2013 End of Year Thoughts

After an amazing time of riding with Cycling Fusion at PT Athletic from Jan-March and then Maui in April, I was in the best shape since my 20's in Crested Butte, CO. Lots of summer rides with good friends around Port Townsend made it even more fun.

Headed to Europe for 3-1/2 months (July-October), with my daughter and her friend Pearl for six weeks including a NYC stop and the Queen Mary 2, a bit of riding on the remote roads and trails of the Lozére near Allenc, FR; lots of wine and fun in Paris (4 times-love that city) then off for a month with my sister Beth in Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. Enjoyed many days with my nephews, Xavier and Julien, and my much-loved bro-in-law Martin. We had a very good time.

Since then, it's been work, managing the weirdness of Port Townsend (Tiny Town) and preparing for new adventures. It's strange being back in the US; the wilderness I missed, the politics and general shape of things, not so much.

Somehow I think 2014 is going to be very interesting. Next stop, Strange Brewfest with Peter McKay and Mark Thomas...hang on to your bike caps.

Whew! Finally Riding Again!

Well, it's been quite a long time since the last post but finally have time to write something. Have been enjoying some fabulous riding this winter and spring, including a magnificent trip to Maui with Cycling Fusion. That was in April and the weather was 80-90 degrees and beautiful sunshine!

West Maui overlook!

Rode the hilly west Maui loop (my favorite), Haleakala, Iao Valley and Piilani Highway, plus down to Makena and the lava fields. Everyday was fantastic. Put in about 250 glorious miles.

Piilani Highway...50mph downhill.

After enjoying 6 days of riding with some wonderful folks, I rented a Harley FatBob...1340cc of BIGNESS. Rode out to Hana for the day and enjoyed the 600 curves and 54 one lane bridges. One must keep vigilant, the tourists drive erratically.

A big thanks to Ken at Hula Hogs!

Stayed at the Maui Coast Hotel for a night and got to see my friend Joanna and had a wonderful time.

Was fortunate to facilitate a Cycling Fusion Winter Training class from January to March - first time using heart rate and power to measure training loads. Was very successful, rebuilding all the lost fitness from the accident in Nov. 2011 and many months off the bike.

The past few months I've put in between 100-200 mile weeks and am feeling pretty good. Not quite at the top of my game yet, but near 80%! I'm happy.

One more month and it's off to travel - New York, England & France!

Sunny Busy Fall!

Finally after a summer of fits and starts for me, helping coach the high school XC team has gotten me back to training for some cool events next year! Possible fun would be NW Crank in April, the Sunflower Trail Marathon in Mazama in May, Iron Horse Relay in September, and some massive clubbish ride like STP just to say it's been done.

Have gotten in two great backpacking trips, one up the Hoh River and one on the High Divide, some motorcycling in the Olympic forest and some great road biking with some of my favorite friends. A couple road trips to Winthrop and MN with my daughter...and more fun to come!

Hoping to get back to some SIR rides next spring and learn to paddle fast too...just need a kayak!

A Long Road

Amsterdam

It's been nearly 8 months since posting anything here, but hope to correct that. Frankly, my life has changed completely in every way; divorce, two moves, bike crash, business disasters, car accidents and injuries from which only now am I able to ride again, at least for shorter distances.

Things are improving slowly, I have a great little rental house, a shop to work in, my daughter to hang out with and some really amazing friends and family. Life is good. Looking forward to NW Crank in Wenatchee in April and even though I'll be slow, it'll be so good to see all my SIR buddies again. Lately I've been cooking up some delicious food, learning to play some guitar chords and reading more. I got to spend three weeks in Amsterdam and France with my groovy bro-in-law Martin over Xmas and New Year's and that was fantastic. Peri & I have tickets to see Florence & the Machine in July. I have a new truck. All-in-all, lots to be thankful for!

The ski season sucked so I didn't miss anything there...

