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I have now officially spent five days in a state that could only be described as "totally useless", which also coincides with my longest break from riding since 1997. Frankly, I'm scared sh!tless of tomorrow morning's commute to work, but I'll have to deal with that one sooner or later. The enforced lay-off did give me the opportunity to get the Lennox Head/Minyon tour journal completed. Interested parties can read about that here.
In the meantime, I've had an opportunity to think about what I want to do when I return. I'm planning to ride The Wonders of Glorious Mee in Brisbane, that iconic Audax ride with three substantial climbs on October 4. I actually rode that for five consecutive years before missing last year's ride in the middle of a form slump. At one point I had a reputation for going on big (and largely pointless) attacks on Mt Glorious. Whether I'll be capable of that in this year's edition remains to be seen. The way I've felt over the last few days, I'll be glad to just finish within the time limit.
I also need to return to the Mullumbimby region to explore the Wanganui Gorge. Apparently this Gorge, 20km west of the town is supposed to be home to spectacular views and some giant strangler fig trees. I should be able to make that into another 200km day without too many problems. Those are going to be the goals that I focus on over the next few weeks. I'm sure other things will come up between now and then, but as long as I'm back on the bike, I won't care too much.

Ozzie's Turn: Pressies!!!

Meows all furpals of mine and of my two sissies. Mom has not posted or visited much lately, and us furanimals here have just adjourned from a tribunal after having decided that her must be fired, fur shore. At any rate, she got it together to record my first-ever package opening! I am indebted to Trixie and Lily and Sammy-Joe (this is the link to their post for when I won) fur sending me this super package of pawesome fun! Wait til you see how much I loved their pressies! Thank you sooooo much you guys! Here was how the box was addressed!

I gots Mom to make a picture show of me enjoying my pressies! If you'd like to biggify the screen, your enjoyment will be greatly enhanced purrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

And you can watch a cool movie of me hunting down the large furred rat/mouse HERE (cause we can't seem to move the vid at our place at this time). Hope you enjoy all the fun I had and thanks for coming by to say hello! As soon as we get some treats to put in the door dangli, we'll get some pix of me goin' after it!

Update Notice from the FurDoggies here: We wants to say thanks to the Shameless Diva judges over at MangoMinster: Anakin and Mango, his Big RH self, for giving Avalon 3rd place!!! We are furry humbled and proud of our little sis! Thank you Judges!

Tanasi Trails and Cherohala Skyway

Yesterday was a long day. Unfortunately, a somewhat disappointing day.
SORBA (Southeast Off-Road Bicycle Organization) Chattanooga Chapter rode the Tanasi Trail System. My plan was to ride with them. I met a couple of the members (and President Jeffrey Schaarschmidt. While waiting to drive to the trails, Jeffrey discussed the local trails systems and expansion plans.
When we got to the Ocoee Whitewater Center, we joined up with addition SORBA members. There is a $3 parking fee at the Center, which is in the Cherokee National Forest. The Center was a venue for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Talking with the members and the trails, they advised me its about a mile+ climb until the trail settles out as rollercoasters. I started the climb ahead of the group. Soon the passed me. In the photo here is at the Bear Paw Loop intersection.
On up the trail I went walking my bike. Sometimes the trail leveled out and I was able to pedal a little. Anyway, after almost a half hour. we reached the other trails. At this time, I was beat. it was time to head down to the car and spend the rest of the day on a driving tour.
Thanks Jeffrey and the SORBA members for putting up with me. It was a pleasure meeting with you. Happy Trails.
Stopped around the car to take some photos of whitewater rafting groups. From there, time to drive up to Tellico Plains and the Cherahala Skyway. Stopped at the Visitor's Center and some lunch at the TelliCafe. I are at the cafe as recommended. Food was very good, service could be better. Basically disappeared during eating my meal (when i wanted some more water).

