Sunset at Allensworth

Photographs taken on March 27, .. at Colonel Allensworth State Historical Park northwest of Bakersfield, California.

Pretty in Pink

I've been threatening to buy Coco a pink collar since she became a family member. The poor girl gets called a boy by everyone. I know how much I'd hate that, so I really feel for her there. Since Austin left her with us for the week, I took full advantage of it. In trying to snap some shots to show him how nice she looked, I realized that pets are like kids when it comes to taking pictures of them. It starts with trying to get them to get close enough and to hold still.



Wait a minute...that's a bit too close. Coco...oh drat...squirell!



Let's just call this one good or we'll be here all day.





So what do you think about the pink collar? Can you tell she is a girl now? Living the life in Florida!

Old Truck

On the edge of the meadow where the logging camp used to Lee and Tuffee check out the old truck.

Snow and Rim Brakes, Derailleurs, Etc.

There are good reasons to recommend snow-proof bikes for winter cycling: powdercoat, hub brakes, internal gearing, single speed fixed. However, some prefer to stick with a regular bike through the winter, eitherforspeed, economy or other reasons. That is my situation right now, and so far even limited riding in the snow has given me a pretty good showcase of things to watch out for. Here are some of them:



Snow and rim brakes:

This is an important one for safety. If you ride through snow and it builds up on your wheel rim, you can lose braking power on a bike with rim brakes. After riding through snow, I try to remove it from the front rim as soon as I notice any build-up, before it has a chance to freeze. This can be done fairly quickly: First I bounce the front wheel forcefully, then spin it as I wipe the snow off with a gloved hand.



Snow and the derailleur:

If your bike has derailleur gearing and you get the derailleur covered in snow, it can solidify and impair shifting. I was surprised to see how quickly snow can build up and freeze around that area; I guess there are a lot of convenient nooks and crannies for it to get into. To remove it, I shake off the rear wheel and free the derailleur from buildup with gloved fingers. I also try to stay in a low-ish gear in case the shifting goes. I would be reluctant to leave a derailleur-geared bike locked up outdoors in the snow for any length of time without some sort of cover.



Fender clearance:

This is not a popular opinion to have in transportation cycling circles, but fenders can be a pain. Unless there is a generous (as in vintage 3-speed/ Dutch bike type of generous) amount of clearance between the fender and tire, snow can get in there and does not always want to come out. If enough snow builds up, it can slow down the wheel's rotation or even bring it to a halt. I have experienced this on a couple of bikes now (granted, after intentionally riding them through snow for fun), bikes with what is considered good fender clearance for paved and dirt road riding in normal weather. Once snow gets between the tire and fender, it can be fairly difficult to remove on the road in cold temperatures; it doesn't want to be coaxed out. Better to avoid riding through soft snow in the first place.





Salt and rust:

Bicycles that are finished with anything but the hardiest powdercoat are susceptible to rust from the salted winter streets. The damage starts out as cosmetic - which is in itself sad if you have a nice bike -and can grow to become structural over time. I wipe my bike down after every ride on salted roads to avoid this. I would not leave a delicately finished bike outdoors in the winter for any significant length of time.



While not ideal, it is not impossible to ride a liquid painted, derailleur-geared bike with rim brakes and less than generous fender clearances in the snow, if you take care to watch for build-up en route and if you maintain the bike afterward. Storing such a bike outdoors in the snow is more problematic. Your bike parking situation at home and work could be the determining factor in whether going without a winter-proof bike is doable.

Fuel for the Soul

The first of the iris started coming out of their 'cocoons' late yesterday afternoon and this morning two of them were in full bloom. They are one of my favorite flowers, so delicate and a bit whimsical. Though pretty they have no scent. They are also not the easiest flower to photograph. There are so many aspects to them and the color changes a little depending upon the light.




I cut one Iris and took it inside to get a full view of it. From the petals tip-to-tip the flower is a little over 8" across. Several of the plants are "twins" with two blooms at the top of the stalk. There are 12 plants and most of them have 3 to 4 blooms coming on. Absolutely Gorgeous! flowers to feed the soul...

