21. Cook a Perfect Meal
APPETIZERS
Chilled dungeness crab with homemade cocktail sauce; deviled eggs; prosciutto-wrapped grilled figs

ENTRÉE
Cedar-planked wild salmon; salad of whole-grain pasta and grilled vegetables; spicy greens with fresh cherries, goat cheese, and cherry balsamic vinaigrette

DESSERT
Summer-berry-and-olive-oil polenta cake; grilled peaches

Besides the fact that you're drooling, WHAT'S SO PERFECT ABOUT THIS MENU? It's a balanced recovery feast* that follows the 40-30-30 ratio of carbs to fat to protien prescribed by nutritionists—and is damn delicious, too. "Chefs are concerned most about taste," says Vitaly Paley, owner of Portland, Oregon's award-winning Paley's Place. "This meal is varied enough in flavor to keep the palate always wanting more."
(1) To hit that recovery-ratio sweet spot, Paley teamed with USA Cycling coach and flavor-savvy nutrition nut Michael Manning. "The protien sources are all high-quality," says Manning. "The majority of the fat comes from olive oil, rich in monounsaturates. This reduces cholesterol for a healthy cardio-respiratory system. The salmon is primary source of essential fatty acids, which improve metabolism and work to reduce inflammation. The majority of the carbs are from fresh fruits and vegetables and provide superior nourishment with antioxidants and other phytonutrients, in addition to supplying fiber."
(2) Salivation is at hand.
—GORDY MEGROZ

*2,3032 calories; replaces the energy burned by a 155-pound male on a 2.5-hour bike ride at an average of 17 mph. For full recieps, go to outsideonline.com/perfectmeal

22. Survive a Bar Fight
Anyone who's been in a real rumble will tell you it's a far more brutal affair than your choreographed fantasies of kicking ass like Patrick Swayze in Road House. "A fight is a no-win proposition," says Peyton Quinn, 57, self-defense instructor, former bouncer, and author of A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling. "You either go to jail, the emergency room, the courtroom, or all three." Thus Quinn's first rule: Avoid potentially violent encounters. Failing that ... Insults are intended to intimidate and elicit reaction. "You're being interviewed as a potential victim," says Quinn. DON'T IGNORE, insult, or challenge an aggressor.
(1) Simply REMAIN CALM, look the guy in the eye, and respond assertively, giving him an honorable exit. Apologize if you were asking for it.
(2) If he's bent on an attack, hold your hands open at eye level, palms toward him, and yell, "Stay back! I don't want to fight you." You'll DRAW ATTENTION and set up your legal defense.
(3) "If it does come to blows, you have to GO OFF 110 PERCENT," says Quinn. The aggressor will likely throw a right hook first. As you deflect it, counter with an open palm or forearm (not a closed, breakable fist) to the bridge of the nose, a knee to the groin, a head butt to the chin.
(4) Keep it up, be sure to breathe, BREAK HIS BALANCE, and shove him as hard as you can while screaming that you don't want to fight.
(5) Then you just HAUL ASS.
—TIM SOHN

MY WAY
23. Abandon Ship
As the boat sags back on its haunches like an old horse, don't go below. It's your honeymoon, sure, and everything you own in this world is aboard, but you can buy new wedding bands, replacements for the wedding gifts. If you escape with your life jacket and a pair of shorts, you're doing well.

Don't follow the advice of your rescuers. They've told you, by radio, to put up your 90-foot mainsail, which will drive you through the water and sink you faster.

Don't panic. A freak storm and a rogue wave 60 to 100 feet cracked your hull, but you've struggled a day and a half to defer your sinking, so now you're going down in fine conditions, sunny, waves no more than six feet. You've earned this.

Don't try last-minute heroics. Your rudder and a piece of the hull are 5,000 feet down, at the bottom of the sea. You could pull the storm jib under the boat as a patch, but the deck is rolling, YOUR WIFE IS STARTING TO PANIC, and you might lack the sheer strength. And you're sinking. Keep that idea forefront.

Don't go overboard without the dinghy. You're cutting the lines that hold it, leaning far out over the stern, then you lose your footing and your feet are kicking midair. Your wife is not happy about this, and you shouldn't be, either.

Don't go over the port side. Bit of confusion here. You gave the wrong orders, so now you're at the stern with the dinghy and your wife is 30 feet away at the port rail. The boat is sinking to port and could roll over on her at any second. She'd be trapped by the pilothouse, masts, wires. You have a moment of feeling sure you've lost her, and you realize again (you had another moment like this off Casablanca after abandoning ship, when she fell into the water between the life raft and a 300-foot freighter) that you love her more than anything else in this world.

Don't think you're safe once you've abandoned ship. That whole sucking-whirlpool thing could be fiction, but better to paddle away. Then, when a wave flips your dinghy and you go overboard and can feel your knee is badly damaged somehow, best to open your eyes underwater and grab that dinghy line as it goes by. In the water really is not where you want to be.

In October 2001, DAVID VANN lost a quick million when his 90-foot ketch, Bird of Paradise, sank ten miles south of the British Virgin Islands
—DAVID VANN

24. Tie Your Gear Down
Climbers, Boy Scouts, and sailors may disagree, but the TRUCKER'S HITCH—highly adjustable and capable of piano-string tightness—is the handiest knot on the planet.
(1) Secure one end of a rope to your first tie-down point. Then make a quick-release loop between it and your second tie-down point. To do this, grab a section of the rope in your hand and twist it clockwise three times, then pull a section of slack line through it until you have a taut loop.
(2) Thread the loose end of the rope through the second tie-down point, then back through the loop you just made, and pull to tighten.
(3) Once you've got the line as tight as you like, clamp down on the loop with your thumb and forefinger, then finish the knot by wrapping a section of loose line around the taut line and pulling it through. To undo, simply tug on the loose tail of line to unravel the whole package. (Or, to really lock off the end, wrap the new loose loop you created around the taut line and pull it through.)
—MARK ANDERS

25. Dodge Montezuma's Revenge
Chef Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods, has put more potential contaminants in his mouth than a Manhattan raccoon: live lemon ants in Ecuador's Napo River basin, seal stew in the Yup'ik villages of Alaska, fresh mangrove worms in Palawan ... And yet he's never gotten the trots while on the road. What sorcery is this? Zimmern explains: "Use THE NEW YORK CITY HOT DOG THEORY OF EATING: Buy your food from the folks with the longest lines, highest turnover, and best reputations. Let your instincts guide you: Hot foods should be hot, cold foods should be cold, and anything that smells bad should be questioned. Be sure your purveyor/shopkeeper/waiter can tell you where the item is from. And remember: If it looks good, eat it!" (And, duh, drink bottled water.)
—JASON DALEY