Dubai is a sauna and the view from my hotel’s rooftop

Sauna is probably the best fitting word to describe Dubai during the summer months. My skin felt lovely actually; you know, when you get out of the sauna, you are not only sweating buckets but you reap this pampered effect of having soft fresh skin and rosy cheeks. That’s Dubai for you in the summer. And that’s probably the only positive thing out of this oppressive heat in the city.







The fog is not a camera issue or a trick, this is Dubai during the summer months. Misty, er I mean, steamy.



Free sauna in Dubai



My first experience of the sweltering heat was when I stepped out of the rooftop of my hotel early in the morning. The temperature was a soaring 40-something degree celsius. I was caught off guard when I opened the metal door to the rooftop pool area. The heavy hot air instantly confronted my very startled I-did-not-expect-it-to-be-this-hot face. Humidity was skyrocket-high and I was sweating in seconds. My hairs started to annoyingly curl under my neck and ears as well and I began to worry if my light makeup will melt. I know it's petty but a lady does not want to look ridiculous, right?



It was really too hot to be walking on the rooftop of the hotel but I endured the sizzling dilemma just to take pictures, even if the lens of my point-and-click Sony camera was fogged up due to the steaming temperature. I am sure that if I break an egg on the floors of the rooftop, the egg would just cook by itself. Because of the humidity, there is not much to be seen from afar. Water in the air. Steam. Mist.



What can I say? The city is indeed a one big sauna oven and I can never thank Wills Carrier enough for having invented modern-day air conditioning!









The water in the pool looks very refreshing but it is too hot to be swimming on the rooftop in the summer. No way!

















Traditional trading boats docked on the Deira harbour along Dubai Creek.









That is Hilton on the left. But last minute I switched to Samaya because of their offer.









A mosque on Al Rigga, Deira district, just beside the hotel.







Samaya Hotel Deira



I stayed at the Samaya Hotel Deira because I want to be in the old part of Dubai. I only have a day in the city and the places I wanted to see were mostly in Deira and Bur Dubai. Luckily, both historical places are located beside each other and are only divided by the fascinating Dubai Creek.



For a better understanding of the city, I will give an overview of the districts of Dubai in my next entry.



Initially, I had my eyes set on the Hilton, until I saw Samaya offering a much lower rate. Samaya is a 5-star hotel that have seen better days, which is quite obvious in the hotel’s lobby and reception, however, the hotel rooms were still very nice, spacious, elegant and well maintained. Totally worth the switch I reckon.



I was also right with the location; it couldn’t have been any better. The hotel is just a stone’s throw away from the Gold and Spice Souks, the Abra (traditional wooden boat) station and the historical Bur Dubai district. However, during the sauna months in the city, it is almost impossible to be walking outside, thus one would need a personal chauffeur or a taxi to get to these places. Taxi fares are cheap in Dubai anyway, at least from a Dutch-Euro stand point.












The hotel has a glass capsule lift.








UAE currency: Dirhams. 1 EUR (Euro) is 4.8 AED (Dirhams). Taxi rides cost between 10 Dirhams to 30 Dirhams within the city. A 30-minute ride would probably cost about 40-50 Dirhams. That's nothing compared to the Netherlands where a 3-minute taxi ride can cost you 10+ Euros and a half an hour ride between 80 and 90 Euros.



In addition, the hotel is very close to the airport. You’d be surprised that there is traffic in Dubai, after all the city is constantly evolving, bringing new contruction and expansion sites, i.e. new infrastructure, new architecture and new road works that sometimes invites traffic.

Dynamo Lighting Kit for Roadbikes

While I am generally a huge fan of dynamo lighting, I do not have it installed on what is currently my only roadbike. My plans for the bike did not involve significant amounts of night-time cycling; it was not meant to be a touring or randonneuring bike. For occasional riding in the dark I do have an excellent rechargeable battery headlight that lasts for hours and attaches easily to the handlebars. And I have an equally good tail light that attaches to the back of my saddle wedge tool bag. To install a dynamo hub wheel and lights on this bike would have added unnecessary weight and expense to the build.




I felt pretty good about my bike's lighting setup until I found myself wanting to join an overnight ride. Initially I thought that my super duper rechargeable battery headlight would last through the night. But when I did the math it became clear that it would not; I would need to add a second headlight and to bring several sets of spare batteries. Even at the height of summer an overnight ride in New England means 8+ hours of riding in the dark - and not the kind of milky suburban dark where you can leave the light on a low setting to conserve battery life; proper boonies dark that requires a powerful headbeam. I talked to the others doing the ride, and they all had dynamo lights. Now I felt foolish for not having a bike with appropriate lighting. But at the same time, how often would I do rides like this?






