V U The Migan Daily Weekend Magt'ne - Thursday, April 2, 3~ - 2B - The Michigan Daily Weeken Magazine - Thursday, April 2, 1998 Outdoor Adventures lets students enjoy a world of physical activity a- -- wl The igan Daily ee en a e - Thursday, April 2, IW - Weekend, etc. Column A BOY AND HIS BIKE By Kern Murphy and Gina Rasmussen Daily Arts Writers With warm weather on the rise and the end of the semester in sight, stu- dents embrace the great outdoors by sunbathing on the Diag and playing tennis and soccer at Palmer Field. But instead of coping with spring fever in the usual ways, college stu- dents may want to make friends and stay in shape while exploring more adventurous and nontraditional ence Kovacs activities. rio's Just a bus ride away - on North Campus - lies the chance for stu- dents to register for trips including canoeing, mountain biking, white- water rafting, hiking and rock climb- ing. The Department of Recreational Sports, located at the North Campus Recreation Building (NCRB) runs a program called Outdoor Adventures, which offers safe, fun, exciting, informative and affordable trips and clinics both locally and nationally. "We run a ton of great trips to gain outdoor skills," said Julie Haight, a Kinesiology junior and instructor of Outdoor Adventures. Lawrence Kovacs, assistant direc- Courtesy ofnLa Aaron Danzer and Charlane Brady, a Sociai Work student, dogsled in Onta Algonquin Provincial Park. tor of Outdoor Adventures, attributed the program's success to the unique- ness of the services and activities offered. Rental equipment is high- quality and affordable. "We also rent out hard-to-find things such as tug-of-war ropes, vol- leyball sets, sleeping bags and picnic packs," Kovacs said. Additional services offered are various clinics such as bike repair, backpacking, kayaking and map- reading, all of which are a few hours long and cost around $10.. So what do these trips entail, and can a college student on a budget afford them? Kovacs said that the trips are geared towards college stu- dents' schedules, spreading the trips throughout the year. "Nothing is planned during finals," Kovacs said. The trips vary in length as well as in price. The more economically challenged college students might opt for the $20 canoeing day trip as opposed to the more intense and five-day-long, several-hundred-dol- lar dogsledding trip. Equipment, transportation, instruction and food are almost always included in the price of the adventure trip. Students need not be Indiana Jones material to participate, but they must be 18 years old. No affiliation with the University is required, but the majority of the participants are undergrads, with the rest being grad- uate students, families and older people. "I love working with the college students and the general population," Kovacs said. Asthe saying goes, the more the merrier. "One memorable experience was our spring break trip to Cumberland Island. We had a great diverse group of people. It was great because everyone was so enthusiastic," See OUTDOORS, Page 16B Imagine yourself walking innocently down the sidewalk. It's a sunny day. The birds are chirping. The warm wind blows against your skin, and the hair on the back of your neck stands on end. It's a good day. You breathe in the sweet-scented air through your nose, and exhale slowly from your mouth. You feel good. - Other people are bustling about, enjoying themselves, smiles on their faces. Everything is right with the world. And then you notice something a little strange. Everyone is looking at you. Not star- ing, necessarily - just a sidelong glance here or there, keeping track of you out of the corners of their eyes. Then it hits you. You're naked. You look around, trying to find a place to hide or something to cover up with. But there's nothing. There's nowhere for you to go, nothing you can do. It's just you, out in the open, com- pletely exposed. And then you realize the wind isn't so swarm anymore. Suddenly it's freez- ing outside. Which can mean only one thing. Shrinkage! OK, let's stop right there. I know what you're thinking, and no, this isn't a Naked Mile-run column (although I reserve the right to compose that one at a later date). I'm not talking about an isolated incident - something that happens once a year, when people are feeling a little crazy. Nope. For all practical purposes, I've walked the streets naked every single day for the past seven months - ever since my senior year of college began. Calm down! Calm down! Before you run to your windows and pull down the blinds, before you slam your doors and force your children to come inside (after all, young minds could be dam- aged easily by such a traumatic experi- ence), just relax. I'm speaking metaphorically here. What, did you really think I'd risk my entire reading public (now about four people) by talking about myself - naked? Bleh. Even I have some stan- dards of taste and decency, for heaven's sake. My "emotional nudity" stems from something far deeper than just a lack of clothing. Actually, it more has to do with a lack of a place to live. And a lack of a job. And a lack of any kind of idea about my future. I know, I know. I'sound like a com- mercial for enlisting in the Army Reserves, but I'm serious. For the first time in my life, I have absolutely no idea where I'll be or what I'll be doing at this time next year. All my friends are busy signing leases, talking about the jobs or internships they'll be making money at this summer. 