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Monday, June 16, 2008

A note to our readers

On Tuesday afternoon, the News & Observer blogs will be moving to a new system and a new server. This change will make getting to our blogs quicker and easier. Most of the blogs will change their appearance, while blogs like Taking Stock and Under the Dome will remain the same.

This change requires nothing from the reader. There will be a link to the older posts, and you won't need to change your bookmarks. If you have trouble finding your favorite blog or you have a comment, please email feedback@newsobserver.com.

Rachel Carter

Posted at 05:30 pm by admin in Fitness & Health Get Out! Get Fit!
Posted at 05:01 pm by admin in Fitness & Health Get Out! Get Fit!
Book talk: W. Hodding Carter

With two weeks to go until the Olympic trials for swimming, W. Hodding Carter is remarkably content when he acknowledges that he probably won't make the team.

"There's always 2012," the author/swimmer told the folks gathered at Quail Ridge Books this evening to hear him discuss his latest book, "Off the Deep End: The Probably Insane Idea that I Could Swim My Way Through a Midlife Crisis — And Qualify for the Olympics." "It's in London, and the air quality there is a lot better than in Bejing."


Hodding Carter works out at the Camden, Maine, Y, where he is assistant aquatics director.

Carter is 45. Four years ago, he got that Probably Insane Idea and began training in earnest to make the Olympic Team. His account of the ordeal is the stuff of "Off the Deep End." But he didn't spend the last four years trying to recapture his prowess as a Division III champion swimmer just to write about it. "I did this thing not to write a book, but because I had to."

His main motivators were a rocky marriage and a crumbling writing career. He had to do something to pull himself out of the doldrums, so he got back in the pool, at the new YMCA at his home in Camden, Maine. Along the way he became convinced that trying to beat out super athletes half his age wasn't such a crazy idea.

"You don't have to get weak as you get older," he told the crowd, which appeared to be heavily influenced with fellow masters swimmers. "Studies have shown that you can gain muscle mass into your 80s and 90s."

OK, Hodding, so if not 2008, then 2012? And if not 2012, then ... 2052?

Posted at 02:57 am by Joe in Fitness & Health, Swimming Get Out! Get Fit!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Familiar feet, safe roads?

Anne Minard writes: "Hello, Joe Miller. I had to send you this photo; I took it in Glacier last year. You'll be as amazed as I was, I think, when you see how similar it is to your blog photo — which popped up when I Googled Raleigh road cycling.


Anne's feet at Glacier. Mine are at Stone Mountain State Park.

"Incidentally," she adds, "which roads are the safest?"

Hmmm. And I thought I was the first person ever to come up with that photo concept. Oh, well.

And does anyone out there care to take a stab at Anne's question? (I've emailed her back to see what, in her opinion, constitutes safe.)

Friday, June 13, 2008

Paul and Jo learn to ride: And you can, too

For the past three days — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — Paul Baragona has told the tale of how he and wife Jo plunged into the cycling lifestyle after reading a story about greenways in Your News & Observer. An observation or two I'd like to add.

=> Read more!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Ride talk

I'm not sure how exactly the conversation evolved — you know how it is when you're free-associating on a mountain bike ride. One minute on our ride early this morning at Umstead Alan and I were talking about energy drinks and power gels, the next we were talking about ...


How much do you reckon a vial of Agias' dew went for?

Alan: The ancient Greeks used to scrape the sweat off their best athletes, let it dry, then use the salt residue for themselves. They thought it would help them perform better.

Me: (Long pause) So ... they'd mix it in water? Take it straight? Snort it?

Then we discussed the person who did the sweat scraping, what a cool job that might have been (for the times), how your buddies would always be hitting you up for the really good sweat. ("Yo, Milo. Got any Agias of Pharsalos you can spare? I got a big marathon coming up this weekend.")

Then we talked about Alan's squeaking seatpost.

Posted at 05:04 pm by Joe in Mountain biking, Outdoors Get Out! Get Fit!
Paul and Jo learn to ride: Bikes bought, it's time to ride

Our three-part tale of how one couple was inspired by a newspaper article to buy bikes and ride concludes. Tuesday, Paul Baragona told how he and wife Jo bought her bike. Wednesday was about how he got his. Today, they hit the road. Which is actually a greenway trail

"The greenways in the Triangle are superb. Besides local neighborhood greenways that circumvent area subdivisions, we have the 'remote' Wake County section of the ATT and the paved urban section of the ATT that runs along Fayetteville Road north of Southpoint Mall. We have miles of paved greenways along Crabtree Creek from Oak Park subdivision off of Duraleigh Road all the way to Shelley Lake [and on downstream almost to WakeMed; see the map in the upper right corner of the blog home page]. That trail takes an abrupt right turn over a crooked bridge a few hundred yards north of Crabtree Valley Mall.


