October 27, 2009
~ Poison Creek Road ~
Ride: Poison Creek Road, Owyhees
Ride Time: 3 hours 7 minutes
Total Distance: 29.4 miles
Max Speed: 27.4 mph
Average Speed: 9.4 mph
On Saturday, Josh and I decided to venture down to the Owyhees for a fun day of mountain biking. It's been quite a while since we last went that way; the most recent episodes were unsuccessful due to some terrible road/trail conditions. After the recent rain brought better trail conditions to the Boise foothills, I hypothesized that conditions in the Owyhees would have likewise improved. My logic proved correct.
We decided to ride Poison Creek Road because we wanted to maximize our chances of having a good, fun, and awesome ride. In exploring these Owyhee roads and trails, there can be a lot of hit or miss. Poison Creek Road, we have learned from experience, is a definite hit.
The wind was blowing strong on Saturday. For most of the climbs we had a tail wind, which made a lot of the climbing feel easy. There were a few hard climbs where we averaged 3 or 4 mph, but for most of the ride we were sailing along. All of this means, however, that the descent required more effort to keep the speed going. Gravity also helped and hindered us differently - - for instance, at one point on a mild grade slightly downward, I was pedaling with considerable effort alongside Josh who was coasting and even tapping his breaks to remain parallel to me. There was some awesome downhill moments, though because of the wind I only topped out at 27 mph - - Josh said he hit close to 40 mph. Gravity, hmph.
At the end of the ride, we went to Freddy's Taco stand in Marsing. This is our standard post-ride meal for when we're in that region of the Owyhees. The food is very affordable and incredibly delicious, made more delicious from the effort exerted on the ride. I got two beef tacos with rice and beans (for $5.50) and a strawberry soda - - YUM!!!
More photos on my photoset.
October 25, 2009
~ fall colors, a knitting update ~
Fall continues to bring a renewed excitement for knitting. At present, I have two big sweater projects that are nearing completion. As a result of their nearing-completion status, I recently cast on for an entirely different project. Finishing a big knitting project can be overwhelming for me. It is stressful because it reveals whether all of my work was worthwhile. My mind swims amid questions of whether it will fit me well, whether it will flatter my physique, whether I will even like the finished project. Under such stress, I have difficulty continuing, and so I focus my attention on another project.
My current focus is on theHoneybee Cardigan. I've read Laura's blog for a while, and when she first introduced her Honeybee Cardigan, I was struck by how pretty and wonderful it was. I knew that I would cast on in no time.
The honeybee stitch pattern is surprisingly easy. The pattern includes a photographic demonstration of the slightly more complex part of the pattern, which is extremely useful. The designer credits Barbara Walker with the stitch pattern, which reinforces my understanding that she was a knitting genius. The stitch pattern looks very complicated, but it is achieved in a straightforward six row repeat that I have had no difficultly committing to memory.
I'm using Koigu Premium Merino sock yarn in denim blue. Watching this cardigan come to life in this yarn is wonderful.
You remember Otis. This is my version of a popular Drops cabled jacket. As you can see, Otis is almost finished - - he just needs a few more rows along the yoke and then a hood. Because I made the choice to not follow the pattern, I am now struggling to figure out how to finish the yoke. This is a hard one for me and I've already frogged a few variations because I wasn't satisfied. I am confident that I will figure out a way to make it work, I just need to concentrate...something I don't wanna do right now.
And here is the status on Open Range, the cabled yoke pullover I've designed. I'm working on finishing up the sleeves and then it will be done. I am very pleased with how this one has turned out. Planning apparently pays off!
The only thing keeping me from finishing it is worrying about whether my high expectations for awesomeness will come to reality.
October 20, 2009
~ riding update ~
Autumn is a glorious time for mountain biking. I love the crisp air and the changing colors. As much as I adore summer, the heat and the dry, dusty trails can get old. In the last few weeks, we've had a little bit of rain which has been wonderful to improve the trail conditions in the foothills. They had become so dry and dusty that I developed a preference for riding elsewhere.
Big weekend adventures have peetered off a bit, but I have continued to ride. Here's a small update.
I continue to take myself on solo skills practicing rides over in the Tablerock Rock Garden area. There are a number of challenging rock obstacles that I have been tackling. Once I conquer an obstacle, I make myself ride it for a second time to make sure that the skill sticks.
