Photo of the Month–”On Top of the World”
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Photo Gallery on January 17th, 2010
Wall of Fame
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Photo Gallery on January 13th, 2010
Dentist, global traveler, and big-time RailRiders fan, Dr. Craig Hovick provides his patients a taste of adventure. Who says that waiting rooms have to be dull?
“Love ya, RailRiders!”
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, Love Letters, Photo Gallery on January 12th, 2010
Love Letter from V. Michael Drayton, of Indiana: “So far I have been on six of the sevcen continents. I have tested more equipment than I care to mention but I have to tell you RailRiders is the best, period. The attached photo is from the Northern Cascades, in Washington state. I was ice/glacier climbing. As you can see I have on your Eco-Mesh Shirt and X-treme adventure pants. These kept me plenty warm while climbing. They dried so fast even in the cold. My guides even asked about them. Tough? Oh yeah. During one fall, my crampons shredded my gators but there was just a tiny hole in those “extreme pants.” Those pants have gone onto Mt Kilimanjaro and the Tasmanian/Australian outback and frankly still look new(except for that tiny hole) I have stopped testing shirts and pants. RailRiders are the only ones that go with me.”
That Time of Year Again–To Join or Not to Join a Gym?
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Travel News and Tips on January 11th, 2010
Gyms are a funny place. Depending on time of day and year, health clubs are either percolating with souped-up testosterone or quieter than a Christian Science reading room. Because of the “New Year, New You” mantra annually drummed into our post-holiday egg-nogged noggin’ , most gyms depend on January as their membership dues-paying cash cow. Owners know from years of experience that most new members will soon regularly stop coming in for workouts, so they try to lock in as many early memberships as possible. Read More »
Sahara Sand Warriors: Marathon des Sables Ultrarunners
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, Photo Gallery on January 11th, 2010
The weary Mencap’s Extreme Racing Team has just finished the Marathon des Sables (MDS)– the legendary, multi-stage Sahara desert ultra-marathon covering 5.5 marathons (over 240 km) in six days. Mencap’s the leading UK charity for people with a learning disability. The team all wore RailRiders AdventureTops during the race, braving heat, sandstorms, and rationed water. The breathable, lightweight and sun-protecting AdventureTops are similar to the RailRiders Eco-Mesh shirts that first started showing up on MDS racers’ backs in the late 90s– and both of their popularity has only increased since then.
Trekking in the Himalayas
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Love Letters, Suggestion Box on November 25th, 2009
David Kitano sent us the following –a love letter followed by several suggestions on improving RailRiders: “I just returned from trekking for 6 weeks in the Himalayas. I am 60 years old. I took only two pants and two shirts for the entire trek. X-Treme Adventure Pants and the Expedition Shirt. I had read about your adventure clothes and I bought these items and took them on my trek exclusively. I had only tried them on for size and fit before my trek. I had never used your adventure clothing before (I’m sure glad that my wife got your catalog in the mail one day). I must say that they were the best clothes that I have ever worn on an outdoor excursion. I washed each shirt and each pants only once each during the entire six weeks. They stood up very very well to everything that they were exposed to. I was even knocked over by a load-carrying yak on my way to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal and the the RailRiders adventure clothing stood up better than I did to that experience. Read More »
Kilimanjaro in RailRiders
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Love Letters, Photo Gallery on November 25th, 2009
Jonathan Schechter, of Ortonville, Michigan writes: “I’ve been buying your products for several years. Great stuff! Last month I returned from Tanzania and a successful summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. Two items made the summit with me: an Eco-mesh Shirt (now the proud property of one of my favorite porters) and a pair of X-Treme Adventure Pants. The pants were worn every day on the nine-day western approach and preformed superbly. Here’s a photo of the shirt and pants above the clouds on the slopes of Kilimanjaro with Mt Meru in the background (and fellow trekker Kelly).”
RailRiders Podcast with John D
Want to listen to a digital fireside chat with John D? Then tune into a Practical Backpacking Podcast episode featuring RailRiders.
Eco-Mesh Shirt at Home in East Texas
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Love Letters, Photo Gallery on November 25th, 2009
DW Ivans sent us the following dispatch: “I’m a forester and wildland fire fighter for the Big Thicket in East Texas, mostly doing prescribed burning to restore longleaf ecosystems. I try to stay in shape and have a personal goal to run at least 20 miles a week. Well here in East Texas it gets mighty hot and humid in the summer. I was looking for a shirt that would keep me cool, (or should I say not hold in the heat), quick drying, non-chafing, and have long sleeves for sun protection. That’s alot to ask of one shirt. I got that and more with the RailRider’s Eco-Mesh Shirt. It looks good and doesn’t seem to get stinky. This past September I took my Eco-mesh shirt to Zion Canyon for a 30 day detail where I managed a 4,000 acre wildfire rehab project. I found the shirt to be just as valuable in the arid climate of Southern Utah.”
