Red Rocks

Re-shaping Deformed Leather Saddles: Trying the 'Blocking' Technique

Some time ago I acquired a vintage Brooks Colt saddle. The original Colts are pretty rare, so I was excited. Unfortunately the saddle was deformed, sporting a prominent ridge down the center. On top of that, the leather was hard as a rock. The saddle was outrightpainful to ride for more than a few minutes.



To deal with the ridge, I was encouraged to try the blocking technique: soaking the saddle in water to regain its original shape. And I received just as many warnings against trying the blocking technique: The saddle could snap in half or become even more deformed I was told, I could ruin it. So I will preface with a caveat: As I understand it, blocking has a spotty success rate. To be safe, I would suggest trying it only on a saddle that is already ruined and unridable, as mine was.



There are different variations of the method, and the one I initially used was as follows: I soaked the saddle under the faucet, both the surface and the underside, until it was evenly wet. I then wrapped it in a wet towel, wrapped that in a plastic bag and let it sit. Two days later I unwrapped the saddle to check on it and was stunned to discover that, while wet, it was still hard as a rock. The moisture did not seem to be soaking through at all. So I wrapped it back up and left it for an entire week. When I unwrapped it again, the saddle was a bit softer, but the ridge showed no signs of diminishing. I thought that if I left it in there any longer the saddle would start to rot. So I installed it on a trainer bike and tried riding on it, thinking I could now flatten the ridge that way. But it was too painful to ride and it wasn't working. Eventually, I gave up and decided the experiment was unsuccessful. I treated the saddle with a generous dose of Proofide and put it away in a box, not sure what I'd do with it.






Some time later, the Co-Habitant needed a saddle for one of his bike builds and I said he was welcome to give reviving the Colt another try. At this point, our collective memory of what exactly was done is less clear, but we agree that it involved yet more soaking. The way I recall it, this time he left the saddle in a sink filled with water overnight. Possibly more than once. Eventually the saddle did begin to show signs of softening, and when this happened he installed it on his bike and went out riding.




The Co-Habitant weighs over 200lb, and I was worried that this was exactly the sort of situation where a soaked saddle might snap in half. However it did not snap, but began to straighten out under his weight. After a couple of rides and much Proofiding the deep ridge was flattened and now there are only a couple of gentle dimples in the sitbone areas. He says that the Colt is now very comfortable. It certainly looks nice and healthy: The colour is a rich warm chestnut and the surface is much smoother than it had been when I first received the saddle.




As our experience demonstrates, there is no one formula for this and you sort of have to play it by ear. The John Spooner description I linked to earlier suggests stuffing the saddle with newspaper after soaking it, but this did not seem appropriate in our case since the saddle was hardly soft enough even after excessive soaking. In general I'd say see how the leather behaves once you begin, and go from there. Start off conservative as far as water exposure, then get progressively more aggressive if that doesn't work.




All things considered, the Co-Habitant's opinion is that the blocking technique is more trouble than it is worth and he does not recommend it. My opinion is that it really depends on how much you want to rescue that particular saddle, and how prepared you are to potentially ruin it in the process. I am glad that we revived the Colt and now have this beautiful, functional vintage saddle. What has been your experience with blocking or other saddle reshaping techniques?

Bicycle-Free in a Cycling City

I would definitely describe Vienna as a "cycling city" in term of its infrastructure. There is a good network of bike lanes, a bike share programme, many cyclists on the streets, and a decent system in place for integrating cycling with public transportation. All the more frustrating to be here bicycle-free! For a number of reasons, it was not practicable to either bring my own bicycle here or to rent one. I will express my Bike Rental Lament in a separate post. But for now, I give you a few images of night time Vienna - on foot.

For the purposes of sight seeing and tourism, this is not the best time to be in Vienna, as it is in between seasons. Scenic Autumn has ended, while the Weihnachten (Christmas) exuberance has not yet begun in earnest (On the photo above you can see that they've installed the holiday lights, but have not yet turned them on). Lucky for me, this matters not a bit, as I am working all day almost every single day that I am here. But don't feel too bad; I have been living in Vienna on and off for the past two years, and have already done all the sight seeing possible.

