I write about design, travel, food, and outdoor adventures from Burlington, Vermont. lindsay.j.warner@gmail.com
The Best Commuter Bike Lights
Although you could strap a flashlight to your handlebars to illuminate your path home at night—people do it!—a good set of bike-specific lights will help you see and be seen in all riding conditions. After testing more than 110 lights over the past nine years, we think Portland Design Works’ City Rover 700 USB Headlight outshines the competition with its combination of brightness, run time, and value. We also recommend Cygolite’s blindingly bright Hotrod 120 taillight to help you stand out in traffic, night or day.
The Best Leggings For Women, Based On Rigorous Testing
The best leggings for women should be supportive, comfortable and breathable to help enhance your workouts. Crucially, they should not squeeze your waist, sag at the knees or generally prove unlikable for all-day wear. I spent 10 weeks testing 14 different leggings to find the absolute best: Some pairs were geared toward running, yoga or circuit workouts. Many had convenient features, such as hidden pockets, compression zones or zippers. And a few were made for specific temperatures and clima...
The Best Bike Lights of 2022
Working with a cohort of avid cyclists, I tested and reported on the best bike lights of the year for REI.
An Olson Kundig–Designed Neighborhood Is Taking Over an Old Lumberyard in Sonoma County
Located at the epicenter of four major wine-producing regions—the Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Chalk Hill, and Alexander Valley—the town of Healdsburg, California, has long been a favorite getaway for city dwellers looking for a diverse wine list and the serenity of the Sonoma Valley.
But on a sunny Friday afternoon last May, a long line of cyclists pedaled through the outskirts of town, eschewing Healdsburg's historic downtown plaza for a grittier destination: a retired industrial...
The Athlete's Guide to Menopause
Menopause, like menstruation, is often talked about in whispers. We don’t shout about reaching the period of life when we’re no longer fertile, perhaps because many of the symptoms of menopause are intensely personal: Hot flashes. Night sweats. Weight gain. Mood swings. Painful sex. Insomnia.
It can also wreak havoc on physiological assets we’ve spent a lifetime cultivating, like lean muscle, strong bones, and the ability to bounce back from a challenging workout with eight hours of restorati...
If You're Diagnosed with Cancer, Don't Quit Exercising
Updated guidelines write a prescription for exercise that may be just as important as traditional cancer treatments for maintaining—and regaining—your health.
Rooted Vermont: Business Up Front, Party in the Back—And All are Welcome
Vermont, with its rugged mountains, clear lakes, and stunning fall foliage, has always attracted out-of-state visitors. A quick flight or meandering drive away from several major East Coast cities, the Green Mountain State welcomes — and relies on — tourists to keep it afloat. But enough out-of-staters have answered Vermont’s call that those who put roots down here generations ago sometimes make offhand remarks about who can really say they’re from here. According to generally accepted rules,...
It’s Time to Bail Out People, Not Corporations
[The first in a series of articles I'm writing for Ben & Jerry's US and UK sites about the impact of COVID-19 on the world.]
It’s no secret that America — and the world — is struggling right now. We’re worrying, we’re grieving, and many of us are still very, very sick. Our economy is also feeling the effects of COVID-19, with unemployment claims surging to 22 million last week, and an estimated unemployment rate of 17% this month — the highest it’s been since the Great Depression.
The Moots Womble: A Titanium Hardtail That’s Designed to Rip [Review]
A review of the Moots Womble titanium hardtail for Singletracks.com
Why I Chose to Freeze My Eggs
The day I felt the lump was one of those white-hot summer days we rarely get in Vermont. My boyfriend and I were packing to go canoe camping to celebrate my 36th birthday that day, so when I casually tucked my hands under my armpits and felt a small, slightly painful bump, I shrugged it off.
But when the breast surgeon slid an ultrasound probe over my breast the next month, she wasn’t smiling. An inconclusive biopsy led to a lumpectomy, then a call a few days later: “I’m sorry, Lindsay. We’ve...
Mountain Biking Vermont’s Kingdom Trails
Up in the far northeastern corner of Vermont, there are more dirt roads than paved. The hills are rugged, and the houses far apart. The people who live in this 2,000-square-mile stretch of the Green Mountain State—dubbed “the Northeast Kingdom”—are tough, even by Vermont standards. It’s colder and rougher, and amenities are few and far between. But tucked around East Burke, population 132, a mountain-biking playground awaits.
Nearly 100 miles of perfectly bermed singletrack spiderweb through ...
The Perfect Kit: At-Home Workout
Between the novel coronavirus and the changing weather, you have more than a few reasons to work out at home. And that’s easier than ever now, thanks to online fitness videos and new, activity-specific equipment and technical activewear that looks good enough for video conferencing.
Complete your home workout kit with our favorite gear for indoor training sessions.
It’s fun to dream about having a full weight rack at home, but if that’s not feasible, these resistance bands from Pro-Tec Athlet...
Prefab Design Paves the Way for a Zen-Inspired Home in Uruguay
A mostly prefab design provides for a simpler life on a lakefront in southern Uruguay.
Alejandro Rodríguez had been living half a mile from a long, sinuous lake in Canelones, Uruguay, swimming in its waters and riding his bike around its rugged shoreline for the better part of 25 years.
Fat biking to cure the symptoms of cancer
When I first tucked my hands under my armpits and felt a lump last August, I was in the best biking shape of my life. I’d been riding my boyfriend’s wheel all season, getting stronger, faster, and picking up tips and tricks from his racing days. I was just a week away from putting them to use in the iconic Green Mountain Stage Race, a grueling four-day event that climbs up and over Vermont’s steepest paved peaks. I was ready to go. And then I felt the lump.
When you’re 36 ye...
Tala Lighting Puts High Design Into High-Efficiency LED Bulbs
"Harsh, ugly, blue-tinted." Joshua Ward doesn’t pull any punches when he describes old-school LED lightbulbs. "Products that no one wanted," he concludes, explaining what led him to cofound Tala, the pioneering East London lighting company.