Thirsty Bob

Velocipede

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

C. E. Dayton’s Oct. 26, 1869 Patent for the Velocipede

Flood Bike

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

"A Thai man takes pictures with his son on a custom-built tricycle designed to go through floodwaters in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 28, 2011." AP Photo from The Atlantic's In Focus series.

I don't know if this guy just had this bike around in case of flood or put it together when the need, and the water, arose, but either way. . . awesome.

A Midlife Crisis Success Story

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

After training and racing on his Peugeot PX-10 for over 30,000 miles in the 1980s...

Michael Gill with his bike the first time around in the '80s

...Michael Gill upgraded to a Colnago, sold the Peugeot and moved on.

26 years later, he caught the old bike bug and went looking for a vintage ride to rekindle the joy he'd felt with his old Peugot. Well, it turns out that while looking at a couple of vintage bike frames listed on Craig's List, he found not just a similar bike, but the remains of his old bike which he recognized by the "black helvetica letters spelling out CLEVELAND" that he had added to the fork.


Gill, reunited with his bike (or parts of it)

There are some great details in this NPR story.

Hard Hitting Herbivore

2011-11-02T18:30:00.000-06:00

Just because an animal only eats grass doesn't mean it can't be tough.

Single Speed Jumps the Shark?

2011-10-28T07:30:00.000-06:00

I took this picture in a Walmart the other day:

Hipsters everywhere must be shaking in their skinny jeans.

A New Way to Ride Steel

2011-10-25T07:30:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting bike designed by Ron Arad that has wheels made of sprung steel.

Someone who rode it said it was a comfortable ride and got more comfortable as you went faster.

If you have airfair to London and £350 a night, you can ride if free at the W Hotel. If go, I'd be curious to know how it corners.

A Treasure Trove of Old Movie Footage

2011-10-20T06:00:00.039-06:00

I came across the British Pathe site which hosts some truly remarkable old movie clips on an amazing range of subjects. For example, he's some footage of the 1969 Wimbledon Finals:

WIMBLEDON FINALS

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Here's a French guy doing tricks on his skis with no snow:

MAD SKIER!

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You'll also find film of Hitler ranting, of 70-year-old Bernarr MacFaddern heading off to a transcontinental airplane race, of beard research and a many more that are much cooler than those.

But since this blog is now almost completely dedicated to bikes, here's a clip about a 6 day team bicycle race held in Madison Square Garden in 1928:

6 DAYS ROUND A SAUCER TRACK

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Don't Try This at Home

2011-10-17T06:00:00.002-06:00

Remember these are professionals.

Invading France By Bike

2011-10-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

You never know when your bike will come in handy.

The caption for this photo from The Atlantic's In Focus series of photos from World War II says, "Canadian soldiers from 9th Brigade land with their bicycles at Juno Beach in Bernieres-sur-Mer during D-Day, while Allied forces were storming the Normandy beaches."

The Ultimate Utility Bike

2011-10-10T06:00:00.006-06:00

Oregon Manifest hosted a design and build competition that pitted some top custom bike makers and student teams against each other with a challenge to create the ultimate modern utility bike.

You can see the contestants and their creations here. Oregon Manifest chose some winners which is all well and good, but if I could choose one it would be this:

Retrotec/Inglis Cycles entry in the The Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenget

Some Great Footage and 10 Things

2011-10-07T20:08:00.000-06:00

I'm don't know if these are the 10 most important things you can learn on a mountain bike, but I like the pretty pictures.

Wondering about Whitman

2011-06-06T23:31:00.005-06:00

Walt Whitman Bridge Crosses the Delaware River at South

Philadelphia, leads to New Jersey Suburbs, September 1973

When I saw this image on NARA's Today's Document Tumblr blog, I wondered what Walt Whitman would think of having this teeming flow of smog belching cars, isolating people from each other as they traveled to work each day, named after him.

He did say, "See, in my poems, cities, solid, vast, inland, with paved streets, with iron and stone edifices, ceaseless vehicles, and commerce..."

Here's one I think he would like:

An 1869 city directory, listing Whitman, then working as a clerk in the Attorney General's office, among the butchers, tailors, painters and other masses of people in Washington DC, the capital of democracy. Whitman and America, "Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs."

Kicking Off National Bike Month

2011-05-01T09:36:00.001-06:00

In honor of national bike month, I've decided to post a few cycling related items in May.

Let's kick things off right with this picture from the Library of Congress of the "bicycle rider of the world"

William Martin, champion six-day bicycle rider of the world

Whole Again

2010-09-12T18:42:00.006-06:00

I put it off as long as I could, but with parts falling off mid-ride, it was finally time to replace the fork on my bike.

Without further ado may I introduce, the new guy, Magura Durin R 80...

Here's a close up:

After I'd taken him out for a ride and decided that he was really the one for me, I toned him down a little by removing the stickers:

And here's the whole bike with the new look:

For several years I've been telling myself that my fork was good enough and that I wouldn't even notice the difference if I got a new one. The first part was true, the 12 year old Judy XC was good enough. But it turns out the second part was false, I can tell the difference and Durin R 80 is a dreamy ride.

Leprosy

2010-09-02T16:45:00.004-06:00

I went for a ride today at lunch. A little past the half way point of the ride, I looked down and noticed something strange:

If you find the top cap for a 1998 Judy on the front side of Timp, it's mine.

In the mean time, I'm in the market for a new fork.

3 Days in the Uintas, Kings Peak and No Rain

2010-08-25T11:44:00.024-06:00

Those of you who have spent time in Utah's Uinta mountains may not believe this, but on July 15, 2010, I drove to Wyoming, hiked into the Henry's Fork basin, camped over and didn't see a single cloud all day or all night long. Impossible, and yet, it happened.

