Afternoon Sun

Afternoon Sun, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The wildflower bloom is nearly over here in Southern California. I took this photo back in April on a remote road near Cayucos. The lupines were much thicker than this in some places - we found one patch of the flowers the length of a football field.

Trail Condition

This week I have been riding the road bike. Weather has been great. Couple days with some wind - but learning to ride the "roadie" in the wind.
With the rides (and side rides to the river boat landing) it was cleat that the Missouri River is dropping. It has dropped about 2 feet or more in the last couple weeks. Still its gonna be some time before the trail dries off. What I have heard, much of the dirt trail is accessible and rideable - just can't ride through. Hope weather cooperates so our trail crew can get the trail open before the snow.
Re-paving reported in the previous post has started. As you can see from the photo here, the old asphalt paving is being removed. Thursday the machine was seen on the Western Historic Trail. The section of the Veterans Memorial Trail has been stripped. Hope they get right on to pouring concrete.
Hit the 1600 mile mark for the year with second ride around town in the week. Will make another 100+ miles week.

If I've said it once? I'll say it again... Those travelin' undies sure are comfy.

Thinking Like a Man

You know how when a man sets out to do a task, he has tunnel vision and gets the job done?  Or you ask him to watch the kids while you go shopping, and when you get back  everyone's still alive but nothing else has been done?  He didn't think to unload the dishwasher, vacuum the house, do the laundry, etc.  He was watching the kids!  
I used to be amazed by this when it happened.  How come I can do fifteen things at once and he can only do one?  Well, I think it's because we're made differently!  Are you having a lightbulb moment?  This really is going somewhere, I promise.
This week I got tons of stuff done.  I also had a revelation about my work habits.  
Years ago B.C. (before children), I had the ability to focus for long periods of time; hours even.  I'd begin and end a project on the same day.  Then the children came along.  I remember fussing to a friend about my inability to get anything done for all the interruptions.  She gave me this advice that I've used now for almost thirty years.  She said, "You have to learn to work piecemeal."  I had no idea what she meant never having heard that word before.  She explained, "When you sew, instead of trying to make the whole thing at one time, just thread your machine.  If you are able, go ahead and lay out your pattern, etc."  In other words, learn to work in very small increments. 
So that's the way I've trained myself to work, and Flylady says the same thing.  You can conquer the world fifteen minutes at a time.  That's great advice and really keeps you from being frustrated.  You eventually get things done.
But now that I'm in a position to have longer stretches of time to work, I don't know what to do.  My attention span is almost zero or about fifteen minutes long!  I'm going to have to retrain myself to think.  The book The Power of an Hour by Dave Lakhani that I'm reading does just that.  He says that great amounts of work can be done in an hour of focused attention.
Studies have shown that it takes about twenty minutes to get in "the zone".  I've found this to be exactly right.  I love when the zone happens.  The world fades away.  It's just you and your work.  It's a very satisfying place to be.  
So that's what I'm going to try to do this month.  I'm going to make myself stick to a project for an hour at a time.  Hopefully I'll be able to retrain myself to work the way I once could.  And young women, don't hate me because I have this kind of time now.  It took me thirty years to get here!  Well, actually twenty seven, but who's counting.
 

Swineshead - Riseley - Keysoe - S'head

Led by Barry. With Gordon, Eddie, Maureen and me. Not so cold as Monday, but the wind was cold. Muddy fields made it feel like rather more than the ten miles recorded on my magic machine.









We parked in Swineshead, a pretty village with some very old buildings – cruck-framed? Timbered houses and barns.We walked up the street and took a footpath to the left into a field of sheep, which looked as though they expected something of us – they were to be disappointed.













to be completed

Future directions

I don't like the word "goal". I think it can be (and often is) overused to the point of becoming meaningless. That said, it's probably time I gave myself some targets and put some plans in place to take something from .
The first thing on the agenda will be the Alpine Classic in a little over a week. If I'm not fit enough now I probably never will be, but I've done enough 200km rides that this one shouldn't bother me too much. The real challenge seems to have been finding accommodation in Bright -- given that some of the local businesses seem content to accept a booking, and then cancel it as soon as they get a better offer. I lost patience with their games a few weeks back, and will be bringing a tent. I'll need to give it a clean this weekend.
I'm also planning some more weekends away on the bike this year, in order to spend more time sleeping under that tent. A trip to Minyon Falls (now that there might actually be some water coming over it) will be a priority, as is spending some time exploring the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, and other areas in that vicinity.
There will, of course, be a major tour later in the year. I need to get some finances in order after overspending last year, so I'll probably "limit" myself to a few weeks in New Zealand aroud October or November. This time I'll be riding the North Island, having toured and thoroughly enjoyed the South last time around. Hopefully I can tie this in around the Great Southern Randonee later in the year and ride the Great Ocean Road along with it.
Locally, the Koonyum Range around Mullumbimby is somewhere I need to explore, as are some of the fire trails behind Numinbah Valley -- the ones that I plan to finally get to this year. All in all it promises to be a memorable year if I can manage fewer flat tyres than last year's tally of 28 (I'm on three so far). Bring it on!

Whitewater kayak class is in session

John Karch explaining whitewater basics to a pool full of students.

This is week nine of the first of two 10-week whitewater kayaking courses offered by the Chicago Whitewater Association in the West Cook YMCA swimming pool. After the winter and spring sessions, the club offers a series of beginner trips on increasingly challenging local rivers. It's a wonderful way to learn to paddle.

This is our spawning ground. We started learning to paddle here eight years ago. We were awestruck by the skill and generosity of our instructors, who volunteered their Sunday evenings teaching us to paddle and roll and let us borrow their boats and gear.

A few months later, they were out on their first river trips.

Culminating in a trip to Wisconsin's Wolf and Peshtigo Rivers.

This year, we are the lead instructors at the West Cook Y. (Full disclosure: We're substituting for our our whitewater mentor, John Karch, who isn't available every Sunday this year but whom we expect to take the course back from us when he can.) It only took us nine weeks to realize that we could post our handouts on our blog, saving paper and ink and making the material more widely available.

So that's what we're doing here. Below you will find handouts on hypothermia, safe river kayaking, gear checklists and more.

Hypothermia - from the Wilderness Medical Associates Field Guide.

The American Canoe Association "Paddler's Checklist."

The ACA's Guidelines for river paddling.

For those who want to assess how well their skills align with river classifications, the ACA offers these skill assessments:

We just created a resource list for our students. We'll post it here soon.