My Sunrise

DSCN2736.JPG

Twin Cities Bicycling Club Sunday Ride

Just like the ride schedule said - "Beautiful quiet ride through
Washington County. Rolling hills, stops at Scandia, Marine on St
Croix." Rode to the start about 7 miles to the Mahtomedi High School
parking lot and was blown away by the number of riders. We get
surprised with 6-8 riders on a Sunday ride in Port Townsend and here
were 40-50!
Enjoyed the terrain immensely - even though I grew up here, many of
the roads I had never spent much time on, so this was a perfect way
to sample the local fare. Riders were really hospitable to this
wayward visitor and I had some good conversations with Lyle, Pete and
Steve, the latter being a member of the illustrious Gentleman
Cyclists who put on the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour I've always wanted to
do.
The ride itself was about 60 miles and I added my to and from and
popped off a good 75 miles all told. The sun came out midway and it
was a perfectly splendid day in the saddle! Thanks to Rebecca the
ride leader and all the wonderful folks at TCBC!
If you are in the area, check out the massive ride schedule (about
2000 rides a year) here: http://www.biketcbc.net

Snacks and conversation at the Scandia Store

Heading back on the Gateway Trail from Hwy 7

One of the amazing bridges on the trail...it's really not bent like that...

A Busy June!

Lots happening this month as the weather improves (sort of) and we are getting out and around the trails and roads of the lovely and very green Olympic Peninsula. We started off with Peri and I making a hike out on the Dosewallips Trail on a beautiful Sunday!

Peri on the Dosewallips Trail

Dosewallips River was flowing really high

Peri and I have a little lunch of cherries and gorp near the riverside

Peri tries to take over driving...those days are coming soon!

The next week David, Alan and I headed to the Miller Peninsula to explore some of the trails in the new State Park. We had a great time, the weather was pretty good and the trails were fabulous. Great views of the back of Protection Island from the beach and not a soul in sight anywhere.

David and Alan take in the views

David regaining MTB skills on his huge yellow Cannondale

On Father's Day, Peri took me to brunch at Sweet Laurette's then we spent the day riding the Longest Day of Trails event along the Larry Scott Trail. Rained most of the time, but we kept smiling - I love my girl!

Damp but happy!

Also had a spectacular Quilbilly Hilly in Quilcene with a few friends spending all day riding hills - a wonderful day all around and one of the best places to ride ever and I won a bar of Jasmine soap! Check out the great photos here >>

Jasmine soap...needed after a lot of climbing

Can't wait to see what this week brings!

"Jon, you really need to get a life"

An here's how it's turning out on a Saturday in March...

Union Bowl from chair - boot climb to top next

Union Bowl cornice view one

Union Bowl cornice view two

All mine...

First tracks Enchanted Forest 9AM

Now that's a life I can live with.

Thanks to Copper Mountain, the sun and a really good snow-filled weather pattern from Mother Earth.

North Ten Mile Creek Ski Morning

Got out this morning for a little ski up North Ten Mile Creek...the weather was gorgeous with blue skies, puffy clouds and lots of sun. New snow the night before was perfect. A little bushwhacking after the Eagle Nest Wilderness boundary, but mainly the trail was etched out enough.

Planned on going up to the meadows below the Gore Range but saw some deep footprints and scat that were fresh and when I looked up there was a huge moose cow just above me. I stayed on the edge of the open space thinking she might amble off, but then she lay down, yawned a few times and made herself comfortable...

Very sleepy moose...

So...thinking that I wouldn't disturb her any more I just turned around and headed back. Probably could have made it by her, but at under 100 yards, and downhill, she would charge me faster than I could get by if she felt like it. Cowardly? Maybe. Respectful. Very.

I did take a little fun video on the way down - and nearly took out a dog laying in the middle of the trail, not to mention a few hikers...fortunately nobody panicked and all was well.