New Books We Like
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General on September 23rd, 2009
Books Discussed: Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.
On July 6, 2004, eighteen-year-old Brian Boyle was driving home from swim practice. He lived with his parents in Welcome, Maryland, a small town near the Eastern Shore. The roads are narrow and windy in this rural part of the state. At one intersection, a speeding dump truck plowed into his Camaro, totaling the vehicle and practically costing Boyle his life. He suffered massive internal damage and lost 60 percent of his blood. A helicopter whisked him to a local hospital with a state-of-the-art trauma unit. Doctors had to jumpstart his heart numerous times during surgery. To lessen his pain, the medical staff also put him in a chemical-induced coma that lasted two months. With his mother and father sitting vigil at his bedside, the prognosis looked grim for the former bodybuilder, discus thrower, and competitive swimmer who would end up losing 100 pounds. Read More »
Kissing the Hardrock
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Photo Gallery on September 16th, 2009
The Hardrock 100-
mile Endurance Run is not for the faint of heart, lungs, or limbs. Held each year in July since 1992, except for 1995 (too much snow) and 2002 (nearby forest fires).the race is held on a loop course on 4WD roads, dirt trails, steep scree slopes and cross country in Southern Colorado’s San JuanRange. The run starts and ends in Silverton, Colorado and travels through the towns of Telluride, Ouray, and the ghost town of Sherman, crossing thirteen major passes over 12,000-feet. The race is dedicated to the memory of the miners who lived and work in the region.Due to the extreme terrain (not to mention the fickle weather), the field is limited to 140 qualifying runners. The cut-off time for finishing the race is 48 hours. But instead of crossing a finish line, runners are required to “kiss the Hardrock” –a picture of a ram’s head painted on a large block of stone mining debris. Here’s a photo of Julian Jamison, a great friend of RailRiders and wearing a Speed-T, kissing the Hardrock. Way to go Julian!
Saving Leatherback Turtles in Trinidad
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Travel News and Tips on September 16th, 2009
Tom Bosché and his 16-year old daughter Shannon traveled to Trinidad where they patrolled the Matura Beach and helped with scientific research.
Despite its white sand and clear, blue water, Trinidad’s Matura Beach used to be known as a bloody graveyard for leatherback turtles. The huge, gentle sea creatures were hunted for their meat and fins, and also for their eggs, which people valued as an aphrodisiac. By the 1980s, nearly one in three turtles that nested on Matura Beach were killed by poachers with machetes. Distraught over the killings, a local villager by the name of Suzan Lakhan Baptiste decided to take action and protect the slow-moving, defenseless leatherbacks. She patrolled the beach every night of turtle nesting season. and fended off the aggressive poachers. Mocked by locals who called her “Crazy Turtle Woman,” Baptiste never gave up. Others soon joined her crusade, and in 1990, they started Nature Seekers, one of Trinidad’s first environmental groups. The group was able to convince the villagers that turtles for eco-tourism could create a more sustainable income. “I wanted to show that a turtle is [worth] so much more to us alive than dead,” Baptiste told CNN in 2009. Read More »
Field & Stream’s Review of X-Treme Adventure Pants
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General on September 16th, 2009
“Okay, here’s a pair of pants from a company I’ve never heard of – RailRiders. A look at Railriders.com will tell you that the company was started 19 years ago (!), by one John d’Arbeloff, who was in a 24-hour yacht race off Martha’s Vineyard, got soaking wet in six-foot seas, and started wondering why he had to wear uncomfortable clothes that wouldn’t dry. Some sketches, designs, and plans ensued, and before he knew it, he had a company that was making technical wilderness clothing that adventurers the world over wanted.