The western extent of Cary's White Oak Creek greenway.

"If you’re physically fit, that particular greenway takes you up (and I do mean UP) to North Hills Park. From there, you can hang a right onto Currituck and work your way over to Lassiter Mill at North Hills Shopping Center, then right down the hill towards Aldert Root School and over to the rest of that stretch of greenway eastward towards Wake Medical. I have not yet gone past Lassiter Mill Road, but I will very soon."

=> Read more!

Posted at 12:00 am by Joe in Road cycling, Outdoors, Commuting by bike Get Out! Get Fit!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Flat bike rides, anyone?

Nathania Johnson writes: "Hi Joe, I used to love biking the greenway trails in Northern Virginia when I lived there. But after some health problems, I gave up on exercise and have gained 30 lbs. Now, I'm trying to get back into biking - and it's easier than I thought it would be, but I don't quite have the stamina to handle hills the way I used to (at least not yet).


It doesn't get much flatter than the American Tobacco Trail in Durham.

"So, I'm looking for the absolute flattest ride in the Triangle. I prefer not to ride on the road too much, a trail or greenway would be preferable. Got any ideas?"

=> Read more!

Paul and Jo learn to ride: Biking for (next to) nothing

Yesterday, Paul Baragona told how a humble newspaper article inspired him and wife Jo to buy bikes to explore the Triangle's greenways. So far in our story, Jo has her bike (which started out as Paul's bike, but the frame proved too small). Today, Paul gets his.

"I borrowed a bike rack from our son-in-law to make sure this experience would be pleasurable and then started looking at used bikes on the net. Craig’s List was where we went first. I replied to several and got only one response. Then, I hit pay dirt. An ad on Craig’s List showed a photo of the cleanest looking used bike I had ever seen. The ad said the bike was pristine. I thought to myself, “I can dig pristine.” Then, at the bottom of the ad was something no other ad provided – a local phone number!!! It was 8:15 P.M. and I took a chance. A man answered and invited me to come see the bike right then!!! I did and committed to it immediately. I gave him some ‘earnest money’ and picked up the bike 2 days later when I had the rack on my SUV.


Paul's "pristine" ride.

"This bike came with a helmet and two saddle bags. The only thing missing was a front reflector. We would never ride at night, but I did not want an empty bracket where the old reflector had been. After riding with my wife for a few days on the White Oak Creek Greenway (our first experience) and the ATT, I went to the shop where we had purchased her tires, helmet, etc., and they had no reflector to fit it. The best thing about being 'picky, picky, picky' is that occasionally something good comes from it. This was one of those occasions.

=> Read more!

Posted at 08:45 am by Joe in Road cycling, Outdoors, Commuting by bike Get Out! Get Fit!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Paul and Jo learn to ride: The inspiration

Show of hands: How many of you have read about an activity, thought, "I really outta to do that!" — then didn't? Well, here's the story of one couple who did. Just do it, that is. Paul Baragona tells how a simple story in The News & Observer moved he and wife Jo to act.


Jo's bargain blue bike.

"We were compelled to finally act on buying bicycles when we saw those beautiful new board walks in your article May 15. We had already priced two new bikes in April and had decided to wait a while and build up the savings. Your article changed all that!!! We spotted several used bikes at the Helping Hand Mission as we were driving by on May 16, less than 24 hours after we had read your article. Some were rather costly, but there was one nice looking blue mountain bike with really bad tires. We were given a price break which the store clerk said should cover most of the cost of two new tires. WRONG!!! The clerk was only vaguely familiar with cycling, or may have been alluding to bike tires at a discount store. However, we have learned very quickly that cycling is a science and an art form, all rolled into one."

Tip: "I strongly recommend a specialty bike shop with a full time bicycle mechanic/technician to handle your needs. It will save you a lot of pain (literally!!) and frustration. We took the bike to a locally owned shop and they replaced both of the tires, one tube, and the seat."

