Dacks and Toga Active Life August Issue For Web
Our August issue for living well in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. Sports, Fitness, Travel, Adventure, Wellness!
Our August issue for living well in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. Sports, Fitness, Travel, Adventure, Wellness!
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activelife<br />
®<br />
SPORTS • FITNESS • TRAVEL • ADVENTURE • WELLNESS • AUG 2017<br />
FREE<br />
travel<br />
hiking in the<br />
Scottish<br />
Highl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
get out on the<br />
water with<br />
SUP<br />
yoga<br />
Olympic <strong>and</strong><br />
World Champion<br />
Andrea<br />
Henkel Burke<br />
from competitor<br />
to trainer<br />
profile:<br />
Bob & Heidi<br />
Underwood<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 1
The path to<br />
better health<br />
starts here.<br />
KEENE LAKE PLACID SARANAC LAKE TUPPER LAKE<br />
KEENE KEENE LAKE LAKE<br />
LAKE PLACID PLACID SARANAC SARANAC LAKE LAKE<br />
LAKE TUPPER TUPPER LAKE LAKE<br />
LAKE<br />
When When you’re in in in the<br />
the<br />
Adirondacks, it’s it’s it’s reassuring to<br />
to to<br />
know know know that that that you you you have have have great great great care<br />
care<br />
right right right here. here. here. We We We make make make it it it our<br />
our our<br />
mission<br />
mission to to<br />
to get get<br />
get you you<br />
you in in<br />
in fast fast<br />
fast <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong><br />
deliver<br />
deliver the the<br />
the knowledgeable<br />
knowledgeable<br />
services <strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> support to to keep<br />
keep<br />
services <strong>and</strong> support to keep<br />
you you <strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> your your family healthy<br />
you <strong>and</strong> your family healthy<br />
so so you you can can focus focus on on enjoying<br />
so you can focus on enjoying<br />
the the outdoors.<br />
the outdoors.<br />
518-897-APPT (5776)<br />
518-897-APPT (5776)<br />
adirondackhealth.org<br />
adirondackhealth.org<br />
contents<br />
FEATURES<br />
9 Flashback:<br />
A look back in<br />
time at cycling,<br />
track <strong>and</strong> field, &<br />
roller-skiing<br />
18 Cover Story:<br />
Get on Board<br />
with SUP Yoga<br />
22 Andrea<br />
Henkel Burke<br />
Transitioning from<br />
world-class competitor<br />
to personal trainer<br />
26 <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong><br />
Profile:<br />
Bob & Heidi<br />
Underwood<br />
Taking a shared past in<br />
competitive kayaking<br />
through a lifetime of<br />
competitive challenges<br />
30 Travel:<br />
The Scottish<br />
Highl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
A rocky start gives way<br />
to an amazing hike<br />
IN EVERY ISSUE<br />
5 Editor’s Letter<br />
7 Food<br />
8 <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong><br />
Short List<br />
34 Calendar<br />
18<br />
Short List<br />
22<br />
ON OUR COVER:<br />
Tobey (Durga Om) Gifford,<br />
Yoga instructor <strong>and</strong> owner of<br />
Lemon Tree Healing & Arts<br />
Studio, demonstrating the yoga<br />
posture Firefly (Tittibhasana) on<br />
her SUP board on Lake George.<br />
Photography by<br />
SaratogaPhotographer.com<br />
26<br />
30<br />
2 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 3
Below: Our photographer wanted a<br />
photo of our model Tobey walking<br />
out of the water with her board.<br />
The resulting photo is at bottom.<br />
PHOTO: SaratogaPhotographer.com<br />
Behind the Scenes<br />
at our Cover Photo Shoot<br />
normally believe that luck is the result of hard work <strong>and</strong> proper<br />
I planning, but on the morning of our photo shoot in early June, I<br />
believe we experienced pure luck, plain <strong>and</strong> simple.<br />
While planning for the shoot, a couple of locations were suggested<br />
to me, but I had my heart set on a location on the west side of<br />
Lake George. After spending many happy family get-togethers there,<br />
I knew exactly how perfect the setting would be. Our photographer,<br />
who was working in the area, stopped by one afternoon to take a<br />
look <strong>and</strong> agreed it was a good location.<br />
It is hard enough to get three busy people together for an hour,<br />
but the bigger problem was the seemingly incessant rain we’d been<br />
experiencing for weeks. It had rained almost non-stop daily up until<br />
that very morning. What would I do if it didn’t stop? Not only did<br />
neither one of us have time to reschedule, but I had no backup plan<br />
or backup cover story to go with.<br />
When I started the drive up to our location with my son, who’d<br />
been recruited to help out, I still did not know which way it would<br />
go. However, I have learned that whatever weather we are experiencing<br />
in Glens Falls, the complete opposite could be occurring in Lake<br />
George, so I was game.<br />
It wasn’t long into our drive that the clouds began to fade <strong>and</strong> the<br />
sun came out. Our drive up Lake Shore Drive further revealed the<br />
glorious morning that was to be.<br />
Shortly after we arrived, our model, Tobey (Durga Om) Gifford, arrived<br />
as did our photographer. We all agreed that we couldn’t have<br />
had a more beautiful morning. The only setback was that the water<br />
was still quite cold. This was not a problem for our photographer<br />
who had a wetsuit. Nor was it a problem for Tobey, whose skill at<br />
SUP yoga kept her from falling in. However, my son had to st<strong>and</strong><br />
still in the cold water for over an hour, while I guiltily stayed on the<br />
warm, sunny dock.<br />
Gabrielle Katz<br />
welcome back...<br />
It’s great to see you again!<br />
Thank you for joining us for our 2nd issue of <strong>Dacks</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Toga</strong> ® <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong>. Once again, we’ve worked very<br />
hard to bring you interesting, motivating stories with great photos to illustrate the active lifestyle we all enjoy.<br />
In the editors’ letter from our first issue we likened the launch of our magazine to the planning <strong>and</strong> goalsetting<br />
involved in undertaking a new training regimen. <strong>For</strong> the second issue we learned that planning <strong>and</strong><br />
goal-setting are still involved, but there will be some curve balls thrown at you <strong>and</strong> the necessity to duck.<br />
Once again the issue was rain, but unlike the day of our cover shoot, we were not so lucky. While we were<br />
deep into the production phase of this issue, the heavy rains during the weekend prior to July 4th caused<br />
half the ceiling in our office to cave in, just missing our computers. We lost two, much needed days of work in<br />
the process <strong>and</strong> had to move our computers to our dining room table. We thought that might be it for us <strong>and</strong><br />
were about to hang up the towel (well some of us were <strong>and</strong> some of us weren’t), but in the end we all kept our<br />
focus <strong>and</strong> persevered.<br />
We think the stories in our Flashback Retrospective, our story on Andrea Henkel Burke, <strong>and</strong> our travel story<br />
to the Scottish Highl<strong>and</strong>s illustrate the same theme: going forward on the journey no matter what mishaps or<br />
transitions life <strong>and</strong> events force us to navigate. And for dedication <strong>and</strong> perseverance, look no further than the<br />
example set by our two <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Profile subjects, Bob & Heidi Underwood.<br />
Finally, we hope you enjoy our SUP Yoga story <strong>and</strong> photos, which remind us once again why we are so lucky<br />
to live in such a beautiful region.<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Magazine<br />
Wants to<br />
Hear from You!<br />
Nominate Someone for an<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Profile:<br />
Do you know someone who<br />
epitomizes the active lifestyle, has<br />
overcome a setback, challenges<br />
themselves, pursues their goals or<br />
is always on the go? Send us an<br />
email at info@87npub.com with<br />
the subject line “<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Profile”<br />
<strong>and</strong> a few words about the person<br />
who inspires you.<br />
Let Us Know What Keeps<br />
You Motivated:<br />
What keeps you going, keeps you<br />
jogging in the rain, heading out to<br />
the gym at the end of the day,<br />
setting new goals, or travelling to<br />
your next adventure? Send us an<br />
email at info@87npub.com with<br />
the subject line “What keeps me<br />
going” <strong>and</strong> a few words about<br />
what you do <strong>and</strong> why you do it.<br />
editors’ letter<br />
Enjoy the rest of your Summer,<br />
The <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Team<br />
Discover the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway...<br />
...as we share our story of the waterway west,<br />
the Erie Canal, <strong>and</strong> the role our communities<br />
played in the westward expansion of the<br />
country <strong>and</strong> the Industrial Revolution.<br />
Job # 000 - Mohawk Towpath - Sales Rep/Artist<br />
Have Year-Round Fun!<br />
Biathlon • XC Skiing • Running • Mtn Biking<br />
Swimming • And More!<br />
Try Biathlon<br />
This<br />
Summer! *<br />
*Rifles <strong>and</strong><br />
Instruction Provided<br />
www.SaratogaBiathlon.com<br />
P.O. Box 90<br />
Clifton Park, NY 12065<br />
518-406-8610<br />
mohawktowpath.org<br />
4 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 5<br />
Job # 000 - Saratoga Biathlon Club - Sales Rep/Artist
TM<br />
TM<br />
TM<br />
TM<br />
TM<br />
FREE<br />
activelife<br />
SPORTS • FITNESS • TRAVEL • ADVENTURE • WELLNESS • MAY - JUNE 2017<br />
life &styleMAY<br />
LIFE • STYLE • ARTS • TRAVEL • FROM SARATOGA TO<br />
2017<br />
gift guide<br />
5 fun<br />
ways<br />
to shift<br />
gears<br />
Nick<br />
Marcantonio<br />
chases the<br />
Ironman<br />
hiking<br />
the<br />
Devil’s<br />
Path<br />
still racing<br />
after all<br />
these years<br />
Bill Parks skis<br />
the Birkebeiner<br />
Advertise in <strong>Dacks</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Toga</strong> ®<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Magazine<br />
<strong>and</strong> Become a Part of our<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Community!<br />
Call 518-636-5960<br />
or email ads@87npub.com<br />
Current issues are available online with live links to advertisers’ websites.<br />
Holiday<br />
THE ADIRONDACKS<br />
life &styleMAY<br />
LIFE • STYLE • ARTS • TRAVEL • FROM SARATOGA TO<br />
2017<br />
Summer<br />
music guide<br />
festivals, great venues,<br />
free concerts <strong>and</strong> more<br />
THE ADIRONDACKS<br />
life &styleMAY<br />
LIFE • STYLE • ARTS • TRAVEL • FROM SARATOGA TO<br />
2017<br />
THE ADIRONDACKS<br />
10<br />
great<br />
places<br />
to get<br />
together<br />
life &styleMAY<br />
LIFE • STYLE • ARTS • TRAVEL • FROM SARATOGA TO<br />
2017<br />
THE ADIRONDACKS<br />
Vows<br />
great<br />
locations<br />
to tie the knot!<br />
Coming in December 2017<br />
<strong>Dacks</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Toga</strong> ®<br />
<strong>Life</strong> & Style Magazine<br />
Call 518-636-5960<br />
or email ads@87npub.com<br />
Current issues are available online with live links to advertisers’ websites.<br />
5<br />
®<br />
activelife<br />
Publisher<br />
87 North Publishing, Ltd.<br />
www.87npub.com<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Jody Katz<br />
Creative Director<br />
Gabrielle Katz<br />
Contributors<br />
Alex Kochon<br />
John Jacobs<br />
Ethan Katz<br />
Advertising<br />
To advertise, call: 518-636-5960<br />
or email: ads@87npub.com<br />
Contact Us At:<br />
518-636-5960<br />
or email: info@87npub.com<br />
Manuscripts, artwork, photographs, inquiries <strong>and</strong><br />
submitted materials are welcome.<br />
Email submissions to: info@87npub.com<br />
87NORTH<br />
PUBLISHING, LTD.<br />
<strong>Dacks</strong> & <strong>Toga</strong> ® <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> magazine is owned <strong>and</strong> operated by<br />
87 North Publishing, Ltd.<br />
P.O. Box 495, Glens Falls, NY 12801<br />
© 2017 by 87 North Publishing, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.<br />
Reproduction in any form, by any means in any form, mechanical or<br />
electronic without permission from the publisher is prohibited.<br />
Ads created by 87 North Publishing, Ltd. for this magazine<br />
cannot be reproduced in print or online without written permission<br />
from the publisher.<br />
87 North Publishing, Ltd. <strong>and</strong> <strong>Dacks</strong> & <strong>Toga</strong> ® <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Magazine<br />
reserve the rights to refuse any advertisements for any reason.<br />
Acceptance of advertising does not mean<br />
or imply the service or product is recommended by<br />
87 North Publishing, Ltd. or <strong>Dacks</strong> & <strong>Toga</strong> ® <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong>.<br />
Product Information highlighted or shared on<br />
<strong>Dacks</strong> & <strong>Toga</strong> ® <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong>’s editorial pages is meant for information<br />
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recommended by 87 North Publishing, Ltd. or <strong>Dacks</strong> & <strong>Toga</strong> ® <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong>.<br />
food<br />
Become a<br />
Backwoods<br />
Gourmet!<br />
When backpacking or<br />
camping, it’s easy to fall<br />
into a cooking routine<br />
dictated solely by practicality<br />
with little thought<br />
given to taste. If you find yourself in a<br />
rut, eating the same easy but uninspiring<br />
freeze-dried camp meals, it might<br />
be time for a change. Though you can’t<br />
beat the simplicity of pre-packaged<br />
meals, with just a little more effort <strong>and</strong><br />
some preparation <strong>and</strong> creativity, you<br />
might be surprised with the high-quality<br />
cooking that’s possible!<br />
If you want good taste, though,<br />
you will have to do some prep at<br />
home. There’s no getting around it.<br />
Whether it’s pre-cooking, organizing<br />
<strong>and</strong> packaging, or dehydrating (more<br />
on that later), this is what makes<br />
these types of meals feasible in the<br />
middle of the woods. That being said,<br />
we’re sure you will find your efforts<br />
well worth it.<br />
When looking for recipes to adapt<br />
to the backcountry, start with recipes<br />
with fewer ingredients that have<br />
more flavor. <strong>For</strong> instance, sun-dried<br />
tomatoes, dried mushrooms, garlic,<br />
nuts, bacon bits <strong>and</strong> a savory poultry<br />
seasoning are all easily packable ingredients<br />
that add tons of flavor. And,<br />
speaking of “packability,” it’s important<br />
to creatively substitute ingredients<br />
for ones you can easily bring with<br />
you. <strong>For</strong> example, say a recipe calls<br />
for half an onion. Instead of trying to<br />
keep half an onion fresh, or carrying<br />
