july rains bring

If April showers bring May flowers, what do July rains bring?

For Jon, it's mushrooms. While mowing the lawn last week he found a few small boletes. Now the hunt is on. For Jon is a collector, a gatherer. When nature provides a bounty, Jon will be ready with his mushroom knife or his berry-picking buckets. (August is for berries.) The garage will smell like mushrooms for awhile as the dehydrator shrinks the slices overnight until the season is over.

Biking into work yesterday, for a moment I thought to myself, "Wow, I really pulled away from him on my single speed." Alas, he had pulled off the path to gather some 'shrooms. So, on the way home I rode slowly as he searched for his mushrooms, taking us onto different streets, off the route of the direct commute, where I took time to look around and was rewarded with this:

I like how the sculptor used real antlers to top off the creation.

Standing sentinel over a steep bank along a narrow side street.

Yesterday some of my friends were going to bicycle parts of the Anchorage Garden Tour. I was thinking of them on part of my ride, hoping they had been equally delighted by what they saw.

tailwinds

Rob (Bob), Andrew and Mike with their LHTs

Tomorrow the journey begins for three fellows from Australia. After email & phone discussions and a visit to the shop earlier in the week, they're ready to pedal north toward Fairbanks, get a lift to Prudhoe Bay and ride down the continent to points south.

Whenever someone mentions a cycle tour I want to drop everything and go along... though the Haul Road wouldn't be my first choice... maybe I could just meet up with them in Whitehorse? Would Jon mind or would he like to join in the caravan? I roll the idea around in my head and promise to plan a trip. The list is growing.

This afternoon, after the guys rolled away on their Long Haul Truckers, Jon told me that it reminded him of when we pedaled away from a shop on the outskirts of Auckland, NZ four-and-a-half years ago. After an overnight flight from LA and a few hours assembling our bikes and equipment, we pointed our bikes down the road for our month-long adventure. Excitement, mystery, anxiety, happiness. Hoping I could handle the weight in my trailer. Not knowing where we would spend a single night. It was our first tour but we were as prepared as we needed to be. After the month was up, I didn't want to get on that flight home. I wanted to keep riding.

The years fly by. Work and other commitments prevail. In the silly survey in the previous post I tried to answer the question of what route I would want to ride everyday. Funny how my thoughts traveled back to the islands so far from here as I remembered some of the spectacular days spent on the bike. The riding on the Coromandel, on the warm North Island.

Dipping into the ocean afterward.

The first ride on the South Island on Queen Charlotte Drive.

The ride along the west coast toward Punakaiki, the beautiful backroads from the west coast to the east through Lewis Pass, including the full day of riding in the rain between Rotherham and Kaikora.

Jon soaking up the sun in Ikamatua.

It's the act of pedaling from one town to the next. The people we encountered along the way. The varied accommodations. The wonderfulness of occasionally having a real bath towel and clean sheets. Produce grown ten paces from the restaurant kitchen. As I scroll through the photos I remember even more. It's a beautifully simple way to travel and live. One just has to decide to begin.

it

I was minding my own business reading Tim's blog when I checked to see who Julie was (besides being the person who "tagged" Tim). I've read some things on her site before. Maybe I should ask her about getting a counter because I have no idea how many people are stopping by for a visit. While on Julie's site, I learned that I was also tagged. Being tagged is kind of validating, like being picked not last for the kickball team. Late bloomers everywhere will know what I'm saying...

On the other hand, now I feel a duty to answer the questions that I had only lightly pondered as I read other people's responses. So, as honestly as possible, here goes.

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be? At a time? This is very tough. On the one hand, I love mountain biking on my full-suspension bike, but I would want it to also be winter-worthy and a good bike to take on a long tour. Could I give up any of these, or could I be a serial bike owner? I guess I'll vote for full-susp.

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why? Some places come to mind. I love the part of my commute that goes through the woods in Bicentennial Park - winter, summer, fall, it's great. Then there are trails I've biked that have their own beauty; in the desert or pine needle-covered forest. The JEM Trail & Gould's Rim in S. Utah stand out.

But, if I'm going to do this route for the rest of my life, it better be easy. It'll be a loop that will take me from my house to the coffee shop to meet friends, then to a book store and maybe a produce market. I'll be in my 80s, so I'll be riding a classic mixtie with baskets and maybe there'll be room to carry an easel because I'd have taken up painting. Part of the route will be dirt and go through a park with a stream. (Let me know if you find this place.)

What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to to do for the rest of her / his life? Maybe some kind of control freak who won't let that person travel... ever. (I'm not talking about my husband; we do travel w/our bikes, just not enough.)

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded? I do ride both, but I prefer riding my mountain bikes. I love riding through the woods on the trails, getting away from the noise and the traffic and seeing a little nature.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent. Ok, I can't deny it. Around the turn of the millennium, our shop carried BikeE recumbents. We had a demo model and I'd hurt my back so decided to give it a try by riding it home from work then back in the next day - about 7 miles or so each way. It had rear suspension so I took it on the singletracks along the Chester Creek Trail. Pedaling up the hills was kind of tough, but I didn't want the shame of walking, so I toughed it out.

