FEAR!

If you climb and likely because you climb you know what fear is.



Much of what we do in life is motivated by fear. Fear of losing a loved one, losing a job, losing you favorite bit of kit or losing your life.



Few things in our life are as powerful as words.



Wordscan excite you, depress you or even kill you. They can kill a business or start one.



I was once told that the Cold Thistle blog "was a weapon of mass destruction". I have come to realise that the proclamation came from a base in fear.



Fear of failure?. Fear of havinglimitations pointed out? Fear of job loss or product dismissal?



Smart people (or a compamy) won't find much to fear in life. They may run the ragged edge but they stay in control. What is there to fear? There are always other jobs. Failure is part of success. Few reading this will ever go hungry or lack a roof over their head intentionally. The best seldom worry about being the best. They worry more about how to better themselves or their business.



Yoda said, "Either do or do not. There is no try."



Simple enough. But WTF has this to do with an alpine climbing blog?



It first needsrepeating:



from Jan :



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//01/gear-smear.html



"Remember what works for me may not work for you. Always take my comments with a grain of salt and trust your own observations. I can only write what I see or experience. I don't pretend to know much, let alone know everything. Do your own research...learn through your own experience when you can what works for you. Then compare notes with anyone you can find that has similar interests, experiences or goals. Type it into Google. And always consider the original source."



I had no idea a "list of the best" would be atarget. No big deal asrounds can just as easily go out as be incoming. Ammo is plentiful ;-)



It is worth looking at theblog. Intentionally there is no advertising on the surface or behind the scenes. And I could very easily do both. I don't like ads. I really don't like being involved with advertisers.Most of themactually want somethingfor their money. Imagine that? My opinion is they simplyclutter the web site and anyworth while content . I hateads. They suck. The only thing worse is the multiple pictures of me. Once I figure out how to make money at this I'll hire models and buy THEM gearI really like to take pictures of. But the bastards will have to work for free!



Ah, but the companies that live in FEAR...they are the most demanding of all and have the most to lose.



It doesn't take much to figure out who in the outdoor industry owns the limited brain trust for research and development. R&D as opposed to just cost cutting veiled as a technologicalimprovement. Easy reference is look at where they manufacture. Is it at home or off shore? Anyone making the effort to manufacture in their home country is paying a price to do so.Ever wonder why someone would do that?Running it out on your own and trusting yourskill set? I can admire that.And who are the guys out therethatsimply make copies of good ideas? Sadly, I have yet to see a copy that is as good as the original. I have however seen improvements onoriginal designs. One is not the other in most cases, but the rare exception.



Lots of decent gear being made. Pick and choose, then support the ones you think deserve your hard earned coin.



The good companiesdon't live in FEAR. They easily make changes in public, admit mistakes, fix them and move on.Same decisions most of us have to make everyday. Look at the corporate cultures. How do they deal with the public. How about the retailers? The manufactures? Even the blogs and forums. What are they into "it" for.



If you have ever had a pissing match trying to return a piece of gear or bought an item that you foundtruly a POS compared to the advertising hype or went looking for honest, no BS, opinions of a end user, I suspect some of this will ring true to you.



The gearI mentionon Cold Thistle is what I think is the very best. Most of the time it could be better. I don't mind pointing that out as itis generally pretty obvious to everyone. Either way it is gear Ipaid my ownmoney for and actually use. Sometimes but not often betting my own life on the results. Those suggestions may change over time for various reasons. You may disagreeand I love to hear about the mistakes you think I have made. But no one paying me to write about what I like and use.



Believe it or not I write this blog simply forfun! But it is also "serious business" to me.

Time Traveling

I took this photo yesterday at the end of the Minuteman Trail in Bedford, Mass. Looking at it later, it occurred to me that everything here is from another era. This might as well have been taken several decades ago. The Autumn scenery is probably a big contributor to the nostalgic feel.

