Top British darts player Deta Hedman made news over the weekend by refusing to play against a man who claims to be a woman. Hedman was scheduled to face "transgender" opponent Noa-Lynn van Leuven in the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open in Esbjerg, according to Fox News. Instead of playing...

Democrats set the precedent for impeachment against a former president with the way they treated former President Donald Trump. Now, those same Democrats are learning in real-time that what goes around comes around. Fox News reports Republican Rep. Cory Mills is working to draft articles of impeachment against President Joe...

A motorcycle rainsuit is like insurance: You may not need it often, but when you do, you’re darn glad you’ve got it. In early April, a buddy and I rode from California to Texas to see the solar eclipse. Nelson-Rigg sent us some gear to evaluate during our nine-day, 4,200-mile journey, including Route 1 cruiser luggage (look for my review soon) and Solo Storm rainsuits, which are sold separately as a jacket and pants. Raingear is typically used to keep riders dry in rainy conditions, but we first used our Solo Storm rainsuits on a dry morning. When we awoke before dawn on Sunday in Lordsburg, New Mexico, it was 30 degrees outside. With a 700-mile ride ahead of us, we’d be slabbing it on I-10 for an hour before the sun came up. There was no rain in the forecast, but we donned our rainsuits to block out the biting wind, and they helped keep us warm, or at least less cold. The Solo Storm jacket and pants have a polyester oxford outer shell with a waterproof/windproof polyurethane backing and electronically taped seams. The front of the jacket has a full-length zipper with a two-layer storm flap that seals with hook-and-loop, and the wrist cuffs and tall collar also seal with adjustable hook-and-loop.  The outside of the jacket has adjustable waist straps, a drawstring around the hem, two waterproof cargo pockets, an adjustable zippered back vent, and reflective accent material. There’s breathable mesh at the back, a rain hood stored in the collar, and a built-in zippered pouch that the jacket can be stuffed into. The Solo Storm pants have an elastic waistband with adjustment straps on both sides, and the pant legs are extra large for pulling on over boots and other gear (putting a plastic bag over your boot first makes raingear slide on more easily). The insides of the legs have a layer of heat-resistant material, the seat is reinforced with non-slip material, and there are adjustable gussets at the lower leg to keep the pants from flapping in the wind. The true test of any motorcycle rainsuit is riding in a downpour. Just 150 miles from home at the end of the trip, that’s exactly what we encountered. After putting on the suits at a gas stop, we rode through a major gully washer on I-40, which caused traffic to slow down from its usual 80 mph to around 45. For the next 50 miles, we rode cautiously and stayed dry. We were in and out of rain for the final 100 miles, but not once did either of us feel a cold stab of water leaking through.  The Nelson-Rigg Solo Storm jacket retails for $79.95 and is available in sizes S-4XL in Black, Hi-Vis Yellow, or Orange. The pants retail for $49.95 and are available in sizes S-4XL in Black only. Shop for Nelson-Rigg Solo Storm Rainsuit See all of Rider‘s apparel reviews here. The post Nelson-Rigg Solo Storm Motorcycle Rainsuit Review | Gear appeared first on Rider Magazine.

