Jonathan

Response to jon on the cadence issue. As they say, your mileage may vary. I've found that higher cadences have been kind to me over the years. Doesn't mean I still don't down shift and stand to climb when the mood strikes or really pound top cog on occasion. Would advise, however, that folks new to the sport lay down many, many high cadence miles, lots o' butt time, before they commence wailing on the big gears. But then, I still subscribe to carbo-loading and one of my bikes still boasts original Sun Tour down tube gear shift levers. And did I mention the Baleno wool tights? Retro grouchly yours, Jonathan

Bike, yes indeed, but if it hasn't been mentioned here already, remember to put those gears to work and spin. Don't push big gears if you can possibly avoid it, tends to lead to knee injuries and it's inefficient to boot. While there's no cadence that fits all cyclists all the time, using your gears to aim for a cadence of 70 or 80 rpm is a good goal; more experieced riders whirl in excess of 90 or even more. And, off topic, how about this Segway thingie? Cool gyro technology and nice design, sure, but unless one has some physical challenge, permanent or temporary, how is this gizmo better than a bike? Jonathan

Yet another use--removing warts! http://www.komotv.com/stories/20806.htm Text of link below: CHICAGO - You've probably heard how duct tape is so versatile it can be used to fix most anything? Now, you might consider adding a roll to your medicine cabinet in case you ever develop a wart. Researchers at Madigan Army Medical Center near Tacoma found that the over-the-hardware-counter duct tape is a more effective, less painful alternative to liquid nitrogen, which is used to freeze warts. The study was reported in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. In the study, patients wore duct tape over their warts for six days. Then they removed the tape, soaked the area in water and used an emery board or pumice stone to scrape the spot. The tape was reapplied the next morning. The treatment continued for a maximum of two months or until the wart went away. The duct tape irritated the warts, and that apparently caused an immune system reaction that attacked the growths, said researcher Dr. Dean "Rick" Focht III of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He said researchers did not test other kinds of tape, and so they cannot say whether there is anything special about the gray, heavy-duty, fabric-backed tape. Pediatric dermatologist Dr. Anthony J. Mancini of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago said he uses a form of duct-tape therapy for warts. He combines duct tape with a topical, over-the-counter wart remover for nightly treatments. "The whole point of this is a non-painful approach," said Mancini, who was not involved in the study. The study at Madigan began with 61 patients between the ages of 3 and 22, but only 51 patients completed the study. Of the 26 patients treated with duct tape, 85 percent got rid of their warts compared with 60 percent of the 25 patients who received the freezing treatment. Researchers did not test the duct tape on older adults and also did not study whether warts recurred. The apparent curative powers of duct tape are no surprise to Tim Nyberg, one-half of the Duct Tape Guys, who write books and perform comedy about the adhesive's allure. Nyberg said he and his duct tape partner, Jim Berg, do a shtick that includes duct tape wart removal. "It's the universal panacea," Nyberg said.

You can find an instruction sheet with cleaning and troubleshooting tips on the msrcorp.com website at http://www.msrcorp.com/support/pdfs/wl600.pdf Jonathan

Oy, me and my literal self. Still the spiritburner.com site and the auctions on eBay are amusing. It's fun to pull out an old kerosene burner on a craggy-car camp. Just don't ever spill kero on anything you value. Will stink forever. While I like the new butane/propane mixtures and the lighter stoves for fair weather trips, I'm personally still a fan of ye olde MSR for most of the rest of the year. Pay your dues (clean it every now and then) and it'll be there for you when you need it. Of course it always boils--perhaps literally in this case--down to religion. The first right enumerated in the first amendment secures us that privilege. Even under Republican regimes. May you all always be able to enjoy that hot drink after a long day without undue hassle from your stoves! Jonathan [ 10-01-2002, 01:55 AM: Message edited by: Jonathan ]

Try eBay for all manner of older stoves, including the venerable Svea 123. I've even seen the old Optimus and Sigg nesting cooksets on auction, fetching often proud prices of up to one c-note. The other blast-from-the-past classic for your Whisperlite friends would be the kerosene burning Primus or Optimus 96. Once they are cranking, they really put out the BTUs, but they can be a pain to prime--you use alcohol--in a wind. Jonathan

That would be me, brother!

