Patagoniacs

Cyberwar in Russia for Women !

The leading website for women in Russia, www.womanjournal.ru, was attacked by hackers who launched a very well organized Denial of Service attack. This attack was very strong and unfortunately the site was unavailable for several hours in the past days.
If the attack was a simple attack, during one night and day, I would have think that this is mainly an isolated action of hackers who wanted to have fun. But, because the attack looked very professional, and is still not ended, I am not afraid to make the following assumptions :
- Competitor(s) wanted to attack the site. Just one week before the attack, the site www.webplanet.ru, published several articles about the new sites of Hachette in Russia, dedicated to women, and the articles pointed out that several strong competitors are entering the race to be the leader on the women's segment. How strange it is, isn't it ?
Personally I do believe that one competitor of  www.Womanjournal.ru is really wanted to take the leading position and want to shoot down the project. Such an attack costs a lot of money if you order it.

Blackberry - Gmail- Russia

Last time I was in Moscow, 2 weeks ago, I saw on my Black Berry, the message : Connexion to data is not authorized.
Yesterday, I arrived at the International airport Sheremyetevo, received 2 mails, then, as I was going to the center of the city, I saw this message. And effectively, I cannot received any emails through the edge conenxion. Security restrictions from the Russian security services ? Failure of the agreement between Orange and the Russian operators ? I do not know for the moment, and I have not any time to investigate this point.
But I also noticed that in France, while trying to use google mail system installed on the blackberry, it does not work !
Does this mean that the Black berry is not safe ?

Salomon fast wing hoodie jacket

Sorry for Patagonia this time ... I have found a nice Salomon jacket to bring with you when you go running. The Salomon fast wing hoodie jacket.
Small, light, and with a stow pocket.
Nothing really new you would say, but usually, when you have stowed your jacket, what do you do with it while running ?
If you have a small bag with your camel back, then you put it inside. But if you do not have any bag and do not want to take any ?

Salomon answered this very simply. You can fix it to your arm because there is a simple band with a velcro scratch.

Small, light, easy to carry. The right answer to runners' need when the weather becomes rainy.

More about Patagonia Wetsuits

You may have noticed that the Patagonia wetsuits was, few months ago, a kind of mystery. Hard to find info about it. The only ressources (as far as I know) were rare.
Ali did a wonderful job with the unofficial Patagonia wetsuit website.
He mentionned the document available online here, which was given to me by Patagonia Europe's offices.
Now, you can find much more information about the Patagonia wetsuits on the Patagonia website, here.
You can see a full range of wetsuits (fullsuit, springsuit, ...). You can get  also more details about the products (see Common Features & Close-ups).

The only point is : WHERE CAN WE BUY THIS !!!????
Well, still at Cardiff's shop. Looks like this is the only place ... unfortunately :-(

May be if several surfers in Europe want to get the wetsuit, we can make a list, and send this to Patagonia Europe, so we will place one global order to get the wetsuit in Europe ?
If you are interested, send me an email at pierric.duthoit(at)wanadoo.fr or let a comment. I'll check with Patagonia Europe's offices what we can get.

Patagonia WetSuits in action

Check there, and also here, to see the Patagonia Wetsuits in action.
Since I have posted some documents about the Wetsuits, and since the unofficial patagoniawetsuit site has been created by Ali, it looks like many people are coming to this website and this blog to find information.
So, I keep on posting information about the wetsuit, each time I'll get some, and also keep on checking the Patagonia website and blog, to check if there is anything new.

Picture : Keith Malloy. Chile. Photo: Branden Aroyan.

Ipod, surf, pleasure

Got an Ipod video ? Then go on surfhistory.com, download some movies and surf stuff on your Ipod. Go to your nearest apple store (online or other), buy an Ipod AV cable.
Connect your Ipod to your TV and enjoy hours of surf movie !
You can even travel with your Ipod and your cable, and wherever you find a TV, you can watch your best surf movies to wait for your next surf session.
When I see how fast technology goes, I can't imagine what will be our future. I also keep in mind that millions of people in the world, wether in Asia, in Africa, in South America, have never seen a phone !
Well, while waiting for the next surfsession, and after a good saturday run, I stay quiet, eating tons of Nutella, watching surf movies. And thanks to who I know who knows for the movies.

