Greetings from... Utah!

It is a gray, gloomy morning with a mix of rain and snow, and fog. Not complaining, just saying. The past 12 days have been absolutely beautiful, filled with blue skies and sunshine. The weather couldn't have been better!

The view as I was leaving Zion National Park this morning.

Earlier last week.

After leaving Chiricahua National Monument on the morning of April 28th I headed north towards Utah. The thought was in the back of my mind that perhaps I could make it to Salt Lake City for at least one or two days of the NGS Conference. In the end, that didn't happen and I missed a great opportunity to renew friendships and meet other geneabloggers. But I am planning on attending the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in June!

Zion National Park (in southwest Utah) is an incredible place! A big differences between Zion and the Grand Canyon (aside from the obvious one of size) is that at Zion you begin the hikes in the Canyon and go up first. I think I like that better, but coming down isn't always that easy either! Amazing trails. Beautiful weather. Fantastic people. All added up to a great time at Zion!

Through the Valley of Fire

Wednesday, November 30th - - The road led me south from Zion National Park. My destination for the night was the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas.



I arrived about an hour before sunset and the sun was casting a warming glow over the landscape. The park's website (link above) tells us that “The Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape.”





As you drive around the park, numerous formations jut out above the desert floor.



The formations were piles of swirling rock. It was like Mother Nature had dipped her hand into a bowl of whipped cream and mixed it up to form these incredible rocks.







Wind and rain have added their “artistic touch” to the formations to produce a dazzling display.



Thursday, December 1st - - High winds and rain came through the valley last night. The van was buffeted around quite a bit and if there had been room in the campsite I would have turned the van so that it was facing into the wind. It wouldn't have been quite so bad then. But, from what I've heard, the winds through the Valley of Fire were not nearly as bad as those in California. I've been through a few other bad storms and this compares to some of the worst. I was glad to see the sun come out in the morning, but that didn't last long either.



Rather than stay and be miserable in the wind, rain, and cold air I continued on my drive south.

LED Lights for Classic and Vintage Bicycles?

When it comes to bicycle lighting, our primary objective is to be extremely visible. On bicycles without a dynamo, this means LED lighting. One downside to LED lights, is that most of what's currently on the market looks very modern and "techy".We try to find LED lights that are both the brightest and the least in conflict with the classic looks of our bikes. A good example of that is the set-up on my vintage Raleigh DL-1 (above). I have received some emails asking how those lights are attached, and so I will describe it here.

Like all of our LED lights, the lights on this bicycle are by Cateye - a company whose products seem to be consistently good. The headlight is the Opticube HL-EL530, mounted on the right fork blade. Mounting it in this manner requires 2 supplementary gadgets: the FlexTight mounting bracket, which comes packaged with the headlight, and the Minoura Besso fork mount, which must be purchased additionally.

The Opticube headlight is sold with a FlexTight mounting bracket included. This bracket is designed to be wrapped around a handlebar or around a long lug nut on the front wheel, like the one that comes standard on the Pashley and is pictured here. However, most bicycles - including my DL-1 - do not have sufficiently long lug nuts for this, and so you will need either a lug nut extender or a special mount that attaches to the fork blade like a branch, around which the FlexTight bracket can be wrapped. The mount we like to use for this is the Minoura Besso, priced in the $5-10 range.

Here is another view of this setup. You can see how the Minoura Besso mount is attached to the fork blade, and the Opticube headlight is then attached to it with the FlexTight bracket.

Yet another view from the back. I should note that some are against attaching a headlight to the fork blade, based on the idea that it can slip down and fall into the spokes. Personally, I think that this really depends on your attachment method. If you use a proper mount and attach it tightly, it seems extremely stable and not in the least prone to slippage. If you've had a bad experience with this method, please let me know; so far I have not heard of any.

This is what the headlight looks like in motion, "in the wild". From a short distance it actually resembles a vintage light, and it certainly comes across that way in pictures like these. Of course, up close you can tell that it is modern, but the design is nonetheless one of the most elegant ones available, as far as modern bike lights go.

For tail lights, we use two Cateye TL-LD610 lights, attaching one to each rear stay in the same way as on our Pashleys.

The diameter of the rear stays is usually not large enough to fit these lights, but they are sold with plastic liners to expand the stay diameter.

Using these two light strips on the rear stays is the nicest tail light setup we can think of. Not only does it make the bicycle highly visible in traffic, but it also gives the cars a good feel for its width - which can be very important in the dark.

And as far as aesthetics go, attaching the lights along the stays creates a very natural, unobtrusive look that does not conflict with any part of the bicycle's design.

My descriptions make it seem like the lights - especially the headlight - are a pain to attach, and I have to admit they kind of are. But you only need to do it once, and in the end it is worth it: Top of the line illumination, maximum safety, and classic looks will be your rewards.