That was day one of a trip to Kings Peak that I took with some friends from work.

Kings Peak is a big rock pile and the highest point in Utah at 13,528 feet (4,123 meters). The most common route to the summit (which we took) begins at the Henry's Fork trailhead, proceeds into the Henry's Fork basin, up over Gunsight Pass, across to Anderson Pass and up the ridge line to Kings Peak.

View King's Peak in a larger map

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Thursday morning Russell and I drove through the high plains of Wyoming to the trailhead. You can just see the Uintas popping up in the distance here.

Russell heading up the trail. We saw a lot of dead pine trees thanks to the bark beetles, especially at the lower elevations.

As we approached Henry's Fork basin, we came across a nice selection of wild flowers. Only a few types stuck with us as we climbed higher.

Russell enters the basin.

At about Dollar Lake we met up with the other members of our group who got a head start by spending Wednesday night in the Henry's Fork campground. Here we find Shad, Anne, Hondo and Brent at Ye Olde Water Filtering Spot.

After setting up camp, pumping some water and scouting around, it was time for a dip in the lake.

Kings Peak is a very popular destination for boy scouts and we saw our share. Perhaps the only wildlife that could compete with the scouts in terms of numbers and annoyance were the mosquitoes. Actually most of the scouts were very well behaved.

As the evening progressed, the mosquitoes came out in force and Hondo decided that he could do any necessary socializing through the screen door of his tent.

After a day without a single visible wisp of clouds, the sky stayed perfectly clear all night and the stars were amazing. I don't remember the last time I saw the night sky so bright. The morning dawned just as clear, as the first light hit Kings Peak.

We ate some breakfast and headed off to hike to the summit.

The last push to Gunsight Pass.

From Gunsight pass, the main trail dips down into a valley and back up toward Anderson Pass. We decided to take a shortcut that cut straight across for the pass, under this snow patch and up over the ridge.

A view of the valley we didn't drop down into.

Once we got over the ridge we made our way across the rock pile toward Anderson Pass.

The group just below Anderson Pass with Henry's Fork basin in the background.

From Anderson Pass it's just a rock scramble to the top of Kings Peak. Here's Hondo atop the highest point in Utah. I'm not sure, but I think he is trying to summon some clouds.

We took the same route back. Here we are approaching Gunsight Pass along our shortcut.

Just below Gunsight Pass we came across this marmot whistling for a mate.

Heading past a little lake on the way back into the basin.

Once we were back at Dollar Lake, it was time for another swim. I took this movie for Mary who couldn't come, but would have loved it.

The clouds that Hondo summoned, built over night, but were still very friendly the next morning as we took a last look at the lake before heading out.

Russell and I took a little detour on the way back to check out this very noisy waterfall with a great pool below it.

As we got back to the trailhead we caught a glimpse of a bark beetle pheromone packet. I'd read about them in connection with this site, but hadn't seen one in the wild.

Beautiful location, good friends and great weather. What more could you ask for in a quick trip to the top of Utah?

A Timpanogos Anniversary

2010-08-20T11:57:00.006-06:00

Since I organized last year's anniversary celebration, Mary was in charge this year. She thought that a nice hike up Mt Timpanogos might be just the thing and, as is generally the case, she was right.

Here we are getting ready to set out from

the Timpanooke trailhead.

Lone Peak Wilderness and the back of Snowbird

and Alta from the trail.

Crossing the last shale section before coming into

the upper meadows.

Mary contemplates the wildflowers that were in

full bloom at the higher elevations.

For example.

A view toward the summit and the Emerald Lake basin.

Mary follows the trail through the flowers.

A look back.

The shale field on the way to Emerald Lake.

As we came over the hill and looked down toward the

Quonset hut we noticed 5 members of Timpanogos'

mountain goat community milling around. As we

walked down to the hut 3 more came up the trail from

the lake to join their fellows.

They didn't seem too bothered by us.

We went into the hut to see if we could get

closer to them from there.

Turns out we could.

After spending a little time with the goats, we ate

lunch at the lake and headed for the summit.

Approaching the summit and its shack, the west side

of which has fairly recent coating of pink spray paint.

Mary looks east from inside the shack.

As we got ready to head back storm clouds were

gathering, this one went north of us...

while others drenched Payson and parts south.

Things stayed pretty nice for us as we headed

down through more flowers.

Of course it wouldn't be a proper trip for the two of us without some weather to report (see this or this). As we worked our way down, it sprinkled a little, just enough to cool things off. Then the sky got a little darker, the thunder got a little closer and the sprinkling got a bit more insistent. I stopped to put on my jacket and got out the camera just as things got interesting. It's hard to separate the rain from the hail in the YouTube video and don't blink or you'll miss a lightning flash at about 1:25, but hopefully this gives you a sense:

Soon we were back at the trailhead, ready to head home and extend our 12 year streak of marital bliss.

3rd Annual Footnote Moab Retreat

2010-06-21T21:19:00.011-06:00

Thanks to the generous support of a tag team of grandparents, an aunt and uncle and some friends who took wonderful care of the kids, Mary and I were able to attend the 3rd Annual Footnote Moab Retreat in the first week of June.

The desert along the Book Cliffs overflowed with orange and yellow blossoms as we drove down Highway 6.

We found a nice piece of sand just outside Moab where we could lay out our sleeping bags and look up into the starry (and later moonlit) sky.

In the morning we were treated to a beautiful sunrise and fresh flowers in camp.

photo by Mary

Mary dropped a few of the guys from work and me off at Amasa Back so we could go for a ride while she went hiking.

Nathan rides up the trail.

Nathan, Russell and Chris at the first overlook.

A look back at the La Sals.

On the edge.

The Colorado River.

Chris as the king of the world...

and after the day's best crash.

A local we met along the way.

