NaNoWriMo

I may be kind of quiet on this blog for the next month. For some inexplicable reason, I have signed up for NaNoWriMo this year, and will (with a great deal of luck) be expending my energy on that, churning out what will likely be complete drivel to the tune of 50,000 words over the course of November. I don’t know how much cycling I’m likely to get in, as the days get shorter and the rains begin in earnest. So that’s where I’ll likely be spending most of my free time, and will probably be posting updates as the spirit moves me over on my other blog, Filling Spaces. If you are also demented enough to be participating in this month-long exercise, please stop by and chat, or friend me on NaNo, Digital Dame.

For the artsy types out there, I ran across a similar adventure with you in mind, Art Every Day Month. It’s not organized to the level NaNoWriMo is, but NaNo is in its tenth year now, and AEDM seems to be a new venture. Sure, I know, just what you need, something else to do.

Mt. Hood

Here’s what Mt. Hood looked like on my way home Friday. As you can see, by the time I got to this point the sun was mostly down (this was around 6:00pm or so) which I was actually kind of grateful for. Most of the way the sun was at that exact position where it’s low enough that the sun visor on my helmet was of no use, so it was directly in my eyes, forcing me to look down at the pavement for most of the ride, only looking up occasionally to watch for cars pulling out in front of me from driveways and side streets and such. This was the best shot I could get quickly, sans tripod:

It was pretty hazy, but you can see the mountain is already covered with a nice layer of snow.

I used the camera’s “Simple” (aka auto) mode. For the camera buffs, here are the specs:
Date: Friday, October 24, 2008, 6:05:05 PM
Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ7
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture value: F4.0
ISO sensitivity: ISO80
Exposure +/-: 0.00
White Balance: AUTO
Flash: OFF
Quality: Standard

And I thought it was cold the other day…

Wow, was it cold this morning. Thirty-two (count ‘em, 32) degrees Fahrenheit when I left my house this morning. Layering is king. Had the bike shorts under the leggings as usual, but that’s not really going to cut it if it gets any colder. You know how your skin turns red when it’s cold? My legs looked like I had 3rd degree burns by the time I got to work. I had my wool hiking socks on, wasn’t sure if they’d fit in the biking shoes but they did. My toes were still nearly frostbitten, must look into those toe covers for the shoes. Shirts– I had two on: the bikey shirt, then a cotton t-shirt, then the arm warmers, then the windbreaker jacket. Not too bad, but could have been a smidge warmer. Perhaps a fleece vest? The new gloves were better than the fingerless, but until I really got warmed up my fingertips were still frigid. I think that’s more of a circulation problem, I’m not sure anything short of those arctic gloves will help and they’re too bulky to ride with. Face and neck weren’t too bad, but again any colder and I’ll want one of those balaclava things.

It was so dark when I dropped the car at my usual spot, the sky was still pitch black and the stars were shining brightly. Orion was up, and I could even see the nebula. I wished I had my telescope! It didn’t even start getting light until nearly 7:00. There was slightly more traffic to light the road this morning, but I didn’t really push it, still took it kind of slow watching for road hazards and critters that might be about.

It’ll be warmer on the way home, supposed to hit about 60ºF today so I brought the fingerless gloves and won’t put on quite all the layers this afternoon. It promises to be really pretty so I am very much looking forward to riding on a perfect autumn afternoon. Since I haven’t been riding lately, everytime I pass or see a cyclist on the road in this fine autumn weather all I could think about was getting back on the bike. I’m hoping to get some pictures on the way home, so I’ll be taking my time. If it’s clear enough I’ll get the promised shot of Mt. Hood.

More Creepy Goodness

Might as well stick with the Halloween theme, since I haven’t been doing any biking since I got sick last week.

I found this article on haunted lighthouses. Everybody loves lighthouses anyway, although I have to say the older styles are much more aesthetically pleasing. I found some photos online of some lighthouses in Japan, which seem to be quite modern in design, and in use by their military (maybe that’s why they were so ugly.) They looked more like traffic control towers. The only one of the lighthouses mentioned in the article at Coastal Living that I have been to is Heceta Head on the Oregon coast, and I can tell you the view is breathtaking. I took this photo when I was out there a few years ago:

(Click on the photo to enlarge). The lightkeeper’s house is on the right, a short walk from the actual lighthouse. The rocks below were covered with sea lions sunning themselves, it was a very mild March day. The photo is not the greatest, this was before I had a digital camera and had to scan in a photo. We didn’t actually have time to go into the lighthouse (not sure if it was open that day). I know someone who did in fact get engaged out there, so they’re not making it up in the article about how romantic it is. I didn’t know at the time that it was haunted, but Rue sounds like a very pleasant ghost to have around if she’s willing to sweep up messes for people.

There are plenty of other haunted lighthouses, some of which you can find on Haunted Lighthouses.

Happy Hauntings!

