Now is the time to think about picking up some post-holiday ornaments.  I’m really fond of the outdoor related ornaments I’ve been given in the last couple of years, particularly from Inside Outside.  All mine are cycling ornaments and all my husband’s are canoe ornaments. 

Inside Outside has a ton of cute stuff for all sorts of outdoor enthusiasts.  Check them out!

www.insideoutside.com

More lights! These are flashy safety lights that can be used by practically anyone outside at night to increase visibility. The little light, not much bigger than an inch square, snaps into a clip, letting you mount it to practically anything: bike helmets, backpacks, clothing, dog collars, or wrist/head bands.

The Supernovas are astonishingly bright (visible over a mile according to Road ID) and waterproof to 300 feet, if you decide to take an underwater walk. Flipping the battery around in the light switches it from a flashing mode to a steady mode and the rounded light housing allows it to be seen from both the front and the sides. I’ve got a couple attached to my helmet straps for side visibility during my commute.  ET, phone home!

It’s hard to get a daylight run or ride or even dog walk in at this time of the year when you work full time. It just makes good sense to have a few of these flashies on hand to increase your visibility, especially when they are so easy to clip on and move around depending on your activity. Be seen, be safe!

Road ID Firefly Supernova lights, msrp: $12.99, available through the RoadID website.

Oh what a wonderful headlight this is!

If you like to mountain bike at night or you are a really dedicated year-round commuter, an HID type headlight is a marvelous luxury that you almost can’t afford to be without. An HID (High Intensity Discharge) light uses a ballast to illuminate and it can throw out many more “lumens” which are a measure of brightness, than either LED or hallogen bulbs.

Last year, I gave up on the winter commuting about the first day of winter, December 21st. I could see the road okay with my 15 watt halogen light, but I had to seriously reduce my speed and peer anxiously for those potholes that the thaws and freezes open up. This year, I’m on the path to a full winter of commuting because of the power this light puts out. It gives a nice spotlight area up ahead and what seems like a good 180 degree flood of light to the sides with no dark spots. Armed with a flashing front and rear light, and the ARC HID light in the front, you’ll be seen by cars and see the road hazards ahead.

The ARC HID comes with a handlebar or helmet mounting system. The rapid charge NiMH slimline battery is in a water-resistant, insulating plastic coating and has an extra long cord allowing you to mount it just about anywhere on your bike where you have six inches of tube available. It will run at full power for about 3 hours and low power for about 3.5 hours. I think I’ve actually managed to stretch out out even longer than that. The smart battery will signal you when it’s running down and shut itself off automatically to protect itself from draining down too low. A recharge takes about 2 hours - no more overnight charging - but the battery charger won’t overcharge or damage the battery if you leave it charging longer than that. No tools required to mount the light itself, so you can pop it on and back off again if you’re leaving your bike outside where it might get pinched.

HID technology is not inexpensive - this light will set you back a good amount of change, but I’ve been able to keep riding and saving gas money weeks longer than I could before. Light & Motion makes it easy to keep rolling, so get out there and light up the night!

Light & Motion ARC HID NiMH Headlight, MSRP: $429.99

When Michelle Theall dreamed up Women’s Adventure Magazine, she imagined a magazine that would capture her own love of outdoor pursuits and thoughtful journalism - WA is a bit unique in the sports mag arena. I know there are lots of you dear readers who spend time journaling, blogging, podcasting, taking quill pen to parchment, or any other method of expressing yourself creatively when you’re not out exploring the world. In fact, we’ve heard from some of you with our reader’s story contests and you’ve got engaging things to say. Some of you may already have your own personal blogs.

When Mariner Software wanted to send us a sample of their brand new journaling software, WinJournal, I hesitated because we’re an outdoor magazine not a writing magazine, but I remembered all you accomplished and budding writers and gave it a try. (There’s a MacJournal for Apple users.)

WinJournal is an easy-to-use way to organize all your writing, whether typed or spoken, and publish it online, either on your own personal blog or to your website. I used it this year to keep track of everything I saw at Interbike (a big cycling trade show), and it kept all those hurried thoughts in one place. It was great to not have stuff scattered all over my computer in little notepad files that I never got around to finding and rereading later.

I struggled a little bit to set up the connection info for publishing directly to my blog because my blog address is different from my user name, but about fifteen minutes of poking around solved the connection snafu. Pretty cool! I can compose offline, and with a click of my “Publish to Blog” button, up goes my post!

WinJournal has lots of extras that let you personalize and decorate your posts as well as privacy settings for locking your journal. If you are copying and pasting something from an email message that has the carrots (>>) in front of each line, WinJournal has a Cleanup function that will remove them, as well as other clunky code bits that you don’t want to publish. If you’re not into sharing your thoughts with the entire cyberworld, WinJournal is still a great way to keep a personal or family journal, complete with your digital photos.

I was also able to record some commentary with my posts and WinJournal stored them as .wav files that it attached to each entry. My WordPress account requires a space upgrade ($$$) to enable sound files on blog entries, so I wasn’t able to test it out.

Chaos,
aka, my desk

The only thing I really struggled with was resizing the WinJournal window. My computer desktop looks just like my real-life desktop — like a bomb went off at some point. I’ve got about fourteen programs running at once and I’m used to resizing and dragging them around the desktop with carefree abandon. I could resize the WinJournal window but pulling it back out in size was difficult and it would only intermittently allow me to grab the top toolbar and drag the whole thing around the desktop. Of course, this may be an “Id1oT” error, as my boss at work likes to call them - user error, not the software’s fault.

WinJournal is pretty cool software that will definitely encourage your writing efforts.

WinJournal/MacJournal from Mariner Software: msrp $39.95

We’ve been out on the local trails lately, and I’m proud to report I’ve got several mountain rides to my credit now.

Hydration packs can be a real problem when you’ve had a back injury somewhere in your history, and my friend, Connie, has an old break in one of her vertebrae that can get painful on long rides or whenever she tries to put weight on her back while riding. So, she was cautiously optimistic about a waist-style pack she got from Polarpak recently. After a couple of great rides using the pack, Connie tells me:

I’m a Polarpak FlowJo convert!

The FlowJo didn’t shift around too much while we were popping over roots and rocks and the weight of the pack rested comfortably on my hips and away from my lower back. Ahh!

The 24 ounce reservoir has a pressurization system that lets you pump air into it, so you’ve got a positive flow of water/drink when you bit down on the valve, but you can use it without inflating, too. All the hose connections are quick release and stay sealed when they are disconnected — just a twist and they are off, without any leaking.

There’s a baffle system inside the reservoir that keeps the sloshing to a minimum, but it also makes it a challenge when you’re trying to dry it out with a towel.

Some antimicrobial treatments on plastic reservoirs keep flavoring your water for a long time, but I didn’t taste anything but my drink after an initial rinse of the reservoir.

My favorite feature, though, is the big pocket in the pack itself. I was able to cram in everything I needed for the ride: gels, a cell phone, ID, energy bars, and even my tools and flat kit. It’s perfect for riding or running.

There you have it. Connie is a new mountain bike rider and her only hydration so far has been from caged water bottles, which just love to pop out and roll around when the going gets really rough. The FlowJo means she stays hydrated and the rest of us can stop rolling over her water bottles on the ride!

Polarpak FlowJo pressurized waist hydration pack: msrp $39.95 www.polarpak.com