After the ride, we met up with Mary, ate lunch and, since the temperature was nearing 100 degrees, we decided to head up to Mill Creek and cool off. We played in some pools down by the parking lot, then hiked up the stream for a while.

Looking for some keys that fell in the water.

Another local, bravely defending his home.

Mary, Russell and Nathan put their feet up.

After our hike up Mill Creek, we headed to the visitors' center at Arches to meet up with a few other folks from Footnote and get a pass for the Fiery Furnace for the next day. Then we went to dinner, played a little Frisbee in the park and headed back out to our campsite for another beautiful night under the stars.

The next morning, we got up early and headed to the Fiery Furnace with Russell as our canyon guide.

Heading into the Fiery Furnace.

Russell, Brett, Nathan, Mary, Kelsey and Jacob don't seem that excited to pose for this picture, but I liked it.

Working our way up...

and up...

to the top of the fins.

Some shadow rock art we made on a fin across the way.

Another nice view of the La Sals.

Russell Brett and Nathan atop a fin.

We headed deeper into the Furnace,

and started to climb down.

Mary shows exceptional form in a part of the trail that required sliding through a small hole in the rock.

When we reached Abby Arch...

we lounged in the shade while Russell set up the first rappel.

Mary comes over the edge...

and humors me by performing tricks.

Jacob demonstrates the proper use of a "static" rope.

Nathan descends, as calmly as a window cleaner.

I get a little casual in my belay work.

Then we headed down a hallway between two fins...

to another rappel...

Russell, our guide to the canyon, makes the final rappel.

And then we hiked out.

I was a great weekend. Thanks to Russell for leading us through the canyon, to everyone who came and, again, to everyone who watched our kids so we could go and have so much fun.

Until next year.

Canyonlands

2010-04-05T21:03:00.006-06:00

Once upon a time, way back when I was a kid, my mom took my brother and me camping in the Needles District of Canyonlands with some of her work friends. We'd only recently moved to Utah and after spending my early years in western Washington state with a brief stint on the central coast of California, the desert was new and strange. We had a great time running around on the slick rock and chasing lizards through narrow cracks. I don't remember a lot from the trip, but it holds a sort of fairy tale place in my memory.

A couple of weeks ago, I went back for the first time. I had planned to take Mary on a backpacking trip in the spring (thanks for watching the kids Grandma Kathe) and wanted to go to Needles, but in the decades since my last visit, the park has gotten more restrictive and more crowded. By the time I called to get a permit, nothing was available.

We looked into some other destinations, but I had my heart set on Needles. So, when the day finally came, we loaded up our backpacks (just in case something opened up while we were pulling into the visitor's center) and figured that if we couldn't get a permit, we could just stay at the campground and see what we could with day hikes.

We ended up with a great campsite and it turns out you can see quite a lot on day hikes. Here are a few pictures to prove it:

A trailhead about 50 yards from our campsite headed up over the Navaho sandstone...

up some steps in the Entrada sandstone...

and down into Big Springs Canyon.

After hiking down Big Springs Canyon, we hiked up onto a fin from which you could look...

west and back into Big Springs Canyon or...

east into Squaw Canyon with the La Sal mountains in the background.

Mary enjoyed the stiff breeze as we hiked down into Squaw Canyon.

The later parts of the hike out Squaw Canyon were a little less interesting, but the running water and old trees added a little flair.

The next day the weather looked a bit menacing as we drove out on the Elephant Hill access road, hopped onto the Chesler Park Trail and headed for Druid Arch.

From the trailhead, the trail climbs quickly, including this nice stairway.

Once we were up out of the canyon we could see the snow obscuring the view to the south.

There was something interesting around just about every turn on the Chesler Park Trail.

We met up with the snow as we hiked south into Elephant Canyon. Yes, we are the same people who caused it to snow several inches in mid-August during our Uinta trip last year. Hiking with us is not for the faint of heart.

The snow fell harder as we got closer to Druid Arch, saturating the colors and keeping people away, so we had the place almost completely to ourselves.

The weather was clearing as we climbed this ladder toward the end of the trail with a side view of the arch in the background.

A photo doesn't do justice to size and weight of Druid Arch, but here's one anyway.

The view back up Elephant Canyon from the arch was impressive as the sky cleared.

We hiked back out Elephant Canyon and headed west toward Chesler Park.

On the trail we made a contribution to this cairn collection...

and took one more look into the Seussian world of Elephant Canyon before we...

passed through the gap up into Chesler Park...

where a hail storm was waiting for us and pelted us for half an hour or so before passing on and leaving us with...

some blue skies as we hiked hiked east toward the edge of the park ...

and looked down into the canyons below.

In farewell, one more nice snowstorm moved in and dumped on us as we hiked out.

The next morning there was ice on the potholes as we started out.

We hiked a few shorter trails, saw some shrimp coming to life in the potholes...

took a last look back at the Needles and headed for home.

OK, that turned out to be quite a few pictures. You can see these pictures and a few more in this Picasa web album and you can see some of the snow falling in this video on YouTube.

Overall the trip was a great success and I can't wait until July when reservations open up for next year's backcountry permits.

The Water Cycle

2010-03-11T09:24:00.002-07:00

"The Newest French Idea in Cycling."

from The Chicago Tribune of 18 August 1895

This page from the 1895 Chicago Tribune provides a detailed rundown on the state of "modern" (1890s modern) bicycle construction, including "The Water Cycle" above and this graphic entitled, "Peeps at the Construction of a Bicycle"

The Beard's Progress

2009-12-09T14:00:00.001-07:00

Two Annoying

2009-11-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

If two wrongs don't make a right, can two annoying things make something cool?

House flies + banner ads = entertaining for few minutes and then annonying²

Thanks to Amishrobot for sharing.

