Tour de France Heads to the Mountains...and so do I!

Mt. Rainier on the road to Sunrise Lodge.

I rode SIR Permanent 0243 Sunrise Climb last weekend, and what fun it was on my new bike! I love the 650B tires, and the geometry fits me. Ahh!

Here's the Mt. Rainier National Park entrance.

At the Summit.

Fig Newtons as alternative fuel source.

I love Fig Newtons, and I'm told they're not bad as fuel. That's all I needed to hear since I left my bottle of Perpetuem sitting in the refrigerator! So guess how many Fig Newtons I can eat at one time?

Well, back when I was (I'm guessing here) ten years old or so we tested this. My cousin/brother Jeff (yes, he is both my cousin and brother and it is a story for another day) and I were hangin' out with no adult supervision. so we had a contest and I believe I won with a grand total of TEN FIG NEWTONS in my mouth. All I remember was laughing so hard and spewing figgy crumbs all over the kitchen floor. God, that is a fond memory.

Greenwater Skis now carries bike stuff in the Summer months.

Being the sensible adult I am today, however, I stopped at Greenwater Skis hunting for biker calories like sport gels, and they had them. But that didn't stop me from eating all the Fig Newtons. Yum! Greenwater Skis' owner has a good dog, Bell, so that says alot about the owner. Worth stopping if you need something on the way.

Frying Pan Creek.

My new Pereira on the bridge overlooking the Green River.

Green River from the bridge, Summer version.

You can compare the above Green River Bridge/Bike photos to those we took in February for comparison.

Keep it heading up,

CurioRando

Pereira First Impressions & Weasel Confirmed on the Woodinville Permanent

First pic of my new Pereira Randonneuse.

A small farmer who supports unionized electrical workers. Nice to see.

Wiki photo of a weasel.  Remember my post about my Oregon Randonneurs 400k brevet last year wondering what it was I'd run over? In the subsequent post I hypothesized I'd run over a weasel in the middle of the night.

No, I didn't run this little fella over. I came upon him as roadkill. As soon as I saw him I remembered my pal from that 400k. It got me thinking: I'll bet it was a weasel.

Then I looked just off the road from the carcass, and spied this burrow. Aha! The habitat we were riding through at the time was tall grasses just like this, though not as hilly. I feel quite certain now it was a weasel, by gum! See how some of the soil is moist, but the carcass seemed not so moist? I wonder if the mate is still inhabiting that burrow? Poor mourning mate!

Here, my new ride is parked against the barbed wire fence at the top end of a long driveway into a place I used to fish for Steelhead along the Skykomish River.

It was called "Two Bits" for years since the farm owners had a heavy steel lockbox with a sign that said "25 Cents". The deal was you put your quarter in the box, opened the gate and drove your (hopefully, or you were likely to get stuck) four-wheel drive vehicle through, and closed the gate behind you. The owner sold the place and the new owner...you guessed it, raised the price to fifty cents or a buck. That was many years ago. I was tempted to inspect and see whether one could still get in, and if so at what cost, but the large, pit bullish dog put me off this trip. A little too exposed on my new one-wheel drive vehicle.

This is a view from the bridge crossing the Sky at Sultan, just upstream from Two Bits. I used to spend a lot of weekends crawling around these parts.

So how was the new Pereira? Fabulous. I'll be giving more reports soon, but it is a joy. Just one note for now. I really never was comfortable descending on my old Fuji. I'd always felt like I was riding on top of it rather than down in it. On the Pereira with the geometry matched to my rather odd body geometry (legs too long or torso too short), wide 650B tires, and a proper trail to match the tires, it was a delight to descend! I felt stuck to the road. Oh my, what a difference. But there is so much more to tell in future posts.

All of this took place on the Woodinville-Granite Falls-Woodinville Permanent, RUSA #0359, a Permanent organized by Geoff Swarts. Great route, Geoff. Thanks much!

Here is the route.

Here is the elevation profile. See those descents? I passed one cyclist who was coming up as I was descending and he yelled out "Yippee" as I passed because it must have been obvious how much fun I was having! I was yelling "Weeeeeeee" myself.

Keep it carving,

CurioRando

First Wheel, a Finicky CycloComputer & a Feast for Fathers!

Grandpa Jay, DartreDame's Father or "GJ" as I call him, holding my first ever hand-built wheel. This wheel is not for my new bike but rather for a commuter fixie. My earlier post on my inauspicious wheelbuilding beginning can be found here.

