Category: travel

tire flies off boat trailer … I’m not nearly killed

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, travel3 Comments

You know those videos of tires flying off vehicles wrecking havoc?

I saw one yesterday.

I was driving near Searchlight, Nevada on a bleak desert highway. Temperature near 170 degrees F.

The vehicle in front of me was towing a boat. In front of my eyes the wheel broke off, rolling full-speed along the ditch. A couple of hundred yards later it crossed the highway and kept rolling off into the distance.

I swerved around the vehicle in a cloud of smoke and pieces of axle. … Yeesh.

On the bright side, my $1600 ’96 Honda, purchased in February, is still running.

Rick the STIG with 1996 Civic

breast cancer survivors can fly

On By Rick McIn friends, health & fitness, travelLeave a comment

University of Alberta researcher Margie McNeely says results from an international study she was part of indicate that certain precautions about the risk of lymphedema for breast cancer survivors are outdated. …

McNeely says women who’ve had breast cancer surgery are often warned that pressure changes in an airplane cabin could trigger lymphedema, chronic swelling in the arm. She adds that, until now, information about air travel and lymphedema risk has not been based on solid evidence. A study she did with an Australian research team, however, shows that the risk of developing lymphedema during flight is very low.

“We found that only five per cent of these women are likely at risk of developing any arm swelling when flying,” said McNeely. “This tells us that maybe we are scaring women a little bit too much about this.” …

Breast cancer survivors don’t need to be afraid of air travel: U of A study

Thanks Dale.

cycling Crested Butte, Colorado

On By Rick McIn best bike rides, cycling, travelLeave a comment

I could live in Crested Butte, my favourite American Rockies town, a mecca for skiing and mountain biking.

The hostel is the best in Colorado, … so says Lonely Planet. It is awesome.

Between afternoon thunder showers I did a warm-up ride on the Snodgrass. Gageesh! It was tough. I was sucking wind at high altitude. Power sliding turns through mud and horse poop at the bottom of hills.

How was the much more famous 401 going to go, next day …

Trail 401 Crested Butte, Colorado

The 401 Trail is often listed as one of best singletrack mountain bike rides in the world, especially in the Spring wildflower season.

And I’m pleased to report that my 52yr-old self and my $500 bike both survived. I rode about 85% of the time both up and down the 401.

Keiran on the Slickrock Trail

On By Rick McIn cycling, friends, travelLeave a comment

From the Facebook album: Dying in the heat

The Slickrock Trail, located near Moab, Utah (USA), is a popular mountain biking destination with worldwide fame. This 10.5-mile (16.9 km) loop takes intrepid riders over a landscape of “petrified” sand dunes and the eroded remnants of ancient sea beds. The Slickrock Trail is one of the more difficult rides in the Moab area and possibly the U.S., both technically and cardiovascularly, and is not suitable for novice riders. …

Keiran took a spill into cactus, I hear. … Video to come.

When I was there a few years ago, I was thrilled to get through the Slickrock without hospitalization. It’s tough.

Mt. Rainier adventures …

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, hiking, travelLeave a comment

My first trip to the biggest volcano in the continental USA.

… Although Mount Rainier is an active volcano, as of 2010 there was no evidence of an imminent eruption. However, an eruption could be devastating for all areas surrounding the volcano …

… a mudflow might also reach down the Duwamish estuary and destroy parts of downtown Seattle, and cause tsunamis in Puget Sound and Lake Washington. According to USGS, about 150,000 people live on top of old lahar deposits of Rainier …

Three trip reports are posted:

• my climb to Camp Muir

• my day hike climb of Burroughs Mountain

• Dave & Jeni’s 94 mile/47,000 feet elevation Wonderland Trail speed hike

soaking in Boiling River, Wyoming

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

I got an evening bath. … Then was first one in the river next morning.

At Boiling River you can stand with one leg in the icy Gardner River and the other in a hot spring called Boiling River. The result is nature’s own hot tub …

cycling the Hiawatha Trail, Idaho

On By Rick McIn best bike rides, cycling, health & fitness, travelLeave a comment

… The “crown jewel” of rail-to-trail mountain bicycle trails is operated by Lookout Pass Ski Area which is located adjacent to I-90 at the Idaho/Montana state line, 12 miles east of historic Wallace, Idaho. The Hiawatha Trail is generally open late May through early October. …

Winding through 10 tunnels and 7 high trestles, this 15-mile route crosses the rugged Bitterroot Mountains between Idaho and Montana. The Route of the Hiawatha is best known for the long, dark St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel, which burrows for 1.66 miles …

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Rick on the Hiawatha Trail, Idaho

It made Allie Comeau’s list – 10 Great American Bike Trails

man’s biggest killer – malaria

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, travel3 Comments

“The malaria parasite has been responsible for half of all human deaths since the Stone Age” is the quote that jumped off the page in a recent article by Sonia Shah in the Wall Street Journal.

Sonia Shah is author of The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years.

I saw this linked from LongNow.org blog dedicated to important news. They don’t cover Justin Beiber.

The same day I read a related article on BBC:

Scientists in the US have succeeded in genetically engineering a malaria-resistant mosquito.

The researchers, from the University of Arizona, introduced a gene that affected the insect’s gut, meaning the malaria parasite could not develop.

They report the advance, which also reduced the insects’ lifespan, in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

They say that the ultimate goal is to introduce malaria-resistant mosquitoes into the environment. …

Malaria-proof mosquito engineered

I know what you’re thinking … Man playing God. … It will inevitably end like a Michael Crichton novel.