This train car of the defunct Boston and Maine Railroad is now a merely decorative presence at the end of the Rail Trail. The heyday and downfall of Boston and Maine followed a similar timeline as the heyday and downfall of the Raleigh Roadsters. Will the charming regional train lines ever make a comeback? I would like that. And I hope they allow bicycles on board.

Lilac Blossoms

*Alpine Mentors* and Steve House?

The American alpinist Steve House - © archive Steve House



"Alpine Mentors promotes alpinism by encouraging, coaching and climbing with technically proficient young alpinists who aspire to climb the worldʼs greatest mountains in a lightweight, low-impact style."



http://www.alpinementors.org/



I think this is a GREAT idea!



But it aint a give away either.



This is one of the questions on the application.



"You are climbing the 1938 route on the north face of the Eiger. The first day you manage to get to Death bivouac, half way up the route. That night a storm comes in and you are pinned down for 3 days. You started with three days of food and fuel, but by being careful, you have saved a small amount of both. You have a partner of equal experience, 6 cams, 4 pitons, 6 nuts, 4 ice screws, and 2 60 meter ropes. You have no radio or cell phone and no chance for outside help. It is 10 degrees F and has snowed 12" in the past 24 hours. What is going through your mind and what would you do?"

The Popular Girl: Test Riding the Rivendell Betty Foy

Afterlast week's review of the Rivendell Sam Hillborne, it seemed appropriate to follow up with a test ride report of the Betty Foy. I have ridden her a couple of times before, but never had my camera with me until now. Harris Cyclery has just built up a new floor model in my size - so I took the opportunity to take some pictures and put my impressions into words.While the pictures reflect how this particular bicycle was built up, keep in mind that itis fully customisable: You can change everything from the saddle and grips, to the handlebars and pedals, to the type of components that are on the bike.



Rivendell released the Betty Foy in Spring , in conjunction with the diamond frame Sam Hillborne model. Inasmuch as a hand-built, niche-market bicycle can "sell like hotcakes" I believe the Betty does. She is charming, comfortable, and tough - and the ladies love her for that. The price of the frame alone is $1,000 and a fully built up bike starts at $2,200 or so, depending on the options. To see how this bicycle compares price-wise to other lady's frames in its class, please visit my new Semi-Custom Options page (now linked in the upper left-hand corner).



In terms of construction, the Rivendell Betty Foy is a version of the mixte frame: What starts out as a sloped single top tube splits into two stays at the seat tube and continues (at a slightly different angle than the slope of the main top tube) all the way back to the rear dropouts. The frame is lugged, with custom-made lugs in the shape of hearts and elaborate filigreed designs.



There are many cute and feminine touches, such as the downtube decal featuring tiny red apples



and the filled-in curly-cues on the fork crown.Some of the lugs are also filled in with red, complementing the robbin's egg-blue of the frame.



The Betty Foy frame is available in several sizes (47cm, 52cm, 58cm and 62cm), with the middle two built for 650B wheels, the largest built for 700C wheels, and the smallest for 26" wheels. There is enough clearance for 40mm tires plus fenders.



The frame is made for derailleur gearing, and is typically built up with three gears in the front and eight in the rear. There are eyelets and braze-ons for fenders and racks.



Rivendell states that the Betty frame was designed to be built up with Nitto Albatross handlebars - which are wide and swept back, similar to (but wider than) the handlebars you would find on a vintage 3-speed. I have also seen her built up with drop bars, but the upright set-up is more typical.This floor model was fitted with black rubber grips and "thumbie" shifters, though some prefer cork grips and bar-end shifters.



One thing to note about the Betty Foy, is the unusual sizing: The frame sizes recommended by Rivendell seem larger than what a person would normally ride. For example, I am 5'7" and normally ride a 52-54cm road bike or mixte, yet it is recommended that I ride a 58cm Betty Foy. Having tried both the 52cm and the 58cm frames, I can confirm that the recommendation is accurate. The 52cm Betty Foy felt much too small for me, whereas the 58cm version felt just right. I could have raised the saddle by another inch from the position in which it is shown above, but did not feel like going back inside the shop once I started riding the bike.