Agree--old fuel seems to become gummy as the volitiles evaporate. I actually have no idea what that really means, but sounds good to me. My rule is if the fuel's 6 months or older it's bbq and campfire lighter fluid. I find the MSR stoves require less cleaning (and burn a bit hotter) if you run the MSR fuel, but my Scottish genes won't allow me to pay the outrageous price when I can buy a gallon of coleman fuel at Fred Meyer for $3.99. BTW, here's a cool site on stoves: www.spiritburner.com/. My first stove was an old 1944 Coleman military model I found in a army surplus store in 1974. Jonathan

The best [your pastime here] is the one who is having the most fun. Enjoy whatever you're into. Jonathan

Another niceity for winter trips--silk-weight tights, a long sleeve and socks whose only purpose is to wear at night once you've dutifully worn-dried your day clothes in the bag.

Or use snow. Or, if unavailable, do like most of the rest of the world that doesn't know squat about tp or handy wipes: left hand is for one thing, right is for everything else! Jonathan

I'll second the pee bottle, esp. on winter trips. Hot water bottle--just fill one of your Nagalenes w/ boiling water and slip it into your bag. Instant toastiness and there's your am H2O. A decent book, esp. now that the nights are getting longer. This is the time of year to tuck into those lengthy, lugubrious Russian novels. Butter? How modest. Indulge in bacon drippings. A little goes a long way. Various hot drinks: My current winter favorite is powdered chai tea mix (chai tea--verbal déjà vu?) and cheap kaluha. A google search will yield many decent homemade kaluha recipes. Somehow only tastes good on winter trips. Thanks, Norm! Combine boiling water, tea, a bullion cube and a little miso. Jonathan

Parker’s Perfect. Check them out at www.parkersperfect.com I can’t wear contacts and am very near-sighted. Can’t even walk down a city street very well without my eyeglasses. Fogging problems have always been the bane of winter trips, as well as moist summer trips. Despite CatCrap and those wax crayon type defoggers, I was compelled to navigate by hearing and sense of smell. Then a buddy turned me onto Parker’s Perfect. Suddenly, I was six foot two inches, saw my abs for the first time in fifteen years, became fabulously rich, incredibly intelligent and my love life would have made Cassanova green with envy. My hair turned thick and lustrous and my teeth white and shiny. I ceased worrying about the gas mileage, global warming, Pax Americana in the age of George II and our faltering educational system. Satire and irony were lost on me. I felt normal for the first time ever. Well, sigh, not really, but at least I can see now on damp trips. Seriously, works better and longer than anything else I tried previously. On eyeglasses, goggles, whatever. Amazing stuff, can’t recommend highly enough. Also works on car windows, bathroom mirrors, etc.

That's www.brunching.com/loofasan.html of course.

Please check out: ww.brunching.com/loofasan.html Ramen. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

Good luck with your arm. Listen to your moms and don’t push recovery too hard. The other injury you can't rush are torn or otherwise distressed rotator cuffs. I understand them as the tendons of four of the muscles in the shoulder area. The cuffs really don't perform any heavy work, but control the motion of the larger muscles. If you think about it, the shoulder constitures a pretty complex system of bone, muscle and tendon. At any rate, all that buff and brawn and muscle bound bluster (OK, I look in the guy mirror) is for naught if the rotator cuffs are compromised. Yours truly zigged when he should have zagged at VW about six moons back. Actually, I'm new to the climbing gym environment and I attempted to hang on when I should have let go while flailing ever so comically on a slightly overhanging route. Ignore your field instincts when you’re at the gym, comrades. I stressed both cuffs, especially the starboard one. Fortunately they were not torn. That's surgery and about a year total of recovery time. PT and exercise is slowly restoring me to about 90% of my former glory. Part of the process is regaining confidence in the shoulders and I can be such a risk adverse weenie. And you know those strange guys you see in the weight room working out with rubber bands and medicine balls? That’s me now. It’s worth a session with a PT to show you a few simple exercises to strengthen the cuffs and help prevent such frustrating down time. Oh and my doc is such a wit: After he diagnoses the injury, he looks at me, not unsympathetically but with some bemusement, raises an eyebrow and says “That’s a common injury for an active man,” then, sotto voce, “your age.” Check out www.medicalmultimediagroup.com/pated/shoulder_problems/cufftear.html for (mis)info on the cuffs that's as good as any other on the web.

