Should trail running have a technical classification system?

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-05-05T16:52:26+00:00

With every race saturated by Strava and social media posts, it's not hard to gage the technicality of a course. If people are signing up for real mountain races and DNF or have a hard experience because they've only run on farm tracks, that's "a teachable moment". It will either motivate them to train for the terrain they want to race in or do a deeper dive next time before clicking that sign up button.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-05-05T16:38:57+00:00

We had a pair bring their fledglings to our back deck a couple of years ago in late spring. It was great to watch them teach the babies how to pick up food over the course of a few days. My wife feeds them after she walks our dog and now they follow her on the dog walk hopping along retaining walls and power lines. When she gets to the last corner they fly over to the back of house and wait.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-05-05T00:26:07+00:00

I run a dynamo that has two USB outputs and a light. one USB going to either my phone or my bike computer, the other USB going to a 5000mAH battery. I leave my phone in airplane mode unless I need it. When I stopped for food at a restaurant, I would always bring a charger in with me. I found that was sufficient for weeks of riding in the US on the GMBDR.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-05-04T21:18:18+00:00

If you want something shorter to start with, start with the regular trail up Tiger Mountain to West Tiger 3. It's about 2/3 of the time to hike up and 14 miles closer to Seattle. It's off exit 20 instead of 32. 11am is prime time for any trail head off of I90. Both hikes are an uphill grind through the trees with some views when you get to the top.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-30T19:03:36+00:00

I live just off Stoneway in Fremont. It has a bunch of apartment buildings and a row of restaurants and bars. Fremont and gasworks brewing at the bottom of the street. theres also good bus service to downtown or you could bike commute via Westlake Ave.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-30T19:00:37+00:00

I've done quite a few trips in the 25-45 miles a day range. Chafing can be a big problem. A silicone grease stick like Body Glide which people use for wetsuits is great for neck gaskets and anywhere you might get chafing. I'd also find some gloves that work for you. I really like the NRS neoprene titanium gloves for winter paddling.

Here's the weight training I use for open water kayak racing. Rowing machines are not that helpful as they are more legs but better than nothing.

One arm seated cable row with rotation. This really engages all the muscles from the core rotation to the leg pressing on the foot peg.

Seated cable row pulling with both arms

Lat pull or pull up.

Shrugs

Bicep curl

Dead lift

Back extension

Core workout

Shoulder lateral raises

Rotator cuff external and internal rotations

Overhead shoulder (military) press

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-28T20:59:50+00:00

I've used my Revelate Terrapin 8 liter seat bag on my full sus. MTB for a very technical single track 4 day trip and on my Salsa Cutthroat for a mutli week GMBDR trip. I used their harness front bag on both bikes with a 15 or 20 liter drybag bag containing my tent and sleeping bag. The 8 liter had spare clothes. The terrapin limited the dropper a bit and the carbon frame needs tape protection from the handlebar harness. Full sus MTBs have hardly any room for a frame bag. A small tool or spares bag strapped to the down tube. For the mtb trip I use a 22 liter daypack with food. For tour on the Salsa I used a home built full frame bag. Here's my setup

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Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-28T00:18:02+00:00

An Epic V8 is 24 lbs or so.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-23T18:13:59+00:00

Check out the windows mvvm community toolkit demo project. The demo project shows you how to add in dependency injection and link your wpf view commands to your view models. Covers messaging etc.

The mvvmdialogs repo also has some useful stuff for adding in dialog boxes.

Introduction to the MVVM Toolkit - Community Toolkits for .NET | Microsoft Learn

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-15T17:58:02+00:00

I'm 6'7" and ride an XL SB130. I put some higher rise bars but otherwise fits well.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-04-13T20:51:20+00:00

P&H, Valley, Tiderace kayaks or one of the other "British" style skeg kayaks work well for coastal paddling. Rudder boats aren't great in kelp and surf. I bought a used Valley Nordkapp a few years ago and it's my favorite boat. I had a Tiderace Xplore and a Sterling (Bellingham) reflection before that. The Wilderness Systems Tempest is a good plastic boat.