I rode the Betty Foy on the roads near Harris Cyclery (actual test ride not pictured), both this time and the previous times I've tried her. It is difficult to compare her to other bicycles on the market, because in a way she is unique. If you are accustomed to road bikes and vintage mixtes, you will find the Betty to be considerably more upright, stable, and comfortable. Sheis more relaxed than a typical mixte and has a long wheelbase - so that there is no toe overlap with the front tire when turning at slow speeds.I also find the step-over height to be lower than on other mixtes I've tried, which is convenient.



If you are accustomed to Dutch-style city bikes,you will find the Betty Foy a faster and sportier ride, but still within your comfort zone. The posture is slightly leaned forward, but still more or less upright. The derailleur gearing may take some getting used to if you have only dealt with internally geared hubs before, but you will appreciate how easy it makes cycling uphill.



In my view, the Betty Foy's greatest asset is her versatility. If you combine the feeling of a vintage 3-speed with that of a derailleur-geared touring bike, she handles like a union of the two: a fast, comfortable bicycle that feels safe and pleasant to ride. I can imagine riding her around the city for transportation, as well as 20 miles over some hills to the next town over. The ride is soft over bumps and potholes (not as soft as on my Sam Hillborne with 42mm tires, but I would need to ride Betty with equally wide tires to compare). Maneuverability in traffic is good, but the handling is not aggressive. I did not ride her on any serious hills, but with the derailleur gearing, the light frame, and the somewhat leaned-forward posture, I imagine it should hardly be a problem. She is what Rivendell says she is: an "all around" bike. If you plan to have only one bicycle for both urban commuting and long distance cycling, this seems like the closest thing on the market to that ideal.



The question I am inevitably asked at this point, is why I did not get a Betty Foy for myself when I was looking for a mixte, if I think she is so great. My main reason, was that I wanted a specific kind of mixte: one with twin lateral stays and proportions that resembled the original French constructeurs. The Betty Foy is not that kind of bicycle. Additionally, I must admit that I find Betty's femininity overwhelming. All the hearts and the bright colours - it's very American 1950s, whereas I am more of a European 1920s kind of girl. And my final reason is ironic - because it is the reason most people love this bike: I don't like the way some of the lugwork is done. If you look at the seat cluster above (see here for what that is), you will notice that the seat stays are welded directly to the main lug, rather than capped. No other Rivendell bicycle is made that way, and I don't know why this model is the exception. Personally, I would rather have a traditionally lugged seat cluster than hearts and curly-cues.



The same is repeated at the junction of the seat tube and support stays. My preference would be for something likethis to have been done here instead. I recognise how nit-picky and obsessive these quibbles are, but little details like this are important to me and I have my preferences when it comes to the way a frame is put together. It's an excellent frame, just not what I was looking for.



After I posted the above image, it was pointed out to me by a couple of attentive readers that there is a blemish right at the weld junction, next to the big lug. I myself did not notice this until my attention was directed to it - but now that it has, it's only fair that I mention it. Personally, I am not particularly bothered by this blemish (I have seen worse on more expensive frames) and it would not stand in the way of my wanting the bike, if it were not for the other factors. Your views may vary.



These issues aside, the Rivendell Betty Foy is an attractive and well-constructed bicycle. A great deal of thought went into the design, with a special emphasis on versatility - which I feel has been achieved here better than on other bicycles I have owned or tried. And apparently others agree, as the Betty has an excellent record of owner satisfaction. All things considered, I think the Betty Foy's popularity is well deserved.

Pursuing J. W. Hoffman :: Where's THE Book?

About six weeks ago, I had made the decision to do no more new research until I had reviewed all of the documents and information I had obtained in Salt Lake City. But then an email arrived from my distant cousin Bob Hoffman regarding the Hoffman Reunions of nearly a hundred years ago. And, well, that "no new research" resolution fell by the wayside rather quickly!



