Susie Island Star Trails

Another moonlight adventure logged in the memory banks! Started off with sunset on Magnet Island followed by several hours of moonlight and star shooting. Moved over to Big Susie Island, more moonlight shooting then slept under the moon on a bed of moss. Shot an OK sunrise over Porcupine Island. This 35 minute exposure of the night sky was taken from Magnet Island on August 27th, from 9:30 p.m. to 10:05 p.m. The moon was rising behind me, which provided for some illumination on the water and the rocks/islands in the distance. This is my first successful star trail image from the Susie Islands. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Hike to Grotto Falls

Our travel buddies arrived yesterday, but we didn't meet up until later that night. Today they joined us as we made our way back to the National Park. We picked what we thought would be a very short hike, because we were concerned about how Josh would do. Somehow we messed up. We picked a trail that was twice as long as yesterday's hike. Let's just say that we didn't need to worry about Josh one bit. He hiked faster than all of us and didn't seem tired at all. I can't say the same for me. My calves are still on fire!

Wordless Wednesday :: Spiraling Downward

Madison, Indiana ~ September 1994Copyright © 1994/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman

People Watching at the Tigers Game

While cropping pictures from the game today, I realized that I enjoyed some of the shots of the people as much as the shots of the action going on there. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.



Still sleeping on the couch? Oh yeah...but she's coming around!



The key is to keep them guessing. If we start to be consistent, then they get bored.



Yes, I do need to update my Facebook status right now!



You caught that one?



I loved seeing the fans decked out in their sports gear, both young and old.





My all time favorite moment of the day was when the ground crew dropped their equipment to dance to YMCA! So funny!





Living the life in sunny Florida!

Angels Landing :: Interlude

Doubts. Terrible things, they are. The longer I stood and looked at that peak, the more dubious I became. Finally, I gave in and turned around. I couldn't do it. Then a feeling of relief passed over me. It's okay. At least I had gotten this far.

The descent back down that first little peak was challenging. Going up you didn't really notice the height or steepness of the path. But coming down, that is all you could see. You had to look down in order to see where you were going. In several spots I sat down on my rear end and scooted over and down the rock. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done! I didn't feel quite so bad when I saw other people doing the same thing!

Once safely down on the other side, I found a place to sit and eat my lunch, along with several other folks. We chatted. They too were the ones who couldn't go on. They were waiting for their spouse to return from the top of Angels Landing. They weren't ashamed, perhaps a little embarrassed though. Four out of the five people waiting were men. Waiting for their wives to finish the climb.

Other people came and went. Some only went a little ways then came back. Watching the people was fascinating. All shapes and sizes. All degrees of physical fitness. You couldn't tell by looking at someone whether they could do it or not. And you were amazed by some of those that did make it. The more I watched, the more I thought “I could do this.”

But I sat there and listened to the people talking. The excitement in the voices of those who had gone all the way. A bit of disappointment in those who hadn't, but acceptance of that fact also.

There was a group of five women who came up from Scout's Lookout. They sat down and rested for a few minutes and joined in our conversation. One lady, in her mid-30s, was back for a second climb. She had come with her daughters last year and they had all made the climb successfully. The daughters were 8, 11, and 16 years of age.

Another group of four women – two teenagers, a middle aged woman, and an older lady – came up the trail. When the older woman saw the trail over that peak she said “Oh, my!” One of the teenage girls giggled and said “Granny, we love you. You don't really have to go.” And Granny stomped her feet like a little child and exclaimed “Oh no, I'm going!” and without another word, they were on their way.

After an hour or so, I made my way down the trail and back to the campground. I talked with my neighbors, Maryann and Rob, who had done the climb to Angels Landing the previous day. The more I talked with them, the more convinced I became that I could actually do it. Maryann said she had second thoughts about the climb when she saw the trail, but then she looked at the people returning and figured if they could do it, so could she.

The next day was an “off” day for me. My legs were hurting a little so I took it easy. But the thought of Angels Landing kept running through my mind all day long.

To be continued... Angels Landing :: The Finale

It is the Eiger, who needs an excuse!

http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/blankcheck/



One of my favorite Jonny Copp stories.









Eiger North Face HMG from Dan Goodwin on Vimeo.