I was discussing this with local cyclist Pamela Blalock and she offered to lend me her mobile dynamo setup: a spare front wheel with a dynamo hub, and lights that are easy to attach and remove. With this kit, she can turn any 700C wheeled roadbike into an overnight bike. Extremely grateful to Pamela for the offer, frankly I was also skeptical that it would work out. To me, dynamo lighting was something that gets permanently installed - not attached and removed on a case by case basis! Furthermore, my bike has no fenders, no racks, no braze-ons. Could the lights be attached securely? I was worried that the installation process would be tricky, and that in the end something would end up falling off, disconnecting, or malfunctioning.




To my amazement, the installation process took mere minutes. The front wheel switch was seamless and soon my bike was sporting a dynamo hub. Then the headlight was attached to the brake bolt, as shown in the first picture. A thin cable runs straight down from the headlight to the hub, easily secured to the fork with a piece of tape.






For the tail light, a P-clamp was installed on the left chainstay. The wiring got routed along the chainstay and the top tube, secured with zip ties to the brake cable. The result was not beautiful, but neither was it flimsy. It was secure and problem-free. The positioning of the headlight and tail light beams were spot on.




Later I learned that other local cyclists employ a similar system for when they ride in the dark - a dynamo hub wheel and lights that get moved from bike to bike as needed. I would not have thought this to be a good idea until I tried it myself and experienced how easy and hassle-free it was. On a dedicated randonneuring or touring bike, it makes sense to have dynamo lighting permanently installed in a more elegant manner. But for those who want the option of using their pared-down roadbike for occasional night time riding, a kit like this can be a good solution. Pamela's setup includes a 32 spoke Velocity Aerohead wheel built around a Schmidt SON hub, a Lumotec Cyo IQ headlight and a Spanniga Pixeo tail light - though many alternatives exist.




At least here in New England, there seems to be an increasing amount of cross-over between road racing, randonneuring, endurance events, and casual long distance rides. And this cross-over is influencing how roadbikes are defined and equipped.I am still unsure what kind of cycling I will ultimately gravitate toward. But if more night time rides are in my future, a versatile dynamo setup like this is certainly worth considering.

Can't Get Enough of This

I just can't get enough of this:

What's Old and Green with Herons All Over?

... and made in Nottingham? Why yes, it's a vintage Raleigh!

There was an old dusty bicycle lying around in my parents' garage when I was growing up. I had nearly forgotten it until they mentioned it recently. I asked my father to take some photos, not expecting anything special. Well, these are the photos he sent!

I don't want to get my hopes up, but from the pictures the bicycle appears to be restorable. Look at that beautiful head badge!

The brakes and the 3-speed gear shift (which I hope is the original Sturmey-Archer) look like they might be functional.

The chain ring with the herons design! Of course the rusted out chain will need to be replaced.

Decals are largely intact. The model can be identified as the Lady's Sports. Going by the information here, I am thinking it is late 60's-early'70s.

Saddle is the Brooks B72, most likely original.

So... It looks like I have a vintage bicycle to restore! And just over a week ago, I was commenting on how much I loved green vintage Raleighs on Chic Cyclist's blog. Coincidence?... Or the universe smiling upon my bicycle obsession? Hmmm!...

Cycling Clothes for the Lycra-Averse, Take 2

Last summer I wrote a post calledCycling Clothes for the Lycra-Averse, in which I explained my inability to wear synthetic fabrics (including lycra) and described my alternatives for sporty rides. These included leggings, gauzy tops and breezy mini-dresses made of natural fabrics. Those outfits worked for the gently paced and mostly flat 20 mile rides I did at the time. But this year, as my rides grew longer and more intense, these outfits soon became unsuitable. At this point I feel that I need proper cycling clothes, and here is why:



1. Seams: The "normal" cotton leggings I love so much have seams at the crotch. The seams are fine when cycling upright, or semi-upright, or even partly leaned over. But once I adopt a more aggressive cycling posture and travel that way for over 40 miles... let's just say the seams are not a friend to a lady's anatomy. Not at all. I do not necessarily need padded shorts, but I do need something with a generous placket down there that will re-route the seams away from the sensitive areas.



2. Fluttering: Breezy tops are great for letting air circulate. But at speeds over 16mph or so, they begin to flutter against my skin in a way that feels like Chinese water torture and drives me nuts. I want something that is tighter around my body and will not flutter.



3. Stuff getting caught on/in the bike: I know that there are ladies out there who wear cute little dresses and "skorts" on diamond-frame roadbikes. Bravo to you, I mean that! I, however, seem to have a talent for getting the hems of skirts, the tails of long shirts, and even the bottoms of loose shorts, stuck in various bicycle components and on the nose of the saddle when I mount or dismount a diamond frame roadbike. Therefore I have been moving towards wearing tighter clothing when doing this kind of cycling.



