Some of you have already noticed this, but for those who haven’t: Bob Coomber has started blogging. His latest post answers questions provoked by the unexpected sight of a wheelchair rider in the wilderness. A highlight:

Do you carry a cell phone? This is typically asked by people who think I care if I get lost. After a trying, troubling week at work, I’ve had days where I just wish I could roll down a mistake, an unmarked trail to who – knows – where. But I rarely carry a cell phone with me. I don’t feel any urgency to be constantly connected to my fellow man. Most cell conversations, in my humble estimation, are unnecessary. We have put too much faith in these electronic leashes – how did I ever survive my childhood? But the real peril of reliance on a cell phone is that it causes us to dull our skills, believing that we can get bailed out by dialing an emergency phone number if we get lost or hurt. Many places I hike have no cell service, and the device becomes nothing but a piece of space taking nonsense. Better to read some basic outdoors skills articles or books, and take some time to practice until you feel comfortable leaving the phone somewhere far away from your backpack.

He also talks about his workout regimen, which offers hope to anybody with over-40 musculature:

I belong to a gym in Livermore that isn’t a “Spandex” gym. It is managed by our local hospital, and because of that it is frequented by a clientele of people who genuinely wish to improve their lives, not just pose in the big window for the high school kids walking past. I was befriended by a trainer when we joined, an optimist like myself who simply refused to ever let me get comfortable. He provided a workout regimen tailored, he believed, to my needs. I doubt he’d ever interviewed a new client in a chair who’d expressed a desire to roll up 14,000′ peaks, and beyond. So he started me out on a basic core / shoulders / back (everywhere!) and arm routine that initiaqlly pummeled me into blithering submission. And my program wasn’t what it is today, either. My first shulder presses began at 40 lbs. These days, 2 and a half years later and because I’ve continued to work to bust through my limits, I start at 220 lbs. And work up a notch each set from there. Triceps? They’re now my strength, once an incredibly difficult problem area. When Josh started me out, I worked at 110, then bumped it up 3 levels each night. Now I start at the 250 lb level, and by the time my tricep presses are finished I’ve maxed out the machine – 315 lbs. and it’s relatively easy.

Hmm, relatively easy.