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1001 Bicycling Miles

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I set a rough goal to bicycle 1000 miles since I started logging my distance in mid-August and this afternoon I made it! It’s definitely harder to find nice days to ride during the winter months than during the warm and sunny days of August and September, but I’ve managed to get out. This afternoon’s ride was one of my regular routes, about 17 miles with a sustained 5 miles of uphill cranking. There was slushy snow at the side of the road at higher elevations around North Lake Samish and on the hill heading toward Lake Padden, but the main road surface was merely wet.

For the statistically inclined:

Since I can’t predict how much I’ll be home in 2008 I’m not ready to set a cycling goal for next year, but I should definitely be able to do more than this year since I won’t wait until August to get started.

Cycling on Ice

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It was sunny again today, and I needed another break from scanning and processing files through Photoshop. So even though it was only 32°F outside and I thought there might be some frost in the shade I went out for a 25-mile bike ride.  I picked the hilly route out by Lake Padden, down and around Lake Samish, and back along Old Samish Road to Fairhaven and then home.

City streets were bare and dry for the most part, but the shoulder on Samish Way was frosty and a bit of snow in places so I rode in the traffic lane. The downhill from Galbraith Road had even more snow and frost so I rode carefully and more slowly than usual. I was surprised that the grade down the Lake Samish was clear, as was most of the loop around the lake.  I thought I was home free.

Then I hit Old Samish Way, which apparently never saw the sun nor much traffic today. The road was almost completely covered in packed snow and ice. For once, I was happy to have the rough surface of chip seal as I eased myself down the first long hill. Not long after I started down another cyclist on the way up stopped and flagged me down. I gently squeezed my brake levers, but the road was too slick and my tires lost traction and I ended up sliding 10 or 15 feet on my side.

I picked myself up and determined that I was OK and so was my bike but my strava smartwatch got a small blemish on the side where I must of used it to break my fall. The other cyclist simply wanted to know if the road I had just traveled was as snowy as the one he had just come up.  I was a bit annoyed at crashing to be friendly and answer a question that could easily be answered by observation.  Oh, well.  He apologized for flagging me down and instigating my spill.  He also decided to turn around and go back down the way he had come, which I think was slicker than the way I had come.

I followed the other fellow a bit and then rode around him and continued on my way, still cautious but not as timid as the other rider.  After my spill and stopping to chat I was cold. Riding downhill in freezing temperatures in the shade did nothing to help me warm up and by the time I got home my fingers and toes were really cold. Thank goodness for hot showers and hot tea. I ended up with a little bit of road rash on my elbow and hip.

Sunshine on Mt. Baker

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The low winter light on Mt. Baker this afternoon was as nice as I’ve ever seen it as I bicycled east on Slater Road. There’s lots of fresh snow on the mountain, and the Black Buttes cast long shadows on the side of the peak, accentuating the volcano’s shape and texture. It would have been picture perfect except for the uninteresting strip of clouds hanging over the summit.

I wasn’t in a position to do any photography anyway. I’d been working furiously preparing high-res files for a stock agency and just had to get out of the office and burn off some energy, so I went for a brisk but relatively short bike ride in the afternoon sun. I only rode a little under 17 miles today, cruising along the flatlands near the Nooksack in a loop that took me out Marine Drive, up Ferndale Road, east on Slater, and then back to town on Northwest.

Wednesday afternoon I also took off for a ride, but with more hills and an inevitably slower pace. It’s nice to be able to get out and ride during the winter months to keep my blood circulating and general fitness level up. I recently purchased a waist trainer from TrainingYourWaist, its great for tightening your abdominal muscles.

I’ve also put in a couple of days of kayaking since Thanksgiving. The first was about 10 miles on Lake Shannon near Concrete, with glorious views of both Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. It was a gloriously sunny day with heavy frost on the ground when we launched. The second kayak outing was on Saturday on the Samish River, paddling upstream from the mouth at Edison. It was a cold and snowy day, although we didn’t get snowed on as heavily as we thought we would. There were numerous bald eagles and other raptors perched in the bare trees along the river and several blue herons at the water’s edge. We also saw lots of coots and smaller numbers of other waterfowl. Upstream of the tidal influence the current was about 1 mph, just enough to notice but not enough to cause a lot of extra work.