Help Protect Sea Turtles In/From the Bahamas

Another Turtle Alert, from Oceana:

While you might think of the Bahamas as a place of great natural beauty, believe it or not, it is perfectly legal there to kill every species of sea turtle except the hawksbill. Since turtles are highly migratory, what happens in the Bahamas affects turtle populations in the U.S. We need your help today to get the Bahamian government to end the killing of sea turtles.

Tell the Bahamas to Stop the Killing »

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists all seven sea turtle species as ‘threatened’ or ‘endangered.’ Five of the seven species inhabit the Bahamas — green, loggerhead, leatherback, hawksbill, and olive ridley sea turtles. Since sea turtles are known to migrate between waters of the U.S. and Bahamas, turtle conservation efforts in the US are hindered by the lack of adequate protections in the Bahamas.

The Bahamas Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources has proposed a rule that will enhance sea turtle conservation by prohibiting all harvest, purchase, and sale of sea turtles and turtle products.

We need your help to convince the Bahamas to move forward with this rule to protect sea turtles. Please take action today to help us get better international protection for these ancient mariners.

For the oceans,
Elizabeth Griffin
Marine Wildlife Scientist
Oceana

If you’re outside the US, please take a second to personalize the letter, as it specifically states “As a citizen of the US…” It’s a short letter to read through, feel free to personalize it as you see fit.

Once again, the turtles and I thank you.

Trees, glorious trees

Just a little tree porn. When I got up this morning, I saw one of the maples in my backyard has transformed into its flaming red fall best.

It took me forever to get a shot I was happy with. Even this doesn’t really do it justice. The leaves are so bright red they look like they’re glowing, even in this dim cloudy morning light. One of these days I really need to learn to use a camera. Maybe it will look better on your monitor than it does on mine.

What I did on my sick day at home

It’s been a very long time since I was sick and had to stay home from work. Out of habit, I woke up early, fed the cats, got some breakfast, checked e-mail, and by 10:30 was back in bed for a nap.

Then, after I woke up, I did the unthinkable: I turned on the tv. Yes, it’s true. And as if daytime tv isn’t scary enough all by itself, I turned on the Travel Channel to watch about 3 hours of shows about haunted hotels. How fun is that? ‘Tis the season and all. I’m not into the gore-fest that is American Halloween, but ghosts and the supernatural seem, well, natural this time of year. It was the usual stuff about the Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, Gettysburg, PA, the Tower of London, the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, but there were a bunch of places I’d never heard of with stories of ghosts I’d not heard before. The hotels as always attract the curious who seem to go because they place is reputed to be haunted, but when they experience something odd, they bolt. I don’t get that. If you go to see ghosts, why do you freak out when you see one? Some folks were more nonchalant about it, and seemed to take the otherworldly inhabitants in stride, and some seemed downright fond of their resident spectres. In one hotel a guest checked in, got to his room, and flopped down on the bed exhausted and fell asleep still fully dressed without even pulling a blanket over himself. When he woke, he was covered by a blanket that had been tucked in all around him. I thought that was awfully nice of the ghost to do.

So after my haunted hotel marathon, I did some surfing to see what my location boasted in the way of ghostly attractions. Portland is home to the the Shanghai Tunnels, reputed to be one of the 10 most haunted places in America (according to the Travel Channel). Then there’s the Portland Haunted Tour, although I wasn’t able to get their own web site to come up. The article in the link is two years old, so it’s possible they’re not still operating. Beyond Bizarre Portland Walking Tours seems more promising. I found mention of them on a local newschannel web site as of October 15, 2008. They also claim to have a ”proven” clairvoyant on board with them. Now if I can just con someone into going with me… I’ve been to the Scream at the Beach, which is a bunch of lame “haunted houses” set up inside various buildings in a strip mall. It’s crowded, it’s expensive, and if you’re over 12 nothing will scare you, except the people hawking cheap merchandise while you wait in line to go in. I’m not into the gore fest aspect of the holiday as I’ve mentioned before, so seeing cheesy mock-ups of severed (plastic) body parts is not my idea of a good All Hallows Eve. Pulling out the ouija board, reading Tarot cards, taking flowers to the cemetery, holding a dumb supper – all good. I guess honoring the dead isn’t creepy enough for most people.

The End of Riding Season?

Looks like the rains are beginning. It’s pretty dreary out there today, although it hasn’t been too bad earlier this week. Unfortunately I came down with a pretty severe cold Monday night, which put the kibosh on my plans to ride into work on Tuesday. I spent most of Monday evening getting everything ready: packed the panniers, cleaned and lubed the bike chain, got the rack on the car for the morning.  Dangit, I really wanted a chance to test out those new gloves I bought.  I managed to make it in to work for half the day, but had to drive. I’m still home sick now after trying to tough it out again yesterday but only lasting half the day again. So obviously no riding this week.