In some parts of the city center, the famous Viennese Christmas markets have already been set up. Those are the little lit-up tents you see in the foreground of the church.

Inside one of the tents. The Christmas markets sell everything from traditional foods and handmade toys, to Christmas decor, leather goods, and clothing.

Here is a stand with sausages and Glühwein (mulled wine).

A vintage roadster graces the cover of a detective novel.

For those with a fetish for fine gloves and tights (you know who I speak of, ladies!), being in Vienna around this time is especially difficult: lots of fine products by local designers are on offer. Thankfully, the high price of these prevented me from buying them - even if I did try to justify it to myself as a "cycling expense". No no no.

A traditional Viennese café: marble, dark wood, red velvet upholstery, dim lighting, waiters in crisp black and white, tiny silver trays, sugar cubes in crystal bowls, the works! If you have a chance to visit Vienna, plopping yourself down in one of these after a day of walking (or cycling) around the city, is a real treat.

I leave you now with an image of a Vienna Citybike station. Not many takers at 5:00 am!

Cooking With Pioneer Woman

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I was inspired by Julie and Julia to cook my way through a cookbook, but figured The Art of French Cooking might be a bit daunting to me at this point so I am tackling PW's cookbook instead. If I make it through this, I am going to buy the matched set of The Art of French Cooking!



So far, every recipe I've tried from her cookbook has been very good. Just a few pictures of some of the goodies we've sampled. BBQ Jalapeno Poppers on the grill (alongside of some Carne Asada):



Fresh and colorful Pico de Gallo which we have been making for years now:



and PW's potato skins:





And this has nothing to do with PW's cookbook, but I also tried these for the Pickleball Tournament and New Year's eve party and they were fabulous too:



Since it's sooooooo cold here right now, I think I'm going to stick to the hearty, fill your belly with warm food dishes for the next few days.



Living the life in chilly Florida!

Lupine Explosion

Lupine Explosion, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

First it was a tidy tip explosion, but a return to Shell Creek Road revealed an explosion of lupines.

Gunks Routes: Yellow Belly (5.8), Birdland Direct (5.9) & Alphonse (5.8)

(Photo: Gail checking out the interesting roof problem on pitch one of Yellow Belly (5.8).)



Last Sunday Gail and I started early with a plan that we would head to the Near Trapps fora half day of climbing. I had numerous routes in mind as candidates for us. I was considering Criss Cross Direct, a 5.10a with a well-protected crux right off the ground. But first I thought we should check out one of the great 5.8 climbs in the Nears that I had never done. Specifically I was thinking of Broken Sling or Yellow Belly.



Gail wasn't too keen on doing Broken Sling. She had done it before and remembered the traverse at the beginning of pitch two as really scary. So that one was out. When we got to the cliff we decided to look at Yellow Belly, which she'd never tried, instead.



Yellow Bellygets two stars from Dick Williams, but no one seems to do it. I think this is mostly because the crux of pitch two involves getting in and out of an awkward alcove. It sounded like fun to me, or at least like something different than the usual thing.



When we got to the base I saw another reason why the climb might be unpopular. There is a tree not far off the deck that looks like it might be in the way. (It isn't.) The tree obscures the view of the climb from below, making the climb easy to pass over. I walked back and forth between Alphonse and Yellow Ridge a couple of times before deciding we were looking at the correct start for Yellow Belly.



Straightforward climbing at a low angle (sling the tree for your first pro!) leads up to the crux roof on pitch one. And this roof is a puzzler. It can be easily avoided on the right but I encourage you to tackle it directly. The difficulty is that you have to get into a hanging right-facing corner over the roof. There is a layback hold in the corner but nowhere to place your feet for the layback, since there is nothing but air below the left side of the corner. It took me a while but I finally figured something out and it was a really cool move. It was definitely not your standard jug haul.



