Extreme Sports

Buying a mountain bike can seem like a big decision but you can help yourself by getting educated about the important aspects of the bike. The following six areas should be thought about before you make your next mountain bike purchase.

Six Points:
1.  Price
2.  Frame
3.  Brakes
4.  Shifters
5.  Tires
6.  Fit

Price:
The best mountain bikes can cost thousands of dollars and can cost as little as several hundred dollars. The first place to start your search is to determine the price you are willing to pay. A good beginner mountain bike will cost between 400 and 800 dollars depending on where you buy it. To insure that you won’t be replacing your mountain bike in the near future don’t go the route of buying the Walmart specials. Many people make this very mistake when start out to buy a mountain bike. Rather than getting the inexpensive mountain bike in the beginning and replacing it within a year, you would have been better off with the higher priced mountain from the start. The Iron Horse Mountain Bike is a good example of a popular mountain bike at an affordable price.

Brakes:
Obviously the best mountain bikes have the best brakes. The decision you have to make is whether to use disk brakes or rim brakes. The cost of disk brakes are higher but the braking power is superior. Rim brakes offer a lighter, lower cost alternative but you will sacrifice some performance particularly in wet conditions. The Diamondback Recoil Full Suspension Mountain Bike is a fine example of a high quality mountain bike that incorporates dual disk brakes.  Read more...

Scuba Diving in Thailand has many rewards for Recreational Scuba Divers, and world class dive sites in Phuket and the Similan/Surin islands are recognised for their vibrant marine life, nutrient-rich coral reefs and clear blue, warm water. Adventurous tourists flocked to Thailand in search of palm fringed golden sand beaches, luxurious beachside accommodation, endless watersports and countless family activities, value for money that few tourists to Asia could resist. Late December 2004 saw an event that would scar the lives of so many people and my account of this tragedy is based on what happened on the Andaman Coast of Thailand, though I fully appreciate that other countries and continents were also affected.

In Thailand, more than 8,000 people were killed in the disaster, or have never been reunited with their families. This also included over 2,000 foreign tourists, most of which were taking holidays in and around Phuket. This southern province contributed approximately 40 percent of Thailand’s annual tourism income. The Indian Ocean tsunami was triggered by an undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and as the huge waves of tumbling water struck the Andaman shores, Phuket and its surrounding regions suffered raw nature at its worst. Phuket Scuba Divers who were actually under water at the time, recall a surge of water that pushed and pulled with all its might. Dive Boats were smashed, snorkelers were dragged along the beaches, and sunbathers were completely overwhelmed by a wall of water crashing overhead.  Read more...

Description
Get ready to hang ten with the “Fellini of Foam,” filmmaker Bruce Brown, the pioneer of surf filmmaking! The director of The Endless Summer travels the globe filming the world’s greatest surfers as they search for the perfect wave, and now you can go on the ultimate thrill ride with the world’s wildest waves! Bruce’s first film, Slippery When Wet, follows five surfers on their dream trip to Hawaii, living and surfing on the North Shore of Oahu on $100 a month. Experience th… More >>

Bruce Brown: The Golden Years of Surf Collection

Description
From Bud Browne’s pioneering films of Makaha Point Surf in the 1940s to the punk-bash videotape of the 90s, the complete four-volume set transports the viewer along a fascinating, fifty-year surf cinema timeline. Written by acclaimed surf historian journalist Matt Warshaw, each volume presents rarely seen footage from personal libraries of the most significant surf filmmakers of all time. The Journal’s privileged access to this footage, along with the filmmaker’s own candid… More >>

The Surfer’s Journal – Fifty Years of Surfing on Film Vol 1

Scuba Diving in Thailand has many rewards for Recreational Scuba Divers, and world class dive sites in Phuket and the Similan/Surin islands are recognised for their vibrant marine life, nutrient-rich coral reefs and clear blue, warm water. Adventurous tourists flocked to Thailand in search of palm fringed golden sand beaches, luxurious beachside accommodation, endless watersports and countless family activities, value for money that few tourists to Asia could resist. Late December 2004 saw an event that would scar the lives of so many people and my account of this tragedy is based on what happened on the Andaman Coast of Thailand, though I fully appreciate that other countries and continents were also affected.

In Thailand, more than 8,000 people were killed in the disaster, or have never been reunited with their families. This also included over 2,000 foreign tourists, most of which were taking holidays in and around Phuket. This southern province contributed approximately 40 percent of Thailand’s annual tourism income. The Indian Ocean tsunami was triggered by an undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and as the huge waves of tumbling water struck the Andaman shores, Phuket and its surrounding regions suffered raw nature at its worst. Phuket Scuba Divers who were actually under water at the time, recall a surge of water that pushed and pulled with all its might. Dive Boats were smashed, snorkelers were dragged along the beaches, and sunbathers were completely overwhelmed by a wall of water crashing overhead.  Read more...