Until we can safely go on actual group walks or bike rides, we will be going on Virtual City Walks every second Sunday. The virtual city walk consists of a Zoom video conference that will simulate a real City Walk using Google Maps, Street View and other websites.
On Sunday, April 4, please join us for something a little different, a Virtual City Walk & Bike Ride in Drogheda, Ireland. This will be one of our "exotic location" walks, but because there is so much territory to cover, we will be doing a virtual walk of about 4 Km in the town, then a virtual bike ride of about 46 Km outside the town.
We have never done a virtual bike ride, but I imagine it may be something like this 4 year old video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzKn6XRH70, or perhaps like this recent video https://www.designboom.com/technology/chinese-researchers-riderless-autonomous-bicycle-02-15-2021/.
We will start at Nolan’s Pub then walk through the town looking at various points of interest, including historical structures dating back to medieval times, then go for a bike ride outside the town visiting more historical structures, including some Neolithic tombs.
The Ride with GPS route is https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35561982. As usual, keep in mind that I have never been to Drogheda, and am just using Google Maps and other websites to a guide. I cannot attest to its safety or suitability of this route as a real walk and bike ride, so please do your own research if you find yourself there.
The Zoom video conference will start at 9:45 AM on Sunday, and we will begin the virtual walk at about 10:10 AM. Join us before the beginning of the walk to have a get-together with other TBN members, if you like. Typically, the virtual walks last until 11:30 or noon. Feel free to drop out, join, or rejoin us at any time. We can also have a group chat at the end if anyone is interested.
If you are not already on my Virtual City Walk email list, please send an email to citywalks@tbn.ca letting me know who you are and asking to be added the list. If you are on the list, I will email you the link to join the Zoom conference (probably by Saturday evening).
When you connect, you will be placed in the “waiting room”, and I will then admit you to the actual video conference. If you are late joining us, get dropped and rejoin, or have any other problem getting in, I may not notice you in the “waiting room”, so please:
- message my cell at 416-917-8866, if that is not successful,
- call my cell at 416-917-8866, if that is not successful,
- call my home at 905-881-9259,
and I will let you into the video conference.
Zoom allows you to control your microphone and camera. You can mute your microphone so that no one can hear you, and you can start or stop your video feed, so that people can either see you or not. I will initially let everyone control their own microphone, so we can have discussions, but if there are too many people, or if it gets too chaotic, I will mute all microphones. There is a “raise hand” feature that will allow people to request permission to speak. Zoom also includes a chat feature which allows you to send text messages to everyone in the conference, or privately to one other individual. Zoom is quite easy to use, but you might want to download the free app before the meeting and play with it a bit to get used to using it.
If you have any questions, email me at citywalks@tbn.ca.
John Burdett - City Walks Coordinator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzKn6XRH70