around half an onion in your pack after<br />
cooking the other, try bringing a<br />
comparable amount of shallots <strong>and</strong><br />
use them all. Another factor to keep<br />
in mind is what is easiest to cook in<br />
camp. Quick-cooking pastas (angel<br />
hair, ditalini), couscous <strong>and</strong> even instant<br />
mashed potatoes will provide<br />
better results than rice.<br />
You may even try purchasing a food<br />
dehydrator. It is incredible the amount<br />
of ingredients that you can find freezedried<br />
versions of—but you won’t find<br />
everything. What if you are really in<br />
the mood for shrimp? Food dehydrators<br />
are a cheap kitchen appliance<br />
that exponentially increases the variety<br />
of dishes you can make. You might<br />
even find yourself using it throughout<br />
the work week—they can be incredibly<br />
h<strong>and</strong>y. But don’t stop at drying ingredients!<br />
Try drying entire homemade<br />
meals <strong>and</strong> packaging them in Ziploc<br />
bags, or better yet, re-purposed freezedried<br />
meal bags, so all you need to add<br />
is boiling water for a delicious taste<br />
of home cooking in a beautiful backwoods<br />
setting!<br />
Run, Walk, Bike, Ski...Enjoy!<br />
The Trails of Cole’s Woods, Glens Falls<br />
The First Lighted Ski Trails in North America<br />
Maintained by the Friends of Cole’s Woods<br />
<strong>For</strong> information: coleswoods.weebly.com<br />
THINK<br />
FLAVOR!<br />
A little bit of<br />
sundried<br />
tomatoes<br />
& dried<br />
mushrooms,<br />
spices, even<br />
bacon bits, will<br />
add a ton of flavor<br />
<strong>and</strong> take up little<br />
space in your<br />
backpack.<br />
A food dehydrator has one<br />
purpose—to remove most of the water<br />
from food. There are two basic types<br />
of food dehydrator: stacking dehydrators<br />
that have several trays that stack<br />
snugly on top one each other <strong>and</strong> shelf<br />
dehydrator, which will have shelves that<br />
slide in <strong>and</strong> out of a main unit.<br />
Each style has it’s advantages.<br />
Shelf dehydrators are more accessible—<br />
the food in any of the trays is accessible<br />
while only the food in a top tray on a<br />
stacking one is quickly accessible. On<br />
stacking units you have to separate the<br />
trays in the tower to get to food in those<br />
below the top tray.<br />
When looking for a dehydrator<br />
look for one with a fan <strong>and</strong> a heating element.<br />
Good ones will be have a design<br />
that promotes even airflow though the<br />
trays or in the shelves. Better units will<br />
have dual fans <strong>and</strong> have higher wattage<br />
outputs. Look for one with an adjustable<br />
thermostat so you can control <strong>and</strong><br />
maintain an even temperature setting.<br />
Food dehydrators can be purchased<br />
at department stores <strong>and</strong><br />
prices will range based on features <strong>and</strong><br />
build quality (plastic vs. metal). Expect<br />
to pay about $30-$50 for lower end<br />
models <strong>and</strong> well over $100 for higher<br />
end models.<br />
PHOTOS: Shutterstock<br />
6 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
Job # 000 - Friends of Cole’s Woods - Sales Rep/Artist<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 7
short list<br />
n Keep your burden light<br />
when you’re out trekking with a set of these<br />
Fizan Compact 3 trekking poles. These 3-section,<br />
aluminum poles are adjustable <strong>and</strong> collapsible,<br />
<strong>and</strong> at only 158 grams per pole, they are the<br />
world’s lightest trekking poles. Great for both<br />
hikers <strong>and</strong> backpackers! Put them on<br />
your wish list or gift a set to a hiker<br />
close to your heart.<br />
Available at Inside Edge<br />
<strong>and</strong> Reliable Racing.<br />
n Give your feet a<br />
chance to recover<br />
after a race or practice with<br />
OOFOS ® footwear, engineered to help<br />
your feet recover in ways typical footwear<br />
can’t. They absorb more shock,<br />
have great arch support, enable a<br />
more natural motion, <strong>and</strong> reduce<br />
stress on feet, knees <strong>and</strong> back. Not<br />
only will you want to slip into them<br />
after a pounding workout, they’ll be<br />
the first thing you grab after a long<br />
day on your feet.<br />
]n<br />
[<br />
Summer~<br />
Hiking,<br />
Biking <strong>and</strong><br />
Running<br />
Enhance your outdoor<br />
activities <strong>and</strong> fitness<br />
training with these ideas<br />
from our current wish list.<br />
New Release:<br />
Northvile-Placid<br />
Trail Guide<br />
The Adirondack Mountain<br />
Club (ADK) has recently<br />
released the fifth edition of its<br />
Adirondack Mountain Club<br />
Northville-Placid Trail in time<br />
for the Nothville-Placid Trail’s<br />
(NPT) 95th Anniversary.<br />
Edited by Jeff <strong>and</strong> Donna<br />
Case of Mattydale, NY, the<br />
volume has been extensively<br />
revised <strong>and</strong> redesigned.<br />
The text includes a detailed<br />
description of the reroute<br />
of the NPT’s southern<br />
approach, which leads<br />
hikers from the south through<br />
forest <strong>and</strong> around a lake,<br />
avoiding the approx. 10 miles<br />
of punishing road walking on<br />
the previous route.<br />
The NPT passes through<br />
what many consider the<br />
wildest <strong>and</strong> most remote<br />
parts of the Adirondack Park.<br />
The guide is available at<br />
outdoor supply stores, both<br />
ADK stores in Lake George<br />
<strong>and</strong> Lake Placid, online <strong>and</strong><br />
through mail order.<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: 800-395-8080 or<br />
www.adk.org<br />
n Improve your visibility <strong>and</strong><br />
peace of mind while cycling.<br />
The world’s first cycling radar,<br />
Varia Rearview Radar from Gamin helps create a safer<br />
cycling environment by warning cyclists of vehicles<br />
approaching from behind up to 153 yards. The radar tail<br />
light also warns approaching vehicles of a cyclist ahead.<br />
It can show multiple approaching vehicles <strong>and</strong> indicates<br />
the relative speed of approach <strong>and</strong> threat level.<br />
Flashback:<br />
60’s<br />
70’s<br />
80’s<br />
Nowadays we have every type of sports innovation,<br />
equipment <strong>and</strong> clothing available, but back in the day,<br />
things were a little different.<br />
Join us for this three-part retrospective where we<br />
revisit the way it used to be for a young athlete <strong>and</strong> recount<br />
the evolution of two popular sports.<br />
8 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 9
How Modern Road Cycling<br />
Came To Glens Falls<br />
The time a teenager’s wish, a businessman’s decision, <strong>and</strong> serendipity<br />
all combined to bring a new kind of bicycle to the North Country.<br />
The year was 1967, <strong>and</strong> young Jeffrey<br />
Jacobs at age 16 was off to<br />
a two week summer ski racing<br />
camp in Aspen, Colorado. One afternoon,<br />
he recognized a well-known ski<br />
racer coasting on a 10-speed bike, doing<br />
60 miles-per-hour coming down<br />
the road from Independence Pass.<br />
Jeff later realized that Jean-Claude<br />
Killy, the triple Olympic gold medalist<br />
in alpine ski racing, was training in<br />
Aspen that summer. He was the guy<br />
on the bike! Jeff made a mental note:<br />
“I have to get one of those bikes when<br />
I get home!”<br />
While in Aspen, Jeff was training<br />
for a ski race along with some of the<br />
best junior <strong>and</strong> collegiate racers in<br />
the country. He found out that many<br />
of the elite European <strong>and</strong> American<br />
ski racers rode lightweight, French<br />
10-speed bicycles called Peugeot to increase<br />
leg strength <strong>and</strong> stamina. Upon<br />
10 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
By John Jacobs<br />
his return to Glens Falls, Jeff asked<br />
his dad to find him a Peugeot bike. At<br />
the time, none of the area shops offered<br />
anything of the sort. You could<br />
get a Schwinn Varsity from Skelly’s<br />
on Bay Street, but they weighed 45<br />
pounds! Or possibly a Western Flyer<br />
10-speed from Montgomery Ward,<br />
which was even worse! The road bikes<br />
coming out of Europe used high-carbon<br />
frames <strong>and</strong> lightweight components.<br />
The bikes weighed less than 25<br />
pounds, <strong>and</strong> were great for going long<br />
distances <strong>and</strong> climbing mountains<br />
<strong>and</strong> hills. These were the bikes that<br />
were ridden in the Tour de France, but<br />
very few people in the North Country<br />
at the time knew about that.<br />
The story really starts with Jeff’s<br />
parents, Tom <strong>and</strong> Marilyn Jacobs, the<br />
founders of the Inside Edge ski shop.<br />
In 1957 Tom had been the director of<br />
the Steamboat Springs Chamber of<br />
Commerce <strong>and</strong> managed Howelsen<br />
You could get a Schwinn Varsity from Skelly’s on<br />
Bay Street, but they weighed 45 pounds!<br />
Hill, the local ski area <strong>and</strong> ski jumping<br />
facility. He <strong>and</strong> Marilyn, now with<br />
three young babies, decided he needed<br />
a “real job.” He asked his father,<br />
a paper machinery engineer who had<br />
done some work for Lyman Beeman<br />
(the CEO of the Finch & Pruyn paper<br />
company) to see if he could l<strong>and</strong> him<br />
a job. Tom was offered a position selling<br />
paper in New York City for Finch<br />
& Pruyn, thus the decision to move<br />
the family to Glens Falls in 1958. Tom<br />
would travel every week to New York<br />
City to open new accounts for the paper<br />
mill.<br />
But that didn’t stop Tom from moonlighting<br />
in the ski business. Upon the<br />
family’s arrival, he soon took on the<br />
ski school directorship at Hickory Hill,<br />
<strong>and</strong> later, in 1961 when the Br<strong>and</strong>t<br />
brothers opened West Mountain, they<br />
offered Tom the ski school <strong>and</strong> rental<br />
shop concessions. This was the beginning<br />
of what would eventually become<br />
the Inside Edge <strong>and</strong> Reliable Racing<br />
Supply.<br />
In the mid-60’s, Tom <strong>and</strong> Marilyn<br />
had moved their retail enterprise from<br />
West Mountain to a location on Bay<br />
Street. There was a bike shop at that<br />
location that didn’t operate in the winter,<br />
so the shop owner rented the space<br />
for the Jacobs’ ski shop, which became<br />
the Inside Edge. Soon after, the<br />
bike shop owner decided to close his<br />
business, creating the opportunity for<br />
year-round operations for the Inside<br />
Edge. Problem was, no one wanted<br />
to buy skis in the summer! That fall,<br />
faced with the knowledge that another<br />
summer was around the corner with<br />
rent <strong>and</strong> payroll having to be covered,<br />
Tom knew something had to be done.<br />
Jeff’s request for a Peugeot bike intrigued<br />
Tom. So he decided that on his<br />
next business trip to New York City in<br />
July, he would try to locate the Peugeot<br />
importer in Manhattan. He started<br />
with the Peugeot car dealership in<br />
Manhattan, <strong>and</strong> they informed him<br />
that they didn’t sell the bikes. <strong>For</strong>tunately<br />
for Tom, the manager of the car<br />
dealership knew the bicycle importer,<br />
Franklin Imports, <strong>and</strong> gave Tom his<br />
address in Manhattan. He entered the<br />
lower level of the brownstone <strong>and</strong> met<br />
the gentleman from France, who barely<br />
spoke English. Tom asked him if he<br />
could buy a bike, <strong>and</strong> the man said,<br />
“No, you have to become a dealer.”<br />
Tom’s reply was “Well, what do I have<br />
to do to become a dealer?” To which<br />
the man answered, “You have to buy<br />
three bikes.” Tom returned home with<br />
three br<strong>and</strong> new Peugeot bikes. Still in<br />
their boxes were the UO-8, UO-18 <strong>and</strong><br />
their best <strong>and</strong> lightest road bike, the<br />
PX-10.<br />
Jeff <strong>and</strong> Tom managed to assemble<br />
the bikes as best they could, <strong>and</strong> started<br />
riding them. Jeff rode the PX-10,<br />
The rumor had spread locally as well, <strong>and</strong> coming<br />
out of the woodwork were a couple of local guys<br />
who actually had knowledge about cycling.<br />
<strong>and</strong> Tom the less expensive UO-8 while<br />
the rest of the Jacobs family shared<br />
the UO-18 “mixte bike” (a smaller<br />
frame with reclining top tubes that<br />
Marilyn <strong>and</strong> the younger, shorter kids<br />
could actually straddle <strong>and</strong> ride). Later<br />
that fall, knowing that spring would<br />
soon come <strong>and</strong> summer income would<br />
need to be generated, Tom called the<br />
importer in New York <strong>and</strong> placed his<br />
order for “20” to be delivered in May<br />
the following spring. Word started to<br />
get out that the Inside Edge had ordered<br />
these lightweight road bikes,<br />
<strong>and</strong> folks started to express interest in<br />
them through the winter.<br />
Tom was sure the importer had taken<br />
his order for 20 bikes, but showing<br />
up in May was not 20 bikes. It was a<br />
20-foot container of bikes! In disbelief,<br />
he <strong>and</strong> his manager Steve Dew<br />
off-loaded the bikes from the container<br />
<strong>and</strong> contemplated just how they were<br />
going to sell over 200 bikes in one season<br />
so that he could pay the invoice!<br />
Tom quickly got the word out through<br />
his ski racing connections throughout<br />
New York <strong>and</strong> New Engl<strong>and</strong> that the<br />
Peugeot bikes had arrived at his Glens<br />
Falls store.<br />
The rumor had spread locally as<br />
well, <strong>and</strong> coming out of the woodwork<br />
were a couple of local guys who actually<br />
had knowledge about cycling.<br />
Jack Sturgeon was a plastics engineer<br />
who helped develop the first extruded<br />
catheter. Jack was a bike racer <strong>and</strong><br />
knew just about everything there was<br />
to know about cycling. Joining him<br />
was Mick Hinnoff, an insurance executive<br />
at Continental <strong>and</strong> former collegiate<br />
cycling national champion at<br />
Yale. Mick was as equally expert as<br />
was Jack. That summer, in their spare<br />
time, Tom hired Jack <strong>and</strong> Mick to help<br />
assemble the Peugeot bikes <strong>and</strong> do<br />
bike repairs. He even convinced them<br />
to teach a few local teens, Tom’s sons<br />
Jeff <strong>and</strong> John, Steve Kvinlaug, Wes<br />
Bishop <strong>and</strong> Tom Eletto how to properly<br />
ride a road bike. The teens were also<br />
quickly mentored by Jack <strong>and</strong> Mick on<br />
bike repairs <strong>and</strong> assembly. The boys<br />
learned how to build <strong>and</strong> true wheels,<br />
adjust a derailleur <strong>and</strong> perform general<br />
bike repairs <strong>and</strong> maintenance. Soon<br />
after, Tom hired Huck Davies to manage<br />
the bicycle effort, even exp<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
into a Schenectady location the following<br />