Music: Saltwater by Chicane

Buffalo Mountain Hike

Finally got up the trail to scout out a possible ski descent of Buffalo Mountain. Decided to use YakTraks and hiking shoes, just to see if I could get past treeline. Getting to the top of the Wildernest development in Silverthorne put me around 9700 ft at the trailhead. Ran into a couple folks already having breathing difficulties (even the rescue team was called), but the thin air felt fine to me. Broke a strap on the YakTraks and had to rebend some wires to make them functional again, but they worked surprisingly well. The trail was pretty hard packed, then slowly softened and deepened as I went up. The goal was to was to get to the north side of Buffalo where there's an incredible 30 degree slope devoid of trees.

After two hours of climbing I reached it and the wind was howling, but the vews were impressive.

View of the north side of Buffalo Mountain

View toward the north

Overlooking the town of Dillon and the dam

The choice to not take gaiters made the final 1/4 mile a post-holing slog, but it was enough to get the idea of where to go next time with skis.

I met up with this fellow on the way down...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully this week we'll have a nice, calm sunny day and I'll skin up for a few runs - after doing some avalanche testing of course....

Snowy Steep Wednesday

A good 4-6 inches on top of the 12" this week and things were looking up on the mountain. Headed up first chair to Copper Bowl and had the whole place nearly to myself for almost an hour. Winds were gusting over 25mph at the top of Union Peak. Took a few pics of the morning...

First run down Julie's Vision, nice soft deep powder on the leeward slope.

So good I had to do it twice...

Hike up the West Ridge to drop off the ten foot cornice just past Bradley's Plunge.

Feeling mighty good and the ice beard had not yet grown to its full extent yet!

A few diggers as the snow got heavier and the sun came out, but it was a glorious way to start the day!

Sun and Snow

Good to be back in CO. Have enjoyed some tele skiing at Copper and snow shoeing up Ten Mile Creek, some productive working and hanging out with my parents. So many cool things about this place, hope to soon have some ski videos and trip reports of another winter of exploring the Rockies.

B-day Sunrise

5-0 is looking good so far!

One Week to 26.2 and 5-0!

The final longer run is done as of today and now a very mellow week as we get ready to fly to CA for the Surf City Marathon. Despite the emergence of a rather annoying plantar faciitis issue, I am ready. It is getting better with massage, stretching and ice bottles and I'll make it through. Big thanks to Ian Fraser for some tips to help solve it. Hey, it's just pain, which is just a subjective mental effect from what I read ;-). It won't be a deal breaker, but will make for a slower more relaxed run than I'd planned. No biggie, I'm just so happy I've made it through 4 months of training and can actually do the marathon now!

I can't say enough about Hal Higdon's Training Plans (Novice 2)...it was a reasonable way to give this endeavor a shot and I'm ready. Thanks Hal! That, and support from Carrie, Laura and my charming daughter Peri have made this process enjoyable. There's so many talented runners around here it's crazy.

The weather in Huntington Beach, CA looks like it'll be spectacular compared to Port Townsend's abysmal weather the past few weeks. Just to see actual sunlight would be a miracle. Heck, I might even be able to wear shorts! I have run through rain, sleet, hail, snow, temps from below zero to 60 degrees F and to imagine running in the sun all morning on February 6th makes me smile.

On February 7th I move into my 50th year. Whoa. Time to work on the next goals!

Wild Olympics Wilderness Meeting

EMBA (Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance) will be hosting a meeting regarding the Wild Olympics proposal on January 13th from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Jefferson County YMCA in their multi-purpose room. The YMCA is located in the Mountain View Commons complex: 1919 Blaine Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368. This invitation is to any mountain bikers or off-road touring cyclists in the area who would like to join the discussion about the proposed changes to access on the Olympic Peninsula due to proposed Wilderness designations. The proposed changes can be found here: http://evergreenmtb.org/php/show_page.php?page_id=322

For more info contact: Elizabeth Salvo, Member of the Board, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance (206) 524-2900.

