| Like reading the White Mountain Report every week? Why not get it delivered to your e-mailbox every Thursday? All you have
to do is subscribe. It's fast, painless, and best of all it doesn't cost you
a dime! |
| CLICK HERE... |
June 27, 2019
Hi Folks,
Exercise has become a way of life for me over the past 20 years. I am almost as passionate about climbing and riding my bike as I am about playing music. And I'm VERY passionate about that. For the past 5 years I was also addicted to going to the gym. It helped me keep up my muscle mass and keep my weight under control.
It's pretty common that as we age, men and women alike, we start to loose muscle. As we become subtly weaker we start to loose tone and one thing leads to another. The next thing we know our posture degenerates and we allow the little aches and pains to start to shut off various activities. It can be gradual process that we hardly even notice happening.
Going to the gym is one way to help keep that from happening, at least for me. Over the time my son was in high school I built it into my daily routine. Eat breakfast, drop him at school and go to the gym for an hour. It was an easy combination. Now that he's out of the house, it requires a more direct commitment, however it's well worth the effort. Working on strengthening my core has made a big difference in both my climbing and cycling. I've also had some difficulties with a torn rotator cuff over the past several years and my PT person set me up with a series of exercises that have kept me away from the knife. And on top of that, 20 minutes daily on the stair-master or elliptical machine upped my endurance for cycling.
Lately I've also gotten into yoga. Having the proverbial bad-back, I've always done stretches, but exploring a more structured program has recently been paying some very strong dividends in flexibility and balance. It works well with the gym workouts and my other outdoor activities. I started at 5 days a week, but have found that for me 2 or 3 works just as well.
Now no doubt this stuff requires an investment in time and money. When I started going to the gym here in the Valley it was basically $50/month. For someone living on what is more or less a fixed income, that's real money. When I got divorced a year ago, sadly it was one of the things I had to cut out. I kept up my other activities and did some stretches and weights at home, but I admit that I was pretty unmotivated. There is something about going to the gym every day and seeing the same crew there day after day. So when I changed my health insurance plan this year, I looked for a plan with a gym component as a part of their preventative care program. As it turned out, I was able to go to the local gym for nothing! I'm in the process of carefully building back up to the level I was at when I quit last year, but I'm confident that will come soon. I can see the progress and feel much better.
As I've said many times, you either use it or you loose it. I truly believe that getting on a regular exercise program will help you preserve your body and skills for a longer period of time. Give it some consideration...
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently released a great story map featuring top BLM climbing areas in the country. This project was created in collaboration with Access Fund and Mountain Project and includes interactive maps that highlight exceptional climbing opportunities on BLM lands. We're excited to see the BLM embrace and promote access to some of the world's best climbing areas.
https://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html
The riding has been good in general, with well maintained trails all over the Valley. There are only problems in the places where there are always issues, speaking specifically about mud. But that's just the way mountain biking IS, so suck it up. With the general dampness in the woods, there are a few bridges that can be a bit problematic (a.k.a. slippery), like the long one on the Electric Loop. But other than that it's all good IMO.
Mosquitoes, ticks and blackflies... Nothing more to say. Other than DEET I suppose!
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
| I had great times leading at Devil's Lake, where the ground was never too far away, and hard to miss if you should happen to fall to it. |
| Andy Cairns |
|