Anyway, on to the Skyway. At the visitors center, I found out that Hwy 129 is closed in one section. So, there was not chance i would be able drive to Robbinsville and then up the Tails of the Dragon and then north to I-75. just ride the Skyway and return or down to Chattanooga past the Whitewater Center.
While contemplating this, I drove. Saw that Bald River Falls is only 6 miles off the Skyway. Glad I did because the falls was the highlight of the drive.
There were a LOT of bicycles on the Skyway. Even saw a "caution - bicycle" sign. At one of the rest stops, I asked about it. Its the Ride the Sky tour. A century ride - ALL hills. Lots of 9% grades.
The rest of the drive along the Skyway was uneventful. The scenery, I called "underwhelming".
Never even made it into Robbinsville. Turned around a little after the Skyway ended. Headed back the same way. From Tellico Plains, found the most direct, fastest way back to Chattanooga. Back at the motel a little after 7pm.

Snowy Full Moon Ride

Andrew, Blaine, and I braved the elements to do the first Xtreme Wheels Full Moon Ride of .
By the time we headed out from the bike shop, the snow was falling heavily. There was a strong wind from the North. Sure happy we rode against the wind heading out. Very pleasant riding with the wind later.
We stopped at Valley View Park. By the time we stopped to take a couple of photos, our tire tracks were nearly obliterated as we recrossed the bridge over Mosquito Creek. Ended up at Village Inn for eats.

Survived a Storm Non-Event

Sea Mist RV Park — NAS Oceana, Dam Neck Annex — Virginia Beach, Virginia
TEMPS: LO 61F / HI 73F (16C / 23C)

When we left Ashland, Virginia for Virginia Beach yesterday morning, all weather indications pointed to us heading into the highest risk area for a storm that was coming in from the west. By the time we arrived at the Sea Mist RV Park on base at the Dam Neck Annex of NAS Oceana, the risk had been downgraded to moderate for thunderstorms and hail, and to slight for tornados.

The storm arrived in our area at 6:00p. Just as the weather talking-heads had predicted. We pulled in the slides to protect the toppers from the forecasted gusts — up to 70 mph (112 km), they said — and hunkered down to sit out the storm.

We weren’t overly worried. Not only did we have a nearby hurricane-proof bathhouse to shelter in, but the host had come by to let us know that in the event of a tornado warning, she was going to open up the ITT/MWR office — a designated storm shelter.

Turns out we didn’t need to seek shelter anywhere. Taking a more northerly track, the storm fizzled out entirely in this area. The few wind gusts that barely rocked the Phaeton never reached anywhere near the forecasted speeds. And the downpours that came through were of short duration. In fact, we’ve had stronger winds and rain today than we did yesterday. And the temperature has dropped dramatically from yesterday’s feels-like 102F (39C) boiling hot afternoon high.

Enough about the storm that didn’t happen — at least not for us.

We left Ashland shortly before 8:00a yesterday. The 2½ hour drive down to Virginia beach was an easy — but bumpy — 121 miles (194 km) mostly on I-64E. With directions to the Sea Mist RV Park as a handy reference, we bypassed NAS (Naval Air Station) Oceana and headed directly to the Dam Neck Annex.

121 miles (194 km) from the Americamps KOA in Ashland to the Sea Mist RV Park
on base at the Dam Neck Annex of NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach.

After checking in with the campground manager, and signing off on the governing rules and regs, we did a quick drive through both the older and newer sections of Sea Mist to take a look at the 12 available sites. The only open site in the heavily-treed older section didn’t tickle our fancy, so we settled on Site 26 in the new section. ($154/week; $25/night.)

Sea Mist is situated between vegetation-covered sand dunes and Regulus Avenue.
(Site 26 [circled in red] is on the left side of the RV park map.)

Site 26 is a 50A FHU with a double wide concrete pad; it backs up to vegetation-covered dunes that separate the campground from the beach. The site on the driver’s side is a pull through facing away from us, and there is a wide grass ditch that separates us; plenty of privacy in that direction. The neighboring site on the passenger side is separated by a patch of grass that is half as wide as the concrete pad; good spacing between the sites. This section of the RV park is lacking in shade, but we’re not overly bothered by that. I can’t say that this is a quiet place. Chanting military students march in formation to and from class on the road that parallels the campground. And Navy jets fly practice runs overhead. No train noise, though ;-) Since the day-to-day sounds of an operational base are not 24-7, we aren’t bothered by them.