Breakfast at Battle Creek

2009-11-03T20:13:00.003-07:00

We've enjoyed some unseasonably warm weather the past couple of weeks and while I'm certainly hoping for piles of snow this winter, as long as we have this nice weather, it seems a shame to waste it.

Monday morning, figuring that the change back to standard time would make a 5AM start more manageable, I got up and hiked through Battle Creek Canyon to the saddle between Baldy and Timp before work.

It was a beautiful morning for a hike and here are some pictures to prove it:

It was actually dark as I made my way up the lower part of the canyon, so I took this picture of the stream on the way down.

I passed through some beautiful meadows as the sky became a lighter shade of gray.

The view of Utah Lake back through Battle Creek.

On the north face of Baldy I found some very light snow.

The view into Orem, Provo, and southern Utah County from the saddle.

Looking back at the north face of Baldy on the way back. The sun was up and the amber fields were glowing.

The pictures can't really capture it, but trust me, it was lovely.

Making Fridays Better

2009-10-23T16:53:00.006-06:00

Every Friday, NPR's Talk of the Nation steps into the utility closet, sheds its mild mannered talk radio show disguise and becomes Science Friday.

There's always been a lot to like about Science Friday, but the addition of Flora Lichtman's video of the week is a little like Aquaman learning to fly or the Flash getting x-ray vision.

Flora's videos come in bite-sized pieces and are generally informative and entertaining. Sometimes they are even inspiring, like this week's video which makes me want to buy a security camera:

Speaking of bite-sized pieces, this classic about candy corn in space informs, but falls short of inspiring me to like candy corn:

And while we're talking about space, I have to include this one:

Terrible Yellow Eyes

2009-09-20T14:48:00.005-06:00

Here's one of those projects that seems to make the internet worth while: Terrible Yellow Eyes

The current post is about the physical show of the works, but as you scroll down the page, you'll see the online exhibit.

Spicolli surfs the Snake River

2009-09-11T23:37:00.005-06:00

A guy at work sent this to me today with the heading, "Spicolli surfs the Snake River"

"The trip was epic."

Free Bike Bath!

2009-08-31T17:48:00.003-06:00

Madsen Cycles, purveyors of fine two wheeled bathtubs:

which can also be used to carry something:

or to carry many things:

Is having a weekly bike giveaway!

If you click on one of the above banners and go to their site and I win, I'll let you take a bath on my bike.

A Trip to the Granddaddy Lake Basin

2009-08-17T22:54:00.015-06:00

Last week, the world's best backpacking partner and I spent three days poking around the Granddaddy Lake area of the High Uintas (thanks to grandmas and grandpa for watching the kids). It's a popular and well used area and, as you might expect with the Uintas, we saw beautiful mountains, amazing lakes, various wild things and every kind of weather imaginable.

The trail to Granddaddy Lake starts at the Grandview trail head and I'd read some fairly dire descriptions of the last five miles of the road which are dirt and cut high into a canyon wall in places. But the road is well maintained and provides some beautiful views:

The first day we hiked up the trail, over Hades Pass, ate lunch next to Granddaddy Lake and then hiked on to Mohawk Lake and pitched out tent near the lake, next to a brook:

This was our first trip with the REI Quarter Dome T2 Tent that we got a great deal on earlier this year. I'll spare you the detailed gear review, but the tent is light, easy to set up and kept us warm and dry through rain, sleet, hail, wind, thunder and lightning.

Here's the view from our tent:

Once the tent was set up, we had some hail, then slush, then rain, then it cleared up. We hiked around to a few nearby lakes:

and then settled in for the night with the sound of rain plunking on the tent.

The next morning, after the sun rose over Mohawk Lake,

we packed up our things and headed off. It was a perfect day for hiking and we got a good look at Granddaddy Lake,

and then hiked around a bit and ended up at Marsell Lake:

Yep, we are in this picture, but the camera took some initiative and focused on the clouds. I think it made a good choice.

We spent the evening poking around Marsell Lake, Sonny Lake and the surrounding area and then settled in for an evening of rain, this time pounding on the tent, with a nice thunder and lightning show thrown in.

The next morning started clear, and I waited for the sun to rise so I could catch a nice shot from this view of the lake:

but the sun could never quite make it over the clouds that were building in the east and gathering from all around

So we ate breakfast, packed up and got ready to head out. By the time we were ready, clouds covered the sky, fog filled the valley and the lake looked like this:

It's a beautiful scene, but don't you think it looks better with a little something added?

We hiked back to the main trail through the misty woods

and then headed for the exit.

But the fun wasn't over yet. As we were nearing the summit of Hades Pass it started to snow and then it snowed harder and then it snowed harder

and it just kept on snowing

We sang Christmas songs as we hiked out and the snow piled up.

What a beautiful world we live in and how nice it is to have someone wonderful to share it with.

Riding the Ridge Trail

2009-08-02T14:33:00.004-06:00

It seems sad that I didn't ride my bike above 8,000 feet until August 1, but the real tragedy of the situation didn't hit home until I got up there and saw what I'd been missing.

I rode from the top of the Alpine Loop

over to the South Fork Little Deer Creek Trail Number 252

which I rode down

until it crossed the Cascade Springs Road and then climbed back up to the top of the loop.

It was a beautiful day, a beautiful trail and a lot more fun than I usually get in before 9 AM.

Sending the Wrong Message

2009-07-28T08:52:00.003-06:00

This probably won't improve a child's attitude toward education, but it might have improved my grades in high school:

The Study Ball gadget is a prison-style ball and chain that you can program to keep track of how much time you spend studying. Once you’ve selected the desired duration, you chain the ball to your ankle and the manacle won’t come off until the schedule study time is up.

