127 HOURS is the new film from Danny Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of last year’s Best Picture, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. 127 HOURS is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet? A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life.
NPR, along with the Public Radio Exchange, has launched a new show called State of the Re:Union. State of the Re:Union has been traveling the country, visiting cities and towns to explore the idea of community.
For decades after World War II, the small town of Oakridge in the southern Cascade mountains of Oregon was a booming lumber town. But by the early 1990s, the lumber industry had collapsed, and Oakridge has struggled ever since, losing families and businesses.
Now, residents like Randy Dreiling are trying to reinvent the place as a playground for outdoor enthusiasts. Dreiling owns Oregon Adventures, which offers mountain bike tours. Some 350 miles of trails have earned Oakridge the self-proclaimed title of “Mountain Biking Capital of the Northwest.”
A fast course, favorable weather conditions and a blistering pace helped Levi Leipheimer crush by 12 minutes the Leadville Trail 100 course record set by his Radio Shack teammate Lance Armstrong last year.
The fast tempo also saw second-place finisher Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek) top Armstrong’s time by 3 minutes 30 seconds. Leipheimer stopped the clock at 6:16:37 and JHK at 6:25:21. Armstrong’s time in 2009 was 6:28:50.
“That was just ridiculous. I don’t know if I’ve suffered that much before,” Leipheimer said moments after crossing the line in downtown Leadville, Colorado, elevation 10,200 feet.
Third place was cross-country national champion Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing). Wells finished in 6:30:31, just under 14 minutes behind Leipheimer. Six-time Leadville 100 winner Dave Weins (Topeak-Ergon) came across the line in fourth with Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) immediately behind in fifth. Wiens and Bishop crossed at 6:33:54.
Levi Leipheimer has won the 2010 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race with a time of 6:16:37.2. This breaks Lance Armstrong’s record of 6:28:50. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski has crossed the Finish Line with a time of 6:25:21.4 in 2nd place.
I get this in an email today, “PS, don’t get the Angry Birds game. It will suck your life away.”
So, I am beginning to see a trend. A friend gets an iPhone and they disappear.
Surf sessions are missed because they stay up late uploading apps. They spend hours playing ‘angry birds.’ At a dinner party with cool music they keep on yelling out the band, song and album name because they are obsessed with ‘shazam.’ I get it. Technology has captured us. And I kind of dig it.
Think of it this way. The next time you paddle out at trestles it might be empty. Because everyone is playing with their iPad. You are out for a trail run and the single track is in great shape because no one biked it during the rain tearing it apart. They weren’t biking in the rain because they were playing with their new apple product.
What do you think?
Last mental picture, you train for months to prepare for a half-marathon. On race day you find yourself passing dozens of people on a small climb. As you pass them you look over and see that everyone is playing with their iPhone. They didn’t do the training because they were playing with their iPhone4 32G. So now they are hunting for a song to pump them up and get them over the hill.
Tell your friends about the new phone and then join a club to keep yourself motivated so you can beat said friend at the next 10K.
Defending champion Lance Armstrong will not start the Leadville Traill 100 this year. Armstrong decided Monday to pull out of the high-altitude mountain bike race. His manager Mark Higgins told VeloNews that Armstrong was still feeling the effects of the Tour de France, during which he crashed a few times.
“He is still suffering from a nagging injury to his hip from the Tour de France,” Higgins said. “His girls will also be in Aspen with him this weekend so he will be staying at home.”
Armstrong won last year’s event in a record time of 6:28:50. Six-time race winner Dave Wiens finished second. A stacked field is still expected for the Leadville 100 this year.
As for Armstrong, Higgins says the Texan has no other races on the calendar as of now for 2010, but he will participate in two Livestrong events – a Philadelphia ride on August 22 and the Austin Challenge in October. And on September 26, Armstrong will do the fundraiser ride for Aspen’s Wapiyapi, a non-profit that offers free, weeklong camps to children with cancer and their families.
“The Inspired story began with an idea to introduce a unique 24″ wheel street frame which would bridge the gap between hardcore street mountainbike and traditional trials riding. Painstakingly designed by enthusiastic and experienced company founder Dave Cleaver, the prototype frame that emerged from months of hard work required a suitably tough pilot to test it to the limit and prove the concept was viable. Enter Danny MacAskill.
We have a few favorites in the bike world. Inspired is one of them. They brought us danny and killer trials bikes.
