The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Booksigning Party in Madison on Monday, April 4th! Co-authors Sally Edwards and Carl Foster will be at Berkeley Running Company to present their new book, "Be A Better Runner."
Posted by kim 03/28/2011

Nik completed his final race for the Cal Poly cycling team, the Wheelmen. The Western Collegiate Cycling Conference's final race of the 2011 Mountain Bike season was hosted by Cal-Berkeley at the Bailey Bike Park course.


Nik racing down the slalom course at Bailey Bike Park


Posted by Dan 11/14/2011

Second day in Bogota today. Yesterday was a blast. I learned how to play tejo, an incredible game that needs to come to the states. It's kinda like bags or horseshoes, but you play with these heavy discuss-type lumps and try to hit little papers filled with gun powder, and it's a delightful amount of explosives! Then I had a GIANT bbq in the hostal i'm staying at - the whole hostal gathered for a feast of deliciously tender steak, grilled chicken, chorizo, grilled whole onions, potatoes, and amazing spicey guac. For $7!


The game of tejo - like horseshoes with explosives.

I think i'm gonna head for the Caribbean coast in a few days. I'm getting antsy. It's gonna be a long haul - about 20 hours on a bus (sure wish I could read on buses). But I just wanna get to the ocean and a hammock and relax.

Traveling in Colombia is much more expensive than I'd planned. Buses are not cheap relative to Ecuador, which is generally $1/hour on the bus. You can get all the way across ecuador for $15 or so. But I'm about to shell out probably 4x that much to get to the coast now. Sigh.


Posted by Whitney 07/09/2011, revised 08/15/2011