We are all the indoor kids
How did it happen that we—a once proud people, with our hands in the loam and our heads in the clouds—have devolved into a herd of shuffling, hunched wisps of digital consumerism? Why did we cast aside our inheritance—some of the most shockingly beautiful natural landscapes on the planet—to become grotesque, tech-necked screen addicts? Apologies,...
Why does the South hate cyclists?
Walk Score has published its list of the Most Bikeable Large U.S. cities, based on a methodology that includes infrastructure, hills, connectivity and “mode share”—meaning how many fellow bikers are on the road. No surprises here. You know who wins this: Portland, San Francisco, Denver. But dig a little deeper into the site’s...
In biking as in life, listen to the women
And then give them what they want. That’s one conclusion found in City Cycling (MIT Press 2012), which the Rutgers Focus calls “a guide to the urban cycling renaissance underway in most countries of the western industrialized world.” The book, co-edited by professors John Pucher (from Rutgers ) and Ralph Buehler (Virginia Tech), contains...
Outdoor industry flexes its nicely toned muscles
Look who’s throwing its granola-fed weight around. The 4,000-member Outdoor Industry Association is threatening to pull an important trade show from Salt Lake City unless Utah stops its plans to horn in on millions of acres of federally protected lands. A lot of money and a lot of land is caught up in this debate....
Hello, Mauritius, our 100th country
We’re still a very new website—just 9 months and a few weeks—but our scrawny tentacles are stretching slowly around the globe. We are very pleased to announce that the island nation of Mauritius just became our 100th country. Well, strictly speaking, it’s not our country. It’s a country from which someone visited us. But we...
North Pole marathoner thinks you could be more active
In a moment, we’ll get to North Pole marathon runner Dr. Andrew Murray. But first, consider this Easter thought: People sometimes talk about sports and competition and fitness like they are all the same thing. They are not. If you draw a Venn diagram of these three notions, you’ll see some overlap, but they are...
Bird-watching is the new NASCAR
Mark the date and time: with this post, bird-watching shows up on our radar as a bona fide recreational pursuit for over-50s. We used to think of this as a hobby, but it seemed to lack the physicality we seek in recreation. Also, no gear, no cool jargon, no bracing risk of self-destruction. How wrong...
Ultralight camping: Dropping 20 pounds of gear is like losing 20 years
Snow melts, summer seems like a possibility, and suddenly hiking and biking gear seems fascinating in a way it didn’t three weeks ago. The seed takes root; a few days later you invent a reason to swing by your local outfitter. You daydream about day hikes. Then something a little longer. And gear that...
French equestrian village for old horse people is simultaneously encouraging and disturbing
The Villages Group, which develops and operates retirement communities in locations around the world, has announced that it will build France’s first equestrian village. It will be “aimed at buyers in the over 50 age range who want to live in a community with sporting and outdoor activities.” While horseback riding is...
Plugged in, in nature: How much isolation do we want?
Alaska Dispatch has a nice piece by Deanna Neil on the integration of technology and our experience of nature. Truth be told, that integration has been going on for centuries, since an ink-stained printer using movable type chunked out the first backpack-sized plant and wildlife identification books. And books are just...
Sunday quote: November 20, 2011
“Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (Full disclosure: We are very skeptical that Jefferson said this. It’s all over the Internet as a Jefferson quote, but there...
National parks not likely to be vaporized next year
Anyone who’s a fan of the U.S. National Park Service knows that it’s been a rough few years, what with the chronic underfunding, and the occasional bear-mauling, and now the looming likelihood of a 9 percent budget hit if Congress’ super-committee can’t figure out a rational way to take care of its...