Once above the roof, I was surprised to see a big off-width crack going up the corner. This off-width is too wide to protect with gear. I didn't recall any mention of an off-width in the guidebook so I decided that I was supposed to move left to the outside nose/arete, where I built a belay. Later I saw that Dick does say something about going up a corner/crack to the nose, so maybe I skipped a vital part of pitch. I'm still not quite clear on where the route actually goes. I enjoyed pitch one nonetheless and looked forward to pitch two.



I could see the alcove looming above. But first we had to deal with another crux early in the second pitch. A slabby low-angled face leads up from the belay stance. You have two choices: go up the face close to the nose, or move left to a right-facing corner with a tiny seam at the back. Neither option looks easy. I thought I remembered Dick saying something about staying close to the nose. So I decided to climb over to the right. But there isn't any pro over there, so first I placed a tiny nut in the seam at the left and then moved back right to do the face-climbing. One or two thin moves gained me easier blocky ground up to the alcove. Gail thought I would have been better off not placing the off-line pro to the left, but I can't really say.



And then at the alcove itself I learned why the climb is named Yellow Belly. I had to do a full-on belly flop to get into the alcove. I found myself lying totally prone on a block. The crux for me was the transition from this belly flop to something resembling a standing position. It was very squirmy and cramped but the pro was good so I think it counts as fun! Gail certainly seemed to find my situation amusing. For me the exit from the alcove was easier than getting into it. The exit is a standard Gunks roof escape, moving left with good hands and poor feet, then taking the leap of faith and swinging out and around the outside corner onto the face.



As I placed a piece in a convenient slot at the left exit to the alcove, I thought the climb was all but over.But I was mistaken. After I climbed up another twenty feet or so, with the top of the cliff almost in reach, I was suddenly immobilized. I couldn't move because the rope was stuck somewhere down below.



I tried to shake it loose, but it wouldn't budge.



When it fully sank in that I couldn't get the rope free I started screaming obscenities. I envisioned us wasting our whole day with an epic.



Then I calmed down and took stock of the situation. I couldn't move up but I could move down. I decided to downclimb to see if I could shake the rope free from a lower position. As I moved down, the slack in the rope increased, so I built a two-piece anchor to give myself a top rope as I approached the point where the rope was stuck. This worked out pretty well. The downclimbing was easy enough and eventually I could flick the rope out of the slot where it was stuck, at the exit to the alcove. I'm not sure if my gear placement had anything to do with creating the problem, and I could never really see exactly where the rope got stuck, but beware: if your rope feeds out the left side the alcove on Yellow Belly it might get snagged.



Once I had the rope moving again I reached as far to the right as I could and placed an Alien in a horizontal over the alcove so that I could direct the rope awayfrom feeding back into the same slot. Then I was able to finish the climb without it getting stuck again.



Yellow Belly has weird moves, route-finding issues, challenging pro, an awkward alcove, and rope-eating potential. Doesn't sound so great, does it? But I liked it a lot. I thought the three cruxes were all very different and enjoyable. I'd go back again to tackle the off-width and to try to manage the rope better at the exit to the alcove.



After we finally got done with Yellow Belly, Gail suggested Birdland, a route with no complications, just wonderful climbing. I hadn't done it this year so I was fine with it. I also thought it would be fun to check out the 5.9 variation on pitch two, a direct finish through the roof at the very top of the cliff.



I have previously argued that Birdland is the best 5.8 in the Gunks. I still feel that way. The first pitch has beautiful face climbing, although the little pebble toehold at the crux is looking pretty polished. This just ups the excitement a little bit. You must have faith in the polished toe pebble.



And then the second pitch is totally different, with some thin facey action right off the belay, and then great overhanging moves into the exit corner.



The 5.9 finish is well worth doing. It is superior to the easy traverse right that finishes the traditional 5.8 pitch two. I found this final roof to be very straightforward, with jug holds everywhere and good pro. I couldn't find any 5.9 on it; in fact I think the 5.8 moves into the corner beneath the roof are harder. If you're up there and not worn out, why not give it a try? It is a good "easy" 5.9 lead. It makes an already amazing climb just a little bit better.



