After nearly a month of focusing on the bicycle racing acquarium, it's time to break away. When I feel the need to get away and get in touch with things more spiritual, it usually still includes cycling or hiking of some form. Next week, the Outdoor Retailer Show begins in Salt Lake City, UT. DeFeet will be there, and it will be introducing no less than four new sock silhouettes for the outdoors. We will report from the show, too, to keep you up to speed.

Before leaving for the Show, I will do a couple of posts with an 'outdoor' flavor. Here are a few pictures that I took from a trip I did last summer. I am preparing to do more of these trips in the coming weeks. It's no secret that I like to fish. I also like to navigate rivers. Why not combine it with cycling? I am a human-power nut. If it can be done under human power, I'll be out there trying to make it work. Toward the end of my racing career, I was being considered for a human-powered record attempt across the English Channel. In an airplane. Their main concern was that I could handle the plane. That my engine was light and made decent power were bonuses. Unfortunately, funding for the project did not materialize. It will always be one of the great letdowns of my life. If I could pedal an airplane, I would be in the sky any time the weather allowed. Problem is now that I'm 30+ lbs heavier (muscle, you know) than when I raced. I hope that I live long enough, and strong enough, to see the advent of production model human powered flying machines. Paul MacCready did the most work in that area, 30 years ago, with his Gossamer Albatross. I'm not aware of many new efforts in flight, since then. His flights should have been the beginning, not the end. If I'm lucky, I'll be on Earth another 50 years. I need more innovation, soon, to make my dream a reality. Can someone please make me a helicopter that I can pedal and land in my driveway?

This is an Ortlieb pannier strapped to a WaterMaster Kodiak raft. Since it has no rowing frame, the Kodiak folds up small enough to put on the back of a bike. With a carrying capacity of 700lbs, it can also carry a bike on it's back. Hmmm... that opens up all kinds of possibilities. It has oars for slow water and whitewater, plus you can hang your feet out the bottom, with fins, to control the raft while you fish. No guide, no dedicated oarsman, just you.



It's no brute, but it's a fine looking brown. Those orange spots always remind me that Halloween is coming.. eventually.

At the end of a day, or three days, the car can be a long ways away. No shuttle necessary when there was a Surly Long Haul Trucker strapped to your raft the whole time. The Surly is a sturdy mount that is made to carry heavy loads. I'm always impressed with how comfortably it rolls down dirt roads. I've got some real strong wheels on there. Mavic A719 rims are as bulletproof as you can find. I've ridden them with flat tires down rocky, potholed paths for longer than I should admit, here. I use Tubus racks. I haven't come across anything that will handle more weight. My raft and camp gear can exceed 100lbs easily. The Surly gets a little wurly on the way home, suffice to say. On this particular trip, I was so fatiqued, almost back to the car, going about 42mph on a slightly downhill country road with a rippin' tailwind. Approaching an old ranch, a couple of collies jumped out in the road ahead of me near a mailbox. I found out that the Long Haul Trucker doesn't like to respond, in a scenario like that. With that speed, load and road, the Surly turns on the radius of a Boeing 737. I really like dogs, too. I'll end the story right there.