Besmirch not bacon! Nature's perfect food. Along with ramen and tomatoes--real tomatoes, juicy, messy tomatoes, sun warm and just off the vine, not the supermarket variety that are strip mined in East Texas--true gifts of the gods. Jonathan

While we know that there are folks out there who don’t like America’s government and Americans, from the exotic Osama bin Laden to our homegrown, corn-fed Timothy McVeigh, let’s put the quote into perspective. Two words, amigos y amigas: talk radio. It’s doesn’t exist to nurture thoughtful discussion designed to enlighten and broaden the mind, but to shock with extremely polemic statements. The show’s moderators and gatekeepers see to that. It’s what the audience wants, it’s what the advertisers and underwriters want. And it’s certainly fun to be the one who utters dramatic statements, eh? Makes one feel all puffy and important. Witness my next paragraph. Yup, there are those who are out to get us, but that’s always been the case and as we segue from Republic to Empire, it’s the price we’re going to pay. Just desserts? You decide, gentle reader. Gawd, I miss the commies! Double gawd, I’ve been sucked into the vortex of chatting on cc.com! Aiiiiieeeeeeeee! Is there no 12 step program? Jonathan

Ramen Addenda and erratum. Erratum: Marching brand ramen should be Manchuran brand ramen. My sincere apologies. Addenda: Selected ramen websites: www.nissinfoods.com/ Nissin commercial website www.konzak.com/ramen/ A plug for Bainbridge Island resident Ron Konzak's compact tome "The Book of Ramen." www.mattfischer.com/ramen/ The "official" ramen web page, according to the site's owner, Matt Fischer. One American's tribute to our favorite food. Many clever recipies. Check out Fischer's link to a NPR (National Puppet Radio) report on the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Worth a listen. www.bento.com/phgal3.html The Tokyo Food Page's blurb on the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, mecca in my eyes. Someday . . . www.worldramen.net/ A Japanese ramen enthusiast's tribute to his nation's gift to world cuisine. The site, with the exception of the last item in this list, is my personal favorite. www.waiwai.th.com/ Finally, the worthy manufacturer of WaiWai ramen, the Thai Preserved Food Factory Co., Ltd., offers a website where you can view the beautiful ramen girl. Look no further than www.waiwai.th.com/exproductmain3.htm Not one, not two, but three, yes three, images of this bonnie lass. Oh my. And, yes, she's sporting that scrunchie in one of them. Apparently, Tom Klong flavor constitutes an especially exciting taste treat. I had no idea. And what an intriguing bandana she's wearing! Sadly, dare I say tragically, the celebrated "thumbs up" graphic, on the reverse side of the package, is not reproduced on the website. Sigh. Quoth the bard, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps, others with ramen."

Sticky duct tape remnants, eh? Dunno. As has been pointed out, substances like white gas, nail polish remover and marmot bile might prove hazardous the fabric's health. If the patches are to be glued on, there may be some kind of sticky duct tape patina-repair adhesive conflict. Assuming, however, the patches will be sewn on, my inner dirt bag says "Simply ignore." In any case, Patagucci will doubtlessly have dealt with this situation before and will likely be able to offer a really cool, but costly solution. Jonathan Pryce

Seam grip is good. I've fixed several small holes on my I-tent with the stuff. Very flexible. A word about crazy glue. Never leave home w/o a small tube. I once helped a buddy glue the sole back on his boot near Ouzel Lake. Might have been a long hop down Depot Creek. Zip ties are handy as well, esp. for snowshoe repair Jonathan Pryce

As a followup, I have used the pocket rocket type stove on a couple of trips now, a successful Eldorado and Klawatti and a failed-flailed attempt on Jack. Granted the temps never dipped below freezing and the wind wasn't too bad, but the stove performed well. Nice and compact and light as well. Tried the dip-the-canister-into-the-pot-o-water-you-are-heating trick to maximize flame strength on a 1/2 full canister. Yielded a spectacular and immediate increase in flamage. Amazing depilatory effect on that unsightly knuckle hair on on my right hand. Use with care, amigos y amigas! Jonathan

Advice for young men about my age (mid 40s) Never pass up a urinal. Never ignore an erection. Never trust a fart. Jonathan

Did you hear the one about the dyslexic that walked into a bra? Jonathan Pryce

The animals, true, we all know that bears do take reading material and a cuppa into the woods. Personally, I'd like to blame the marmots with beady eyes and their horrid, yellow, dare I say English, teeth. Factoring out human contamination, I still wonder if more folks are actually getting sick or we just assume nowadays that water is suspect, kinda of a cultural shift in our thinking about water. Jonathan Pryce