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

The Big Picture...

An actual section of the Berlin Wall..

Hi All,
As you have probably noticed, most of our weekend routine is spent in the yard, moving dirt, rocks, walls, and creating landscaping. But, when we lose the motivation to work in the yard, we head out in the car, or on foot, and explore our new area. We have enjoyed several lovely hikes and car outings over the past few weeks.

An exact replica of the Oval Office. Even the 18 ft. ceiling!
A Saturday or two ago, we ventured out to Simi Valley. As the locals describe the highways, we took the 14, to the 405, to the 118. When we were in Utah, no one ever described I-15 as “the 15”. But here, it is the norm. Also, up here in Palmdale, the LA Basin is described as: “down below.” It’s interesting how different areas of the country have different vernacular.

The Boss's chair; aboard Air Force One.
Anyhow, we went to Simi Valley to visit the Ronald Reagan Museum and Library. Kathy and I have a goal of someday checking out all the presidential libraries in the country. It will be a great way to visit new parts of our country, and also we might learn something in our travels!

What a view!
The Ronald Reagan Museum and Library is a vast and magnificent structure. The highlight is the VC-137 inside, facing outwards to a magnificent view. You might ask; VC-137? Why yes, otherwise known as Air Force One. Ronald Reagan had the retired ‘137 installed inside the museum. It’s really a sight to see. We think the aircraft came first, and the building was built around it!

In other local news, the traveling Vietnam War Memorial just completed an exhibit here in Palmdale. Actually, the exhibit was at the Heritage Airpark, right across from where I work. I took a few moments early one morning to visit, take a few pictures, and reflect on really how thankful I am this Thanksgiving.

Visiting both of these sights brought into focus what it must be like to be the one "Who's in Charge". I can't begin to imagine the reponsibility saddled upon any president in our history. Just looking at the replica of the Oval Office made me think about what it must feel like to be in charge of this whole operation.

Want your name on the bottom line?

Even more telling in black and white...

Visiting the exhibit sort of re-aligned my view of the world. I would go on from here, writing an editorial about Afghanistan, or Iraq, or the pointless loss of life in Vietnam, but this blog is normally not the venue for that. Instead; perhaps you can take a few moments and reflect on your own; no stern editorial will be necessary.
See you next week.
Jim

Dirt and Bikes...

Sunset on the Aqueduct, My contest entry (see the last paragraph)

Hi All,
It has been a busy few weeks since my last post, and it is time to bring you up to date on the on-going adventures here in our new home. I have been working on several projects that relate well to conditioning and physical fitness; working on the back yard landscaping project, and actually spending some time repairing and riding my bikes.

Shovels anyone? Kathy, our neighbor Leena, and I moved this 6 cubic yards to the backyard in a little more than 4 hours!

Mmmmmmmm, Sprinklers, topsoil, and fresh sod!
The main thing I have learned is that I am getting much stronger from all the physical labor of landscaping our yard! Kathy and I have spent many Saturdays looking at the world from the working end of a shovel and wheelbarrow. And I have to admit a great sense of satisfaction every time we finish another part of the project. We work on the project together, enjoy the fruits of our labors, and get wonderfully dusty and dirty in the process!

Before...

After.... Come visit and sit on the patio!

I worked on all 3 bikes!
And, speaking of bike maintenance let me mention right here that adding a cycle-computer to the Surly LHT was a bad idea. Yes, it tracks the miles I have ridden, however it also shamelessly indicates the woeful average speed I am riding these days. This is the penalty I pay for basically being off the bike since last spring.

Brian's very own dump truck....
The fact that I am in poor cycling shape needs to stay in perspective; yes, I am not riding a lot of miles, but in the great scheme of things it has been a great few months. Amy and Jon keep us smiling from their adventures with Andy K, and Paul and Christina’s son, Brian calls often to tell of his view of the world. Just ask him about dump trucks and he will tell you all about it! So, my miles will come eventually. One day at a time. I just keep plugging along.

The naughty hill I climb to get to the Aqueduct...
Speaking of riding; tonight I am heading out on a group ride sponsored by a local bike shop. I happened across this shop in search of new tubes for the Surly. Block Bikes of Lancaster; from the outside not the fanciest shop around. But, once I went inside I found a vast inventory of all classes of bikes, and friendly knowledgeable folks who RIDE. Their emphasis is getting people on bikes! A nice place. I found out that Block sponsors a group ride every Wednesday evening. It’s a local fun ride, not a race, and not a “Critical Mass” type of ride. More a family outing geared (pun?) towards people spending time on their bikes. We’ll see how things shake out. I am taking the Virginia GT for the ride – 20-25 miles at a leisurely pace. Look for a report in a few days.

Moonrise over the desert...

And lastly, my friend Alan Barnard, web genius of EcoVelo.info, is sponsoring an Endless Summer photo contest. Check out this link; Here, and enjoy some wonderful cycling photography. I will be submitting my entry today. Who knows, maybe I’ll win a doorprize!
See down the road…
Jim