4. The "wet rag" effect: If I wear tighter cotton clothing to prevent the fluttering and the catching issues, I am faced with another problem. Cotton dries very slowly once it is wet, which means that if the clothing is snug and you sweat on a long and intense ride, it will plaster itself all over you like a heavy wet rag. This becomes extremely uncomfortable, especially when there are temperature variations. Just imagine cycling wrapped in a wet washcloth!



In short, I understand that tight, seamless, moisture-wicking lycra cycling clothing were created for a reason. But while I understand that, I still cannot wear it due to my skin's rejection of synthetic fabrics (before anybody asks, I did give it a try). Many have suggested wool as an alternative, but after having already spent money on the lycra, I needed to recover and save up before giving the wool stuff a try. Last time I tried to wear wool next to my skin, it felt itchy and the memory of that is still strong. I am told the new merino is different, and I am slowly working up to believing that. In the meantime, my solution has been silk tops, and partly synthetic running tights.



Silk has similar temperature regulating and moisture wicking properties as wool, and it dries almost instantly when you sweat. I have several long sleeve silk tees, as well as a silk sports-bra (from Wintersilks), and that is what I've been wearing. When we think of silk, we tend to imagine a slippery satiny material, but in actuality it exists in "normal" textures as well. The top I am wearing here feels like a jersey-knit long-sleeve tee. It has been great in the oppressive heat and humidity so far, and it almost does not flutter. The bottoms are Champion leggings designed for running. They are made from a cotton-spandex-lycra mix that is not quite as bad against my skin as 100% lycra, but still has wicking properties and, most importantly a seamless placket around the crotch. The placket is not as large as I would ideally like, but it's been all right for now.



This iteration of my "lycra-averse" outfit has been working on rides of up to 50 miles at a time so far, but I suspect that I will need something even more serious for longer rides. So there will probably be aCycling Clothes for the Lycra-Averse, Take 3when I finally get real cycling shorts and jersey in wool.

Look Out Places

The Nature Center is set up so that there is no way to get up close to the ponds where the ducks and geese hang out the most. It is for the protection of the waterfowls. They are kind of like the things that hunters and reserch people or photogephers set up to get close to birds or animals without being seen that are usually called 'blinds'. They have put up block walls with square holes in them to look out onto the ponds and where you can take photos. All of these and the ones of the previous post with the geese were taken from one of the 'blinds'.

Two days in Vantage ..

Ian and I had planned to go to Squamish for a bunch of days. However, the forecast was not favorable for any of the "local" climbing areas. By Monday, Ian wasn't feeling well, and we decided to make it a two day trip to the Frenchman's Coulee area. Since I don't seem to enjoy climbing there, this didn't make me feel great about the trip before going, but I kept my hopes up that we'd have a good time.

When we arrived, the skies were gray, with a light wind. We headed to Sunshine Wall so I could help Ian finish his project of climbing all the sport climbs at Sunshine (and the Feathers.) Once there, I believe we "warmed up" on Throbbing Gristle(5.9). Ian led it and I followed. It was technically easy for a 5.9, but strenuous. I fell and hung at one point. I cleaned the anchor, and we moved on to the next objective: Air Guitar.

Right around the corner is Air Guitar(5.10a), a route with a little history. (Goran Kropp died from a fall on Air Guitar.) Ian sort of psyched himself out of doing this one in the past due to that reason. He climbed it, and sewed up the middle section a bit before he ended up leap frogging protection near the top, then running it out when out of gear. You should include two #3s and two #4s in a rack for this climb. (One guide book even says a #5 if you have it, but I think two #4s will do.) I had Ian leave the gear in for my climb. I cruised the lower 2/3s of the climb then the crack got to off hands for me. I didn't have a good jam to move up on, and took a fall trying to go for a higher hold. After a few attempts, Ian gave me the advice to go deep into the crack for a jam. It worked. I basically wound up jamming my forearm, and it gave me enough purchase to make the next hold. That got me up to a big ledge, where what I would call the final crux moves waited. Above the ledge the crack was wider and was either fists or off-width depending on your body size. I couldn't manage to get decent fist jams, and ended up arm barring the last section with a few falls to reach the chains. Since we had the top rope set up, Ian climbed it again, and then I gave it another lap where I struggled more on the lower 2/3s and had an easier time with the off hands section.

Ian on Air Guitar

At this point the wind was picking up, and it was trying to rain on us. Ian and I huddled down for a bit hoping it would pass and then decided to head back to the car area and possibly climb at The Feathers. We took a long scenic way back admiring the flowers on top of the mesa while hiking.

