Outdoor Tips: Beginning Mountain Biking

Mountain biking, once considered a “fringe” or “extreme” sport, has taken hold as a popular and exciting outdoor activity in recent years. Its inherently challenging and physically demanding nature makes mountain biking more than just a hobby for many of those who participate. For the beginner, figuring out mountain biking techniques can be a pretty daunting task. Because navigating outdoor terrain is so different from just riding down the street, you essentially have to re-learn the basics of biking in order to become proficient on the trail. Use this quick and basic guide to help flatten out that learning curve and get the wheels spinning with your newfound mountain-biking hobby.
1. Get the necessary mountain biking equipment. To start off with, you’ll probably want to invest in the bare essentials of mountain biking. This includes a mountain bike (preferably one with manual gears), a helmet, and mountain biking shoes. Other strongly recommended items are a few tough water bottles, heavy-duty biking gloves to prevent mangled hands after nasty spills, and a spare inner tube in case of a blowout on the trail. If it’s your first time looking at bicycling equipment, it might be a good idea to head to a specialty shop as opposed to a chain discount store. Knowledgeable sales staff in smaller stores will be able to help find the right gear to suit your mountain biking needs.
2. Learn basic maneuvering and techniques. The most basic difference between mountain biking and road biking is the use of gears. When climbing hills, you’ll want to keep your gear setting low, which lowers the number of wheel repetitions per pedal motion – making it much easier to maintain forward momentum. Experienced mountain bikers call this hill-conquering technique “spinning”. When taking turns, brakes are just as important as steering. To prevent loss of grip through the turn, mountain bikers learn to brake before the actual curve, and take advantage of centrifugal force when making the turn. Also called “constant cornering”, it is based on the idea that accelerating through a curve prevents your bike’s tires from skidding off the trail. The final basic technique unique to mountain biking is forward and backward balance. In most riding situations, you’ll need to have your weight shifted towards the back of the bike. This will give your back tire much more traction and accelerating power.
3. Follow mountain biking rules and etiquette. Just as there are rules of the road, there are also certain rules of the trail that every mountain biker should follow. When passing hikers, you should either slow down or walk your bike past them to maintain a safe overall environment. Similarly, use your mountain bike’s bell to warn other bikers and hikers when you’re merging onto a new trail. From an environmental perspective, it’s also important to preserve the trails you ride on. This means no powering through large mud patches (this causes lots of erosion), or venturing into blocked off areas.

With the right equipment, techniques, and etiquette in place, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a proficient mountain biker in no time. This intense sport, though not exactly for the timid, is a great way to stay active and enjoy the outdoors in a somewhat unconventional way.

How To Use Fire As A Tool

Fire has a number of uses in the wilderness. Among many other things, it can generate heat, boil water, and summon rescue. But have you ever used fire as a “tool”? Fire has the amazing ability to consume materials, as well as to modify them. Here are three uses for fire that you might not have considered.

Fire Hardening Wood And Bone
Fire hardening is a frequently misunderstood concept. Most people think that fire hardens wood and bone by somehow changing the structure of the material, but fire hardening is simply the act of "super drying" the material in question. When wood and bone are moist, they are soft. When they’re dry, they are harder.

To fire harden them, simply dry them over a fire just above the flames. Bone is ready as soon as it starts to turn tan, wood when it achieves a toasted color. Plant or animal oil can be rubbed on whatever you are hardening before and/or after the hardening process. Sharpen points on pieces of wood and bone both before hardening, and then again after.

Thermal Alteration Of Stone
Many cultures, including a great number of Native Americans, have used heat to alter stone for sharper arrowheads and knives. Typically, the stone is broken (the technical term is spalled) into large flakes, placed in sand and then a fire is burned over the sand to heat the stone. Once the stone gets hot enough, it becomes more "glasslike." This heat treating will yield stone that breaks with a sharper edge. Many other techniques exist for thermal alteration, but all produce highly variable results. If you’re learning how to make arrowheads, for example, heat treating can make inferior stones into useable practice materials. You’ll also see some really neat, often unexpected colors emerge from the stone.

