all tied up

it seems we're heading out to the desert for all the major holidays these days.  this past weekend we drove out to arizona again to spend a couple days with my parents and both sisters (complete with families).  this means we had me-maw, p-paw, bfbh, aflbh, kkpwh, sph, diadh, kurd, sedeh, jjh, pbh, smsmh, tc and myself.  (i'm' thinking it's time to set up a glossary of head-name acronyms)  that's a lot of acronyms under one roof!

i had a score to settle with the white tank mountains, so on saturday morning, i headed back out to do battle with the mountain.  i picked another finish for the loop rather than ford canyon (since the two miles of running through that sandy wash was just plain anoying).  i went up the goat camp trail again, this time knowing what was ahead and dosing my effort better.  as a result, i didn't have to walk any of the climb.  at the top, i stopped quickly to take a couple shots and then began the long, winding trail that would take me past the radio antenna and to the top of mesquite canyon.  again, this easy sloping section of the trail is so much fun to run.  it's not technical, yet it's narrow single track.  you can really get moving and feel like you can cruise forever. 

i hit the top of mesquite, checked my map again and based on the elevation contours, it looked like i was in for some really fun and twisty singletrack on the way back down out of the mountains.  i started heading down the trail and was treated with a view of a trail hugging the side of the canyon and winding out of sight.  i quickly pulled out the camera and started shooting video.  i ran about two miles with the camera on (don't worry, i edited the length of the video...it's still pretty grainy and bouncy, though) to catch just how awesome these desert mountain trails are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

after a couple hours and an eleven mile loop, i was back at the car.  no tumbles, no dna left on the rocks and a beautiful morning out in the arizona desert.  this spot is one that i'm going to return to.  it's a great area as long as i skip the ford canyon trail.  the score has been settled with the mountain.  i didn't pee on it and it didn't break my bones.

airdrives - product review

i'm a geek.  i'm also a geek that loves music.  so, when it comes to working out, i'm just nuts about the technology that allows me to take hours worth of my music out on the road or trail with me.  the one ongoing drawback of this technology, though, is how it reduces your ability to be aware of your surroundings.  i refuse to run with music if i'm out on city streets, whether running or cycling, and with recent wilderness issues in southern california, even trails aren't safe to run on with music.

until now.

AirDrives, interactive stereo headphones, are a new product that successfully addresses the issue of being cut off from your surroundings while wearing earphones.  i tried these bad boys out a couple times over the past few weeks and have been really impressed with how the product works.  the design has the earphone wrapping around the ear and sitting outside the ear.  at first i was somewhat skeptical, thinking that the sound quality would be poor, but i was quite wrong and was immediately impressed with the sound quality AND the ability to hear my surroundings clearly.

i ran with them on busy streets and was able to hear my music very clear as well as approaching cars and ambient noise.  toward the end of one of the longer runs, the sound did start to get a little quieter.  i can't say if that was a result of more power drain from the earphones or if my ipod was just running low on juice.

i also took them for a spin out on the bike.  again, i was skeptical of the sound quality.  i turned the volume up a little bit more than i have it when i run, and i was pleased to have decent sound.  when i rode into a really strong headwind, the music got a little tough to hear, but was on par with what the earbuds sound like when riding into the wind.

the key thing that i noticed, though, was that in all cases, i was able to hear approaching cars, ambient noise and people's voices.  i'm very pleased with the product's performance and excited about what this means for runner and cyclist safety.

get them online or at your local best buy for $99.99.  the sticker price is a little bit higher than what i thought they'd retail at, but, seeing as it's christmas time, i'd say put them on your list and talk your loved ones into investing in your safety. 

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