Thunderhead Cloud

A thunderhead cloud building up over the Sandia Mountains for a rain shower in Albuquerque, New Mexico as seen from my house west of there.

The Feel of the Road

I never gave much thought to the feel of pavement until I started cycling in Ireland last spring. Then I noticed the difference straight away: The tarmac, as they call it in the British Isles, felt distinctly softer than the asphalt in my part of the US. Having lived for years in the UK before I was a cyclist, I'd somehow never noticed this. But on a bike it was difficult not to. I could feel a give in the road's surface under my tires. It was also more porous, gravely in texture. Feeling more resistance than I'd come to expect from pavement, I kept wondering whether my tires had gone flat, or whether something was mechanically amiss with the folding bike I was riding.Later I learned that the roads in Ireland are a kind of chipseal. The differences I sensed were real.




Being back this summer, and with a skinny-tire roadbike this time, the characteristics of the Irish roads feel even more pronounced. The softness and the rough texture make me exert more effort to achieve the same speed as in the US. I would place the experience as somewhere between riding on pavement and riding on tightly packed gravel.




When the tarmac is freshly laid or repaired, the top layer can be quite loose. It also loosens easily after stretches of bad weather.Cornering on such sections without realising what you're dealing with can be dangerous.




There are other interesting effects. Once I did a long distance ride in a75°F"heatwave." On the return leg around 4pm, I noticed that the road in front of mewas glistening, getting shinier and more liquid-looking by the minute - almost as if it were melting. I thought to myself "Nah, can't be. I must be tired and imagining things." Next things I know, viscous clumps of tar were sticking to my tires and clogging my brakes. I had to pull over and scrape the gooey black chunks off, then use a stick to knock the hardened clumps out of the brake calipers. Then I sat in the shade and waited for an hour, until the road cooled off enough to continue home. To my relief, the following day everyone was talking about the melting tarmac, so at least I did not hallucinate the surreal experience. I guess the tarmac here is not rated to withstand such boiling temperatures!




If you're riding a harsh-feeling bike on Irish roads, you'll know it. The rough texture exaggerates the jarring sensations of road buzz. When I tried a friend's racing bike, my hands were vibrating so much I could not believe it. "Oh it's like riding on razor blades, to be sure," he laughed. I stroked my own bike with renewed appreciation.




Once I do get used to the roads here, the roads in the US feel unnaturally hard and smooth in comparison, and readjusting to them takes some time as well. As for the New England potholes... well, that is a topic that deserves its own post, possibly in poem form.

Arisaig Cave revisited

Getting a full body workout on the project, Arisaig Cave




In I last visited the Arisaig Cave and kind of felt I’d run out of things to do there. There was one big line left for me to do, a fantastic line following undercuts up a big diagonal flange in the middle of the cave. However, after a play I just couldn’t figure out how to make the feature work as a hold and gave up. It was just too hard for me.




It was only when I showed the palce to Flo last month I had another look and had an idea for a sequence that could work. I’m glad I gave it another chance. On that day I couldn’t try it as I’d just injured my knee , but yesterday, I had a good session on it and did all the individual moves. There are no ‘low percentage’ move on it for me, but about 9 or 10 in a row that are all powerful on burly undercuts and pinches. So I have a feeling that trying to link them together will be a good workout.




The nice thing is, the normal start should go at something between 8A and 8B, but climbing into it from the cave entrance (about 30 moves of 8A+) will make a very fine climbing challenge indeed to keep me busy, and fit.









Short Side Traverse, low version F8a




Today, I feel like I’ve been dragged along a cobbled street on my back. But looking forward to getting back on it. While I was there I also did a great variation to the short side traverse. The original version (about F7c+ since it’s 15m long) goes quite high along a slopey break near the start. There was an obvious low version on fantastically shaped edges, rounded by the sea washing in winter storms of aeons ago. It sussed it out pretty quickly for my warm-up at about F8a. I’ll make up a proper topo for the place shortly.

Climbing and skiing, and advice on cell phone use

If you haven't noticed, few posts means lots of work and activity here at Mount Rainier. The weather has remained stellar over much of the past week and things have been busy. During this period, climbers and skiers have been tackling the mountain from all directions. Of particular interest are new and extensive reports for Liberty Ridge, Ptarmigan Ridge and the Fuhrer Finger (photos included).