Dartre's mother Maya, or AmmaMaya as I call her, holding my wireless cyclocomputer. It took me a long time to figure out how to measure the kilometers for each leg without resetting the trip distance. Whew!

But it wasn't all bicycling this Fathers' Day. We Fathers--GJ, SingingCyclist's Dad Alan, and I--were treated to this fabulous Indian dinner. Can't quite make out the dishes? How about a close-up?

Peas and Mushrooms. Yum!

AmmaMaya's Special Eggplant & Yogurt. Scrumptious!

Dartre's Potato Concoction: Sukhi Aloo (Potatoes roasted with Garlic, Ginger, Turmeric, Cumin, Coriander, Fennel, Chili Powder, and Oil). Delectable!

Salmon Molee. Heavenly!

Saffron Biryani with Cashews and Raisins. Texturalicious!

Tomato and Cucumber Salad. Simply cleansing!

AmmaMaya

Alan

Dartre

GJ

Janak, the SingingCyclist

Keep it spicy,

CurioRando

Croak! Splat. Croak. Sigh...Hmm...Hmm...Huh.

Pedaling along I came upon this scene. You may have to download photo for full effect.

Croak! went the Frog.

Splat went the tire.

Croak again went the Frog.

Sigh went the Slug, slowly slithering out of the Frog's...newly splatted croaker.

Hmm went I.

Hmm again went I.

Huh, I concluded.

On Saturday, I did the Mountain Loop Permanent #320. This time I did it clockwise which put the 14 mile dirt section as ascending. It proved much better for me and I completed it in much less time and well within the controle time limits. Last week, I did it counterclockwise and missed the Darrington controle cutoff time. In order to preserve my R-12, I needed to get it in before May ended, and so I did.

The rain stopped remarkably just long enough for me to ride the 14 miles of dirt. Other than that, it pretty much rained.

A Cyclist's delight: leashed and well-trained dogs.

Big old tree.

What the big old tree sees looking upstream.

Same tadpole hole as last week. You can't tell, but I could: the little Taddies are getting hind legs!

After the roadside scene depicted above, I serenaded the Taddies again, this time with admonitions about crossing roads and such when they grow up.

I hope they were listening...or it could be Cheep, Cheep, Ribbet......................................CROAK!

Keep it alert,

CurioRando

Older Brains are Smaller Brains: Wear Your Helmet!

Photo from the New York Times Health section.

If you didn't already have enough reasons to wear your helmet, this story from the New York Times says that our brains shrink as we age. Therefore, there's extra room inside our skull so that if we fall our brains get slammed around more. Conclusion: if you're older, wear your helmet.

And in case you wondered whether wearing your helmet matters in a crash, statistics confirm you are significantly more likely to suffer serious head injury without a helmet. Conclusion: if you eventually want an older, smaller brain and you're young, wear your helmet now so you can wear your helmet later.

Keep it...on,

CurioRando

Bar-Tailed Godwits: Randonneurs of the Skies

Bar-Tailed Godwit migration...nonstop!

I had already planned to post about today's New York Times Science section story about new micro-technology enabling us to study long-distance migration of birds even before I saw the reference to the Tour de France. And of course, the Times got it wrong, as most non-randonneurs might. The cycling activity analogous to the Bar-Tailed Godwit's 7100 mile non-stop journey would naturally be randonneuring, not racing in the Tour de France. For other migratory birds that do stop along the way like the Arctic Tern, it might be more similar to the Tour where one stops each night, eats, gets a massage, checks in with sponsors, etc.

I won't comment much on the story of these migrating birds. You really should just read the article. What I find exhilarating is using technology to study our natural world. Sure, I like the bicycle, a fine technological advance, and I use a smart phone and all that stuff. But where technology makes me perk up is in how it reveals the more marvelous natural world that's always been here with us...though constantly evolving, innovating.

For instance, it took micro-transmitters to elucidate these migratory marvels! I love that.

I also love the Space Program. Always have. I forgot to mention that when Mike and I stopped at Mesa Verde National Park ten days ago on our "auto-randonneuring" we had a blast visiting the ancient ruins and imagining the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans. The evening of our tour we splurged and ate at the National Park restaurant for a fine meal.