When we got back to our packs our half-day of climbing was basically over. We had wasted a lot of time on Yellow Belly and we needed to head home soon. Clearly there wasn't time for me to try a 5.10. But Gail and I were both eager to climb just a little more. Luckily Alphonse (5.8) was just sitting there, wide open, so we decided to do it. It is a decent choice if you are in a hurry because it can be done in one pitch and the 5.8 crux is just one move; the rest is delightful 5.6. I tried to do it like Hans Florine, moving very quickly but in control. I aimed to protect it only when strictly necessary.



I can't say I succeeded in my first effort at speed climbing. Once the route started traversing I still took my time and placed several pieces for the safety of both myself and Gail. I created terrible drag. The route basically makes a u-turn through the crux, so the drag is hard to avoid unless you really run it out through the traverse.



We returned to the house an hour late. I guess I am no Hans Florine.

Crampons...Mono points/ Dual points

Two 2 winter's ago, I was scratching my way up a couple of pitches of moderate mixed at the end of a long walk.

I kept thinking at the time just how really hard the same two pitches would have been in my "other" gear.

The "other" gear would have been dual horizontal front points, much more supportive boots and a set of ice tools that would likely be much more appropriate for the majority of the climb.




Climbing on the last two pitches wasn't very hard, but consistent, and maxed at M 4 or 5. Way more rock climbing than ice. As there just wasn't much ice to be had beyond some nice scabs plastered here and there. So the tools were hooked on rock and the mono points set in a combination of rock or ice. Vertical granite cracks and blocks were abundant so it was easy to slot the single front point. The ice placements I did get for my feet typically sheared out with only the one set of points for support and I ended up on rock anyway.

When it came to climbing the last 30m of the open book it was all rock. Even with the best gear for that particular job it was difficult enough for me. With my "other" gear it may well have been more than I bargained for.

Daniel Harro photo



My point? In this instance a set of Nomics and Darts matched to the easy ankle flex in the older La Sportiva "Ice" made a lot of sense. No question the combo of the three made the climbing much easier. Funny how it turned out as I wasn't worried about the climbing just wanted easy boots to make the 15 mile hike in and didn't want to carry much weight. Turns out all three were a good choice on a iced up rock climb.

I used a similar thought process on another climb last winter were I took a set of Dartwins. 2000' of ice this time, most of it moderate WI4 or less. Two things I noticed besides having a lwt weight set of foot wear. ('pons and Trango Extreme Boots)

The first was the vertical front points of the Dartwins sheared through a lot on the warmer ice.

By mid day it was becoming irritating how careful I had to climb because of it. I would have much preferred a set of BD Sabertooth crampons at that point. And stripped they would have been even lighter than the Dartwins. (which come stripped)



Darts alone on this particular climb, that day, would have REALLY sucked in comparison to either the Dartwin or Sabertooth. I would have been forced to do a lot of French technique on the mono point Dart that is already notorious for having loss a set of down points. More akin to roller skates at that point than a set of Sabertooths.

In the world of ever more specialised equipment it pays to really look at what you are using, when, why and where.

I saw a comment earlier today where a very good climber was forced while following to aid and French free 30 meters of difficult rock, the same 30m that the leader had freed with mono point 'pons. The reason it wasn't freed was climbing on dual front points. The dual point 'pons simply couldn't be slotted into the finger crack.

For the remaining 500m of easy alpine ice that they simu climbed above the finger crack the Darts would have been fine and no real disadvantage over the dual points.

Another point recently made to me. If you weigh 150# in full winter kit it is a lot less likely you'll be shearing vertical front points than if you weigh in at a full 200# plus kit. I'm no fly weight. Never have been and realise I putt more stress on my gear because of it so I tend to notice the small things a little sooner where others might not.

I am comfortable with both styles of 'pons in my quiver but I also look at where I want to use them and why. If I had to chose I would ditch the monos.