Archives for 2007

Inspector Gadget had one and now you can too – an eye in the back of your head. Cerevellum has introduced a prototype of a bike computer with a rear view camera (Get it? Cerebellum and Cerevellum? Clever bastards.), which in theory should keep you safe from approaching cars or to track the whereabouts of [...]

I like to think I’m a handy sort of fellow. I putter around the house some weekends and knock-out a few projects. And just when I’m feeling all Norm Abramsy about myself I stumble across something downright awe-inspiring. Apparently their is a sub-culture of bamboo believers building bicycles because (aw shit, I ran out of [...]

I’ve always liked capturing footage of me and my friends skating, boarding, jumping, etc. A couple of early jackasses ourselves, Jay and I have footage from the mid-1980s of falling to frozen earth from 10 feet off a half pipe. OK, actually Jay is the one who bailed and I merely zoomed in on his [...]

As you may have noticed, Bitness has been on hold. I’ve just returned from Jamaica where I spent the week with family. Unlike last year, the weather was amazing. Plenty of swimming, golf, running (holy hills and humidity!) and playing with the kids. I also had a chance to film and produce a DVD for [...]

Sometimes you can tell a quality product by just looking at it. BMW, Bose, Apple and VLINE are examples of this. What? You never heard of Vline? You will. Their bouldering gear easily stands out among other manufacturers thanks to obvious quality. VLINE Climbing takes a different approach to gear manufacturing. All hand-stitched in the [...]

Nothing sucks more than having to take off your gloves to answer the phone, calculate an equation or shoot out an email from the slopes. I guess you could leave the gadgets at home, but then the guy next to you in the lift line looks more important. He thinks yelling at an employee for [...]

Many climatologists and armchair experts have stated that geographically, the only reliable part of the country to run a ski operation 25-50 years from will be at altitudes found only in parts out West. Does this mean it will not snow in New England in 25-50 years? Probably not, but with global warming who the [...]

Bitness contributors have taken some serious slams. I have video of Frank biting through his lip and nearly knocking himself out skateboarding in the half-pipe. I convinced Jay when we were younger to do a front-flip off my parents deck – I promised to do it if he did. He landed on his back and [...]

Growing up I raced around on BMX bikes – dirt tracks and backyard jumps. We would set up some pretty crazy jumps and there were a few trips to the emergency room. One time we stacked up 4 tires and made my friend’s little brother stand in them. Just the top of his head was [...]

Nine-time Olympic gold medal winner Carl Lewis was a fast runner and a bad singer. Now Carl Lewis is a fast talking salesman and a bad singer. To be fair, he does represent a line of proven exercise equipment, but this latest offering has me ‘shaking’ my head. The Carl Lewis Vibro Exerciser shakes you [...]

First Page Fitness compiled a list of the craziest fitness gadgets of all time. But as past posts prove on Bitness, there are still crazier gadgets out there. Here is a recap of 7 crazy gadgets covered by Bitness in the last 10+ months (from oldest to newest)… 1. Hypoxi L250 – ‘Lounge Riding that [...]

SKI Magazine readers ranked their favorite resorts according to the criteria that matters most to them. All the resorts in the top 10 are in America and none from the East coast. Here are the top ten… Vail, CO Deer Valley, UT Snowmass, CO Whistler/Blackcomb, BC Park City, UT Breckenridge, CO Aspen, CO Beaver Creek, [...]

In the summer of 2006, NOVA began following 13 hopeful novices as they took the first step toward completing the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon in April 2007. The participants come from diverse backgrounds – a young woman running in memory of her mother, who died in a tragic car accident; a working single mom; even a [...]

Many runners feel that an MP3 player detracts from the experience of running outdoors. That not being in tune to your breathing, or hearing the birds chirping is cheating yourself. I, on the other hand, prefer Black Sabbath screaming in my head and yes, the occasional Dane Cook comedy break. The more obvious argument is [...]

Running around barefoot is fun for the most part, unless you step on pine cones, sharp rocks or in dog shit. I’ve had the misfortune of stepping on or in all three this Summer. I’ve tried to boulder barefoot after reading about Chris Sharma doing it. It hurt like hell and forget about a heel [...]

Like most people I have a lot of stress in my life. Exercise is a great relief from that stress but we can’t exercise all the time. Yoga, meditation and even breathing a certain way, usually from your gut, can be relaxing. Another cool way to relax is floating, it helped Daredevil and it can [...]

As promised, here are pictures of the completed PVC bike stand. I modified the original plans found on Instructables somewhat to both reduce parts and hopefully increase the strength (I’m not an engineer). I simply lengthened the front legs and did away with a 45 degree elbow and small length of pipe. I also decided [...]

Lately I’ve become the neighborhood bicycle mechanic. I was sitting on the front lawn replacing the brakes on my wife’s bike, changing the skins and adjusting the derailleurs. Soon a few kids came by with their bikes in disrepair and I was turning my Park tools just fast enough to put up with demand. It [...]

One Summer many years ago, my best bud Jason and I went to Mt Hood to snowboard ‘camp.’ We stayed at Rebel Lodge, which on paper sounded as good as the continental breakfast, dry-land training, gate training and half-pipe sessions we greedily read about in the pages of our snowboarding mags. When we arrived in [...]

This one falls into the “dammit, why didn’t I think of that” category. Unlike rigid pole tents, AirZone Recreation‘s durable and easy-to-inflate tents are easy to stuff into any available space. When it’s dark, raining, snowing or cold you will appreciate how much quicker and less frustrating pitching an AirZone tent can be. On cycling [...]