"As it turned out, the bike frame was too small for me and this mountain bike became my wife’s bike. We have since replaced the seat post under her new 'comfort seat' with a suspension post (shock absorber). Combined with the mountain bike’s front shocks, it’s now a great ride for her.

"My wife now had a bike which was originally intended for me and I had nothing. The total cost for her rig, including helmet, gloves, and padded riding shorts was now up to around $200. I went to the website for a local store that sells her brand of bike and found an identical bike. The price nearly bowled me over. She was riding this pretty little mountain bike (26 inch wheels on a 13 inch frame) for less than half the cost of a new bike and our investment so far had included her helmet, gloves, and shorts! It was becoming exciting."

Too exciting, in fact, for one post. Come back tomorrow to find out how the quest for Paul's bike went.

Posted at 11:59 pm by Joe in Road cycling, Outdoors, Commuting by bike Get Out! Get Fit!

Monday, June 9, 2008

Today's heat-escaping FA: Ride Chile!

After yesterday's challenging 23-mile ride in 99-degree heat, I awoke this morning to see a forecast high of 102. I'll just get an early start, then, I thought. But by 8:36 it was already 85 degrees. That's when I started playing Fantasy Adventure.

A-Basin after the lifts closed for the season yesterday afternoon. Sniff.

What if, I asked, money wasn't an issue and I could do crazy things, like, I dunno, fly my women to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun? What would I do on a day like this?

I'd go snowboarding.

But could I? A week into June, was there still a ski area in the U.S. still open? One I could charter a jet to for at least a half day of skiing. (Of course, if I had that much money I could probably pay a resort to reopen for the day. But we need to keep our FAs somewhat real.) I went to onthesnow.com to noodle around.

Timberline Lodge in Oregon claimed to be open. Yet under "Conditions" it said 0 of 32 trails were open and 0 of 6 lifts were operating. Turns out it's open weekends. I checked Mount Hood because I'd heard it stayed open into July. It said it was closed and it was. Finally, I went to my old standby, A Basin atop the Continental Divide in Colorado. I've skied A Basin in late May, the top of the mountain (the area peaks out at above 13,000 feet) having benefited from a foot of overnight powder. The resort average 367 inches a year, has 105 runs, seven lifts and a vertical drop of 2,257 feet. If it's not snowing hard, the skies are a brilliant blue. It's awesome and simply thinking about it made me think that even though money is an issue, a huge issue, would an early week escape from the heat be so wrong?

Alas — sniff — A Basin closed yesterday. There was afternoon karaoke on the lodge deck, cotton candy for a buck, human bowling ("Must be 5 feet tall to participate"), two lifts running and 200 acres of terrain left to explore. But, again, that was yesterday.

Sniff.

I see, though, that La Parva in Chile got 10 inches of powder overnight. Wonder how the FA jet feels about the Southern Hemisphere?

Posted at 08:44 am by Joe in Road cycling, Skiing and riding, Outdoors Get Out! Get Fit!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Hot day on the bike

When I'm on the bike, I know it's hotter than 95 when no matter how fast I go — meaning on a downhill, of course, I can't cool off. Under 95, after about five minutes on the flats, I can usually get some relief. Above 95, about the only relief comes after stopping for a light. Even then, the few short seconds of coolness that does come from breeze-against-sweat is offset by the grueling heat that builds up from standing still on searing pavement.

I didn't get a chance to ride until mid-afternoon today — and paid the price. Even averaging a modest 16.8 miles per hour on a 23-mile ride, I was backing. It was hot out there.

Use discretion when venturing out, people.

Posted at 05:34 pm by Joe in Road cycling, Outdoors Get Out! Get Fit!
What the heck is that?

So we're out on the deck this morning, having coffee, IDing birds, knitting (not me, the Mrs.) and suddenly I hear this little shriek. I look not at the source of the shriek, but where I can tell it was directed and —

Eeek!

To quote the old Steve Martin SNL skit, "What the heck is that?"

There, at our feet (and actually on Marcy's foot when the shriek occurred), was this ... thing worming itself between two boards in the deck. This thing with a face. Not a human face. More a cartoon face. A Cartoon Network face. Not a funny cartoon face; rather, a disturbing cartoon face.