The Mt. Baker ski area opened on November 27 and I went up for opening day. The snow was cold, the sky blue, and the skiing great. I ran out of legs before I ran out of daylight.

We’ve got so many recreational opportunities around here that it’s sometime hard to decide just how to go out and play. That’s a blessing.

Fresh Garden Veggies for Thanksgiving

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This afternoon I picked a basket full of fresh greens from the garden for dinner tonight and for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  The lettuce had a little frost damage as we’ve had a couple of days with temperatures below freezing this week, but it should still be good in a salad.

For dinner tonight I’ll cook up a mess of kale and chard picked this afternoon. I may put a few radishes in the wok along with them for a little heat and a contrasting flavor. Carrots, broccoli, and lettuce will save for another day.

Great Day for a Bike Ride

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We don’t get a lot of nice sunny days in November around here, but today was glorious with temps in the low 40s.  So I took off early afternoon for a 31-mile bike ride around Lummi Peninsula.  It’s a nice loop on roads that mostly have a good shoulder and not too much traffic mid-day.

One of the challenges of biking this time of year is figuring out how to dress.  I’ve decided that long underwear under my bike shorts on the bottom, and a long underwear shirt under a lightweight cycling jacket on top works fine. I think I want to invest in a pair of bike tights, but haven’t found any I like at a price I’m willing to pay. My fingers get a little cool in regular fingerless bike gloves, and my feet got a bit chilly in lightweight bike shoes and cotton socks.

I started out strong, averaging about 17.8 mph for the first 1o miles.  At 17 miles I was up to 18.3 mph. Then I started to tire as I rode along the gently undulating Lummi Shore road, enjoying the view across Bellingham Bay to Bellingham, Mt. Baker, and the near-full moon a few degrees above the mountain. By the time I got to Marine Drive, about 27 miles in, my energy level was really sagging. I kept going, but riding slower and slower, and made it home. My overall speed was 16.7 mph, about one mph and 7 minutes slower than the last time I’d done the same ride.

I’m wondering if I just ride slower when it’s cold.  I decided I hadn’t eaten enough for breakfast and lunch today, so simply running out of fuel was part of the problem.  I tanked up on a cup of hot chocolate, an energy bar, and a bowl of raisins and nuts when I got home. Proper nutrition will fuel you better and longer than if you just “go with the flow” I suggest you visit website here regularly, as I will be giving vital advice for keeping your energy level high.

In any case, vigorous exercise for a couple of hours is a great antidote for sitting at the computer captioning photos.

Fresh Salad from the Garden

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It’s mid-November and we’re eating all the fresh lettuce from the garden that we can handle. So far, we haven’t had a hard frost (just a couple of very light frosts) and the rains have been moderate. We also have fresh sugar snap peas, and combined with the garden lettuce mix it makes a great salad.  The last of the tomatoes, picked some weeks ago, are ripening up on the kitchen counter, so we may have them as part of Thanksgiving dinner later in the week.

We’re not eating the kale as fast as we should, and the slugs seem to have found the chard. Some of the carrots are getting big enough to pull, but the beets are still pretty small. The broccoli planted at the same time is still pretty small, but starting to form heads. Last spring’s broccoli is still producing side shoots that we can cut every two or three weeks.

Our fall veggie garden was planted in mid-August.  That seems to be about right for the lettuce, chard, and kale but the other crops should have gone in earlier.  Maybe next year.

Captioning Marathon

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This is the dark and rainy season in the Northwest, so it’s a good time to get caught up on captioning.  That’s a good thing since I have a backlog of around 5,000 images to edit and caption from mid-September to now. I didn’t have time after my Kelowna trip in September before going to Oklahoma and then immediately to Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

Captioning is a somewhat tedious process that requires identifying as many of the plants in each photo as possible, checking proper names and spelling, and entering the data both in my master database and in the metadata fields associated with the digital image files themselves. My record for number of photos captioned in a day is around 600, but most days I don’t hit that figure.

