Bikin for Bruises

â€Å"Oh man,† my friend moaned. â€Å"Look at her bike!† He motioned towards a girl in a bright yellow running shirt, obviously one of the more experienced bikers. She was walking a shiny, expensive blue bike through the parking lot. But the entire left pedal was shattered†¦completely gone, except for a stub of black metal. â€Å"Geez†¦are you sure we’re up for this?† I ask. It was our first time mountain biking. We had no idea what we were getting into. â€Å"I dunno, man,† he said. â€Å"Let’s try it out. How hard could it be?† I climbed into the back of his beat up, silver pickup to unload the bikes. â€Å"I think we might need these,† he said, emerging from the truck with our helmets. â€Å"Haha, I hope not.† After making sure the strap was tight enough, I climbed on my green Trek and set off down the beaten path. The forest rushed past as we bumped along the dirt trail. For a half-mile, my eyes were set on my friend’s back tire and the occasional rock. Then, the trail got narrower and the turns became sharper. The first hill rose ahead, its top barely visible through the foliage. But after sweaty palms and burning thighs, we finally clambered to the summit. â€Å"You ready for this?† I ask, observing the trail ahead. It was no more than two feet wide and followed a slight curve with rocks, roots, and squirrels all over. â€Å"No turning back now, bro. Ladies first.† â€Å"Ha, funny,† I said sarcastically, â€Å"See you at the bottom†¦if you’re lucky.† I pushed of the forest floor and started down the slope. The trees raced past as I picked up speed. I felt every rock and root through my bike, through the seat and through the handlebars. Suddenly, I was jamming the brakes the whole way, doing everything in my power to not wipe out. Standing o n the pedals moved my center of balance forward, so every bump threatened to buck me off. Finally, the end of the hill approached. The ground flattened and I stopped accelerating. I could hear shouts of adrenaline as my friend started the decent. In the middle of the path, about 20 feet ahead, there was a stone. Three inches in diameter, it was no different than all the others on the way. I ignored this particular rock, because I figured I could handle it. It was just another bump. But this was a BIG MISTAKE. I hit the rock, still crouching on the pedals, close to the end of the hill. And then I went right over the handle bars. The world spun as my bike vanished beneath me. Somehow I ended up clearing the bike and landing on my feet—perfectly fine, but shaken. My friend cheered. â€Å"Hey, you okay?† he asked. â€Å"That looked nasty from back here.† He sounded concerned, but I can tell he’s still laughing on the inside. â€Å"Yeah, I’m alrigh t. Let’s do it again.† Whether on the mountain bike course, in the classroom, or at work, I bring a strong work ethic, adventurousness, and, most importantly, the ability to get back on the bike and keep going.

Organizational Learning and Environmental Change Essay

Organizational Learning and Environmental Change - Essay Example Still, most of this is still commandeered by human intelligence however, networked computing is able to reap efficiency and outputs undreamt off earlier.Often new concepts are ignored till the time they translate into a competitive disadvantage. This paper examines the various approaches to learning which an organization can adopt so that learning challenges in the environment are not only recognized right in time but also ingrained into the operations of the organization and reflect in employees’ learning to derive competitive advantage. This paper examines the relevance of the Revans formula which emphasizes the importance of keeping pace in the learning process. All organizations can be viewed as offering some kind of solution to the problems of their stakeholders in the widest and deepest marketing sense. An essential blueprint for the organizational survival is derived from the writing of Revans(1980,1982). Revans(1980) posited that in order for an organization to succeed the learning(L) within an organization must be greater than or equal to the rate of change(C)in the environment (L ≠¥ C). This is called the Raven formula. This concept maintains that organizations must become learning organizations if they are to survive the changes in the external environment that affect the business and its operations. Revans recommended action learning to essentially mean removing the gap between ideas and actions, between thinking and doing, action and learning as parts of each other. Revans coined the phrase,† â€Å"helping each other to help the helpless†.Revans philosophy is based on three concepts of honesty about self, all know ledge ought to be action-oriented and most action should lead to camaraderie. An immediate example can prove Revans theory in relation to stakeholders of any organization. The organization  like airlines –offering the services of air travel-were faced with a new and emerging niche of customers who were upwardly mobile professionals with high spending powers in the  early 1990s.

Negligence in Sports Injuries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Negligence in Sports Injuries - Essay Example Where sporting events are concerned, the finding of negligence is complicated by the volenti non fit injuria principle, whereby the underlying premise is that those who participate in sports knowing the risks that may exist5, are in effect, consenting to a breach of duty of care and hence negligence claims may not hold good6. For example, in the case of Woolridge v Sumner7 where a spectator was injured, it was held to be the result of an error of judgment rather than negligence. It was also held that liability could be established only when it could be shown that there had been a reckless disregard for the safety of the spectator/s. The notion of "reckless disregard" as laid out by Lord Diplock is inherently based upon the premise that a player acts negligently when he foresees risks and yet proceeds with his actions despite the risk. Reckless disregard thus involves a breach of not only the duty of care owed to prevent a claim of negligence, but also a duty of skill. Thus, in the case of Woolridge, for example, Lord Diplock clarified that when a participant was aware of his lack of skill to perform a sporting feat and the risk his lack of skill might pose to spectators, he would be guilty of negligence to the spectator, if he still goes ahead and performs the act in question8. As a result, while negligence implies the owing of a duty of care, reckless disregard implies the owing of a duty of care and a duty of skill. Reckless disregard is in essence, negligence applied within a sporting context, with a higher threshold to allow for the inherent risks in sports which players voluntarily assume under the volenti fit non injura principle. Reed, in analyzing the judgment rendered in the case of R v Barnes9 has explained how, within the context of sports, reckless disregard occurs when a player inflicts harm or injury maliciously10. A defendant who is "reckless" is one who is able to foresee that there is a risk for bodily harm occurring through his actions and yet, chooses to ignore the risk and continue with the offending act. "Recklessness implies a greater degree of culpability or wrongdoing than negligence" because recklessness amounts to willfully exposing another person to harm and causing injury, rather than it occurring as a result of