Spring in the Desert!

A lovely Alstroemeria...
Spring. Well, it sure sounds weird to write about spring in February, but here in the desert, it seems like reality. In advance, I apologize to all my winter-bound readers. But, take solace. In July when its 112 degrees and the 40 mph winds are blowing over my trash buckets, you may all write and gloat about the lovely nice summer days where you live.

Yay... Spring in our backyard!
The buds depicted here, are from our new dwarf peach tree. The apple tree is still pondering whether or not it should bloom, but there is rain forecast for the weekend, and perhaps the water will help spur some growth.

These pictures were harder to take than I thought!
As you can also see, we made a trip to Tucson. Andy is growing so fast! She is a wonderfully cheerful girl, and we had a great time layin on the floor, and playing. She is doing great at holding her head up, and next, hopefully she will figure out how to get her legs going to crawl around and check out the world.

Andy K...

Kathy's Favorite Picture...
In cycling news, you will note the change to the countdown timer on the right column. My summer goal is to compete in the Santa Barbara Triathlon on August 28th. To that end, and to spur my commitment to train, I have purchased a new Synergy Wetsuit for the ocean swim portion of the event. Nothing motivates you more, than putting some hard-earned sheckles down to make sure you stay focused!

Cammelias at Nancy's...
So, I am on my way; riding to work a few days a week, doing some running here in the neighborhood, and soon I will incorporate distance swimming into my week. The only question that keeps me thinking, is which bike do I race with? Suggestions? Ideas? Witty comments?

For those of you that care, this is NOT a Sandpiper. It's a Curlew!
See you next week.
Jim

A Month of Posts, All in One!

Ok, more beach trivia: What kind of bird is this?

Hi All,
Well, I blinked my eyes, and almost a month has past since my last entry. I believe that in the their infancy, blogs were supposed to be daily postings, but now with Twitter, Facebook, and all the other available avenues, technology has moved onward. For me, it’s not about technology; it’s about having the time to write, and perhaps that I just didn’t have much to say.

A "Snowstorm" in Palmdale. We had a meeting cancelled for this!

That’s not say a lot of things have happened. I almost don’t know where to start. Here, in the desert, we have had the shoveling of the last of the gravel, citywide flooding after 3 inches of rain, a visit to see Amy, Jon, and Andy, converting the Redline to a fixed-gear configuration, a trip to Santa Barbara for Nancy’s 60th birthday, and all the usual other parts of the day that interfere with writing.

We always hit the beach when we are in Santa Barbara...

I could not resist this snapshot. The gentleman wore a pair of very fancy basketball Nike's...
As I was composing this edition, I realized that if I wrote everything I should have written in the last month, l than this blog would be longer President Obama’s State of the Union Address! So, in the interest of brevity, I am going to just publish a bunch of pictures with long captions. Enjoy!

Soccer Pitch/Catch Basin...three days after this, the water was gone!
Flooding. Yes, we had plenty of that. The desert terrain here is so firm and hard-packed that water just runs off the top. So, just a few inches of rain and there are streets that become rivers, and soccer fields, that become lakes.

Children have such fun at the beach...

Traveling. We have made a couple of trips since my last post; first, to see Nancy, Muhsin, Sue, and Dana, to celebrate Nancy’s 60th birthday. We had a great time as we gathered and spent a great time just being together as family. While we were at it, we managed to start planning a long-awaited trip to Zion national Park this spring.

You're really special if you get TWO birthday cakes!

No caption needed... Happy Andy...

Two weeks later, we drove down to Tucson to spend a few days with Amy, Jon, and Andy. Boy! That little girl will steal your heart. I’m not sure what else can be said here, other that we sure enjoyed spending time with Jon, Amy, and Andy.

I am told it's not the bike, it's the engine riding it! Well... OK then!

The Redline: I recently converted the Redline 925 from single-speed configuration to fixed-gear. What does this mean? Well, it means the bike still rides like a single-speed bike, but now, there is no freewheel, which also means, NO coasting!

I took the fenders off to eliminate some pedal strike on the front wheel...

Want to ride fast? Pedal fast. Need to slow down? Pedal slower! It’s a whole new feel, never being able to stop pedaling. I rode the bike 12 miles today, (back and forth to work) and I am still learning all the techniques that are involved in riding “fixed.” Quite a blast, really! It's been quite interesting, learning in some ways, how to ride all over again!