Last weekend, I went on a cardio ride with Elizabeth on Sunday morning. She wanted to conquer the full Dump Loop as a cardio milestone in her training, and to even the playing field, we both rode our mountain bikes. Though, my bike is significantly lighter than hers, so I don't know how it was an even playing field. Anyway. We started the ride at 9:00 a.m. when it was 31 degrees, and it was 42 degrees by the time that I returned home, around noon. Brr! Magically, I dressed perfectly and was never too cold nor was I ever too warm. I wore two pairs of angora socks, booties, tights, my expensive Castelli long sleeve jersey (which was really so worth the money!), a windbreaker, cold weather gloves, and a skull cap. Elizabeth wore only her cycling shorts and a jersey, and while she is much more warm blooded than I am, she seemed to be FREEZING the entire time. After the ride, we went to the SunRay cafe in Hyde Park for some lunch. I had coffee, tomato basil soup, and an AMAZING sandwich with pastrami, pepperoni, and a garlic muffaletta. YUM!!!
I've also taken up a new mountain biking partner, Karen who works at the bike shop. She has an incredible amount of mountain biking racing experience behind her and it's been a whole new experience riding with her. Two Friday's ago, I took the afternoon off of work and went on a ride with her and Josh. Then, this Saturday, Karen and I rode some of the trails in the westerly foothills, ending up at the Velodrome. There was a bike demo event for Trek and Karen knew the female overseeing all of the 2010 bikes, so we all had a lengthy chat. During the course of the conversation, it came out that this female is dating a famous Tour de France commentator and Karen and I could not get over that juicy piece of information.
By the end of that ride, Karen had pulled out five goatheads from her tires. She runs tubeless and never had to deal with the pain of changing a flat tire. Witnessing the effectiveness of tubeless tires, and Karen advocating for them, I am thinking about going tubeless myself. Just last week alone, I had to fix four flat tires after riding in the foothills. This year seems to have been particularly bad for the goatheads and I am so tired of fixing flats. GAR!
In other gear news, last week I switched from Schimano XT (with an XTR derailler) to SRAM X9. I have been having so many issues with my shifting; I'm hoping to have a significantly improved experience with SRAM. So far so good.
October 13, 2009
~ Hagerman Horse Fossils & Box Canyon ~
On Saturday, Josh and I had an adventure in Gooding County. The ultimate destination of our adventure was to trek over to the Hagerman area to learn about the famed horse fossils and to have a hike down and through Box Canyon. However, we began the day's adventure by first going to Wendel because I had read that Wendel would be celebrating its 100 year anniversary. We were thus expecting some kind of celebratory happenings in Wendel, however, we found no festivities. We found, in fact, not much even worth celebrating. Of all the southern Idaho small towns, Wendel is one of the least noteworthy. We decided that we had to experience something in Wendel, and so we had lunch at a Wendellian Mexican restaruant, thereby throwing some dollars into the community. The Wendellian Mexican food was, much like the town, unremarkable.
Compared to Wendel, Hagerman (a much smaller town, population 800ish) is a super cute small town. There is a quirky antique shop along the main road, it features typical 'Old West' building fronts, and is settled in an interesting valley filled with basalt boulders that was formed by the flooding of Lake Bonneville in Utah millions of years ago (as we subsequently learned).
Upon arriving in Hagerman, we immediately went to the National Parks Visitor's Center for the Fossil Beds. Welcoming vistors who walk through the door, is a complete fossilized horse. The horse is positioned so close to the door that it's a little alarming. Josh, in a typical moment of silliness, after almost running into the horse, asked the Park Ranger if there were any horse fossils around that he could check out. Nyuck, nyuck.
The Center is fairly small, but very informative. I found myself feeling enriched from the learning experience. I read everything, learning all about the history and the geology of the region, including the various theories about why there is such an abundance of horse fossils in the Hagerman Valley. Being the only visitors at the Center, the Park Ranger took some additional time to talk with us. One thing I found interesting was the difference between Mastadons and Mammoths (as there are also fossilized Mastadon remains in the area). We also watched an educational video about the Hagerman Valley as it was millions of years ago.
Then, we went to the Historical Museum and perused their exhibits. Josh engaged the museum attendant in conversation for most of the time. That seems to be the best way to experience these small town museums - - the exhibits are few and the most interesting information is contained in the hearts and minds of the local museum attendants..
Adjacent to the museum is a cute cafe. With its discovery, I had wished that we hadn't eaten lunch at the Wendellian Mexican restaurant, as this cafe was a more quality establishment. We did, however, procure some coffees to go. Josh said that his mocha was particularly good and I was very impressed with my drip coffee.
We then made our way to the Box Canyon trailhead for a hike. It was about a mile from the trailhead to the canyon, along a fairly unremarkable trail. As we approached the canyon, Josh and I took the opportunity to poke fun at some overly dramatic signs.
We hiked along the extremely dangerous canyon rim for a while, until we found a trail that took us down into the canyon. There, we hiked a trail that took us along a creek that emerged from the rocks at the beginning of the canyon. It was very pretty. The water was perfectly clear and we could see green algae and colorful rocks under the water. Along the creek was lush folliage of a remarkably diverse variety. I took a ridiculous number of photos.