Does your left hand know what your right hand is doing? In this Motor School, we discuss how to hop up your internal processor with neuro training exercises. This one is the Tennis Ball Drill. Over the years, I’ve done plenty of things to stay ahead of the next guy during motorcycle competitions. Mondays and Wednesdays were my heavy days when I’d do four to five credit-card lifts to purchase titanium bolts, special suspension coatings, and maybe a dash of custom motor work. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’d bulk up with some online shopping for protein supplements, rehydration drinks, and energy bars. If some guy with a cool haircut made performance promises and all I had to do was eat it, drink it, or bolt it on, then I was all in. Money well spent, right? You know how this story goes. Over time I learned the uncomfortable truth that no amount of “stuff” was going to get me to the finish line ahead of the next guy unless it was matched with equal parts time and effort. Bottom line: No matter how trick your high-speed, sweat-wicking racer briefs are, they simply won’t do any of the work for you. Not even the ones with Grip Strips to stop them from riding up. Alas, the inconvenient truth: If we want to see performance gains, we can’t cheat when it comes to climbing the mountain. In my case, the mountain was a combination of seat time on the bike, fitness training off the bike, and an academic journey to learn new and better ways to do things I’d already spent years doing. The climb was rarely joyous, but the view got better as the oxygen diminished, and I grew to appreciate all the hard-fought little battles that helped me improve as a result. But I’m not here to give you the “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” spiel because you probably know all that. Nope, today I’m bringing you some next-gen stuff that yields gifts that money just can’t buy. I call it Brain Racing, and it means improving your reaction time, hand-eye coordination, peripheral vision, and more. Known in pro sports circles as neuro training, it’s about stimulating your brain’s neural networks through games and drills to improve your performance and safety on the bike. Watch your perception-reaction time get faster after just a few rounds of the Ball Drop Drill. Jaco’s not available? Grab a friend. But before we strap in, this is the part of the story where you can take the blue pill and stop reading, or you can take the red pill and take the ride with me. What’s it going to be, Neo? Do you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes? Since you’re still with me, you first need to understand that our reaction times are based on a few key factors:  Perception: When we perceive something, we know, with high confidence, what we are seeing, hearing, and/or feeling. Perception can be negatively impacted by fatigue, lack of sleep, age, drugs, alcohol, and poor eyesight and/or hearing. Processing: We need to process whatever we just saw, heard, or felt to know what to do with it. This means we must understand the information clearly. If we are not clear in our assessment of the stimuli, processing will be delayed and reaction times will suffer. More complex information takes longer to process. Response: Once we perceive and process the information, we need good motor function to respond. This is where fitness and coordination work for us, and lack of physical conditioning or underlying motor problems work against us. Make sense? Ready to order a 3-pack of Super Reflexes? Nice try, but you can’t call the 800 number on your screen or just wait for the Amazon delivery. No, we can’t just flip a switch, drink the magic elixir, and expect to see results. We need to invest some sweat equity in the form of coordination and reaction drills. So yes, I’m giving you work to do, but allow me to tidy up my hair and make you some outlandish promises: These drills will improve your coordination, processing, and reaction time. Remember, we don’t just want to grow older, we want to grow better.  The Crazy Cat Drill is staple in pro sports and promises quicker perception, processing, and response in high-intensity situations. Tennis Ball Drill: Grab a tennis ball, stand 6 feet from a wall or garage door, and start by throwing underhand and catching overhand using the same hand. Simple. After a few minutes, do the same thing but catch in the opposite hand. Next, wick it up by closing your distance to 3 feet from the wall and using two balls, alternating between hands for both throw and catch. Watch your coordination blast off. Ball Drop Drill: This exercise requires your riding buddy Jaco, but all we need are those two tennis balls you just threw over the fence. With Jaco holding a ball in each hand and his arms outstretched at chest height, you stand opposite, as if a mirrored reflection, and mimic his hand position and posture so that both your hands are touching each other’s at the knuckles. At some point, Jaco will drop one or both balls without warning, requiring you to snatch them from thin air as they fall. The lower you go, the harder it gets. Crazy Cat Drill: Stand facing a wall from one foot away and hand Jaco a laser pointer. When he says “go,” Jaco will shoot little laser spots on the wall, and you must touch them as quickly as possible. The laser only hits for a millisecond, so you need to pay attention, tap where it hits, and get set for the next one. Once you get the hang of it, Jaco can ramp it up with more spots spaced farther apart. From the comfort of your Lazy Boy, these might seem a bit silly. I get it, you became an adult and put away childish things. But these drills work. It’s no coincidence that pro athletes who live and die based on their ability to see, react, and respond in high-intensity situations practice these very drills. I’ll make you a bet: If you do these drills every day for one week and don’t have better focus, dexterity, and reaction time on the bike when Day 8 rolls around, I’ll buy you some racing stickers for your motorcycle. Placed correctly, those alone should be good for five to seven extra horsepower. Quinn wears Lee Parks Design gloves exclusively. Find Quinn at Police Motor Training. See all Motor School with Quinn Redeker articles here. The post Motor School with Quinn Redeker: Brain Racing appeared first on Rider Magazine.

