Kitten Energy

Oh, to have the energy of an 8 month old kitten.
Willey attacking Murphy.

I Never Asked for a Honeymoon

When it comes to new bike ownership, cyclists will often talk about the so-called honeymoon phase. Symptoms include: lack of interest in looking at other bikes, thinking that everything about the new bike is "perfect," even finding its flaws endearing. It's more than about enjoying the bike. It's like being under its spell. Some describe this as the magic faerie dust effect.



In the past, I don't think that I've gone through honeymoon phases with my bikesexactly. I am by nature analytical and tend to see things from several perspectives at once. Even in the beginning, when I was extremely excited about my first beautiful new bike, I was all the while looking at it critically. Its purchase did not diminish my curiosity about other bikes in its category, but increased it. It was in fact through comparing other bikes to mine and noticing differences, that I became interested in bicycle design. The same can be said for all of my bicycle buying and selling since: There was excitement and enjoyment, but never really a rose coloured glasses type honeymoon period. It was more about experimenting and staying open to other possibilities. Considering my interest in bicycle reviews, design, framebuilding and such, I think this is a useful attitude to have.



So it has thrown me for a loop to realise that maybe, just maybe I am in a prolongued honeymoon phase with my Seven roadbike, which I've been riding since Spring of this year. The symptoms are there: Everything about it feels "perfect." The fact that it's welded and has a carbon fork somehow only accentuates its charm, even as I wax lyrical about lugs. And more disturbingly, I have lost interest in other bikes in its category. This last part is a problem! I would like, in theory to keep trying other roadbikes and comparing them, thereby learning more about the feel of different frame materials and different handling characteristics. But in practice, I don't really want to ride bikes other than my own just yet. If it's a different style of bike for different kinds of riding, I am as enthusiastic about experimenting as ever. But for roadcycling on pavement, I would rather be on my own bike. It's as if I haven't had enough of it yet, even after 2,000 miles. The decals are peeling, but the proverbial luster apparently remains. I hope to get over this soon. Until then, you are unlikely to see much in the way of roadbike test-rides here.



Have you gone through a honeymoon phase with any of your bikes? What has it been like, and what happens afterwards?

Hey. You Look Good.

Looking straight at her, he said it with nonchalant sincerity, nodding in approval for emphasis.



"Hey. You look good."



In response she gave him a startled, almost bewildered look. As if caught off guard by his directness. As if to say "Hey buddy, this is a cycling club, not a night club. And don't you know any subtler flirting tactics besides?"



Witnessing the exchange I had to suppress a laugh. When this phrase was first said to me on a ride, I did not know what to make of it either.



Of course the guy was telling her she looked good on the bike. That her position was good, that the bike fit her well, that she had good form. It's all in the tone and in the look. Once you get used to this pronouncement in a cycling context, it's hard to mistake for flirtation. But the first time it does catch you off guard. "You look good." Just like that, huh?



I don't tell other cyclists they look good on the bike when we ride together. I don't feel ready. What do I know good form from bad? Yes I see things, and I think it to myself. But it wouldn't be right to say it. The compliment must have significance.



But when I have my camera the dynamic changes. I tell riders they look good then, and it takes on a different meaning: happy, radiant, picturesque. Maybe they have a contagious smile. Or an intriguing frown. Or the light through the trees is falling on their face just so. Or the colour of their bike interacts perfectly with the colours of the bench they are standing beside. It feels natural to say it then, looking through the lens of my camera. "You look wonderful." Or "That's beautiful - thank you."



And there are times when I know not to say it. Just like sometimes I know not to point my camera. Even though the scene looks perfect, I just don't.



The human gaze is such a complicated thing. It communicates interest, care, the acknowledgement of the other, but also scrutiny. We want to be gazed upon to some extent, but there is always a line beyond which we don't. In cycling, the gaze is ever present - focused on each other's bodies, movements. Sometimes it is silent judgment. And sometimes it culminates in "Hey. You look good." In response to which I simply say "Thanks" and continue to pedal.

More Balloons

Rivington Pike, Lancashire

Led by Mike. With Eddie, Gordon, Barry, Maureen and me. Fine and dry after a wet morning. 1 162 feet of climbing, 10 miles walking. Max elevation 1 283 - on the ridge.




