Lupine Explosion

Lupine Explosion, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

First it was a tidy tip explosion, but a return to Shell Creek Road revealed an explosion of lupines.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Our little trip took us to one of the most beautiful sites we've ever laid eyes on: our granddaughter. My mom will probably tell you that the picture above looks like my baby pictures. That's not why I think she is beautiful though. She just is!

Makes you want to sniff her newborn baby head, doesn't it? How is it that even baby slobber is cute?

I'm a little smitten with her. Ah, who am I kidding...I'm completely head over heels in love with her!!!!!

She is so smart and funny already. She makes a different face every ten seconds which cracks us up.

Papa thinks she is the greatest thing too!

My best birthday ever was when I had Aric (happy Birthday number one son) but this ranked right up there. She's a keeper to be sure!



Living the life as Mimi!

Steven's Pass Ski ..

First ski of the season. (Or about four months, ten days since my last ski.) I couldn't get a mid-week partner, but figured it would be safe enough to poach at Steven's Pass. The ski area is planning on opening on Friday, and I had seen a few trip reports reporting an adequate snow pack. The trip reports I saw for Hyak didn't appear as promising.

I left Seattle casually after 8am figuring that would give the DOT some time to clear the road. By the time I got to the pass, it was sunny and there was a bit of slush on the road, so nothing to worry about.

The scene when I arrived

I geared up in the parking lot where there were already 30+ cars! I guess many others had the same idea. I hiked up the stairs and walked in the snow a bit before putting my skis on. The snow was already fairly tracked out from previous days. (Probably Sunday.) So I went in search of fresh tracks by skinning under the Skyline Chair and eventually reaching the top of the Brooks Chair in a half hour or so. I transitioned at the top of the chair. Four months is plenty of time to get a little rusty transitioning. I then turned the skis downhill to go nowhere. The lower angle and deep unconsolidated snow was sticky. (Those factors combined with a need for a wax.) I worked my way to a slightly steeper section and mostly headed straight downhill without turning. It was the only way to keep up speed. Then I jumped back on a cat track for a bit before trying some other slope near the bottom. While I didn't fall, things were not smooth, and I wouldn't exactly say I enjoyed the run. So I decided to try something different on the next lap.

The next lap had me skinning to near the top of the Hogsback Lift. Once near the top, I decided to turn around and head down before getting into terrain I didn't want to be in. On the way up and from where I transitioned, I could see plenty of rocky areas that did not have good coverage, and I wanted to avoid those. So I ended up riding a cat track almost all the way down from my transition with a slight excursion into the powder near the bottom. Once again, the deeper untracked snow proved slow and unenjoyable. The time was now 12:30pm. I wanted to get one more run in that I really could enjoy. So I transitioned to skinning and headed up.

Dork
This time I headed up near the Big Chief Chair, skinning up the Showcase run. It was fairly tracked from early in the day as well as days earlier. (There were about 25 teenage boys with snowboards running up the slope to catch turns. They were also building kickers near the bottom of the slope.) I went up the slope for almost 30 minutes and decided to turn around at a flatter section of slope so I would not have to attempt to ski down this slower low angle area. During my transition I was joined by one of the teenage snowboarders. We had a chat about whether the ski area could kick us out or not and then he took his ride down. I followed shortly afterward on what was my favorite run of the day! Unfortunately, I was looking to get home and get my skis to the shop for a wax as I hope to get out later this week. So I headed to the car after ending on a high note.

Closing shot

Overall, I enjoyed my day out. The weather was mostly sunny, and fairly warm. (High was supposed to be 33°) I skinned in a light base layer and shell pants. I put on a shell jacket for the descents. It was nice to get back into the motion of skinning/skiing as well as working on my transitions without having others to wait for me. I tried out my new ski helmet which seemed to work as advertised and will be anticipating bringing it on other trips in the future.

Cascade River Waterfalls

Here are a couple of waterfall shots during our outing to Cascade River State Park earlier this week. We had a perfect day for exploring the river and looking for flowers. The sky was overcast which makes for ideal photography of waterfalls and flowers.

Bicycle Snow Cover!

As we head towards the New Year, I give you this image of our neighbor's awesome bicycle cover!

It is snowing here in Boston again and the forecast promises that it will continue doing so for four days straight. So far, I have not exactly been a heroic winter cyclist, but in , I hope to get increasingly more comfortable. Other cycling goals include: touring long distance, conquering drop bars, developing stronger upper body musculature for wielding the Pashley, learning more about bicycle components, and dare I say, wheel building? Yes, that may be in my future over the winter months. Stay tuned and have a Happy New Year!

Beautiful day on Devilfish Lake

We are heading out kayaking again today! Right now the conditions are foggy on the Lake Superior shoreline but we are headed to an inland lake so maybe it won't be foggy up there. Of course, if it is foggy I won't complain because that could make for some interesting pictures! In the meantime, here is another shot from last week's paddle on Devilfish Lake. I loved this tree hanging over the water and couldn't resist paddling under it to photograph Jessica out in the lake with the tree in the foreground.

Another Basket Case

A few days ago I borrowed a 7-speed Bella Ciao from Citybiker, and since I had my laptop bag with me I had to find a way to transport it. We looked for a basket that did not require complex installation and found one into which my bag could be stuffed, albeit with some effort.



I was amused to notice that this basket is from the American manufacturer, Nantucket Bike Baskets, but rebranded by the German distributor Liix. Ah, globalisation.



As a transport solution this setup worked well enough for the short trip, to the extent that my bag did not fall out and the handling of the bike was only mildly affected. But the experience made me remember the problems I have with handlebar-mounted baskets: (1) they tend to slide sideways along the handlebars, even when the basket is empty, and (2) when going over a bump, they bounce against the headtube.

For me this presents a dilemma, whereby one must choose between installing complicated (and heavy, and ugly) hardware to prevent the movement, or leaving it as is and cycling with a basket that is constantly sliding and bouncing. The later is annoying, but the former is a hassle. For this reason I like having a basket mounted on a front rack best, but a front rack does not make sense for every bike. I also realise that some just prefer the simplicity of a handlebar-mounted basket that can easily be attached and removed. In Vienna I do not often see cyclists with baskets attached to the handlebars via straps, and I think that is because of the cobblestones: Riding through some parts of the city, the bouncing would be unbearable. But I do see this method of attachment in Boston sometimes (though mostly on bikes that look like they are used for very short trips) and in photos from other countries.

It occurred to me that if there were another set of holes in the back of the basket, toward the bottom, then a third strap could be fitted around the headtube and perhaps this would solve the problem. The design would be like a saddlebag in that regard, which has two straps on top to go around the saddle railings and another on the bottom to go around the seatpost. Has anyone ever tried this with a handlebar-mounted basket? I like the elegance and lack of commitment in attaching a basket via straps instead of clunky quick-release systems, decalleurs and the like. But for me, it needs to be practical - no sliding or bouncing.