“After nourishment, shelter, and Companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world”
— Philip Pullman
Old Ghost Road Part 2: Sunshine, single track, rock slips and steep cliffs
When Will first pitched the idea of mountain biking Old Ghost Road during our trip to New Zealand, I said absolutely not, though I totally understood why he wanted to do it. Old Ghost Road is New Zealand’s longest stretch of single-track mountain biking, and one of the highest rated mountain bike trails in the world. This is our experience with Old Ghost Road
Old Ghost Road Part 1: The best ride in the worst weather
When Will first pitched the idea of mountain biking Old Ghost Road during our trip to New Zealand, I said absolutely not, though I totally understood why he wanted to do it. Old Ghost Road is New Zealand’s longest stretch of single-track mountain biking, and one of the highest rated mountain bike trails in the world.
Wilmington Whiteface and my First Season Mountain Biking.
Wilmington was a perfect mountain bike race for my novice level of experience, with more than 2700m total elevation gain mostly on gravel or paved roads, and a few short sections of not too technical single track.
Shoulder Season Hiking: Franconia Ridge, New Hampshire, USA
Over the last few years Will and I have ventured into shoulder season hiking, where you have more considerations, more preparations, and more gear to take, which means more can go wrong. In this post I reviewed our experience on the Franconia Ridge, one of the most beautiful day hikes in North America.
Shoulder Season Hiking: Franconia Ridge, The Gear
I have been caught off guard before on unexpectedly cold vacations, so when we arrived in Franconia Notch State Park for a mid November hiking trip and it was unexpectedly cold and snowy, we knew we needed to properly equip ourselves with alpine gear. In this post I review what we used, and what worked for us while hiking in these icy and snowy conditions.
Trans Rockies Classic: My next BHAG
BHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. With 550km and 15 thousand meters elevation from Fernie to Panorama, The Trans Rockies Classic is a …
Rwanda: Culture, landscapes and mountain gorillas
....We started climbing to the edge of the jungle up steep, rugged farm land – a far cry from the fertile prairie soils I grew up on. Here there is a constant struggle between preserving the jungle and expanding farm lands. Even with the current boundaries the gorillas will occasionally leave the jungle to feed on crops – posing a threat to both the farmer’s income and the gorilla’s lives. Clear cutting more of the jungle and encroaching on the gorilla’s territory only furthers the problem, though the farmers will occasionally ignore the laws and take the land expansion upon themselves. There is a real problem trying to balance the land to meet the needs of both species....
New Zealand the North Island: An oldie but a goodie
My travel blog went over so well last week I thought I would keep the trend going for a bit. Back by popular demand here is the best New Zealand video that has ever hit a physiotherapy blog.
Video Blog: How to properly lift a canoe without hurting your back
Backcountry canoe camping is an excellent way to decrease stress and improve your mental health. However, if you don't lift a canoe properly you risk back injuries or making an existing back issue worse.
How backcountry camping can decrease stress, pain, and renew your appreciation for life.
As a physiotherapist, I commonly encounter how a high demand, high distraction lifestyle manifests not only as mental anguish, but physical pain. Recent research has shown that you can reverse these negative effects by spending time in nature. These are the top 5 reasons to backcountry camp.
First Adventure Race Recap: All the things not to do.
With adventure racing there are a few more variables to consider than your standard road race. We learned a lot through this experience, mostly how to improve for the next race. So for anyone considering making the leap into adventure racing, here are 6 rules to nail your first and following adventure races.