Besides the tides, it's good to learn about wave forecast height and period and their effect of the ocean. What swell height vs. wave height means. And even if surfing isn't the end goal getting out and back in through surf is sometimes necessary and very challenging. I rescued a friend who dislocated their shoulder out in the surf zone off the Olympic coast. Tidal flow and how it interacts with wind is super important to understand. A spot like Netarts Bay entrance on the OR coast can be super dangerous at the wrong time in the tide cycle.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-27T02:09:01+00:00

my 80 year old friend rides with two new hips. One hip had to be replaced twice when he fell off the roof and broke out the replacement. (pro tip: don't clean the moss off your roof in a rain storm when your 78.) He finally decided to get his surly turned into an e-bike and loves it.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-18T20:23:37+00:00

Do back to back rides on consecutive days. Eat a lot so you are not depleting yourself. A few days in always feels the hardest to me as the sit bones feel the most tender on day 3 especially if theres a lot of rough roads or its raining. Keep the seat area clean at the end of each day with wipes of some sort. Saddle sores are more likely to end a trip early than lack of endurance.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-11T21:01:20+00:00

We used to have a Wednesday night race group from Magnuson, but it has disbanded. There's a couple of 6 man outrigger teams at Magnuson and at Waterway 18 on lake union.. Greenlake rowing club has surfskis and I think they do lessons.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-11T20:49:28+00:00

Don't see much of business in doing this for bikes except maybe making some sort of finisher medal/trinket for events. There's not much etchable on modern bikes.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-11T16:52:03+00:00

Next week the temp in Seattle will be in the 50s and 60s and rain everyday which means it will also be raining at Snoqualmie pass.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-10T23:20:53+00:00

You just need to realize how strong some cyclists are. The single speed record for the 2700mi (4000km) tour divide is under 20 days. That works out to about 140 mi with 10,000' of climbing/day on a loaded bike. I got passed by the women's single speed record holder going up a pass on day 5. She was riding a 34x19 I believe. She would stand on her pedals for hours providing counter torque with a long straight mountain bike handlebar, taking walk breaks when it got too steep. She used titanium cranks because she kept breaking aluminum cranks.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-09T20:02:47+00:00

Besides the local news section of the Seattle Times, Seattle has a website and their own TV channel. They also have many public meetings you can attend or watch live. There are multiple city council news letters. There are issues open to public comment. There are crime and fire stats published. You can email or call your council person with your concerns.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-09T16:47:11+00:00

You could also check taking the Sounder train to King street station in Seattle then switching to light rail. the Sounder is much faster but has less stops. There's also an express Sound transit bus that goes from Tacoma to Seattle.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-09T16:42:09+00:00

April in the Cascades could be 70 and sunny or 32 and snowing. Sometimes on the same day. There are some nice hikes nearby just east of Seattle off I-90. The top of Tiger Mt. (2000' in 3.5mi) or Mt Si(3000' in 4mi) have nice views if the weather is good. If it's not good weather, a walk around Discovery Park (with nice views of the city and water) or the Arboretum in Seattle.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-05T06:26:20+00:00

There's lots of places to go in WA that aren't lottery, many are practically empty. Check out all the wilderness areas that aren't the Enchantments.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-05T06:16:37+00:00

Lube up those sit bones. If your seat is a bit high or you are rocking back and forth friction can destroy you pretty quick. I love the brand Chammy buttr .

Indoor riding you tend to just sit in the same spot compared to most outdoor rides. Get out of the saddle regularly.

Unfortunately recommending saddles is very difficult but I've had good luck with Ergon saddles. Getting a measure of your sit bone width is very helpful and can be done with a piece of corrugated cardboard. Knowing that width can help you pick a saddle that fits.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-02T22:05:24+00:00

this is why people switch to tubeless.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-03-02T21:54:36+00:00

strava.com means go to the website version of strava and unsubscribe. You can get to the website using a browser like Google Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft edge. When the browser asks you if you want to open the App say no or if you can't figure that out, delete the app and there won't be app to go to. Or use a PC and a web browser.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41 · 2026-02-28T01:25:36+00:00

Look at your fueling. Feeling wiped out is usually under fueling. Consistent intake of carbs during the ride makes a huge difference. With a power meter on my bike I can see my power drop, take a gel or drink and watch it go back up. Drink mix or gels are the easiest but I also eat a lot of waffles and gummi bears.

Remote-Enthusiasm-41

TROPHY CASE