Tidbits

I've been meaning do a post with random links for a while now but just keep failing to make the time. Since it is late and I am tired, I guess it is illogical that I think now should be the time but...

Bike Font

Lego Frank Lloyd Wright

Happy Birthday Mini

Hugging Cyclists

I just got this one today from my sister. I am fully supportive of incorporating the bicycle into as many facets (not to be confused with faucets) of your life, but this homeowner probably took it just a little too far...

And now for the pictures

Along the yellow trail ridge, the clouds were hanging above the Skaneateles lake valley. 

Morbid, I know, but I wonder how much of this Wilcox is contained in the tree - and how big this tree was 150 years ago

The Wilcox family cemetery - the headstones I could read dated to the 1860s.

It might be muddy when the mud is caked to your seat...

The sticker on the back of the car sums it up - even if I was breaking trail etiquette. Every now and again, you just gotta do it. 

Swamp Thing

This is no where close to the title I thought of while riding today but I can't remember what it was and, as you will shortly learn, it is kind of appropriate.

It was a hectic week between work and trying to get things straightened away for two other VISTAs to take up residence on Lilac Street. Although the power and gas still isn't on in one apartment and there is a 1977 Datsun 280Z taking up one of the garage bays, things went as smoothly as possible. I spent a good portion of my weekend cleaning and preparing for them to move in so there wasn't much left for riding. I thought about going out yesterday but I was too tired from a late night (morning) and a full day of cleaning, fixing, and installing. So today was the day the riding took place.

Now, you must understand that it was a pleasant, sunny day until I got to the trail head and set up the bike. Really. Lots of sun, a few clouds, temps in the upper 70s and low 80s, moderate humidity. Perfect in every way. Enter the prospect of shredding some single track and - boom - out come the dark clouds and a nice steady rain. It has been a long time since I rode irresponsibly but I needed this ride like a coke addict needs another line. So ride I did. 

While I was waiting to see how bad the rain was going to be - t-storms probably would've nixed the ride - a women pulled up and informed me she was going to hike in the rain in preparation for an upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon. She proceed to fill her pack up with gallon jugs of water. She said yesterday she'd hiked 12 miles and was looking for another 8 today. I wished her a good time and started off.

It was a bit muddy to begin with - we've had a healthy dose of rain the past few weeks - so things were mucky to start. I felt pretty good from the get-go despite not eating much and having been busy walking up and down stairs, moving boxes, and all the other fun stuff. Someone installed a well placed log-crossing on a downed tree so I was glad to see that. I bombed down some trails faster than I should have in rain with wet rocks and roots but managed to keep it rubber side down the whole ride. I felt really good on the climbs for the most part, nailing some good lines. I think riding in the rain is like running in the rain, very exhilarating for some reason. Since I began running in high school, I've always felt the best when doing so in the rain. I wonder why?

I did take a moment to search out an old cemetery I remember seeing one other time while riding at Bear Swamp. One of the graves is for someone who I think is a veteran based on the flags next to his headstone. I think it is really a tribute to his family's dedication that nearly 150 years after his death (the date he died is 1864), some one still honors him this way. 

All the rain and mud left me a bit muddy - hence the Swamp Thing title. I find this humorous to a degree because it was this weekend last year that I competed in the Raccoon Rally race which was also a mud-fest. Toward the end of the ride, though, I began to get cold and was reminded of the almost-hypothermic rides I have done with Michael a few times. (Turns out it was only 61 degrees so not too far off the temps when rain can lead to hypothermia). I thought about staying out a little while longer but decided to call it a day. Getting back to the car, I wished I'd brought a change of clothes. Eh, well, I toweled off as best I could and drove home with the heat on. 

Next weekend I am thinking of checking out the new trails built in PA at Raystown. Suppose I should start looking in to places to stay being it is the Fourth. Or I could just wing it. Probably will be a mix of the two.

Tune back in the near future for pictures. Blogger isn't cooperating with the upload process.

10 x 4

I photographed this place about three months ago on my Ides of March ride. The purple beech is pretty spectacular.

I thought this was an interesting juxtaposition - the high price of gas for the boats at a Baldwinsville marina with a wind turbine spinning in the background.

The cryptic title of this post relates to the number of miles ridden today for each hour of sleep I got last night - or should I say this morning starting at 6. It was an interesting night following the wedding of two of my friends, much of it spent in a pavilion at Robert Treman State Park. I haven't been there in  a long time so it was good to go back. However, I am beginning to think I am too old to be acting this young - it really is taking a toll on me. 