year! Somehow, the Inside Edge<br />
managed to sell just about every Peugeot<br />
delivered that spring. The invoice<br />
got paid <strong>and</strong> the Inside Edge became<br />
a true bicycle specialty shop, a perfect<br />
complement to being a purveyor of alpine<br />
<strong>and</strong> Nordic equipment.<br />
In November of 1969, Tom was<br />
scheduled to board Mohawk flight<br />
411, a flight from LaGuardia Airport to<br />
Warren County Airport with a stopover<br />
at Albany. <strong>For</strong> some reason he missed<br />
his flight. Flight 411 crashed near the<br />
top of Pilot Knob Mountain, killing all<br />
14 remaining passengers <strong>and</strong> crew.<br />
<strong>For</strong> Tom it was an epiphany. He soon<br />
after resigned from Finch & Pruyn, after<br />
which he <strong>and</strong> Marilyn put their full<br />
time effort into their growing ski <strong>and</strong><br />
bike shop.<br />
Much excitement was generated by<br />
Tom in those early years of road cycling<br />
in the Glens Falls area. In the 70’s the<br />
Inside Edge sponsored a weekly time<br />
trial series on West Mountain Road,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the shop became known by some<br />
of the most elite riders in the US. US<br />
road racing champions like Stan Swain<br />
of Manchester, VT, John Howard <strong>and</strong><br />
Bob Allis would occasionally attend<br />
the time trials, <strong>and</strong> ultimately in 1976<br />
the US Olympic road trials were held<br />
in Lake Luzerne where the team for<br />
the Montreal Olympics was named.<br />
Many people in today’s local cycling<br />
community got their start at the Inside<br />
Edge, including Rick Chiasson of<br />
Rick’s Bike Shop, Steve Fairchild of<br />
The boys learned how to build <strong>and</strong> true wheels,<br />
adjust a derailleur <strong>and</strong> perform general bike<br />
repairs <strong>and</strong> maintenance.<br />
Grey Ghost Bike Shop, Andrew Cappabianca<br />
of The Hub in Br<strong>and</strong>t Lake <strong>and</strong><br />
Fred Patton of Trexlertown, PA (Fred<br />
would go on to become an internationally<br />
respected timekeeper <strong>and</strong> cycling<br />
official). Ben Serotta would spend a lot<br />
of time at Inside Edge looking at frame<br />
designs. He would go on to establish<br />
Serotta Bicycles <strong>and</strong> become an internationally<br />
acclaimed custom frame<br />
builder <strong>and</strong> bike manufacturer.<br />
So, somewhat by accident - along<br />
with purposeful intention - the first<br />
lightweight road bikes came to Glens<br />
Falls, <strong>and</strong> as they say, the rest is<br />
history!<br />
Photo of vintage Peugeot PX10 by John<br />
Paul, Courtesy of Victor Miller, Vic’s<br />
Classic Bikes, Louisville, Kentucky. Photo<br />
manipulation by <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> magazine.<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 11
When I was young, I could run<br />
like the wind. I’m not kidding. I<br />
was fast—the fastest kid in my<br />
Elementary <strong>and</strong> Junior High School<br />
gym classes. I was the fastest boy in<br />
my group growing up in the Marlboro<br />
Projects in Brooklyn (of French Connection<br />
Movie fame) <strong>and</strong> the fastest boy<br />
in my summer camp that my parents<br />
saved for all year so our family could<br />
spend a summer in the Catskills.<br />
That said, there was no doubt that<br />
when I went to High School, I’d try out<br />
for the track team. Why not? I was the<br />
famous “6-G” (a nickname my friends<br />
gave me—it was my apartment number).<br />
I’d surely be the fastest kid on the<br />
team. What I did not know was that<br />
Lafayette HS was known for its athletes.<br />
It boasted a long list of famous<br />
athlete alumni including: S<strong>and</strong>y Koufax,<br />
Bob <strong>and</strong> Ken Aspromonte, Pete<br />
Falcone, John Franco, <strong>and</strong> Fred Wilpon.<br />
I had only heard of S<strong>and</strong>y Koufax<br />
from that group when I entered<br />
the school, which drew athletes from<br />
that Italian part of Brooklyn (Bensonhurst)<br />
<strong>and</strong> Jewish <strong>and</strong> black athletes<br />
from the projects that were a short distance<br />
away. I quickly found out at the<br />
tryouts that I’d have to work hard to<br />
distinguish myself on a team with so<br />
many fast runners.<br />
Growing up I was the only one in my<br />
family who was athletic so I got little<br />
Mission<br />
Accomplished<br />
A Teenager’s Quest <strong>For</strong><br />
Running Gear<br />
Getting outfitted for the track team was a challenge in itself for this<br />
determined high school student in the early 1970’s.<br />
By Jody Katz<br />
support when I needed a new glove, a<br />
basketball or football, or when I needed<br />
gear for the Lafayette HS Track Team.<br />
After days of constant pleading <strong>and</strong><br />
arguing with my parents, they finally<br />
agreed to give me $100 for all the track<br />
gear I needed, even though that amount<br />
was almost a month <strong>and</strong> a half’s rent<br />
for our 3-bedroom apartment. I was<br />
warned to use the money wisely since<br />
there would be no more coming.<br />
After days of constant pleading <strong>and</strong> arguing<br />
with my parents, they finally agreed to give me<br />
$100 for all the track gear I needed.<br />
12 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
So here I was with this mission—buy<br />
running gear <strong>and</strong> not overspend. I<br />
made a list that included: a duffle bag,<br />
trainers, running spikes, <strong>and</strong> a set of<br />
team sweats. First off the list was the<br />
sweats: two-pieces, bright red with<br />
white graphics emblazoned with a running<br />
foot with wings that looked suspiciously<br />
like the Goodyear Tire logo.<br />
They cost $15.00 through the coach.<br />
Next was the duffle bag. It could not<br />
be any bag; it had to be an adidas bag.<br />
The running world in the late 1960’s<br />
an early 1970’s was adidas <strong>and</strong> basically<br />
no one else. Just about everyone<br />
on the team had that huge, beautiful,<br />
white adidas duffle bag, but there<br />
was only one place locally I could get<br />
it-- Thom McCann shoe stores. It was<br />
expensive too—$20—but I had to have<br />
it. So I went there for my first piece of<br />
“luggage”. There were no Dick’s stores,<br />
no running shoe stores, <strong>and</strong> Modells<br />
<strong>and</strong> Herman’s (the only sporting good<br />
stores I knew of when growing up) were<br />
either in downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan,<br />
or Long isl<strong>and</strong>—all places a naïve,<br />
boy from Brooklyn was not allowed to<br />
go to, at least not by himself.<br />
Next to be purchased were running<br />
shoes. Thom McCann only had one<br />
pair of running shoes—a blue suede<br />
shoe with a gray sponge like rubber<br />
sole called “Teppa Sport”. The store rep<br />
claimed they were great shoes, would<br />
last a long time, <strong>and</strong> he pitched the allure<br />
of them being made in Italy, which<br />
was attractive to me even though I did<br />
not know of any famous Italian runners,<br />
but they did make fiendishly fast<br />
cars. They too were $20.00.<br />
Next up were the “game changers”—<br />
the track spikes. Virtually all<br />
the tracks we were going to race on<br />
were outdoors <strong>and</strong> that meant tarmac,<br />
cinder, <strong>and</strong> dirt. A racing shoe <strong>and</strong><br />
two sets of different height removable<br />
spikes were m<strong>and</strong>atory. No local store<br />
in Brooklyn (that I was allowed to walk<br />
Virtually all the tracks we were going to race<br />
on were outdoors <strong>and</strong> that meant tarmac, cinder,<br />
<strong>and</strong> dirt. A racing shoe <strong>and</strong> two sets of different<br />
height removable spikes were m<strong>and</strong>atory.<br />
to) sold such race specific running<br />
gear. I heard from teammates about<br />
an adidas factory outlet in downtown<br />
Manhattan. I had never been to Manhattan<br />
by myself <strong>and</strong> that was underst<strong>and</strong>able—I<br />
was only 15.<br />
To my surprise, my mother gave me<br />
directions on how to get to the outlet<br />
even though everyone in my family<br />
knew I was awful with directions <strong>and</strong><br />
navigationally challenged. My first<br />
thoughts were that she was insane to<br />
let me go on this “trip” <strong>and</strong> that by<br />
sending me there alone she was hoping<br />
to “thin the herd” <strong>and</strong> reduce the<br />
kid count to two. But, I still needed<br />
the spikes—we had a race in three<br />
days. So, the next day, after school, I<br />
took the subway to some now forgotten<br />
stop, transferred to a train line<br />
I can’t remember, <strong>and</strong> ended up at<br />
what I thought was the correct train<br />
station in NYC. After going upstairs<br />
I realized I had no clue where I was<br />
<strong>and</strong> also realized I had forgotten the<br />
address that I had carefully written<br />
on a piece of paper. Was it East<br />
14th Street or West 14th Street? Was<br />
It 17th instead of 14th? What was<br />
the store number? Too many questions<br />
for a kid who could get lost if<br />
you spun him around in his own<br />
bedroom. So I came up with a plan<br />
<strong>and</strong> walked up two blocks in one direction<br />
looking at all the stores. No<br />
adidas outlet. I tried the same for the<br />
opposite direction, again with no outlet<br />
found. I tried the remaining two<br />
directions, <strong>and</strong> no street level store<br />
had anything with the adidas name.<br />
In fact I saw no shoe or sneaker<br />
stores at all. It was now late <strong>and</strong> even<br />
though I was in Manhattan it might<br />
as well have been France. I was that<br />
confused <strong>and</strong> no closer to finding the<br />
outlet than I was an hour earlier. So<br />
I went down to the subway station<br />
<strong>and</strong> asked directions back home <strong>and</strong><br />
got there with nothing but a wasted<br />
afternoon <strong>and</strong> a pounding headache<br />
to show for my effort. The next day I<br />
asked a friend of mine if he wanted to<br />
accompany me to NYC to buy track<br />
spikes <strong>and</strong> he said yes. Good for me<br />
since I thought even if we got lost, at<br />
least I would not be alone.<br />
We arrived at the same station,<br />
around the same exact time, <strong>and</strong> I had<br />
a growing fear of a repeat performance<br />
of the previous day. But Jeff brought<br />
one thing to the table—the idea of<br />
looking up. We walked halfway up<br />
the first block that I walked the previous<br />
day <strong>and</strong> sure enough, the adidas<br />
outlet was on the second floor of this<br />
old row of connected buildings. There<br />
were huge, full-sized window posters<br />
of adidas shoes, runners at the Olympics,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the glorious adidas logo. It<br />
was an adidas mecca <strong>and</strong> I could not<br />
wait to go upstairs. But something was<br />
I told him that I needed running spikes for a<br />
race in a few days <strong>and</strong> to my amazement he came<br />
down <strong>and</strong> opened up the outlet just for me.<br />
wrong, the door would not open <strong>and</strong> I<br />
then saw the sign with the store hours.<br />
The store had just closed. I panicked<br />
<strong>and</strong> could not think what to do but to<br />
head back home. I then heard a faint<br />
voice from above saying, “Hey, can I<br />
help you?” Though far from religious,<br />
I assumed the voice was an inner voice<br />
<strong>and</strong> that the “man upstairs” was talking<br />
to me to help me right my wrongs<br />
<strong>and</strong> become a better person. Jeff, however,<br />
responded differently <strong>and</strong> turned<br />
me around to show me that there was<br />
a man upstairs talking, <strong>and</strong> he was<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ing behind an open window asking<br />
us what we wanted. I told him that<br />
I needed running spikes for a race in<br />
a few days <strong>and</strong> to my amazement he<br />
came down <strong>and</strong> opened up the outlet<br />
just for me. 20 minutes later I walked<br />
out grinning like a cat that just ate<br />
a canary <strong>and</strong> holding a bag with my<br />
br<strong>and</strong> new pair of adidas Meteor running<br />
spikes. They were the coolest,<br />
raciest shoes I’d ever owned. Cross another<br />
$25.00 off the total.<br />
The next day I tried my training<br />
Teppas at track practice <strong>and</strong> learned<br />
quickly that the experience did not<br />
match the sales pitch. The Teppas<br />
were no more comfortable than running<br />
on pieces of steel strapped to my<br />
feet: they gave me world-class blisters<br />
but not world-class speed. After<br />
three days of running, the soles did<br />
not break in <strong>and</strong> if possible became<br />
harder. My feet were in such pain with<br />
blisters that were protected by double<br />
layers of b<strong>and</strong>ages. I spoke with the<br />
coach about it after he saw me limping<br />
(which wasn’t hard to miss), <strong>and</strong><br />
he told me that he had just put in an<br />
order for multiple pairs of Onitsuka Tiger<br />
training shoes <strong>and</strong> they would be<br />
in in a week or so. If you’ve never seen<br />
Tigers, they were the shoes made famous<br />
by Bruce Lee. When they came<br />
in I was amazed—they were incredibly<br />
light, super comfortable <strong>and</strong> great for<br />
indoor races like the Armory in NYC.<br />
They cost $18.00.<br />
So, with train fare I came in about<br />
20 cents under the $100 budget <strong>and</strong><br />
learned a few things. Italy—great for<br />
food <strong>and</strong> fast cars, not so good for running<br />
shoes. Always remember to look<br />
up. And, just because you are the fastest<br />
guy in several groups (with people<br />
of mixed skill levels) does not mean<br />
you will be the fastest guy on a team.<br />
So, always work harder.<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 13
How Len Johnson Changed<br />
the Face of Roller Skiing in the US<br />
Early advances in roller skiing were developed in Europe,<br />
but when Bill Koch surprised everyone with his skating technique<br />
in 1982, it was the U.S. company Jenex that met the challenge.<br />
Roller skiing is unquestionably the<br />
best way for Nordic skiers to get in<br />
shape for the snow season. Sure<br />
Nordic skiers will run or ride bicycles<br />
in the off-season but if they could only<br />
do one sport to prepare for the ski season<br />
it would be roller skiing.<br />
Travel back in time to the 1950’s<br />
<strong>and</strong> 1960’s: roller skis were huge monstrosities<br />
with three baby carriage like<br />
wheels (one in the front, two in the<br />
rear) <strong>and</strong> a hinged rear half of the shaft<br />
to aid in the kick phase of classic skiing.<br />
They weighed a ton, were not very<br />
nimble or responsive, <strong>and</strong> all had one<br />
similarity—they were designed only for<br />