'While I'm just, well ... naked. After I graduate. as far as I know, I have nothing. No Job. No home lined up for next year. No certainty about anything. The smallest decisions are taking on a huge level of importance in this atmos- phere of panic. From figuring out what I'm going to eat for dinner, to even wor- rying about what I'm going to wear in the morning (see, I told you I was being figurative), I just don't know what I'm doing any more. About anything. Which leaves me with just one feasi- ble option for gain- ing some kind of control over my life. One last way to find some peace. One last chance to take my life in hand. My mom and dad are probably hoping I'm going CHRIS to say something FARAH level-headed and AR. 'c practical, like "apply to morn businesses," or "compile a list of potential places of residence." Hah! That would make far too much sense. At a time like this, when everything is slipping away, there's only one last resort for a rational man like myself. Go for a bike ride. Now, I know rid- ing my bike isn't going to pay my bills. It's not going to find me a job, or put down a deposit on a new apartment. It won't even get me into grad school. But a good bike ride is the best way to get control over a life in a downward spiral. Period. You can go anywhere you want on a bike, as long as you have a little time on your hands (and boy, do I). You don't have to stick to the road, as if you were in a car. You can take your bike on almost any kind of trail, sidewalk or path that's ever been invented. But riding a bike is better than walk- ing, too. True, you can go anywhere on your two feet. But on a bike, you can go there fast. Bikes open up a whole world of epic adventures - traveling to parts of the city you've never been to before, or even hopping on Liberty Street and driving west until you reach the country- side. Nothing holds you back - no stub- born, dense potential employers. No old-boys' networks you have to break into, or ass-kissing cover letters. No jacket and tie required. Just hop on your bike, and go wherever you damn well please. It's up to you. Getting lost is even fun on a bike. In a car, getting lost can be scary. Road trips in cars can almost take you too far - you can run out of gas, or get so lost that finding your way home becomes an annoying chore. But on a bike, you always know you're just one street or corner away from finding your way home. There's something comforting about that. Making a wrong tum in life isn't always so easy to fix. Maybe at the same time, if you're lucky, you'll see something iew on your bike ride. Maybe you'll find a lit- tle spot that only you seem to know about. A little nook where you can hide away when the prospects of your future - or lack thereof-- get a little over- whelming. I managed to find a cool little rope swing just on the outskirts of Ann Arbor. It dangles over a large pond, hanging from the branch of a big, gnarled tree. Some of my favorite memories are of riding bikes with my friends to the swing and spending a lazy afternoon flying over the water, trying to make it back to shore without getting wet. Of course, that didn't always work. I went swinging with my brother one summer afternoon, and we both ended up soaking wet. He'd been wearng jean shorts when he fell in, so he had to resort to wearing one of his T-shirts - legs through the arm holes, with his belt holding the shirt in place. I was more fortunate - I had jumped off in nothing but my tighty-whiteys (sorry for that image, but at least I wasn't naked), so I was good to go for the ride home. Memories like that, rope-swing hide- aways where no one can find yoL, and long rides on a warm summer day - all the worries in the world. piled on sith all the confusion and insecurity. just couldn't touch any of those things. When you need to take a little control or find some peace of mind, just take a bike ride. Clothing optional. - then Chis Farah i nt on his hike. You can reach him at jiarar inich.edu. U of M Credit Union Machines C_ * Michigan Union, 530S. State (CM) - Michigan League, 911 N. 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