Oh the humanity

So I've got a BIG deadline coming up at work next week.  And the Fates laughed at my stress and sent me a summons to jury duty for the week before - absolutely the worst time.  I could tell it was predestined that I would end up serving since I was the first one called out of about 100 people, and they seated me on a civil case right away.  It's been three days of testimony so far - hopefully we'll be done tomorrow and I'll be able to get back to work.  And to top it off, this is not a fun case - very tough.

But having jury duty has changed up my schedule for a couple of days, and that's always good.  I've had enough time before court starts that I've been able to take Kenny to school and then hurry out to the rail trail and crank out a couple of miles before I had to head in to jury duty.  I'd much rather be out riding on the dirt, and I probably could find the time, but after spending so many hours building trails it actually pains me to leave ruts in the dirt - and so I make the most of what is available.

I managed to get in about 20 miles this morning, in unseasonably warm temperatures of nearly 50 degrees.  All the snow has melted once again, and everything in the woods is wet.  If I had the time it would be great to be able to get the kayak out and take advantage of the high water, but right now my time is at a premium.  I'm very lucky to be able to fit in these short rides during jury duty time, and I know it.

Another nice thing about getting in those rail trail rides is that I've managed to get in some sort of decent exercise for the last eight days.  I've got my MapMyRide nutrition and exercise routines back in full swing, with some good calorie counts for the last week.  My legs are actually feeling pretty good for the first time since October, when I fractured my skull and fell out of the routine.

Now I'd like to place bicycle riding exercise in a list, ranked by increasing fun levels.  The least fun is not riding at all and moping around home sitting on the couch.  Shortly above that is riding the stationary bike in the basement - exercise but mind boggling-ly boring.  Only slightly less boring is the next step, riding on the local rail trail, which can still almost put me to sleep.  Next higher in the fun hierarchy is road riding on pavement - although this can be quite exciting as people try to run you over, sic their dogs on you, or throw trash at you from their car windows.  Note that road riding in town can be more fun, but you can also get twice as many threats of bodily harm.  The next step up would be riding familiar singletrack on a quick outing - fun, fun, fun but the feeling of exploration isn't there.  And the best time you can have bicycling is a long day on new trails, riding and finding out what's there and how you can use it.  This list hasn't been blessed by Fatcyclist or anything, but I feel completely confident in stating that this is the same order all mountain bikers everywhere would list.  Thus spake swampboy.

One of the things that I check on the web every day that I have a chance is the Picture of the Day on Pinkbike.  The forums aren't that great - the ones at MTBR are a dozen times better - but the POD is almost always great.  Check out the one for today - a great shot from Switzerland that would make a great desktop.  The Pinkbike POD is one of those things that makes life better - like Altoids, Motorhead and Molson XXX (and mountain biking). 

Right now it looks as if there's a good chance that I'll have to go in to work this weekend to get things ready for the big deadline.  I'm just hoping (praying, begging) that I'll have some free time and an opportunity to either ride or paddle.  Even though it's been a poor imitation of winter, I have a nasty case of cabin fever and am positively itching to get out and prowl around.

Slippery Rock Creek

It was a beautiful weekend here, with temps in the low 60's and mostly blue skies.  The kind of weekend where you look out the window and wish you were out there on your bike.  Or in your boat.

But I'm grounded for a while to heal, so instead me and King Dave went for a little drive over to one of my favorite spots in western Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock Creek.  Over the last 20 years I've spent a LOT of time on this creek, paddling my kayak on the whitewater there.  The heart of the whitewater section is McConnells Mill State Park, where the creek enters a five mile long gorge.

Here's a picture of me surfing down there a couple of years ago.

But like I said, it's healing time now - no paddling.  My head is pretty much hurting all the time still, and the pain meds are too strong to use when you're out and about.  So we headed up to Cleland Rock, a "scenic vista" that's a bit away from the main part of the park, and is usually mostly empty.  There is a nice view down into the lower Gorge, with the fall colors showing across the valley sides.  But what I found interesting was the rock itself - and that's the Picture of the Day.