I am now officially obsessed with Hoffmans. I have gotten virtually nothing done since last Friday except for hunting for information on the descendants of John and Catherine (Coy) Hoffman, my 4th great-grandparents. It's amazing what a few clues can do to boost knowledge of a family line! And those two reunion articles were chock full of clues and even outright "good" information!



It's been fun a fun week, frustrating at times too, but mostly fun. One of the things that really piqued my interest in those reunion articles was the mention of a book on the Hoffman family that was in the works. I wanted to know if a book had actually been published, by whom and when. And, if it wasn't published, what happened to the research files?



On Wednesday of last week I went to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne and (among other things) re-checked the shelves for Hoffman family history books. There were 15 or so volumes but they dealt with Hoffman families in the Carolinas and in New York but there was nothing on my Hoffman family from Ohio or Pennsylvania.



So then I thought that if I could locate a living descendant...



The 1913 Reunion Article stated "J. R. Hoffman and others interested and entertained the audience. Some of these talks were for the benefit of the family historian who is preparing a book of some 800 pages and dates the family tree to Germany in the 17th century, when Adam Hoffman and his brothers Michael and Robert sailed for America, locating in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania."



Then, in the 1914 article it told us who that historian was: "The late Mrs. A. J. Callahan, the family historian, had collected a fund of reliable history, biography and geneology [sic] which has since passed into the hands of her half-brother and successor, J. W. Hoffman of 5408 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, who will be pleased to communicate with any member of the family."



In a search of The Mahoning Dispatch at Chronicling America, I found this paragraph in the Washingtonville column published on October 16, 1908: "Mrs. A. J. Callahan of Salem was the guest Wednesday of her sister, Mrs. John Fitzsimmons, when here collecting the geneaology [sic] and scraps of history relating to the Hoffman family; this will be her portion of a book soon to be published. The family name is widely scattered over this country, from the Hoffman house and banking firms in New York, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and the far western states."



The obituary of Mary Callahan was published on December 13, 1912 in The Mahoning Dispatch gave us the name of her children and confirmed the names of her siblings: "Mrs. A. J. Callahan died of internal tumor at her home in Salem early Tuesday morning, aged 65 years. Her maiden name was Mary Hoffman, the eldest daughter of John and Catharine (Koons) Hoffman, both deceased and late of Washingtonville, Ohio. She is survived by her husband and son Lawrence Callahan and a daughter, Mrs. Charles King, all of Salem. Also a sister, Mrs. J. C. Fitzsimmons of Washingtonville and three half brothers as follows: Oscar Hoffman and William Hoffman of Cleveland, and Joseph Hoffman of Indianapolis, Ind. Another half brother, L. E. Hoffman, lost his life a few weeks ago when his automobile slid off a narrow mountain road in Virginia. Funeral services for Mrs. Callahan were conducted from her late home at No. 38 Maple street in Salem at 1:30 this (Thursday) afternoon."



I still haven't found a "J. R. Hoffman" among the descendants but after this past week of research, I know that Mary Hoffman was Mrs. A. J. Callahan "the family historian" and her sister, Nancy, was Mrs. John C. Fitzsimmons. They were the daughters of John Hoffman, Jr. and his first wife Catherine Koons. Their half-brother, J. W. Hoffman, is John William Hoffman (who went by J. W., John, and apparently also William), was the son of their father by his second wife Tabitha Crane.



As stated in the 1913 Reunion article, John Hoffman, Jr. (son of John and Catherine Coy Hoffman) was married three times and was the father of eight children. By his first wife, Nancy Koons (whose middle name may have been Catharine), he had two children: Mary (1847-1912), wife of A. J. Callahan (aka Abner, Absolam, and Abraham) and Nancy (1849-1930), wife of John C. Fitzsimmons.



John Jr. had four children by his second wife, Tabitha Crane Zimmerman: Oscar Charles (1853-1927), John William (1858-????), Lewis Edwin (1859-1912), and Joseph F. Hoffman (1869-aft1920). By his third wife, Elizabeth Hess, he had two children: Mattie (1874-1938), wife of Grant Greasel, and Curtis Charles Hoffman (1877-1959).