After breakfast the weather looked distinctly unfriendly, so we headed for the town centre, picked up some provisions from Booths, and wandered round the market.



Still the weather gods were not smiling. OK, a garden centre/emporium/café visit could do the trick.

Eddie claims his bench, Maureen claims an Eddie

Soon after midday the clouds lifted and the downpour stopped. Time to head for the hills. We park at the Great House Barn, with its café and the Go Ape treetop adventure park.

This is as Ape as we're Going today

We walk alongside Lower Rivington Reservoir, cross to the upper reservoir. We walk on the west and north sides of Yarrow reservoir, gradually gaining some height.










We head east and make a small detour to visit the Wellington Bomber Memorial










In memory ofsix airmen killed when a Wellington bomber

crashed on these moors on Nov 12th 1943
Back down to Lead Mines Clough, and a steady climb along track and footpath.













It gets boggy near the top, until we reach the magnificent flagstone causeway at the highest point of the ridge. We turn sharply to the right and head more or less south toward Rivington Road. When the flagstones stop we follow the wall downhill.





A quick break - I'm ready for those sandwiches now!





We reach the road and turn right for a short distance before turning off to the left along Georges Road - for some reason I didn't take photos of the surface! One of the least comfortable underfoot, anywhere.

This takes us gently round to the Pigeon Tower, at the top of the Terraced Gardens, designed by Thomas Mawson in the 1920s, for Lord William Leverhulme of soap and Port Sunlight fame.

The Pigeon Tower

A brief exploration and off we go towards the tower on the Pike itself.





Winter Hill, not too far away is higher, but the views from the Pike are well worth the climb, even though they are a little hazy.









From here it's all downhill. First the gardens and their ruins and lake.









Then down through the woods, past Rivington Hall and Barn, and on to the car park.





For a couple of us, a turn round the car park brings the total mileage to over ten. Whatever can be measured will be measured even unto the point of meaninglessness?



A fine walk, with a real "hill" feel. A bonus - we found a few bilberries.









We get back and have time to change and go out for our meal to celebrate Gordon's approaching special birthday.

Little Annapurna

The group decided to go on another ambitious day trip. We chose Little Annapurna, in the Stuart Range. The climb was not very difficult, it just had a long approach. It was hard to keep our eyes on the trail with Ingalls Creek providing such awesome views!





After 7 miles, we left the trail and headed cross country up towards the peak.


This part of the trip consisted of going over, under and around large granite boulders.









The dry gully leading to the South face.



We were really pleased to find some water up high, since we, uh, sort of waited too long to refill our water bottles.







The South Face of Little Annapurna.





Mark at a belay station. Jim and Dave had gone up a different route. Dave is looking over the edge






Jim, Mark, Doug and Dave on top. The rock formations are incredible everywhere you look!







Jim boot-skiing down.









There are numerous beautiful lakes, like this one, all over the Stuart Range.








Prussik Peak is on our short list of Mountains to climb. The long approach seemed twice as long on the way out even though it is downhill. As we hiked out in the dark, using our headlamps, we couldn't stop thinking about the cougar tracks we had seen earlier. It was another great day with friends in an awesome part of creation!

The Ponds at Liberty Hill, next photo

The Austin Pond Society tour took in quite a large territory this year, reaching up past the northwest corner of Austin to encompass ponds in Cedar Park & Leander, then tossing a lasso up to Liberty Hill. Past the shopping centers, past the faux-Victorian subdivision houses, up to where the streets have horse names, the houses have a few acres surrounding them, and there is room to swing a cat – or a backhoe.

This pond owner/builder told me that he had an advantage when building his pond – he owns the backhoe, and lives in an area where rocks abound under the soil. Some pond gardens in more urban areas are designed for specific reasons: to muffle the sound of traffic, to add resale value to the property, to provide an impressive area for entertaining, to enclose the koi so they’re not pierced by herons, to provide privacy from close neighbors or to bring a feeling of nature to the city. This pond plays in a different arena – creative expression by a hard-working man who is having fun. It's actually a series of ponds, built in stages, displaying an adventurous & masterful use of plants, and decorated with whimsical touches. Along the back border of the pond area, native trees, shrubs and drought tolerant plants provided a colorful backdrop. A recent addition was standing cypress, Ipomopsis rubra. [You can see it at top left in the previous posted photo.] The owner intends to scatter the seeds of this beautiful flower, extending the bed into a border. Within the pond there was an area with bog plants, among them the red-flowering Lobelia cardinalis, happy to have damp feet in Central Texas. Wonderful water lilies are mandatory, of course! The bloom season of the water lilies is one reason for the mid-July timing of this annual tour.