That said, I did manage a 3 hour, 40 mile ride today. I left from the front door and headed north through Liverpool to Baldwinsville and then west to Plainville. Despite a poor diet and unsettled sleep, I felt really good. It would be nice if it hadn't spent the past three days raining because I would have loved to get on some single track but I fought the urge and hit the pavement instead. The one downside to the ride was the vortex of bad bike juju coming from Baldwinsville. About 10 miles in to the ride, I flatted just about at the village line. After fixing the flat, I was rolling down Rt. 31 in the village and some idiot in a pickup decided he wasn't going to wait for the car coming (or me) and nearly hit me when trying to enter traffic. On my way back through the village, a motorcyclist felt it necessary to beep at me even though I was safely out of the way. 

I enjoyed the tailwind on the return trip - many times I was averaging speeds in the low 20s. That same tailwind was a headwind on the way out so much slower speeds for the first half of the ride. Got to see a bit of speedboat racing on Onondaga Lake as I rode by, too.

This picture doesn't capture the horrendous conditions - buckled and heaved pavement, downed trees, glass and litter, overgrown weeds blocking signage and clear sighlines - fun stuff.

This is a fun crossing - you can barely see the cars coming around the bend as you try to cross. Oh, and they are speeding up to be able to merge onto another road. 

The NYSDOT's idea of bicycle facilities in and around the I-81 corridor by the Carousel Mall is a joke. Poorly marked, horribly maintained, dangerously laid out, you name it. Add to this the fact that the shoulder all but disappears on the northbound lane of the Onondaga Lake Parkway and it is one of my top unsafe rides of all time to get out to the park. Maybe a letter to the powers that be is in order... 

I thought it was cool how this window pane was fighting gravity.

The barn used to be red and white...

Distractions in New Places

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Louisville KY for the second Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference hosted by the National Vacant Properties Campaign. It was great to see old friends and learn about new things going on in the world of vacant properties. It is things like this that have been keeping me from riding me as much as I would like but I think the tradeoff is valuable on certain levels. As my interest in vacant property repurposing evolves, community gardening is starting to become more and more central for many reasons. Food access, connections with the earth and natural systems, empowering disenfranchised residents, building relationships, and increasing knowledge about environmental issues are among these. Some interesting work is coming out of places like Detroit, Lawrence (MA) and NYC. 

Just Food

C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Detroit's Garden Resource Program Collaborative

Groundwork Hudson Valley

Groundwork Lawrence

Detroit Black Community Food Security Network

Detroit Agriculture Network

Greening of Detroit

Capital District Community Garden

I would be amiss if I didn't give a nod to things happening in my own backyard...

Syracuse Grows

There are also great gardening things happening in Rochester and Buffalo. The Marketview Heights neighborhood in Rochester is in its second year of repurposing a vacant lot for a community vegetable and flower garden. Last year, the project was completed with a shoestring budget and countless hours of volunteer labor by neighborhood residents. The garden was an instant success and respected so much they had trouble giving food away. By the end of the summer, the gardening had expanded to nearby green spaces and this year, a total of six sites are being transformed from vacant to vibrant. 

Maybe someday I'll be making an urban mountain bike trail linking vacant properties or touring a city's community gardens. Or perhaps I will follow in the footsteps of Ray's in Cleveland... 

For now, I leave you with Louisville images.

New Tattoo

Well, not really. New tattoo would, in a way, imply I already have one. This is only untrue in the sense that I haven't yet gotten the courage up to make the commitment to the one I've been working off and on for a few years now. No, today I got some riding in and played 2 hours of soccer, some of it full field/full team. I am beat now, have some work to do this evening, and am sore from taking one from the team in my side. This is where the tattoo piece comes in. The soccer ball patchwork is imprinted into my side. I shouldn't get so caught up in moments such as that because it is precisely a similar situation that resulted in me breaking my wrist during indoor soccer when I was a junior in high school. My sister to this day still likes to remind me how I ruined her birthday party in the process. Never mind my broken bones - she wanted to paarrrty. 

I am hoping between running around in the sun and getting blasted in the abdomen whatever is left of this cold I caught last week will vacate my system and leave me fit to get some riding in when work isn't pressing... The Raccoon Rally is in two weeks, something I would like to do again this year but because my fitness level and mileage is down so much, if I do it'll likely be the beginner class - or maybe I'll just go for full-on pain and do the sport class. I had a great time last year (and I think my sister even enjoyed some of it) but I'd like to go for the full weekend this year too. 

"Untitled"

A Letter to You

Well, hey, look who's back. Why the neglect? What, you've been to busy to let me know what's going on? Are you really that important that you can't spend a few moments to send hello? Who are you kidding, really? Not me. I can see right through the inflated business to the real lack of will. And now that's done and someone's gone. I know, we both know, you question. Did you ask the right questions? How much is considered too intrusive? Were you too centered on you? Probably but at the same time a horse can only be lead to water. It has to drink on its own. You always talk about superficial stuff, never of anything of much consequence. You've had longings to carry out similar actions so you empathize - but that doesn't lessen the concern. Now you wait.