I’m not a climber or trekker. I like to hunt and fish, and I have to tell you that the X-treme Adventure Pant that I tried was comfortable, had all the pockets I needed, and dried quickly when I got caught in a sudden Catskill Mountain rainstorm. A friend wore a pair striper-fishing two weeks ago, off Cape Cod, and raved about them as well. There’s a ton of cool-looking, functional clothing, at decent prices ($95 for the Adventure Pants). I also got a pair of Winter Weatherpants, for $84, and I’m taking those with me when I go duck hunting in Manitoba next month. I’ll give you a report.” – Jay Cassell
Lovin’ It in the Leadville 100
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Love Letters, Photo Gallery on September 5th, 2009
Geoffrey Baker, a photographer and ultrarunner from Oella, Maryland, recently sent us this charming Love Letter: “I don’t usually write fan letters to clothing companies, but when a product works better than advertised I need to say ‘job well done!’ I recently completed the Leadville 100-Mile Trail Run. Leadville is a ultramarathon that is run at altitudes between 10,000 feet to 12,600 feet in the Colorado Rockies. On the day of the race there were record high temperatures, a rarity at altitude. The sun was like a blast furnace. I had to deal with extreme heat for 100 miles of running. I ran the entire race, nearly 30 hours, in your Equator-HT Top with Insect Shield. It worked beautifully. I was cool and happy. No sunscreen needed so my skin could breath which is critical for a endurance athlete. Other runners were asking me about the shirt as If as they wilted in the sun. Thanks for a great product. If you’d like to read my race report, go to http://www.oellaworks.com/.”
The Best Laptops, Netbook and Smartphones for Travel
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Travel News and Tips on September 5th, 2009
In the mid-1800s when the two naturalists, Charles Darwin in England and Alfred Russel Wallace in Indonesia, were both independently arriving at the same conclusion regarding species adaptation and natural selection, they used to write letters to each other. Their correspondence would take months to arrive, traveling by ship. Communication has dramatically changed, or rather, evolved, since then. We can tweet, blog, upload, download, and text. Everyone on the planet is instantly connected through a global grid of cell towers, ISPs, and satellite communication.
Staying in touch has bever been easier. So what are the best laptops, netbooks and smartphones for travel? PC World recently investigated that tech-savvy question.
Its two favorite laptops were Lenovo’s ThinkPad X200 with 9 hour-battery running time and Apple’s MacBook Air that weighs only 3 pounds but short battery life (3 hours from a charge).
For netbooks, the $400 Toshiba NB205-312 and Samsung N120 with its grownup keyboard (97 percent full-sized keys) got the highest ratings.
For smartphones, PC World liked the new BlackBerry Tour ($200 with a two-year contract from Sprint or Verizon) if you do a lot of traveling abroad; but if you only like moving about in the U.S., go with the Apple iPhone 3GS. The 3-megapixel camera takes sharp photos and video; it also has a zillion apps for travelers. Only downside is the actual phone. Too many dropped calls and delayed connections on the ATT network.
Hills are Alive with the Sound of a RailRiders Fan…
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Love Letters, Photo Gallery on September 4th, 2009
Rich Costello sent us this Love Letter and photo from Austria: “On a recent visit there for a sporting competition, I decided to take along nothing but RailRiders clothing for comfort, style, ease, and durability purposes. Each department mentioned above came through in flying colors and more. Not wanting to sound like a broken record but can I tell you just how awesome and amazing your stuff is. I absolutely love RailRiders clothing! This photo was taken in the municipality known as Heiligenblut, located in the foothills of the largest mountain in Austria,the Grossglockner.”
Call of the Wild…in the Yukon
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in John D, Love Letters, Photo Gallery, Suggestion Box on August 26th, 2009
Photojournalist travel writer Dennis Aprill wearing RailRiders VersaTac ight pants in the Anvil Range of the central Yukon Territory of Canada while pursuing very uncommon Fannin mountain sheep found only in this region. Underneath the wind parka, Aprill wore a RailRiders Regulator Wind shirt. “The VersaTac pants not only served me well on the Yukon trip,” says Aprill, “but I relied on them a month later when photographing polar bears on Hudson Bay.”
Me and Mickey
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Love Letters, Photo Gallery on August 26th, 2009
A Love Letter (and request) from Deb Walker, of Lake Oswego, Oregon: "Just wanted to bug you again. When will you have VersaTac Pants available for women? I love your products. I have about 10 pairs of your Weatherpants and love them, but would sure like some of the heavier VersaTac pants. There must be women in the service who would want them too! I wear the Weatherpants because they are tuff as nails and get us through the brush without scratches, yet are cool and dry fast! In this photo we are in Montana trailing a ‘lost hiker’ (for training). My dog Mickey is certified in Search & Rescue K9 Trailing. Now he’s certified in cadaver, wilderness air-scent searching and water recovery for drowning victims. We wear WeatherPants for all of it – that’s why I have 10 pairs!"