It seems that a few people are just itching to be rescued or call 911. We've had a number of "alarms" or "callouts" over the past few weeks, thankfully nothing has been serious! That said, one callout is in progress and involves a 2 person team pinned down in a whiteout on Liberty Ridge near 13,700 feet. We suspect that they will be fine, as they are well prepared for 2 more days on the mountain. As a reminder, if you carry a cell phone, make SURE you call 911 during an incident or emergency, not your family members.

On the other hand, two separate teams had somewhat serious accidents but self-rescued. Neither of those teams used a cell phone to alert friends. One incident involved the skier who fell 300 feet on the Emmons Glacier last weekend. A more recent event involved a 2 person team on the Kautz Glacier. One member dislocated his shoulder while descending (balled up crampons). As a reminder, we're still working on that streak of NO NEW MAJOR RESCUES since 2005. We hope to continue this trend...

First photo is by Josh Farris near 12k on Ptarmigan Ridge; the second is of a climber on Liberty Ridge by Dmitry Shapvalov.

From The Western Yearbook

GEORGE PETER COKINOS
Track Team '31. '32, '33; Football '32
IS: Very amusing and talkative
Famous FOR: His stunning "car"
and for his skill at taking cars apart
and putting
them together again.

Mt. Si

Mt. Si is the big hill, with the rocky top, right behind North Bend. For the most part, it is a hike on a dirt trail in the shade of tall evergreens. There is an inviting feature at the top called the Haystack. It consists of a few hundred feet of easy rock scrambling. It is fun to weave your own route to the top. For some reason it seems steeper on the way down.

The clouds rolled in as we reached the top. Pictured are: Dennis, Sabrina, Dave, Cody, Doug, Bethany, Danielle and Jim.

Clipsham short walk

'to the woods, to the woods', did I hear you cry?

Just under 4 miles there and back, behind a prison I'd not realised was there. Weather fine, though the ground is muddy in places, and the light was beginning to fade. Garmin functioned perfectly.





I stopped at Pickworth for a look at the footpaths.









The limekiln, which is so clear on the map, is behind a gate firmly marked 'Private, No Entry' and almost impossible to see from the road.





I drove to Clipsham, and parked on a minor road, just off the main road. I walked along this road which runs parallel to the main road, then turned right, past signs to the Hall, which is very well hidden. The church is more obvious.

. There is little danger of taking a wrong turning here - plenty of signs to indicate private property, and to be fair, decent footpath signs too. The path forms part of the Rutland Round.

You come out into a field where the route was well trodden, then through a gap in a hedge, and across another field - here it wasn't so clear, and as the cultivated field was quite muddy, I took a detour round the edge on the way back. There is a waymarker just before the wooded area at the bottom of the field. At this point you go through the hedge and follow the path along the edge of Addah wood, before turning right. I wondered what the high wall ahead was - it's on the map - the prison. The path through the woods is pretty easy to follow - when the yellow posts aren't obvious there are some white paint splashes, and a couple of arrows. I disturbed a couple of deer. Through Lady Wood and a left hand turn. Walk north until you come out of the wood. Follow the edge of the wood and go a little bit further to the quarry. I checked the time and decided to make my way back before the light faded.

DBC Swift Test Ride

Last night we stopped by DBC City Bikes (formerly the Dutch Bicycle Company) in Somerville, MA to have a look at their new "Swift" line of bicycles. DBC - whose focus was previously on importing Dutch and Danish transport bikes - has now changed direction and established their own line of classichandbuiltbicycles. The Swift models are designed in house by Wentworth and MITgraduates and built to spec by local framebuilders. They had a few floor models at the shop, and I test rode the loop frame ladies' version.



The Swift is TIG-welded cro-moly steel.The build includes upright handlebars, Brooks saddle, internally geared hub, front and rear drum brakes, dynamo lighting, fenders, chainguard, rear rack, and a cafe lock.The curvature of the top tube is executed nicely, and the welding is very clean. There are no dress guards, but nowadays it is becoming easier to purchase those separately. The lack of a full chaincase could be problematic for those who want one, but others would consider the chainguard sufficient. Everything else you might need in a transport bike is included.

As always, I am not a fan of unicrown forks, but at least the welding here is nice and neat. The fork blades are curved. There are cable routing guides for the lights and brakes. Not sure how they are attached - they do not seem to be braze-ons - and why they were made in a contrasting colour.



The dynamo headlight and tail light are custom: DBC fitted what I think might be SunLite casings with LEDs and turned them into dynamo driven lights with a standlight feature. It's a neat system and the lights are very bright.

Tail light. Front and rear hubs are Sturmey Archer. The bicycle I test rode was a 3-speed, but they are also available as single speeds and 5-speeds.



