Twice, in just two days, I have encountered someone wearing their bike helmet backwards. I had heard of this happening, but thought it was an outdoor legend. Like Yeti, Sasquatch, or the Chupacabra. The first girl I tried to warn, pointing out that it’s much safer when worn correctly. In return I got a very Pee Wee Hermanesqe, “I meant to do that!” So the second time I saw it, I just stared in awe and thought best to keep my thoughts to myself.
Is this the new fashion? This isn’t a regionally isolated incident either, they happened almost 200 miles apart! I remember how funny my dad thought it was to tell me my hat was on backwards when I was in high school. Man was that annoying. Like he knows what cool is. No wonder that girl snapped at me.
Maybe this is just the first in a whole wave of Backwards Bike Fashions. (BBF’s for short) Wearing your jersey backwards not only looks cooler, but makes the pockets that much more accesable. These guys had it right.
So my recommendation, be the first in your bike gang to get with the new style that is sweeping the nation. Out with the old! Who cares about function? Backwards sun-visors even give you a sporty TT helmet feel too!
* Outdoorzy does not endorse this blog post. Not only will you be openly ridiculed, riding with your helmet may cause impaired vision. In the event of accident your steezy helmet could lead to injury, paralysis, and death by fashion.
If you’re not familiar with Parkour, it’s the art of acrobatic street jumping/climbing/life-risking. Most of the time it’s just jumping around, flipping, and rolling. But sometimes the people performing the stunts take on a little more risk than I like to see. Check this guy out… My palms are still sweaty.
The following does not reflect the opinion of Outdoorzy, just this one, strange blogger…
Let’s set the record straight here. I own a The North Face jacket, gloves, sleeping bag, and a pair of convertible pants. I love each one of those things. They are well made technical clothing items. They keep me warm and dry and looking good while I do it. Can’t ask for more than that.
But, as we all know, The North Face has entered the mainstream. It’s rough when you see your grandmother wearing The North Face, when yesterday it was “your” style. And I’m not talking about your grandmother that climbs 5.9s. I’m talking about your grandmother that drives a Lincoln and eats at The Cracker Barrel. I don’t think the issue many of us Outdoorsy types have with this is unfounded either. Some say, “Anyone can buy any piece of clothing they want.” And this is true. But when everyone is wearing your brand, it suddenly looses its individuality. Mountain Hardwear is getting a following in the Bingo-playing crowd as well, which is also disturbing. TNF and MH both make fantastic clothing, no doubt about it. But I hate going to the mall and my wife can’t find me because everyone has the same jacket on.
You may have seen the wingsuit video over on Epic Weather. But if you don’t subscribe to Outside Magazine you may not have seen that a wingsuit pilot is prepping for possibly the craziest stunt ever performed.
Jeb Corliss (Former “Stunt Junkies” host at Discovery) is going to attempt to jump from a helicopter 2,000 feet up, glide with a wingsuit at over 100 mph, and land in a tube. You can read more about the story over at the Outside site. The diagram below shows the plan.
This stunt is sure to end in instant fame or instant death. I’ll be wearing my adult diaper while watching this one.
A couple of weekends ago, my fiancé and I were watching MTV. They had a “True Life” marathon on and I will admit; I am a fan of the 60 minute documentary. When we turned on the TV we had about 10 minutes left of the current show and the Tivo guide showed us the next program, “A Map For Saturday”. Thinking it might be a True Life that involves the outdoors, I was ready to watch it.
As the show starts, the narrator goes into his story and about the show. The guy, Brook Silva-Braga, leaves a nice job with a TV network to travel the world with clothes in his backpacks and several pounds of video equipment. He sets out to see the world for a year by himself and along the way he meets many new people or as one guy puts it, “friends for a day”.
“It makes me laugh when people say I could never do what you’re doing. All our friends gave us six weeks and then we’d be home and it now been 14 months.”
Karen: 21, England
“In fifty or sixth years I’m dead. I want to say, ‘I had a good life’.”
Jens: 27 Germany
“I’d like to travel 364 days and go back for Christmas.”
Bill: 27 Northern Ireland
The people he meets along the way are also solo travelers, some are just starting out, others are in the middle of their adventure, and some are heading home. The solo travelers he meets and travels with from one location to another help tell the story of why and how they are traveling as well as share some personal accounts of their own travels.
At times lonely and difficult; more often joyous, and always adventurous. In the end, Brook travels for 12 month, and travels by plane, train, automobile and by foot to 26 countries on four continents.
When the UPS guy finally came on Friday, I felt just like this!
What did he bring me as my first piece of gear to test? Yeah, a rocket sled, from Mad River Rocket!
Not a nitro fueled, go-to-the-moon, rocket… better! A backcountry, shred-the-pow rocket.
After playing on their website (see here) a little, it was easy to see what this thing was made / designed for,,, backountry powder. We “earned our turns” fo a while, figuring out how to manuever the sled.
After our backcountry testing, we were anxious to show this thing off. I heard a little rumor about a hill where some of the local kids were known to race. We din’t find any competetion, but we did find the jumps they left behind for us. (We only recommend jumping in soft snow! Jumping on hard-pack, off sketchy jumps built by 10-year-olds, can lead to back injury.) It’s a good thing there were no kids there to laugh at us. Steering the sled almost completely goes out the window on hard icy hills. We did have to experiment a little on positioning variations as the kneeling position was a little uncomfortable for us on the hard-pack.
While “The Rocket” could be fun on any hill, it really performes best in what it was designed for. Keep this pointed towards fresh tracks, and leave the crowded hills to the kids. A ride down on “The Rocket” is a perferct reward if snowshoeing for exercise is your thing. Much better than hiking up to take a ski lift down! Ludicrous, yet a very popular activity here in Vail.
For our last run of the day, we couldn’t agree on who got the last ride down. Like any two rational adults we compromised, deciding we would ride double. (seated tandem style) After a little arguing over who had to ride in front, we shredded down to the car. This worked suprisingly well. I’m just glad no one saw us.
When I got news today that I would have the privilege of taking part in a new series of “Weird Gear Reviews” it was like Christmas came early! I have been suffering through Post-Canadium Depression Syndrome, and this is just the thing to get me back into spirits.
I don’t even know whats coming, it’s a suprise! What could my first piece of odd gear be? Solar powered socks? That is an awesome idea, did I just invent that? Those will be patented by the time you read this so don’t even try. You simply clip the solar pannel to your head, it sends the warming solar energy to your toesies.
What if I get a Bio-fuel turtleneck sweater? Don’t we have the technology to make real live hoverboards yet? Can I test one of those? You know how cool those old-timey bikes are? Well what if somebody makes one of those, but a mountain bike? Forget about 29ers, a 48er would dominate!
I have to go wait by the window for the UPS man now. I’ll be back after I test my new “Self Erecting Tent Mansion”!
A coyote attacked a young skier at Copper Mountain ski resort in Colorado last week. The coyote bit the kids parka and had bitten the snowboard of another. The picture above was apparently taken by the childs mother as she watched on. Wildlife officials determined the only way to handle the situation was to destroy the coyote. Officials assume the coyote had been fed by people and turned aggressive when it saw humans as a source of food.
The line-up for the 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was announced yesterday. The festival will take place June 12th-15th and tickets will go on sale February 16th. This year will be one of the most impressive yet. Here is a short list of the big names announced so far…
Ever wonder what your favorite websites would look like if Cats had created them? Or have you ever dreamed of what your favorite social network site would look like if Cats were members? Sure you have!
Well dream no more my cat-loving friends…. LOLinator allows you to take any website and see what it would look like if cats ran it.