Left: our site (#26) and the neighboring pull through, which is the last site at this end.
Right: Looking from our site back towards the office and the far end of the RV park.

Even though it is breezy with mostly cloudy skies as I write this post, that wasn’t the case when we woke up this morning. In fact, sunshine and a comfy temperature of 68F (20C) encouraged us to explore the beach on the other side of the dunes. We even managed to enjoy an al fresco breakfast at our campsite before the first raindrops of the morning drove us inside.

There are two beach access points at Sea Mist — one at the far end of the old section, and one just on the other side of the new section. The latter is at the back of a parking lot where we can leave the car when we go to the beach with our chairs, beach shelter, and other paraphernalia. This brown-sand Atlantic Ocean beach is nothing like the sugar-white beaches of the Gulf of Mexico; and the water itself is a moody dark blue instead of crystalline aquamarine. Nonetheless, we’re looking forward to some relaxing days on the beach while we’re here at Sea Mist.

Welcome to the Atlantic — from the “walkover” in the old section of the campground.

Because there are no lifeguards in our section of the beach, swimming is not encouraged here. But just down the road is a section with pavilions and lifeguards that we can drive to should we wish to take a dip in the Atlantic. When we came on base yesterday, we turned in the opposite direction from the swimming beaches, so we haven’t seen those facilities yet. If the weather cooperates, we’ll trike over there soon to take a look-see.

Nothing but a long stretch of beach greets our eyes when we go for our morning walk.

When our plans for the Army Rec Area in Appling, Georgia fell through, we added some days here to fill the gap until it’s time to return to South Carolina for our Camp Freightliner appointment. With a departure date set for after the 4th of July, that means we will be here for a while. Plenty of time to explore the area and revisit some old haunts.

Recent Game Cam action

I swear they look more like cheap plastic toys than real animals, but they dig enough foxholes for a whole regiment of green army men.

Masked bandit who looks like she's been on a diet. (I dreamed I was about this thin last night, but when I woke up it wasn't true.) We had a lot more raccoons when we lived in the suburbs than we do here out in the country.

Looks like frost on the grass, doesn't it? But this is Alabama, not Minnesota. The camera hasn't moved, but the previous photo was before all the recent rain, and this one was just a few days ago. What a difference in the grass!

Why are you so skinny? You've eaten all but two of our chickens!
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Wayne has been showing some recent pics from his Cuddeback too. He's got a different version than we do.
I'm not sure what type Linda has, but there's been a lot of action at her house!
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I forgot to post a link to the Friday Ark on Friday. So go visit now if you haven't already.

Bang Goes the Water Filter

Today’s a work-from-home day for us. But we’re not at the stix & bricks in Vienna; we’re at Candy Hill Campground, in Winchester, Virginia, about 80 miles (128 km) away. Ain’t it great to be able to telecommute :-)

An easy drive puts us in Winchester, near the Virginia / West Virginia / Maryland state lines.

We left the house around 1:15p yesterday. An hour later, the toad hitched up, we were on the road in the Phaeton. Google Maps’ driving time estimate was spot-on. With the traffic flowing smoothly, we made good time, arriving at Candy Hill Campground shortly after 4:00p. Even the weather cooperated — sort of — and the rain that accompanied us part of the way fizzled into a light drizzle, allowing us to set up in relative comfort.

This is our first time here. It’s a nice enough campground, with plenty of trees and lots of grass, but the sites are packed close together and share water/electric pedestals. Cozy is the word that comes to mind. This is not the place to come if you’re looking for privacy. Since we don’t plan to “stay home” Saturday — our one day to play during this trip — we’re not bothered by the close proximity of neighbors. Not that anyone seems to be out and about anyway. Besides, with sites in our section of the campground alternating back-to-front, we have some semblance of privacy where we are.