With this large, well-built and well-planted foundation in place, the owner added many quirky touches, thus invoking what the tour brochure promised, “the essence of South Austin in Liberty Hill”. The effect was playful, charming the adults and delighting the children as they wandered up and around the ponds, discovering the Mariachi band, a lighthouse, a dry hill with cacti & a windmill, and dancing frogs tucked in along the way.

Crevasse Falls

The past weekend went by without a hitch (no 911 calls) However, no one made the summit either. The recent climbing trend has involved crevasse falls. In the past two weeks, clients, guides, and rangers have all taken spills somewhere along the Ingraham Glacier Direct or upper Disappointment Cleaver route. No one was seriously injured, but the word on the glacier is that there a number of hidden or sketchy crevasses to cross high on the mountain. The latest report says that the wands have been removed from the Ingraham Glacier Direct, and the guided climbing teams are putting a route up the DC.

The other interesting trend that is being noticed is the number of skiers vs. the number of climbers. Over the past couple of years, I've seen an increase in the number of ski mountaineers on the hill in May and June. There have been quite a few weekends where we've actually seen more skiers than climbers at the high camps! It's no surprise that skiers and boarders flock to Rainier when the conditions are good (April/May/June) but to actually observe fewer climbers is interesting.

And with that said, ski demon Sky has been at it again. On the one day of really good weather last week (Friday), he and Dave Brown stormed the Success Couloirs and made short work of the route on skies. Not to be out done, Jason Hummel posted a sweet Fuhrer Finger trip report (a bit dated, but nice images). Photo by Dave Brown

Rawhide

Newspaper photo of Clint Eastwood, who played Rowdy Yates and Eric Fleming, who played the trailboss, Gil Favor.

Almost Wordless Wednesday :: The Three Musketeers

Becky – Babs – MayThank You, ladies, for making last week bearable – and even fun, at times.

Obituary for my friend - Lorene Joslin. She will be missed, big time!

Dancing with the clouds

Moonrise on January 9, . Had great fun last night watching the moon dip in and out of the clouds as they passed by. The first thing I thought of was "It looks like the moon is dancing with the clouds!". Voila! Another image title :-)



Last night as the moon was rising the light on the surrounding landscape was sublime. The moonlight, clouds, stars and snowy landscape made for quite a memorable scene! I know I've said this many times before, but I can't help myself by saying it again: "I LOVE living here!"

Riding

I decided to ride Sonny today and Lee took a couple of photos. Wish I felt like riding more often. In this photo we are at the back of our property. Those are the Sandia Mountains behind be.

Previously Unidentified, their identities are now known!

Another contact has been made... this time with a Wiseman Cousin on the order of 3rd cousin once removed. And, as a result, several of my "Mystery Photos" that were posted a few years ago have been identified!



I've been in touch with Nancy, who left comments on two posts yesterday. She recognized one of the photos because it is the same one hanging on a wall in her hallway! Nancy is the great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Howard Wiseman whom I knew as "Uncle" Howard (he died when I was 8 years old). Howard was the son of my great-grandfather's brother, thus my 1st cousin twice removed.



Back in January .. I posted Little Darlings! Who are you? and was way off on my estimation of the date of the photos. Once it was determined, with help from a few readers, that the pictures were taken in the 1908-1909 time frame, I don't know why I didn't "connect" them with Howard's children. His daughter, Lucille, was born November 12, 1904 and his son, Robert was born August 4, 1907 - both in Kosciusko County, Indiana. Lucille is Nancy's grandmother.





Robert Wiseman, about 18 months to 2 years old, and Lucille Wiseman, about age 4. This is the photo that Nancy has hanging in a hall in her home.




I think this photo is also Lucille.


This photo was originally posted with the other two but I don't think it is Lucille and Robert - the style seems a little older to me - but I could be wrong ;-)



Anyway, two out of three is fine with me! And I'm very happy to have made contact with another cousin too.