Back on the Saddle

2009-07-22T22:13:00.006-06:00

In the days following the demise of the Flite, I scoured the internets for a new saddle and a seat post to go with it (the previous post was an experiment that wasn't working out).

It's difficult to find just the right saddle, so I figured I'd find something that wasn't too expensive, but would tide me over until I found The One.

Finding the right seat post is easy, you buy the Thompson Elite. Everything else is just a shadow of the form.

So, I found the best price on the seat post, then found a reasonable saddle at the same place and ordered them. When they arrived, I was surprised, impressed and frankly a little disturbed by the quality of the packaging.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go:

The Selle San Marco SKN Pro in its custom box.

The Thompson Elite in its fancy pants bag.

The other side of the fancy pants bag.

A peek at the post because, after all, it is the Thompson Elite.

And here they are in their natural environment.

In case you were interested: The SKN Pro is surprisingly comfortable considering that it's really a road saddle and has virtually no padding. It should do the trick nicely while I start my quest for the perfect saddle. If you have recommendations, please let me know with a comment.

In Memoriam

2009-06-14T16:12:00.006-06:00

It's difficult to say goodbye to a close friend, especially one who has been with you through the world's ups and downs and supported you through some of life's most difficult trails.

After 16 years, I bid farewell to a dear and intimate friend, my Selle Italia Flite saddle.

Thanks for the memories old pal. RIP.

I'm always disappointed when an obituary doesn't give the cause of death, so for those of you with strong stomaches, here are the details.

A few weeks ago, while riding my bike I heard the jingle of metal bouncing on rocks and felt in my bones, my sit bones to be precise, that something terrible had happened. When I went back for a look, there, lying in the dirt and rocks of the trail, I saw a small length of titanium.

There was no sign of trauma or a struggle and I think I would have noticed any foul play, so, although there was not a formal autopsy performed, I think I can say with some confidence that the cause was a combination of fatigue and complications of old age.

Bikes: Looking Forward and Looking Back

2009-05-31T22:18:00.006-06:00

This is just a quick post to share two bike related gifts from the Interweb.

First, this story about a Chinese man who is reinventing the bicycle wheel. I'm not sure if it will take off, but I'd love to try one.

Picture courtesy of www.china.org.cn where you'll find a few more views.

Second, this website for Pashley Cycles of Stratford-upon-Avon, England where they hand build a variety of classic bikes.

Here's the Roadster 26 which seems a practical choice and would, I'm sure, make just about any ride more fun:
But, if I were buying, it would be hard to resist the Roadster Sovereign, "A whale amongst minnows."

A Homemade Handlebar Cam

2009-05-26T22:39:00.010-06:00

Saturday morning I got up early, went down to the garage and pulled out my box of bike bits and pieces. I've been looking into ways of mounting a camera on the bike to get some action shots. I've tried holding the camera while riding and it works, but tends to cramp my style a bit. While there are some nice suggestions for homemade helmet or handlebar cams on the internet, I really wanted something that would be easy to put on and take off, and something that would not disfigure the bike too much.

As I was looking through the box, I came across the handlebar clamp for an old bike headlight. I rummaged around some more and found the old light and as luck would have it, the clip that attached the light to the handlebar clamp was removable.

To make a long story short, I had hit the jackpot. I bought a bolt, did a little drilling, shaping and fiddling and came up with the Thirsty Bob Handlebar Camer-O-Matic!

Here's the handlebar clamp just waiting to be put to use:

Here are the parts for the removable camera mount--the modified headlight clip, the grippy rubber pad that also serves to level the camera and the 1/2 inch 1/4 x 20 machine bolt that threads into the tripod mount on the camera:

Here's the assembled camera mount:

The camera mounted:

And the camera clipped onto the bike (the Camer-O-Matic supports any camera with a tripod mount, but prudence argues for an inexpensive model):

The project went smoothly, so smoothly in fact that it had me worried. I'll admit to some butterflies as I took it out for a test yesterday at lunch--nothing too crazy for the maiden voyage, just something with a few turns and a bump or two to see what would happen.

Here's the unedited footage from the first test run (in future I'll be sure to replace the audio of wind, creaks and bumps with some nice new-age music).

Your feedback is of course welcome.

A Day in the Mountains

2009-05-20T22:43:00.017-06:00

I was in high school the first time I hiked Mount Timpanogos. Some friends heard of a route up the front of the mountain and invited me to come help them find it. In the following years, an early season hike up the front of Timp became something of a tradition.

This week I revived (or at least revisited) the tradition. Down in the valley, a lot has changed in 20 years, but Timpanogos is a bit more constant.

Tuesday, we started out from the Dry Canyon trailhead (a luxury that wasn't available in the 80s), hiked to the saddle between Baldy and Timp and, from there, headed south, hopped onto the snow and hiked to the ridge.

Snow and weather conditions were just about perfect. The company was good. The mountain was beautiful. It was great to be back.

I'll save you a few thousand words with these pictures:

Mount Nebo smiles down on Utah Valley from the morning haze.

The sun seemed determined to support our effort. In the early going she lit things up, but stayed behind the mountain, so it wasn't too hot. She came over the top in time to keep us warm as we got to the higher, cooler altitudes. Then on the way down, just as we were getting to the warmer air and off the snow, she ducked behind some friendly clouds, keeping the temperatures down while we hiked out.

Toward the top, we started sinking into the softer snow, so we decided to hop onto the ridge between the two northern drainages as we worked our way up.

Russell leads out on the final pitch.

From the saddle, looking north-west toward the summit. The wind, perhaps encouraged by a storm that was coming in, was really whipping toward the top. Would have been a nice day for prayer flags.

On the way down, the soft snow ruled out boot skiing, so we went with plan b.

The lower parts of the mountain are starting to green up nicely and on the hike out we encountered a variety of flora and fauna, including...

these tiny white flowers that are among the first things to blossom after the snowmelt, and...

these cheerful yellow fellows.