We’re in F9 (circled in blue on the left); the office-lounge-arcade building is
actually across from us and not offset as shown on the map.
[map courtesy of the campground website]

We were initially assigned site B9 (the one in red in the lower right portion of the map), but asked to be switched after seeing its proximity to Route 37. Instead, we were given F9, another 50-amp, full hook-up, premium site. At $50/night (plus 10% Good Sam discount), this campground is not inexpensive, but we’re used to that in this part of the US. Cable is included (26 channels); Tengo-provided wi-fi is available for a price. Our Millenicom aircard works just fine, so we won’t be availing ourselves of that service.

Settled into site f9.

We’re butt-to-butt with the sites to our left and right, so there’s a bit more privacy here.

By 5:00p, we were parked, jacks down, slides out, hook-ups complete. While Mui dumped the black and grey tanks from our Bull Run stay, I vacuumed and Swiffered the floors before unrolling the rug to make our home nice and cozy. Then it was time to explore the campground.

We’d just returned from our walk and were talking about getting dinner on the table when a really loud BANG startled us. What on earth???

At first we thought our neighbor must have accidentally dropped open the door to their toy hauler. To be safe, we stepped out to investigate. Oh, oh! There was water flowing out from under the coach. My first thought was that our fresh water tank had somehow ruptured and I envisioned a disaster on our hands. It turns out that it was just the water filter. The bottom had split off from the rest of the canister and water was gushing out all over the place. Shutting the spigot at the source immediately stemmed the flow. BUT we now had no water coming into the Phaeton.

OK; no big deal. We have every RVers best friend — duct tape. Mui dries the canister and tapes it up real well. It doesn’t look pretty, but as long as it holds, who cares! He screws the unit back in place and turns on the water. Problem solved, right? Nope; water gushes out like a geyser, though a smaller one now.

OK; no big deal. Camping World is just down the road a bit. But wait; it’s closed for the day. No problemo. Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot are all a short drive away. They’re bound to have what we need. Right? WRONG! None of them have a canister to match ours. There are other brands, but it’s already dark, and it’s cold, and Mui’s not in the mood to install a new system.

OK; no big deal. Waterproof epoxy should work to temporarily secure the bottom of the canister. “Sure, that will do the trick; I used it for my truck’s fuel pump,” says the helpful young man in the orange apron. $5 nets us a tube of PC-Plumbing. Back home, Mui starts kneading the Play-Doh like stuff until it’s a uniform color. Soon, the bottom of the cartridge is attached with a ring of epoxy around it. It doesn’t look pretty, but as long as it works, who cares! While the epoxy sets (60 minutes the instructions say), we have dinner and watch a show on TV. Then Mui goes out to install the filter. “BANG,” I hear, but assume it’s the basement door being closed. Nope; the filter has blown it’s bottom again. Nothing to do until morning; a couple of buckets of water from the spigot outside and we’re good to go for the night.

Plan A and Plan B don’t work.

And thus we brought yesterday to a close. Mui headed out to Camping World first thing this morning and picked up a replacement. Our plumbing is operational again. We have no idea why the filter canister blew like it did. Perhaps there was a hairline crack that finally gave under pressure. At least it happened while we were at home.

Plan C successfully restores water to the Phaeton.

After such an eventful evening, a quiet day at Candy Hill was in order today. We spent most of the day indoors since we both had work projects requiring our attention. The cool temp — 58F (14C) at noon — didn’t encourage spending time outside anyway; nor did the overcast skies that quickly replaced the beautiful sunshine we woke up to.

Shortly after 3:00p, our work-day having drawn to a close, we drove into Winchester for a look-see around Old Town. At least the sun came out briefly and there were patches of blue sky while we were out having some fun. But that’s a story for another post. Dinner is over, the dishes are loaded into the dishwasher, and Mui’s got the second disk of John Adams (HBO mini series) cued up and ready to go — time to enjoy a quiet evening at home.

A little rusty

We couldn't work in the garden at all over the weekend, because it rained so much Friday night and Saturday morning.

It rained hard - the creek is always muddy when that happens.
I'm not sure exactly how much it rained... our old rain gauge cracked, and Jasmine apparently thinks the new one is a chew toy. Some areas got 2 - 4 inches.
After it stopped pouring on Saturday we went for a walk to see if we could see any migrant birds. But I got a little distracted.

