The Last Day

The Morning World, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Well, it seems the end of the year has crept up on us again...

I want to thank all my great blogger friends out there for stopping by regularly and checking out my blog. I really appreciate it :)

Happy New Year!

Freeze / Thaw

This winter I get the distinct feeling that nature is playing games with me. Constantly changing rhythm, it refuses to let me get comfortable, to allow me to settle down into a season-specific "mode" of cycling. With temperatures below 20°F one day and above 45°F the next, I feel as if I am trying to dance while the DJ alternates between the oldies and thrash metal. My movements are awkward and a migraine is just around the corner.






But if that's how nature wants to play it, so be it, and there is always a silver lining to be found. For instance, my familiarity with mud has certainly grown. There are so many different kinds: liquid mud, viscous mud, mud that looks like packed dirt but behaves like quicksand, mud with a thin crust of ice over it, mud of a slushy-like frozen consistency throughout, and mud that has frozen in big solid ripples. I've been trying to ride on mud in all of these different conditions as part of a radical campaign to improve my balance, and thanks to the freeze/thaw weather I can experience a complete mud menu over the course of a single week.




Much less endearing is the unpredictable appearance of ice patches that the changes in weather are causing. The last time I went out on my roadbike, I saw black ice on the country roads that pretty much convinced me it was trainer time despite the lack of snow. Going downhill and hitting a patch like that, I am pretty sure there is nothing I could do to prevent a fall.






With February under way, at least the winter season is more than half over. My ideal conditions for the rest of it would be a couple of beautiful snowfalls (my birthday is later this month and I love snow on my birthday), followed by a swift and complete thaw in the first week of March. Well, I can dream. In the meantime, nature continues the freeze / thaw game and I do my best to keep up. Every winter is different, and I am glad to have a record of this one as I do of the previous two.

Sorenson-Eastman ice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woRoY-7t_gw

Day Two~Coco Cay

I am not a morning person. Nathan is a morning person. When we vacation we tend to live on Nathan's schedule which makes him very happy and me somewhat cranky at times. This morning however, I am the one that begged to get up extra early. I am the one that set the alarm for 6 am. Because I am the one that did the research and read if you take the first tender over to Coco Cay you will not only not have to wait for the tender, you will have the island to yourself for a bit. It turns out that the recommendations were spot on!



Coco Cay is Royal Caribbean's private island. It was much bigger than we thought it would be.





There is no dock there so the ship is anchored and then you ride small boats over to the island.



When you first get onto the island it is a bit commercial looking. Shops and restaurants and places to pay money to do day activities. We were there so early that none of these were open to begin with.



There are tons of beach chairs and many hammocks to hang out in.



I figured out which hammock would be under shade for most of the day and grabbed it right away. I was thrilled that I got to spend most of my day there, reading books and drinking fruity drinks. I didn't even have to get out of the hammock to eat lunch. It was my idea of a great day! I even had a buddy that kept me company most of the day.



Nathan joined me after he did some snorkeling and we snuggled together while swinging in the hammock. We decided we need a hammock right away. Hammocks are wonderful.



Beyond that, we walked around the island and enjoyed the very warm water and soaked up the beauty of all that was there. The water was just incredible. So clear and such a pretty color.







As you can see, we had this section of the island to ourselves for the most part. This part of the island was Barefoot Beach and for some reason, most people just didn't walk that far to know it was there. Which was fine with us! The time on Coco Cay alone made the cruise worth every penny.









We spent the whole day here, taking the second to last tender back to the ship. That night we had more night time fun and more great food. We headed to bed fairly early so we would be ready for Nassau the next day. We had a wonderful day today too. We slept well with lots of dreams about island living.

How a Grocery Store Won Me Back

There is a grocery store nearby that I've always neglected despite its proximity. They did not have a great selection of foods. They often sold stuff that was spoiled or expired. At thethe checkout, the cashiers would argue with me when I declined plastic bags. And the bike parking outside was iffy. This store is so close I could easily walk to it, butcarrying bags of groceries is just easier on a bike. And since I did food shopping by bike anyway, I figured I might as well shop at the stores I preferred, even if it meant riding further.




I suspect that other residents of our neighbourhood felt similarly, because about half a year ago the nearby store began to aggressively reinvent itself. They cleaned up, reorganised their merchandise, added an organic foods section. They expanded their selection ofproduce. The quality control is much improved. They now sell reusable shopping bags and don't argue when customers decline plastic.




But best of all, they allow me to roll my Brompton inside and use it as a shopping cart. No questions or comments, other than the occasional "Look, it's a bike and shopping cart in one!" Considering that othershops have thrown me out even when I've walked in with the bike fully folded, the permissive attitude of this store came as a pleasant surprise. Walking in with a small-wheel shopper is really no different from pushing a huge shopping cart; they get it. Now I shop there almost exclusively. Not only have they improved their store, but they've made shopping by bike a breeze.




While those of us who ride small wheel shoppers are in the minority, many cyclists report that their shopping preferences are guided by the store's bike-friendlieness. This can refer to a number of things, from adequate bike parking, to the parking lot being safe to navigate, to the location itself being reachable via a bike-friendly route. Do these considerations play a role in where you do your grocery shopping?

The Monkey on my back!