That's the quick news.. I will try and do a better job of posting..

Jim

A "Rocky" Start to the Year...

One more nice picture from the Elwood Bluffs...

Hi All,
Well, it’s the end of a busy weekend here in the desert. There was no bike riding, nor exploration of the local area. Of course, the weekend didn’t go anything like we planned, things just sort of steamrolled. (Or, “dump trucked” for that matter.)
How did this all start? Yesterday, Kathy and I had started some planning for what we were going to tackle next in the back yard. As you may recall, the yard was nothing more than bare earth and scorched weeds when we arrived last July. And, over the past few months, we have been slowly creating a desert landscape; pouring concrete pads for patios and a shed, laying some sod, installing sprinklers and a drip line irrigation system for the plants to come, and building a raised garden bed.

The pile, after the first 8 barrows had been moved...
So, as we progressed in our planning over lunch, we decided to head down to our favorite quarry to see about the timeline for having some gravel delivered for the backyard. We met our friend, Navid, and after discussing which gravel, and how many yards we would need, we asked when it could be delivered? Of course, we were thinking something in a week or so. But, Navid had different plans. “How about 3 PM?” he said ever so nicely. Of course! We were up to the challenge, but we weren’t necessarily prepared for so much gravel on short notice.

Here's the first area!
How much gravel? Well, we needed enough gravel to cover 1400 square feet, at a depth of 2-3 inches. Anyone have an idea of the size of the pile 8.75 cubic yards looks like? Let me tell you, when you stand next to it with your shovel, it’s a bit overwhelming. But, one has to remember; It’s a finite amount! It just takes one shovel at a time, one barrow at a time, and the pile slowly shrinks.

Next, we move to the larger area...
So, with Kathy’s help, we did it! We didn’t hire anyone; we just got to work. Kathy would lay the protective weed barrier cloth, and I would deliver wheelbarrows of gravel. Then Kathy would rake out the gravel, and lay more cloth. We made a great team!

Now you can see both! Plus the area we have designed for a flagstone type pathway...

And, the last area, down the side to the gate...

And also, thanks to our neighbor, Leena, who upon seeing us work hard all day, brought us pizza for dinner! Now, that’s a neighbor! So, 43 wheelbarrows later, about 90% of the gravel is now in the back. We’ll finish the rest tomorrow.
How did you spend your weekend?
Jim

Putting a New Face to a New Year

Sunrise - Pasadena, New Year's Day, 2010

Welcome to 2010! I am sure by now the “Best of the decade”and “Best of 2009” news stories are (thankfully) fading out of the news cycle. The mailbox and TV commercials are now filled with exercise advertisements; and the media has moved on to the usual mundane issues such as finance, health care, war, drugs, and the latest celebrity scandal. Most of us are already looking ahead to the new year; people are revitalized, energized, and ready to take on new challenges with a fresh start.

For me, I am not necessarily making any New Year’s resolutions, but rather, making a commitment to write more letters and connect with friends and family through the year. No, a nudge or poke, or whatever they call it on Facebook doesn’t count. I am just going to try and write everyone that sent us a Christmas letter. Trust me, a daunting task! We’ll see what happens. All I can ask is that if you get a letter or postcard from a friend, write one back!

I have been thinking about the New Year, too. I find that there are many faces to a year, or even a decade for that matter. Joy, apprehensiveness, tension, adventure, excitement, sadness, laughter, and love, all come to mind for starters.

I look at a calendar and ask myself all sorts of questions! Where will I go this year? What adventures will I have? What new places will Kathy and I discover? Who will I meet? Where will I ride? Or run? Or swim? (A hint for a future adventure later this year. What projects will I finish? How much will my grandchildren grow? What unknown challenges are out there? Where did all these weird faces come from?

The Rose Parade of course! Kathy, Kitt (Kathy’s mom) and I have already had an adventure this year. We went to the Rose Parade! What a great experience, the floats, the bands, the tens of thousands of classic Americans enjoying a great parade. On January 2nd, we went back down to Pasadena to view the floats up close. It was a great day, as we got to see craftsmanship, artistry, and ingenuity right at arm’s length. I enjoyed taking literally hundreds of pictures of floats, bands, and some of the detail work that make the Rose Parade floats world famous. I was amazed at how all the floats were created and decorated using only organic material. it was a great way to start the year...with an adventure!

Riding in another failed neighborhood...