I had a feeling that it was cedar-apple rust, which I'd read about but never noticed.

The bizarro-alien-invader-looking things were only on cedars.

They were easy to spot since they were so bright orange.
These roundish ones were the oddest looking, but there were also little sleeves of orange gelatinous goo on twigs, and bunches of it in clusters like this:

Here's what that one looked like the next day after drying out:

Big difference!

The roundish ones looked slightly less creepy when dry.
I didn't get a shot of the sleeve-like parts when wet, but here is a dry one.

If I've read this chart of rust differences correctly, the roundish ones are cedar-apple rust, and the others are cedar-quince rust.
It's an interesting fungus - it has to go back and forth between hosts (cedars and apples) to survive. Which is why the old timey remedy, if you're trying to grow apples, is to just cut down all the cedars! Hmm.
The other remedy is spraying fungicides. But since we're not trying to grow apples, I don't think it's worth it. I had a sad thought for all the crabapples I just planted, but since all the animals roam in those areas I'd rather not be spraying anything.

My Little Pony

It's like being in a tormented love affair, doing this cyclocross thing.

Some days I race and finish feeling glorious and giddy and in love. And other times I race and finish feeling overwhelmed and a little sad and confused.
It's so up and down. He loves me, he loves me not.

I can't keep starting in the back. That call up stuff is cool and all when you get called up, but between the 10 B's and the 10 master's, there were 2o women up there. And so the rest of us were like little beggar children vying for crumbs behind the royalty.
Alms for the poor please.

On the first lap my first trick was a pole dance. I saw it there, right after my re "mount" from the barriers and I felt an urge to shimmy right up to it. I heard Lulu somewhere out yonder saying something like she should get off that pole.
Get off it momma!

Who rides into a pole going 5 miles an hour? And how does that course tape get so wrapped around the handlebars so fast?
That was a course for a little power engine, like a clydesdale maybe. I think I'm more of a little pony or maybe a gazelle or a baby giraffe or something. Or maybe a flamingo.
A flamingo with crazy eyes.

So the next lap comes and I race around and around and the next trick I perform is the "upside down, my little pony" trick. It's where I'm almost up one of the hills, up and up... and then I fall side ways and slide a bit on my back with my feet still attached and bike above me.
No stopping, I hear a racer behind me say.
Really? I think to myself. Because that was my "upside down, my little pony" trick and I did it to try and distract you.

There I was, my little pony, all upside down and stuff.

And then the next lap comes. And I race around and around some more and Katrina, the VeloBella with whom I've been trading places with at the last few races, does an endo in front of me and it looks uncomfortable.
And I kind of slow down and ask if she's alright and she says no. But then she hops right back on her bike and takes off more determined then ever and she gets smaller and smaller as she churns away from me on that damn asphalt straight away.
Hmm, I think to myself. She knows that my little pony trick too. But this time, I was the one who fell for it.

Well shit.
And then the next lap comes and I'm barely churning and starting to crack and weaken because I can feel the love affair slowly ending with each pedal stroke. And I can hear my name, but I can't see who's calling me. Where am I, who am I? Why yes, I'm a little pony. And why yes, I think it's the course who's calling me. Yes, it is! It's saying my name over and over. And it's saying PEDAL, PEDAL harder!


But then I realize that it's Aron, from Scycip.

And then the next lap comes and I get passed some more and then it's over. And the course spits me out and I roll over to the bushes. And the love affair is over for the week, until next Sunday when we'll fall in love again.
And sure as clockwork, when I get back to the tent, someone hands me a beer.

Blue Hour Beauty at Hollow Rock

Even though last night yielded about a 0% chance of a nice colorful sunset, I still wanted to head out after work and see what the ice was like at Hollow Rock. We have had really good ice production on the lake over the last several days, and Hollow Rock did not disappoint in terms of ice. The west side of the rock was littered with plate ice and here on the east side was this nice little "ice cove". The ice cove really made for a nice composition with the peninsula of ice pointing right at Hollow Rock. The reflection of Hollow Rock in the water was an extra bonus. So, not much color but still an amazing scene! Today the weather is the opposite of the serene calm that you see here. Last night the wind kicked up and it has been violently windy this morning. I heard that the wind gusts were maxing out at just over 60 MPH in Grand Marais! Hopefully some ice will hang on and survive the wind. I would not be too happy if all the ice blew away :-(

Video Review: Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown, volume 3

A rescue scenario in Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown, volume 3.

