A world of his own by Mark Robinson

If only buying a bike was as easy as learning to ride, I would have been finished much faster. Now, standing amidst hundreds of mountain bikes in the Austin Bicycle Sport Shop, I felt overwhelmed and unprepared. Not the best start to the bike-buying process.

But I was here to learn. Over the course of several weeks, I continued researching online. Hardtail or full suspension? 26″ wheel base or go full-on 29er? While confusing at first, focusing in on key decisions like these ultimately made the process much easier.

Have a budget

Buying a mountain bike requires choosing a quality frame within budget. Similar to buying a car, a frame is like choosing between a Toyota Corolla or a hulking Ford Super Duty extended cab. A budget-shattering Titanium frame will give you a lightweight, durable, and strong ride. While more-common aluminum frames are inexpensive and lightweight, carbon fiber and chro-moly alloys offer durable, stronger options.

Brand loyalty appears to extend to the biking community as well. Budgeting also helped me avoid the religious brand wars and focused my research on bikes I liked from Gary Fisher, Specialized, and Trek.

Early morning ride by Mikel Ortega

Experiment

I started playing around to see what was working and what wasn’t. Ultimately my friends proved to be the best resources. They were able to help guide me through the process by recommending I rent a bike.

In all the online research and talking to bike specialists, none had recommended renting a bike, but it was the most practical advice. Test driving bikes on the terrain I planned to ride on was the best way to learn how the bikes handled and figure out which bike worked best for my riding style and body type.

After receiving bike shoes from a friend, I experimented with pedals. The Shimano PD-M545 pedals I tried were heavier, but helped me graduate from flat pedals to cleated shoes, which help riders maximize leg power. After taking a few nasty spills, I slowly got used to using cleats.

From personal experience, I suggest avoiding cactus-lined trails when learning to ride with cleats, unless you enjoy spending time at the doctor’s office.

Crash during Panda Portrait attempt by Richard Masoner

Get a proper fit

A proper fit may not seem all that important when you’re riding around in the store parking lot. The day I purchased my bike, it took five minutes to take my money but another hour and a half to fit the bike and make adjustments.

Taking the time to get properly fitted made a big difference out on the trail. I no longer had to think about the bike’s mechanics. My Gary Fisher 29er HiFi Deluxe became an extension of my body. We moved fluidly together over boulders that had given me trouble on previous bikes.

Negotiate accessories

Bike specialists enthusiastically share their knowledge–you just have to ask. Simply asking got me discounts on necessities. By purchasing from the Austin Bicycle Sport Shop during a promotion, I got a new tool kit filled with Allen wrenches and a bicycle tire pump. The bike shop also applied my rental fees to the overall purchase price.

Essential accessories include:

• Hydration method, a Camelbak or reusable water bottle.
• Bike Repair Tool set
• Extra Tubes and Bike Tire Pump
• Helmet
• Lights, if there is the slightest chance of being on the trail at night
• Helmet Cam (optional), to capture heinous tricks and stunts

Shred
Austin has a number of technical, challenging trails. Biking the Barton Creek Greenbelt with it’s transitions from cavernous rock gardens to creek beds, was a real challenge. The Muleshoe Bend Recreational Area 7-mile trail, a 30-minute drive outside of downtown Austin, provides the training wheels for any novice biker with only a few challenging areas.

Community Connection

Check out Fifty People, One Question: Austin, TX on Matador TV.

MountainBike.com has news and information related to mountain bikes and trails. For tips on mastering mountain biking, The ABC of Mountain Biking is a great resource.

GUR Jeremy Rover

Make your way to Dale Grande’s famous tattoo parlor in Chicago and take a picture outside the shop after applying a GUR tattoo to your face. Navigate your way to the tattoo parlor by using public transportation, walking, or waddling. No taxis allowed.

Fun Slide By: Kris Miller

Known as GUR to race enthusiasts, The Great Urban Race is a wacky, fun-spirted competition that sends participants running around a city to perform unusual tasks. The race headed to Seattle last weekend, it’s latest stop on a 23-city qualifying tour.

At the beginning of each race, participants get clue sheets to lead them through a set of challenges. Some challenges are mentally stimulating, like the Braille Challenge in Boston. Others are physical, like taking a picture while jumping around the Underground sign.

Each two-person team must wear matching outfits. Costumes are highly encouraged, and the best receive prizes at the finish line. But racers would be wise to choose their teammates wisely. Each teammate brings a different skill set to the adventure as Kristina Pinto of Marathon Mama realized while racing in Boston.

“Dan and I were a good pairing.”, she wrote, “Like toothpaste and orange juice.”.

Racers decide to participate for a variety of reasons. Amy Grybush decided the Great Urban Race was perfectly suited for “an adventurous afternoon of laughs with Mom”.

“We were pleasantly surprised at the size and the diversity of the group of participants,” she wrote on her blog. “At just a smidge over 60, my mom kept saying she was the oldest one there, but I really don’t think so!”

Truly competitive teams race with elaborate communication systems. Because teams are allowed to use GPS, cell phones, and external maps to help guide them to clues to clues, many form alliances.

Some teams have expressed concerns about unfair advantages, but in my experience, this type of collaboration has always been a great way to foster friendly competition.

GUR Austin By: Sanjoy Ghosh

Though they are not required to eat anything disgusting, racers do get clues that lead them to some of the cities’ trademark foods, like deep dish pizza in Chicago or Hey Cupcake! in Austin. In Toronto, teams were only asked to pose in front of the Bread and Circus bakery.

Teams can qualify for the championship in Las Vegas this November and a chance at the $10,000 prize by placing in the top 25 at any qualifying race. The best fundraisers at each race also advance.

