Sure, you’re thinking mostly about snow right now. But it migght be a good time to think about picking up a new bike
for the coming Spring/Summer. Mountain Bike Magazine has
got a solid buyer’s guide you can check out if you’re in the market for some fat tire fun.
Cycle Utah Parks
The Adventure Cycle Association has posted its schedule for 2005 of all the great rides it has in store for the year. Among them, in May is this ride through Utah parks that I thought looked kick ass. Riding though glowing rock formations and experiencing Zion, Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon and all these great National Parks on bike seems like a dream. The ride is 50 miles a day for 11 days, so it ain’t, um, a walk in the park.
Biking the Dolomites
Well, they do call it mountain biking. A story in
Mountain Biking Magazine covers a
grueling-sounding pedal over Italy’s steep, and cold, Dolomite Mountains. The riding sounds rough, steep inclines,
occasionally nasty weather, but in the end, you are in Italy where the food is great anywhere you go. Kind of like New
York City…without the mountains.
Working on an Organic Farm
New Zealand has got lots of great things to do: bungee jumping,
rafting, hiking, mountain biking. But maybe you want your visit to have more meaning than what can get from these fun,
but perhaps somewhat selfish, adventures.
WWOOF New Zealand offers travelers the opportunity to stay and work on
organic farms in Kiwiland. You have to contact the WWOOF folks and
join up with them, but then you can get assigned to work on a farm in the country, eating the fruits of your labor and
enjoying an experience that very few folks ever get. You stay between five days and a few weeks or more. And if you
really like it, maybe you can stay and grow turnips there for the rest of your life. Or tend sheep. There are probably
worse ways to finish out your years than hanging out with a bunch of sheep. Or maybe that’s what your life is like now
anyway?
Pacific Northwest: Land of Many Outdoor Adventures
If you live in Oregon or Washington, you probably already know you have a wealth of outdoor adventures to get the
old blood pumping. Just in case you lack ideas however, the Oregonian has a
nice list
of outside activities in 2005 to get you going. Suggestions range from snowmobiling at Diamond Lake
Resort in February to road biking the rim of Crater Lake in September and bird watching in the Baskett Slough National
Wildlife Refuge in November. As the author of the article puts it, “There’s no such thing as “down time” in the Pacific
Northwest.”