Start Slow and Taper

Pssshhhhh… 80 miles!

When I think of 80 miles, I think of:

  1. An hour and a half car ride.
  2. A long weekend road bike ride with more flats than steeps.
  3. A multi-day raft trip with a bunch of friends.

But when my friend and colleague, Kara Armano proposed that we do an 80-mile mountain bike ride over the course of two days, I thought, what the heck?

I signed up that day, ready to try a new adventure. Plus, I had never been to Durango before, so I figured it would be a great way to see/experience the area, which I certainly did (sometimes face first).

The event was the CT Jamboree, a two-day, 80-mile mountain bike ride on the Colorado Trail to raise money and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis. All proceeds benefited the non-profit Heuga Center, the Colorado Trail Foundation and Trails 2000.

Shortly after signing up it become apparent that I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. Turns out that most of the Colorado Trail near Durango is well above 12,000 feet. It’s also an incredibly technical trail with steep climbs, talus field descents and tight, sandy switchbacks.

Our group consisted of five people: Kara and her husband, me and two other friends. The plan was to leave Carbondale Friday, as close to 2 p.m. as possible so that we would get to Durango at a reasonable hour. Of course, we didn’t end up leaving until after 4 p.m. And that soon became the theme of the trip; things don’t always go as planned. Continue Reading →

National Geographic Adventure Adds Carbondale to ‘Best List’

The September issue of National Geographic Adventure named our home of Carbondale, CO. a “Power Player” on the Where To Live and Play list for 2008, not yet online.

Veteran writers Sarah Tuff and Greg Melville name Carbondale as the break out winner of the Rockies region for “Adventure 24/7”.

From the article- Carbondale’s urban expats take their city’s name as a literal eco-challenge. In the morning, commuters line the bike paths on their way to a growing pack of local environmental companies like Solar Energy International, Greenspot, and Inpower Systems and the new rec center and police and fire departments are all solar powered. While still partly in the shadow of Aspen, 30 miles up valley, its forging its own identity as a self-sustained base for Patagonia-clad Ph.D’s happy to stay close to home in the White River National Forest-all beneath the 12,000ft twin peaks of Mount Sopris.

For the full story, see the September issue, on stands now.

Network Security Essentials

Network security is essential both in the business world as well as in the case of home networks. Anyone who is employed at the same physical location can be hacked and hijacked for extortion and other unlawful purposes, as was shown by the recent hack of JPMorgan Chase by hackers with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Why did I mention this, since it’s a topic we didn’t even touch on in this article? The end result of any security-conscious network manager or employee is that security is not just an afterthought, but is almost required of them. This situation also holds true for home networks, as most home routers include default security mechanisms that are useless and pose great risks to your data, also  if you want to improve your network security, there are services like Fortinet, which specialize in this area for homes and small businesses.

By installing your own router in your home or office, you can ensure the network security and privacy you expect, especially if the options are straight forward to understand and use. In our test, we tested the best router around for many of these reasons:

Flexible

The most flexible router is a high-end R7000. You can choose what packages you want, how much data you want to download, when you want to download, and your own VPN for privacy. You will also be able to get you VPN router without any free software at all.

The most flexible router is a high-end R7000. You can choose what packages you want, how much data you want to download, when you want to download, and your own VPN for privacy. You will also be able to get you VPN router without any free software at all. Affordable

Many of the cheap routers can’t really do what a high-end router can, but this can be a cheap router that really excels. You can get a router for less than $50. And if you’re on a budget, then you can get a $20 router with no restrictions for home use.

Many of the cheap routers can’t really do what a high-end router can, but this can be a cheap router that really excels. You can get a router for less than $50. And if you’re on a budget, then you can get a $20 router with no restrictions for home use. Quality

A wireless router comes with a firmware and hardware which should be working, so it’s a good bet that it will have superior performance than the cheapest router in the store. I’ve tested more than 50 different routers and routers and when I say good performance, I mean that they are all able to handle data transfer for at least 5Mbps, with two or three being able to handle 10Mbps.

A wireless router comes with a firmware and hardware which should be working, so it’s a good bet that it will have superior performance than the cheapest router in the store. I’ve tested more than 50 different routers and routers and when I say good performance, I mean that they are all able to handle data transfer for at least 5Mbps, with two or three being able to handle 10Mbps. Cheap

Many of the cheap routers, even a low-end $35 router, don’t really do anything right, other than sit there waiting for you to connect to them over the Internet. You will usually see no guarantees about security or speed, and you will usually have to pay a ridiculous amount of money in order to have access to your data on a home network.