As the thing reveals itself more, it appears to have a sluglike body. But the face ... . I do a quick search and find something in the slug family vaguely resembling this thing, but not in such disturbingly CN-ish detail. We watch a while longer as the thing inches its way across the deck, freaking out the dog (who is trying to remain cool but is obviously disturbed). Every once in a while, it stops to sip from a puddle and what appears to be it's true head protrudes from the disturbing one. We seem to recall this phenomenon elsewhere in nature (butterflies, perhaps), where a critter's body adapts a menacing face to scare off enemies. (Mission accomplished, little dude.) Eventually, it disappears.

So, look at that mug. Anyone know for sure what it is? And why it chooses to look this way?

Posted at 11:27 am by Joe in Hiking/nature, Outdoors Get Out! Get Fit!
Stay fit, tread water

Five minutes after filing today's Fit! column on swimming lessons, I was yet again grateful that 50 years ago my mom made me jump into the biggest body of water imaginable, the pool down at the Y.

I was glad for this because, my fear of water long ago vanquished, it allowed me to indulge in my latest fitness dalliance: treading water.

Water therapy has long been popular with suffering from a variety of woes: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lower-back pain, fibromyalgia, neuromuscular disorders — the list goes on. The reason: it's good workout yet easy on sensitive joints and bones. I like it for two reasons. One, it's a great resistance exercise. You won't bulk up treading water, but you will tone your muscles. And tone them in way beneficial to the other things I like to do, such as cycling and hiking.

Besides, treading water also burns a calorie or two. According to nutristrategy.com, someone about my weight (165) can burn 704 calories in an hour by treading vigorously. Even treading just enough to stay afloat can burn nearly 300 calories. Plus, it gets the endorsement of the American Council on Exercise, which states on its web site: "Treading water is an excellent cardiovascular challenge, but if you want to up the ante, try treading water with your arms above your head." (I tried the latter, btw; 10 seconds of that proved "vigorous" to the point of drowning.)

What I like about treading water even more, though, is its meditative benefit. I start by diving into the 10-foot end and swim underwater across the pool. Right now, that's a bracing activity; before the current heat wave, the water temperature was a nippy 70. But it's embracing as well. Instantly, the world is muted. Whatever thoughts I had prior to flexing my knees, joining my hands together over my head and leaning forward (OK, so I haven't advanced much in the last 50 years) are vanquished. I slowly make my way across the pool, touch the side, slowly make my way back to the deep end. By the time I surface, my mind has made the switch. For 15 minutes, 10 percent of my brain helps my body figure out how to stay afloat and the remaining 90 percent has free time. Rare free time.

Next time you're at the neighborhood pool and they blow the whistle for adult swim, dive into the deep end and tread water 'til the kids are allowed back in. You'll like the escape.

Posted at 12:17 am by Joe in Fitness & Health, Swimming Get Out! Get Fit!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Another reason to celebrate Saturday

Most outdoors enthusiasts are aware that tomorrow is National Trails Day, that day we set aside every year to pay tribute — usually through the investment of sweat equity — to the trails that bring us physical and spiritual health. Fewer of you may be aware that it also Land Trust Day, a day set aside to pay tribute to those non-profit organizations that play a pivotal roll in saving our special places.


The White Pines Preserve in Chatham County was saved thanks to the Triangle Land Conservancy, a local land trust.

How does one observe Land Trust Day? Same way our commander-in-chief suggests we save our country: by buying ourselves a little sumpin'.

For instance, mosey into your neighborhood Great Outdoor Provision Co. Saturday, buy that trail hat you've had your eye on (or a new tent!) and 10 percent of the purchase price goes to one of four land trusts: Triangle Land Conservancy, Piedmont Land Conservancy, N.C. Coastal Land Trust, Catawba Lands Conservancy. Plus, cast your vote for one of seven land trust projects and the winner will get a $3,000 land grant from Patagonia. (Local projects in the running: First Island on the Deep River in Chatham County and the Tar River Paddle Trail.

So after rolling up your sleeves for a little down & dirty trail work Saturday morning, dust off your pocket book and help save some new land to explore.

Posted at 01:32 pm by Joe in Hiking/nature, Outdoors, Events Get Out! Get Fit!

About N&O; Blogs

Love the outdoors? Like to stay in shape? Get out! Get fit! is an ongoing discussion of both, moderated by Take It Outside columnist Joe Miller.


Read Joe's newspaper columns
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Related Links:
Black Creek/Umstead/Reedy Creek greenway map (1.2 MB, PDF)
Crabtree greenway map (1.1 MB, PDF)
American Tobacco Trail map (PDF)

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