This is an important meeting to get your input - the current plans call for increasing the boundaries of the Wilderness area on the Olympic Peninsula and could very well spell the end of off-road touring here...they have made corridors for existing MTB trails, but those are mainly for drive-in, vehicle access only gravity riding, not for those of us who ride in to the woods to camp and explore. While I applaud  them for trying to keep out motorized access, the current Wilderness designation includes bicycles, which is archaic and lacks foresight in the human-powered access to wild places.

New Chetzemoka Ferry & Bikes

On Sunday, Nov 28, 2010, Mary, Gary and I went over to Whidbey on the ferry Chetzemoka to try out the bike facilities on the new ferry. David and I had ridden on the Nov 14th inaugural sailing and had some concerns about configuration, rack choice and the ramp/door issue. We each had a regular road bike with fenders and a bag, pretty usual for what a day cyclist would have.

Going Up - The Ramp

The first step was getting on the ferry and then up the ramp. As you can see from the photo, the ramp is fairly steep. We  managed to navigate it but it would be quite challenging for other cyclists. If you had a loaded touring bike that weighed more, were older or less strong, had a trailer, trike or recumbent it would be more difficult or impossible. Ferry workers did mention a couple getting their tandem up the ramp fairly easily.

Depending on which way you are traveling, the ramps on the stairs are both on the inboard side so that we entered End 2 with the ramp on our left and descended with the ramp on the left. The return was the opposite at End 1, with both up and down on the right.

Measurements made indicate 6.5" rise and 11" tread equating to an angle of 30 degrees, which is the shallow end of what is considered to be the low end of the preferred stair angle (30 degrees to 35 degrees are the preferred range in a house).

At the Top - The Door

At the top of the stairs is a large door that must be opened, but it was easier than it seemed for us. Other riders may have more difficulty. Next to the door it says "No Sports Cleats", but no one said anything to us and we would have ignored that request anyway as it was wet and 35 degrees out...Once inside we racked our bikes.

Inside - The Racks

The racks are the standard "wheel benders", which are rarely used any longer, but did hold our bikes pretty securely on the crossing. A more secure way of holding the bike frame securely against a padded bar would be preferred, especially if the crossing is rough. Looks like you could have at least 16 bikes up there without jamming them together; two on a side. The wall is close on one end, but only a longer chainstay bike would be affected.

The flooring wasn't slippery and our walkable mountain bike shoes made no marks or scratches. Not sure how it would be if it was really wet, but on all other ferries cyclists have never had much problem either. I think they are more worried about football or soccer cleats, or road cycling shoes without covers (which are deadly anywhere).

Coming Down - The Ramp

This was where things got a bit more challenging...the only way to get the bike down is to apply the brakes and preferrably both, but if you slipped on the stairway you'd have to grab for the rail and then the bike is loose on a narrow ramp and very difficult to handle. It was not easy. Mary grabbed the rail for stability and had no brakes to slow the bike. Both Gary and I rolled the back wheel off the ramp and had to continue with it bouncing down the stairs. Gary felt like the rear of the bike was trying to come around and push him down the stairs. There is definately some real liability/saftey issues with using the stairs/ramp especially on the way down. There will be problems if this not addressed, hence our feedback and input.

David determined the angles and said the ramp angle for current ADA requirements is 1" rise in 12" run which is 4.76 degrees (calculator used to determine the degree translation). Obviously ramp angles have to be much shallower than acceptable stair angles. They cannot get the ADA slope in the available space. There are probably other guides out there for ramp angles that are acceptable but don't meet ADA (wheelchair) standards.

Be very careful descending the stairs with a bike. It is by far the most hazardous part of the trip. For some it would probably be easier to shoulder your bike and walk it up or down the stairs if you are able.

The Salish is already built with the ramps and so it will be the same. This may be our only ferry we ever have again, so let's get it right!