If you're jealous of the paddling opportunities and access in Scotland, Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown, volume 3 will only exacerbate that emotion. This two-and-a-half-hour DVD begins with "Handling Emergency Situations," which involves staged rescues by HM Coastguard helicopter and Royal National Lifeboat Institution boats. Why can't we do that?

The scenarios aren't extreme; they're quite realistic examples of situations that start out small and grow to be life threatening, such as losing a paddle. They also aren't entirely simulated; Gordon and friends actually do get cold and suffer bruising from parachute flares. Best of all, they answer questions about the effectiveness of various types of emergency equipment we all carry but few of us ever get to use. This dramatic, 46-minute segment includes everything from initiating a distress call to attracting the attention of rescuers to preparing for the downdraft of a helicopter--all the things you need to know to facilitate a smooth rescue. It also takes a realistic look at how well flares, strobes and other signaling devices work in rough seas, shows us the operation center where calls are received and rescues are coordinated, and discusses what can be learned from the deliberate mistakes Gordon and friends make in these scenarios.

Did we mention being jealous? At the end of "Handling Emergency Situations," we realized that Andy wasAndy Stamp, BCU Level 5 sea kayak coach. And he is just one of many denizens of our paddling bookshelf and CD rack who appear in this DVD. The 47-minute "Navigation" section featuresFranco Ferrero, whose friendly book on navigation helped us gain basic competence without getting overwhelmed by the "dark art" of finding your way. Ferrero's approach is keeping it simple, and his explanations of tides, bearings, charts and transits are accessible and practical.

Franco Ferrero is one of several members of the paddling pantheon in this video.

And then there's Rowland Woollven of Wilderness Emergency Medical Services Institute, who presents the 20-minute section on "First Aid Kits" (which includes handling medical emergencies). Woollven shares what he carries in his "ouch pouch" and first-aid kit, and demonstrates a few first aid techniques, but emphasizes that each paddler should carry what's appropriate to his or her training and needs. If you're expecting a video first-aid course, this isn't it. Rather, he makes a compelling case for taking a wilderness first aid course.

The last section of this video is the weakest. "Rolling Clinic" involves Gordon Brown working with a group of students at a swimming pool. It's clearly not staged; these are real students with little or no rolling experience. What made us cringe was watching them repeat errors without correction, reinforcing bad habits that become increasingly difficult to break. After all, it was in Gordon Brown's book, Sea Kayak: A Manual for Intermediate and Advanced Sea Kayakers, that we first encountered the idea of 10,000 hoursof deliberate practice to learn to do something well.

Producer/DirectorSimon Willisof Sunart Media has clearly put in his 10,000 hours. Volume 3 employs many of the innovative filming devices he created for earlier volumes; the multiple camera angles he uses in the rescues section are effective and unobtrusive, and the viewers' attention stays on the action, not on the filming that captured it.

You can watch a preview here:


Volume 3, Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown v2 from Simon Willis on Vimeo.
It will be available in October, but you can preorder it here. (Make sure you order the NTSC version if you are in the US, Canada or other countries that use that format.)

Doing the Off-Leash Thing!

It's been nippy and foggy here, but it only makes me friskier. So when Sierra Rose's mama invited me to play in the huge outdoor arena at the local fairgrounds, I woofed a resounding Yeah, Baby!
When Sierra and I get going, the hoomans wonder if we're fighting, heheh!
Naw... we are emphatically NOT!!!
But Sierra does a lot of bitey-face work and she is very good at it!
She's also fast and likes to chase moi!
I do what I can to accomodate her wishes!
But... occasionally, I'll do my own interpretation of "snaggling"!
En garde!

Then we kissie-face and make up!