Mammoth Opens for Mtn. Biking

by Erik Olsen on

For years, I’ve known Mammoth not merely as a place to do some of the
best skiing in the world, but it has also become a world-class mountain biking resort. I’ve been a fat-tire fan of
Mammoth since they first opened it up years ago. The ride from the top of the gondola to the bottom takes hours (if you
pace yourself, and stop for lunch) and offers breath-taking views of the valley below.

Well, it’s still kinda chilly up there, but the Mountain is set to open the lower hill on Saturday to bikers. Keep in
mind, some of these trails are double-black-diamonds, so if you go, bring a helmet and a first aid kit.

Photo of the Day: (6/21/05)

by Erik Olsen on

Cruising around bigeono’s photostream I cam across this great
picture of a biker riding across salt flats in South America. I’m actually not sure where this is, but I suspect it
is somewhere near Atacama Desert in Chile. I’ve been there myself and it looks just like this, an expanse of vivid
color. But what I liked most about this photo was the addition of the bike, whiich not only gives the photo interesting
scale, but also adds a cool feature to the shot.

Lotsa Lance

by Erik Olsen on

Well, we’re very close to Lance-time, so I thought I’d pull some sites of interest. Don’t know about you, but it seems to me he has been everywhere. I’ve seen his chiseled mug on magazines, newspapers, books, and all over TV. Just yesterday I flew in to LA and there was some kind of Lance Marathon on the scores of monitors lodged into the backs of people’s seats. A sea of Lances.

But it is of course a big deal that the guy is going for his 7th Tour de France victory. I mean, what a remarkable athlete he is. There must be some very odd mixture of genes that both foster discipline and provide for high tolerance of pain in Lance’s genome.

All that said if you’re a fan, you should probably check out the Discovery Channel site, which is one of the better Lance sites. You can also check out the Lance Armstong Fouundation site, which is quite good, but not as media-rich, and the Lance.com site. And then there is the Nike site with some of the very Nike-esque commercials available online. For the Tour itself, there is an Official site, and a Tour blog.

TV Re-Evolves

by Erik Olsen on

If you don’t spend much time watching video on the Web, then you’re missing out on a big
revolution. More and more great stuff is turning up online, as both people who couldn’t get their insane clips or
stories aired on TV turn to the net, and even some of the traditional media start to get wise. Let us praise this
movement.

Now take a look at the re-evolution of adventure sports Web site.
Granted this isn’t homespun TV, but the site is over-flowing with great, intense video from a world of sports far
outside the traditional (and let’s face it, boring) triumvirate of football, basketball and baseball. Re-evolution TV
has got people doing insane things they call sports on ice, water and land. There is so much to sit and watch here, I
can’t begin to list it all, but I will say the interface is sleek and intense, and the videos are a blast.

Hiker’s Paresthesias

by Erik Olsen on

There you are, moving quickly along your favorite trail. It’s been a few days, and you feel
like you’ve really hit your stride. But then you get a pain in your foot or another extremity. A cramp? Something
worse? Often it goes away, but sometimes it doesn’t. What’s up?

The above scenario has happened to me. Walking for a long time, I’ve had an experience when I got some odd numbness
in my feet and fingers. I shook it off, but it turns out that this phenom has a name:
Paresthesias

According to this article, a study in The
Journal of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine found that over a third of backpackers hiking seven or more days
experience “paresthesias”. It is described as tingling, burning or prickling sensations. Chances are if you feel these
things while hiking you’ve got paresthesias…or gonorrhea (if that latter, I urge you to be less friendly with the
wildlife). It is usually temporary, and will go away. If you want to learn even more, read the piece.