The snaking Hawk’s Nest section of New York Route 97 clings to rocky cliffs hundreds of feet above the Delaware River. It was a highlight of this New York and Pennsylvania motorcycle ride. The Upper Delaware River Watershed encompasses thousands of square miles in New York and Pennsylvania, with hundreds of miles of serpentine roads rolling through forests, farmland, small towns, and historic sites. It makes for a superb ride, so I fired up my Kawasaki Vulcan and hit the road to explore it.  Scan QR code above or click here to view the route on REVER From West Milford, New Jersey, I rolled north on smooth East Shore Road through state forest land and then along the sparkling shoreline of Greenwood Lake. With the morning sun twinkling through the trees and the cool, fresh air energizing me, I rode through the Black Dirt Region of southern Orange County, New York, a beautiful area of farmland renowned for its rich, black soil. Cruising through Port Jervis, I wound through the Hawk’s Nest section of State Route 97, which is designated as the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway for 70 miles. This sinuous roadway is cut into the mountainside, offering excellent views of the Delaware River far below. See all of Rider‘s Northeast U.S. motorcycle rides here. Leaving the river behind near Pond Eddy, I climbed deeper into the watershed. I’m not religious in the traditional sense, but I love viewing unique churches. Two impressive ones grace the treelined State Route 41: Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church with its white facade and metal domes and the rustic log St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Church. Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Glen Spey, New York, stands as a citadel of hope. From Glen Spey, I weaved through the wooded route to Eldred, where I blasted up scenic State Route 55 to Lake Superior State Park, a good place for a relaxing swim or walkabout. From there, I made a pilgrimage to Bethel, site of the famous 1969 Woodstock music festival where 400,000 people gathered for three days of peace and music.  No longer the rural field of Max Yasgur’s farm, it is now part of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. This concert venue’s museum honors the 1969 festival, and the original concert field has been preserved. A monument near the stage site memorializes the groups who performed there. From Bethel, I blasted northwest on country backroads to the impressive Stone Arch Bridge Historical Park and then onto Roscoe for lunch at the Roscoe Diner. Next, I crossed the Beaverkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River. Both the Beaverkill and the Downsville covered bridges are off State Route 206, and riding a motorcycle through these wooden structures is a joy not to be missed. The Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1880, adorns its namesake park in Kenoza Lake, New York. It is as famous for its beautiful architecture as it is for a murder committed on the bridge in 1892. Downsville is also home to the 15-mile-long, 5,700-acre Pepacton Reservoir on the East Branch of the Delaware River. State Route 30’s twisties follow the reservoir’s shoreline and then the snaking river. With my Vulcan purring and the afternoon sun reflecting off the water, I cruised SR-30 to State Route 17. In Hancock, I dropped my kickstand at the tidy Hancock House Hotel, which has a pub and a restaurant on-site, making it an ideal overnight stop for riders. The next day, I fired up my Vulcan and savored the crisp air and deep blue sky as I rumbled over the river into Pennsylvania. State Routes 191, 247, and 370 roll through farmland and forest. On SR-370, I spotted a bear crossing the road – not an unusual occurrence in rural Pennsylvania.  This rural Pennsylvania road passes through the green pastures of a family farm. Riding south on State Route 296 to Waymart is one of my favorite roads: smooth with a mix of farmland and forest on both sides. At Waymart, I crossed over U.S. Route 6 – known locally as PA Route 6 – which spans the northern part of the state and offers hundreds of miles of excellent riding opportunities. At Hawley, I picked up a winding section of PA Route 6 and then followed State Route 590 to Lackawaxen, where SR-590 begins to parallel the Lackawaxen River, another tributary of the Delaware. It was a beautiful day, and I stopped to watch some kayakers on the river.  The author’s bike soaks up some rays as he explores a farm stand on Pennsylvania Route 296 near Waymart. Crossing the Lackawaxen River, I stopped to rest at the Delaware Aqueduct, known as the Roebling Bridge, which was built in the mid-1800s and is the oldest existing wire suspension bridge in the U.S. Crossing the river here allows you to continue north or south on the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway.  New York and Pennsylvania Motorcycle Ride Resources Lake Superior State Park Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Stone Arch Bridge Historical Park Hancock House Hotel PA Route 6 Alliance See all of Rider‘s touring stories here. The post Exploring Backroads on a New York and Pennsylvania Motorcycle Ride appeared first on Rider Magazine.