California Cream Cups

California Cream Cups, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Earlier today a friend and I went out to Highway 58 and drove east towards the Carrizo Plains. On the way there, we stopped at Shell Creek Road, a famous wildflower location, where we saw vast fields of millions of these cream cups. I have never seen such massive displays of the cream cups, even at places like Bear Valley.

Spring is just getting started here in California - the wildflowers will put on quite a show in the coming weeks.

Family Visiting Us in Florida

All of this talk about missing Austin while he visits family has reminded me that we've had family visiting us in the past few months. We are so used to not having any family living near us that it's a special treat when we do have that. In February (27th) my cousin Mike and his wife Brenda came to visit us. They brought their sweet dog, Boo, who has since passed away. I hadn't visited with my cousin in probably over 20 years so it was an extra special treat to have time with he and Brenda. They are some of the kindest, most positive people you will ever meet. They even gave me a gift of a CD with a gospel group singing a song that Brenda wrote on it. Sometime we want to get over there way to hear her sing and play with her band. Good times!



Then we had another visit today from my Mom and nieces and nephew. Ambir and Auburn drove up one day and we got to see them on top of the other family visitors. It was wonderful to have time together. We even got to play charades together.





Living the life in already HOT Florida!

Another Welland wander

This was between two and three miles in all - down to the bridge over the Welland, and then a bit, and a short spur along the footpath by the weir, and over a couple of fields. Glorious weather.

Oilseed rape and Harborough Hill

meadow cranesbill

cow parsley

low-flying aircraft

Buttercup field

River level is pretty low

reflections

sky

chaffinch

railway bridge

footpath up the hill

Regaining ground in the park, the NPS makes its move

The skies parted for a while today and the mountain finally revealed itself. Plastered ice and snow coated the upper 3-4,000 feet, seen here from a recently improved view point near Kautz Creek. Everything below 9-10,000 feet appeared thin and icy, i.e. very little winter snowpack, see below. Rumor has it, another storm is on the way. I hope it brings colder temps.

I snapped this image late today before the clouds returned. That is the Nisqually Glacier on Mt Rainier, the trails of the Paradise area in the foreground. The glacier ice looked really blue after the intense rain, and the mountain looked awesome.

For 24 hours, this was a place that people simply left. Today, the NPS resummed its plan to restore facilities and order to the park after 18 inches of rain fell at Paradise in 36 hours. The level of the primary rivers and tributaries remains high and it's very easy to note the newly scoured banks and freshly deposited log jams along the river corridors.

There was a noticeable change to the silence as the restoration effort moved forward. Electricians, water treatment specialists, and heavy equipment operators returned to Longmire and other parts of the park to assess the damage and begin the repairs. Highway 410 will open soon (probably Thursday) but the Carbon River road, Highway 123 and the Nisqually to Paradise road will remain closed (probably for a few weeks).

We surveyed the storm damage from the air this afternoon. The main hits were taken at Sunshine Point, Stevens Canyon (in somewhat predictable locations, see photo above-left) and on Highway 123 (left) where the road washed out entirely. The damage to Highway 123 looked severe given the time of year; I wonder if it won't be fully sorted out until 2007. At the Sunshine Point washout, I saw earth movers in the remains of the campground (now river bed). They were trying to make things happen for the road to Longmire, but the job seemed large because the road was entirely gone.

The sound of silence approaches, as soon the generators will be turned off for the evening.

Into the Swing of Things

Over the course of last year I made considerable progress on the bike as far as endurance and handling skills. But what I found most rewarding was having gotten to the point where long and strenuous rides over challenging terrain began to feel normal, with the physical aspects of the riding itself fading into the background and the adventures the riding was enabling taking over. Having gotten a taste of this made it clear how much I valued and wanted it.



This made the start of this season all the more frustrating. Not riding takes its toll, we all know that. And the only fix is to start riding again - it will come back quicker than the previous year. We all know that too. But even experienced cyclists can feel deflated when, having emerged out of hibernation, they find themselves exhausted and with a sore butt after a ridiculously short ride. In response toa post earlier this week, I've heard from several local riders telling me just that. Strong, experienced guys who dohilly Centuries on gravel for fun, frustrated that they've lost their cycling mojo after a bad winter.



So here is something to cheer you up: A true story. I got my groove back after just 3 - count them, 3 - rides, and you can too!