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss? Again, guilty. Here in Anchorage, there are four women's racing events that qualify athletes to earn a Triple-finisher patch. Do three and you get the patch. Do all four and get the patch & a gold start. In 2005, I did three events: Ski for Women, Bike for Women and Run for Women. When I received my patch in the mail along with a letter that said only about a dozen earned the gold star I set my sites on doing all the events the next year...my friends also strongly encouraged me to do it because it would be "fun."

The fourth event? The Gold Nugget Triathlon. I signed up for training, set my goals, took swimming lessons and rode my trainer in the garage and ran through the neighborhood. It really cut into my spring commuting, I'll admit that. The day of the event was hard. I could barely get out of the pool, was not as fast as I wanted on the bike but managed to run fast enough that I met my goal of under 1-1/2 hours (by about 30 seconds), thereby permitting me to say I'd met my goal and don't have to do it again.

I floss every day and have never tried to strangle myself with floss... it's my friend.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why? Ice cream wouldn't be that tough to give up. After all, there's yogurt, custard, gelato, sherbet, creme brule. Now tell me what can substitute for a bicycle?

What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it. What is the next great bike technology? It will be think-shifting. Your bike will read your thoughts via a chip in your brain and shift when you want. It will have a bypass if you're not smart enough to know you want to shift. It will also understand and use the trim feature on a road bike and cause a slight headache if you try to tell it to crosschain. It will be made by Shimano and build off their Coasting technology, but lighter.

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do? Do you mean what have I done? Skidded to a stop, elevated my heart rate, climbed off the bike, backed away a few steps, started talking loudly, maybe reached for my camera (I know that's nuts & I only did it once), watched as the bear walked away. Started shaking head to toe. All, not necessarily in that order.

Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.

Corinne
Katherine
Diana

the odyssey

On days that I don't work at the shop, Jon calls home just before he leaves to let me know when to expect him. The other night the message on the answering machine was, "This is Odysseus. I've finished slaying people, so I'll be coming home now." So, the thing about The Odyssey is there's lots of killing. Slaying with swords, bow and arrows, sharpened branch. All your early weapons. Then, throw in the wrath of Poseidon. Man!

There's also lots of slaughtering of animals, offerings to gods and mixing of wine. Plus affairs, trickery and gods meddling in the lives of humans. News traveled slowly and one could never know if the news was real. (Unlike today when the news is instantaneous and, well, if it's on the interweb it must be true. Right? I digress...)

Mostly The Odyssey is a quest by one man to reach home after many years held captive. By a beautiful nymph, I should add. And his son's quest to find out if he's still alive. And his wife Penelope's quest to hold off the suiters who are eating and drinking all the food and wine in the house she shared with Odysseus.

It's a fascinating read. I loved the descriptions and sense of place and time. (Have a map handy while you read it.) Now I'm set to read something just a little more modern. Maybe something written after the invention of the printing press.

Follow-up: in the time it took for me to begin this post and to edit it for you, I've begun another book. In a little section I read today, the author refers to the patience of Penelope as she awaits the return of her husband... Ulysses. I know! And she's a journalist! Now, the reason I began reading The Odyssey was: I heard a story on NPR in which they were discussing how to appreciate James Joyce's Ulysses, one should read The Odyssey. So, I imagine the author was making that same connection. And it reminded me that I should finish editing this post. I'm still not ready for Ulysses. But if it keeps raining...

Thanks for reading.

bike art

Rae set her bike on the ground for a few minutes this evening. She picked it up just after the sprinkles started, leaving this stencil on the pavement.

manbearpig and other sightings

Jon and I hit some of the trails last night on the way home from work. At the top of Viewpoint, we saw this sign. I saw one of these out at Kincaid last week. Apparently the hunt is still on for manbearpig. No sign of Al Gore.

Jon wonders why he didn't think to post this sign.

Later, riding near the ponds, we were aware of the most recent trail user. Yeah, that's a big one. Glad I was riding with Jon. I started making a little more noise. Especially after I saw a couple piles of scat. Well, find a partner and go for a ride in Bicentennial Park. You'll likely have the trails to yourselves (except for the critters).

pigs!!

I had kind of a bummer week. I was feeling tired and blue. Maybe it's the weather; maybe I've been dreaming too much about other places I'd like to be (I guess that's weather-related too). In short, I was kind of feeling sorry for myself.

Then Saturday rolled around. For most, that's the day to sleep in, do chores and maybe catch up on some fun with friends. For us, it was a day to be at work early, and also prepare to go to a party after work. Our friends were getting married and, coincidently, it was our tenth anniversary. Still, I didn't feel much like celebrating.

But the card from Jon on the dining room table told me he was looking forward to the next 10 years and I felt a little guilty that my attitude kept me from picking up a card for him... I know; that's how sad I was. Then he asked me to open the curtain over the window that looks out onto the back yard.

And, there they were: Pigs!
Two pigs in the back yard and suddenly I was a little kid.
Pigs! On their little round steel legs and with curly spring tails.
In the tall grass that couldn't be mowed on Thursday because of the rain.
They look up toward the window. I see them and smile.

And I told Jon that if I felt any stress at work I would just think of the pigs.

Kitty checks out the new pet.

We've been ten years married and even longer together. Sometimes I forget to stop and appreciate the many things Jon does. This? How can I forget when he does something that is so perfect?

Kitty appreciates Jon too.