In Morgan Hill, California, last Saturday morning, a small
peloton riding a phalanx of Roubaix SL4s, Tarmacs, and Venges rolled out on a
loop that Specialized CEO Mike Sinyard calls The Big Easy. The 60-mile circuit,
one of Sinyard’s favorite weekend jaunts, takes in two famous area climbs,
including the perennial Tour of California hump up Tunitas Creek, as well as
plunging descents, pastoral hills, and a coastal stretch with views over the infamous Mavericks surf break.
This wasn’t, however, Sinyard’s standard weekly tour. It was
the culmination of two years of work by his company to reinvent its apparel
program, and everyone in the 30-strong group, half journalists (myself
included) and the remainder Specialized employees and racers, were decked from helmet
to cleat in red and white S-branded gear.
On January 15, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology announced that it had converted its Macauley Library sound archive into a digital catalog that anyone can click. "Our audio collection is the largest and the oldest in the world," said Macaulay Library director Mike Webster. "Now, it’s also the
most accessible."
The institution said the new digital archive will help expert and amateur birders and other naturalists train, offer video and audio editors a place to find specific sounds, and allow the library to assemble a larger collection. "Now that we’ve digitized the previously archived analog recordings, the
archival team is focusing on new material from amateur and professional
recordists from around the world to really, truly build the
collection," said audio curator Greg Budneyaid.
Here's a bit more about the sounds that have been collected and digitized, with a selection of some of the best recordings and a look at the numbers.
Last week I was at Canyons Resort in Utah on official Outside business, and for the first time in months, I had to leave my children behind. Solo traveling has its pros and cons. On one hand, without little bodies pattering into my bedroom at 3 a.m. or hollering “Rise and Shine!” while it’s still black as night outside, the assignment was surprisingly relaxing. I actually came home more rested than when I’d left. On the other, it’s a kind of strange to find yourself at the epicenter of family adventure without, well, your own family.
Then again, because I wasn’t spending every free second bundling little ones into snowsuits and wrangling their gear, I had time to dial in the details on a sweet family ski trip.
On January 31 at the SIA Snowsports Show in Denver, Colorado, sports design company Giro will introduce its first soft-shell helmet. Using new impact absorbing materials, Giro promises that this helmet will provide riders with durability and protection across a wide range of impact types, and even when the helmet takes multiple hits over the course of an event, a season, or even multiple seasons.