A chance encounter with the talented Scottish rider whilst on a riding trip would ultimately change the future of modern street and trials riding. As a progressive and dedicated rider, Danny was the perfect man for this new style of frame and development advanced quickly. After some relatively minor alterations and positive feedback from Danny, it was clear the frame was ready.
Inspired Bicycles was established in 2007 and the Fourplay frame became it’s first product. Named with a reference to it’s 24″ wheels and playful character, the Fourplay frame has become the standard against which all other ‘street trials’ frames are judged. At the time of it’s release, the range of components available to fit this new breed of bike were relatively limited. In order to provide riders with tough and reliable parts, the decision was made to introduce a selection of Inspired components which would complement the frames perfectly.
Following the release of the infamous Danny MacAskill ‘April 2009′ YouTube video, demand for 24″ bikes quickly increased. As the premium brand in the 24″ street sector it was a natural step to introduce a complete bike to the product range. Using the proven Fourplay frame as the base, along with a choice selection of components (including some very special custom made items from companies such as Hope and Trialtech) the Team and Pro bikes emerged.
The business has grown rapidly from its humble beginnings and now has a comprehensive network of dealers across the world, who stock the complete range of Inspired products and can offer informed and helpful advice.
Following the success over the past few years, Inspired is now more focused than ever on producing creative and stylish designs and developing innovative products to ensure that we continue to lead the street riding market. We aim to give riders the best equipment available to help encourage the progression and growth of the sport” (http://www.inspiredbicycles.com/index.php).
The smell comes back to me like a something from my youth. It is something that excites and entrances all at once. It rolls up off my front tire as I make my way up the fire road and single track leading me deeper into the woods near my home. I haven’t had that smell in 6 weeks, and I’m finally back on my bike. The smell is a mix of pine and mountain air mixed with dirt, and it smells like healing and freedom. After breaking my foot 6 weeks ago, my outside time has been limited to say the least. For perspective, I spend a lot of time outside climbing and mtb biking, it is a very large part of who I am and what I do. When that’s taken away, I get a bit stir crazy. I, like most men in America, have a nice sleeper case of ADHD, I admit I may have it more then most, but it is something that fuels me for my outside endeavors and also is a great motivator when your trying to heal from say, oh, a broken foot. It allows me to find ways to be active, in this case, it helped me work out in a gym, and do hang board routines even though I looked like a train wreck most of the time.
After about three miles of climbing I reach the drop in and the first real technical sections of trail. As I ease the bike down the first few drops and pick up speed, I grab the brakes out of fear that I could hurt my foot again. This being the first day out, I really can’t be hurt again for multiple reasons. The biggie is Cyn would kill me, and then I’d be dead and not able to do anything, which is, a real no win situation.
But as the first few root drops go under and the foot feels good, even fine, I start to feel the excitement of single track again, and feel the gift of moving outside, I also feel the three words start to bubble up in my brain.
Let. Me Roll.
They are simple words and ones I know well. When I feel good on the bike or climbing, they bubble up and it lets click into a zone where the things IM doing feel effortless. But with a foot still very fragile and the steepest part ahead, I did the smart thing.
I let it roll.
And it was good, very good!
As I dropped down the hillside the trees became the familiar blur I am used to as you whip down towards the creek bottom. After the shallow crossing I hit into some more tight down hill roller single track, which carries me into a small technical section of root crossings, and dumps me at the beaver ponds and a bridge crossing. Here I stop and reflect for the first time since I started. I feel good, tired, but good, and the foot feels great.
I am so thankful to be moving again, and until something takes that from you, you really don’t have any idea how much you miss that simple gift of movement.
As I joined back into the fire road I come across a runner who stops me for directions. He makes the comment about how cool it was that I’m riding with a prosethic leg. I laugh and tell him about my last six weeks, that my metal leg is by far my good leg, and that today is my first day back outside. He is psyched and tells me he was thinking about losing an leg and how screwed he would have been until he saw me, again, I laugh and tell him how well we adapt and that the leg is a good machine and quickly adapts to change. Now that other one with the bones, that’s the one you gotta watch out for!
We part ways and I’m enveloped in the wonderful smell of the mountains as I head home, alone in my freedom.
So, for the past few months one of my friends has been talking about buying a bike. Not going into a bike shop and buying a bike mind you. But picking out each and every part one at a time. Debating each part and reading up on it to build his very own dream bike. Naturally not everyone can do this. Most of us, including me, don’t know enough to choose between stems or even spokes. But Corbett did the homework and hit this one out of the park. I opened this photo up at work with two of the guys I work with and they actually yelled. Big ups. Head out in south orange county and you will see this one out on the trail.