It is possible to teach old dogs new tricks. If just isn't always easy to teach the trick.



One of the fun things about workingwith Blue Ice from Chamonix is that I get to see their newest designs. (and make a few bucks from my own fun) But while I get to see a lot of new gearthere isn't a lot of "new gear stuff" that gets sorted into my everyday climbing gear. Especially now that I climb like once a week or once a monthinstead of every day.



So back in July when the newest products showed up here in the USA from Blue Ice I immediately ran outside with my Warthog for a show and tell. The one Double Mono was gone the next morning to a anxious wall climber. And the Octopus pack and a tiny (from my perspective) chalk bag sat ignored. Not like I planned to order any of of the chalk bags or the Octopus packs.



When I do use chalk I generally like to dust up to my elbows :)A big chalk bag makes a good place to stash your sun glasses when the thunder showers roll in or your approach shoes if they are smallenough as well. So if I am such a dolt on my chalk bag size image what my first impression of a climbing specific duffel bag is? Let me say I love the color but the whole idea of a climbing duffel? Not so much.





Enter the Blue Ice Octopus pack



I've owned and used a few "climbing duffels". Great bags for throwing your kit into and hauling it around your localrock climbing area or even thegym. Extra clothing, food, water, your harness and shoes plus what ever is required for hardware that day, drop right in. Lucky for you if your duffelhas a tarp to keep everything organised and out of the dirt.



I kinda figure they were a "sport climbing thing" as I generally walk to the rocks with a funky ruck, my sheeteverywhere, impossible to find in 2 minutes and the rope gets immediately thrown in the dirt. That system has been tried and true for years. And it worked.



Of course Giovanni is a smart guy so he decides to make the Octopus. Not that I think the Octopus is a great idea mind you. I'm the only one who thinks I know everything. And I am pretty sure I do most days. So the Octopusthat arrives hereand sits in the corner of my office for months.



Until today.



Couple of usdecided a little exercise is mandatory for today. And I'm surewe'll need most all our kit and hardware to do a little dry tooling in the rain. Boots, ropes, hardware, ice tools, extra clothes go in the bag...you get the idea. Way more junk than you would ever think about bringing on an actual climb. And lot of extra awkward shaped shit to pack around. Itis an hour R/T walk tothe walk may be less. Lee hauls out his huge North Face duffel. I could have used my Brooks Mountaineering version of the same bag. But I am thinking at least the Octopus might be a more manageable size and still not be over stuffed.



So I pull the Octopus out of the corner and strip the wrapper. And thenunzip the back panel. What we are doing today in the rain is kinda like sport climbing. Throw all the sheet in the bag and trundle 20 minutes down the trial and pull it all out, sort through what you might need and get on with it.



Generally is a lot of nonsense and a short walk. But a duffel can suck if you put enough weight in it as can any decent sized well designed climbing pack.



This one didn't suck. Even with unprotected Boreal Fruit boots (my newIce Ninjas) stuffed in the Octopus it was comfortable and nothing poking me in the back.







As comfortable as any of my climbing rucks and more junk in there, all packed poorly and withlittle planning. I thought that impressive and pretty cool actually.









So I was pretty happy with how the thing carried. Some surprising features for me on the actual pack. One good sized zipped pocket on top which ate a couple of the newest full size rain shells. A half panel mess pocket internally to sort the small stuff or may be your rock shoes or chalk bag. Even my size of chalk bag. And then there is the very niftypull out "grocery bag" with all your kit in it...or your rope more typically I suspect.







And then thethought came to mind...this would make a decentpiece of travel luggage. And you could ski and climb with it if you were pressed and not actually be unhappy doing so. Might even make a really nice ski/mo pack if it had a ski carry system. OK, seriously it would, but it ain't made for that. But it could be:) What wasnot to like?



Guess I shouldn't be so cynical. From a piece of gear I "would never" use yesterday to one I'mnow pretty excited toown.Old dog, new trick. But I still have that streak of cynicism.



I suspect I'll sell more of these than any other Blue Ice piece of kit I have here in the US. Once the word gets out...and I actually order a few from France. A little slow may be but I eventually catch on.



Crikey! May be I should rethink those pesky little chalk bags as well.

Mystery Photo # 7

This is the sixth post (and 7th photo) in a series of unidentified photographs from the Charles Wiseman Family Bible. See this post for background information. Click on the "Mystery Photo" label at the bottom of the post to see all of the photographs in this series. As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Paper photograph on card stock. 2 3/8 x 4 1/16. Printed on back: 1856-1884 H. C. Millice, Photographer. Warsaw, Ind. P. O. Box No. 246.

The date 1884 on the back of the picture may provide a clue - if the photo was taken in 1884 it could be Nathaniel Howard Wiseman, born July 18, 1884 in Tippecanoe Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana. He died May 14, 1956. I knew Nathaniel Howard as "Uncle Howard" - All of Dad's relatives that were older than him were called "Aunt" or "Uncle" regardless of the relationship. Howard was actually my Dad's first cousin once removed. Howard was the son of Laura Mariah Alexander and Henry Weir Wiseman.
Take a closer look at the top of the picture. . . It's been altered, perhaps hiding the face of a person beneath the coverlet holding the baby?