Panniers on Bikes with Short Chainstays

Since receiving the woven pineFastrider pannierlast summer, I have been using it as my main transportation bag. On the up side, it is enormous, waterproof, classic looking, easy to attach and detach, and secure. On the downside, it was designed for appropriately enormous Dutch bikes with long chainstays, and not for bicycles with road geometry. The pannier looks like it's ready to swallow the mixte whole, and ideally I would like something smaller. But for a bicycle with short chainstays finding the right pannier can be tricky.

The chainstays on a bike are the skinny horizontal tubes between the crankset and the dropouts. In the picture above, it's the one with the strip of leather stuck to it. Different types of bikes have chainstays of different lengths. The more racy and aggressive the bicycle, the shorter the chainstays. The more relaxed and transport-oriented the bicycle, the longer the chainstays. For reference, the chainstays on myBianchi roadbike are 410mm. The chainstays on my Rivendell touring bike are 445mm. And the chainstays on my Gazelle Dutch bike are 485mm. When chainstays are long, the rear wheel of the bicycle sits further away from the crankset, which means that whatever bag you've got mounted on the rear rack is a safe distance away from your heels while you pedal. That is why transport bicycles are designed with long chainstays: You can attach enormous shopper panniers to the rear rack and not worry about heel strike.



Now, my Royal H. mixte was not designed as a transportation bicycle. It was designed for light touring (not too much luggage), and it was designed to be ridden upright in hilly areas. The chainstays are 430mm, which is somewhere in between classic road and classic touring geometry and appropriate for what this bike was meant for. So in theory, all is as it should be. However, in practice I've been riding it for transportationmore than I had anticipated - just because it's such a fun bike, and the dynamo lighting is so excellent.



If it were just the aesthetics alone, I'd keep using the Fastrider pannier on this bicycle and not bother looking for alternatives. I actually don't think it's that bad, though my helpful readers have suggested that it looksmeh-ish on the mixte. But the real problem is that I do get borderline heel-strike with this set-up. Not enough for it to be dangerous, but once in a while my heel and the bag will not so much make contact as sense each other's presence. If the bag were just a tad further back or smaller, I'd feel more comfortable.



With this in mind, I ordered two panniers from the D'Azur line by Basil, in hopes that one of them would fit and I'd return the other. The Basil shopper pannier (above) is nearly 2" narrower than the Fastrider equivalent, which in theory should have been more than enough to eliminate any hint of heel strike. Unfortunately, the opposite was the case. Because of how the Basilattachment hooks are positioned, this bag actually sits further forward and lower than the Fastrider - resulting in an unridable degree of heel strike. If you scroll up and down between this and the previous picture, you can see how much closer the Basil bag is to the pedal, despite its slightly smaller size.



Themessengerpannier did not work either. This bag is the same width as my Fastrider, but considerably shorter, so I was hoping it would sit higher up and my heel would not reach it. But again, the placement of the attachment hooks positioned it quite a bit lower than the Fastrider, as well as further forward, making the heel strike worse rather than better.And so, I will be returning both of the Basil panniers. They are well made and attractive, but I need a pannier small enough to work on this bike+rack combination. And I mention the rack, because I could solve this problem by replacing the existing VO Constructeur rack with a super long rack that would allow me to push the panniers further back... but I don't want to. I like how compact, light and elegant this bicycle is with the current rack, and after all it was not intended for commuting. There has to be a nice pannier out there somewhere that will fit a bike with 430mm chainstays and a constructeur rack, and I am determined to find it.



Well, technically I did find it: The OYB Swiss Army pannier is a perfect fit for theconstructeur rack, and it goes nowhere near my heels when I pedal. Alas, it is about 1/2" too narrow to fit my laptop. I've tried stretching it, but it's just not sufficient, so I use it as a camera bag. I also tried (and returned) the Linus single Office pannier. While it did fit my laptop, the attachment system was difficult to use and did not feel secure: leather straps with snap closures.



It seems that the trick to designing panniers for bicycles with short chainstays, is to make the pannier vertical rather than horizontal, to mount the hooks lower on the bag (so that the bag itself will sit higher), and to keep the size as small as possible. But while some touring panniers are designed in this manner, I have not been able to find a suitable one for commuting - by which I mean a single pannier that attaches and detaches easily via strong and secure hooks, is large enough to fit a laptop, and looks classic, ideally made of canvas or leather in a grayish/greenish/brownish colour scheme. If you are an artisan who would like to give this a go, get in touch! And if you commute on a bicycle with short chainstays, what is your pannier solution?