The Damage...

Okay, I will try to be honest here. Between the snow and the weeks of being sick and the snow again, I had not been on a roadbike for close to 2 months, not counting a handful of sporadic short rides. I had also gained about 15lb in "winter weight." So that was my starting point.









The First Ride...

I rode a cyclocross bike with mixed terrain tires. I rode solo, for just 25 miles with a 15 minute break in the middle. It was an extremely cold and windy day, making me feel even more sluggish than I already did. By the end of the ride I was tired, and the next morning I felt shockingly bad. The muscles in my legs hurt, my arms hurt, my abdominal muscles hurt, my butt was sore, the works. Hard to believe that this was the same body that did all that cool stuff last year. Discouraged and in a bad mood afterward, I knitted furiously to dull the pain.







The Second Ride...

The very next day, I aimed to repeat the 25 mile route and again went solo. I had a hard time on this ride, because my butt was still sore from the day before. Again, it was cold and windy. After the ride I felt tired and achy again. In the evening, I tried not to dwell on how out of shape I was, knitting instead.



The Rest Day...

The following day I rode my city bike around town as usual, but not my roadbike. I was still a little tired from the previous two rides, but my butt was finally recovering.





The Third Ride...

This time I had plans to ride with Emily "Fixed Gear Randonneuse" O'Brien. I warned Emily about my sorry state, but she was undeterred, and so we set off. For the first few miles I was out of breath, struggling to hold a conversation while riding at a reasonable pace, so much so that I questioned the wisdom of continuing. Then we headed uphill, and I braced myself for the painful struggle. Oddly it never came. I wasn't fast, but I had low gears and the hill was okay. Then came the downhill, and some more riding, and some miles later - boom! I remember when it happened: We were passing the Air Base, and just like that, I could tell: I got my groove back. The sluggishness, the cobwebs, gone. The achinessgone. Between riding with Emily and on my own, it was a 40 mile day. Today I rode again, and the groove is indeed back: I feel like my old self again.And, as a bonus, I have a new skirt for Spring.



Without a doubt, I need more time in the saddle before a 100 mile ride, or even a non-stop 100K. But it's attainable.



Three rides to get into the swing of things after the winter we've had ain't bad at all. Cheer up, New Englanders and let's ride!

Southwick and woods, circular

With Barrie E, Terry, Sue, Kate, Ian and Carol, Phil, Barry O, Gordon, Maureen, Eddie. Fine sunny morning. Just over 6 miles. And no stiles.





This walk follows the same route as the one fromWed, September 7th. This time we started from the lay-by just after the water tower on the road to Glapthorn from Southwick. I haven't written up details, as they're on the linked post, but here are a few snaps of some of the 'gang'.

Crossway Hand Farm

Not 'one of us'.

Failure to Yield and Crosswalk Design

In Somerville, MA we have this community path for bicyclists and pedestrians that stretches all the way to the neighbouring town of Arlington, grazing Cambridge along the way. The path is great, except that it is frequently interrupted by busy roads and the crossings can be challenging. We had this one particular interruption, where cyclists had to make a complicated series of turns and negotiate a major intersection in order to get from one stretch of the path to another.Then sometime last year, construction began at that intersection. Rumor had it they were making a crosswalk that would cut through the series of islands - a straight line connecting the disjointed stretches of community path. That is exactly what they did, and the new intersection was unveiled a couple of months ago.






It's hard to capture the whole thing in photographs; it is vast and consists of 4 separate crosswalk segments. But the pictures above each show a chunk that should give you an idea of how it's designed. In 3 of the 4 segments there are traffic lights with clear red and green signals. And there is another small segment not visible here where there is just a crosswalk without a traffic light. In theory the design is great, because it creates a direct line of travel connecting the community path, without forcing cyclists to make an elaborate detour. In practice however, there is one big problem: Drivers don't yield. Some drivers make right turns on a red light at full speed without even checking whether anyone is in the crosswalk, others make U-turns on a red light, and others still simply run the red light altogether. In some instances the drivers obviously see me, but proceed anyway, forcing me to stop abruptly in the middle of the intersection or to speed up if I am already in their line of travel.