diagonal striding (skating hadn’t been<br />
invented yet). By the 70’s, roller skis<br />
had gotten smaller. Some were actual<br />
snow skis cut down with wheels installed<br />
in the hope they would generate<br />
the same on-snow feel as the skis<br />
gave before being modified. Most still<br />
had three wheels <strong>and</strong> all were made for<br />
classic technique.<br />
Then something remarkable happened.<br />
In the early 1980’s, the Nordic<br />
ski world was turned upside down by<br />
Bill Koch’s skating in the 1982 Nordic<br />
World Ski Championship. The new,<br />
radically different technique boasted<br />
grace <strong>and</strong> speed, <strong>and</strong> quickly became<br />
popular. But there was a problem—<br />
how to skate on roller skis. Threewheeled<br />
roller skis were not suitable<br />
They weighed a ton, were not very nimble or<br />
responsive, <strong>and</strong> all had one similarity–they were<br />
designed only for diagonal striding.<br />
Kris Freeman roller skiing<br />
on Jenex roller skis.<br />
Photo by Len Johnson<br />
for skating.<br />
A few years later in 1987, Len Johnson,<br />
a Dartmouth engineering graduate,<br />
was in Sweden watching the Polar<br />
Cup races. The Swedish National<br />
Team XC coaches informed him that<br />
current Nordic skiers were training<br />
more hours, but the physiological<br />
test results indicated their training<br />
was not as effective as the training<br />
programs from the 70’s. The junior’s<br />
dry l<strong>and</strong> training program consisted<br />
of about 50% roller skiing <strong>and</strong> the<br />
data indicated that the metabolic dem<strong>and</strong><br />
of using roller skis was about<br />
30% less than when skiing on snow.<br />
There was simply insufficient training<br />
stimulus for optimal fitness. With<br />
this information Len returned to the<br />
US with a mission—to design a roller<br />
ski that would be as close to simulating<br />
on-snow training as possible. Experimenting<br />
with different designs,<br />
Len sent a few prototypes to elite skiers<br />
in the United States <strong>and</strong> Sweden<br />
for testing. They were so well received<br />
that when he retired from his job at an<br />
electronics company, he began making<br />
V2 roller skis full-time. This was<br />
the beginning of Jenex, the Milford,<br />
AL: Where does the Jenex name<br />
come from?<br />
LJ: When I co-founded an electronics<br />
company the name was Genex. It<br />
became a successful company <strong>and</strong><br />
was acquired by Teradyne Inc. <strong>and</strong><br />
the name changed to Teradyne Connection<br />
Systems. Twenty-five years<br />
after founding Genex I started making<br />
roller skis <strong>and</strong> since my last name is<br />
Johnson decided to call it Jenex.<br />
AL: What other companies in the<br />
US were making roller skis at<br />
the time?<br />
LJ: No one.<br />
AL: Where did you get your<br />
inspiration for the look of the<br />
first V2?<br />
LJ: There was really no inspiration for<br />
the “look” of the roller skis. We wanted<br />
a very slow ski that would generate<br />
the same metabolic dem<strong>and</strong> as skiers<br />
training on a tough snow course <strong>and</strong><br />
we patented a kinematic damping device<br />
to increase rolling resistance <strong>and</strong><br />
also designed a super light frame.<br />
AL: Looking at other roller skis,<br />
what did you try to do better?<br />
LJ: To simulate snow skiing we increased<br />
the rolling resistance <strong>and</strong><br />
shortly thereafter introduced our<br />
popular Speed Reducers to make roller<br />
skiing safer <strong>and</strong> also provide variable<br />
rolling resistance.<br />
AL: Did others work with you on<br />
the original roller skis?<br />
LJ: No, I developed the roller skis<br />
from input from exercise physiologists<br />
<strong>and</strong> elite skiers.<br />
AL: Did you rely on other<br />
research that was available or<br />
did you do your own R & D?<br />
LJ: R&D was done in house. But the<br />
data from exercise physiologists <strong>and</strong><br />
comments from elite skiers was used<br />
to develop the flex <strong>and</strong> rolling resistance<br />
of the skis.<br />
AL: Where did you do the work—<br />
garage, basement, etc.?<br />
LJ: I still worked in the electronics<br />
Len sent a few prototypes to elite skiers in the<br />
United States <strong>and</strong> Sweden for testing.<br />
NH based company that manufactures<br />
some of the best skate <strong>and</strong> classic<br />
roller skis in the world.<br />
Jenex founder—octogenarian Len<br />
Johnson—took time out of his busy<br />
schedule to give us some insights<br />
about how Jenex changed the face of<br />
roller skiing. Len supplied <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong><br />
Magazine with the details from a study<br />
conducted by Anders Ek <strong>and</strong> supervised<br />
by Dr. Karin Piehl-Aulin where<br />
company when we made the first prototypes.<br />
Teradyne was one of the largest<br />
manufacturing companies in NH<br />
so I personally made the prototypes<br />
on equipment there. The first production<br />
units were made in my basement.<br />
I continued making them in the basement<br />
for several months then moved<br />
to a facility in Amherst, NH.<br />
AL: How hard was it to source<br />
parts you could not make yourself,<br />
for the first roller skis?<br />
LJ: We had a large manufacturing<br />
facility where I could build the prototypes.<br />
With the exception of the rubber<br />
tires we could make everything in<br />
house <strong>and</strong> I located a rubber manufacturer<br />
in Massachusetts who could<br />
make the tires. St<strong>and</strong>ard parts, such<br />
as bearings, bolts, nuts <strong>and</strong> screws<br />
could readily be purchased from<br />
many suppliers.<br />
AL: How long did it take to build<br />
your sales network in the US?<br />
Internationally?<br />
LJ: Because our skis were quite<br />
unique it went extremely quickly.<br />
Olympic <strong>and</strong> World Champion skiers<br />
immediately began to use our skis<br />
<strong>and</strong> it took less than two years.<br />
AL: Once you were ready to<br />
produce the first V2 roller skis,<br />
how many people were working<br />
at Jenex? How many are employed<br />
now?<br />
LJ: All custom parts are produced<br />
by local high technology manufacturing<br />
firms so Jenex only designs, tests<br />
<strong>and</strong> assembles the components. Only<br />
a few people work at Jenex <strong>and</strong> the<br />
number has been the same for over<br />
twenty-five years. If we produced the<br />
custom parts in house we would need<br />
equipment costing over two million<br />
dollars <strong>and</strong> about ten more employees.<br />
This is impossible to justify in<br />
such a small market as roller skis.<br />
AL: We underst<strong>and</strong> the “V2”<br />
connection, but what was the<br />
reason for the “Aero” part of the<br />
name <strong>and</strong> what are the benefits<br />
five skiers were tested on roller skis<br />
<strong>and</strong> snow skis over the same distance,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the same course (with snow <strong>and</strong><br />
without snow). The Jenex model used<br />
was the V2-910 (Jenex’ slowest classic<br />
ski) <strong>and</strong> the data proved remarkably<br />
similar, proving that his roller<br />
skis were able to accurately simulate<br />
on-snow skiing. <strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> magazine<br />
asked Len several questions about<br />
Jenex <strong>and</strong> his early roller skis:<br />
of large, pneumatic wheels?<br />
LJ: The Aero part was not used until<br />
we developed the pneumatic tires in<br />
1999. Skiing on snow is smooth, but<br />
skiing on solid rubber wheel roller skis<br />
can cause substantial vibration <strong>and</strong><br />
discomfort. The Aero tires dramatically<br />
reduce vibration. Other companies<br />
had tried pneumatic wheels before<br />
1999 but they were unreliable <strong>and</strong><br />
the companies stopped selling them.<br />
The 150 mm tires are extremely reliable<br />
<strong>and</strong> because they are pneumatic<br />
we dubbed them Aero. They are much<br />
safer since they can roll over debris<br />
that will cause smaller wheel st<strong>and</strong>ard<br />
roller skis to come to a sudden stop resulting<br />
in a fall. They are also smoother,<br />
more comfortable <strong>and</strong> the Patented<br />
Speed Reducers <strong>and</strong> Brakes are more<br />
effective on the pneumatic tire skis.<br />
AL: If you were given the chance<br />
to do things differently with<br />
Jenex, what would have done<br />
different?<br />
LJ: Would have invested in more<br />
manufacturing equipment for making<br />
prototypes. We have very powerful<br />
CAD programs, but only one CNC<br />
milling machine for building prototypes<br />
in-house. Producing prototypes<br />
on our supplier’s fiber-optic laser machines<br />
that costs over one million dollars<br />
makes the prototypes extremely<br />
expensive.<br />
AL: Where do you see roller ski<br />
design going in the future?<br />
LJ: We need to develop a very stable<br />
<strong>and</strong> easy to use roller ski that people<br />
with limited skiing skills can use.<br />
To make the ski safer <strong>and</strong> smoother<br />
it will utilize the pneumatic “Aero”<br />
wheels <strong>and</strong> Brakes <strong>and</strong> Speed Reducers<br />
will be st<strong>and</strong>ard. We have been<br />
working on the new design for over a<br />
year <strong>and</strong> expect to introduce it in the<br />
near future.<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Magazine thanks Len<br />
Johnson, Diane Bell <strong>and</strong> everyone at<br />
Jenex for helping us with this article<br />
during their busiest time of the year. n<br />
14 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 15
health & wellness<br />
PHOTOs: Shutterstock<br />
Protecting Your Skin<br />
With the arrival of Summer, your skin is under assault.<br />
Get your defense strategy in place before sunburn,<br />
blisters, rashes, <strong>and</strong> insect bites ruin your Summer fun.<br />
Our skin is one of the most amazing organs in our bodies. It sends signals to our brain with<br />
information about the outside world we encounter, all while being an important barrier to it.<br />
One of our skin’s most important functions is to protect us from infections. Our skin carries a<br />
large part of this burden as it has the most contact with the outside world. Any break in our skin,<br />
whether by sunburn, cuts or bites, can create a pathway for infections. Here are some obvious<br />
solutions to protecting ourselves. As with everything, establishing good habits is the key.<br />
n Create a first aid kit for everyone in your<br />
home. It need not be anything more than a zip loc bag containing<br />
sample sizes of sunscreen, antibiotic, insect repellent, anti-itch<br />
cream, anti-bacterial gel <strong>and</strong> a few b<strong>and</strong>-aids. Keep it h<strong>and</strong>y so it<br />
can go in your backpack, your swim bag or even your cooler.<br />
If a kit for everyone is too much, make one for the car so it’s<br />
with you at all times.<br />
n Keep some supplies in your front hall<br />
closet or mud room. A child playing outside or running<br />
out the door in a rush can quickly stop to reapply sunscreen or<br />
repellent. Again, always keep some in your car for spur-of-themoment<br />
activities or with your garden supplies. Buy two of every<br />
product so it’s always h<strong>and</strong>y <strong>and</strong> you never run out.<br />
n Change out of sweaty clothing items as soon as<br />
possible, as lingering in them can promote rashes <strong>and</strong> fungal<br />
infections. Are you away from home at a 5k or half marathon?<br />
Bring a change of clothing, a large towel <strong>and</strong> a couple gallon jugs of<br />
water so you can rinse off, towel dry <strong>and</strong> change.<br />
n Bring two pairs of socks.<br />
Hiking? Prevent blisters <strong>and</strong> discomfort<br />
by keeping your feet dry. If you are<br />
leery of the chemicals in insect<br />
repellent, wear longer socks <strong>and</strong><br />
spray at least those <strong>and</strong> your boots<br />
to discourage ticks.<br />
n Invest in some UV<br />
protected clothing, at least<br />
one packable brimmed hat, <strong>and</strong> one<br />
long sleeve shirt per family member.<br />
n Rememeber the basics:<br />
If it’s itchy, don’t scratch it; if it’s cut,<br />
wash it <strong>and</strong> use antibiotic; <strong>and</strong> if<br />
you’ve been in the water 2 hours,<br />
reapply your sunscreen.<br />
Keep<br />
Your<br />
Sport<br />
Bottle<br />
Clean!<br />
Can your sport bottle<br />
make you sick? Maybe.<br />
Mold <strong>and</strong> bacteria can build<br />
up in our water bottles <strong>and</strong> with<br />
the Summer heat <strong>and</strong> humidity,<br />
it’s time to improve your sports<br />
bottle hygiene. Rinse your bottle<br />
every day <strong>and</strong> wash it thoroughly<br />
at least 1x a week. If it can<br />
go in your dishwasher, great.<br />
If not, fill it with a 1 to 5 ratio<br />
of white vinegar to water <strong>and</strong><br />
let it sit overnight. Add some<br />
baking soda for extra cleaning<br />
power. Use a bottle brush on the<br />
interior, <strong>and</strong> don’t forget the cap.<br />
Clean your hydration bladder<br />
<strong>and</strong> its hose with the same<br />
mixture. Buy a replacement<br />
hose when needed.<br />
Turn your<br />
bottle upside<br />
down to dry.<br />
You can hang<br />
the hose from<br />
a shower<br />
curtain rod.<br />
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16 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 17<br />
Job # 000 - Tom Stock - Sales Rep/Artist<br />
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Get on Board with<br />
SUP YOGA<br />
Warrior I<br />
Virabhadrasana<br />
Don’t be intimidated if you are only a beginner<br />
at yoga. If it makes you more comfortable,<br />
you can begin with a lesson in basic<br />
SUP techniques first.<br />
Increase your balance,<br />
strengthen your focus,<br />
<strong>and</strong> have a lot of fun–<br />
It’s easier than you think!<br />
By Alex Kochon<br />
PHOTOS BY SARATOGAPHOTOGRAPHER.COM<br />
Model: Tobey (Durga Om) Gifford of<br />
The Lemon Tree Yoga & Healing Arts Studio<br />
The first time Patty Pensel saw someone st<strong>and</strong>ing upright<br />
on top of the water, moving along at an impressive clip with<br />
just one paddle in h<strong>and</strong>, she was hooked. “I saw this body<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ing on this platform, just gliding across the water <strong>and</strong><br />
paddling,” recalled the founder of Patty’s Water Sports on Lake<br />
George. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this looks amazing. What is it?’ ”<br />
She started researching this thing called SUP (st<strong>and</strong>-up paddleboarding).<br />
Not only did she want to try it herself, but someone had<br />
asked her if she would start selling boards. She signed on with Naish<br />
boards <strong>and</strong> Patty’s Water Sports was born in 2010.<br />