On the fauna side, we saw two big horn sheep on the cliffs at the entrance to Dry Canyon (the first I've seen in these parts), and...

a couple of blow snakes, including this little one who moved remarkably well considering the size of the lunch it was still digesting.

On the 051

2009-05-17T21:27:00.010-06:00

A few weeks ago, during a lunch break from work, I went for a hike in the foothills above Orem on a trail numbered 051. Snow still covered parts of the trail, but the early signs of spring were all around. It struck me, as it sometimes does, how great it is to live on the Wasatch Front and how often I take it for granted.

As I walked, the idea had time to bounce around in my head until it worked itself into a hair-brained scheme for starting a blog about living on, playing in and just enjoying the Wasatch. The plan, if you can call it that, included brilliant ideas for community participation, activities, a simple and effective revenue model and so much more. I even came up with a word (well, sort of a word--"Wasatching") for it, that I thought I could use as a title for the blog.

Eventually I returned to reality. I realize that I already have a blog and I don't have time for this one, so I've scaled back my vision: Try to post to this blog occasionally...and perhaps label a few posts Wasatching.

I don't have any pictures from that day, but I do have a few from the 051. These are from another part of the trail, a day or two before the hair-brained hike:

And these are from a recent trip to the very section of the 051 where the hair-brained idea first came to me:

Credit Where Credit is Due

2009-05-15T22:57:00.004-06:00

This stunt is ridiculous enough that it deserves to be shared:

Update: Looks like they pulled that version of the video. You can still see it on the right side of this page.

Computers

2009-04-07T17:30:00.006-06:00

This is an $800 computer made by Chrysler.

It doesn't come with a monitor, can't run a modern operating system, can't be configured, upgraded or even rebooted by its owner, but it can control the windshield wipers, headlights, turn signals and speedometer of a minivan--except when something goes wrong and the windshield wipers run all the time, for no good reason, and you have to take it to an authorized dealer for replacement.

You could get this computer (chosen at random) at Buy.com for $723.99.

This one can be customized by a 4 year old. With it pretty much anybody can edit photos and home movies, play video games, handle a spreadsheet, compose and format a letter to your congressional representative, compute the square root of 1,518.452 or the apogee of Friendship 7, and really too many other things to mention here.

Is it any wonder the auto industry is having trouble?

Where are they today?

2008-11-03T20:41:00.004-07:00

A Fall Ride on the Front Side of Timpanogos

2008-10-31T14:19:00.002-06:00

A funny thing happened on the way to work today

2008-10-15T09:01:00.004-06:00

I drove past something interesting this morning. I had to turn around and take pictures.

Yes, that is a power pole hanging by its lines. The SUV in the second picture had just driven through the pole and a ten foot section of the pole was lying on the ground in front of the SUV. I didn't get a clear enough look at the driver to confirm reports of Wile E. Coyote's involvement.

The Elvis Impersonator in Black

2008-10-12T20:28:00.004-06:00

2 Fall Photos

2008-10-09T21:35:00.007-06:00

The Year of Timp hasn't really gone according to plan, but I am still getting out occasionally. Here are a couple of pictures of Timpanogos from some recent trips.

This one was taken last week from above Rock Canyon Campground:

And here's one from a ride on the Ridge Trail at the top of the Alpine Loop that I took this week:

You'll find a few more pictures from this ride here.

Southern Comfort

2008-09-29T21:27:00.015-06:00

“This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmallow stuck in the middle of it and I am not going to eat that cow patty.”

- Representative Paul Broun, Republican of Georgia, describing the economic bailout package that congress voted down today (quoted in the New York Times)

I don't know if he's right or wrong, but he has a certain flair.

Timpanogos Circa 1942

2008-08-04T11:21:00.003-06:00

Speaking of vintage Timpanogos pictures, here are a couple from The Library of Congress.

These were taken in 1942 during the construction of the now demolished Geneva steel mill. You'll find a few more pictures of the construction of Geneva in The LOC's Flickr photostream.

Vintage Timpanogos

2008-07-27T20:49:00.007-06:00

Some of my plans for the Year of Timpanogos have been derailed by the harsh realities of life, but while I was poking through old photos, I found a few vintage shots of hikes on Timpanogos. I scanned several and thought I'd post a few.

Most of these are from the early 90s and they include such illustrious fellow hikers as: Amy Adams, Andy Anderson, Austin Gray, Brett Yadon, Lori Adams, Paul Jaussi, Rick Herlevi and Stephan Jusinski.

Hiking the Aspen Grove Trail in November of 1991.

Two Swedes on Timp in March of 1992.

Sliding down the snow field toward Emerald Lake.

A refreshing dip in Emerald Lake.

Sleeping over on the saddle between Baldy and Timp, before a trip up the front.

Sitting at the summit early one year.

Mountain goats near the ridge line.

Spending the night at the summit.

Cruel Fate

2008-07-16T20:41:00.006-06:00

Today I found this in Thirsty Bob's inbox:

My dear friend

You are the man with whom I want to go to the edge of the Earth, to share the last piece of bread, to live in hovel because I feel that you are a part of my soul, of my lonely soul which is looking for its second half.

I am romantic nature; I am very sensitive and devoted. You will find true family happiness with me, you will have the most beautiful and happiest children with me and you will never know quarrels and wars in family with me.

How you know, you may ask. It is very simple.

I am sincere and I have no reasons to deceive you now.

I don't deceive you, because if I do it, I will deceive myself and will lose my happiness: happiness to be happy with you.

If you want your dreams about true love to come true, I will wait for your reply [URL withheld to protect the innocent].

You may not answer right now, it is your destiny and I will wait for your letter as much as it necessary.