Ladies Leading Double Lives: Sport vs Transport

Just as I have been experimenting with road cycling in parallel to using my bicycle for transportation, so have several other ladies with prominent bicycle blogs.



[image via Simply Bike]

S. from Simply Bike normally looks like this when she cycles. But above she is pictures riding across Iowa while taking part in RAGBRAI. This was her first time on a roadbike!

[image via Adrienne Johnson]

Adrienne Johnson of Velo Voguedons bike shorts and a (surprisingly attractive) jersey as she cycles in the Marin Century.



[image via Meligrosa]

And here is Meligrosa, of Change Your Life Ride a Bike, whodoes not allow a mere 100 miles get between her and her Style (yes, with a capital S!).

[image via Suburban Bike Mama]

One of my favourite sporty cycling pictures is this one of Vee from Suburban Bike Mama, who normally rides a cargo trike, completing a triathlon last summer.

[image via Chic Cyclist]

Of course the queen of the velo double life is Charlotte,of Chic Cyclists - who is as comfortable cycling to work on her upright city bicycle, as she is touring around France on her roadbike.Sigrid of My Hyggeligsimilarly alternates between her Pashley Princess and her Trek roadbike. And Justine, of Midlife Cycling, cruises around New York City on her mixte and takes regular roadtrips to neighboring states.

Over the past year I have noticed an increasing number of women who, after growing comfortable riding an upright bicycle for transportation, have begun to venture into sportier cycling, including club rides and touring. Being in this category myself, I have wondered whether this is a natural progression that will "stick," or whether it's the novelty of the bicycle that compels us to seek out different ways of using it in our lives. And if the latter, will we tire of it once the novelty wears off? I also find it ironic that, after having cited "seeing roadies wearing special clothing" as a major reason why we were turned off from cycling in our pre-bike days, many of us are now inching into that category ourselves. Not ironic as in "bad" or that I am critical of it, but ironic as in "something to think about".

I am still not sure what I think about it myself. I have been spending a lot of time on my roadbikes (yes, plural now!) this summer, but I am conflicted in my attitude about this type of cycling. Since the start of summer, I have been flirting with the idea of joining some women's training rides that are offered to the public by a local cycling team. Given their criteria for minimum speed and skill level, I qualify. I have thought about it countless time, but have not joined - and the summer is nearly over. Maybe it's my general dislike of teams, authority, and group activities, or maybe I just don't want to admit that I am now that kind of cyclist. But am I? Maybe I should give it some time and see if it "sticks".

Early snow

Nothing like a little snow, to bring one out of a blog slump.



Every channel forecast snow, but I didn't pay much attention to their percentage predictions. My belief that it would actually snow, in Alabama, in early December, was exactly 0%.



But it did snow, a little.



Jasmine romped. She adores cold weather.



The chickens were wary. It might have been some evil plot, after all.



I don't remember the trees ever looking so nice, after such a light snow.



I hope the rosemary didn't get too frizzen.

Hot, Hot, Hot

The temps are soaring in Washington, and gaining altitude on Mt Rainier is one way to avoid the heat. The last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August historically mark the highest success rates and most reliable weather for the peak. If you're climbing, leave early, as the freezing level is hovering around 15,000 feet.

Recent mountain achievements include Jason Edwards personal climbing benchmark. Jason successfully made his 300th summit climb of Mt. Rainier on July 12th. Jason joins an elit clan of guides (there are only 6) who have more than 300 summits. The current summit record is held by George Dunn, who has over 480 successful ascents.

In other news, we've updated the route condition reports for the Kautz, DC, and K Spire to name a few. Please keep the updates coming.

Nick Sutter

So I'm reading the "Find other climbers" forum on http://www.qurank.com/

And here's this casual sort of, "anyone keen to climb at Coolum on Friday, contact Nick 555 *****" type of thing.

Nick? Nick who? Nah.

The equivalent of reading on a muso's forum "anyone keen for a jam on the weekend, Keith"





































SoI get there on Saturday to hear Nick Sutter was here yesterday. W H A T !!!???

New rule: When someone gives their first name on qurank - ask their second.























Don't panic readers, he turns up again on Saturday and jjobrienclimbing is there to get some shots.

Nick sent the Matt Eaton (co-Kiwi) cave problem "4 Metres of Madness" 8a

Thing is, his knees never touched the rock. I don't think the locals knew what they were seeing.



He made some kind of remark about the first bolt being in a weird position. Nick, mate, no one has ever climbed to the first bolt without stick clipping.





Have you ever had that dream? All climbers have had it. The one where you are almost weightless, just pulling effortlessly across a roof. It was like watching that. I love that dream.





















Then it's everyone back to doing what they were doing.