Now, the one child of John Jr. that I was most interested in was John William Hoffman, primarily because he "inherited" the family history from his half-sister Mary Callahan. And wouldn't you know it, he turned out to be a "problem" child. I was able to find the other seven children through marriage records. I found them in nearly every census, and I have record of their deaths. For all except Lewis Edwin and John William, I know who their children were, and most of their grandchildren and even several of their great-grandchildren. Lucky for me they almost all remained in Ohio where marriage and death records are available online for the time period in question.



But what about my "person of interest" John William Hoffman?



In 1860 and 1870 he was living with his parents in Mahoning County. His mother Tabitha died on November 20, 1871 when John W. was 13 years old. Within a year or two his father remarried. In 1880, John W., age 22, was living on St. Clair Street in Cleveland with two of his brothers, Louis, age 21, and Oscar, 27. John and Oscar were brakemen on the railroad, while Louis was a jewelery salesman. Oddly enough, the youngest of the three, Louis, was listed as head of household. His brothers were listed as boarders.



I have not yet found a good candidate for John William in Ohio in the 1900 or 1910 census records. In 1920 John W. Hoffman was a lodger living at 5607 Euclid Street in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County. The page he was listed on (20A) is a "Supplemental" page and did not include the head of the household. There were eight other persons at that address. John W. was listed as age 62, divorced, and worked as a tool maker in a factory. I'm not positive that this is the "right" John W. but he fits as being the right age and he is in Cleveland. I haven't found a good candidate for him in the 1930 census yet either.



If that is the "right" John W. Hoffman, then he was married some time after 1880 and divorced prior to 1920. What was the name of his wife? Did he have children? Where the heck was he in 1900, 1910 and 1930?



On FamilySearch, in the "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953" I did find a record for a likely candidate. This John W. Hoffman was born January 11, 1858 in Washingtonville, Ohio. He died on May 4, 1931 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio and was buried in Washingtonville. His street address was 1634 E. 70th in Cleveland. His occupation was machinist. John W. was widowed and his wife's name was Alice. However, his father was listed as John W. Hoffman and his mother's name appears to be Sarah Corg. Both were born in Washingtonville. The informant was Mrs. F.W. Curtis of Cuyahoga Falls, which is 30+ miles south of Cleveland and north of Akron in Summit County, Ohio. (Cropped portion of the death record of John W. Hoffman is on the right.)



This John W. Hoffman was of the right age, born in Washingtonville, died in Cleveland. His occupation of machinist "sort of fits" with John W. in the 1920 census who was a tool maker. But in 1920 John W. was divorced while this fellow is widowed. Then there is the matter of his mother's name, which should be Tabitha Crane. Who was Sarah Corg? And, who was Mrs. F. W. Curtis?



A search of the 1930 census in ancestry for anyone with a last name of Curtis in Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Ohio produced an entry for Fredrick W Curtis, age 51, with wife Ada, age 48, both born in Ohio. They were married about 1915 (when he was 36 and she was 33). Enumerated in the household was Fredrick's mother-in-law, Alice Hoffman. She was 66 years old, widowed, and born in Ohio.



Going back to 1920, I found the Curtis family residing in Cuyahoga Falls: Fredrick W. Curtiss was 40 years old, his wife Ada was 37 and living with them was his mother-in-law, Alice Hoffman. She was 56 years old, widowed, born in Ohio.



In the "Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973" on ancestry.com there is a record for Ada L. Hoffman, 33, and Frederick W. Curtiss, 36, who were married on August 31, 1915. That record gives her parents as Alice Snow and John W. Hoffman. No record has been found for their marriage in the databases at ancestry.com or FamilySearch.



