Recent content by Idiot Savant

Not sure about BC skiing, but XC skiing is very good cross training. I alternate upper body days with lower body/cardio days. In warm weather that means paddling for upper and cycling for lower. I had open heart surgery in 2018 to get a valve replaced. That was a setback. Then in, I think, in...

You might try taking Magnesium for the cramps. I used to be bothered by cramps a lot and the magnesium pretty much cured it. The glycinate form is supposed to cause less diarrhea.

World wide, 2024 was the hottest year on record. The second hottest was 2023. Climate change is real. I know one thing, I have much better cold weather clothing than I did back in the sixties.

I think Grand Junction, Colorado or, maybe, Glenwood Springs, would be a pretty good place. Numerous outstanding paddling opportunities with a very reasonable drive time.

I guess my first question is, do you do any paddling specific training? Do you make an effort to keep your paddling muscles strong through the winter and, in better weather, do you go out paddling with the main purpose being to get stronger? If you do train, what do you do? At 71, I don't feel...

This topic is right up my lane. I think I've touched on it before myself. I have a ton of boats. Let's stick with solo boats, since most kayaks are solo. I've converted both my solo canoes to pack style and paddle them with a kayak paddle. It's just faster and easier and I don't have to prove...

I went to video, for a while, back when video cameras recorded on tape. Now, trying to watch the tapes is pretty inconvenient and wish I'd just taken still shots. When I bought my Sony a7 II, it was supposed to be pretty good at recording video so I bought accessories thinking I'd get into the...

Before digital, if you wanted to get your photos published, they needed to be slides. That's what the publishers wanted. Print film wasn't acceptable. My brother was getting his photos in calendars and postcards and winning local awards so was an influence on me. Then I got a PC and email...

My first camera was an all manual Canon film camera with a 50mm prime lens. This would have been about 1976. I had several other film cameras after that. I know I had one Pentax and at least one Minolta. At first I shot regular Kodak color print film, then I moved on to professional slide...

I think the second reason, I got out of photography, was I no longer had people to share my photos with. My parents have passed, I became alienated from my brother, who was even more into photography than, me, lost friends, etc. Truth is, I probably got way more out of sharing photos with them...

There is a saying that applies to a lot of things. The best one is the one that you have with you. Long before camera phones and when I still considered photography an important part of my life, I realized how many fantastic shots I was missing because I didn't have my camera with me. I never...

I had a friend that hiked the Continental Divide Trail. I followed his progress on an online journal. Occasionally, there was an attempt at a scenic, but most of his photos were of things like the ice cream cone he had when he reached a town, or the disgusting water source he had to pump his...

I think that's true, but it took more force to get it turned back downstream than it should have, but I think I'd concluded that I also had it trimmed stern heavy in addition to the asymmetrical rocker. I'm thinking that, if I had moved some weight forward, it probably would have handled...

The rule is bow heavy for paddling into the wind and stern heavy for paddling away from the wind. For a crosswind, you just have to find the trim that keeps the boat from wanting to turn. I've been caught out when the wind came up suddenly and it's no joke.

Paddling my North Wind solo on the Green River, when I'd stop paddling, to take a photo or a drink, my canoe would tend to turn sideways or, even, upstream, and be reluctant to get turned back downstream. I attributed that to its asymmetrical rocker, which would lead me to believe adding weight...