Category: health & fitness

My AURA Smart Bike Helmet by UNIT 1

On By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Overall, I’m very happy with my Aura Helmet — and would recommend it to one and all.

Right now it’s probably the best smart helmet available.

The system is expensive, however. I paid USD $300 for the entire system. You might be able to buy the helmet alone for about $220.

I bought it on Kickstarter. (And might not use Kickstarter in future.)

My delivery was delayed by several months.

Click PLAY or watch my 3 month review on YouTube.

I used an A.I. voice over on that edit.

A helmet once saved me on a crash in New Zealand. I plan to wear this helmet more often into the future.

I’ll try not to lose it. 😀

IF you ride an electric bike, having the SAFEST possible helmet is even more critical.

  • MIPS certified (Multi-directional Impact Protection System)
  • Helmet with integrated lights front and back
  • Magnetic smart lights that can be mounted anywhere
  • Handlebar navigation remote control
  • Smart phone app

I really like the quick magnetic attachment of 3 alternate visors. Wearing glasses full-time, very few other types of visors or cycling sunglasses fit.

BUT …

The process for pairing all the devices with Bluetooth is confusing. What’s on their various help videos is not what happened when I paired.

In addition, my first remote was faulty. Support was prompt. And they eventually shipped me a replacement.

The biggest complaint online is that the ON / OFF button is difficult. Personally, I like the fact that the helmet will not accidentally be turned on. I’m OK with the stiff button.

Click PLAY or watch an independent review on YouTube.

Here’s the company pitch.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Here’s one review of the top 4 smart helmets, as of the date of this post.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Exercise & Sleep are the best Medicines

On By Rick McIn books, health & fitnessLeave a comment

Exercise improves almost every system in our bodies. And helps us recover through sleep.

A virtuous circle.

Christie Aschwanden’s book concluded that sleep is the #1 priority for athletes recovering from training.

It’s been well known for many decades that exercise provides many benefits to our health.

But a new scientific consortium is revealing new insights into just how profound exercise can be for the human body. William Brangham discussed more with Euan Ashley, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at Stanford University and the newly named chair of its department of medicine. …

How exercise may be the ‘most potent medical intervention ever known’

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, happiness, health & fitnessLeave a comment

I’d quit 3 of the last 4 new novels focused on a dysfunctional woman complaining about her life.

Too depressing.

YET quite enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, the debut novel by Gail Honeyman. (2017)

I laughed out loud many times. A bit of a black comedy.

Eleanor Oliphant, our heroine, is a disaster. Anti-social. Disconnected from society and culture. A functioning alcoholic. Potentially suicidal. Perhaps slightly autistic.

Her only previous relationship was abusive — ex-husband putting her in the hospital multiple times.

Somehow … you can’t help but cheer for Eleanor.

She lives in Glasgow, Scotland, and works as a finance clerk for a graphic design company.

The novel deals with themes of isolation and loneliness, and depicts Eleanor’s transformational journey towards a fuller understanding of self and life.

It’s modern. Exploring loneliness in an internet age, the vulnerability of being uncoupled in a culture that prizes relationships.

The character I liked best in this book is Raymond Gibbons, an I.T. help desk co-worker who awkwardly tries to help Eleanor.

Uniquely, the most important relationship in this novel is friendship.

Name another hit novel without some kind of romance central to the plot.

Jenny Colgan, reviewing for The Guardian, described the novel as “a narrative full of quiet warmth and deep and unspoken sadness” with a “wonderful, joyful” ultimate message. …

Sarah Gilmartin of The Irish Times called the title character “one of the most unusual and thought-provoking heroines of recent contemporary fiction”. …

Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari

On By Rick McIn Artificial Intelligence AI, bad news, books, climate change, economics, education, ethics, GOP USA, government, happiness, health & fitness, human rights, internet, things getting worseLeave a comment

Any panel put together to save the world, would certainly include Professor Yuval Noah Harari. 

He’s a BIG thinker. 

Some feel he overstates the risks to mankind. I’d rather we err on the side of caution.

His 2024 book is …

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

I’m not smart enough to explain his thinking — but here’s a ChatGPT summary of the non-fiction tomb.

Main Focus: Nexus explores the intersection of technology, human evolution, and the future of societies, emphasizing the merging of biological and digital realms.

Technological Convergence: Harari examines how advancements in genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology are changing humanity’s relationship with itself and the world.