Alice and Ada Hoffman were not found in the 1910 census but I did find them in 1900. They resided on Whitney Street in Ward 18 in Cleveland. Alice was born in Sept 1863. Her marriage status was "Dd" which I presume to mean divorced. She was the mother of two children with only one living. She worked as a Janitor. He daughter, Ada was born in July 1882, was single and worked as a Bicycle Clerk. (It should be noted that in 1900 Lewis Hoffman, brother of John William Hoffman, was living in Cleveland and "Bicycle Mfg" was his occupation. Also, in Lewis' obituary of November 22, 1912 it stated that "With his brother, J. W., he was the founder of the Hoffman bicycle business.")



This appears to be the former wife of John W. Hoffman who died in 1931, and his daughter Ada Curtis. The fact that Alice and John W. sometimes state that they are divorced and later widowed is a little confusing but really not all that unusual. I do believe, in spite of his mother's name being given as "Sarah Corg" that this is my "person of interest" and the son of John Hoffman Jr.



But it looks like I've reached a dead end (pun intended) regarding descendants of John William Hoffman. Ada Hoffman married Frederick Curtis when she was 33 years old. They do not appear to have had any children. Ada L Curtis was found in the index of Ohio Deaths on ancestry.com. She died on January 18, 1964 in a long-term care facility in Clark County, Ohio. Her place of residence was Akron, Summit County, Ohio.



And now I'm back to my original questions: Was the Hoffman family history ever published? If it wasn't published, what happened to the research files?



I will, of course, continue to pursue further research on the children of John Hoffman, Jr. (particularly obituaries) hoping to find a living descendant with information regarding the family history research done by Mary (Hoffman) Callahan. Future posts will highlight what has been found on them to date. If anyone reading this is related or has further information on any of these people, please contact me at kinexxions@gmail.com



And if you've made it this far, I congratulate you, and I thank you for reading...



Update June 25, ..: See the post One "loose end" wrapped up! for the death notice of John W. Hoffman. Yes, he really is the son of John Hoffman, Jr!

More on crampons, this time from Joe Palma

Joe Palma? The early Polar Circus topo wasJoe's work. He has been around.



Ya just gotta love a guy who is well on the way to winning the gear war by attrition :)



"Dane,

I'm going to try to sit down with all myboots/crampons this weekend, fit them stock and modified and get you some photos, if you're interested. In terms of selection I believe I have:

Boots:

Salomon Super Mountain 9 Guides (uninsulated, damn...loved the fit on these, perfect, just weigh a ton)

Scarpa Freney (blue first gen)

Kayland Super Ice

LS Nepal EVO GTX

LS Batura (first gen)

LS Trango Prime

Scarpa Phantom Guides (latest gen)



Crampons:



Dartwins (sidelock)

G14s (crampomatic)

G20 (both / and / versions, additional small frontpointon the / version)

Air Tech (newmatic)

Rambo 4

Rambocomps

Old Sabretooth Pro

SS Sabretooth Pro

Finding the G20s and SS Sabretooths are the go-to choices on the Primes

and Phantom Guides

Joe"



"Hey Dane,





Attaching a few pictures from some setups. the possible permutations would take days to run through so I haven't got a complete set. My observation is that the Petzl front bale is the most likely to fit other manufacturers crampons,



BD's/Grivel's are generally too wide to swap to other frames. However, I'm not 100% happy with the fit of any combinations...was in the Daks this past weekend and was annoyed that I had a rattle in my Phantom Guide/Sabretooth combo (right boot only) that I was able to eliminate by cranking down the

tension on the heel bale. Didn't seem to impact performance at all, but I don't want to be wasting energy thinking about losing a crampon!



(my note)* I ended up bending Petzl bails to fit my Phantom Ultras with Sabertooths till I got a almost perfect fit. The Ultra and Phantom 6000 likely have the hardest toe priles to fit currently. The modified Sabersnowfit myGuides as well.*



(back to Joe)

End of the day, I'm running G20's (latest ones) and new Sabretooth crampons stock, interchangeably on both the Phantom Guides and Trango Primes. Just need to modify the length and adjust the heel level tension. Relatively happy with both setups, as long as I carefully adjust the heel bale tension.