That spring, she tried it — <strong>and</strong> to her surprise, didn’t fall in. As<br />
the weather improved, Pensel’s love for SUP grew, almost to a fault.<br />
“I kind of overdid it actually at first because I got on the board <strong>and</strong><br />
would go for hours,” she said. “I ended up doing the things that you<br />
shouldn’t do because I didn’t have the proper techniques down. I<br />
got sore elbows <strong>and</strong> back <strong>and</strong> shoulders, so I started researching<br />
more about the correct way to paddle.”<br />
That led her to an ocean SUP yoga retreat, which she said was<br />
fun <strong>and</strong> different than paddling on a lake (due to a different board<br />
style <strong>and</strong> more buoyancy in the ocean). She decided to learn more<br />
<strong>and</strong> became a certified SUP instructor with the American Canoe<br />
Association (ACA). Then she brought her newfound teaching skills<br />
back to Lake George.<br />
Today, Pensel offers lessons for private, semi-private <strong>and</strong> large<br />
groups as well as PaddleFit <strong>and</strong> SUP yoga classes out of her shop<br />
in Cleverdale on Lake George. A certified yoga <strong>and</strong> PaddleFit instructor,<br />
Tobey (Durga Om) Gifford, of Lemon Tree Yoga in Lake<br />
George <strong>and</strong> Glens Falls, teaches both classes. A typical SUP yoga<br />
class might start with some paddling out to a location, <strong>and</strong> then<br />
some stretching exercises on the board. The exercises are a great<br />
way to loosen up from the paddling, <strong>and</strong> transition to the yoga postures.<br />
While already knowing some yoga is helpful, don’t worry if you<br />
are a beginner. You can usually find a class to match your level <strong>and</strong><br />
most instructors will tailor your experience to your ability. (If you are<br />
still hesitant, you can start with a lesson in SUP basics.)<br />
Already an experienced yoga practitioner? SUP yoga will bring<br />
you to the next level. It is different than practicing in an indoor studio.<br />
The challenge of being on a board on the water will force you<br />
to increase your focus <strong>and</strong> balance. It will engage your senses <strong>and</strong><br />
body core differently as well.<br />
Classes in the Adirondack region typically start in late June <strong>and</strong><br />
continue into September. So what level of skills or fitness do you<br />
need to do SUP yoga, <strong>and</strong> what’s it going to cost to get involved?<br />
<strong>For</strong> starters, Pensel said you don’t have to be able to swim for<br />
Peacock<br />
Mayurasana<br />
her lessons, since all of her students are required to wear a personal<br />
flotation device (PFD). But it’s best to disclose your swimming ability,<br />
or inability, up front. Second, the more balance you have, the better,<br />
but don’t worry about falling in. She’ll make you take the leap<br />
regardless.<br />
“The biggest fear is falling in, but once I teach them <strong>and</strong> how to<br />
fall in, it eases their anxiety,” Pensel said. “Once they fall in <strong>and</strong> realize<br />
it’s not so bad, they’re good to go. Then they soar.”<br />
The falling-in factor is why classes typically pick up in July, when<br />
water temperatures are upwards of 70 degrees.<br />
In terms of cost, classes in this area (spanning from Saratoga<br />
to Saranac Lake) tend to be around $35 for a board rental. If you<br />
have your own board, expect to pay closer to $20. While class<br />
rentals at Kayak Shak on Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs include<br />
a board, paddle, PFD, <strong>and</strong> instruction, instructor Rhiana Stallard<br />
recommends wearing comfortable clothes you won’t mind getting<br />
wet in <strong>and</strong> sunscreen/sun protection. She also suggests bringing<br />
drinking water.<br />
This marks the third season of SUP yoga at the Shak, but Stallard<br />
said they’ve been st<strong>and</strong>-up paddling for probably eight years.<br />
“It’s really growing,” she said of the sport. “Personally, I’ve kayaked<br />
maybe twice since I started paddleboarding.”<br />
“You can really move around on the board, whereas in a kayak,<br />
you’re just in one position,” Stallard added. “Also, I feel like with<br />
paddleboarding, there’s a misconceived notion of it being only for<br />
people who are wicked strong, <strong>and</strong> that’s just not really the case.<br />
It can be a really great ab workout, but it can also be a really great<br />
bring-a-cooler-<strong>and</strong>-relax-<strong>and</strong>-go-fishing.”<br />
At the Shak’s weekly SUP yoga classes, beginners are welcome,<br />
but a little bit of yoga knowledge is beneficial, Stallard said.<br />
18 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 19
Lotus<br />
in headst<strong>and</strong><br />
Padmasana<br />
Few things are more relaxing<br />
than being on a board, out on the<br />
water, <strong>and</strong> enjoying nature.<br />
“I always say that doing yoga on a paddleboard<br />
is like doing yoga on a mirror because<br />
your movements are reflected back<br />
at you immediately,” she explained. “The<br />
transition from one posture to the next is<br />
really focused because you can’t move on<br />
a paddleboard without mindfulness, because<br />
you’ll fall, so it kind of forces people<br />
to really stow down <strong>and</strong> pay attention to<br />
their movements.”<br />
Despite the challenge, she said that a total<br />
of only about eight people fell in during<br />
their yoga classes last year.<br />
“It’s much more doable than people<br />
originally think,” Stallard said. “They see<br />
people st<strong>and</strong>ing on water <strong>and</strong> they think,<br />
‘That’s crazy, I could never do that!’ This is<br />
a great place for beginners because it’s flat<br />
<strong>and</strong> calm.”<br />
Yoga classes on Fish Creek start with a<br />
roughly 15-minute upriver paddle, followed<br />
by a 1½-hour class in the lily pads, then<br />
15 minutes of paddling back to the launch.<br />
SUP 101 classes teach technique. Keep in<br />
mind that SUP is weather-dependent so on<br />
a questionable day, check to see if classes<br />
are still on. Also, search “SUP” or “paddleboarding”<br />
on meetup.com for paddle-board<br />
get-togethers in your area.<br />
As challenging as SUP yoga may look,<br />
no one can deny the exhilarating experience<br />
of being out on the water, especially<br />
at sunrise or sunset. The upside is that on<br />
days where the water is calm, doing yoga<br />
on a paddleboard will have a calming effect<br />
on you. Since “yoga” means “union”,<br />
what better way to practice it than outside,<br />
on a paddleboard, taking in what nature<br />
has to offer?<br />
As Patty Pensel says of her passion for<br />
SUP, “It’s water therapy for me. You go out,<br />
especially early in the morning or in the afternoon<br />
after you’ve had a stressful day,<br />
<strong>and</strong> if it’s calm out there, you forget about<br />
everything. It just puts you in this really relaxed<br />
state.” n<br />
SUP Pointers:<br />
Wear a PFD (always a good idea, <strong>and</strong><br />
the U.S. Coast Guard requires that you<br />
have one onboard. Children under 12 are<br />
required by law to wear them in New York<br />
State.) Inflatable belt packs are an option<br />
for experienced paddlers.<br />
Wear a leash, which is attached to the<br />
board, around your ankle for safety.<br />
Start out in a calm bay or stream<br />
with minimal-to-no current. Avoid wind<br />
<strong>and</strong> boat wakes, <strong>and</strong> motorboats in general.<br />
Paddle close to shore.<br />
Carry a phone in a waterproof case or<br />
dry pack, which can also include a small<br />
first-aid kit.<br />
Wheel<br />
Urdhva<br />
Dhanurasana<br />
Some local SUP shops<br />
offering rentals & lessons*<br />
LAKE GEORGE:<br />
• Patty’s Water Sports:<br />
pattyswatersports.com<br />
• Lake George Kayak Co.:<br />
lakegeorgekayak.com<br />
SARATOGA SPRINGS:<br />
• Kayak Shak:<br />
kayakshak.com<br />
HADLEY:<br />
• Sac<strong>and</strong>aga Outdoor Center:<br />
4soc.com<br />
LAKE PLACID:<br />
• High Peaks Cyclery:<br />
highpeakscyclery.com<br />
SARANAC LAKE:<br />
• Adirondack Lakes & Trails Outfitters:<br />
adirondackoutfitters.com<br />
*These shops offer SUP lessons, but not all<br />
offer SUP Yoga. Call ahead.<br />
As soon as you st<strong>and</strong> up, put your<br />
paddle in the water <strong>and</strong> start paddling.<br />
“That paddle is your third point of contact,<br />
<strong>and</strong> it helps keep you balanced in<br />
the water,” Pensel says.<br />
The blade of the paddle should angle<br />
forward. The shaft of the paddle should<br />
be straight up <strong>and</strong> down.<br />
“Look up, stay up.” Pensel explains<br />
that keeping your head up <strong>and</strong> eyes on<br />
the horizon will help you stay upright.<br />
Place your feet shoulder width<br />
apart, point your toes forward <strong>and</strong> use<br />
good posture (st<strong>and</strong> up straight <strong>and</strong> keep<br />
your knees relaxed/slightly bent).<br />
20 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 21
Clockwise from top left: The testing<br />
begins with the athlete at rest. The<br />
athlete does a few intervals running on<br />
a treadmill, with the speed increasing<br />
at each interval. Andrea monitors the<br />
results. A triumphant Andrea.<br />
The athlete runs a 2-minute<br />
interval without the mouthpiece.<br />
Those that<br />
can do, Coach!<br />
How a Great Biathlete Takes on the<br />
Challenge of Retirement<br />
By Jody Katz<br />
<strong>and</strong>rea Henkel Burke’s athletic<br />
resume is impressive.<br />
It’s the result of many<br />
years of hard work, focus<br />
<strong>and</strong> a passion to succeed.<br />
While some of our readers know her<br />
race history, fewer may know what<br />
made her dedicate such a large part<br />
of her life to the sport of Nordic Skiing.<br />
Her explanation was simple,<br />
honest, <strong>and</strong> funny.<br />
It all began with the Nordic Training<br />
Program in Germany at the age of six<br />
because Andrea admired the ski pole<br />
with hanging medals that her sister<br />
Manuela (3 years her senior) had hanging<br />
over her bed. The young Andrea<br />
wanted her own set of medals. Simple<br />
as that. Growing up, Manuela’s no longer<br />
used gear would become Andrea’s<br />
<strong>and</strong> she was very supportive of Andrea’s<br />
skiing—something that would continue<br />
later on as she became Andrea’s biggest<br />
fan. The two had a great family moment<br />
that Andrea calls “a sister feeling” when<br />
they both came back from the 2002<br />
Olympics with gold medals.<br />
Let’s take a good look at her resume.<br />
It boasts 5 years competing on<br />
Germany’s Junior National Team followed<br />
by 16 on the National Team. It<br />
shows that she was on four Olympic<br />
Teams <strong>and</strong> won four Olympic medals—2<br />
of them gold. It highlights her<br />
participation in 12 World Championships<br />
where she earned sixteen medals—including<br />
8 gold medals—<strong>and</strong><br />
where she has 36 Biathlon World Cup<br />
victories. So, what does an elite athlete<br />
do when it’s time to hang up the<br />
rifle <strong>and</strong> skies <strong>and</strong> move on to the next<br />
phase of their life?<br />
Well, for Andrea it was not a hard<br />
transition. Like <strong>For</strong>rest Gump deciding<br />
he was tired from all the running,<br />
she knew when it was time to<br />
stop competing. As the senior racer on<br />
the German team, she was over a decade<br />
older than her closest-aged teammate—for<br />
her a sure sign to retire in<br />
2013. She had been Nordic training<br />
for over three decades <strong>and</strong> it became<br />
time to focus on how she could turn<br />
all that experience, all that knowledge,<br />
into a new career. She chose coaching,<br />
training <strong>and</strong> metabolic testing, eventually<br />
taking several training courses<br />
for the Aeroscan ® testing system which<br />
consists of several parts including the<br />
Aeroman ® unit <strong>and</strong> the proprietary<br />
Aeroscan ® software. To keep up to<br />
date she communicates often with the<br />
Aeroscan ® Team <strong>and</strong> the company’s<br />
founder in Germany.<br />
I had the opportunity to watch <strong>and</strong><br />
photograph Andrea while she gave a<br />
Nordic skier an Aeroscan ® test. We<br />
met at the beautiful Crowne Plaza Hotel<br />
in Lake Placid because Andrea’s<br />
two-building training/coaching/living<br />
She was over a decade<br />
older than her closest-aged<br />
teammate—for her a sure<br />
sign to retire in 2013.<br />
facility was still being constructed <strong>and</strong><br />
she was waiting for training equipment<br />
to arrive. The Aeroman ® testing<br />
unit comes in a protective aluminum<br />
briefcase. It is easily portable <strong>and</strong> is<br />
about the size of a small garden watering<br />
can. Andrea thinks it might be the<br />
only one in the United States. When<br />
compared to the large floor st<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
units I have seen in the past, the Aeroman<br />
® is smaller <strong>and</strong> far less ominous.<br />
22 | DACKS & TOGA activelife PHOTOS: Aeroscan® testing photos by Jody Katz. All other photos provided.<br />
DACKS & TOGA activelife | 23
Andrea competes in the Biathlon. Below: Andrea’s impressive<br />
2006/2007 Biathlon World Cup Total Points trophy.<br />
24 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
It relies on a laptop computer with proprietary<br />
software rather than a builtin<br />
computer <strong>and</strong> measures respiratory<br />
output <strong>and</strong> heart rate taken under different<br />
levels of difficulty. The athlete<br />
being tested was quickly instructed<br />
on how the test works <strong>and</strong> the mouthpiece<br />
was adjusted to fit while a chest<br />
strap heart rate monitor was put on.<br />
The test started with the athlete<br />
breathing into the mouthpiece while<br />
seated <strong>and</strong> then moved over to the<br />
treadmill where he walked for a couple<br />
of minutes <strong>and</strong> then breathed into the<br />
mouthpiece/respirator for 30 seconds.<br />
This process (2 minutes running without<br />
the mouthpiece, then 30 seconds<br />
running with the mouthpiece) continued<br />
for several additional intervals<br />
with treadmill speed increasing from<br />
slow trot to fast pace running <strong>and</strong><br />
treadmill incline adjustments to add<br />
difficulty. While the test could have<br />
gone to participant exhaustion—like<br />
a threshold test—this was not necessary,<br />
since after about 7 different<br />
treadmill adjustments, there was more<br />
than enough data to plot the curve.<br />
Andrea can also give an Aeroscan®<br />
test on a stationary bicycle but for a<br />
Nordic skier who also trail runs the<br />
treadmill application was more fitting.<br />
Throughout the test, Andrea carefully<br />
marked results for each testing interval<br />
on a sheet with the same level of<br />
focus a polygraph tester gives to marking<br />
points where questions are asked.<br />
So, how did the athlete feel about<br />
the test? He commented: “it was a<br />