Heat Bending Wood
Heat bending can straighten a crooked stick, or bend a straight one. The moisture in a green wood stick, or a dry wood plank that has been soaked in water for a few days, causes the wood to become flexible after "cooking" it over a fire. To do this, simply rotate the moist wood item over the fire and begin to bend it gently. The wood should begin to feel rubbery when it is heated enough. But be careful not to blacken or scorch the wood, as this will weaken it. Bend the wood a little beyond the point you are trying to achieve, and then hold it in that position until it has thoroughly cooled. If the bend will not take, reheat and keep working the wood. Heat bending is very useful in bow making, especially when making recurves.

from: http://survival.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2013/11/how-use-fire-tool

Texans coach Gary Kubiak collapses at halftime, taken to hospital

Houston coach Gary Kubiak collapsed leaving the field at halftime of the Texans' game Sunday night against Indianapolis and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Kubiak hunched over and dropped to his knees at the 24 yard line and was immediately surrounded by medical personnel. He was lifted off the field on a stretcher and taken by cart to the ambulance.

The Texans didn't say what was wrong with Kubiak, but did say he didn't have a heart attack. The team said the 52-year-old coach, a former NFL quarterback who calls the team's plays, was conscious and was with his family as he was taken to the hospital.

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips took over as coach. Up 21-3 when Kubiak collapsed, the Texans unraveled in the second half, falling 27-24 for their sixth straight loss after opening the season 2-0 with Super Bowl hopes.

Kubiak's collapse came a day after Denver Broncos coach John Fox was hospitalized in North Carolina as he awaits aortic value replacement surgery. The 58-year-old Fox will have surgery in a few days and will miss several weeks while recuperating.

Fox had been told earlier about his heart condition and was hoping to put off the operation until February. As part of his trip to North Carolina on a bye week, he met with his cardiologist in Raleigh and was told to seek medical attention immediately if he felt any discomfort.

On Saturday, Fox became dizzy playing golf near his offseason home in Charlotte and was taken to a hospital, where tests revealed he couldn't wait any longer to have the surgery.

In college, Minnesota coach Jerry Kill took a leave of absence last month so he could better manage and treat his epilepsy. He has had five seizures on game day in his two-plus seasons with the Golden Gophers.

Kubiak has long been known as a top offensive coach, mentoring quarterbacks in Denver under Mike Shanahan and now Matt Schaub — and Case Keenum — in Houston. Kubiak has had no known public health problems.

Kubiak was hired in 2006, along with general manager Rick Smith, after the Texans finished a franchise-worst 2-14. Smith spent 10 years with Kubiak while the coach was offensive coordinator of the Broncos. Smith was Denver's defensive assistant for four seasons before moving into the front office for his last six years with the Broncos.

The pair has helped transform the Texans, which began play in 2002, from league laughingstock to contender. The team went 6-10 in their first year and 8-8 in each of the next two seasons. Expectations were high in 2010 after Houston finished at 9-7 for its first winning record in 2009. But the Texans instead fell to 6-10, which led to many fans calling for Kubiak's firing.

His original contract was due to expire after the 2010 season, but owner Bob McNair has stepped up to keep Kubiak and defended him several times amid the bumps. Among recent departures were assistant head coach Alex Gibbs (for Seattle) and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan went to join his father, Mike, in Washington.

Kubiak hired former Denver offensive coordinator Rick Dennison to replace Shanahan and former Atlanta offensive coordinator Greg Knapp to become Houston's quarterbacks coach. Dennison worked on the Broncos' staff during Kubiak's 11 years as Denver's offensive coordinator, and Knapp coached Schaub for three seasons with the Falcons.

The highest-profile assistant brought to Houston was Phillips, the veteran son of the late Bum Phillips and a former head coach in Denver, Buffalo and Dallas.

Last year, the Texans announced contract extensions for both Smith and Kubiak, rewarding them for taking the team to the playoffs last year for the first time. Kubiak's three-year agreement has him under contract through 2014.

McNair said at the time he offered Kubiak a four-year deal, but the coach preferred to make it for three.

Kubiak made his mark as Denver's offensive coordinator under Shanahan, winning two Super Bowls. An eighth-round pick out of Texas A&M, he spent nine years as John Elway's backup. He finished his career 4-1 as a starter, all in emergency relief of Elway.