I really would like to be able to use my Rambo 4s on either set of boots, but regardless what I do with it I can't get a bomber fit. The flat profile of the frame and rocker in my boots just don't play well together."





La Sportiva Prime with Stainless Sabertooth with a Black Diamond Bale on the lft and the Petzl bail on the right.





By all accounts the new Scarpa soles are difficult to fit. Stock Rambo IV and a Scarpa Guide. Note the gap at the toe.

toe gap.....on the Rambo/Guide combo

Rambo/Guide combo with a Petzl front bail...better but not perfect



More from Joe on 2/07/

Made an interesting discovery regarding the Rambo 4. Happened in to Mountain Equipment Co-op, here in Toronto, last week and noticed that the pair of Rambo 4s they had on display appeared to have a much more pronounce rocker to them. Dropped in again on the weekend with my Phantom Guides, Trango Primes and original Rambo 4s in to take a closer look. Sure enough the frames are different, there's a visible dfference in rocker between the pair I had (purchased late , original active anti-bots) and the new (allblack ABS antibots). Makes for a much better fit on both boots. MEC was kind enough to do a straight exchange for me, assuming that the flat frame on my pair must have been a defect. Climbed in 'em yesterday with the Trangos...man, they're fantastic for pure ice.

Pedal and Coast

A friend of a friend flies gliders at the Ulster Gliding Centre down the road. I was encouraged to visit. "He used to race bikes. He restores old planes. The place is amazing, you'll love it."



Terrified of flying and armed with only the vaguest notion of what gliders actually are, I nonetheless head over there one evening. The phrase "restores old [fill in the blank]" proves to be excellent bait.In honor of the occasion, I ride a 1938 Tyrone Flyer, handmade in Northern Ireland.





Astride the 75-year old machine, I race down the winding coastal road, at length turning onto a narrow lane toward the Lough Foyle. I ride past pastures, chicken coups, a thatched cottage, and a field of parked caravans, until finally a meadow comes into view - spread out along the water's edge and littered with small aircraft. From a distance the scene resembles a vegetable patch.





By the hangar, Owen waves me through, bike and all. We exchange greetings and straight away his eyes are on the bike.





Owen used to race 100 mile time trials. He was good, right up there at the top. Then he stopped. But I can see the cycling has not left him. If he sees a bike, he can't not look at the bike. Then it's my turn to look at the planes.





A hangar is basically a garage for aircraft. This one is dome-shaped. The interior is well illuminated. There are little planes everywhere and I wander through them as if through a forest, stepping over tails and wings as if they were felled tree branches. Some planes are colourful and others are white, some fairly new and others quite old. Owen restores the old ones.






I ask about the materials, the paint, the provenance. Most of the machines are British or German, WWII era. We talk about plastics, and how they've changed over the years (a topic I'm familiar with from my fountain pen collecting days). Then he shows me the cloth used for wings - stretched so tautly and painted over so smoothly, I would never have guessed it was cloth.






The planes are so light and small, they seem toy-like. "I could take you up in one of these if you like?" I shake my head in horror, which I quickly try to disguise as a polite "I wouldn't want to impose."






So what exactly is a glider? Put simply, it is a small airplane without an engine. A non-motorised plane. Visually, gliders can be distinguished by their lack of propellers(although there are alsomotorised gliders, which do have propellers)and their unusually long wings.






Because a glider does not have an engine, it cannot take off under its own power and relies on a tow-plane to bring it up to the desired height, then release it.






Once airborne, the glider uses streams of rising air (thermals) to prolong the flight, as the pilot steers it. In this manner, the glider can stay up in the air for hours and even travel cross-country. "Cross country without an engine?" I said, growing interested in the mechanics of the thing.






Long story short, I ended up in the glider. Owen - as most of the pilots there - has such a steady, reassuring manner about him, that the more we chatted the more it began to seem like a good idea - just a normal way to spend an afternoon. "There's no engine, so nothing can go wrong, you see. It's a bit like cycling really. Take your camera!" Yes, it would be like cycling.