PS : Sprout is a great surf movie.
PS' : I also bought an Igroove Ipod speaker to listen to the Ipod ... Today is another day for my neighboors :-))

VIVE KAILLOUX !!!

The famous brand "kailloux" is launching its new organic coton t-shirts !!!
As Romu says in its email, it is not a "marketing" move but something obvious to save the planet :-)
Hey, Romu, and if it helps selling more t-shirts, it's good too :-))
So go on the WEB 2.0 e-commerce website of Kailloux, and (if you need one), buy a nice T-shirt to go climbing

(made by climbers, for climbers)

Polar - follow up - Jet lag !

Some of you may remember that, after some problems, I finally get a new Polar AXN 500. So I am now using it with the Polar s625X. But, on both watches I noticed a small problem. A problem of Jet lag ...
You have a "time 2" function. So when you travel, you keep time 1 on Paris for example and put time 2 on Moscow or New York, or Bombay, or Honolulu, depending on how lucky you are ... So, you understood, for me (how lucky I am ...), it's Moscow : -10 deg and + 2hrs from Paris' time.
So while in Moscow, I use my Time 2 function. Then, after a week or 2, I come back. And usually, when I get up on saturday morning, my watch says it's already sunday morning ... I lost one day ... And so, each time, I need to correct the date. As if the internal clock of the watch, counted the days, and the 2 hours of difference, and at the end, add a day to the calendar. Quite strange.
So, finally, when you use a Polar with this function, be careful, because you may travel to Moscow, and come back with a jet lag as if you were in Honolulu :-)

Duck Dive !

No this is not a sex toy, even if my friends and I were teasing the owner of this toy with that joke ...
No, this is the concrete application of a DUCK DIVE ! When you surf, you learn to duck dive, in order to pass the waves and go to the line up.
Well, this duck can dive, and is a radio !!! Yes, believe me.
So, next time you want to make a special gift to your girl friend, tell her about the duck dive, and select the duck you'll offer :-)

Wetsuits again

This is the season to speak about wetsuits, so let's do it ...
While reading the 70 percent blog, I saw the post about Matuse.
Impressive ... Seems to be really good and nice to wear while in the cold winter water !

Patagonia WetSuit mystery

I've read on 70 percent a post about the Patagonia wetsuit. In this post, it is mentionned :

I estimate the guy has $400 or so in the wetsuit and $400 to $800 dollars of billable time in making the site. That’s either some serious brand loyalty or a very sneaky guerilla marketing campaign. Given Patagonia’s stellar reputation and the fact the the photos on the site are pretty bad, I’m going with the latter.

Well, I would like to clarify some points.
First of all, I am not an employee of Patagonia. I've been working years ago for Patagonia, as a consultant for Russia. Since then I only kept some very good contacts with some people inside the company, and this is true that I really like the brand, the products, the spirit etc etc. So, on my side, I am not doing any paid viral marketing.

Then, as far as I know, (but this can be easily validated by Ali) the website done by Ali, about the Patagonia wetsuit, has not been ordered by Patagonia, and is not inserted in any viral marketing campaign. You can see the comments Ali put on my blog .
To tell you the story of the post I've done about the Patagonia wetsuit, I received from Patagonia a mail about the award Patagonia received for this mail (because, as I told you, I kept good relations with Patagonia Europe). So I asked Patagonia Europe if I can receive more details and publish it on the blog. They sent me the PDF, and I wrote a post. That's it.
Only content publishing, and from my point of view, people who are ready to pay a little bit more some products, but they know the money will be partly used for the planet. Nothing really elaborated and calculated behind this. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask them on this blog.

The Patagonia websuit :-)

When looking at the statistics on this blog, I see that a lot of people are finding this blog using Google, and making queries on the Patagonia Wetsuit.
Ali posted a comment where he says :

"Thanks so much for this PDF with details of Patagonia's new wetsuit.  I ended up buying the suit [...]"

Well, you are welcome Ali, and thank you for the link to the Unofficial website about the Patagonia wetsuit. This is a really good initiative.
Nice pictures, and very good guide to show the product in details, with its efficiency.

