New Bloom

A new bloom on my Agrostemma githago plant.

Riding in Kenosha

Wednesday and Thursday were my days to ride. Have been in Kenosha this week to visit my mom. First, it was a ride on the North Shore Trail.
The trail is the old North Shore commuter line. The trail passes just behind my mom's apartment. Rode from there north into Racine.
The southern end of the trail (also known as the Kenosha County Bicycle Trail) starts at 35th St, between 22nd Ave and 30th Ave. At the county line, it becomes the Racine County Bicycle Trail.
In Kenosha County, the trail surface is crushed stone. In Racine, its asphalt. In Racine, the trail ends it Northward direction at the junction with Root River Pathway. Without a map in my jersey, i did not want to get lost trying to follow the pathway. It disappears into the street at about 16th St.
The county trail heads West toward Sturtevent. Not sure just hoe far. I rode less than a half mile and started back toward Kenosha. A nice 15+ mile ride. As you can see from the above photo, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride.
When i got back, called my Aunt Audrey and we met for lunch at Bonnies Diner before visiting with my mom.

The weather was warming up, so Thursday was a good day to ride along the lake. Starting on the streets for a mile until I picked up the Pike River Trail, At this time, the trail starts at 18th St and Birch Road. Then through Alford Park and on to the Carthage College campus. From there South along the Lake Michigan shore.
There is a break in the trail getting off Simmons Island. Pick it back up at 62nd St. The trail brings you past the Southport Marina to Eichelman Park. The trail ends in the park at 3rd Ave. About 5 miles from Alford Park to Eichelman Park. Another beautiful place to bike on a early summer day.

Outdoor Craft Fair

Last Saturday, we stumbled on an outdoor craft fair... Jackie loved the hand finished wood flower vases...



I especially enjoyed this guy selling wooden serving dishes, he had beautiful cutting boards as well.



But the real star of the show was this display of orchids.

Christmas Around Our House

12 months ago today

As I still can't ride right at the moment, I've decided to devote another post to crapping on about a past ride. This one was between Nikko and the mountain village of Tone, in the Japan Alps, on my tour last year. I had actually planned to visit the temples in the Nikko World Heritage area the day before, but I ended up spending too much time talking with an Iranian cycle tourist on the way into Nikko and ran out of time. It mightn't have been a bad thing, as it meant I arrived in the morning and avoided the crowds.




After spending quite a bit of time wandering around the temples and shrines in the area, I set off on the ride, and the climbing started immediately. As with most of the climbs I did in Japan, the gradient was quite pleasant, as was the mountain scenery as I climbed higher. The objective at the summit of this climb was Kegon Falls, which represents the start of Nikko National Park, a massive area of waterfalls, forests and lakes. Being close to Tokyo, the crowds had arrived by the time I got there, but with a large area for them to spread out, I never really felt overcrowded in the area. Of course, it helps that people in Japan have a capacity to be respectful toward everyone else that nobody else in the world has managed.




I spent quite a bit of time strolling around the various attractions of this area, but eventually the time came to set off on the final climb of the day, over the pass I have long forgotten the name of. At that stage it was the highest pass I had done to date, although that mark would soon be overtaken by the 2,702 metre Mt Norikura a few days later. Yet given the size of some of the surrounding mountains, the pass didn't really feel that high. In fact, the summit was marked by a tunnel through the mountain itself.



The day ended with a descent into the valley, and after a conversation with one of the locals, a campsite near a beautiful, if mosquito-infested stream. At the end of the day the village's audio system decided to play some traditional Japanese music over the loud-speaker, a little interlude to end what had been a memorable day. You can read a more in-depth ride report at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1r4vFZo&page_id=176390&v=5V with more pictures. Better yet, go to http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/japan-10 and read the whole thing.

Manawa Trail Day

Thankfully, we got some clouds this morning. Instead of normal Saturday Ham Radio breakfast, I attended the THOR Lake Manawa Trail Day. Stopped by Panera Bread to pick up a dozen of bagels for the crew.

I headed to the second section of the trail with my loppers. I had not been down there since late April. WOW, have the weeds have been growing! This photo depicts the hemp "forest" that the trail cuts through.

Didn't cut much. Mostly, I wanted to check out the trail and get a couple photos. The are section of the new trail that a lined by 10+ foot weeds, some sections of flowing singletrack in the woods, and some fine (silt) sand.

Met up a trail crew group rerouting a section of the trail. By the time I made it trough the trail section, I had enough for the day. While a nice breeze today, there was just no air moving in the woods.

It was ther first time I rode the full section of the trail. Did not check my computer then I headed into the trail section, but the times I looked, guessing there is over 1.5 miles of trail in there.

Brought the older point&shoot camera with me. Should have brought the newer one. Another day. Need to get out there to check out the first section of the trail and grab some photos.

Another trail day tomorrow morning at Manawa. Supposed to be hotter. Think I am gonna skip it and do normal Sunday morning at Panera.

How to feel really alive

How to feel really alive in three simple steps:
1. Wait for a morning when there are severe weather warnings and 90km/h winds threatening to bring down trees, powerlines etc.
2. Find out which direction the wind is blowing from.
3. Get on your bike and ride straight into the teeth of it!
I guarantee that within about 3km, you will feel more alive than you have done in a long, long time (unless you do this sort of thing regularly). Choose your weapon: The irresistible force meets the immovable object -- which will YOU be? Stalemate is an incredibly liberating experience. The wind itself becomes the objective, the destination of the ride is merely a secondary consideration at this point.
Something I really love about these situations is letting the dull, boring side of my personality express itself. I give it a free reign while I spin the cranks in a relatively small gear and gradually grind the wind into the dirt. Then as I get close enough to sniff ultimate victory, I let the arrogance take over. I have no aversion to launching a blistering attack in the closing stages of such a ride, just to let the wind know that it's been owned hard! Another advantage is that magpies tend not to fancy these conditions too much for some reason.
The one downside is when the wind decides to play dirty and throw a twig at your ankle. Still, losing a little blood occasionally can be healthy sometimes -- it reduces the chance of blood clotting in later life. This was how it all went on Saturday morning when I decided to defy such conditions and ride to Springbrook really early. Of course, there was an element of cheating -- with a 1,000 metre climb to play with, there isn't much the wind can do once the climbing starts and those instincts kick in. I also wonder whether there's an element of cheating in lifting the bike over this:

Looking further down the road, there was a situation where lifting the bike over wasn't an option, but look at the left of this picture, you'll see a very small gap -- apparently there's a road under this mess somewhere too.

But of course, the really great thing about windy days like this, is that they provide very clear mountain views from somewhere like Springbrook. And if you can find a sheltered spot, well, I'll let the pictures do the talking, check out the stray wildflowers in the bottom corners of the first two.