The fluted fenders look like VO to me. The wheels are 700C.



The pedals are attractive and grippy, but it is a trade secret where they are sourced from! (Anybody happen to know?...)



Riding the DBC Swift was a very particular experience. In many ways, it handles like a classic Dutch bike (think Gazelle or Batavus, as opposed to Pashley or Velorbis), but is lighter and more responsive. The angles are steeper and other aspects of the geometry are a bit different, but still - all in all the Dutch bike qualities seem to dominate. In the picture above, you can see how tall the headtube is and how high up the handlebars are - almost at my chest. The resultant sitting position is bolt upright.



I was not sure what to expect, but I have to say the ride quality was nice: smooth, peppy, lightish, and with an easy feel to it. The bike is stable and easy to control. When my hat flew off my head, I caught it while continuing to cycle; the bike seems fairly klutz-proof. Another notable aspect of the bike, was the superior functionality of the drum brakes. All other drum-brake city bikes I have tried or owned were fitted with 70mm version, whereas DBC fitted the Swift bikes with the 90mm version. Especially for the front brake, the difference in braking power is substantial.



According toDBC, the Swiftis meant to be comfortable and non-intimidating even for those who are new to bikes. In this respect, I think it is a success. At the same time, it was designed to be more maneuverable in traffic and easier to ride uphill than a Dutch bike. In this regard however, I am not sure that it feels much different from my traditional Gazelle. It is definitely lighter and somewhat more maneuverable, which some consider a plus for American streets. But it did not strike me as necessarily "better" than my Gazelle - on which I handle traffic and the local hills just fine. It seems like a good bike though, and whether one would prefer it to a traditional Dutch bicycle is a matter of personal taste - just as whether one prefers lugged vs welded frames.



As I was riding the ladies' Swift, the Co-Habitant took a spin on the men's version. I should note that the men's and ladies' versions of the Swift are completely different bikes, designed by separate teams. The angles are different, the proportions, everything. So while my experience of the ladies' model was positive, I have no idea how the mens' handles, and the Co-Habitant's feedback was vague. When it comes to city bikes, I think he is a creature of habit and prefers his Pashleyover pretty much anything else.



With the ladies' Swift, my impression is thatDBCaccomplished what they set out to accomplish in terms of performance. The price of a fully built bicycle is in the $2,000's, depending on the options. Each bike is built to order and custom paint colour is included in the price. How will the DBC Swiftdo in the long run of course remains to be seen. But it is good to have options: When it comes to handbuilt TIG-welded ladies' bicycles,DBC joins the likes ofANT and Geekhouse.The work of all three builders is different. If you are in the area, try them out for yourself!

Made in Somerville: The Joys of a Locally Built Bicycle

I tried to hint at this subtly in previous posts, but judging by some recent conversations I was a toosubtle. So it is time to announce this formally: I am getting a custom bicycle from Royal H. Cycles.




[Customer's bike, detail. Image from Royal H. Cycles]



No, please relax - it is not the track bike mentioned earlier! My Royal H. will be a classic Randonneur-style mixte, inspired by the early French constructeurs: fully lugged, with twin lateral stays and a touring geometry. Even as I write it, I do not really believe it. Yes, it will be utterly glorious, and no, I cannot afford it. But I've been finding some creative ways to scrimp, save, and earn extra cash, and it's all coming together nicely (the deposit system really helps as well!). The frame will be ready in November, and then I will spend the winter fitting it with components. In the springtime, the complete bicycle shall emerge just as the crocuses come into bloom and the swallows sing their song.





However, what I really want to talk about is not the bicycle itself, but the experience of having it custom made by a local framebuilder. As far as "local" goes, you can't really get more local than this: The Royal H. studio (pictured above) is a 5-minute bike ride from my house, so my bicycle is being built in my own neighborhood. There is nothing quite like this.





I met the framebuilder Bryan Hollingsworth through Open Bicycle, after I saw a purple Royal H. bike belonging to one of their customers and was taken with its elegant styling. "Who made that?" I asked. And the rest was history. I met Bryan in person, discussed my ideas with him, and it was immediately clear that he understood exactly what I was talking about and would enjoy making it. It was an exciting, high-energy first meeting and in the end I had no doubt that this person was the right framebuilder for me. This might seem trite, but it can be very helpful for the framebuilder to get a good sense of the customer's individual style by interacting with them. And getting a sense of your individual style will enable them to use their creativity to make a truly personalised bicycle.





