
David W 10,000 m
Melissa 10,000 m
Chip 10,022 m
Jane 10,501 m ...a palindrome.. and a new version of The Boxcar Children!
Minnie 11,011 m .. hula hula...a double aught double palindrome!
Doug G 11,021 m
Tony 11,112 m ...I'm sure it was going to be an exponential palindrome...
Dan O' 11,344 m
Howard 11,381 m
Louis 11,956 m
David A 12,533 m
Jeff M 12,550 m
Dennis 13,431 m...a palindrome that delivers an extra 10K every three days!
Tombeur 13,720 m
Ron 14,841 m ...a palindrome from our man in Vermont!
bg 15,438 m
Norma 15,951 m ....a palindrome!
Peter G 21,112 m ...a half moon palindrome!
Will S 21,217 m ...and he moons us, too!
K2 22,030 m ...a half moon to keep my options open...
Ed 33,333 m ...a threeish palindrome!
Andrew 34,543 m ... a palindrome to capture the canoe!
danwho 37,500 m ....whoa...serious meters...bet you slept well...

[Kona2]

Another canoe slips into the virtual waters as Ed crosses the 100K Challenge meters milestone!


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[DavidA]

Wow, David!!! Those are some expansive tent accommodations. I'm guessing the poles coil up?? I'm amazed at what you were able to fit on your bike. Paniers on the back and more packs on the front. So how many miles did you cover? Major kudos!!!

Yes, the poles coil up.
I need to carry everything I need with me.
It was 400 miles.

David

[Kona2]

Whoa...we've got a full moon over Qatar....with multiple other Lunie stars in our erging Universe, too...and BIG snow coming our way...good time to hunker down and erg onward!!

The Virtual Team Challenge enters its 4th day of 31...and finds us at lucky 7! We've been trading spots with the Ancients. Note that some teams do a weekly upload of meters, and the outlook can change dramatically in a single moment. That's the intersection of virtual reality and real life.

Here's a link to the individual contributions in the Challenge: http://log.concept2.com/challenges/vtc/2017/individuals


1 Boston Rowing Federation On-Water 4,122,976m 252 16,361m
2 Age Without Limits Virtual 2,255,414m 151 14,937m
3 FRENCH INDOOR ROWERS TEAM Virtual 2,089,806m 140 14,927m
4 Free Spirits Virtual 1,864,971m 127 14,685m
5 ARIEL TOY Virtual 1,858,453m 52 35,739m
6 ANCIENTS Virtual 1,582,547m 35 45,216m
7 LUNA-TICS Virtual 1,558,834m 80 19,485m



And whoop, whoop....the personal milestones are coming fast and furious during this Challenge! Click...click...click...

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

6.05 MM Ed
2.45 MM David A
1.3 MM Minnie
1.2 MM bg
1.15 MM Patrick Hsr
950 K Andrew ... meter millionaire status a virtual certainty in the next 24 hrs
950 K K2 ... meter millionaire status a virtual certainty by end of week
600 K Peter G
550 K Jane
500 K Ted ..a cool half million!
400 K Bernie

Thanks, everyone, for rowing and ski-erging with us!

Chuck E 5,000 m
Melissa 5,000 m
Tim K 5,000 m
Noel 5,015 m
Bernie 5,028 m
Steve G 5,307 m
Ross 5,410 m
Teresa R 5,488 m
Briana 5,553 m
David T 7,500 m
Jane m ...a special 8's palindrome!
Wim 9,024 m
Jeff M 9,042 m
Patrick Hsr 9,590 m
Matthew R 10,000 m
Peter G 10,000 m
Rick 10,000 m
Louis 10,140 m
Tombeur 10,311 m
Howard 11,190 m
Danno 12,000 m
David A 12,548 m
Minnie 13,331 m ...a lucky 13 palindrome!
Dennis 13,431 m ...a palindrome!
danwho 15,000 m
Ron 15,551 m ...a palindrome!
K2 16,666 m ...just a bit of bedevilment....
Will S 23,147 m
Ted 28,000 m
bg 28,314 m
Andrew 34,543 m ....palindrome!
Ed 42,195 m ...he moons us!

[Shabana]

[quote="Kona2"]

950 K Andrew ... meter millionaire status a virtual certainty in the next 24 hrs


Thanks for the confidence!

A lot more than I was feeling, I started having pain in my right knee during yesterday's row, and did the last few kms practically one-legged to avoid making it worse. I was worried that my mind has been making commitments that my body can't keep. It is strange what one will endure for a picture of a bathtub (I really wanted to get one before other commitments later in the month stop me from rowing as much)!

When I woke up this morning the knee felt good, I will press on.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to say how impressed I am by the extra effort put in by everyone in the team (and in fact across all the teams) taking part in the challenge; whether it is an increase to 1000m a day or to full marathons, it is the extra effort that counts.

I have noticed though that some people (myself probably pretty close to the top of the list) can get a little bit over involved. It is not worth getting injured performing an activity that is intended to improve your fitness! Please row safely (and I will try to as well ).

[Calamity]

Since Kona2 mentioned The Boxcar Children - here they are on our Christmas Card picture (L to R - Anais, Akira, Orion, (Buddy the dog) Adian and Elias. And yes, that is Orion's boxcar. The actual author of the Boxcar Children was a teacher and lived in the town next to us - Putnam, CT. There is a Boxcar Children's Museum inside a boxcar in Putnam.

[Kona2]

A lot more than I was feeling, I started having pain in my right knee during yesterday's row, and did the last few kms practically one-legged to avoid making it worse. I was worried that my mind has been making commitments that my body can't keep. It is strange what one will endure for a picture of a bathtub (I really wanted to get one before other commitments later in the month stop me from rowing as much)!

When I woke up this morning the knee felt good, I will press on.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to say how impressed I am by the extra effort put in by everyone in the team (and in fact across all the teams) taking part in the challenge; whether it is an increase to 1000m a day or to full marathons, it is the extra effort that counts.

I have noticed though that some people (myself probably pretty close to the top of the list) can get a little bit over involved. It is not worth getting injured performing an activity that is intended to improve your fitness! Please row safely (and I will try to as well ).

Safe erging yes indeed ! We want to keep our teammates long term as our journey is long. There are many who join, go great guns, and flame out. Good form, especially when doing longer distances, is really important so that you won't get injured. A good reminder - particularly when it can look like meter totals have suddenly gone exponential ! For me, it's just about devoting some extra time. I row for an hour, then any additional meter contributions are generated in no more than half hour segments. Many teammates add just 15 or so minutes to their daily sessions, and that is awesome! There aren't any specific totals required or requested - everyone should be their own judge of what feels like a good amount for them. We have a couple of teammates who, in past seasons, have done a half marathon or half moon in excess of 200 times. I am not one of them.

Meanwhile, our Denver snow totals are climbing and I have gotten the yooper scooper out! Pups think this is awesome stuff...but at 5 degrees F, can't leave them out in it for very long. I hear that somewhere it's summer....

[Kona2]

Jane - what a great photo! We haven't seen a picture of your kids in a couple of years. Fun stuff, and interesting info on Boxcar author, too.

[Kona2]

Whoop, whoop and what a quick first MILLION! Don't forget to send in for your tee shirt and special pin from Concept2! Congratulations, Andrew, on achieving a ONE million meter erging season! We wish you many, MANY more!