So now that we’re officially into flu season, you may be thinking I should hustle in for a flu shot. Nuthin’ doing. I never get them, and haven’t had the flu since… well, I can’t remember the last time I had an actual flu infection. 1990? Year after year now we get reports of how ineffective the vaccines are, I see no point in letting anyone inject me with unknown substances. It seems to be particularly ineffective for small children. Here’s an excerpt from an article in U.S. News & World Report on how little good they do in young children:

However, after they adjusted for flu risk factors — such as a child’s location, sex, insurance status, chronic health conditions or timing of the vaccine — the effectiveness of the vaccine could no longer be shown. The effectiveness of the flu shot ranged from 7 percent to 52 percent for 6- to 59-month-old children who had been fully vaccinated, the researchers found.

An article in the New York Times on September 8, 2008 also calls into question the efficacy of the shots in those over 70:

A growing number of immunologists and epidemiologists say the vaccine probably does not work very well for people over 70, the group that accounts for three-fourths of all flu deaths.

Kinda makes you wonder who’s scratching whose back.

As for riding, I guess I will be hoping for some decent weekend days to get out and ride.

Final Numbers for the Bike Commute Challenge

So here’s the final tally:

2008 Results

Participating workplaces: 1,073
Participating riders: 10,689
Miles biked: 1,235,219

This compares to 2007

2007 Results

Participating workplaces: 888
Participating riders: 9,746
Miles ridden: 922,835
Trips by bike: 101,269

It’s definitely growing. And this was the fourth year, it started in 2005. I’m still logging my bike trips on the BTA’s Web site, helps me keep track of how much I’m riding and spur me to ride more when I slack off. I finally broke the 500-mile mark on my bike last week when I rode in!

First Highway Ride

I finally did something I’ve wanted to do since I got my bike. I rode it to the bike shop where it was originally purchased! This may not seem like much of a feat, but it’s a nine-mile ride, on a very busy 4-lane highway. However, gas prices being what they are (and I realize this is relative, we’re whining about $3.xx/gal which I’m sure seems downright cheap to folks in other countries, but we’re still trying to acclimatize our brains to the meteoric rise in prices in just a few short months), I try not to take the car out of the garage on weekends if I don’t have to. Since I wanted to go get a new pair of warm gloves to ride with, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to see if I was fearless (foolhardy?) enough to take to the highway on the bike.

When I was a teenager, I had a 10-speed bike that I rode all over, even down the highway to school, and thought nothing of it. But that was a loooooong time ago (we won’t go into how long) and I’m not immortal anymore.

I did try stopping in at a local retail store of a national bike store chain to see if they might have something. I was very disappointed. Their selection of women’s gloves was abysmal, I think they had two styles with full fingers, and only one or two sizes of each. I found one pair that might have suited, but couldn’t figure out the price. They were tagged with one price, but the rod they were hanging on showed a different price. There was a sign on the display wall saying “All Gloves 15% off”, so when the store employee checked the price and quote the higher price on the tag, I said “but they’re on sale, right?” and he said, “No.” I was a little cheesed off, so I left with no gloves.

It just always felt kind of silly driving to a bike shop… so I was very proud of myself for making the trip by bike. For the most part it all went well. I was zooming along in top gear downhill, when I hit some lump of badly patched pavement and heard an odd noise. I thought maybe it was a rattly car or truck on the road, and nothing felt different so I kept going, until I heard a car horn honk, and I stopped and looked and one of my panniers had popped off back when I’d hit that bump. Ugh. Right about then I heard tires squeal… I think whoever had honked was trying to get my attention to tell me I’d lost the pannier, and when I didn’t stop right away, they were probably trying to get over in traffic to tell me. Now I felt really bad, someone nearly got rear-ended trying to be nice. Suddenly I wasn’t feeling so smug about riding down the highway instead of taking the car. But who knows, maybe the tire squeal had nothing to do with it. I hope. So to whoever that kind person was who tried to alert me to the missing pannier (which I was able to ride back and retrieve) thank you very much. They’ve never popped off before, but I think since I really had almost nothing in it, there was nothing to weigh it down so gravity wasn’t helping. Normally I have a fair amount of stuff in each one when I bike commute to work. Anyway, I took my heavy chain lock off the seat post where I’d had it wrapped, and dropped it in the pannier. That seemed to do the trick, no further problems. Oh, except I did take a rock in the side of the head. I think it was kicked up by the tire of a passing SUV. Nothing serious, startled me, but no blood drawn. I’ve certainly sent my share flying with my bike tires, I guess it’s just one of the road hazards I can expect from time to time.

I only wish I’d taken my camera. The road I was on is a straight line to Mt. Hood for part of it, and the mountain has a new coating of snow. It was the first time for several days that we’ve seen it at all. It’s been socked in with clouds and fog lately, but Saturday it was clear, quite a sight. But, since I was planning to do more shopping on the way home, I didn’t want to haul the camera around with me. Darn. Next time.