Good-Bye 'Blueskies' ...Hello Blueprints

A couple of days ago, Seymour Blueskies packed up his things and went home with a very nice couple. I bid him farewell as I fondly recalled our times together.



From the start, my intent had been not to keep the vintage Trek, but to learn what I could from it, then move on to explore other bicycles. It was around this time that I recognised having two categories of bikes: a few that I "truly owned" and others that I considered transient and experimental. But experimental for what?



It took me some time to acknowledge that I was "seriously" interested in bicycle design, and acquiring theTreklast summer coincided with that realisation. I began to learn about bicycle history and frame geometry in a more systematic manner, to formulate ideas about the relationship between form and function, and to apply my previous training (in psychology and neuroscience, as well as art and design) to the realm of bicycles and cycling. I realised that the reason I keep acquiring more bikes, is not because I necessarily want to own them personally, but because I want to try out new ideas and to learn new things - then share the results with others. I enjoy the process of conceptualising a bicycle, then bringing about its existence and the result being successful. Now if only there was some way to do that over and over again, without ending up in financial ruin or with a hoarding disorder... Oh, I know: I could design bikes for other people.



After saying good-bye to Seymour Blueskies, I stopped by to see Bryan at Royal H. Cycles - with whom I am now collaborating on a bicycle. How on Earth did that happen? Well, funny story... You see, in this post about a month ago, I expressed a desire to try a bicycle with traditional randonneuring geometry (à la Jan Heine), and received some suggestions as to how this could be accomplished. There wasn't an easy way; these bicycles are rare. But one idea was that I could design the bike myself - and an intrepid reader was prepared to commission just such a bicycle from Royal H should I feel up to the task. And so here we are. The plan is that I come up with the specs, we discuss, Bryan builds, and we'll see what happens.



As this project begins and the Bella Ciao project nears completion, I am filled with nervous energy and self-doubt all around. I know my weak points: I am not an engineer and I am not a framebuilder. But I am perceptive and increasingly knowledgeable in other ways that are essential to bicycle design, and I do feel that I can collaborate with others to create something special. It's possible that I am over-reaching, that it's all too soon. But life is short and you never know unless you try. So I'm trying.

Cutting the Tree

We decided that since we wanted to get one more load of firewood we would also cut us a Christmas tree this year. We stopped at the Jemez Ranger Station to buy the permit to cut the tree then went up the mountain to cut wood. After we had the wood loaded we searched till we found the perfect little tree and cut it and loaded it on top of the wood to bring it home.

Velo Inventory

Sometimes I am asked how many bicycles I have and what is the function of each. As we are building up my custom Royal H. mixte, I have been giving this some thought. I do not want to have redundant bikes and therefore I need to make some decisions. So here is my velo-inventory for the world to see - and pass harsh judgment upon, if so desired.



Pashley Princess Sovereign (Eustacia Vye)



used as: a transport bike

age: made in

unique? No. My vintage Raleigh performs the same role.

pros and cons? Pros: very stable and great in bad weather. Cons: very heavy and more sluggish than my vintage Raleigh.



Raleigh DL-1 Lady Tourist (Velouria)



used as: a transport bike

age: made in 1973

unique? No. My Pashley Princess performs the same role.

pros and cons? Pros: As fast and nimble as this kind of bike can possibly be. Cons: It is old and I am afraid to rely on it as my only transport bike.





Rivendell Sam Hillborne (Graham Greene)



used as: a road and touring bike

age: made in

unique? Yes. I have no other bike like this.

pros and cons? Pros: A fast and extremely comfortable bike for road cycling. Cons: none.



Mercier Mixte (Suzanne)



used as: an errand bike to keep in my photography studio (which is in another town) for running local errands

age: made in the late 1960's or early 1970's

unique? No. My Motobecane Mirage mixte could take its place.

pros and cons? Pros: makes a great errand bike. Cons: It is old and ever-so-slightly too small for me.



Motobecane Mirage Mixte (Marianne)



used as: A light touring bike when I want to be upright, yet go fast-ish and climb hills

age: made in 1981

unique? No. My new custom mixte will make it redundant.

pros and cons? Pros: It is pretty, but not a rare or high-end bike; can lock it up and not worry. Cons: It is too aggressive for its purpose; not a comfortable bike.



Royal H. Mixte (not yet built up or named)



(will be) used as: a light touring bike when I want to be upright, yet go fast-ish and climb hills

age: frame built in

unique? No. The vintage Motobecane already serves the same function.

pros and cons? Pros: Hopefully, when all built up it will be perfect. Cons: I will be afraid to lock it up and leave it unattended anywhere.



So there you have it, my inventory to date. As you can see, I "only" have 5 bikes so far, which I do not think is too insane. Okay, and a 6th one being built up. Still not totally bonkers, right?..