Final Notes

All in all it was a good test for basic bikes and single riders. I want to note that the ferry workers were all very accommodating and asked for our input and suggstions on options for anyone unwilling or unable to navigate the stairs with their bike. Fortunately, it looks like there are some options in the photos below if tie-downs were available.

 

Ferry Chetzemoka on deck bike parking possible inside of well under stairway and passenger compartment - maybe trikes or recumbents.

 

On deck bike parking possible beneath passenger compartment - maybe a rack in this space? 

 

On deck bike parking possible along inside of narrow lane (left in this photo). This space is only for small cars and drivers not paranoid about tight spaces.

 

With a combination of providing Barb Culp at the Bicycle Association of WA with info, talking to David Moseley's office to take up these issues and Gordon Black who consulted with the ferry designers early on in the process to see what they told him, we may be able to come up with as many choices as possible for the safe passage of cyclists on the Ferry Chetzemoka between Port Townsend and Keystone (Coupeville) on Whidbey Island.

 

More info on the new Kwa-di Tabil Class (64-Car) Ferries at WSDOT.

Beverages and food supplied by the fabulous Toby's in Coupeville...

Also posted at the PTBA web site ptbikes.org

Off Road Bike Touring and Wilderness Restrictions

So this is what's occurring on the Olympic Peninsula: increasing the Wilderness areas...

Is this a good thing or not?

A secret place in the Olympics...

While on the surface a Wilderness designation provides certain protection for some areas, the continued inclusion of mountain biking in the "prohibited motors & mechanical transport" category prevents me from supporting any movement to take away access. I've seen this happen too many times in the past 30 years and until the criteria consider bikes as lawful users in Wilderness, we will never be on the same footing as horsepacking, hunting and other uses. It is simply not fair or equitable to those of us who are truly devoted to wild places and yet shunned from them.

With the increase in off-road bicycle touring (like the Great Divide Route and others), it seems a most natural fit to have the access across areas in a continuous manner so one could actually go from Lake Cushman to Hurricane Ridge area or along the West End without running into barriers or laws that prevent movement. Arguments that the mountain bike community is getting what they want through exempted trails is just for those who drive motor vehicles to the trails and unload their bikes for a few short hours of riding, it does not address off-road touring by bicycle at all.

What about those who ride into the Olympics or want to camp and tour by bike off-road on the closed old logging roads? Will we be prevented from crossing into Wilderness because we are "mechanical transport" by some archaic law? Crossing the drainages in the Olympics is difficult enough without adding additional barriers to connect the entire Olympic Peninsula as a continuous circular bike touring route seem short-sighted and not economically sound. Why shut down a possible revenue generator for the small, rural communities along the way? Less and less people are taking long backpacking trips into the backcountry, but "bike-packing" is increasing. Shouldn't we make our decisions based on trends that will benefit the most in the future?

I am opposed to any additional Wilderness designation on the Olympic Peninsula until bikes are removed from the out-dated Wilderness law that include them with quads, motorcycles, etc. Getting a few trails exempted does nothing for a bike-packer or our local economy. Evergreen MBA and the Wild Olympics Coalition don't want to take on the onerous legislative task of trying to change a federal law (will IMBA?) - but do we want to lose access for a complete Olympic MTB Route like the GDMBR in the future?

How can we make this work?

Now for Something Completely Different

As the fall season came around, I was again drawn to help coach cross-country. This time it was for the Port Townsend High School XC team and it has been a blast! A stellar group of kids and coaches really makes it a special part of every day. Seeing my daughter run like I did in high school (and loving it) got me back to running more regularly and rekindled my passion for it. After so many years of cycling, it's been exciting to partake in a new endurance sport (and one that will help my skiing).

So, as things tend to go with me - nothing worth doing is done marginally - I have signed up to run the Surf City USA Marathon on Feb. 6, 2011, the last day of my 49th year! I'm done with the first 3 weeks of "training" and have 15 weeks to go. So far, so good and I love it more every day. My wife Carrie and friend Laura are also doing it (though they both have run 2-3 marathons), so the fun has begun!

