Ascending speed or rate of climb

A few days ago, I was talking to a friend about mountaineering and hiking, when he brought up the concept of doing 280 or 300 meter per hour or something in this order, while ascending a French summit near Chamonix.

Since I didn't know what he was talking about, I asked what he meant by it and he explained the widespread practice of measuring climbing speed, when climbing hills or mountains in the Alps.

After we hung up the phone, I did some quick research and found that the rate of climb, expressed in meters per hour, is the product of one's Critical Power by the VO2max divided by the Energy Cost.

In that formula, the Critical Power is the highest intensity of effort that can be sustained for a long period of time, the VO2max is the maximum flow of oxygen that can be processed by the individual and the Energy Cost is the amount of energy expended.

When I understood the significance of the method of measurement, I looked up at some of my hikes. Back in 2002 my wife and I climbed Mt. Timpanogos at a rate of 400 meters per hour and just last summer, I covered the 4,385' vertical course (1,335 meters), along with my daughter at about 383 meters per hour...

Olympic Game$

As we were worrying of missing some great surprise, we “tried” to watch the Olympic Ceremonies, last night. Well, this was another exercise in one-upmanship that was delivered to us in short doses between generous ad segments.

We couldn't quite get into the spirit and just saw one third of the parade of nations before we turned of the TV. With the Russian doping settlement and the growing amount of monies flooding the games to buy all kind of favors, the IOC is on the exact same path as Fifa in becoming part of the same sport mafia!

Don't ever put up with bullies!

If this election cycle has told us a valuable lesson it is that we should never put with bullies, but instead, confront them and put them back, right in the lowly place they deserve.

Had at least one the sixteen GOP primary candidates stood up to Donald Trump early on, the New York bully would have been brought down to the ground and never have become the nominee, but unfortunately for the Republican Party, the group of sixteen had no backbone and weren't even as “good” as Trump.

Whether the bully is a politician, a bureaucrat, a boss, a co-worker, a neighbor or even a family member, don't ever let them manipulate you into submission.

Having fun doing windows

To me, doing windows used to be a dreadful chore. Not anymore; you see some of our windows are hard to reach and require reaching out from a long ladder and I find it rather fun.

Should I also mention that getting a clear pane without a streak isn't easy either? I guess that recently, I've become and adept at turning lemon into lemonade.

If there's some kind of a challenge inside the worst possible chore that can turn it into a record to be broken or a new skill to learn, I'm game.

If you're still allergic to unpleasant project, try this magic approach!

From mountain to road bike...

For a while, my son and my wife have been suggesting that I look seriously at road biking and start easing-off from my fat-tire addiction. So this morning, I tried a beautiful state-of-the-art road bike and took if for a spin.

While I began riding this light, little speed demon, I wasn't too sure of myself and it's only at the end of half-an-hour that I began to get the hang of it. I had not ridden a road bike for 40 years and today's machines are a world away from their ancestors.

They're super-light, nimble, climb walls and might become quite addictive. I'll let you know, because before the day was over I became the proud owner of one of them...

Concert at the Park: Barking applause

For a change both in venue and style, we went last night to the Beethoven Festival at the Park City park. This event is Utah’s oldest summer classical music festival, as it's celebrating its 33rd season this year, presenting great chamber music played by half a dozen of some of the country’s best musicians.

We don't regularly attend chamber music concerts, but it was a quiet, relaxing and very pleasant atmosphere. In addition to the great music we heard that evening, each time the attendance broke into an applause, a dog seemingly very much appreciative of the performance, barked in perfect unison!

Feeding deer and birds...

This is the 9th summer season that we have tended to a veggie garden, and until this year we had no complaints about wildlife checking on it, until recently.

Sure in our new home there is no protecting fencing so deer, moose, rabbits and even dogs can roam in at their leisure. We've tried dog and deer repellents but these product don't seem effective at all. This year the deer have sampled the salads but didn't find them quite to their taste.

So far, the rabbits have abstained and the moose just amble by. But the American Robbins have been very, very naughty. They have binged on our ample harvest of strawberries, eating them while they were still white.

I installed a net and setup certain sanctions that have proven to be extremely dissuasive!