I don't normally venture onto this part of our property early in the morning, so I didn't realize we had any Wild Potato Vine (Ipomoea pandurata) until my husband mentioned it.
It was still, as they say, o'dark thirty.
I knew the common name of the flower, and that it was a type of native morning glory, but that was about it. I researched it and learned several things:
The root can reach the size of a man's leg and weigh over 30 pounds.
Pandurate means fiddle-shaped. (The leaves can also be heart-shaped, as in this picture.)
Sweet potatoes are a type of morning glory.
Moquitoes are really, really bad in this area early in the morning.
In the Co-Habitant's words, our tree ended up looking "very organic," decorated with golden berries, wooden forest animals and round ornaments in shades of copper and gold. The bicycles seem to like it.
Happy holidays and enjoy your winter break!
My Gazelle "Linda" has now been updated for the winter, with new tires and woven dress guards. She is a beautiful sight to behold against the snowy landscape!
The tire replacement was something that had to be done anyhow, as the original ones were cracked and I did not want them to fail in the winter. And of course, I was only too happy to replace them with my favourite creamSchwalbe Delta Cruisers.As for the woven dress guards, there was no reason for them what so ever, other than aestheticcaprice. I thought that Linda looked somewhat generic with the solid black vinyl dress guards, and I wanted to personalise her. We purchased the woven dress guards from Mike Flanigan of ANT and installed them by drilling holes directly into the fenders. I have close-up pictures of the installation and will write a detailed tutorial in a separate post, for those interested.
Riding the Gazelle with the new tires, I immediately noticed that shebecame a bit faster and quicker to accelerate. This echoes my experience with Delta Cruisers on other bikes- which is one reason I love these tires so much. They are the best combination of city/ sporty/ cushy/ all-weather I have found so far. And okay, it does not hurt that they are available in cream!
It was interesting to cycle on the Gazelle after such a heavy snowfall, and to compare her handling to the Bella Ciao - which I rode immediately after the previous snowfall. Somewhat to my surprise, they handle similarly at slow speeds (under 10mph)- which is the speed I stick to under winter road conditions. The Bella Ciao's superior responsiveness and the Gazelle's superior cushiness are considerably less noticeable when cycling gingerly over slush and ice patches. Their common qualities, however, are all the more noticeable: Namely, how well-balanced and stable they both are. The PashleyI rode last year had these same qualities as well - so I think that all three are great winter bicycles.
The Gazelle does have a bit of an edge when cycling over large formations of hardened snow, due to its wider tires. On the other hand, theBella Ciao has a considerable "winter cyclocross" advantage: It is easier to drag, lift and carry when road conditions necessitate getting off the bike and moving it over heaps of snow or patches of ice. Overall, I am honestly not sure which I prefer, and I see the two bikes as representing different ends of my winter comfort zone spectrum. The Gazelle has a rack and lights, so by default I ride it more. But once I install these on the Bella Ciao, that may change. For those who have tried different upright transportation bicycles in the winter (i.e., Pashley vs Workcycles vs Retrovelo vs Rivendell vs ANT vs Abici, etc.), I would love to know what you think of the handling.
After the first two snow storms of the season, I can already tell that I will have an easier time cycling this winter than I did last year. Nothing has really changed in a drastic way, but maybe my balancing skills have gradually improved and my lungs have grown accustomed to cycling in freezing temperatures. And as far as aesthetics go, I really do think that it helps to have a bicycle that you are excited about as a winter bike, rather than a "beater". This helped me last year and it's helping me now. The winter landscape is so beautiful, that cycling through it on a bicycle I love (and feel safe on) makes it all the more special.
The view to Nikolaiviertel (Nikolai Quarter) and the Spree (river) from Muhlendamm (Mills Dam).
The Spree and the Berliner Dom.
Statues and gold details on the Ephraim-Palais on Muhlendamm.
Cosy Nikolai Quarter.
Nikolai Church and the Berlin bear.
Alexanderplatz, also called Alex by the locals.
Neptunebrunnen (Neptune Fountain).
The Rathaus (City Hall) and the Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower).
The Berliner Dom from the park on Spandauerstrasse.
The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).
On Karl Liebknechtstrasse.
Schlossplatz.
Altes Museum on Am Lustgarten.
Humboldt Box on Karl Liebknechtstrasse.
Alte National Gallery. Dutchman told me these could be bullet marks on the column.
Mount Hood (as seen from “a few” miles away near Columbia Hills, Washington).
Arcadia Beach.
Manzanita Bay.
This and the following photographs were taken at Nehalem Beach State Park.
All photos were taken on September 21, ...
I got this shot of a flycatcher sitting on the same plant stand to catch the cool air as the mockingbirds I told about in the previous post.
On a lovely Sunday afternoon in Boston, my Royal H. mixte ran into a cousin...an ANTLady's Boston Roadster of the same colour.
I promise the ANT is not mine. But whoever it was built for certainly has a similar taste in bicycles.
Sage green loop frame, cream Delta Cruiser tires, brown leather saddle, cork grips and huge copper panniers - I think the combination looks great. And notice that the rims are powdercoated the same colour as the frame.
It's fairly accurate to say that my Royal H. and this ANT are related. Not only because both were made by Bostonian frame builders and have similar "complexions," but also because some time ago Mike Flanigan (of ANT) gave Bryan Hollingsworth (of Royal H.) the new-old-stock mixte lugs that made the construction of my bicycle possible.
Like my mixte, the ANT roadster was built with racks and dynamo lighting. Looking at the "cycling landscape" in Boston today, I think it is important to credit ANT for resurrecting the notion that transport bikes should be built with these features. I see more and more bicycles now with dynamo lighting, whereas as recently as a year ago people would stop and ask me why my front hub was so large, amazed when I would explain that the lights are powered by pedaling. And racks are now pretty much the norm on city bicycles, whereas a year or two ago they were an anomaly. ANTbikes, and the younger local builders whose work is influenced by them, played a crucial role in this change.
It is nice to live in a city that is home to so many excellent frame builders, and to spontaneously "meet" other local handbuilt bicycles. The bike pictured here was actually the second ANTI saw today. Earlier, I was stopped at an intersection and heard the cyclist behind me say "Sick bike! Where did you get it?" I started telling him aboutRoyal H. and handbuilt frames, then realised that he was riding a blackANT when he pulled up beside me. "Hey, yours is an ANT!" What a weird thing to bond over, bicycles. Encounters like these make me feel like a character out of a 1950s sitcom, where neighbours wave and smile to one another and the mailman whistles a happy tune.