Case of the Mondays

I picked up some sort of bug over the weekend which has had me at about 50% strength this weekend, even with Dad and Denise in town. Not fun. Here is some stuff that is fun:

What Does Oil Doubling in Two Years Mean? (Hint: every other time, it meant recession) (The Big Picture)

Short white guy makes his case for NCAA dunk contest. Wow. (Deadspin)

NFL and NFLPA gave themselves another week to hammer out a new labor agreement (Deadspin)

Trials bike stuff is always so cool (via Adventure Journal)


A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Another sweet video from Early Ups (via AJ)



Late 2010 from Andrew Whiteford on Vimeo.

Friday Links: Paternal Edition

Dad and Denise are in town this weekend, so I'll keep it brief:

More Insane Urban Mountain Biking from Chile (Deadspin)

NFL and NFLPA agree to 24 hour extension (WSJ)

Funny Scared Girl Running Her First Rapids in a tandem kayak (Youtube via Adventure Journal)

Tuesday Links

The Myth of Japan's 'Lost Decades' (The Atlantic via TBP)

Driver Mows Down Dozens of Bicyclists During Rally in Brazil (Deadspin). I've seen this on multiple blogs and its terrifying.

Holy S%@t Ski Fall. Watch your step. I watched this at least 4 times. (Adventure Journal)

Avalanches (when viewed from a distance) are awesome (AJ)

Nigel Marsh @ TED: How to Make Work/Life Balance Work (The Big Picture)

Europeans are drunks (The Economist via Reformed Broker)

Give them some room

I don't like road biking. It was a blast in Colorado where I could climb hills, but in Texas you have flat roads and not-so-helpful infrastructure. My biggest issue, however, are the drivers. When I ride MTB trails, I can fall and get a little banged up, my fault. On pavement, the more likely event is that I get clipped from behind by some fatty in a Suburban because they were reaching for a Diet Coke (zero calories!). The end result would not be good.

Outside Magazine has a good article this month exploring the relationship between bikers and drivers. I would love to be able to commute to work on a bike one day, but we would really have to change a great deal in order to facilitate that. Check out the full article here. Its an interesting examination of psychology as well.

Random Stuff. All fun, no econ!

Woman on bike hit by cop car video (Deadspin)

My dream ride (Niner bikes RIP) just got better (Feed the Habit)

The EarlyUps have more fun skiing than you do (Adventure Journal)


Earlyups Takes Skiing. Seriously. from Earlyups on Vimeo.


Shake Weight is looking for a new model. Could be you (Outside blog)

The Art of Flight Will Blow Your Mind (Adventure Journal)

TGIF Links

Happy Friday. Mubarak being asinine and refusing to step down is pushing up the price of gold, which is costing me a bit of cash right now so I have my work cut out for me today. With that in mind, here are some quick links to cool stuff that I've had starred in Google Reader for awhile:

Picture via (Adventure Journal)

Michael Jordan suits up for practice (ESPN)

Mystery solved: Pat Burrell is Brian Wilson's 'The Machine' (Deadspin)

Mob mentality explored. Careful, its a long one (You Are Not So Smart)

Skiing with Mom (Adventure Journal)

I see your hammock and raise you one Nestrest Portable Shelter (Adventure Journal)

Eddie Bauer is moving into the ski industry hard. Here is their somewhat promo (Outside Mag Blog)

Community Supported Agriculture (Robb Wolf)

Candide Thovex goes off (Adventure Journal)

If Reagan were a GOP candidate today. Awesome. (TBP)

Last week's Weekend Cabin (Adventure Journal)

Speedflying Cable Grind. Ridiculous (AJ)

Links (per Tinker's request)

Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after evidence of using PEDs. This all started when they found abnormally high levels of plastic in his blood. It's official, every cyclist is doing it. (Outside Mag)

Ray's MTB is an indoor mountain biking gym with terrain to please every style: freeride, bmx, or even XC (my favorite). Granted, is only economically feasible in certain areas that are too cold to ride 6+ months per year, but Cleveland and Milwaukee have their very own slice of mountain bike lore. (Adventure Journal)

Former NFL lineman and current creator/head of Crossfit Football (crossftfootball.com) on the 13 Iowa Hawkeyes who got rhabdo (Talk to Me Johnnie)

Best in bounds pass ever (Deadspin)

Apparently I'll be enjoying Meat Week here in London soon (Meat Week)

Remember the terrifying velociraptors in Jurassic Park? They were actually Deinonychus'. Surprised you didn't know that already (Smithsonian H/T TBP)

More troops lost in Iraq/Afghanistan to suicide than to combat (Congress.org H/T TBP)

Hulu looking at changing its business model (WSJ)

Mossberg: the road ahead for tablets (WSJ)

EU and UK face stagflation. Likely central bank tightening is strengthening the currencies against loose monetary policy in the US.  (WSJ). Reminds me of this video (thanks Blake)



IHOPs are ridiculous. I RIDE THE RIDE (Deadspin) NOT SAFE FOR WORK (some language at the end)


The Provo brothers go Snurfing (Hat tip backcountry.com blog) After the jump:

Amazing looking new MTB film coming: Life Cycles

Check out this trailer. I've watched it twice now. I've already bought the HD version on iTunes for $10. I'll probably watch it tonight or on my flight to Berlin Friday.

Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.

Links and Video

Urban Meyer is Stepping Down? Again? (Deadspin and ESPN)

Sexiest Woman alive (according to one magazine: Roberta Mancino) says skydiving naked isn't that sexy (Outside Online). From her interview on the new Conan show.

Does travelling in and of itself add value? Also, the ideal commute time is apparently 16 minutes. I disagree. (Freakonomics at NYT)

The Daily Bike for yesterday's Adventure Journal is just a cool picture of the Dolomites. Just a cool picture (Adventure Journal)

AND the coolest rope swing of all time (Adventure Journal). See video below or click the link for back story.

For Your Friday Consideration

Nothing on the docket for this weekend.

Amazing street trials video (watch it in HD) (H/T Outside Blog)


Hard Shells are evolving to keep up with the breathability-obsessed outdoorsman (namely, me) (Gear Junkie)

Clothing made from 'bamboo' is apparently neither 'green' or really bamboo. I had no idea. (Adventure Journal)

Meet Quadroid: Android-Qualcomm combo smartphones may be the new equivalent of Windows-Intel for PCs (Reformed Broker)

Fell like doing The 7 Summits? Here's is the gear you would need to do Vinson (Outside Blog)

You'll notice I haven't posted anything related to sports in awhile. Here is my sportsyear in a nutshell: Rangers had their best year ever BUT Horns suck (4-6!!!), Deacon football is abysmal (2-8), Deacon basketball is off to a roaring 1-2 record before even getting into the real schedule, Stars are playing decent hockey (but might as well take the year off since I won't see a single game and they are broke) and the Mavs are playing decent (7-3).

Links

EAT REAL FOOD - 10 things Snack Food Companies Won't Say (SmartMoney- H/T Crossfit Football)

Killer Whales surf too (Adventure Journal)

Inside a Glacier (Adventure Journal)

Driver Kills Cyclist, Sues Family (Outside)

Addicted to Parenting (Freakonomics)

Friday Quick Links

Interesting (if scatter-brained) stuff to click on:

Any Hope for Improving the Fed? - Disappointments with Fed's performance as a macro stabilizer (Macro and Other Market Musings) 

Swiss National Mountain Biking Trail Allows you to just show up and ride - Sounds really cool and the pictures are gorgeous. They do your itinerary, accommodations, even your bike (€20/day for double-boing and disc brakes)! I might need to find two weeks in the summer to do this next year. (Adventure Journal)

Sarah Palin is full of it (again) - She vacillates conveniently between angry woman that understands the economy and simple hockey mom/former governor. At least someone calls her out on it. (The Big Picture) Even if the general public won't notice. Would it be too much to ask for a politician that is intelligent AND doesn't actively try to screw us? Seems like we get one or the other, often neither, never both. 

Having my best week of business yet (predictably high volatility in gold price and GBP/USD helps). I have worn the same pants/boots to work every day and will not change them or wash them until I have a mediocre day. If there is anything baseball taught me: YOU NEVER MESS WITH A WINNING STREAK. At least its not thong underwear

Winter is here and other outdoor musings

Winter showed up last night (fall lasted about 3-4 weeks by my calculations). Got down to about 36 or so and won't warm up past 50. At least that means ski season here. Speaking of which...

Grand Targhee (other side of the mountains from Jackson Hole) added backcountry access this season. Grand Targhee gets one of the highest snowfall totals in the country ever year. The terrain isn't as aggressive as Jackson Hole, but the snow is fantastic. And now you can legally go OB!

Adventure Journal has a post about possibly the best singletrack mountain biking in Montana, with a video to support claims! If you have the bandwidth, watch it in HD. I bet even the non-bikers will like the scenery of this. And for those that don't know, those are some really tight switchbacks that they are navigating.

Bliss.....

Montana's Best Singletrack? from MercuryCSC on Vimeo.

Chainless Bike

So I was really intrigued by the concept of a belt-drive bike, but when I saw this completely chainless bike design by some designers in Hungary, I'm excited.

See more (plus video) after the jump (click the title of this blog post)...