NRS

Specificity of practice principle: A well-documented and very useful theory.

I always drain. The skin seems to dry out more quickly, and the 'wound' is easier to cover and cushion if it's flat. The fluid that forms under blisters is a result of the separation of the epidermal layers allowing serous fluids to leak, not as a natural protective mechanism for the intact skin below.

Ahhhh, but one must sleep to sleep walk!

Just thinking about single push possibilities for the summer. Has anyone heard of doing the Bailey's in an all out blitz? Whatever the classic route is (I'm having trouble recalling the actual mileage, 40?, 60?). I'm thinking with an ultra light pack, some luck, and good water management it could be done in well under 2 days. I read somewhere of a guy doing a 'five day variation' of the traditional route in 13 hours.

I don't know a lot of the 'history' of this board, I usually just come to find information and advice. That being said, 'renewables' is in fact a legitimate word and was used (as far as I can tell) correctly by Josh.

When in doubt, look for grammatical errors and typos. Nothing wins the debate faster. The funny thing is, FW bolded 'renewables'. Is it not a word? Maybe he needs to take some of his own advice.

Quoting what I said doesn't prove your point. It is easy to avoid filling up for one day, especially if you don't drive that day. Maybe the point of the exercise would be lost on people, and I think you're right in saying 'not burning gas' for one day would be a more effective means to get the message across. I would also guess it is true people go to gas stations primarily for gas...but that doesn't mean if they didn't go there for gas they still wouldn't stop by on the way to wherever it is they're going (on their bikes, or walking) to grab that snack or coffee they would normally have. I've done just that on several occasions (I rarely, if ever buy anything but gas at gas stations). As far as high gas prices being 'someone else's fault', I think for much of the immediate past it's true. As many have said recently, the large price increases have been most likely due to speculation. In the end our goals are the same, get people to use less gas. Maybe I just need to work on semantics.

You're assuming people would drive on the day they didn't buy gas. I agree, however, that not buying gas for one day wouldn't do anything to the prices. This is also why, as akhalteke suggested, a week long use boycott might make more sense. But, it's more about statements and personal experimentation. After that one day (or week) boycott, maybe people will think about how they use their vehicle and find ways of becoming more efficient. As far as the workers are concerned, well, many gas stations sell more than just fuel, and many people go to those stations for more than just fuel. My guess is most small stations make the majority of their profit off of selling these 'other' items, and not gasoline so their profit margin wouldn't be hurt much, if at all. In fact, I'll be sure to stop by my local convenience store on my bike and pick up a nice cold drink just to make sure I'm not hurting any of the little guys.

Not a biased source at all...

More assumptions... No 401K here, I'm actually in the military. Maybe there isn't *one* company running the show, but there is a system. And that system responds to the market. If enough people proved to the system they could do without gas in their cars to get them from point A to point B for a week (yes, a week, if you noticed the progression of this thread) I'm sure something would change. But then again, maybe I'm just not old enough to have become quite as disillusioned as you are. I'd rather remain an idealist and try to change things rather than just take it up the ass and figure it's just the way things are. Let's also just think for a second about 401K management. Don't you think investment strategies would change if your plan started losing money because oil became less profitable? (Assuming your plan has investment in that market at all.)

I'm not sure what the point of this post was, but I completely agree. We have a right to be gluttons, those are all stupid ideas...

Yeah...haven't lived in a dorm for quite some time now. My thermostat is as low as it goes, there isn't a single set of lights on in my apartment. Obviously my computer is on. You clearly have no concept of how much you actually have to increase your food intake to pedal to work (especially when it's only 2 flat miles away). Try an extra glass of OJ, or a muffin (if your ride is more than 30 minutes). I'm sure you only eat the exact necessary amount everyday. Or maybe you have a little 'comfort food' while you sit in your car on a bad traffic day, or perhaps a little 'pick me up' while you sit at your computer and try to come up with 'witty' responses to threads. Nice try on the bicycle components too....I'm sure it was so much more oil than it would take for me to drive a car to work or deliver all of my 'car components' to plants for assembly and delivery to dealerships. Mis-quoting hacks...gotta love it.

May 2009, correspond with national bike to work week.

PMs work too.

I agree something like that would be much much better. I'm just relaying the idea. It's not a hard thing to accomplish and maybe would plant the seed in peoples' minds to participate in something larger down the road. A week of utilizing public transportation, walking, riding your bike, and carpooling to work when it is normally well outside your routine is something I would heartily support. Once I get that email I'll start posting flyers.

I got an email today about a gas station boycott planned for June 29th to protest high-prices. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but it's pretty easy to avoid filling up for one day. I invite all others sick of lining the pockets of already very well lined pockets to avoid gas stations on the 29th and get others to do the same.

Ropegoat, I'd be interested in a partner for some races. That being said, I'm not sure how convenient it would be, given the relative distance we would be from each other... how do you feel about commuting? Maybe some southern Washington training activities? It looks like Wicked is going to be in the Gorge area. If anyone from the more 'northern' reaches of the PNW needs someone to go on death marches/rides with, drop me a line.

Your guess is right. We're doing Untamed New England. You're also correct that the cost to get all that stuff wouldn't be much compared to the total gear cost... Unfortunately, our coed four person team suffered some attrition, and now we just have a two man crew. Adding to that, we're both in dental school, so just getting the funding for the most basic stuff was a bit of a stretch. I'm just lucky I can't ever get sick of PB&J. If that wasn't enough, neither of us has enough training to rig an anchor even if we had a car to get us somewhere we could practice. Thanks for the race info. I am tentatively planning on doing the BEAST #4 race using their lotto system, and hope to find a couple people to do the Wicked race with. We'll see what happens!

Thanks for the perspective. Unfortunately, no one on my team has the right equipment to practice on our own, so our one training session will have to do. I hear you on the rappel! That's one section we won't have an issue with. We were considering winging the ropes section without any practice (I'm glad we didn't), but I can't imagine doing a *first ever* rap during a race. I'm currently located in Boston, but will be back in the area for a couple months this summer. Have you heard of any good races during July or August? I've checked some calendars, but I'm sure I haven't found everything. Thanks again!

I hadn't thought converting the system to a frog style for free hanging portions. We'll see what exactly they give us...and whether or not they'll allow us to fuss with the system at all. My guess is we'll be using static lines, none of which will be set-up over sharp edges. Which means we'll be avoiding some of the controversial topics in that thread.

Thanks for the advice! The gym my team went to for training had us working with one ascender with foot loop, and a gri-gri attached at our belay loop. It was awkward as hell, and thankfully will NOT be the set-up for the race. I know we'll be given two ascenders with foot loops for each, and they expect us to tie both ascenders into our harness. I'm not sure how I would do anything other than the above mentioned left-right-left-right method. I guess we'll just have to see what we come up with after about a day and a half of no sleep...

I can't be sure, maybe both. They're keeping a lot of the details secret before the race. I'm heard it can get tricky with a slab.

Hello Everybody! After some lurking, I've decided to utilize the full potential of the PNW climbing collective knowledge. I have an adventure race this coming June, and one required skill is using ascenders. We'll have two ascenders with individual foot loops. I've taken a lesson to get a handle on the equipment, but was wondering if anyone more experienced in the art could offer some hints to make the process a little more efficient. I know this is vague, but maybe someone has a trick they're willing to share. Thanks! nick