Sincerely
Irinka P

Tears fell on my keyboard as I thought of this poor sensitive and devoted girl whose dreams about true love will never come true because the cruel hand of fate gave the second half of her soul, of her lonely soul, to a fictional internet persona.

The Long Tail of Reason and Sensuality

2008-07-08T07:51:00.009-06:00

8 years ago, as spring turned into summer, I was finishing up a thesis as part of a Humanities graduate program. In order to get a few hours without distractions, I got in the habit of sitting down to work at about 11 PM and working into the wee hours of the morning.

The termites in our basement apartment were in some kind of spring swarm mode. The winged ant-like bugs would fly around, bang into things (including my head), fall to the ground, mill around a bit and then fly into something else. The hum of the computer fan and the sound of termites pinging into the bare lightbulb and thudding onto one of the stacks of books on the floor were a soothing influence as I wrote.

I finished the thesis, defended it and got a job completely unrelated to my studies.

Experience over the years has taught me to keep my answers short when people ask what my thesis is about. I guess people who are interested in 15th century allegorical dream poetry just don't run in my circles. But they are out there, and the internet knows who they are.

Millions of dollars have been invested in companies on the "Long Tail" theory that with so many people using the internet, there's bound to be someone interested in just about anything and that a broad collection of niche items that could never succeed in a strip mall could be wildly successful on the web.

So, last month I cast my thesis upon the waters of the internet, in part to test this theory, but mostly for fun. I've planned to do it for years, but just haven't had the time. I haven't even looked at the thesis since 2000, and as I converted the files from their archaic WordPerfect format to something I could use, it felt a little like blowing dust off some ancient artifact.

A month on the internet has given Google and other search engines time to find and index my gift to the world. So far, it's not getting enough traffic to cover the ten million I raised in venture capital, but there seem to be a few people out there who are interested in 15th century allegory. Here are some of the search terms that have led people to my thesis from 8 states and 5 countries:

Of course there are also the searches for "reason of thirst" and other, stranger, terms. I can only imagine that the person who came to my site by searching for "sensual literature" was fairly disappointed.

I'll try to keep you posted as the traffic continues to pour in.

Year of Timpanogos: May

2008-06-02T12:48:00.043-06:00

Before I get into May's activity, let me take a moment to say how much I love my bike--it's important background for today's post.

I've had the Breezer for about 9 years. I special ordered the frame and assembled it with parts I chose while I was working in an REI bike shop. It's lightweight, a dream to ride and looks great, but more than that, it has a certain classic appeal and connection to the history of mountain biking that makes it a good litmus test. Most people who look see an old steel hardtail, but those who have been involved with bikes for a while understand.

It may come as a surprise then that over the past year or so I've felt a growing temptation to look at other bikes. Not just any bikes, 29ers. The big wheels and all the benefits that people attribute to them seem like a perfect fit for what I like about mountain biking, but riding one around in the parking lot of a bike shop seems cheap and tawdry (not to mention a terrible way to test a bike). I hadn't been able to find a local shop that rented one until this winter when I learned that that they have some at Sundance--a much more romantic (and effective) place for a rendezvous.

Well, enough of that. May was a pretty busy month and, as it drew to a close, I was thinking I might have to just throw together a makeshift activity for the Year of Timpanogos. The ideas I had weren't sounding that exciting, and my prospects were looking bleak.

My tentative plan was to go up to Aspen Grove and ride my bike along a trail from there to the top of the loop and possibly connect to part of the Ridge Trail if conditions were good. When I got to Aspen Grove things just didn't seem right, so I took a few pictures,

and then decided to head down to South Fork and ride--it just sounded like more fun, and isn't that what this type of activity should be about? I drove down the canyon thinking of ways to justify this as a Year of Timpanogos activity.

I still hadn't come up with a good tie in by the time I got to South Fork, but I got things together, hopped on the bike and headed up the trail. Conditions were perfect, I had a great ride and got back to the trailhead with no satisfactory way to connect this experience to the Year of Timpanogos, but pleased to have had it.

As I rolled into the parking lot I saw this:

Now, I'm not particularly superstitious and would certainly not try to pass this off as divine intervention, but it did have a kind of deus ex machina feel to it. There I was on the last day of May trying to find a Timpanogos related activity and the Timpanogos Cyclery wagon pulls up.

I strolled over, trying to act casual, and asked what was up. Turns out they were just out and about, looking for people who might like to demo some of their bikes. It also turns out they had a new Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29, tuned for a guy just my size and weight and were thrilled to put my pedals on the bike and let me take it out on the trail. So I did.

I call this picture, The Bike and the Beaver Dam.

Unfortunately, it didn't help with the feelings of guilt that my unfaithful wandering eye has caused me over the past year. I loved the ride. I loved the bike. I think I'll go to Sundance this month and test another 29er.

In one last attempt to tie in to the project, I stopped on the way down South Fork and took a picture of Timpanogos.

Moab

2008-05-27T22:23:00.009-06:00

I don't suppose there's any city in the world quite like Moab, Utah. Bikes of all varieties sharing Main Street with every kind of four-wheel-drive vehicle you can imagine. Small town Utah folk sharing the sidewalk with visitors from all over the world. Kids from the local high school swim team sharing the pool with an elderly gentleman in a g-string. All in a little oasis surrounded by red rock and desert at the foot of snow-capped mountains.

Here are a few pictures from a trip we took down there last weekend.

On Friday I rode the Slickrock trail with some friends from work,

while my wife and the baby hiked in Mill Creek Canyon.

That evening we lay in the shade in the park, swam in the city pool and camped out along the Sand Flat road.

The next day we went for a hike in Negro Bill Canyon.

