Outdoor Adventure Quick Fixes

Crafting outdoor adventure this time of year can be a challenge. So, when I’m craving a bit of alfresco adrenaline – and it’s not the weekend when I’ve got access to daylight hours – I hit the web, winding my way through virtual experiences.

Here are a couple of my favorite starting points:

• Adventure Journal’s Daily Bike

(http://www.adventure-journal.com/daily-bike-channel/)

Sounds like an idea that only a biking junkie would geek out on, but the execution keeps me coming back. Whether the photo a day (or almost every day) is of a commuter cruising through city streets or a mountain biker overlooking an awe-inspiring vista, the simplicity of the statements makes me smile. And, every once in awhile, the photos are accompanied by a gem of a story like the post on Nov. 28 by Steve Casimiro about Monique van der Vorst, a 27-year-old Dutch woman recently signed to the pro road cycling team Rabobank – approximately a year after walking her first steps since 1997!

• Dropping in on Sponsored Athletes

(Check out North Face’s “Never Stop Exploring,” Mountain Hardwear’s “Hardwear Sessions” or Patagonia’s “The Cleanest Line.”)

They may be “professional” athletes, but they don’t earn annual salaries that could support a small village, which makes me feel like they’re a little more human despite their super-human abilities. The blogs of outdoor gear companies are chock full of stories from their sponsored athletes. While most of us won’t skin up a never-skied mountainside in search of the perfect line down nor see the summit of Everest or K2, it doesn’t mean that we can’t live vicariously through individuals who do. There’s usually a good dose of honesty with each post, too. In “Dream Lines” (on the Hardwear Sessions) climber Matt Wilder shares, “I was happy with my 13th place overall finish in a stacked field of crazy strong monkeys.”