Roughly half the time I go through this intersection, something like this happens - to the point where I absolutely do not trust it anymore. It's a shame that all this work was done, and drivers' failure to yield ruins it. It is also frightening that the crosswalks look so nice and friendly, while in reality it is quite dangerous. I cannot really think of a solution, but it's clear that something needs to change in the local drivers' mentalities in order for attempts to create decent, convenient infrastructure to be truly successful. The infrastructure itself is not always enough.

Forest Bellflower

Forest Bellflower, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

I found this campanula down by a stream in Dolomieu, France. There were many flowers down there, as well as mushrooms. I tried to do a little exploring, but I heard that vipers lived down in wet areas, so that shot that idea down.

The Moro Rock Trail

One of the shortest trails in Sequoia National Park, at only one-quarter of a mile in length, the Moro Rock Trail is also one of the steepest, climbing 300 feet in elevation. The path twists and turns around, over, and through the rock as it rises to the top. The views are stupendous!

A sign at the bottom of the trail warns that even though it is short, the trail is strenuous. Some of the steps have been, quite literally, carved from the rock.

Approaching the top of Moro Rock. It is a pretty safe trail with railings in place, where needed, for safety's sake. It's not scary, unless you decide to look over the edge!

Plants seemed to be growing in nearly every crevice.

It really wasn't dangerous, but glancing over the side and straight down did cause a bit of dizziness.

Looking south, toward the entrance to Sequoia National Park.

At the top of Moro Rock.

Spectacular views in every direction.

Just a few of the steps that have been carved from the rock.

LED Lights for Classic and Vintage Bicycles?

When it comes to bicycle lighting, our primary objective is to be extremely visible. On bicycles without a dynamo, this means LED lighting. One downside to LED lights, is that most of what's currently on the market looks very modern and "techy".We try to find LED lights that are both the brightest and the least in conflict with the classic looks of our bikes. A good example of that is the set-up on my vintage Raleigh DL-1 (above). I have received some emails asking how those lights are attached, and so I will describe it here.

Like all of our LED lights, the lights on this bicycle are by Cateye - a company whose products seem to be consistently good. The headlight is the Opticube HL-EL530, mounted on the right fork blade. Mounting it in this manner requires 2 supplementary gadgets: the FlexTight mounting bracket, which comes packaged with the headlight, and the Minoura Besso fork mount, which must be purchased additionally.

The Opticube headlight is sold with a FlexTight mounting bracket included. This bracket is designed to be wrapped around a handlebar or around a long lug nut on the front wheel, like the one that comes standard on the Pashley and is pictured here. However, most bicycles - including my DL-1 - do not have sufficiently long lug nuts for this, and so you will need either a lug nut extender or a special mount that attaches to the fork blade like a branch, around which the FlexTight bracket can be wrapped. The mount we like to use for this is the Minoura Besso, priced in the $5-10 range.

Here is another view of this setup. You can see how the Minoura Besso mount is attached to the fork blade, and the Opticube headlight is then attached to it with the FlexTight bracket.

Yet another view from the back. I should note that some are against attaching a headlight to the fork blade, based on the idea that it can slip down and fall into the spokes. Personally, I think that this really depends on your attachment method. If you use a proper mount and attach it tightly, it seems extremely stable and not in the least prone to slippage. If you've had a bad experience with this method, please let me know; so far I have not heard of any.

This is what the headlight looks like in motion, "in the wild". From a short distance it actually resembles a vintage light, and it certainly comes across that way in pictures like these. Of course, up close you can tell that it is modern, but the design is nonetheless one of the most elegant ones available, as far as modern bike lights go.

For tail lights, we use two Cateye TL-LD610 lights, attaching one to each rear stay in the same way as on our Pashleys.

The diameter of the rear stays is usually not large enough to fit these lights, but they are sold with plastic liners to expand the stay diameter.

Using these two light strips on the rear stays is the nicest tail light setup we can think of. Not only does it make the bicycle highly visible in traffic, but it also gives the cars a good feel for its width - which can be very important in the dark.

And as far as aesthetics go, attaching the lights along the stays creates a very natural, unobtrusive look that does not conflict with any part of the bicycle's design.

My descriptions make it seem like the lights - especially the headlight - are a pain to attach, and I have to admit they kind of are. But you only need to do it once, and in the end it is worth it: Top of the line illumination, maximum safety, and classic looks will be your rewards.