After the patagonia wetsuit, we have the patagonia websuit :-))

Ecology, surf, dangers and jet skis

Seen on Surfkultura, a link to a video on YouTube with a guy doing Tow surf in small waves, just to play and make aerials. Thanks to Surfkultura for his post about this. I agree with him.

Well, I find this totally silly to use a jet ski for such a session. I can understand that you need a jetski in Jaws, in Belhara. This is extreme and it gives another dimension to the big wave riding. But, when waves are "normal" I do not see the point to use jet skis. It is dangerous for the other surfers in the water. It pollutes the sea, it spoils gas ... I see only negative things.

Just for your information, in Russia, and in Moscow especially, scientists mentionned that such high temperatures occured 1300 years ago only !!! So we should really take care of our planet !

Nice mosaic !

Clouds - Tags - Colors - Results - Mosaic. Many tools are produced to easily visualize results, and performance. For blogs, and feeds, look at this, or that.
For your training, your sports results, if you use a Polar like this one , you can put your results on your polar perfomance software.
Ok, ok, you may make a lot of analysis, a lot of stats, etc.
But finally, if you want to feel happy about your training, following RFM (Recency, Frequency, Miles :-))) method, you just have to look at the colors on your planning and you'll see in a blink of an eye if you had a nice training period ...
You can also put online some of your results, using the polar website.
And, if we speak about clouds, I saw much more clouds while I was running, than on the web ...

Ski Walk

Tired of looking like an Alien when you walk with your ski shoes on from the mountains to your car. You can still try the Walk-EZ system.
Honestly, the idea is good, but do we really need it :-) ?
If you practise snowboard, then usually your boots are comfortable enough to walk easily, and if you do ski mountainering, usually the "walk" postion of the  shoes + the soles are good enough to walk easily.

Thanks to the Goat for the info.

Claire in Regulator WetSuits

Thanks again to Tex (and Marion) for the info :

You remember Claire, a Patagoniac ..., well here she is again :

Claire Karabatsos during the prizegiving at the EuroSima Awards,
receiving the "Special Award for Ecological Innovation" for the Patagonia Regulator Wetsuit! 

(Look here all the champagne bottles, I am quite sure Tex was there on purpose)

plus Claire in the wetsuit - fitting perfectly...

Polar - follow up : the end !

I received my new Polar today. Remember, I had some problems with my Polar AXN 500, and finally they replaced the watch. So I have a new 2 years guarantee on the watch and I tested it tonight for a 1h00 run. It works :-)
Now, I will test it under hard conditions of cold, snow in Moscow, and I'll take it in the mountains, forests, plains, to push the limits of it. I want to be sure that the Polar AXN 500 is really a good choice. I was very disappointed and upset before the UTMB because the watch was out of order. So, to be fair with Polar, I'll test the AXN 500 in harsh conditions and I'll let you know about it. To be true, I really like the Polar 625 I have, but it is not really a good watch for climbing, mountainering, etc. It's good to run.
So, I'll keep you update ...

Polar - follow up - last ?

Remember my Polar problems ... ?
Well, I did get a call today. A brand new Polar is waiting for me in the shop !! Looks like the problem I had was not solved, so they replaced it.
Will get it as soon as I'll come back to France, and will let you know if the model is the brand new one, if  everything is fine etc.
And believe me, I will test it in hard conditions ...

To be continued ...

Polar - follow up

Ok, so who is the Jerk now ?
Remember, I mentionned the problem I had with my Polar for the UTMB
So, I bought it in november 2005 and the battery is supposed to last more than 1 year.
This summer, just before the UTMB, the screen displayed nothing !!!
I changed the battery (following the Polar instructions), but nothing.
So, finally, I brought it back to the store, and they sent it back to Polar. One week ago, the store manager called me to tell me that it's fine. This morning I came to get my watch, and they told me they only changed the battery. FINE !!!
But guess what : THE WATCH WAS NOT WORKING !!!!
The screen was like when I gave it : Nothing !!!
So, the problem is not solved. Honestly, I am a bit disappointed, with a watch which costs more than 300 Euros, I used it totally normally, and less than one year. Hope this will be solved soon but looks like I will try a SUUNTO next time for a trail. At this level of price and for these kind of sports, you cannot afford such problems.