In terms of bikes performing overlapping roles, there are two major redundancies: the Pashley vs the vintage Raleigh, and the Royal H. mixte vs. the vintage Motobecane. The redundancies bother me, and I would like to have only one bike in each category. This would mean either selling whichever bike is redundant, or repurposing them in some way. Not at all sure what I will do yet regarding the Pashley vs Raleigh conflict. As for the vintage Motobecane mixte, she is currently in the process of being saved from elimination (or being butchered, depending on your perspective). God, I guess I do have too many bikes!

Washington Summer

Long term high pressure systems have surrounded the mountain, and after reading the forecasts, look to remain in the area. With July coming to a close, statistically the number of climbers on the mountain also begins to fall. Climbers looking for an experience of solitude in the alpine wilderness can come take advantage of the peace and quiet now. By climbing mid-week this time of year, even on some of the standard routes, the chances of meeting other independent parties on route is greatly reduced.

The late-snow season has left many of the routes in great shape. Climbers will find that the flowers and trails are just now starting to melt out in the alpine meadows. The "peak" of the flower season is still to come. On approaches, climbers have been seeing more Black Bears, Clark's Nutcrackers, and Elephant's Head than in previous years.

As the season progresses, different routes will start to see more traffic. The Mowich Face and the Tahoma Glacier are both routes which stay "in," well into September, along with the standard routes - the DC and EW. Welcome to Remember to bring the sunscreen!

Gasburg VA to Wauchula FL

We were going to drive down to Florida nice and slow. We were going to split it up into three legs, and stay a few days on two of those legs. We hopped in the car today planning to land in South Carolina. About an hour away from the campground, I decided we could try to just drive straight through. Out of the sixteen months of travel, I can only recall one other time we did that. I jokingly said traveling with Daryl and Diana must be rubbing off on us.



So we drove fourteen hours straight through to Wauchula, Florida. Arrived somewhere past 2 am. Boondocked next to some interesting neighbors whose dogs woke me up about 5 am. Felt like crud due to both the stupidity of driving that long and lack of sleep. I still could have kissed the ground when we woke up the next morning and stepped outside. Not that I'm so fond of the ground here...but it was WARM. I'm happy.



Just a few shots of the guys during our long drive. I was playing with my speedlight trying to remember how to use it now that Nathan has it working again. So I kept snapping pictures of them. It wasn't until later that I realized they don't even bat an eye when I snap pictures of them. It's kind of scary.







Living the life in WARM Florida!

My Favorite Kind of Day

Since we spent all summer in Florida, and Florida in the summer is a dreadful experience temperature and humidity-wise, we are really enjoying the cooler days. We went out to Sixteen Hands and spent the day there alone because everyone else went to an event. It was just a lazy kind of a day.











The horses are starting to really know Nathan now. They greet him and then go and do their thing. Well, except Patriot who believes "we" are his thing.



Gypsy girl shows us how she multi-tasks by drinking and bathing at the same time.



And Chevy bravely walks over to me, rather than running away from me.



It was a good day! Hoping for more of them over the next few months!



Living the life in FL!

Chilkoot River Bears

Caution... lots of photos...
Tuesday, August 24th - - I had noticed this sign yesterday on my way to the campground at Chilkoot Lake but didn't give it much thought. But this morning when I was leaving the campground, I noticed a bunch of cars pulled off along the road and people milling about with long telephoto lenses on their cameras. I stopped the car, grabbed my little point-and-shoot camera and walked over to see what they were looking at... these bears were outside the bear zone! Guess they don't know how to read ;-)

There was Mama bear and her cubs (could be the same ones that Sue and Fred saw a couple of days ago). There were three cubs, they just never all got together for a group photo...





Look at those claws! And it's just a baby...




This evening, as I was going back to the campground, there were some scattered rain showers and I was greeted by a double rainbow! To the east, the direction in which I was going, the sky darkened and it poured down rain.

Meanwhile, over to the west, the sun was shining. Ya gotta love it. Continuing on toward the campground, I noticed movement off to the side of the road, and then, what did appear before my eyes?
Why, Mama bear and her three little cubs! By the time I had grabbed the camera and turned it on, Mama was already across the road. (I was safely inside the van as they were way too close for comfort. This photo was taken through the windshield.)

Half an hour later, I left the gloomy campground (it is heavily forested and not much light gets through the trees, especially when it is cloudy) and went back into Haines for a while.

On my way, people were gathered in one area alongside the road so I stopped... Mama bear was there and at least two cubs. They were further away than those this morning and the cubs stayed close to the bank, hidden by the weeds and brush.


It was so neat seeing them like this, in their natural habitat. They went about their business, generally ignoring us humans, though they did check us out now and then.