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This is the second stage of the round trip in the Vosges with almost 120 km and over 2700 meters of altitude over a total of 5 passes. Immediately after the start on the main road behind the Col du Page, you will cross the Col d'Oderen on a good road towards the Grand Ballon. From Saint-Amarin we take the southwest approach on the Great Belchen. From the top of the pass it goes directly over the Route-des-Crêtes back to Cernay.

Of course, both stages are also available together in a double pack at a discount of 5 euros. Alternatively, the latest new videos are available in a third season pack and this can save around 15%.

CO2 Compensation

The first quarter is now closed and a total of 12 euros has been donated. The participation was thus around 25%, thank you very much!
In total 520 kg CO2 can be compensated.

New videos

This is the second of the three Rondane RLVs. It starts at the end of part one, at 1000 meters above sea level at Grimsdalshytta. You go down into the Grimsdalen valley and follow it back to Vegaskilet. And of course there is again the introduction of the filmmaker.

The name Portugal comes from the port of Porto, established by the Roman Empire. It is disputed what is meant by Cale. It could come from the Latin calidus, "warm" - "warm port". Or from the ancient Greek word kalós - "beautiful harbor". Today appears the first of several videos from Portugal. In addition, there is again the introduction of the filmmaker.

In the first new video of the year, we travel from Munich to Prague. And we do so in just a few minutes. However, we're not talking about the capitals of the same name, but two smaller villages in Lower Bavaria. The route is typically very hilly with the longer, namesake climb to the Neidlingerberg.

Updates of control files

In some older videos the accuracy of the control files was not optimal due to partly very bad quality of the GPS data. This led to partly larger jumps in the gradient percentages and was therefore a reason for limiting them to 10%. Thanks to new methods for error correction, I was able to achieve a better gradient of the elevation profile in particular. I have now made these corrections for the affected videos and made them available in the form of an update program. For the following RLVs updates for all platforms are already included: Ofenpass, Flüelapass, Julierpass and San Bernardino.
I also removed the limitation for videos where the gradient was reduced mainly because of very steep climbs. For these RLVs, only minor changes were made to the elevation profile. However, by releasing the gradients, it can - depending on the platform - lead to an unrealistic driving experience. The modified specification of the maximum gradient on the video detail page can be used for estimation. An update should therefore only be made with caution (however, the original files are saved during the update). This change affects the videos Mandelpfad, King of the Lake, Col du Sanetsch, Furka 2011, Grimsel 2011, Susten 2011 and Appenzell.
In the update program, the two variants are distinguished in the description: If the elevation profile is also greatly improved, this is marked as 'Update', otherwise as '10 percent'.

Segments

There is another new feature in the elevation profiles. In addition, the predefined segments are now also displayed.

Presentation of the external filmmakers

As probably most of you know, I do not film all videos myself, but have spread over several countries, several very motivated filmmakers who provide more excellent footage. While Eilif from Norway has already been there for 10 years, the first video of Uwe from Portugal will be released soon. Therefore it is high time that these sports friends finally introduce themselves. In loose succession the individual contributions appear now. Matching the just released video Neidlingerberg I start with Willi, from whom this route originates.

Three new videos for Christmas

The Schinderhannes cycle path in the Hunsrück is 38 km long and runs along the route of the former Hunsrück railway from Simmern via Kastellaun to Emmelshausen. The Klosterwege (Monastery trails) are part of a series of tours in the northern Black Forest that I will publish in the near future. Sognefjellet is one of the most famous mountain passes in Norway. It is also the highest moutain pass in Northern Europe.

In addition, the six new videos released since September are now available in their own download package.

New height profile display

I have extended the height profile on the detail pages so that not only the course but also the gradient percentages are displayed in different colors. Every 250 m either the average or, if you move the mouse over the picture, the maximum gradient is displayed for the respective section.

Information about the usability of TTS4

Due to frequent requests regarding the usability of the Tacx Trainer software or alternatives to it, I would like to refer to my help pages on the one hand and briefly summarize the main points: TTS4 can not be installed for a long time, but existing installations are not affected and can continue to be used (but I recommend that you make a backup copy via a drive image).
As an alternative, I recommend BigRingVR, so that already purchased Real Life Videos can be used normally after a new installation (even if BigRing can read different control files, should be reinstalled, because e.g. the Tacx files have a much worse quality due to the system). I do not recommend Rouvy and GoldenCheetah, because the former application will soon discontinue support for Real Life Videos and the latter does not control any roll resistance. Basically, I cannot give any information about which roller trainers are compatible with any training software. This information can only be found on the manufacturer's website.

New video

The Michaelskapelle is a Baroque pilgrimage church on the Michaelsberg near Untergrombach on the western edge of the Kraichgau hill country. It was built from 1742 to 1744 on behalf of the Speyer prince-bishop Damian Hugo von Schönborn and renovated in 2007.

Upload training file to the leaderboard

You can now upload your completed trainings to a leaderboard in the respective real life video. And that even works across platforms, so that a direct comparison of the systems is possible for the first time. For Kettler World Tours, evaluations can be processed in XML format, for Tacx Trainer software activities in TCX format, for Ergoplanet result files in FITLOG format and for TacxFortius Catalyst run files in CAF format. Important: Only file types suitable for the respective system can be processed; TCX files exported from KWT, for example, do not work because they do not contain all the necessary information. If necessary, I can also integrate other platforms, but I would need some sample files. The processing works for the entire route as well as for predefined segments, not for self-defined segments and also not for aborted routes.

New videos

The next new video is with Frosta a peninsula in the middle of Norway, inside the Trondheim fjord. This RLV starts and ends on the very tip of the peninsula. On its way around the peninsula, it visits several places, including the old abbey ruins on the Tautra island. This RLV is mostly quite flat, but there are some short, steep hills.

Today the recording of the Kiel Canal from Kiel to Brunsbüttel is published, i.e. in the opposite direction to the previously published route. The route goes right at the beginning a short piece "over land" and later through Rendsburg. Afterwards it goes only along the canal, shortly before end we cross the canal even on one of the many ferries. This version is over 40 km longer than the KWT Edition.

I have re-created the Italian video of Monte Albo, previously only available on DVD, using the BluRay codec with higher bitrate. If you own the DVD version you can purchase the upgrade for € 4,00.

CO2 Compensation

Unfortunately, in the last quarter only 16% of customers took part in CO2 compensation. Therefore, the minimum amount that can be compensated has not come together. I will therefore offset the amount together with the last quarter of the year.

New videos for the 2020/2021 season

As every year at this time, the first new videos of the 2020/2021 season are released today (apart from the pre-release). Due to the corona-related travel restrictions, there will probably be a few tracks less this season, so this first release will contain only 4 videos instead of the usual 6. I hope there will be something for most of you anyway!

The Challenge Heilbronn will take place on the 2018 changed track and instead of two loops in the Zabergäu we will now only ride one big bike lap, which now also includes the Kraichgau. The Pässegourmet is a quite demanding round tour in the Vosges mountains with almost 120 km and over 2700 altitude meters over a total of 5 passes. The route between Bitschwiller-Les-Thann and Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle is identical to the corresponding section of the 6th stage of the Tour de France 2019. Rondane is the first part of a three-part series of RLVs that runs around the Rondane mountains. Ameisberg (ant hill) was so named because from a distance it looks like an anthill. But its summit rises to almost 1000 meters.

Of course there is also a season package again, which contains all videos released so far.