Patagonia WetSuits

Message from Patagonia :
"we`re proud to announce that the European Boardsports Industry Manufacturer`s Association EuroSIMA awarded our new Patagonia Regulator Wetsuit with the "Special Prize for Ecological Innovation"!"

Download the details about this  patagonia regulator wetsuits

It makes a difference !

With the growth of Ultra Trails, long running, raids, a new technology is more and more used by brands to help the runners run longer, faster, better : the Muscle Support.
This is the principle you'll find in the products of Decathlon (I tried it, and really, this is good), but you find it also at Salomon  and remember I mentionned it for the  gaiters for the UTMB
For sure, if you run 5 km sometimes, you will not really see the impact of the muscle support. But, after 30 minutes, or during a hard interval training, you will clearly see the difference.
During long races (longer than 1 hour), you will feel the support on the muscle, the knees, and it makes you feel more comfortable.
Of course, you will not run really faster, your training is your only solution :-)), but it helps feel better.

UTMB - 86 km - Debrief 5

In my bag !
What was in my bag :
- water with isostar.
- required elements (survival blanket, ...)
- 1 pair of socks
- 1 brief
- a small fleece : R1 pull over Patagonia
- nok or compeed cream
- double skin compeed
- Food bars + 3 food drinks (not used !!!! useless on the 86 km)
- warm hat
- warm gloves
- phone

You have to carry everything for the 86 km, you cannot like for the 158 get bags in Courmayeur and Champex, so you need to choose the right things to take, depending on the weather.

A 20 ltrs bag is enough usually this one especially is fine.

UTMB - 86 km - Debrief 4 - Equipment

For the shoes : Salomon ! No problem. They performed their job perfectly ! Associated with Salomon trail socks, it is a great success. Absolutely nothing bad for the the feet !

For the underwear, t-shirts, and jackets and fleece : PATAGONIA ! I really appreciated the Airius T, and also the Sport's briefs. And when the night has come, R1 fleece, and at the stops, the Jetstream jacket is very good.

The bag : I approved a salomon 20 ltrs. Light, easy to carry. Very good choice ...I guess this one is a little bit better, but never mind.

Do not forget your gloves for the night, your hat for the sun (thanks Patagonia for the Airius cap), and the gaiters (booster gaiters)

For longer trail (the 158 km one) I guess it is better to take more socks, shirts, fleeces, jackets, as spare parts for your stops, in order to keep something clean and warm. But for the 86 km, we had no choice. Unless your wife or boyfriend was able to come to Champex to bring you a bag :-))) Not my case ...

Change the world and Change this

You may have heard about CHANGE THIS. This is a very interesting website, with many manifestos.
I strongly recommend this one :Never the same !

What does it take to change the world? To change people? To make a difference, every day? Charles Halton presents 18 characteristics to help you create transformational experiences.

Nice reading during your holidays ...

Google and TechnoServe

I' ve read an interesting post about Google Actions to fight global poverty. It's here : "TechnoServe comes to Google".

TechnoServe helps entrepreneurs in developing countries build successful small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that benefit the world’s poor.

That's good to see that IT people are involved in fighting poverty. it would even be better if such companies like Google can sign up for the 1% for the planet program :-)

Imagine, if only 1% of Google sales were given to the planet !!! that's a huge amount of money. Hey, let's launch an action to persuade Google to help the planet and so, stick to the "Don't be evil" Motto.

Web and Environment

Here is a nice French Website to buy "Bio" products :

http://www.webecologie.com/

Especially theu are selling biodegradable bags

It reminds me of the Surfrider advertising in the press where we see Plastic Bags in the Ocean.

From Surf, to Waves, to Electricity

During a trip in 1994 to Scotland, I've been trying to surf some waves in the far north, in the Orkney Islands. I fond some nice, but cold waves, even in summer. The landscape was marvelous and without any sign for industry destroying the environment.

At this time I did not knew that these waves were about to become usefull for people in Scotland even if they were not surfers...