Desert Flowers

Before we got back to the car, we decided to climb at Zig Zag wall. Neither of us had before, and it was about time. So we headed over to Unfinished Business (5.8) as our first route over there. Ian then told me it was my turn to lead, so I led up the route. He wanted to see me climb at my limit, which that route technically wasn't, but was challenging for having smaller holds after we had been doing laps on Air Guitar. I on-sighted the route, and then Ian pink pointed it. He commented about the strenuousness with the small holds and congratulated me on a nice lead. We spoke with a few women about looking at their newer guidebook, then decided on a .10b route nearby. (I think it may have been called Group Therapy?) Ian led it nicely, then I thrashed up it to the chains. (Actually I wasn't that thrashy, just in one section.) We called it a day and ate dinner and hung out in the car before camping. (It had started to rain around 6pm, but we decided to stick it out to see what the next day would bring.)

We woke up at 6:15am and Ian promptly went back to sleep. I took a walk down to the Columbia on the road and just enjoyed the smell of the sage, and the desert morning. When I arrived back at the campsite, Ian was topping out from a free solo of Where the Sidewalk Ends (5.1). We got in the car to get him his morning coffee.

When we got back we headed to The Feathers in an effort to complete his project there. He wanted to start with a warm up on The Uprising (5.8), probably the nicest route at The Feathers. However, he wanted me to lead it. I was intimidated by the first bolt being 15' off the ground and backed off one move from it. Ian led it, and then I pink pointed it afterward. I told him that it was a little too stout of a lead for me to warm up on.

We headed through the notch and geared up for I'd Rather be Skiing at 49° North (5.10b). Ian stated to me that this was still not finished by him due to a somewhat scary clipping issue at the 4th and 5th bolts. (There is a potential for falling on a ledge if falling at that point.) It turns out that is the crux of the climb where it is slightly overhanging and has some awkward foot placements. Ian led it in fine fashion, and I cruised to the crux, and then thrashed a bit trying to overcome it. It mellowed out above that point and I cleaned the anchors.

The next target was Hardening of the Arteries (5.10c). This was another route with a high first bolt which has caused Ian trouble. Although after climbing it, I'd say the crux was between the 2nd and 3rd bolt for sure. Ian led the route with no issues, and I climbed it well to the crux where I got pretty pumped trying to pull through the steep moves before it mellows out again near the top. We left the rope up and allowed a Canadian guy named Peter to top rope the route. Then Ian climbed it again to clean the anchors.

Peter at the Crux on Hardening of the Arteries

The wind picked up again, and we sat in the car for a bit eating lunch and hoping it would subside. Ian had only one route left to complete his task, but neither of us was feeling great about going out and tackling it. So we hiked over to it, and looked at it and proceeded to pack the car and leave for Seattle.

Overall, a great trip. I feel I need to step up the next time I climb with Ian. I usually feel content following harder stuff, but want to start leading some harder stuff too. Perhaps next time.

Gilman Bridge

these are views from the Gilman Bridge just off the main road going to Jemez Springs. Gilman is an even smaller village. The Jemez Creek flows under the bridge. We stopped to see how well the water was flowing in this time of drought and found it doing ok on this day. I expect it will be really down in a few weeks if we don't get some rain. This water is probably the last of the spring snow melt water.

Metropolitan

The weather here has been awful since I've returned from Vienna. So while I've used my bicycle to get where I need to go, the long "welcome home" ride I fantasized about does not seem to be in the cards. Stretches like this remind me to take advantage of good weather whenever possible, and so I offer these photos from one of the nicer cycling days we had at the beginning of the month.



These photos were taken in front of the Metropolitan Storage Warehouse in Cambridge, Mass., which is a local landmark of sorts and has been functioning since 1917.



We do not usually have a good reason to visit this area, but I was intrigued by the Vassar Street bike path controversy that I had read about on Chic Cyclist and I wanted to show it to the Co-Habitant. To summarise, the Vassar Street path is criticised because it is "European style" - running mostly on the sidewalk and therefore conflicting with both pedestrian traffic and with the cars that frequently pull in and out of the various parking lots that cross the path. Compared to what I had been expecting, the path is actually not so bad in person. In fact, it is set up like a typical bike path in Vienna. The main issue is that cyclists must keep to a fairly low speed in order to ride on the path safely during peak traffic times - and Americans are simply not used to cycling at such low speeds and continue to ride at a brisk pace.



I am not certain what my stance is on the Vassar Street critique; it is a complicated issue. But I do enjoy cycling through the MIT/ Cambridgeport neighborhood during non-traffic hours. When these streets are empty, I feel that the personalities of all the warehouses and industrial sites and contemporary constructions really come out, and the abandoned urban landscape becomes "communicative". Is it all in my head? Maybe so. But that does not make the experience any less interesting.