House Plants

Everyone in our family has always liked houseplants. Houseplants are plants that do well in the house. Many of the plants commonly seen outdoors don't do well in the house, and many houseplants won't do well outside but there are the exceptions as some do well both places. I got my love of plants from my mom and my grandmothers. My dad liked them but wouldn't have cared for them if Mom didn't. I was able to get some jobs in plant nurseries were I learned more about houseplants. I have always had some. At times there have been lots of plants and at other times only a few. Recently my sister came for a short visit and brought several big plants that she had been caring for since our mom passed away. One of them is the big Ponytail Palm or Elephant Foot Tree shown in the first photo. I remember when my uncle gave it to my mom and it wasn't more than 6 inches tall. That was about 35 years ago.Now it is about 6 feet tall. These plants originally come from a desert in Mexico so do well as houseplants since they don't need very much water. In fact they only need water about once a month. Its probably one of the easiest plants to care for as long as you don't over water it. If you do it will rot and die. When I looked on the internet I found it is difficult to start baby plants and it takes a male and a female to bloom and make seed. I don't know which this one is. I did see some photos that made this one look tiny.







Another plant she had that was Mom's is the euphoria shown in the last photo. This does have thrones on the edges of the almost 3 sided stalks but it is a succlent as it has a few leaves along those same edges. It, too, wants to be very dry, but it does stick if not careful and if handled wrong does have a white sap that leaks from it that can be irriting to some peoples skin. It is sometimes called a Milk Tree because of the white sap. But it not milk as we think of it. This plant, too, is about 35 years old. It is easy to take cutting from this one to make more plants.

The Cows Are Out

As a child I lived in farm country long enough to hear the phrase "The cows are out" plenty of times. We lived on a pig farm for a bit and we also learned to hear and say, "the pigs are out" with equal parts frustration and weariness. So I don't find it odd that each time I drive down a certain road here, there is a cow on the side of the road. This cow is always in the same spot, close by the fence and not looking like it is going to move for anything.



Today, once I got past that cow I encountered a different cow. This one was not so much on the side of the road and near the fence. This one was running away from home.



As I crept closer, he moved in to check me out. I think he was contemplating whether or not he could hitch a ride with me. Like maybe if we put the top down, he'd fit just fine.



I decided that it might be best to just put the car in park and sit there until he decided what he wanted to do. I also decided that was just fine because there were horses in the field and I could take pictures of them.



I start to think this time spent sitting there in the road is just fine with me. I was getting to talk to horses and that is always a good thing. I was so distracted by the beauty of the horses that I lost track of what my buddy the cow is doing. Until I see this in my camera lens:



Turns out he did not want a ride after all, he thought he was a super star and I was the paparazzi. I completely confused him when I was taking pictures of the horses instead of him. As soon as I took some more pictures of him, he started off down the road in search of other groupies or cameramen.



Living the life in Cowville Florida!

Our Satchels: a Review of Two

The Co-Habitant and I are often asked about our satchels. And as they are bike related (we use them to transport our laptops while cycling), I thought I'd review them here.

Mine is a brown leather satchel from Scaramanga. His is a black leather satchel from the Cambridge Satchel Co. Both are from the UK and both were purchased last summer.

The bag from the Cambridge Satchel Co. is technically not a satchel, but what they call a "batchel" - a satchel with a handle on top, so that you can carry it like a briefcase in addition to messenger style. The Cambridge Satchel Company offers traditionally made satchels, batchels and music bags in a variety of colours ranging from classic black, dark brown and navy blue, to eye popping red, yellow and purple. Their logo is a very cute bicycle, which is appropriate, as Cambridge is one of the few towns in England where bicycles rule the roads. The bags are handmade by skilled artisans in the North of England using traditional methods. I have to admit that I am biased in favour of this company, because the owner and I have a common alma mater and she generally seems like such a nice person. I wish her all the best, and definitely see a batchel of my own in the future once I have a smaller laptop.

This bag is the 15" size, measured on the outside. They come in a variety of sizes, but this is the largest. It accommodates a laptop that is 13" across (such as the smaller MacBooks) but will not fit a larger laptop. All satchels and batchels are available messenger style or backpack style, which I think is great. And notice the cute bicycle logo at the bottom!