At some point, I had a rude startling while minding my own business, taking a bazillion photos. I had found these pretty flowers and they all had bugs on them. I was trying to get the perfect photo of the flower and bug, when one of the bugs jumped out and hit me hard in the eye. Ouch!
At another point, while I was taking some other photos, I swept my person along some poisonous plantlife and instantly developed a stinging rashy thing on my leg and hands. Eep!
The trail in the canyon was neat. The creek travels partially underground, and at several points along the trail, it is evident that you are walking over the water. There are a few sink holes in the trail where a person could easily slip and fall into the underground waters.
The trail eventually comes to a diversion dam, where the water pools into a very pretty space along the canyon. Here, there were all of these eerie dead trees in the water. I tried to photograph their eerie-ness...
More photos on my photoset.
October 5, 2009
~ Cheesehands ~
Pattern: Cheesehands
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino
Needles: US1
The weather took a turn for the crappy this weekend, and I opted to stay indoors, knit my Cheesehands, and watch programs on my computer. This explains possibly the fastest completed project in my knitting history. That, or perhaps I was totally excited and couldn't wait to get them done. Either way, behold my Cheesehands - - doubleknit fingerless mittens.
In knitting parlance, the term "startitis" refers to when a knitter continues to cast on for projects despite having (possibly a lot of) unfinished projects. While I consider this term a misnomer - - particularly in my case, the problem rests on an inability to finish projects - - I have definitely come down with this. Since my last knitting post I haven't knit a stitch on the projects that I wrote about, and instead cast on for these fingerless mittens, somehow finishing them in about a week.
I have intended to try out doubleknitting for a while, feeling intrigued by the lack of tension issues that stranded knitting has, as well as for the doublefaced fabric. A search for doubleknitting patterns yielded slim results, but from that search I located the Cheesehands pattern. That the description for the pattern indicated it contains "detailed instructions on how to cast on and work in the doubleknitting technique" persuaded me to work this particular pattern, and I am pleased with my selection. The pattern's instructions for doubleknitting are very clear and understandable (they even contain a tutorial - - complete with pictures and other visual aids - - on doubleknitting) and I found it to be an excellent pattern for a first-time doubleknitting project.
As for my color choice, I have no idea what possessed me to use magenta and army green. The pattern motif is somewhat silly, reinforced by the designer's colors (rust orange and blue), and perhaps all this silliness compelled me to follow suit. Silliness and all, I am totally happy and satisfied with my Cheesehands.
October 2, 2009
~ swath of wild sunflowers ~
I was particularly excited to go for a mountain bike ride today after work. I am so looking forward to fall riding! The summer and its heat and blistering UV rays can get old after a while. I've also decided that I need to ride solo more often. Riding with people is great, but solo rides offer a more contemplative and self-focused experience.
I did a Tablerock ride today. There are challenges afforded in that neck of the foothills that are less common in the more westerly hills. Slippery, rocky sweeping climbs, an off camber switchback or two, and rock obstacles make good challenges for me. I'm at the point where I need to overcome some technical skill barriers and improve my confidence, and I won't be doing this if I keep riding the same old same old Military Reserve and Central Foothills trails. I think if I consistently spend time alone trying to master the terrain that gives me trouble, I will improve my skills. And I say "alone" because I can get flustered if I screw up on an obstacle around people - - but riding alone, I can try riding an obstacle over and over until I do it, without feeling self-conscious that someone might be watching me. This is another nice thing about the Tablerock trails, there aren't very many people on the trails.
That fall is here is evidenced by how my garden is dying, with the frost having arrived the day after I took the following photo of my flowers. I'm super excited about trying to have more of a garden next year. Now that everything is all wilted and dying, I think there's no more use in trying to be a farmer for a while.
Last Saturday, Josh and I did a ride up at Idaho City. I don't have any photos to share and it's been so long that I don't remember the stats. I believe it was around 20 miles. There were some pretty grueling climbs that we huffed and puffed up. I felt very satisfied with my effort on the climbs, making it up most of the really steep ones. At some point, we got caught in the middle of all of these ATV/hunting trails that criss-crossed over the mountains. We kept having to make arrows with sticks and rocks to mark our way because it was such a labyrinth of paths. I also saw a herd of elk. Afterwards, we had lunch in Idaho City.
On Sunday, I took Elizabeth up to Bogus for a training/practice ride. We did Deer Point, Elk Meadows, Mores Creek, and back along Ridge Road. It was a lot of fun and I was very impressed with Elizabeth's riding. It's also fun taking on the role of drill sergeant / coach. I said, "Elizabeth, you will ride this trail in your middle ring!" And she said, "Yes, Ma'am!" A salut would have been appropriate, but I think she was busy steering her bicycle.