bit uncomfortable <strong>and</strong> awkward, but<br />
manageable…definitely not as intense<br />
as I had expected.” From a spectator’s<br />
st<strong>and</strong>point it only took about an hour.<br />
Once done, the athlete’s heart rate <strong>and</strong><br />
calories burned per hour were measured,<br />
including the related percentage<br />
of calories burned from fat <strong>and</strong><br />
carbs. The athlete’s heart rate was also<br />
monitored to see at what point it left<br />
the aerobic zone. Once these things<br />
were plotted, Andrea was able to tailor<br />
a training regimen to make sure<br />
the athlete was in the correct zone for<br />
training <strong>and</strong> for faster, more aerobic<br />
events. She also was able to use the<br />
chart to give advice regarding nutrition<br />
<strong>and</strong> how to be in shape for longer, endurance<br />
races.<br />
After the treadmill test at the hotel,<br />
we followed Andrea back to her impressive<br />
new training facility in Lake<br />
Placid that is nearing completion. The<br />
space is large <strong>and</strong> expertly designed,<br />
with fantastic mountain views. She<br />
expects it to be finished this summer,<br />
<strong>and</strong> proudly gave us a tour of the soonto-be-completed<br />
gym. In her office, we<br />
spent about an hour going over the<br />
chart <strong>and</strong> she pin-pointed the athlete’s<br />
reason for reduced performance during<br />
the second half of races—not enough<br />
carbs left, or better worded—the athlete<br />
used his carbs way too quickly. So<br />
she advised him to start training at a<br />
much lower intensity to build his fatburning<br />
capacity so he would not tap<br />
into his carbs so quickly. The second<br />
test in about 6 weeks will tell if the ath-<br />
Andrea reviews the results of the Aeroscan ® test with the<br />
athlete <strong>and</strong> discusses a training program.<br />
lete has improved.<br />
I found Andrea to be a very interesting<br />
person to write about. She listens<br />
intently <strong>and</strong> responds quickly with onpoint<br />
answers that clearly show she<br />
knows what she is talking about <strong>and</strong><br />
she has a keen sense of humor. After<br />
having the athlete being tested adjust<br />
the treadmill speed several times I,<br />
(jokingly) suggested she have him turn<br />
Though humble, she is<br />
still proud of her trophies<br />
<strong>and</strong> the hard work that<br />
earned them.<br />
it up past 10 mph because he had been<br />
mean to me. She didn’t skip a beat, gave<br />
me a Cheshire Cat smile <strong>and</strong> quickly<br />
asked—“how mean?” Though humble,<br />
she is still proud of her trophies <strong>and</strong><br />
the hard work that earned them. She<br />
let me hold her huge (weighing easily<br />
35 pounds) 2006/2007 Biathlon World<br />
Cup Total Points crystal globe—an impressive<br />
trophy that due to its weight<br />
can only be safely displayed on a wellconstructed,<br />
supportive shelf.<br />
Andrea has a clear vision in regards<br />
to Aeroscan ® testing. She not only sees<br />
it as a great testing tool for athletes,<br />
but also great for college teams, gyms,<br />
clubs, <strong>and</strong> even businesses. She cites<br />
the importance of employee health<br />
to the productivity <strong>and</strong> success of a<br />
business <strong>and</strong> metabolic testing could<br />
help employees be more productive<br />
by showing how to get them in better<br />
shape. In addition to Aeroscan testing<br />
Andrea is available as a personal<br />
coach <strong>and</strong> as a trainer where she is<br />
certified using the <strong>Life</strong> Kinetik Exercise<br />
Program.<br />
She has taken her passion for competing<br />
to the next level by helping others<br />
achieve their goals.<br />
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DACKS & TOGA activelife | 25
active life Profile<br />
Bob & Heidi Underwood<br />
A <strong>Life</strong> Together Training & Competing<br />
Bob <strong>and</strong> Heidi on their way<br />
out to an evening group ride.<br />
Photo: Jody Katz<br />
By Alex Kochon<br />
From their shared past in<br />
competitive kayaking at the<br />
national <strong>and</strong> international level,<br />
Bob <strong>and</strong> Heidi Underwood have<br />
built a life around competitive<br />
sports <strong>and</strong> personal challenges.<br />
Before Bob <strong>and</strong> Heidi Underwood were runners, before<br />
they did triathlons, before they were educators, administrators,<br />
coaches, <strong>and</strong> nonprofit founders, they were paddlers.<br />
Bob was the youngest of four brothers who grew up<br />
on Caroga Creek in Johnstown. Heidi was the youngest of<br />
two sisters <strong>and</strong> made memories canoeing with her dad near<br />
their home in Stillwater. When Heidi was 11, she <strong>and</strong> her<br />
father did a five-day cross-state canoe race. She was the<br />
youngest competitor.<br />
At age 13, Heidi was named to the USA Canoe/Kayak<br />
Junior National Team as a flatwater kayaker. Around the<br />
same time, in 1982, Bob made the Whitewater National<br />
Team as he was finishing up his studies in geology <strong>and</strong><br />
environmental science at St. Lawrence University, where he<br />
cross-country skied collegiately as well.<br />
Nine years later, the weekend after returning from 1991<br />
Canoe/Kayak Slalom World Championships in Yugoslavia,<br />
Bob <strong>and</strong> Heidi were married. They started a life together<br />
in the Queensbury area, where Bob began teaching highschool<br />
earth science in 1985, <strong>and</strong> bought the house that’s<br />
now their home on the east side of Lake George ten years<br />
later. They had two kids, Will <strong>and</strong> Emma; Will works in<br />
Colorado <strong>and</strong> Emma graduated from the University of New<br />
Hampshire in May. Also in May, Bob <strong>and</strong> Heidi welcomed<br />
a new addition to their home: a golden-retriever puppy<br />
named Uncas.<br />
But what happened in that time before kids <strong>and</strong> dogs,<br />
before they conquered multiple Lake Placid Ironman triathlons<br />
(Heidi did four from 2003 to 2010, <strong>and</strong> Bob did three,<br />
most recently when he turned 50 in 2010), <strong>and</strong> before Heidi<br />
won the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in 2000?<br />
Bob, 56, <strong>and</strong> Heidi, 47, won multiple kayak national<br />
championships <strong>and</strong> met because of their shared Olympic<br />
aspirations. Bob qualified for 1988 Olympic trials after following<br />
the lead of his oldest brother, Jim Underwood, who<br />
was eight years older <strong>and</strong> preceded him in making the national<br />
team. Jim <strong>and</strong> Bob won several whitewater national<br />
titles together as a two-man team.<br />
Today, Bob <strong>and</strong> Heidi work in the same office at Adirondack<br />
Enrichment in Glens Falls, where Heidi, a speech pathologist<br />
<strong>and</strong> St. Rose graduate, is the director. Bob, the<br />
school administrator, retired from teaching <strong>and</strong> coaching<br />
at Queensbury two years ago after<br />
33 years with the district. He<br />
initially coached JV soccer, then<br />
headed up the varsity crosscountry<br />
running, nordic <strong>and</strong><br />
alpine skiing, <strong>and</strong> track teams<br />
for more than 30 years. Bob<br />
also currently owns <strong>and</strong> operates<br />
Underdog Race Timing, a<br />
race management business. In<br />
<strong>August</strong>, their nonprofit, Under<br />
The Woods Foundation,<br />
will host its 10th annual summer<br />
camp for children on<br />
the autism spectrum or with<br />
other developmental disabilities,<br />
called Camp Under The<br />
Woods.<br />
The Underwoods figure<br />
they spend more time together<br />
than most couples,<br />
but as they celebrated their<br />
26th wedding anniversary in<br />
June, they wouldn’t have it<br />
any other way.<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Life</strong>:<br />
How did you meet?<br />
Heidi Underwood:<br />
Through Olympic kayaking. I was actually<br />
in high school [laughs] <strong>and</strong> we were<br />
both on the national team, so you travel in<br />
the same circles. You get on a flight <strong>and</strong><br />
you’re like, “Oh, we’re on the same flight!”<br />
AL: How many years were you on<br />
the national team together?<br />
Bob Underwood: I was a whitewater<br />
paddler. I would do flatwater some years<br />
<strong>and</strong> some years I wouldn’t, so I was kind<br />
of on <strong>and</strong> off, <strong>and</strong> Heidi was more of a<br />
flatwater paddler. Then Heidi started<br />
doing whitewater <strong>and</strong> we were on the<br />
whitewater team together for four or five<br />
years, <strong>and</strong> that’s when we started dating.<br />
AL: How did you get involved in<br />
kayaking at that level?<br />
HU: I used to do open-boat whitewater<br />
racing, the Hudson River Derby that’s<br />
been around forever, which I did as a kid<br />
— Bob did, too — <strong>and</strong> then just through<br />
meeting different people, I got into flatwater<br />
kayaking <strong>and</strong> racing <strong>and</strong> I did it all of<br />
my high-school career. That was the sport<br />
I did even before I got into high school.<br />
Initially we lived in the Latham/Loudonville<br />
area <strong>and</strong> we trained on the Hudson<br />
River right down in Albany, but my<br />
parents bought an isl<strong>and</strong> in the middle<br />
of the Hudson River when I was going<br />
into 10th grade <strong>and</strong> I trained right on the<br />
canal there, so I was pretty lucky. A lot<br />
of your training is on your own, but being<br />
on the junior national team, we had a<br />
coach from Pol<strong>and</strong>, so they would send<br />
you your workouts through the mail.<br />
You would go to a camp in Florida<br />
during breaks [<strong>and</strong>] have training clinics<br />
up in Lake Placid. I spent a lot of time in<br />
Lake Placid <strong>and</strong> we raced <strong>and</strong> trained<br />
on Mirror Lake.<br />
BU: I grew up in Johnstown. My father<br />
used to do canoe trips so he had a kayak<br />
<strong>and</strong> we lived on a little whitewater stream<br />
so we got into whitewater paddling. There<br />
was a guy from the U.S., Jamie McEwan,<br />
in the 1972 Olympics, he got a bronze<br />
medal in whitewater canoe slalom. Then<br />
my brother Jim got into racing <strong>and</strong> we just<br />
started going to races. Back then, there<br />
was a huge number of whitewater races<br />
all over the Northeast — the Hudson<br />
River, the Sac<strong>and</strong>aga — there were races<br />
all over the place, <strong>and</strong> as you start to<br />
race more <strong>and</strong> more, you train harder <strong>and</strong><br />
move your way up.<br />
It’s different than what Heidi experienced<br />
with the flatwater national team.<br />
Since it was an Olympic sport, they had<br />
much more of an organized program with<br />
training camps. With whitewater, it was<br />
an Olympic sport with one Olympics back<br />
Above: Bob Underwood racing at<br />
the 1991 ICF Canoe/Kayak Slalom<br />
World Championships in Tacen,<br />
Yugoslavia. Left: Bob Underwood <strong>and</strong><br />
Heidi Becker, now Underwood, at the<br />
opening ceremony for 1991 Canoe/<br />
Kayak Slalom World Championships<br />
in Yugoslavia. Photos provided.<br />
in ’72 in Munich, but then it was gone<br />
<strong>and</strong> it didn’t come back until [the 1992<br />
Barcelona Olympics]. So it was different,<br />
there weren’t training camps, but we<br />
had a good group of paddlers around us<br />
that did whitewater paddling <strong>and</strong> whitewater<br />
kayaking. Actually, it’s weird — in<br />
Johnstown, there were a whole group of<br />
guys that were into it <strong>and</strong> did really well<br />
nationally.<br />
[Note: Bob eventually switched to flatwater<br />
kayaking <strong>and</strong> went to 1988 Olympic<br />
trials in that discipline.]<br />
AL: What other sports were you<br />
doing at the time?<br />
HU: The only thing I did in high school<br />
was running. Nobody really knew about<br />
me <strong>and</strong> kayaking because you don’t see<br />
it. So I was always a little runner.<br />
BU: I ran cross-country <strong>and</strong> track <strong>and</strong><br />
then I skied, <strong>and</strong> I actually went to college<br />
<strong>and</strong> skied for St. Lawrence. More in high<br />
school <strong>and</strong> in college, I was more of a<br />
skier, <strong>and</strong> then I did a lot of [kayaking]<br />
junior-national races <strong>and</strong> things like that<br />
in the springtime <strong>and</strong> summertime, but I<br />
really didn’t start to seriously train until I<br />
got out of college.<br />
[Bob was a Junior National Champion in<br />
26 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 27
slalom, <strong>and</strong> Heidi won the national twoperson<br />
marathon event at age 13).<br />
AL: How did you decide it was time<br />
to move on from the sport?<br />
HU: <strong>For</strong> me in high school, it was pretty<br />
intense training <strong>and</strong> the goal was the ’88<br />
Olympics. It’s competitive, like anything<br />
else. I didn’t make the team trials <strong>and</strong> I<br />
was done with it. I had been doing<br />
Above: Heidi Underwood, formerly Becker,<br />
racing at 1991 ICF Canoe/Kayak Slalom World Championships<br />
in Tacen, Yugoslavia. Opposite: Bob Underwood navigating<br />
rapids on the Ottawa River in Canada. Photos provided.<br />
it for so long. I was like, ‘Oh man,<br />
I don’t know what I’m going to do.<br />
I’ll go for a run.’ I didn’t want to get<br />
back in a boat <strong>and</strong> do that anymore,<br />
<strong>and</strong> then Bob’s like, “Here<br />
try this sport. It’s kayaking, but<br />
whitewater.” And I was like, “OK!”<br />
I was a kayaker by trade <strong>and</strong> I had<br />
done whitewater canoeing with my<br />
dad as a little kid so I knew it, <strong>and</strong> that’s<br />
when I started whitewater kayak racing.<br />
BU: I actually got out of my whitewater<br />
boat <strong>and</strong> trained flatwater, so I made<br />
the trials <strong>and</strong> went to the trials in 1988. I<br />
didn’t make the [Olympic] team, but we<br />
had a really good team that year [the U.S.<br />
Team won two gold medals that year].<br />
They took eight for the team, <strong>and</strong> I was<br />
like 10th or 12th. I was a better whitewater<br />
paddler, so I went back <strong>and</strong> just did<br />
whitewater racing.<br />
I kept training <strong>and</strong> I raced all through<br />
the late ’80s, then we started dating in<br />
’89 <strong>and</strong> I kind of got her into whitewater<br />
<strong>and</strong> she made the team with us, <strong>and</strong> then<br />
the last World Championships we went to<br />
were in 1991. And then after that we had<br />
kids. But you know what? I had been racing<br />
competitively for a long time. We got<br />
married, we had other things to do.<br />
HU: The last whitewater race that we did<br />
[at ’91 World Championships] was very<br />
intense. It was a really, really challenging<br />