After having several friends compete in Austin and Chicago, I’ve formed a team and will be racing in Dallas on October 2. We’ve yet to decide on a crazy costume,
but you won’t be disappointed. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment. The zanier, the better!

Photo Provided by: Too Cool Racing

It was my first adventure race, and it took my team and me through challenges like mountain biking, swimming, kayaking, navigation, and zip-lining. It never occurred to me that we might quit.

Growing up as an overweight girl with a great personality, I saw adventure racing as a way to add “athlete” to my list of accomplishments–and if I can do it, so can any couch potato. I’m sharing these few lessons I’ve learned as an adventure racing newbie in the hope that they’ll help first-timers break into the sport:

Don’t let your ego get in the way.

Photo Provided by: Too Cool Racing

Adventure racing is hard. Unless you’re exceptionally fit, well-trained, and have an experienced team, I wouldn’t recommend starting with a 24-hour race.

I tiptoed my way into adventure racing by starting with a 12-hour race. It was the perfect duration to test me mentally and physically, but not so long as to be impossible. Lots of adventure races have short 4 to 12-hour courses. Try one to see if you like it before investing yourself in a longer race.

Be Prepared Similar to triathletes, adventure racers have to be proficient in a number of different activities, including paddling, navigation, and biking. There are several adventure racing camps and training events to help new racers prepare, regardless of their physical fitness. Odyssey Adventure Racing’s Land Navigation Clinic and Pure Vida Adventure Racing Camps are two good places to start.

Photo Provided by: Too Cool Racing

Triple-check the checklist I read the rules. I double-checked most of my equipment. But a water resistant rain jacket? Like it was really going to rain — it was May in Texas. Sure enough, it started to pour halfway through the race, and I got drenched.

I’d advise bringing everything in the checklist, as well as making sure that at least one of your group members is an expert navigator.

Race Day is not a day for counting calories. As part of my training for the race, I started monitoring my diet to help my body prepare for the endurance test. Still, race day is not the day for limiting calorie intake. You will burn them all off, and the last thing you want to do is bonk on an uphill climb during a 12-mile mountain biking stage. Eat plenty of good carbs and electrolytes to ensure that you have the energy to excel throughout the day.

Experienced friends rock. Supportive friends are the best asset you can have on your first adventure race.

The single thing I was most grateful for was my team. My friends, some of them ten-year adventure racing vets, were the ones who encouraged me to try the sport. Even in the short time we raced together, I learned an enormous amount from each of them.

Feature Image provided by Rick McCharles

Community Connection

Read about the Amazing Race and other things that inspire people to travel on Brave New Traveler.

Read about the 2009 Adventure Race World Championships for new heights to aspire to in Adventure Racing.

Try Urban Adventure Racing as a way to step into the scene without leaving the metropolis.

Community Connection

Speed up your backpacking with our guide to getting started fastpacking.

Photo: jlfacine / Feature: Stephen Heckman

Even soccer isn’t immune to the tension between South and North Korea. In 2008, North Korea forfeited their home field advantage after refusing to fly South Korea’s flag or play their national anthem at a qualifying match in Pyongyang, leading FIFA to move the match to Shanghai.

After a 1-0 loss to South Korea in April 2009, North Korea coach Kim Jong Hun went even further, accusing the opposing team of poisoning North Korea’s players. With both teams qualified for South Africa, their next game could be at the World Cup

South Korea

With seven consecutive World Cup qualifications and two Asian Cup championships, South Korea is the better-placed team in the Korean clash. Still, the South Korean team has only won a single game out of their past four with North Korea: the other three matches ended in draws.

The team is currently coached by Huh Jung-Moo, a former player credited with ending Korea Republic’s long absence from the World Cup in 1986. In his strategy for the tournament, Huh has looked beyond North Korea, emphasizing conditioning to make South Korea competitive against stronger European teams.

Key players for South Korea include captain and Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung, who was a member of the country’s 4th-place team 2002 World Cup team.

Photo: jlfacine

North Korea

North Korea is better known for their women’s soccer teams than for their men’s squad. Only three of the team’s players, Kim Yong Min, Ri Chang Ha and Yong Kwang Min, are signed with foreign clubs. The country’s last appearance at the World Cup was in 1966.

North Korea has a history of getting into trouble with FIFA. At a 2005 qualifying match against Iran in Pyongyang, fans began to throw stones, bottles, and chairs onto the field after the referee refused to award North Korea a penalty kick following a controversial play. Riot police were called in after fans blocked the Iranian team from leaving the stadium.

As a result, North Korea forfeited it’s home field advantage for their qualifying match against Japan, which FIFA relocated to an empty stadium in Bangkok.

Even at 750-1 odds to win in 2010, the North Korean coach Kim Jong-Hun told Korea News Daily that Korea DPR “will prove that we are not going to the World Cup just to make up the numbers. We are confident about competing against the best teams.”

The team plans to play the ultra-defensive 5-4-1 formation in South Africa.

While Korea Republic players generally reside in South Korea, North Korean players’ loyalties can get a bit more complicated, with most players living in either South Korea or China. In a recent interview with Reuters, Japanese-born player An Yong-hak said that he considers himself to be Choseon rather than North Korean.

I’ll represent North Korea at the World Cup …but I feel I’m also at home here in the South,” he said.

By the Numbers:

South Korea (Korea Republic)
Number of consecutive World Cup qualifications: 7
Asian Cup championships: 2
Next match: November 14 versus Denmark

North Korea (Korea DPR)
Last World Cup appearance: 1966
Asian Cup qualifications: 1
Next match: November 21 versus Zambia

Community Connection

Check out our World Cup profiles of South Africa and the United States.