Velo Inventory

Sometimes I am asked how many bicycles I have and what is the function of each. As we are building up my custom Royal H. mixte, I have been giving this some thought. I do not want to have redundant bikes and therefore I need to make some decisions. So here is my velo-inventory for the world to see - and pass harsh judgment upon, if so desired.



Pashley Princess Sovereign (Eustacia Vye)



used as: a transport bike

age: made in

unique? No. My vintage Raleigh performs the same role.

pros and cons? Pros: very stable and great in bad weather. Cons: very heavy and more sluggish than my vintage Raleigh.



Raleigh DL-1 Lady Tourist (Velouria)



used as: a transport bike

age: made in 1973

unique? No. My Pashley Princess performs the same role.

pros and cons? Pros: As fast and nimble as this kind of bike can possibly be. Cons: It is old and I am afraid to rely on it as my only transport bike.





Rivendell Sam Hillborne (Graham Greene)



used as: a road and touring bike

age: made in

unique? Yes. I have no other bike like this.

pros and cons? Pros: A fast and extremely comfortable bike for road cycling. Cons: none.



Mercier Mixte (Suzanne)



used as: an errand bike to keep in my photography studio (which is in another town) for running local errands

age: made in the late 1960's or early 1970's

unique? No. My Motobecane Mirage mixte could take its place.

pros and cons? Pros: makes a great errand bike. Cons: It is old and ever-so-slightly too small for me.



Motobecane Mirage Mixte (Marianne)



used as: A light touring bike when I want to be upright, yet go fast-ish and climb hills

age: made in 1981

unique? No. My new custom mixte will make it redundant.

pros and cons? Pros: It is pretty, but not a rare or high-end bike; can lock it up and not worry. Cons: It is too aggressive for its purpose; not a comfortable bike.



Royal H. Mixte (not yet built up or named)



(will be) used as: a light touring bike when I want to be upright, yet go fast-ish and climb hills

age: frame built in

unique? No. The vintage Motobecane already serves the same function.

pros and cons? Pros: Hopefully, when all built up it will be perfect. Cons: I will be afraid to lock it up and leave it unattended anywhere.



So there you have it, my inventory to date. As you can see, I "only" have 5 bikes so far, which I do not think is too insane. Okay, and a 6th one being built up. Still not totally bonkers, right?..



In terms of bikes performing overlapping roles, there are two major redundancies: the Pashley vs the vintage Raleigh, and the Royal H. mixte vs. the vintage Motobecane. The redundancies bother me, and I would like to have only one bike in each category. This would mean either selling whichever bike is redundant, or repurposing them in some way. Not at all sure what I will do yet regarding the Pashley vs Raleigh conflict. As for the vintage Motobecane mixte, she is currently in the process of being saved from elimination (or being butchered, depending on your perspective). God, I guess I do have too many bikes!

Solar Tsunami - Waves in the Sky

From Thursday night's Aurora event, this photo was made at the moment when the Northern lights transitioned from being "so-so" to SPECTACULAR. The colors and movement started on the left side of the frame, and within seconds a line moved very quickly all the way across to the right, then upwards into the sky. Along the bottom edge of the lights was a line of purple and white color, everything above that was green. The bottom edge of the aurora was waving up and down and back and forth. The whole sky was shimmering with waves of light. It is a memory and image that will live in the forefront of my mind for a long time to come!

A Riverview Site

One of the advantages of having an annual site is that you can pick any spot in the park to plunk down on. One of the advantages to doing lottery and driving the park is when a great spot opens up, you see it right away. Which was the case a few weeks ago. As I drove through the park, looking for empty sites, I saw something that shocked me. One of my favorite spots that had been occupied by an annual site member, was now opened up. I drove back to the office and asked for permission to move to it. Then I went home and asked Nathan if he was ok with moving to it. Normally I would do that in reverse, but I knew if I waited then the site would be gone!