river <strong>and</strong> the end of it was really challenging,<br />
<strong>and</strong> two girls had died on training<br />
runs. And so I was like, ‘Oh my God.’<br />
BU: It kind of emptied into this one huge<br />
rapid at the end when you’re really tired,<br />
<strong>and</strong> then at the end of the rapid you had<br />
a hundred yards <strong>and</strong> you had to pull off<br />
the river or else you were going through<br />
The best part of the whole thing<br />
was that I loved training <strong>and</strong> I<br />
loved racing <strong>and</strong> going off to<br />
these different places <strong>and</strong> racing.<br />
— Bob<br />
this un-runnable gorge. That was really<br />
strange. It’s a pretty safe sport, <strong>and</strong> usually<br />
when you hear of somebody that’s<br />
died in whitewater kayaking it’s because<br />
they’re doing something crazy that they<br />
shouldn’t have been doing.<br />
AL: What were your career highlights<br />
in kayaking?<br />
BU: Making the Olympic trials <strong>and</strong> making<br />
World Championships <strong>and</strong> racing the<br />
World Championships. I think the best I<br />
ever finished was 13th in World Championships<br />
<strong>and</strong> I had a couple World Cup<br />
races where I got top three, but not very<br />
often, <strong>and</strong> national champion. Heidi was<br />
national champion a bunch of times. …<br />
The best part of the whole thing was that<br />
I loved training <strong>and</strong> I loved racing <strong>and</strong><br />
going off to these different places <strong>and</strong><br />
racing. I got to travel all over the world<br />
<strong>and</strong> paddle on these beautiful rivers <strong>and</strong><br />
be with a great group of people.<br />
HU: I think what I get from it now, <strong>and</strong><br />
maybe it’s different because I’m older,<br />
but I really like the working hard part of<br />
it <strong>and</strong> doing well. I remember my mother<br />
was so mad because I didn’t want to<br />
come home for my high school graduation<br />
because I was training up in Lake<br />
Placid. Not every kid can embrace that<br />
kind of lifestyle <strong>and</strong> it just suited me, <strong>and</strong> I<br />
think that was the best part of it.<br />
I think the highlight is being in such<br />
a competitive arena. I felt like I was one<br />
of the best at that time <strong>and</strong> you don’t<br />
get that feeling often. When I went to the<br />
[Masters] World Championships in Canada<br />
for triathlon, I was nervous because I<br />
looked around <strong>and</strong> I’m like, ‘These people<br />
are just really good. I’m with the best of<br />
the best.’ That’s a pretty cool thing.<br />
[Last year at the 2016 Ironman 70.3<br />
World Championship in Mont-Tremblant,<br />
Quebec, Heidi placed fourth in her age<br />
group.]<br />
AL: Why did you get into<br />
triathlons after that?<br />
HU: I don’t know. We met some people,<br />
<strong>and</strong> actually a bike that Steve Fairchild<br />
[who now manages Grey Ghost Bicycles<br />
in Glens Falls] let me borrow was one of<br />
the first triathlete bikes. It didn’t have any<br />
aerobars. I was racing with my mountainbike<br />
shoes.<br />
BU: I think the first three or four triathlons<br />
we did, I borrowed a bike.<br />
AL: What attracted you to the Ironman<br />
(2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike <strong>and</strong><br />
26.2-mile run)?<br />
HU: It was so new in this area. It was the<br />
big thing that had come to Lake Placid.<br />
I had done Tupper Lake [half Ironman]<br />
a whole bunch of times <strong>and</strong> people who<br />
were doing Tupper Lake were doing Ironman.<br />
It was like, ‘I did a half, I’ll sign up<br />
for a full.’<br />
BU: <strong>For</strong> me, it was the challenge of doing<br />
it. The training’s really hard, to put all<br />
those hours of training in, especially when<br />
we were doing it because we had kids.<br />
So we would split forces. Heidi would go<br />
<strong>and</strong> then I would go.<br />
HU: The first Ironman I did, I remember<br />
every Saturday I’d do a long ride, <strong>and</strong><br />
there was about four times I’d be out<br />
there for at least six hours <strong>and</strong> Bob would<br />
be home with the kids all day. I’d feel so<br />
guilty because when I got home, you’re<br />
useless. You couldn’t take care of a<br />
hermit crab or make dinner or do laundry;<br />
you’re just spent.<br />
BU: When I was coaching, I used to<br />
bring my bike sometimes. I’d bring my<br />
bike to the Eddy Meet [in Schenectady]<br />
<strong>and</strong> I would ride my bike home after the<br />
meet… or the Hudson Falls Invitational, I<br />
would run back from Hudson Falls after<br />
the meet was over. … The Ironman, I<br />
remember the first one I did, that was so<br />
cool. Then you’re done <strong>and</strong> you’re thinking,<br />
‘Holy cow, I just did 140 miles today.’<br />
AL: What are your main sports now?<br />
HU: I really love to ski. I’ve learned to<br />
love to alpine ski, <strong>and</strong> I love to train<br />
triathlon. I’m not so gung-ho about<br />
racing as much, but I like the people. I<br />
like that intensity <strong>and</strong> that wanting-tobe-fit<br />
group. But it’s petering out for me.<br />
I would race every weekend or every<br />
other weekend, <strong>and</strong> I have one race on<br />
my docket this year [the Ironman 70.3<br />
World Championship in Chattanooga,<br />
Tenn., on Sept. 9]. We’ve gotten<br />
into mountain biking <strong>and</strong> we<br />
both can do that together. It’s<br />
just something that I really enjoy,<br />
something new <strong>and</strong> different <strong>and</strong><br />
challenging <strong>and</strong> you can get<br />
better at it.<br />
BU: I love to ski in the wintertime,<br />
<strong>and</strong> I love to bike <strong>and</strong> run… I just<br />
went whitewater kayaking [in early<br />
May], but whitewater kayaking<br />
is kind of limited. When I was training<br />
whitewater, I would paddle all year long,<br />
all winter. You’d travel or else you’d wear<br />
warm clothes.<br />
HU: That’s really unappealing.<br />
BU: But now, when it’s snowing out, I’m<br />
not gonna go whitewater paddling. I just<br />
love to be outdoors, <strong>and</strong> like Heidi always<br />
says, it just makes you happy.<br />
AL: What other sports or fitness<br />
goals do you have?<br />
HU: They say you should do yoga, but I<br />
don’t really like it. Bob seems to like it a<br />
little more than I do. I really would like to<br />
do more mountain biking, <strong>and</strong> I’m going<br />
on my first big hike trip this November<br />
[a five-day hike up Mexico’s 18,000-foot<br />
Pico de Orizaba] so I could be a hiker.<br />
I don’t know how much I’ll like it…. I’m a<br />
little afraid of getting altitude sickness.<br />
I remember my mother was<br />
so mad because I didn’t want to<br />
come home for my high school<br />
graduation because I was<br />
training up in Lake Placid.<br />
— Heidi<br />
BU: My biggest thing at this point it just<br />
to stay in shape … <strong>and</strong> feeling like I can<br />
still go <strong>and</strong> do the things I want to do. I<br />
don’t have any big races or goals that<br />
I’m going towards, but I want to be able<br />
to go ski <strong>and</strong> ski hard, <strong>and</strong> we’re doing<br />
a mountain-bike trip, <strong>and</strong> another one, a<br />
hut to hut in Colorado for seven days from<br />
Durango to Moab. It’s 230-something<br />
miles. They bring all your food <strong>and</strong> water<br />
to the hut, so you just have to make it to<br />
the next hut. It’s like 35 miles a day.<br />
AL: What do you think this area could<br />
use from a recreational st<strong>and</strong>point?<br />
BU: I’ve always thought passive recreation.<br />
The hiking trails, the mountain biking<br />
trails, the Rush Pond trail. … I think it’s<br />
great to have hiking trails <strong>and</strong> mountain<br />
bike trails <strong>and</strong> once you put them, they<br />
don’t really cost anything. There’s very<br />
little maintenance costs <strong>and</strong> they’re used.<br />
HU: I just think anything that’s going<br />
to promote kids to be outside playing. I<br />
really love that the Queensbury School<br />
is starting to get the mountain-bike team<br />
together.<br />
BU: We started back up the Bill Koch Ski<br />
League this winter [with Friends of Cole’s<br />
Woods] <strong>and</strong> we had 40 or 50 kids there.<br />
We didn’t have a great snow year again,<br />
but even when most of the snow had<br />
melted <strong>and</strong> we could just use the field, we<br />
played games. The kids had so much fun.<br />
HU: Just to be able to pass down some<br />
of the things that we enjoy. A lot of racing<br />
is not in our future, but to be able to give<br />
that opportunity back for kids to experience,<br />
that’s pretty fun. I would love to see<br />
more of that outside stuff.<br />
28 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 29
travel<br />
A Will, a Way,<br />
<strong>and</strong> Two Munros<br />
Views along the West Highl<strong>and</strong> Way,<br />
headed towards <strong>For</strong>t William.<br />
Opposite: Two of the Three Sisters<br />
of Glen Coe, featured in several<br />
movies, one a big draw for tourists.<br />
A late September weekend in the Scottish Highl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
by Ethan Katz<br />
My mind w<strong>and</strong>ered slightly from sleep to a state<br />
of higher awareness. Rolling onto my right<br />
side I paused as the last wisps of my dream<br />
melted away like spindrifts. Wait. I snatched<br />
up my phone; the glowing screen read: Missed<br />
alarm 5:15. It was 6:39. My bus was for 6:50. I now had<br />
Olympic seconds to throw together clothes <strong>and</strong> supplies<br />
into my little red pack before I was out the door running.<br />
A perfect series of events conspired against me. Nikki,<br />
whom I meant to meet for this hiking trip, had planned<br />
everything—I often do the planning <strong>and</strong> gladly let someone<br />
take responsibility. Also, she didn’t have a UK phone number,<br />
<strong>and</strong> I’m me <strong>and</strong> didn’t turn my alarm off vibrate when I<br />
went to bed, knowing full well my tendency to sleep through<br />
early alarms. So, there I was—6:48—full-tilt running down<br />
Cathedral Street toward Glasgow’s city center. Things were<br />
literally flying out of my pack.<br />
Unbelievably, I made it the five blocks to the station with a<br />
minute to spare, not that it mattered. I hadn’t a clue where<br />
the bus was leaving from, <strong>and</strong> instead of asking the desk,<br />
I spent 50 seconds hopelessly running around the station<br />
looking for the bus <strong>and</strong> Wi-Fi to contact Nikki.<br />
The plan was to take the coach from Buchanan Bus Station<br />
to <strong>For</strong>t William <strong>and</strong> hike the West Highl<strong>and</strong> Way to<br />
Kinlochleven, where we’d stay the night at a B & B. Then,<br />
in the morning, take the quick bus ride over to the Glencoe<br />
Visitor’s Centre <strong>and</strong> get in a little more hiking before our<br />
CityLink bus left from there at 5:30 that evening.<br />
Weighing my options, I decided to buy a bus ticket to the<br />
Glencoe VC <strong>and</strong> hike the WHW toward Nikki instead of trying<br />
to catch her from <strong>For</strong>t William going the same way. I<br />
didn’t know where the trail came through the towns, <strong>and</strong> I<br />
figured a visitor’s center could help.<br />
It was now 8:00, leaving me thirty minutes to completely<br />
re-do my hasty packing job, try to eat something, <strong>and</strong> run<br />
back to the station. Bag packed, I slugged a protein shake<br />
<strong>and</strong> multivitamin (no time to cook my usual feast) <strong>and</strong> bolted<br />
out the door again.<br />
The coach ride was about two <strong>and</strong> a half hours, <strong>and</strong> were<br />
some of the most impressive two-<strong>and</strong>-a-half hours of l<strong>and</strong>scape<br />
I had ever seen. Indeed, I was constantly hopping<br />
across the aisle to absorb as much scenery as possible, not<br />
containing my excitement in the least. We passed by the<br />
ever amazing Loch Lomond, whose blue waters <strong>and</strong> low<br />
mountains barricading the far shore reminded me more<br />
than a little of my own Lake George. Rumbling northwest<br />
on the A82, deeper into the highl<strong>and</strong>s, the greens turned<br />
to rich reds <strong>and</strong> tawny browns, <strong>and</strong> the low fells grew taller<br />
<strong>and</strong> rockier, their craggy peaks scraping at the hanging,<br />
gray skies above. Small rivulets turned to burns, <strong>and</strong> finally<br />
into waterfalls, as these tree-less giants shed their coats<br />
of water. This was the scenery made famous by the movie<br />
“Skyfall”, <strong>and</strong> it did not disappoint.<br />
I<br />
left the bus on the side of the highway <strong>and</strong> began walking<br />
up the drive to the VC. Snooping around looking for<br />
the information desk, but finding none, I poked my head<br />
into a Hamish MacDonald art exhibit where I found a lovely<br />
woman, Nicola, who was in charge. Explaining my situation<br />
<strong>and</strong> my plans, she told me that I should continue up<br />
the highway along an adjacent footpath toward <strong>For</strong>t William<br />
<strong>and</strong> wished me luck.<br />
Two dubious miles further, I stopped at a gift shop to ask<br />
for further directions. The clerk presented me with a map—<br />
I needed to be in Kinlochleven. “You’re a bit out of your<br />
way,” she said passingly. Kinlochleven was seven miles<br />
from this intersection <strong>and</strong> it was getting close to noon. It<br />
was no small fact that I didn’t know the distance Nikki was<br />
hiking or her speed (we’d never hiked together). So, with a<br />
shimmer of doubt, I ran.<br />
The heat I had begun my day with shattered away to miserable,<br />
freezing rain. But when the sun did poke through<br />
on occasion, I was granted with spectacular rainbows over<br />
Loch Leven. And it was in a break like this that I ate my<br />
peanut butter s<strong>and</strong>wich on a guardrail beside the highway—my<br />
only real food so far.<br />
An hour <strong>and</strong> a half later, I pulled into Kinlochleven, a<br />
quaint but inarguable ghost town. As I entered the streets, I<br />
saw one person smoking outside of the Ice Climbing Center.<br />
He must have been used to hikers <strong>and</strong> gave me very detailed<br />
instructions on getting to the WHW as well as a pub<br />
that I could warm up in near where the trail cut up the hillside.<br />
Incredible. The only visible person told me everything<br />
I needed to know. Luck was once again running with me.<br />
Squelching into the pub, it immediately struck me how<br />
wet my belongings were as I drenched the oriental lobby<br />
rug <strong>and</strong> soaked up the disapproving looks of the manager<br />
with the best show of American naiveté I could muster. I<br />
threw on a dry shirt, updated my location to Nikki, <strong>and</strong><br />
headed back to the trailhead, marked by a wooden post<br />
with a cryptic symbol embossed in white denoting that this<br />
