OK, every blog is just an opinion. And everyone has one. An opinion that is. Some are just more ill informed than others. Some are simply ignorant.
"Don’t make this into something it’s not.
Tito’s death has nothing to do with many of the larger issues being bandied about online. Tito’s death has nothing to do with whether or not children should be climbing, or if they understand risk to an acceptable level that would, in your judgment, permit them access to a crag. Tito’s death doesn’t have anything to do with the so called grade-chasing, gym-bred mentality judgementally assigned to many of today’s youth climbers. Tito’s death has nothing to do with your fears and insecurities, and nothing to do with your self-affirmations about your own smug sense of safety at the cliff."
Andrew Bisharat
http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/dumb-climbing
http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/tito-traversa-report-reveals-cause-accident
http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/12-year-old-tito-traversa-dies-in-climbing-fall
http://climbing.about.com/b//07/13/analysis-of-tito-traversa-climbing-accident-and-quickdraws.htm
Sad as Tito's death is let's not make it something it is not. That much Andrew has right.
Some more opinion?
The rest Andrew hasn't clue about and totally missed the point. In my opinion of course and with all due respect. Andrew has at least earned that respect. He's simply wrong from my perspective.
About once a year I get the chance to mentor some kid. (anyone under 40 is a kid to me these days btw) Pity the poorsouls!
Hell I am a only a shadow of my previous self, literally half the man I use to be when I was leading trad .12s from the ground up. And those ascents few and far between mind you!
Every time I start a new mentorship I am reminded of and generally am enticed for the obvious reasons into recounting all the injuries and deaths I have seen or been privy to in 45 years of climbing. And I have a damn short list by comparison to a few friend's intimate lists.
This is as close as I have come.
http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//02/injury-recovery-and-death.html
Mind you I have takendozens of falls rock climbing. No clue how many... but dozens sometimes on just one climb!And only been hurt 3 times. Two early on and only the one recentlythat wasserious. My longest? A 70' footer. Which had me pumped up on Adrenalin for hours after wards. (another mistake btw)
So why the opinion?
Every single person I have mentored in any fashionhas beena relative new climber not just a new leader...on rock or on ice. And every one of them is in such a hurry to lead...it boggles my mind.
Why? Leading is harder in every way imaginable. Leading is more dangerous. Leading can get you killed if you make a mistake. And it doesn't even have to be a big mistake. Tie the knot wrong. Rig your hardware wrong.Misjudge your own abilities. All unhealthy things to do climbing or leading.
Climbing is a serious and likely fatal sport if you make a mistake. Just because a lot of people do it these days...doesn't make climbing SAFE!
Take some time. Enjoy the top rope and try to learn what you can while you are there.
You just don't know what you don't know. But the secrets come easily and quickly if you open your eyes and mnd.
I could so easily argue all of Andrews points...but why bother?
Face it. Climbing is some serious chit. You fook it up and you'll likely die. You fook it up and you are likely THE idiot because it will be YOUR own mess.
Climbing and gravity don't care how old you are or how hard you can climb. Make a mistake and you will pay the price. Simple as that.
That is what I have learnedclimbing.
The rest of the opinions?
"Don’t make this into something it’s not."
I feel the lossof each dead friend and I have felt the pain of each of my own injuries and mistakes and sometimes another's mistake!
"Don’t make this into something it’s not."
We all make choices and mistakes. If you fook it up? Own up to it......if youare able. And move on. I'm proof even an idiot can live through a lifetime of climbing and still (mostly) enjoy the effort :) It is having the patience tolive through, "the you don't know, what you don't know" part that can be difficult.
"Don’t make this into something it’s not."
and for the exprienced alpinists out there anothercheeriereport of life after death and other fool things to do in the mtns.......
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/tripreports-colinhaley-alaskacrevasse.html?q=colin%20haley
As mentioned previously, I received aRivendell Sam Hillborne framefor the holidays. It was a joint gift from several parties, purchased atHarris Cyclery.Here are all the beautiful Rivendell frames that were hanging at Harrisat the time (Atlantis, orange Hillborne, and green Hillborne). The one on the right became mine. I was excited to get the last green frame in my size: They are being replaced by the orange, but that gorgeous green was the colour I wanted.
Some of you expressed surprise that I got a diamond frame and not the Betty Foy. But I specifically wanteda diamond frame that I could fit with drop bars and use for sporty, long-distance rides. My experiment with drop bars on my vintage Motobecanedid not work out last summer, but I do miss them. The one thing Rivendell bikes are known for, iscomfortable geometry, making the Hillborne perfect for trying to conquer drop bars again. So that was the rationale behind this frame. Receiving a frame rather than a finished bicycle does put financial responsibility on me to come up with the funds for parts. But I think that's great, as building up the bike will keep me obsessed/entertained for months.
This is a built-up Harris floor model in the same size as the frame I got: 52cm, with 650B wheels. It is fitted with gorgeous red Grand Bois Hetre tires (650B x 42mm), Nitto Moustache handlebars, and a Brooks B17 saddle. I will probably fit mine with the white version of these tires and with Nitto Noodle bars, as well as add some fenders.
As you can see, I have been perfecting my leg-swing technique and no longer have too much of a problem mounting diamond-frames. (I was actually kind of proud that I could do this in a floor-length parka!)
There are many things that attracted me to the Hillborne, but what truly swept me off my feet was how comfortable and stable it felt. Even with the Moustache bars on the floor model being set too far out for me, I felt comfortable riding it in traffic. And the geometry allows me to keep my leg extended when pedaling, while still being able to reach the ground with a toe - Splendid!
The Moustache bars on the floor model were handsome, but after trying them a few times over the past several months I do not think they are for me. I feel that they present the same challenges as drop bars, but without the benefit of offering as many hand positions. So I think I will stick with the plan to get drop bars.