The proximity of Royal H. has also allowed me the unique opportunity to visit my frame at various stages of completion, watch it develop, and give Bryan feedback to any questions or new ideas that came up. I have held the different parts of my frame in my hands before it was a frame - the lugs, the tubes, the dropouts, the little braze-ons! - and I watched Bryan arrange them on his drawing-board. This was a thrilling experience, and it has deepened my sense of connectedness to this bicycle. It is definitely my frame, I was there as it evolved! Thanks to Bryan's generous narration about his process, I have also learned a bit about how bicycles are built in the meantime.





To add a few words about Bryan Hollingsworth himself: For the past three years, he has been a framebuilder for Seven Cycles, where, interestingly enough, he specialises in carbon fiber frames. Recently Bryan has branched out into a private frame building practice and started Royal H., with a focus on classic lugged steel bicycles. The art nouveau aesthetic of his work appeals to me very much, and I often find myself admiring his frames even when the bicycle is completely inappropriate for me - like the cream track bike I mentioned earlier.




[Track bike detail. Image from Royal H. Cycles]



And notice how simple everything here is: No over-the-top lugwork, no eccentric curvature, just a classic, minimalist track frame. But to me, it stands out from other track frames.





Of course my mixte will look very different from the cream track bike, but it will have a similar art nouveau aesthetic and, hopefully, the same feel of understated elegance.





My frame is a fairly complicated one, and there are many special things about it that you will not see on any other bicycle (like these custom dropouts!). Bryan has impressed me on more than one occasion with his ability to combine innovative solutions with classic looks, and I will no doubt dedicate several future posts to boring you with the technical details and pornographic close-ups of my bicycle. But not to worry, that won't be for another couple of months.




[Customer's bike, detail. Image from Royal H. Cycles]



In the meanwhile, I encourage you to get to know your local framebuilders, or to find independent framebuilders in an area of the country that has personal meaning for you. Boston, Massachusetts holds a special place in the history of bicycle manufacturing since the late 1800's, and Somerville in particular was home to several legendary builders, including Fat City Cycles and Merlin Metal Works in the 1980s and '90s. In fact, the Union Square neighborhood where Open Bicycle and Royal H. are located was the former home of these manufacturers. Today, the Boston area boasts famed artisanal framebuilders such as Peter Mooney and Mike Flanigan, the internationally renown Seven Cycles and Independent Fabrications, the innovative Geekhouse, and attention-worthy young builders including Icarus and Royal H. When the context and history of your bicycle's production are meaningful to you, owning it will feel truly special. I plan to have future posts dedicated to local framebuilders, to the framebuilding process, and to the history of bicycle manufacturing in Boston, and I hope that these will be of interest.

Antoine !

He's funny. I think. I'm nevercompletely sure.

He carries monumental loads of gear up to the crag, a huge BD pig full of bolting gear, music, stove, hammock, ropes and croissants.

He elegant, he's strong, he's ever so stylish.Don't hate him cause he's beautiful.







Antoine clips the first of a dense cluster of quickdraws.









That is a whole lotta muscle coming up that cliff underneath me. Twin chalk bags, big guns, odd shoes.

















We talk and talk, then Antoine will say "enough philosophy, let's climb"









Belayers beware. The Big Frenchman likes skinny ropes and roller biners. When he comes off it's like a bison comingatcha.













What are the odds hey.jjobrienclimbing had the lens open at the exact moment Antoine released his energy burst.Lucky I was at a safe distance.









Antoine wears: soft shell by Mountain HardwearAgriculturalists cap by John Deer

The annual Coolum "Sendfest" is the biggest event on The Cave calender and isthe brainchild of Antoine Moussette. Antoine keeps the score.

Points are assigned to the each climber on the basis of.... or maybe get added to the crag score or....... or something about acumulative something...



I really don't get it, but jeez it's fun. We climb, and Antoine and I drink a lot of chai and coffee.





He claims to be from Quebec. But he sounds French to me.

Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger (1940)

31st Aug 1940

This reunion was cancelled due to the infantile paralysis epidemic present in the northern section of this state.

==+==+==+==

The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Northern Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. The events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

Shrimpfest at Camp Hatteras

Last month we had a Crabfest here, this month was a Shrimpfest. Jack was the cook again and it was fabulous food again!

Velo Conversations

Over the past two days I have been cycling a lot around town on various errands. It's been cold but sunny, and the roads are entirely clear of snow. Cycling down a main road, I often get the feeling that I just want to keep going and going, picking up speed until I am faster than all the cars and not stopping until I reach some mysterious far-off place, like Western Massachusetts. Alas, there were errands to do.