How to Survive a Mountain Lion Attack
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Suggestion Box, Travel News and Tips on July 24th, 2009
Want to be avoid being mauled and eaten by a mountain lion in the great outdoors? Then the smartest thing you should do is scram before ending up as scat. So says Richard Coss, a University of California at Davis expert on predator-prey relationships, who studied 185 lion-human encounters. According to Wired magazine which reported this finding in its July 2009 issue, Coss “found that people who stood still avoided injury only 26 percent of the time. Cougars may view your lack of fight as a sign of vulnerability. Of people who backed away, 39 percent survived unscathed. And of those who booked it, 50 percent escaped without a scratch. In cases where two or more individuals happened upon a mountain lion and booked it, the fastest runner among the two or more escaped without injury 100 percent of the time.” Coss recommends bringing along a walking stick. That’s okay fior hikers, but what if you are on a mountain bike? In Southern California, where two-leg
ged cougars prowl the bar scene looking for young, tasty prey, the four-legged variety have developed an appetite for cyclists in lycra. A popular book among cyclists of all riding abilities, Bike for Life: How to Bike to 100, describes one such wilderness encounter as well as ways to fend off an attack: “On January 8, 2004, Anne Hjelle of Mission Viejo, Calif., 30, literally survived the jaws of death. On a mountain bike ride in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, just a few miles from her Orange County home, the personal trainer and ex-Marine was attacked by a 122-pound mountain lion that had killed and disemboweled another mountain biker, 35-year-old Mark Reynolds, hours earlier. As Hjelle descended twisty, cacti-studded Cactus Ridge Trail at 15 miles per hour, the animal, Read More »
Cheap, Great Travel Gadgets
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Travel News and Tips on July 23rd, 2009
You spend buckets of cash flying somewhere distant like Patagonia or the Australian Outback, and yet you like to think of yourself as budget-minded when it comes to travel accessories. A recent piece in the “Frugal Traveler,” a New York Times blog, identifies Top 10 Travel Gadgets Under $50
Heading the author’s list is the Leatherman Juice C2 multi-tool which also sports a corkscrew for Mediterranean-bound wine-lovers.
For nighttime reading or finding the way to the loo, you want lights with Cree brand LEDs. “The Fenix LD01 ($42 from Amazon) is ridiculously tiny but throws off 80 lumens from a single AAA-powered Cree bulb.” Read More »
Overcrowding in our National Parks?
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Travel News and Tips on July 13th, 2009
Do we really want more visitors to our national parks? New York Times op-ed columnist Tmothy Egan thinks yes. “Last year, there were 274 million visits to all areas run by the National Park Service,” he wrote in a recent column. “These places still draw more people than Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Nascar combined.” So what’s the problem? According to Egan, “10 years ago, the parks attracted about 12 million more visitors than they do today. Attendance has been in gradual decline for more than a decade.” Read More »
To Climb in Sweden, Learn to Say “Klättra Upp”
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Photo Gallery on July 2nd, 2009
Photographer Martin Edström climbing an ice wall in Sweden. He's wearing RailRiders Versatacs.
The Appalachian Trail– in the News
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Travel News and Tips on June 29th, 2009
The Appalachian Trail has been in the news lately. When South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford went AWOL, his staff reported that he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail. That fib lasted about a media nanosecond. The lovesick, married Sanford was actually in Argentina doing the tango with his mistress. So as not to sully the Appalachian Trail’s good name and reputation, here are some fun facts about thru-hiking the 2,100-mile trail (courtesy of Long Distance Hiking, by retired Harvard physicist Roland Mueser).
Total elevation gain for a thru-hiker is 471,151 feet for entire trip, an average of 3,000 feet every day. It’s like climbing Mount Everest 16 times in a row from sea-level. Read More »
My First Catch
Posted by: John D in John D, Photo Gallery on June 26th, 2009
Here's Margaux, daughter of RailRiders' founder and president John d'Arbeloff, with her very first catch--a blue gill taken from Lake Monomonoc, in Rindge, New Hampshire. She used a 6wt fly rod and wooly bugger fly. And her apparel? Her dad's RailRiders/Flies and Fins Men’s Hydro-Zip-T.
