The Catharsis of Seasonal Change

"It's over. Step away from the roadbike" I said to myself as gently as possible while watching the snow from the window. I was going to publish this over the weekend and title the post "The End." But then I decided that was far too dramatic, and that when titles like this come to mind the prudent thing to do is take a couple of days off from the blog. It's snow for goodness sake, not the end of the world. In fact, it is quite beautiful.And in retrospect I see that it has been cathartic - a resolution to a state of uncertainty.





After a productive and well-organised December I naïvely expected to keep going at the same rate in the new year. But January started out slow and difficult, and only grew more so as the weeks wore on. After the holidays there was suddenly a pile of work due all at once, which is a situation I never handle well. And the move to the new art studio proved more effortful to organise than I anticipated (How did I accumulate so many jars of congealed ...stuff? why do I never throw anything away? and why did I need such enormous canvases, and so many of them??). In the midst of this we had a special occasion to celebrate, and some financial decisions to make. My immune system kept faltering. I felt as if I were moving in slow motion while everything else spun around me faster and faster.







It took me a while to connect this unsettled, disorganised state of mind to a decrease in cycling. Soon after the holidays the roads had turned icy, so I hadn't been riding as much as during the previous month. Of course! I was coming down from a long endorphin high, and not in the midst of an existential crisis. What made it worse, was that since it hadn't started snowing yet, I kept thinking that I could/should be cycling. I kept waiting for the idyl of December to return, not willing to put my bike on the trainer just yet, stuck in limbo.






With the snow's arrival, the limbo finally ended and things became more clear-cut: "Right then. Bike on the trainer and you are done for the season. Now stop checking the weather obsessively, ride indoors while watching all the movies you've been meaning to catch up on,and get on with your life!" (Is it a bad sign when the snow speaks to you? No, no, don't answer that...)






This might sound strange coming from someone with a daily blog about bicycles, but I tend to downplay the importance of cycling in my "real" life, particularly roadcycling. It is my anti-athletic, anti-"jock" bias - a holdover from my teenage days as the angsty weird arty girl, for whom jocks were the enemy. Not very open-minded of me to carry that over, but at least I admit it. Cycling, important? Oh no, it means nothing to me compared to things like art and (real, not bloggery) writing. Oh this little blog? It's just some light-hearted stress relief. Hours a day in the saddle? It's just physical activity; it means nothing.But of course it can't possibly mean nothing. I need to admit to myself that cycling is important to me and that it integrates with the rest of my life whether I want to acknowledge it or not. Likewise, when I drastically decrease my time on the bike it will impact other aspects of my life. It will affect my mood, creativity and productivity. I was going through withdrawal, plain and simple.






The human mind is a funny thing, and once I became aware of all this, I felt better. Swiftly, we got me all moved into the new studio - thanks to the Co-Habitant's formidable lifting prowess and a magnificent zipcar pick-up truck. I even got a workout from carrying stuff up and down 3 flights of stairs, as the freight elevator in the building is not operational over the weekend. My calves are still hurting today from all that stair-climbing and it feels kind of nice. Maybe I should do this for fun in addition to walking and riding on the trainer, and all together that might keep me in shape till spring. Of course I could also cycle inside the studio(as demonstrated by the lovelybikeyface). Indoor mini-velodrome à laInterbike ?






As I write this, the heaps of snow are already half-gone and temperatures are mild again. It is possible that the roads will clear up completely and we will have a continuation of our mild winter. But I am going to take a break from roadcycling anyhow, because all the back-and-forth and the increasing concerns about icy roads on descents are making me way too neurotic and it's time to stop. Of course, transportation cycling continues as usual. Seasonal change is good, winter is beautiful, and finally I feel that the year is off to a good start. Now, could somebody please tell me what those purple berries are?..

Summer Gentlemen

I love a man who can remain well-dressed in the summer heat and humidity. The Co-Habitant is one of these impressive creatures.

Here he is, wearing linen trousers and a brushed cotton button-down shirt in 90F weather, hauling around a 60lb bicycle and looking none the worse for wear. This is on the Charles River Bike Trail, which we have finally figured out how to take all the way to West Newton (there are some interruptions that make it confusing). The landscape is absolutely idyllic.

Up Close

You can see the white truck and trailer which gives a good idea just how big hot air balloons are. Balloon crews use a pickup or SUV with a trailer to haul their balloon and gandola around. Once the balloon is up and away the truck tries to follow the balloon from the ground. Of couse they use cell phones and 2 way radios to help keep track of the balloon. Some balloon owners bring their own chase crew, as the people who follow the balloon are called but some don't and the Balloon Fiesta is always in need of people to work on the chase crews.

Gunks Routes: Gaston (5.8-)

(Photo: Past the pro-less start on Gaston (5.8-).)




Maryana and I were looking for something new to do on a beautiful Saturday in April, and it seemed like if we wanted something out of the ordinaryour timing couldn't be better, since we might not have any choice in the matter.We arrived at the West Trapps lot in the morning to find it was already nearly full, even though the temperature was still in the low 40's.As we walked down the carriage road it seemed like all theusual suspect climbswere occupied. It was the perfectoccasion for usto jump on something unpopular, something obscure.




When wepassed the connector trail I looked up at the cliff and saw theexpected sights. Climbers were on Arch (5.5). Climbers were on Strictly From Nowhere (5.7). But as usual no one was on the no-star climbs nearby: Calisthenic (5.7), Gorilla My Dreams (5.7), or Gaston (5.8-). And no one was on Splashtic (5.10a), a climb which gets a star from Dick Williams but which seems always unoccupied because the first pitch is 5.10 and the second is 5.9 R.