 Here's to new adventures! We're even talking about also doing Big Sur in May...but I'll try one first!

Sadie Creek Labor Day Exploration

The dismal weather cancelled a planned ride for today with The Broken Spoke shop crew but as I had the time I went and did a ride I hadn't done before in the Sadie Creek ORV trails. The trailhead is about 8 miles west of Joyce on Hwy 112 past Port Angeles on the left at Twin River Rd. Got there a bit late in the morning and didn't get riding until around 10am. It wasn't too bad at the start, just a light mist. A family was there with 3-wheelers and motos and looked like they had camped for the weekend.

In the spirit of trying new routes, I opted to go out what I knew would be the less fun direction from what the topo map showed. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I was doing more hiking than biking and the rain really started to pound. I wore a couple wool jerseys, arm warmers and knickers and was pretty comfy as the trees kept the rain off some. On a dry day I probably could have ridden more of the climb, but parts were just relentless and it's doubtful whether I could have done it anytime. My low gear is 27" (32/34) and maybe a 22/34 could have coped, but mainly it just let me know I was not quite in shape for it!

Once I made the ridge after an hour the terrain became better, but the rain increased and so did the wind. Every viewpoint was shrouded in fog and clouds, but it was quiet. No doubt the weather sent most folks home early for hot cocoa and warmth. Smart. As with every ORV area, there were a fair amount of rocky sections, which is fine for a 3-4" tire, but at 2" I was getting pounded a few times on my rigid Redline, but all the better for improving my line picking skills! Could have let more air out, but was trying to avoid the chance of a pinch flat, but next time I think I can go down another 10lbs and do fine.

The ridge rolled up and down all the way to the intersection with trail/road PA-S-1300 which drops to road PA-S-1000. There I opted to cut the ride short and head down. I had already been out for over 2 hours and wanted some warmth and food...that and hitting the ground a few times was enough to make me a sissy-boy. Visibility varied from great to less than 100 feet with the fog, with a good dose of rocks and mainly a descent through a drainage creek encouraged rapt attention. There was a recent clearcut to navigate with berms dug every so often. When I finally got to PA-S-1000 I was cold and wet, so on with the Patagonia shell, which was like heaven.

The way back was just a smooth gravel road with some small bridges and a couple of big diameter rock sections where they must have put in culverts lately. It was an easy return and lots of deep puddles - one even on one of the bridges!

By the time I returned, the whole ATV family was gone and I was alone. Total time out was over 3 hours and I covered a whopping 15 miles! With stopping and photos, I think I averaged about 4 miles an hour. It was a good day though, and I was glad to have gotten out!

Can't wait to ride the rest of the trail, but I'll try the clock-wise direction. I've opted to call the counter-clockwise direction "Sadistic Creek".

At home it was time to clean the Redline...not bad once I rode through a few of those puddles!

A Quote to Ponder

"Modern industrialized states [are] resentful of a few cleverly arranged pounds of tubes and spokes. The cyclist creates everything from almost nothing, becoming the most energy-efficient of all moving animals and machines and, as such, has a disingenuous ability to challenge the entire value system of a society. Cyclists don't consume enough. They can propel themselves 1500 pollution-free miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of petrol. The bicycle may be too cheap, too available, too healthy, too independent and too equitable for its own good. In an age of excess it is minimal and has the subversive potential to make people happy in an economy fueled by consumer discontent." -Jim McGurn, 1994

--As I have tapered off the randonneuring season and moved into the fun ride season (including more dirt), I find myself caught up in planning, dreaming and thinking about bike touring. I miss that feeling of daily movement, new places and being outside. A time when the burden of making dollars and being occupied with paying for things that have limited value in a real sense become mere memories. Here's to all those who are out there now - I hope to be joining you soon!

Now, where to go?