Redefining the surf trip
When most of us think of surf trips, we think of far off, sunny locations like Fiji and South Africa. But Surfer magazine contributor Rob Gilley says we’ve got it all wrong, and he explains it all in this post, which he wrote as a response to the opinions of a nameless and highbrow surf industry leader: “With a certain arrogance, out it came: ‘Why would anyone go on a trip to surf in cold water?’ I held my tongue. I wanted to respond to this comment badly, but decided that in the end it would be better to just keep quiet. This major surf industry leader had no idea–no clue–I thought to myself.” To find out why cold-water surf trips to places like Ireland, Scotland, and Canada would beat out sunny locales any day, click here. You can also view a gallery of some of the cold-water surf spots Gilley has visited.

Photo of Irish surf courtesy Surfer, Gilley

Why pro athlete social media sucks
Powder contributor Ryan Dunfee just posted a pretty hilarious rant about the pitfalls of following your favorite athletes on social media. In his case, Dunfee rants about pro skiers, but his points apply to pretty much all professional athletes (except the rare few like Laker Ron Artest, err, Metta World Peace, whose Twitter feed is too bizarre not to follow). Dunfee writes: “In a relatively homogenous community like skiing (you know, compared to the real world), there are a few common threads that will weave through the fabric of your feed of totally awesome pro skiers’ social media. They will all be stoked most of the time. Any time anything especially good happens, they will not only be stoked, but honored. They will likely use the phrase ‘Another day in the office,’ which will drive you insane. Unfortunately, few pro skiers have the gift of gab to match their gift of a life that we all wish we were living. Follow your favorite skier on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook long enough and you will be disappointed that they are just as nice and boring as the people you know in real life. They take photos of their dogs or their food and do lame things like road biking and errands. Sometimes they retweet inspirational quotes from dumb sports sites, which really kills the buzz.” To read the full post and view Dunfee’s list of skiers who he says are actually worth following, click here.

Photo courtesy skier Mary O’Neil’s Twitter feed

The Heavy Pedal Tour reaches Idaho
Bike magazine‘s Heavy Pedal Tour has made its way to Sun Valley, Idaho. The tour follows the antics of “Natty and Trey” as they explore the best mountain biking that North America has to offer. Judging by this clip, there doesn’t look to be many places better than Sun Valley. “You can access a singletrack trailhead for a 30-mile ride five minutes from your front door,” said a Sun Valley local in the video. “I’ve grown up mountain biking since I was 10 years old, and this is my favorite place that I’ve found to do it.” Click here to watch the video, and be sure to check back with Bike magazine for photo galleries of the recent tour stop.

Click on play to watch the video