Turn your weekend jog up a notch with a trail run

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trail running ward pound ridge

This week’s adventure is an essay from contributor and new Sorta Outdoorsy pal Lyndsey Boekenkamp. If you have a Sorta Outdoorsy story you’d like to share, email hi@sortaoutdoorsy.com.

Being a trail runner, I’m always looking for new challenges. Every weekend, I prep my hydration pack, whip up a few PB&Js, jump in my car, and go off in search of dirt, rocks, and freedom. On those days when a quick local jaunt just doesn’t cut it, I lace up my sneakers and head to Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Located in the small town of Cross River, NY about an hour north of NYC by Metro-North, and with more than 40 miles of trails, it’s the perfect place to get lost on purpose. Steeped in lore and local history, the site is the location of several well-known trail races throughout the year, including the infamous Leatherman’s Loop 10K in April, which boasts steep climbs, sweet single track (clear, narrow, well groomed trails), and a whole lot of mud. Continue reading Turn your weekend jog up a notch with a trail run

Bike to Coney Island

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bike coney island

We were going a little stir crazy a few weeks ago so we convinced a friend to grab his bike and join us on a ride to Coney Island. It was a sunny day but the temps were low. We had to bundle up quite a bit and hustle to make it back before dark (neither of us brought lights and the sun was going down at 4pm back then—we know you won’t make that same mistake). Still, the ride was a great way to explore Brooklyn and spend a few hours outdoors. It will be much more pleasant now that it’s spring and the amount of daylight is more reasonable. Continue reading Bike to Coney Island

Bullseye: Archery is the perfect indoor outdoorsy adventure

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archery in nyc

Well, it’s finally happened: the temperature in New York has caught up with the season. So now that it’s so cold you can’t even imagine touching your bike handlebars, it’s time to grab a bow and shoot a few arrows at Gotham Archery, an indoor archery range in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Continue reading Bullseye: Archery is the perfect indoor outdoorsy adventure

Keep your head up and other surf tips we learned last weekend

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surf tips

We were back in the water last weekend giving surfing another try. This was our surf third lesson and we finally felt like we had a good enough handle on how to manage ourselves on the board to start to focus on finessing the fundamentals. Here are a few tips we picked up:

Continue reading Keep your head up and other surf tips we learned last weekend

Tune up your bike, tune up your soul

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bike tune-up

The spring temperatures mean it’s time to tune up that bike you left chained to the light post all winter. We got a head start last night at a free bike maintenance class hosted by 718 Cyclery. The class was only an hour but it was packed full of useful information and how-tos. The bike shop is hosting a free women’s bike maintenance class this Wednesday, March 23rd at 7pm (sign up here). Here are our favorite of the tips we picked up at the class we attended: Continue reading Tune up your bike, tune up your soul

Spring ski: Hit the slopes through April. Here’s how.

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Spring ski and snowboard

Back in November, we scheduled a bunch of snow-sports for our winter editorial calendar. This was the year we were going to try cross country skiing, snowshoeing and maybe even skinning but the balmy temperatures kept us hiking, biking and surfing through the winter months. Still, we’ve made a point to snowboard as much as possible even though the season was late to open and will end in a few weeks.

Continue reading Spring ski: Hit the slopes through April. Here’s how.

This video about urban climbing will inspire you to go to the gym

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We find it’s hard to not talk about climbing as much as we’d like to (we don’t want to be just a newsletter about climbing after all) and this video, produced by the activewear company Prana, helped us to understand why. Of all the outdoor inspired activities available in cities, urban climbing seems to have become one of the most popular thanks in part to the explosion of climbing gyms (at least three new gyms have opened in NYC in the last five years). Continue reading This video about urban climbing will inspire you to go to the gym

Snow day: Another chance to enjoy the best winter activities in the city

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Snow day NYC

We didn’t check the weather last night before we went to bed so we were pretty surprised this morning when we woke up to what looked like at least an inch of snow collected on our fire escape. While we were excited to start planning for our spring adventures, we’re psyched about getting at least one more day of winter. We’ve rounded up our favorite ways to enjoy snow in the city (indoors and out) below. Let us know how you’ll be spending one more snow day.

Continue reading Snow day: Another chance to enjoy the best winter activities in the city

A dummy’s guide to ski resorts

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guide to ski resorts

Sometimes it seems like everybody’s family but ours took an annual ski trip, which means that most of our friends grew up going to resorts and know how to navigate them come adulthood. We, on the other hand, feel like a fish out of water every time we visit a new ski slope, and last weekend’s trip to Hunter Mountain was no exception. So to pass the time while we waited in the (wrong) line to rent gear, we made a mental checklist of tips that will hopefully help your first few trips to a new ski hill go off without a hitch. Continue reading A dummy’s guide to ski resorts