Taking Great Travel Photos
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in John D, Photo Gallery, Travel News and Tips on June 21st, 2009
Digital photography has transformed the vacation experience. We have evolved from the Kodak Instamatic to the Polaroid to the Canon or Nikon to the ubiquitous digital camera. According to the Photo Marketing Association, digital shooters in the United States will take 27 billion photos this year. That’s nearly 856 pictures every second. But so many of these photos turn out to be useless and forgettable — poor lighting, lousy composition, out of focus — that they end up gathering digital dust on your computer hard drive. So what is to be done? A recent article on travel photography
Young villager in Brazilian rain forest; photo by Randall Green/TOMA.
in the San Francisco Chronicle is an ideal place to begin if you are an amateur photographer. A few of the recommended tips:
“Get closer. Most photographs can be improved if the photographer moves closer to the subject. Distill the scene down to the essentials.”
“Anticipate the shot. With point-and-shoot cameras, it’s easy to miss the picture because of shutter lag.”
“Don’t forget to shoot details.”
“Look to the skies. Stormy weather combined with dawn light is a winning combination for landscape.”
“Wider doesn’t mean more. The trick is not to fit more into the wider frame, it’s to show depth.”
“Keep it simple. Don’t get hung up on equipment. Learning to see is the important part of photography, not the amount of equipment you have.”
The article is worth checking out for additional tips. They will enhance the adventure vacation experience.
Can You Do This at 47?
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in General, Travel News and Tips on June 19th, 2009
Joe Morrison, 47, a super-buffed former Marine, in his Versatacs, writes from the San Diego area: "I was a Force Recon/Special Operations Marine for most of my 23 years on active duty. I did win the Physical Fitness Award (Iron Man) at 1st Force Recon in 1997 at age 35. I would guess the average age of a Force Recon Operator was around 26. I have never competed officially. I'm not a genetic freak. I was the guy who showed up early trained harder, longer and more often than the next guy; and more times than not I was in the front of the pack. The Marines have a solid approach to physical fitness." That is most definitely true. For Joe, that means a lot of strength, cardio, and endurance training. He hits the gym five times a week, and bikes, hikes, and runs.
Aches and Pains on the Trail?
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Travel News and Tips on June 15th, 2009
You’re getting ready for your first long hike of the summer, or you just came back from a weekend backpacking trip, and your aching legs feel like two by fours. So what are some great ways to deal with soreness and over-used muscles? And as we get older, the rest and recovery periods take that much longer.
Let’s turn to popular multisport coach and best-selling author, Dr. Phil Maffteone, whose new book, In Fitness and In Health, an encyclopedic and holistic guide to self-care, stress management, diet, and fat-burning exercise, also addresses common types of muscle pain as well as smart ways to get back on Read More »
Bandits Beware: Travel Safety Tips in Rough Countries
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Travel News and Tips on May 31st, 2009
New York Times op-ed Columnist Nicholas Kristof spends alot of time in war zones. He’s filed must-read dispatches from Sudan and Uganda, where he’s written about crime, poverty, war, and genocide. In a May 31, 2009 column, he takes a step back from reportage and offers travel advice to both young and old who are traveling to dicey regions. ” First of all, carry a decoy wallet so you can give the bandit that with expired credit cards and some cash. Kristof keeps his real wallet “in a pouch that loops onto my belt and tucks under my trousers.”
Another safety tip: “ At night, set a chair against your hotel door so that it will tip over and crash if someone slips in at 4 a.m. Read More »
A Letter from India
Posted by: RailRiders Gang in Adventure Dossier, General, Love Letters on May 31st, 2009
Ken Rutherford is a volunteer teacher in a remote village in West Bengal, India. He writes, ” I just love your products. Right now I have the Extreme Adventure pants which I hope to have for many, many years to come and the Rampage Shorts which I used in the Indian Ocean. The sand messed up some of my other clothing, but so far all the zippers on your stuff remain solid. That was my only concern with your products. For me the stuff is a bit pricey, but I am making an investment here, so I used my tax return to place an order. I have been working with a lady named Pam who helped me place the order via email and off your website.
“As a volunteer teacher at a school for poor children, money is one thing that is hard to come by as you can imagine. Here in the remote village where I live now, we only hand wash clothing and air dry them. Read More »
Do Running Shoes Cause Injuries?
Ultra-minimalism for ultra-running: the Tarahumara sandal
Let’s say that you have been away from running for years but suspect that your feet will need extra pampering now that that you’ve decided to make a return to fitness. So you head over to Footlocker or a specialty running store and purchase a $120 pair of high-tech running shoes constructed with space-age materials, super-soft cushioning, stiff wide soles, and rigid heel box. These plush-fitting shoes might feel like heaven inside the carpeted store, but once you’re pounding out miles on the road, trails or treadmill, the fancy footwear could be damaging your feet and legs– and possibly lead to Achilles tendinitis, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, or knee pain. Read More »