I was feeling pretty good as I approached the glider, until another pilot - Gary - handed me a parachute. "Here, put this on." I must have turned white and begun to inch my way backward (OMG why do I need a parachute??), because Gary sort of held me in place and swiftly began to put the parachute on for me, cheerfully instructing me on its usage while gently nudging me into the glider. "There. It's like getting into the bathtub."




In fact, the thing is sort of canoe-shaped. The pilot/instructor sits behind the student/ passenger. There are duplicate controls. There is very little room, and once the top is down, you feel sealed off from the rest of the world. Once I was in it, my attitude was - If you're gonna do it, do it. Otherwise don't do it. No point being scared now.






As Owen began to rattle off a series of mysterious control-check messages into the radio, Gary grabbed the rope attached to the glider's nose and connected it to the tow-plane.






This is what it looks like to be towed along the grass runway. We are taking off toward Lough Foyle.





Here is the rope.






The take-off is quick and painless. Before I know it, we are being towed through the air.






View from the ground.





Finally, the rope is released. The tow-plane returns to the ground and the glider - well, it glides. I am in a small plane. Everything is completely silent. We are floating, coasting really. I am feeling fine. Calm, downright serene.





The landscape spreads out beneath. Familiar places from an unfamiliar vantage point. In that sense, it really is a bit like cycling. In an abstract sort of way.





We fly along the coast, then turn inland and head to Binevenagh Mountain. Owen explains how to work the controls to make the plane bank, turning it around. It makes sense and I give it a try. The plane turns. And there is Binevenagh, half submerged in shadow from a low cloud, half illuminated by intense sunshine. It looks quite tame from here, flattened out against the landscape. My heroic climbs and descents hardly seem like an accomplishment now.



On the very top of Binevenagh is a mysterious lake. It is up a rough gravel road and I've only made it up there once so far. The lake is eerie, prone to mists and unusual growths around its edges. When you're standing next to it, it looks as if it is about to pour off of the edge of the mountain.





But what you don't see from the ground, is that the lake is distinctly heart-shaped. It is also nowhere near the edge of the mountain when viewed from an aerial perspective.





My camera is with me in the glider. There is a small window that slides open to stick the lens through. I've no experience composing aerial photos, and my 50mm lens is all wrong for the task. Even as I take them, I know that my pictures will look generic, uninteresting. But they are mine and I take them with the same genuine enthusiasm as anyone would.





The sun fades gently in the silence.Over Magilligan Point, we see another glider in the distance and wave to them.Everything is beautiful. "You all right?" Owen asks. Yes! This is wonderful. "Want to try a Chandelle?" he says. "Oh. What's that?" It's a maneuver. A bit of fun. Not quite aerobatics, but almost. "All right!"



The glider does something that is part spin, part freefall and part loop. I see clouds. I am not sure which way is up. I feel pressure in my temples and my vision starts to go dark. A split second later, I am drenched in a cold sweat and hit with a wave of nausea. I sit very still and take deep breaths. "How was that?" Owen asks from the back seat."Mmm hhmm hhmm!" I reply, mouth closed, worried I will puke all over the nice glider if I try to form sentences. Point taken. No more aerobatics. As the sun sets, we descend.






On the ground, I am soaking wet - hair, clothes, everything. Weird, the physical reactions we have. I don't remember feeling scared, but my body must have decided otherwise. We have a laugh about it. Then we steer the plane down the grass runway toward its next tow.






Is gliding anything like cycling? Hmm, I don't know. Maybe the feeling of landing is similar to that of a long descent. The view can be similar too. But on a bicycle everything feels open, whereas in a glider you are closed in, closed off - a bit claustrophobic for me. Not that I don't want to do it again. But perhaps no Chandelles just yet. It could be a useful skill, knowing how to fly light aircraft.






Some day. But for now I get back on the Tyrone Flyer. I pedal uphill, coast downhill. That is more my style of gliding.