Archives for “Cycling”
I’ve always marveled at how small retired NBA basketball and now actor John Salley’s ears are. Truth is I have small ears too – not as disproportionate as Mr. Salley’s who at 6’11″ has ears the size of nickels, but small nonetheless. Having small ears was never a big deal back when headphones were worn [...]
Swimming The sound of zipping up your wetsuit early in the morning. The small ripples you make in the water when you get in. The splashes other people make when they get in. They squeal and make high-pitched noises, but you have done this so many times before in much colder conditions, you just sink [...]
In a moment of weakness, I put in a bid on eBay for a set of Zipp 440 carbon fiber tubular tires a few months ago. A new set of those wheels, the Zipp 404 tubulars, cost at least $1,500 for the pair (and that’s without skewers, cassette, tape and tires), and there was a pair [...]
Sorry for the long silence. Been away for a while, getting stuck into my big challenge this year: training for my first ironman triathlon (the Forestman). For those of you who didn’t know (and if you already knew this, then please allow me to try and impress you once more with the sheer numbers), an [...]
Android continues to mature in the smartphone market and the HTC Incredible on the Verizon network gives the Apple iPhone a whole host of reasons to take notice. First and foremost the HTC Incredible gets a signal, an increasingly difficult task at least for myself and fellow iPhone/AT&T users in our neck of the woods [...]
I was an early iPhone adopter – before the App store and just stoked on the idea that I had a cool phone and a way to browse the web at decent speeds on a decent-sized screen. The initial gee-whiz of what could be done on the iPhone was soon overshadowed by what it couldn’t [...]
EA has announced EA SPORTS Active 2.0 (working title). Scheduled for release this fall, EA SPORTS Active 2.0 is expected to offer a wireless heart rate monitor, arm and leg accelerometers for use with PlayStation 3, Wii, iPhone and iPod touch. Users can track exertion in real-time with an onscreen display and also share workouts [...]
Interval training is increased intensity for a given activity (lifting, running, rowing, cycling) for a measured amount of time, followed by a reduced level activity for a measured amount of time. Typically done in sets, interval training can be anaerobic – fat burning high intensity interval training (HIIT) typically focused on starving larger muscle groups [...]
Not everyone needs an iPhone or even a smartphone for that matter. For many, the only functionality needed is good voice quality and the only feature required is reliability. Enter the Motorola Barrage, both uniquely feature-rich as well as durable and providing what I perceived to be above-average voice quality. Ideally suited for those who [...]
Okay, it’s cold and dark and wet out there, if you’re living in the northern hemisphere and it’s what we call Winter time (not that bullshit they complain about in Florida when they have to put on a sweater or something). You don’t want to ride your bike, you don’t think it’s safe out there, [...]
If you enjoy the outdoors all year long, even when it’s wet and cold, you have to prepare properly. When dressing for the winter leave the cotton at home – once wet it’s like a death blanket. Keep your head and neck covered and make sure you have adequate protection for your hands and feet [...]
For all you lucky recipients of an iPod Touch this holiday season, there’s a cool and useful accessory coming out later this year to keep an eye on. The XGPS300 iPod Touch GPS Cradle from Dual Electronics turns your iPod Touch into a fully-enabled GPS device. The XGPS300 includes a free turn-by-turn Navigation app NavAtlas, [...]
Every car I’ve owned has had a roof rack. Even my old pick-up truck had a bed rack to hold and lock my mountain bike (which cost more than the truck). For my latest rack I switched to a Yakima rack system and I’m happy I did. Assuming I’d need a few hours for installation [...]
I’ve taken your standard hand-held Sony camcorder on many hell-runs down steeps or through glades and only broke one camera. This point of view (POV) filming let’s me relive snowboarding in the off season, reminding me of favorite lines… and the one camera I ruined. Was it a rock or a root I hit? I [...]
Surfing in the Summer is quick and easy; boardies, rash guard and off you go. The only problem is there’s nowhere to stash a key (which in wetsuit season goes behind my calf). Surfers, runners, bikers, anyone who drives somewhere to get a workout has to hide their keys in the wheel well or under [...]
In the run-up to the London Triathlon, I had a miserable couple of weeks doing some really crappy work (teaching photography to a bunch of aggressive, violent teenagers) for which I was completely unprepared, getting stressed out, losing sleep, not eating enough, not training much, and generally giving my buddy, Crohn’s Disease, several good reasons to [...]
For almost a quarter century, Kinetic watches have kept themselves wound by converting movement into energy. As of 2007, over eight million Kinetic watches have been sold and the notion of harvesting energy from movement is becoming even more popular today with a new generation of what are called Nanogenerator devices. Nanogenerators have the ability [...]
Brick training is a concept that is popular in triathlon circles where you combine two different disciplines in one continuous training session. It is a good way of working different muscle groups (e.g. going from a swim straight onto the bike) or preparing yourself for some of the weird physiological sensations you might expect to [...]
Motorists and cyclists are supposed to share the road and obey the same laws. All too often however, we see cyclists riding against a one way, blowing through red lights or failing to signal. Meanwhile motorists tailgate cyclists, open car doors without looking and crowd cyclists to the curb with seemingly little regard for their [...]
Growing up, I was always a fan of The Hulk cartoons and TV show. My cousin Joe Harnell wrote the theme song for the TV show (song title: ‘The Lonely Man‘) and was kind enough to send me an autographed picture of himself, as well as Bill Bixby and an enraged Lou Ferrigno as the [...]
I’ve owned a Suunto Observer for years, a gift from the wife and I love it. With it I can tell which direction I’m headed, altitude, barometric pressure, temperature and of course the time. While somewhat bulky, it is still stylish IMHO and once configured performs well. Timex will start shipping the Timex® Expedition® WS4™ [...]
Many moons ago I wrote about the Airpod, a device you wear while snowboarding that measures hang time while pulling airs. Now an application for the iPhone does that and adds a few more bells and whistles to boot. HangTimer for the iPhone uses the iPhone’s accelerometer and “hairy math” to calculate air time from [...]
When the Nike+ system came out a few years ago I had a hard time buying one for myself since I had just purchased my second Garmin Forerunner. But clever me, I magnanimously bought one for my wife, also a runner, for our 10th anniversary. I like to run with music, but early-on Nike announced [...]