The Year of Timpanogos: April

2008-05-19T22:51:00.013-06:00

A couple of months back, while looking out a window at work, I noticed a trail running up the foothills of Timpanogos above Grove Creek. From the office it looks something like this:

So, I decided that as part of the Year of Timpanogos festivities, I'd like to see where that trail went. I did a little looking on Google Earth and then set out to find it on my bike.

The initial plan was to ride from Bridal Veil Falls, around the front side of Timp along the Bonneville Shoreline trail and then up the trail I had seen. But after breaking my chain a few minutes into the ride, noticing another bad link while I was fixing it and losing a couple of degrees from my core body temperature to the wind that was howling down the Provo Canyon, I decided to drive around to Battle Creek Canyon and ride from there.

It was a beautiful, clear, crisp April morning. From the mouth of Grove Creek Canyon the trail began as an old jeep road with some good climbs. I saw a few campers, trail runners and a scout troop in the early going, but pretty soon I had the place to myself.

The top portion of the trail is a winding, narrow single track through gamble oak, generally smooth, but with enough rocks to keep it interesting, climbing to about 6,600 feet and ending, as far as I could tell, by narrowing to a deer trail. Perfect.

You'll find a few pictures from the trip here.

The Year of Timpanogos: March

2008-04-16T15:15:00.013-06:00

For March, I hiked up through Dry Canyon to the saddle between Baldy and Timpanogos and then up the mountain a little from there.

The day started out overcast, so most of the early pictures are a little dull, but the helicopter that flew past while I was taking a break at the saddle spiced things up a bit.

At about 9,000 feet I had lunch and took some pictures as the sun started to shine on the valley.

By the time I got back down to the saddle, the cloud cover was breaking up and it was turning into a beautiful day.

You'll find a few more pictures from the trip here.

Year of Timpanogos Update

2008-04-16T15:02:00.006-06:00

February's activity didn't go quite as planned. I had hoped to ski up under a full (or close to full) moon and get some nice views of Timp, but we had overcast skies and snow for days around the full moon. We went up anyway and had a great time, but it wasn't really the best night for pictures as you can see from this example:

These are fires at some snow cave camps down the hill.

Announcing 2008 The Year of Timpanogos

2008-02-13T12:47:00.005-07:00

Last summer I read Felice Benuzzi's No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Escape, A Perilous Climb (a book that is much better than its title) and it got me thinking.

Growing up, Mt Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range served me (on a smaller scale) in much the same way that Mt Kenya served Felice and his companions, providing a much needed escape from the everyday and the troubles of the teen age.

The book and reminiscing combined to give me the idea that it might be fun to hike the mountain in all 4 seasons by 4 different routes in 2008. Then I thought, why not declare 2008 The Year of Timpanogos and try to do something fun on the mountain in every month of the year.

So, last month I kicked off The Year of Timpanogos with a ski trip from Aspen Grove to the summit of the Alpine Loop and a return trip on the east side of the mountain west of the road.

I posted a few pictures of the trip here.

Plus Cancer

2007-10-08T23:30:00.001-06:00

It's not my intention to use this blog to tear down people and things I notice around me, so I'll just post, without comment, a part of an article I read tonight:

"Capecchi is a pioneer who really revolutionized genetic research by creating the perfect mouse model, a premier mouse that can be programmed to take on a specific disease. Then the genes in that mouse can be altered, or modified and studied, and treated with things that just might turn the disease around.

"Diabetes, cystic fibrosis, heart and neuropsychiatric diseases, even just the physiology of how the brain works, to name a few. Plus cancer."

A Dream I Had

2006-10-15T20:37:00.000-06:00

The other morning, sometime between pushing the snooze button and the alarm going off again, I had a dream that I thought I’d better write down.

The dream was a trailer for a movie starring Robin Williams as some sort of man of the cloth who has just started a new job teaching at a fancy East Coast boys’ school, loosely affiliated with whatever church he's in service of. I didn't catch his name, so I'll call him Bob.

The trailer opens in a beautiful New England Autumn with an upbeat tone as we are introduced to Bob and see the possibilities of his new position. But soon the mood turns somber and mysterious as we learn that Bob has a checkered past and may have a history of pedophilia, child porn, or something like that, it wasn’t entirely clear in the dream. Now that I’m awake I see the Monty Python-esque silliness of it all, but while I was asleep, the montage of concerned parents hiding behind bushes, peeping out of boxes, and peering in windows to watch Bob's every move for some sign, some piece of information that might reveal the secret was really quite powerful.

Things are not looking good for Bob, but then in a way that is common in dreams, but nearly inexplicable once you are awake, we learn that Bob is a former "neo-Anarchist" who, before his conversion, used violent means to promote his political agenda. The film’s real conflict centers around another neo-Anarchist (who bore an eerie resemblance to the biker in Raising Arizona) who is traveling toward the small New England town, bent on destruction. It is up to Bob to save the school and its students.

The last scene I saw before the alarm went off the second time showed Bob in the sun-drenched kitchen of his first floor apartment chatting with the elderly housekeeper when something breaks through the window and flies through the air and into Bob’s hands. The shot switches to Bob’s point of view as he looks down and sees that it is a hand grenade (although, strangely, I believe it was ticking). Then, from the housekeeper’s point of view we see Bob smile casually and toss the grenade over his shoulder, out an open window on the other side of the room and into a bush. It was clear that Bob had not lost the skills he developed in his youth and while I wish I could have seen the end of the trailer, I woke confident that the school was in good hands.

Pilgrimage

2005-04-26T20:54:00.001-06:00

We went to Moab this weekend. For the most part we hiked around with the kids, but Bob and I did get out a couple of times. 6:15 AM Saturday morning we rode Slick Rock and, much to our surprise and joy, there was no one there. The weather was perfect, the trail was perfect and we had it all to ourselves. Imagine that.

I include the following picture for those of you who can't imagine it.