Our favourite thing about this batchel aside from its beauty, is that it is structured. The leather is thick and stiff and retains its shape perfectly when the bag is empty. You can place the batchel down on a flat surface, and it will stand up on its own. This is great for carrying a laptop, because it provides support. The bags are unlined, but given the way they are made, I feel that lining is not necessary.

Closure is via the beautiful chrome coloured buckles you see in the photos. Everything is very sturdy; very well made, with beautiful forms and stitching.

Here is what the batchel looks like from the front, worn messenger-style. If you are male, the 15" size is really the only one that will fit your proportions, unless you are very short. If you are female, the smaller ones can be worn as a purse. And of course for children the smaller sizes are ideal and absolutely adorable in the red, yellow and purple colours.

I do not have any photos of the Co-Habitant wearing this bag while cycling, but he says it's great. The one alteration we had to make (to this and to my Scaramanga satchel as well), was to punch extra holes in the strap to allow us to shorten it - otherwise it is too long for cycling. Everything else was marvelous and perfect out of the box.

Now for my satchel! I do not know as much about Scaramanga Co. as I do about the Cambridge Satchel Co., but they sure make beautiful and comfortable bags. Available in a variety of sizes and styles, they offer purse-sized bags, laptop-sized bags, and enormous travel bags, in a choice of messenger style (the front flap is longer and has no buckles) or satchel style (shown in these photos). The natural, slightly distressed leather of my bag is the only material/colour available. It is a similar colour to Brooks "Honey", but perhaps with more tonal variation.

I love the way this bag is made - from the natural look of the leather to all the beautiful hardware, such as the rivets around the handle and closures. My bag is the "large, wide satchel" model, with handle (which is an optional add-on). It accommodates my 15" MacBookPro with room to spare. This is a very different bag from the Co-Habitant's batchel. The leather is soft and slouchy and the bag does not retain its shape when empty. Also, the leather does not provide enough thickness to support or cushion a laptop. If this is an issue for you, you will need to keep your laptop in a protective sleeve.

The sea green lining is beautiful! Inside, the satchel has two main compartments - each of them large enough to fit a 15"+ laptop or some books. There is an additional, smaller zipped up compartment in the front. However, as with the Co-Habitant's batchel, there are no small inner pockets for a mobile phone or camera, no pen loops, etc. For me that kind of stuff is actually important, but the overall quality of the bag nonetheless won over other bags that did have the small inner compartments. Perhaps some day I will make some pockets in it myself.

View from the front. As I have mentioned, we had to punch extra holes in the straps of both bags in order to make them short enough for cycling. So this is why you see the excessively long folded-over strap here. It is not entirely convenient, but not uncomfortable either. My only problem with this bag is that when I put my laptop and books in it, the overall weight is too much on my shoulder and back for cycling in the summer when I am wearing no extra padding over my skin: I get sores if I cycle with any bag other than Chrome worn over my bare skin. So if I am carrying something heavy, I can only wear satchels like this one once Fall begins and I have a sweater or a jacket on. However, with a smaller and lighter laptop this would not be a problem.

You can see some photos of me cycling with this bag here and here. I keep it either in the front basket or wear it, depending on the bike. Hope these reviews were useful - satchels are such wonderful things!

The Village of Eastport

Tuesday, September 18th - - So many things are "the eastern-most" thing here in Maine - the eastern-most campground, the eastern-most town, the eastern-most point, etc. The Village of Eastport lays claim to being the eastern-most port in the United States. It was one of the places that I was told that I "had" to visit - a quaint little fishing town that is the epitome of all Maine fishing towns.



What I found was a quiet little town. Quaint, to be sure, with little shops selling a variety of artistic and crafty goods. And, of course, the harbor filled with boats.

Polartec Power Shield Pro...

Patagonia's Northwall jacket in Polartec Power Shield Proand agrid fleece interior


As unlikely as I might havethought you'd ever see a virtual Patagonia ad on Cold Thistle..here goes :) Theeditorial content is reallysuppose to bea well deserved Polartec ad/public service announcement but I can understand the confusion. I am just as enamored with all thepretty colors, so what the hell:).



16 months ago I was lucky enough to get early samples of two different Polartec fabrics Patagonia was going to be using to great effect. Obvious now, Patagoniahas decided to expand on that effort in their alpine climbing line. Great decision I think.