These are such nice looking handlebars though, and I know that some people, like Alan at ecovelo, are very happy with them - so it is a matter of personal preference.
This pretty much concludes my Hillborne test ride report. I like the way Harris builds up their floor models and will only make a few changes when I build up mine. The main one, is that I plan to get a dynamo hub (Shimano Alfine) for the front wheel, which should be exciting. I am looking forward to riding my own version of this bicycle in Spring!
This newspaper clipping shows Michael Landon - Little Joe, Dan Blocker - Hoss, and Pernell Roberts - Adam.
Last weekend we finally picked up my Francesco Moser fixed gear roadbike from Harris Cyclery, where it sat most of the winter after getting its bottom bracket replaced. I haven't been on this bicycle since December, riding the slightly-too-big-for-me Bianchi instead. And now that the Moser is back, guess what? It feels small! I was warned that this would happen once I got used to a larger frame, but it's still hard to believe. How can I feel cramped on a bike that felt "perfect" last year?
In addition to having a shorter top tube than the Bianchi, the Moser is also set up with a shorter stem. The difference between thetotal distance from the seat post to the handlebars on the two bikes is 3cm - which seems like a small number, but feels quite otherwise, at least to me. The handlebars on the Moser are also set quite a bit lower, which I think contributes to the cramped sensation. Combined with the lower bottom bracket, I almost feel like an adult on a miniature pony when I mount the smaller bike after the larger one.Would a longer stem alone solve this, or have I "outgrown" the frame itself?At the moment, both myBianchi(with a 55cm top tube and 8mm stem) and myRivendell(with a 57.5cm top tube and 6mm stem) feel just right, but how can I trust that "just right" feeling when it keeps changing?
It is said that preferences in bike fit "evolve" over time. But does there eventually come a point when they stabilise? How many times in your cycling history has your idea of comfortable bike fit changed?
So I have a confession to make... I have been riding 
Every time I ride this bike, I feel that my comfort level with the diamond frame and the drop bars increases exponentially.
And the 
The only difficulty I've had so far, happened when I was unexpectedly caught in a downpour 13 miles from home. Minutes after the above picture was taken, it began to pour. The bicycle handled splendidly, but the problem was that my wet fingers would slip on the wet brake levers when trying to squeeze them, and I had serious trouble using the brakes. This problem might be unique to me, as I have nerve damage in my hands and a very weak grip.
Having survived the ride home, I promptly purchased a pair of full-fingered cycling gloves. The material on the fingertips is grippy and should do better on wet levers than my fingers. I will keep these in 
Other than the rainy lever-slip issue, I have been surprised at the lack of "challenges". I am even able to use the bar-end shifters! I am keeping the giraffine stem extension for now, but in another week or so I think I will feel comfortable lowering it.
Here you can see that I really am quite leaned over as it is when reaching for the hoods. I know that the bike will look nicer if the saddle and handlebars are at the same level, but the lean will be too much. I think I will compromise and lower it half-way.
Front view showing the current reach when on the hoods.
Well, that is my progress update so far. I can't express how happy it makes me to be able to ride this bike after having anxious doubts about whether I'd really be up to it when the time came. I am in love with the drop bars and will write a separate post about them soon, discussing hand positions.
Once a cyclist begins to ride longer distances, it is inevitable that they will hear the siren call of the Century - the 100 mile ride. While 100 miles is as arbitrary a number as any, it has an undeniable cachet to it. It is a three digit number, a round number, and impressive number. Put simply, 100 miles is unambiguously "a lot." It is often considered a marker of seriousness when it comes to long-distance cycling.
Although I never set it as a goal for myself to complete a century, to tell the truth I thought that surely I would have done it by now. Distances of 30, 40 and 50 miles were so easy for me almost from the start, that I assumed 100 miles would inevitably follow. However, it is now my 3rd summer of cycling and somehow I still have not managed it - 65 miles being the longest distance I've covered so far in one go. One obstacle has been lack of time. As someone who gets annoyed when others tell me they don't have time to cycle, I can't believe I am using the same excuse. So maybe I should rephrase: My time management skills have been inadequate. I try to set a day aside for a century ride, but something inevitably comes up to make it impossible. Shorter rides are easier in that sense, because they do not require taking an entire day off. The other obstacle has been finding places to ride to. While the countryside outside Boston offers excellent cycling, I am having a hard time mapping out routes that exceed 65 miles and are still within my comfort zone when it comes to car traffic and elevation changes. And doing repeat loops just to cycle 100 miles is not appealing.
While on Cape Cod last summer, I thought that surely a century would finally be completed. Our plan was to gradually work up to it, but in the end we did it too gradually: Just after the 65 mile ride I got sick, and by the time I felt better it was time to go home. This summer, the inability to reach the 100 mile mark is becoming almost comical. Now that we are on Cape Ann - with both the time to do it and the perfect location - weather and other factors have intervened to foil our plans repeatedly. 50 miles along the coast has been the longest we have managed so far, and with half our stay over and more storms predicted for this week, it's possible that a century is simply not in the cards during this trip either.
It is becoming clear that, while I am accustomed to fitting rides into my life "organically," the century may necessitate a different approach. If I am serious, then I will need more careful planning, stronger determination, and a willingness to do it in poor weather conditions or along a route that I am not entirely comfortable with. But frankly, that just doesn't seem like much fun. When I finally find the time to do a 100 mile ride on my terms, it will be fantastic. But to approach it as a grimly goal-oriented undertaking for the sake of saying that I've done a century would defeat the purpose. As far as endurance goes, I am fairly confident that I can handle the mileage, so it's just a matter of an opportune situation presenting itself. I am sure someday it will.