One of the challenges is simply forcing myself to stay in my seat in front of the computer. Sitting for long periods is tiring and definitely isn’t good for my body. But there’s no way to get captions written without sitting and concentrating on the task.

Back in the Swim

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I may have written this before, but I’m a sporadic exerciser.  I like to swim and do it more during the winter months in an indoor pool. Last week, after not swimming for perhaps a year or more, I decided it was time to get back in the water.  I go to the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center in Bellingham for the discounted noon lap swim. It’s a good mid-day break from working with images on the computer and its cheaper then.

The first day back in the water I was only able to swim 100 yards at a time (4 lengths of the pool), with a 60-second rest between. I swam 8 sets that day.  A couple of days later I could do 250 yards (10 lengths) with a 60-second rest. The next time in the water I was back up to swimming a mile (74 lengths) of crawl without resting. My time of 40.5 minutes won’t set any records, but I’m still amazed at how quickly I get back to the distance I’ve swam in the past.

Hopefully I’ll keep myself motivated to get to the pool two or three times a week during the winter months. I also want to keep bicycling, although I may not make the 100 miles per week I was doing in late August and September. Short daylight hours make it harder to get out and ride. I bought a new bright yellow cycling jacket so I’ll be more visible, but riding distances at night just doesn’t seem either safe or fun.

Autumn Rain

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Japanese Maples on Rainy Autumn Day

Rainy days in the garden can yield intensely rich and saturated colors. Last Friday I went up to VanDusen Garden in Vancouver, BC, which is one of my favorite public gardens. After a lengthy strike which closed the garden (as well as libraries and halting garbage service) for 12 weeks, the garden was once again open. The weather forecast for the day was mixed and I hesitated about going out. But I checked the weather radar and it looked like the biggest part of the rainstorm had already moved through.

Soon after I arrived in the garden it started to rain, so I pulled out a plastic rain cover for my camera and continued working. Some of the fall foliage was past its prime, but there was enough lingering to make it worth my time to explore and photograph.

The photo above was made during a break in the rain, but under heavily overcast skies. It’s one of my favorite Japanese maples in a grove along the shore of one of the ponds in the park. I’ve photographed it many times, in most seasons, and under many weather conditions.

Working in the rain is certainly more challenging than photographing in “better” weather. Keeping the camera dry is the big issue. An umbrella works, but can be hard to hold while setting up the shot. I’ve used a cheap plastic grocery bag, but inevitably the camera still gets wet. Currently I use inexpensive rain covers from Optechs. My camera still gets a little damp, and changing lenses is slightly inconvenient, but overall this clear plastic cover works pretty well. I hang it up on a doorknob to dry when I get home.

Besides keeping the camera dry, another issue in the rain is low light levels and moving subjects. Raindrops make plants shake, and rain is often accompanied by wind. Like any windy situation, there’s often a brief pause between puffs of wind so I set up and wait. I think the results are worthwhile.

Awash in a Sea of Data

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I finished backing up the last week’s camera raw files this afternoon.  It’s a process that takes the better part of a day to make DVDs.  In this case, twelve nearly-full disks of data.  Then after I edit and caption the photos I need to back them up again.  That’s one of the downsides of the digital photography revolution.

I’ve also completely filled two 200GB hard drives with raw images in 2007. I think it’s time to shop for bigger replacement drives so I can keep working.  At least with increasing drive capacities and falling costs per megabyte of storage it’s not an unreasonable prospect.

When I was shooting film I began running out of shelf space to store notebooks full of slides.  Every wall of my office that doesn’t have a window or a door is covered with shelving. I don’t know where I would have expanded my slide storage if I hadn’t gone digital.

In the last 30 days I’ve been shooting more days than not and now have over 5,000 frames to edit and caption. That means looking forward to a lot of hours in front of the computer screen in the coming weeks.