The couple next to us had a small boy about seven years old. He was one loud and precocious guy. In fact, by his behavior while waiting to be seated, I was not thrilled when they were eventually seated next to us. Turns out he was a great kid with a fabulous sense of humor. And his parents were very sharp themselves. While Mike and I were finishing our Southwestern-inspired meals, the boy's Mom pointed out the window at this swiftly moving light in the sky and declared: "There's the Space Shuttle." And so it was. And they even knew when it would be back around, how its orbit is elliptical, and how the next possible viewing for us was a function of the Earth's rotation and the Shuttle's orbit!

Very first Space Shuttle Columbia's "blast off" as we used to call the launch, compliments of Wikipedia. This, in 1981.

There we were in a pretty barren National Park in the off-season with not a lot of folks that night watching the shuttle whiz by (it does appear to really get a move on) after spending the day contemplating the most humble of technologies, like the kiva.

And, coincidentally or no, that very same Space Shuttle we spied, Atlantis, likely on its final voyage, is scheduled to land tomorrow according to NASA.

So how does all this relate to randonneuring? Well, the technology of endurance athletes is fascinating for us randos. I asked one experienced rando after we finished an SIR Permanent (he had just returned from an completing an Australian 1200k) what he thought the secret was. He told me that if you just stayed beneath your max (assuming that was still fast enough) you can go on for as long as you'd like.

Like the Bar-Tailed Godwit (photos above of bird and migration route courtesy of Wiki), randonneurs just get into that endurance state of mind. If the body is prepared, it is the state of mind that matters. You'll see, eventually technology will confirm that it is this state of mind that separates the birds-that-could-but-don't from the birds-that-can-and-do that the New York Times article alludes to.

Meanwhile, back in the heavens, I have a cousin whose husband's ashes I spread over a little cove on San Juan Island that is frequented by lots of migratory birds. I barely knew the man as he married her later in life. He wanted his ashes spread in the Pacific Northwest as he came to love it during his time in the Service. As she tells it--and if you read about it you'll see this is much disputed but who am I to say?--her husband was the one who uttered the now famous line: "Godspeed, John Glenn."

But as Godwits and Randos know, speed counts, but it's that enduring state of mind that matters.

And when it comes to tenacity, look again to the birdworld. Here's a story my Mum sent about Bald Eagles returning to my home county. Mike and I also spotted American Avocets (a really stunning bird) and what looked like Little Blue Herons during our journey. All good for that Spring is in the air feeling!

Keep it nonstop,

CurioRando

Tadpoles in Our Waters: SIR Permanent #0320, Mountain Loop 200k

Streamside!

When I realized I hadn't prepared enough for this past weekend's Oregon Randonneurs' Oregon Coast 600k, I ventured off to try the Seattle Randonneurs' Mountain Loop 200k. Featuring 14 miles of dirt road, it was a real departure from what I've ridden to date. It would have been better descending those 14 wet dirty miles on my soon-to-be 650B bicycle, but my old Fuji and her 32mm tires did OK.

Our National Forests do have many uses: Cycling, Camping, Hiking, Sunday Driving, fishing, Hunting...

 

Even Tadpoling!

See the long, skinny dark shapes? Those are some pretty long (nearly as long as my little finger) tadpoles I spotted on a pee break. Just as I spied them the Sun started to peek through what had been a dismal, rainy morning. My spirits picked up, and so I rode for a while serenading those tadpoles hoping that they'll soon be serenading me on a future brevet. Based on their size, I'm guessing they are more of the croaking serenaders, rather than the cheepers or ribbeters.

 

Oh, and Ice Spelunking too.

A local person on her break at the convenience store in Arlington told me it is illegal to actually enter the caves, but somebody gets killed nearly every year nonetheless.

Reminds me a little of the bowl on the flanks of Mt. Joseph.

I did this route counterclockwise, though you can do either. Depends on whether you want the dirt on the ascent or the descent.

Along the dirt road. Can you imagine building a 60 mile long road of planks?

At the Summit.

Counterclockwise elevation chart.

Waterfall (background) draining the snowcapped peak and feeding the stream (foreground).

Barn, fields, mountains, mist and clouds.

Bruce Ferguson stands in front of the period-authentic railroad depot he built from scratch in Snohomish. He rents it out for conferences and parties and such. It lies along the Centennial Trail--the final 11 kilometers of my ride--as I came into the town of Snohomish.

Enlarge for the detail of the crow with the berry in its beak!

KEEP YOUR WATERS CLEAN

Our Waters. Some would have us shrink the Ourness in our land. I'm for collectivizing. Better we hold it in trust than to trust individuals or corporations. How many children would ever marvel a tadpole were it not for our land and our water?

Keep it Ours,

CurioRando