We are now on the end of a dead end road. Our side only has two spots, counting us. We are fortunate to have Rich and Donna behind us. Two of the spots on the other side of the road are annual sites with friendly neighbors also. And the site one away from Rich and Donna is the same way. So we are surrounded by great people that will remain neighbors for longer than two weeks at a time.



As great as they all are, the real draw is that this is now our "front yard".





More of the front yard view:



Most of the side yard is the part that joins with Rich and Donna's yard. Some of it empties into a hiking trail.




We are loving it here so far. It is so peaceful and we have a bit of space to spread out in, especially if we have company. The beautiful weather has meant that Nathan can work outside in the tent, and enjoy working without people walking by all day long. It helps him to not feel so cooped up inside and it gives me some space to get away from "work" when I am at home. We are already toying with the idea of renewing the site for next year!



Living the life in gorgeous Florida!

Super Summit

Recent news begins with Dave Uberauga's and Randy King's successful ascent of the mountain last Saturday. If you don't know, Dave is Superintendent and Randy is the Deputy Superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park. Perhaps you haven't seen them much on the mountain because they have been rather busy with the flood recovery, Paradise construction projects, new guide services and routine "day to day" business of the park since their last attempt in 2006.

We're all smiles in this summit photo, taken after a 6 - 1/2 hour ascent from Camp Muir up the DC-Emmons variation. On Saturday, we found excellent conditions: firm snow, light winds, great boot-track (though LONG). Somehow, a rather sizable rock wedged into Dave's crampons (he's on the left in the photo) at Cathedral Gap and he carried it to 12,300ft before discovering the handicap! Randy (right in photo) wasn't interested in extra weight, and stayed focused on technique since his last 3 summit attempts were thwarted by rescues and/or bad weather.

Aside from climbing, they spent the better part of Thursday and Friday talking to the public, guides, climbing rangers and Ted (guru of all things "essential" at Camp Muir) to get a sense of the mountain action. The main points of attention were the Camp Muir plan (which addresses facility and toilet deficiencies) and the new guide service operations.

CLIMBING AND ROUTES: This is that time of year when some of Mt Rainier's climbing routes begin to really loose their fancy with climbers and skiers. It's not that they are "closed" or "unclimbable," it's just that experienced climbers generally get nervous when too much of the route is threatened by rockfall or blocked by gaping crevasses. As an example, a few teams attempted Liberty and Ptarmigan last week; neither were able to get "on route" due to the hazards/obstacles.

SAFETY: And speaking of crevasses - go to the Muir Snowfield. Look for a thin gash in the ice near 9,200 feet (top of Moon Rocks). I'm sure it will grow, and I'm sure there will be more. And how about another safety reminder? Wear your helmet when climbing to the summit! Also, the weather has been quite warm. When it is, expect soft snow by late morning and early afternoon. This could be welcome news to some (b/c it's easier on the knees) however others may find it difficult to descend when the snow and slush "ball up" in their crampons. Crampons "balling up" can sometimes lead to a serious fall (esp. when left unchecked)...

Ceasar Salad and Carrot Cake in Amsterdam

Earlier this month Blondine and I went to our favourite cafes in Amsterdam: Caffe PC in PC Hooftstraat and Esprit Café in Spui. We normally have lunch in Caffe PC and I always choose a salad from the menu while Blondine a sandwich. This time I ordered their Ceasar Salad which looked so scrummy.



This is indeed a delicious Ceasar Salad and I am giving this 5 stars. Nice when its paired with a chilled Chardonnay. Caffe PC also has really good gourmet little roll breads.



After an afternoon of window shopping and lots of walking, we went to Esprit Café for their yummylicious carrot cake. I think they have the best carrot cake that I have ever tried. And so as not to pile up more calories than we already had for the day, we decided to share the cake. Fresh mint tea was perfect to go with this nice scrumptious afternoon temptation.



The carrot cake is of course 5 stars.



Visit Period: June

Destination: Amsterdam (North Holland), The Netherlands

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