One nice thing about winter cycling, is the availability of bike parking. In the summer, all the bike racks next to or even near the post office are usually full. But nowadays I am one of the few bicycles there.

Interestingly, the racks outside my favourite grocery store are full even in winter. When I came out of the store, there was a woman waiting for me next to my bike who wanted to ask some questions about it. She was riding a "winter bike" - an aluminum mountain bike with very wide knobby tires - and complained that it was much too slow, and that the chain often came off. How was mine? I summarised for her everything that I've described here, and she was excited - until she asked me about the price. She then told me that she is "not in a position to afford a bicycle in that price range". I asked how much her winter bike cost. The price she told me was 60% of what my Pashley cost. I decided to leave it at that, rather than get into a long conversation about "value".

This was one of several unexpected velo-conversations with strangers that I've had over the past few days. The second one happened when I was stopped at a red light. A cyclist on a road bike pulled up next to me, said hello, and asked whether I was riding an electric assist bike. "Oh no, it's just a regular bike," I said - secretly offended that someone would even think it was electric assist. He then asked what the hub on my front wheel was for, and I explained about dynamo-powered lighting. This seemed to be a new concept for the roadbike cyclist and he was pleased to learn about it.

I wonder now how many others who see me cycling think that I have electric assist on my bike because of that front hub! Hopefully, as city bikes with good lighting and drum brakes become more popular, such misunderstandings should decrease. As it is, even Shimano is all about dynamo hubs and drum brakes - as this advert I recently saw attests. It is nice to see a large manufacturer embrace the image of the upright city bicycle in its ads: It is a good indicator that city and transport bicycles have a future in mainstream cycling.

But the third conversation I had took the cake: I went to a cafe to do some work, and locked my bike outside in a way that was visible from the cafe windows. As I settled in with my coffee, a group of older ladies began a conversation with me that basically consisted of disturbing admonitions about all the horrible things that could happen to me on a bike. One of them had a grandson who was hit by a truck. Another knew "at least six young people" who had been involved in gruesome cycling accidents. And so on. I assured them that I was very careful on my bike and somehow managed to politely disentangle myself from the conversation. But my goodness, it is frustrating that cycling seems to invite unsolicited advice of this sort. On the one hand, I know that it's because people "care". But on the other hand, there is a fine line between "caring" and relishing an opportunity to dispense advice. I try to keep that in mind.

Misadventures on the MUP

Last evening was a low point for me... I yelled at someone on the Minuteman Trail. I was cycling home after a ride, and the trail was more or less empty. I am normally ever-vigilant for dogwalkers and baby carriages suddenly appearing out of nowhere, but this time I had let down my guard. I was going faster than I normally do on the trail, when from around the bend, three cyclists - traveling three abreast and taking up the entire width of the path - came barreling toward me at a similarly unadvisable speed. They were chatting and the cyclist who was headed for a direct collision with me had her face turned toward her friends instead of looking ahead of her. Time froze and I kept expecting that any instant now she'd see me and get out of my line of travel, but she didn't. Not wanting to end up in the bushes or in a pile of bikes and limbs, my mind went blank and I heard myself scream "MOVE!" in a tone of voice that was so menacing that I even scared myself.



It got their attention and a collision was avoided. But as I continued on my way, I heard a distinct "and a nice day to you, too!" from the direction of their receding forms. I felt a wave of shame wash over me. Sure, in a perfect world I would have yelled "excuse me" or "watch out" instead. But I yelled the first thing that popped into my head, and if I didn't we could have both been in the hospital right now.



Multi Use Pathways can be difficult for cyclists precisely because of situations like this. The trails are narrow and those who travel along them do not always behave predictably. Joggers wearing sound-proof earphones, rollerbladers veering from side to side, dogwalkers brandishing those terrifying invisible leashes stretched across the path, unsupervised children making spontaneous U-turns on their tricycles... It's a jungle out there. If I could easily do so, I would avoid MUPs entirely, but the alternative route out of town is 10 miles on a very busy road. So I try to be cautious, stick to a moderate pace and hope for the best. How do you deal with MUPs?

The Florida Keys

As part of our Christmas gifts to the kids, we rented a spot in the Keys for a week so we could spend time there together. Today we headed down there and as always, the drive was incredible.





We got set up fairly quickly and the neighbors from two sides came over and introduced themselves. I don't think we've ever had such friendly neighbors before! Here is what is one row in front of us:



Not too shabby, huh? Of course the guys had to check out the smelly seaweed.



Home sweet home...for a week at least!













Living the life in the beautiful Florida Keys!