was, indeed, the Way.<br />
The path rose quickly with frequently placed stone steps<br />
Nikki <strong>and</strong> I atop the summit of Stob Dubh.<br />
Loch Etive is behind us.<br />
<strong>and</strong> I was soon above the trees <strong>and</strong> into the barren mountain<br />
pass. Looking back towards Kinlochleven, I could see<br />
the small town nestled between the high hills <strong>and</strong> Loch Leven,<br />
framing a perfect postcard image. Looking forward, an<br />
occasionally pebbled dirt path snaked <strong>and</strong> rolled straight<br />
through a valley until it was obscured by a marching wall<br />
of rain in the distance.<br />
<strong>For</strong> now, though, it was very warm again, <strong>and</strong> I picked up<br />
a high-spirited running pace, finding great pleasure in covering<br />
the rolling terrain quickly. On one of the steeper uphill<br />
sections I power-hiked past a large group of backpackers going<br />
the opposite direction. They looked like wearily animated<br />
statues, both surprised at my pace as well as my appearance.<br />
I was wearing running shorts, trail shoes, compression<br />
socks, <strong>and</strong> a thin windbreaker, <strong>and</strong> only carrying my<br />
2L hydration pack. Most of their lot had full waterproof suits<br />
on <strong>and</strong> were weighed down with large packs of 35L or more.<br />
I smiled <strong>and</strong> continued onward, now buffeted by 30 mph<br />
winds <strong>and</strong> pummeling droplets as I crested the hill. It would<br />
seem I had met the wall of rain. Quite quickly I was becoming<br />
soaked again <strong>and</strong> was losing zeal, but I forced myself to<br />
continue at a brisk pace. I felt guilty for sleeping in.<br />
Further on, atop another rise, I could see almost a mile<br />
ahead. Scanning the trail like a hawk I searched for<br />
human-shaped irregularities but found none. Just a<br />
muddy stripe cutting through the valley until it receded<br />
into opaque nothingness. I stopped to do this with increasing<br />
frequency, as I was getting wetter <strong>and</strong> colder by the<br />
minute in the unrelenting rain <strong>and</strong> my pace <strong>and</strong> mood were<br />
both suffering. Nearing some ruins I decided it was high<br />
time I put on my New Balance tights I had been guarding in<br />
the dry bag for later.<br />
On the “porch” outside of the ruins <strong>and</strong> next to the<br />
sign warning hikers to stay out of the unstable building, I<br />
stripped down, being careful to place my feet on my shoes,<br />
though I don’t know why I bothered, my socks were pretty<br />
wet already. With the tights on, I proceeded to struggle with<br />
fumbling cold fingers on the quick release laces of my Salo-<br />
30 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 31
mon Sense Pros. Finding my silk gloves, I slid them over my<br />
icy talons as I looked into the distance <strong>and</strong> could just make<br />
out a person colored like a highlighter. Slinging on my pack<br />
I began my shuffling jog again, now several degrees warmer.<br />
As I neared, I found a familiar face under the high-vis hood.<br />
It was Nikki. I could turn around now.<br />
She had hiked all the way from <strong>For</strong>t William, meaning she<br />
had already done about 14 miles that day. We had three-ish<br />
miles back to Kinlochleven, <strong>and</strong> I was assured that this was<br />
the prettiest stretch of the path she had seen. I didn’t feel as<br />
bad about missing the rest.<br />
Back at the pub, we tried to dry off <strong>and</strong> warm up. I ordered<br />
a bowl of “Drunken Pig Soup,” which somehow seemed requisite.<br />
An elderly couple at the table beside us turned out to<br />
be from the states, <strong>and</strong> incredibly, the woman had taught<br />
at Nikki’s high school!<br />
The bed <strong>and</strong> breakfast was amazing. Fifty pounds got us<br />
a room with a window overlooking the mountains, a communal<br />
drying room, <strong>and</strong> a flat screen. The bathroom had a<br />
Jacuzzi <strong>and</strong> the shower was about four times bigger than<br />
the waterproof cupboard I had in my flat. And a full Scottish<br />
breakfast was only an extra five quid each. We watched<br />
dog herding on TV, I had two full entrees at another pub in<br />
town (“I’ll have the burger <strong>and</strong> the mac n’ cheese” … “You<br />
want two entrees?” … “Yes.”), <strong>and</strong> I felt completely spoiled.<br />
The full Scottish breakfast: porridge, eggs, ham, beans,<br />
<strong>and</strong> black pudding. I am not a picky eater, but breakfast is<br />
my favorite meal of the day, <strong>and</strong> I just don’t have any desire<br />
to eat beans that early. And the black pudding is pretty<br />
weird. I had it several times <strong>and</strong> it always looked <strong>and</strong> tasted<br />
like a charcoal hockey puck.<br />
Boarding the bus that we thought would take us to the<br />
visitor center, we sat down in the upper-deck. The bus<br />
did not, in fact, stop at the visitor’s center. It followed<br />
the route I had run the previous day, stopping two miles<br />
short, near the gift shop where I had asked for directions.<br />
It was an easy walk though, knowing the way. At the VC,<br />
I made sure to stop into the art exhibit but unfortunately<br />
Nicola was not due until later. We found the park ranger<br />
station where there was a map <strong>and</strong> decided we could likely<br />
hike Buachaille Etive Beag, between Glencoe <strong>and</strong> Glen<br />
Etive, on the edge of Rannoch Moor. It has two summits<br />
that are both considered Munros—a Scottish peak or summit<br />
above 3,000 ft.—first tabulated by Sir Hugh Munro in<br />
1891. In the lexicon, the two summits would be considered<br />
Munro “tops” because they are not separate mountains, but<br />
hold a requisite prominence between them. Walkhighl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
had this to say about the mountain: “Buachaille Etive Beag<br />
is often overlooked in favour of its more illustrious neighbor<br />
[Buachaille Etive Mor]. It is, however, a magnificent ridge<br />
in its own right, offering superlative views down Loch Etive<br />
<strong>and</strong> of the surrounding peaks of Glencoe.” Not to mention<br />
it was listed as only “three boots” on the site’s difficulty<br />
scale—just within Nikki’s comfort zone.<br />
We lucked out <strong>and</strong> successfully hitched a ride before we<br />
even left the VC driveway with an older couple from North<br />
Carolina. We had them drop us off at the Three Sisters of<br />
Glen Coe which was a bit too early. We had almost a mile<br />
of highway walking before we reached the start of the trail<br />
right off the A82.<br />
The trail climbs quickly <strong>and</strong> pretty soon we were about<br />
halfway to the bealach <strong>and</strong> feeling the expanse of the moorl<strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> mountains. Despite its proximity to the highway,<br />
the trail seems far from civilization. Once atop the bealach<br />
we had a choice of which Munro top we wanted to climb<br />
first. Stob Dubh was the furthest away <strong>and</strong> the taller of the<br />
two, <strong>and</strong> we were told it had the best views, so we continued<br />
in that direction first.<br />
Once on the ridgeline I was immediately struck by two<br />
thoughts. <strong>For</strong> one, the view reminded me of the view along<br />
32 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
This is not the trail<br />
to Buachaille, as<br />
we soon realized.<br />
New Hampshire’s Franconia Ridge looking north towards<br />
Mount Lafayette. And also, though not nearly as tall as New<br />
Hampshire’s summits (Stob Dubh is 3,143 ft. while Lafayette<br />
is just shy of a mile), I felt I was many thous<strong>and</strong>s of feet<br />
higher than I actually was. This I attributed to the absence<br />
of trees for size comparison of the l<strong>and</strong> features. The highl<strong>and</strong>s,<br />
bar some scattered forests <strong>and</strong> woodl<strong>and</strong>, are devoid<br />
of trees. The historic dem<strong>and</strong> for timber was just too great<br />
a pressure on the area <strong>and</strong> with the constant water erosion<br />
<strong>and</strong> sheep <strong>and</strong> deer grazing, it is very hard for the trees<br />
to return. The lack of trees though makes the l<strong>and</strong>scape<br />
extremely unique <strong>and</strong> unforgettable. We were afforded a<br />
break in the clouds for a vista encompassing Loch Etive,<br />
Bidean nam Bian, the Aonach Eagach ridgeline, <strong>and</strong> in the<br />
distance to the north, we could just make out Ben Nevis,<br />
the only peak above the clouds.<br />
Nikki’s knee was bothering her on the way down to the<br />
bealach, so she opted to sit <strong>and</strong> enjoy the views <strong>and</strong> the<br />
occasional sun while I continued the quick jaunt up to the<br />
slightly shorter summit, Stob Coire Raineach, with captivating<br />
views of the Buachaille’s bigger twin ridgeline, but I<br />
didn’t linger. The descent seemed quick, even despite running,<br />
<strong>and</strong> it wasn’t long before we’d reached the road.<br />
Walking back west on the A82 we soon caught a<br />
hitch back to the VC with plenty of time before the<br />
café closed, <strong>and</strong> well before our 5:30 bus. And yet,<br />
when the time came, the bus did not stop. Worse, I didn’t<br />
have cell service to call CityLink.<br />
It was now dark, <strong>and</strong> completely quiet bar the occasional<br />
speeding car. We had no idea what to do. But then, a man<br />
came rolling down the drive on a bicycle, <strong>and</strong>, just as he<br />
was passing by us, we heard his phone begin to ring. We<br />
both stared at him, ready to pounce. He pulled over on the<br />
grass fifteen feet away <strong>and</strong> pulled out a pink, bedazzled<br />
iPhone. We were saved.<br />
Steven was a typical lad, though in his forties. He politely<br />
lent Nikki his phone to call CityLink, while he cracked<br />
wise with me for several minutes. A defining Steve quote:<br />
“Y’know, if this all goes tits up, I’ll be just up the road <strong>and</strong><br />
headed for Glasgow in the mornin’. You’d be welcome, I’ve a<br />
camp <strong>and</strong> waaay too much whisky.” At one point Nikki was<br />
writing down the time for the next bus (19:42) <strong>and</strong> showed<br />
it to me when Steve scratched his chin <strong>and</strong> said with nostalgia<br />
“Aye, t’was a good year” <strong>and</strong> began laughing. CityLink<br />
allowed us on the next bus free of charge—we apparently<br />
were supposed to wait on the other side of the highway<br />
(there was no pull-off or shoulder) <strong>and</strong> the bus would just<br />
stop. Despite being a bit peeved, I couldn’t believe the good<br />
luck I’d had. Even with the heavy afternoon rains on Saturday,<br />
Sunday’s weather was a rare treat for an autumn<br />
day. And, I managed to find Nikki, despite knowing nothing<br />
about where I was going, <strong>and</strong> events seemingly going wrong<br />
at every turn. It all worked out in the end. <strong>For</strong> my first trip<br />
to the Highl<strong>and</strong>s, I couldn’t have asked for more.<br />
The rockstrewn<br />
summit<br />
of Stob Dubh.<br />
My first Munro<br />
in the bag.<br />
Ruins along the<br />
West Highl<strong>and</strong><br />
Way. This is where<br />
I succumbed to<br />
the heavy rains.
calendar<br />
“A trophy<br />
carries dust.<br />
Memories last forever..”<br />
Mary Lou Retton<br />
Sat.-Sun., Aug. 5-6*<br />
Churney Gurney<br />
Gurney Lane Recreation<br />
Park, Queensbury<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: Facebook Churney Gurney or<br />
bikereg.com/Churney-gurney<br />
Sat., Aug. 5, 8:00am*<br />
15th Annual Race<br />
the Train<br />
Train Depot, North Creek<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: Tracy Watson,<br />
(518) 251-0107 or active.com<br />
Sat., Aug. 5, 8:00am*<br />
10th Annual Tour of<br />
the Catskills<br />
Tannersville<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: tourofthecatskills.com<br />
Sun., Aug. 6, 8:00am*<br />
15th Annual Christine<br />
Nicole Perry Memorial<br />
Bike Ride<br />
The Hub, Brant Lake<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: chrissysfund.com or 644-3020<br />
Sat., Aug. 12, 8:00am*<br />
9th Annual Camp<br />
Chingachgook Challenge<br />
Half Marathon & 10K<br />
Kattskill Bay, Lake George<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: areep.com/events/acc/<br />
Sun., Aug 13, 7:50am*<br />
6th Annual Old <strong>For</strong>ge<br />
Triathlon (Intermediate)<br />
Lakeview Ave, Old <strong>For</strong>ge<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: atcendurance.com<br />
Sat., Aug. 19, 10:00am*<br />
Over the Top 10K<br />
Mountain Bike Duathlon<br />
& 5K Trail Run<br />
West Mountain, Queensbury<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: www.westmtn.net/ or 636-3699<br />
Sun., Aug. 20, 9:00am*<br />
Four Lakes Tour to<br />
Benefit Tour de <strong>For</strong>ce<br />
The Hub, Brant Lake<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: bikereg.com/34983<br />
or Rachel Harvey, 496-0874<br />
Sun. Aug. 20, 10:00am*<br />
37th Annual Lake George<br />
To Ticonderoga Bike to<br />
Boat Ride<br />
Lake George/Ticonderoga<br />
<strong>For</strong> more info: lakegeorgesteamboat.com/<br />
cruises/specialty/mohicanspecialty<br />
Sat., Aug. 26, 8:00am*<br />
17th Annual Pat Stratton<br />
Memorial Century Ride<br />
Mount Pisgah Lodge,<br />
Saranac Lake<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: bikereg.com/pat-stratton-memorialride<br />
or Bob Sheefer, 891-5873<br />
*Check websites first for registration deadlines, start times, information <strong>and</strong> changes or errors.<br />
Runners in headlamps get ready for the early morning start of last year’s<br />
ADK 80k at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid. PHOTO: Jody Katz<br />
Create new memories as you challenge yourself at these upcoming events.<br />
Sat.-Sun., Aug. 26-27*<br />
ADK 80K Mountain Bike &<br />
Trail Running Races<br />
Sat. 5:30: Trail Run & Relay.<br />
Sun. 8:00: MTB Race.<br />
Mt Van Hoevenberg,<br />
Lake Placid<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: adk80k.com or 523-3764<br />
Sat.-Sun., Sept. 2-3*<br />
12th Annual Lake George<br />
Triathlon Festival<br />
Sat. 7:00am, Sun. 6:45am<br />
Battlefield Park,<br />
Lake George<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: adkracemgmt.com<br />
Sat., Sept. 9, 8:00am*<br />
Camp Challenge<br />
Bike Ride<br />
Double H Ranch,<br />
Lake Luzerne<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: doublehranch.org.<br />
Sat.-Sun, Sept. 9-10, 7:00am*<br />
Tour de Daggett Lake<br />
Daggett Lake Campsite,<br />
Thurman<br />
<strong>For</strong> info: visitadirondacks.com/events/tourde-daggett-bicycle-ride<br />
Do you have an event to share? Email us at<br />
info@87npub.com, subject line: Calendar <strong>and</strong><br />
we will list your event, space permitting.<br />
34 | DACKS & TOGA activelife DACKS & TOGA activelife | 35
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36 | DACKS & TOGA activelife<br />
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