Even though it was only a short drive, and only lasted a couple of hours, it was good to get out in the air.  I have two months ahead where I won't be able to do much, so I'd better get used to it.  Maybe next weekend I'll be able to get in a little hike or something, or even go to supervise trail work.  Have to keep looking forward and have a positive outlook.

Kenny and I went out for a short walk on the new trail we're building over at North Road Nature Preserve yesterday morning.  The deer over there are using the new trail so much they're wearing in muddy spots.  Here's yesterday's Picture of the Day, showing Kenny's hand next to one of the bigger prints.

Catching up with a few more Pictures of the Day

Just want to catch up with a couple more pictures.  Nothing spectacular, but they do show little peeks of my life.

I went for a bicycle ride around town last Friday, as I often do.  This time my path took me down into Packard Park, where I rode over the pedestrian bridge across the river.  This bridge has been there over 30 years, but this was the first time I'd ever used it.

Halfway across I stopped and snapped a shot.  I was surprised at how nice it turned out.

The next night I took Kenny out to the "Octoberfest" celebration at his school.  Not much of an Octoberfest (no beer for one thing) but it was a chance for the kids to hang out together and have some fun.  I hung out by the bonfire for a bit and tried taking a few pictures.  It seems like pictures of fire often look so white, or fail to pick up the firelight enough.

And just one more - a self portrait a bit different than the ubiquitious staring-into-the-camera-down-yer-arm shot.  This one is from a trip down to Beaver Creek to ride my mountain bike on the trails.  Nothing special - but does it have to be special?

First blog post

This could be where I organize the whole concept of my blog, wrapping it in an overall concept that would capture it's essence and present it concisely to an eager & curious world.  I could establish the background, causes, form & tone with clearly understood yet witty writing.

Then again, why set yourself up for disaster right off the start line.  So I'll just try to put up a passable first post - not shooting for the stars but not a pretentious load of balogna either.

I've always enjoyed taking photos.  In these new fangled days where you don't have to wait to develop your photos (remember that?) it seems a shame not to indulge myself by taking as many pics as I feel like.  Recently I've decided to be a bit less sporadic in my photography.  The goal I came up with was inspired by the best thing over on Pinkbike - their Picture of the Day feature.  It's always nice to check in and see what their pick for the day is - what riding discipline, scenery and creativity are showcase.

Not that I think I could hold a candle so most of those photographers.  Many of them have real talent and are constantly working on improving their technique.  For me it's going to be more of a point & shoot opportunity that happens during my day.  I'd guess that the best I could hope for would be to occasionally capture a decent photo and hopefully gradually improve my eye so that I can take better pictures.   And if I can have some fun and maybe make someone else smile along the way, well that's an extra bonus.

When my son Kenny and I went camping with the Cub Scouts two weekends ago, we stayed at Chickagami Park, near Parkman, Ohio.  This used to be Camp Chickagami, a BSA camp, but has been made into a Geauga County Park recently.  This resulted in the rather run down camp getting a facelift, even if it did cost them some of the features that had been there back in the old days. 

Speaking of old days, this is where I went to Boy Scout camp myself when I was about 12 years old.  Back then I learned how to shoot at the rifle range, and helped to prepare lunch for dozens of scouts in the big lodge.  These days the rifle range and the lodge are both gone, but there are still cabins & Adirondack style lean-to's for the Scouts to use.  The lake is also gone, since the dam that was put up way back then had to be removed.  But the woods are beautiful and there is a nice long trail that goes around the property.

Our scouts, the Webelo II's, camped together with the Webelo I's - sharing a tent site area and lean to.  Kenny and some of the other boys slept in the lean-to while the majority of the group tented on the pads provided.  But even though I brought a tent, with the clear and mild night forecast I decided to just throw my sleeping bag down on a tarp and sleep under the stars.  It was a beautiful night, with temperatures cool enough to keep the mosquitoes down but not low enough to be cold.  When I awoke in the morning and collected up my sleeping gear, the rising sun was beginning to draw the moisture from the dew off the lawn.

My gear mostly packed, I sat back on a camp chair while all around Cub Scouts explored the woods, chased each other across the camp site, and generally behaved like young boys.  At the end of the field "Johnny Appleseed" was preparing a presentation on Ohio history for the boys.  The warm sun felt great on my face as I watched the mist rise.