I'm generally not a big fan of the Patagonia patterns as they haven't fit me very well. The current generation of garments are better. Not an "Arcteryx fit"yet but much better than in the recent past I think. Call fita work in progress at Patagonia. It doesn't happen often but I just spent some of my own money on gear at the local Patagonia store so it is good enough! And some of what I boughtis very, verygood I think. Thanks for the extra help there Travis!



What isn't a work in progress is the two fabrics that Patagonia is using.



Polartec Power Shield Pro



and



Polartec Power Shield Pro with theRegulator high-loft grid fleece interior.



Both are amazing fabrics for myintended purpose, which isalpine and ice climbing in cold environments. And to some extent, alpine skiing, BC and lift served.






Interior fleece on the Northwall jacket


Photo abovecourtesy of http://backcountryskiingcanada.com. Good review here:

http://backcountryskiingcanada.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=Patagonia%20Northwall%20Soft%20Shell%20Jacket



My first thought with the Polartec Power Shield Pro w/ fleece interiorwas, "just add Neoshell". And "I REALLY gotta have pants in this stuff!" Thenwe would REALLY be rocking! From the few I have heard of using the Neoshell/ Power Shield Procomboso far, the feedback I have heard is"best pant I've ever used!".



I think that pretty much "covers it" from my perspective as well. Much more to come on that in a future review or two.



Polartec Power Shield or Power Shield Pro isusedin all these garments from Patagonia. Costly and hard to justify the price, may be,but well worth a look. I think these garmentsand the various versions of Polartec's Neoshell are the cutting edge for performance fabrics at the moment.






Mixed Guide Hoody is a hybrid hard and soft shell combo.

Green is a hard shell, technology, the blueis stretchy and tough Power Shieldsoft shell. Not the Power Shield Pro material. But there is only a slight difference in the laminate used and virtually none in actual use outdoors that I can tell. Check out the listed stats of bothstats in the comments section below.



















soloing in a Frontpoint





The first jacket I used with similar (almost exactly the same) hybrid construction to the Mixed Guide was the now discontinued Eddie Bauer Frontpoint. The Frontpoint is still a bench mark in performance and weight for me. And a go to piece for my own climbing even now. Although a bit heavierby 4 oz in a size large (and likely more durable as well) the Mixed Guide will likely replace the Frontpoint for many projects.





The Patagonia Northwall pant pictured above. Much as I really wanted to LUV these pants, for me the fit wasterrible. Which was ahuge bummer.( and eventually became perfect with a little help from the Chemo diet a year later)But the Patagonia 100% customer satisfaction guarantee was rock solid, so no worries. Patagonia is expensive in comparison to some other soft goods companies but also really easy to deal with if a problem does occur. I'm always impressed by that. Atsimilar price points,let me knowhow far you get with Arcteryx for example on repairs or a warranty issus? My experiences there have been bleak. The Patagonia Northwall pant was truly an eye opener for the potentialperformance of Polartec Power Shield Pro with theRegulator high-loft grid fleece interior.





Men's and woman's versions of the Northwall jacket. The Northwall is a very warm soft shell. If you run cold this jacket may offer the option of a a warmer,and still very durable soft shell.





The 2nd color choice on the Mixed Guide...hard to be bashful in either of these.





And the same jacket I'm usingin the mast head photo on Carlsberg. Now one of my all time favorite climbing shells, the Patagonia Knifeblade, made froman uninsulatedversion of Polartec Power Shield Pro.

Canyonlands National Park :: Island in the Sky

I'm not sure what it was about Canyonlands that “threw me for a loop”. Its stark beauty? Its isolation? I don't know. Perhaps I was a little intimidated by the yawing canyons and deep valleys but I just didn't feel comfortable there. I was in a funk, not in a “hiking mood” and I still haven't figured out why! It would be a great place to explore with someone who had a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

There are several sections in Canyonlands National Park. I visited two of them: Island in the Sky in the north and several days later, the Needles District in the south.

I drove the main roads, opting not to travel down the unpaved dirt roads, pulling off at each of the turnouts for the spectacular views dimmed somewhat by the hazy-blue sky. The only trails I took were short ones, where the tourists were.