That’s the news for the week. I have already enjoyed some miles on the Surly and the Barcroft Virginia GT. I will be riding to work on Wednesday and Thursday. Lately, I have been having to almost pinch myself and realize that I get to ride in lovely weather in January! I can't get over the fact that I am not having to wear ALL of my winter cycling layers just to get out for a ride!

Enjoy the year, wherever it takes you. Have a ball!
Jim

Bluffs, Birthdays and Bikes....

Looking west along the Ellwood Bluff...

Shades of gray....

Post- rainstorm puddles!

Hi all,
It’s a quiet Saturday morning here; another beautiful day. Last week’s torrential rain is just a memory. Of course, we missed most of the worst weather as we were out in Santa Barbara celebrating Sue’s birthday.

Happy Birthday, Sue!

After I get done blogging this morning, I’ll head outside with my shovel to refill the ditch around the new pipe drains. Last Saturday’s rain washed all of our hard work away!

Walking back to Sue's...

Our Santa Barbara trip was great. We enjoyed family time with Sue, Nan, Muhsin, and Dana. Along the way, we had rain, wind, and some nice sunny weather on Sunday morning. We celebrated a birthday, did some shopping, told old family stories, discovered a Monarch Butterfly Preserve, and on the way home captured a few cacti (do you recall the original Cactus Hunter blog 4 years ago?)

An old seawall, slowly being reclaimed by the surf...

And of course, one of the activities we never fail to miss when we are out to S.B. is a walk on the Ellwood Bluffs near Sue and Dana’s house. This wonderful preserve has been protected from development, and is a wonderful place to enjoy the great outdoors in peace and quiet.

Bird of Paradise...
In riding news, I was able to commute to work twice this past week. It’s still a bit odd, being able to ride to work in December, but, it’s better than ride commuting in July when it’s 110 degrees! I have added a new handlebar bag to the Surly LHT , which has made carrying all my basic stuff for work a lot more efficient. The security guard at the center still gives me quizzical looks when I pull up, but perhaps, he’ll eventually get used to the idea. With over 400 controllers assigned, I have never seen another bicycle on the property since I arrived last August. My workmates seem to think it’s utterly crazy to ride one’s bike to work when it’s 35 degrees! But of course, the lovely 58-degree afternoon ride home is the payoff.

I will no longer have to go hunting cactus, I'll just walk out to the backyard!
That’s all the riding and traveling news for today. Now, to go shovel some sand!
Jim

500 Miles, 500 Miles...

The 2009 Freeze and Wheeze...

500 Miles…500 Miles…A quite appropriate old lyric from a Peter, Paul, and Mary CD I have been listening to this week. In reality this morning, it felt like 500 except it was only 9 miles. Of course, when was the last time you walked 9 miles! Kathy, Leena, and I did this morning.

On our way to the nasty hill up to the Start Line...
We had signed up to participate in Palmdale’s 2009 “Wheeze and Freeze;” a 5km or 10km walk/run along the California Aqueduct. We of course, intelligently signed up to do the 5k, then, not so intelligently, walked right past the 5km turnaround, and walked the whole 10k! Add in the fact that we walked from our house to the start line, and we made a tidy 9 miles out of the morning.

Note the streamers blowing in the wind!

A nice turnout of all age groups!
I would also like to add, that after 10 days of lovely fall weather, Miss Wind made her reappearance in the Antelope Valley. Was it windy? Well, watching the “Portaloos” rolling down the hill was a clear indicator. The wind made it feel quite chilly, and the stronger gust just about knocked me down!

The runners have all left, and now the walkers can enjoy some peace...

A check of the local weather site showed temperatures around 45 degrees and wind gusting to 35 kts. So yeah, it was kinda breezy! Did we overdo it? Yes. Did we have fun? Yes. Do we have sore tootsies? Yes. Are we proud of ourselves? Absolutely!

The Surly parked outside my portable at work...
In other news, I have been doing some bike commuting to work the past two weeks. I have to say it’s kind of weird to be able to ride in December. The mornings are a bit on the chilly side; right around freezing, and the afternoon ride home is nice, about 55-60 degrees. The local wind is a bit of a downer, but the riding is phenomenal! It's only 7.5 miles each way, and I am finally getting all the bike stuff together to commute regularly.

A typical Palmdale road; note the bike lane!
That’s all for today; I need to go soak my blisters some more!
See you next week,
Jim