Human Enhancement: A central theme is the idea that humans may soon be able to enhance their biological and mental capacities through technology, leading to “post-human” forms of existence.

Ethical Implications: The book raises questions about the ethics of altering human biology, creating artificial life, and the consequences of tampering with the essence of what it means to be human.

Social and Economic Impact: Harari discusses how these technological advancements could lead to social divides, with some individuals or groups gaining access to powerful enhancements while others are left behind.

Surveillance and Control: A significant concern is the potential for increased surveillance and control over individuals’ minds and bodies, both by governments and corporations.

Evolution of Consciousness: Harari reflects on how human consciousness may evolve or change in response to these new technologies, as well as the philosophical questions surrounding free will and identity.

End of Homo Sapiens: The book suggests that humanity might be on the verge of an epochal shift, where Homo sapiens could be replaced by a new, technologically-enhanced species—either through natural evolution or deliberate engineering.

Uncertainty of the Future: Harari emphasizes the unpredictability of the future, acknowledging that the developments discussed could lead to both utopian and dystopian outcomes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Other booksSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011)
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2015)
21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018)

Expedition Oregon Adventure Race

On By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, sport - amateurLeave a comment

Perhaps we should put together an Adventure Racing team for Expedition Oregon. 😀

Only 250 miles of mtn bike, trekking, climbing, packrafting, rafting, navigation.

America’s toughest A.R. race.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My Golf HOLE IN ONE ?? 😀

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, humour, sport - amateurLeave a comment

8th hole at Gleneagles in Vancouver, hosted by Rockin’ Ronnie.

I can neither confirm nor deny whether this is video editing trickery.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

GOAL = Running 5km in 30min

On By Rick McIn health & fitnessLeave a comment

UPDATE ➙ best pace, so far, is 5:35 min. / km.

Screenshot

Back in Parksville B.C., I’ve been running 30 minutes every morning.

The goal is 5km or further.

I’ve done it a few times in the 1st month.

IF I make 5km — I take the next morning off. A motivator. 😀

Screenshot

The best I can recall lifetime was a 5km race finished in 25min 25seconds. In dress shoes!

I’ll try to work up to that. An old man, non-runner can dream. 😀

Any morning I miss the run, I — instead — run 10 flights of stairs in the afternoon. An easier workout.

I’ve started to add a Fartlek work-out alternative, as well. 10 sprints of about 70m with a short walking rest in-between.

Penticton – Adventure Racing Worlds 2025

On By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, sport - amateur, travelLeave a comment

Adventure Racing World Championships

Sept. 22 – Oct. 6, 2025

Penticton, BC, Canada

I’d love to attend my first A.R. Worlds — but will probably be in Asia at that time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

By coincidence, I was 1st to watch this VIDEO. Just happened to be online when it popped up.

Life According to Mathew McConaughey

On By Rick McIn ethics, happiness, health & fitness, philosophyLeave a comment

The independently made VIDEO is a bit cheesy, but McConaughey does offer some good advice.

Celebrities! Is there anything they don’t know? 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, government, health & fitness, human rights, philosophyLeave a comment

Like most teen boys my age, I read every Heinlein book I could get my hands on.

Tunnel in the Sky (1955) … a group of students sent on a survival test to an uninhabited planet, who soon realise they are stranded there. The themes of the work include the difficulties of growing up and the nature of man as a social animal.

His juvenile books are rollicking adventures. No profanity.

But on another level, Heinlein was a provocative philosopher on matters of personal freedom, particularly sexual freedom, libertarianism, religion, politics, and government.

Heinlein wrote strong female characters decades before it was cool. 😀

My main takeaway from Tunnel is the truism that rule of law must come first.

Everything else, later.

If you don’t have enforceable laws, wannabe dictators will insist criminals are tourists.

Here’s Georgia GOP Andrew Clyde barricading the doors of the Senate. He later called those attacking him tourists.

Trump called them “political prisoners.” And “hostages.”

Any objective person would want those breaking into their home or business arrested.  To deny this fact is to deny rule of law.

As in Lord of the Flies, which had been published a year earlier, isolation reveals the true natures of the students as individuals. The Heinlein book is more optimistic, however.

The colony of young people in Tunnel do establish rule of law.  Democracy. 

In any case, it’s still worth reading Heinlein books today. They are thought provoking.