I was intrigued by Splashtic, because it seemed from the description that the crux is really one move, early in the first pitch. Looking it over on Saturday, I thought it looked doable and protectable. Maybe this was a good 5.10 candidate for me? I wasn't interested in the R-rated second pitch (although it sure looks exciting...) but I figured we coulddescend from the threaded anchor atop pitch one or continue with the upper pitches of another climb.




I was also interested in Gaston, because it has a reputation for being underappreciated and somewhat tricky for its 5.8- grade. I'd heard the upper pitches, which are just 5.5, were also good.




Maryana thought Gaston was a better choice for a warm-up than Splashtic so we were set.




Dick's guidebook describes the first pitch as going up a ramp and then moving right past a bulge. Then thin climbing left past two pins was supposed to be the crux.




For me the crux of pitch one was the lack of pro low on the pitch. There is nothing for at least fifteen feet or more. I went up the easy ramp and then expected to find something. But I didn't.




Then another move up and left onto a ledge. Still pretty easy climbing, but I was still lookingin vain forsome placements.




Finally I found gear, but it was to the left of the route. Theclimbingclearly went to the right through the bulge. I had two pieces but they were off-line.




After trying out a couple of different approaches I committed to the surprisingly thin holds and got through the bulge.




Then I think I got another piece, something micro, before moving up and left to an angle piton. (Dick mentions two pins but I guess one has since disappeared.) I don't remember these supposed crux face movesas tricky. There was nothing as thin as the move at the bolt on Wonderland (5.8-), for instance. All I really rememberwas wishingI had more confidence in the gear.But once I clipped the pin it seemed everything would be okay. The rest of the way I felt both the climbing and the gear were casual enough.




At the end ofthe pitchI felt like in retrospect there was JUST enough pro. And the climbing was nice; it was clean andinteresting. Maryana pointed out that I'd missed the key placement. There is a place right below the bulge where a runner could be threaded. You can see it in the above photo over to the right of where I have a sling connected to the blue rope. I had pro at the same height but off to the left. It would have been better-- I would have felt better-- if I'd found this placement.









(Photo: Maryana at the final overhangs on the 5.5 pitch two of Gaston.)




The next surprise on Gaston was that the threaded anchor atop pitch one was gone. I built a gear anchor and brought Maryana up. We had been thinking we'd rap after pitch one and go do something else, but nowwe wereforced to do at least one more pitch.




Maryana led pitch two and itturned out to bevery nice. We both enjoyed it. While pitch one features interesting face climbing, pitch two is moretypical Gunks terrain, with good features in a huge corner systemand plentiful horizontals, leading up and left to some final overhangs with jugs.




One we reached the GT Ledge we had an easy walk over to the bolted rappel route to our left. But I thought it was a waste not to finish the climb. We'd come this far. Would we ever bother to come to this spot again? Might as well do pitch three. It looked like a short romp up to a roof. Why not do it?









(Photo: Most of the way through the 5.5 pitch three of Gaston.)




I led the pitch in about five minutes. I'm glad we did it. It reminds me of the top pitch of Minty. It is a little harder and the move out to the roof is a bit more exposed. But it is very similar, featuring a nice corner and then another juggy overhang. Good fun.




I think Gaston is definitely underrated at no stars. It has a lot of quality climbing. Each pitch is worthwhile. The rock is good. It is clean. It should have at least a star. I think if the two 5.5 pitches were not guarded by the tricky pitch one this climb would beextremelypopular with new leaders.




As it is it should be more popular with moderate leadersof all levels of experience.

Evening at Horseshoe Bay

Last night Roger (http://www.rogernordstromphoto.blogspot.com/) and I went down to Horseshoe Bay to shoot the sunset. I've been trying to show him some new areas along the lake that he hasn't seen yet. Horseshoe Bay can be a fun place to shoot, depending on the conditions. This evening when we were there the lake was smooth as glass, which is always nice to have when making images of the lake. At the entrance to the bay there is this nice, photogenic pile of rocks that I had fun shooting. I used my graduated neutral-density filters on the image above and the one below to help balance the exposure between the dark foreground and the brighter sky. Using the filters also helped bring out the detail in the underwater rocks in the foreground.

Walk on the Desert

went for a walk on the desert the other day and saw some interesting plants. The dogs trailed something that was most likely a rabbit. Was a nice day.

Enchantments Traverse

After a weather delay, we were finally able to do the Enchantments Traverse. We spent the day up in mountain goat country. That area is full of snowfields, steams, awesome lakes, granite boulders, slabs and peaks. With our side trip to Little Annapurna, it ended up being an 18 mile hike. The blisters should heal up in about a week :)



At about 2 hours into the hike, we arrived at Colchuck Lake.



A couple of hours later, we made it to the upper basin and started seeing mountain goats.



Then we ran into a few well-camouflaged Rock Ptarmigans.





We couldn't resist standing on the collapsed snow cave.



Ron and Doug ontop of 8,440' Little Annapurna. Mt. Stuart and Dragontail Peak in the background.



Prusik Peak, Mount Temple and several of the alpine lakes.



Little Annapurna as seen from Perfection Lake.




Some people say that this is the most beautiful place in Washington State. We've been to some amazing places. I can think of several that are close, but none better!