Beta alert.

Look away if you ever plan on on-siting "Spoonman" at Coolum Cave.



Pay attention if you want to see a big Frenchman running out the crux.That's all I have to say. Enjoy.































Need more Antoine? Click here.



jj

Underneath the Pavement

Though it's been a week since the Vermont Fall Classic, I still cannot post a report. My heart is too full; this is a ride that requires some emotional rest and distance before it can be put into words. But privately some of us have been discussing it, rehashing it, testing the accuracy of our own memories by comparing them against the memories of others'. And one topic that's come up is the quality of the dirt. A few of us noticed that it was differed from our local dirt, and different from the dirt we rode in previous events. At the D2R2 in Massachusetts and Southern Vermont, the unpaved roads were a dark brown earthy colour that turned muddy when wet. At the Kearsarge Classic in New Hampshire, the terrain was rocky. The dirt roads in Northern Vermont were a light grayish-tan, almost clay-like in consistency, dusty and tightly packed except for a thin top layer that was soft from the rains of previous days. When it began to rain again, this top layer turned liquid, but not muddy exactly. It was thinner than mud, less viscous. I was certain it was some type of clay. Others thought it was more sand-like. A rider who often cycles in upstate New York then described the dirt roads there, which are reddish clay and leave a pink residue over everything. Fascinated by these nuances, we admitted that we never gave them much thought until now.




All of this makes me realise just how unfamiliar so many of us are with the actual soil we live on. Paved roads have defined and homogenised our landscape for so long, that we hardly consider what lies beneath. Do most of us even know what our local streets would look like unpaved? The streets in the next town over? Can most of us determine what a particular type of soil is by looking at it or feeling it? I was in touch with these things when I lived in the countryside, had a garden, walked in the woods, but living in the city has distanced me from that awareness. Now cycling on dirt through different parts of New England has reminded me just how important it is. I'd like to learn more about our region's terrain, about what lies underneath the pavement. I don't ever want to lose that connection again.

Those Pennsylvania Ancestors...

Back in March, when "The Journey" came to an official end, I mentioned there were several research trips that I wanted to take, one of which was to Pennsylvania.When I went to Pittsburgh to attend GRIP in July, I thought about staying the following week for research. But I hadn't really taken the time to properly prepare and returned to Indiana instead.



Coming up, the second week of September, I'm planning on meeting a friend at Acadia National Park in Maine for a week. I thought perhaps I could do a little research on the way, but that's probably not going to happen since, due to other commitments, I can't leave here until the 5th. So maybe, I can spend some time in Pennsylvania afterward.



Anyway, I started looking at those Pennsylvania ancestors, most of whom are "Pennsylvania Dutch" with the odd migrant from Connecticut (Sprague) and several Scotch-Irish (Dunfee & Hazlett) that came in through Maryland.



I made a list of the known ancestors and several "persons of interest" noting where they had lived and when. Then decided to map it out to visually "see" the various locations. I had done something similar back in .., but with a map that included all of the eastern states. Comparing this map to the earlier one shows that more ancestors have been found in Pennsylvania, more than I thought.






Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania, is in Dauphin County.

Double-click on the image to view a larger version.


It's a bit overwhelming when I think about researching in all of these locations! Back in 1986, on-site research was done in Fayette, Westmoreland, Adams, and York counties. And, of course, quite a few records were found on several visits to Salt Lake City last year. Perhaps I should just spend what time I have at the State Archives in Harrisburg?



Research plans for some of the ancestors are in progress - listing what is known about them, the documents that I already have, and what I'd like to find. Of course, the amount of information known varies considerably, dependent mostly upon how much research time has been devoted to them in the past.



Below is the list of locations and ancestors (or persons of interest) in Pennsylvania. Some people are listed in multiple counties. Alexander, Schuder, Sprague and Stoever are in my Dad's lineage. All others are in Mom's lines. Some of them I don't know where they were prior to where I found them. And, of course, there are the ancestors that were "born in Pennsylvania" with locations unknown, such as James Neal, Peter Wise and Conrad Stem...The number in front of the county name refers to the numbers on the map, going from the east side of the state to the west side.



1 - Northampton (part of Bucks until 1752)

• Bayer/Boyer, Adam - Williams Twp (1733-1754)


• Brinker, Andreas & Regula Herter - Lower Saucon (1735-1764)


• Brinker, Ulrich (married Apolonia Bayer/Boyer, d/o of Adam) - Lower Saucon (1735-1785)


• Brinker, Andrew (With wife Barbara Lederman, moved to Westmoreland shortly after marriage in 1785.) Lower Saucon (1760-1785)

2 - Lehigh (Philadelphia until 1758, Northampton until 1812)

• Williams (Willems), Johannes & Margaretha - Whitehall - (1736-????)


• Williams (Willems), Thomas [Daughter Margaret married George Yerion about 1770. Both families to Westmoreland by 1785.] - Whitehall - (1736-1785)

3 - Lehigh (Philadelphia until 1758, Northampton until 1812)

• Yerion (Jerian), Mathias - Lynn - (1732-1761)

4 - Montgomery (Philadelphia until 1784)

• Hoffman, Burckhard [Person of Interest] - Upper Hanover - (1727-1770)


• Hoffman, Michael - Upper Hanover - (mid 1700s)

5 - Berks (Philadelphia until 1752)

• Hoffman, Michael - Douglas - (mid 1700s)

6 - Berks (Philadelphia until 1752)

• Hoffman, Michael - Alsace - (died 1777)


• Schädler, Dietrich [Person of Interest. Baptism sponsor of Dietrich Hoffman in July 1751.]


• Schedler, Engel [Person of Interest. Did she marry "my" Michael Hoffman? Is she the mother of Dietrich Hoffman?] - (1740s-1780s)


• Alter, Georg Henrich [Person of Interest. Possible father of Susanna Alder/Alter who married Dietrich Hoffman] - (1750s-1780s)

7 - Berks (Philadelphia until 1752)

• Daniel/Daniels, Adam - Bethel - (1738-1777)


• Forster, Wilhelm Georg (aka William Foster) md Magdalena Daniel in 1774 - Bethel - (1764-1780s)


• Leatherman (Lederman), Jacob - Tulpehocken - (1740s-1762)


• Leatherman (Lederman), Peter - Tulpehocken - (1740s-1801)


• Leatherman, Barbara, d/o Peter md Andrew Brinker - Tulpehocken - (1785)

8 - Lebanon (Lancaster until 1785, Dauphin until 1813)

• Stoever, John Caspar III - Bethel - (1785-1805 to Ohio)

9 - Lebanon (Lancaster until 1785, Dauphin until 1813)

• Stoever, John Caspar II - Lebanon - (1742-1779)

10 - Northumberland (Southern portion of county was part of Lancaster until 1772.)

• Schuder, Nicolaus - Mahonoy & Washington - (1772-????)


• Schuder, Christian & Christina Stoever - Mahonoy & Washington - (1772-1803 to Ohio)


• Forster, Wilhelm Georg (aka William Foster) - Mahonoy - (1780s-1798 to Shenandoah, Virginia then Ohio about 1807)

11 - Lancaster (Chester until 1729)

• Steinweg/Stoneroad, George -Lancaster - (1754-???? married Veronica Danner 1763)


• Danner/Tanner, Veronica - Lancaster - (married George Steinweg 1763)

12 - Lancaster (Chester until 1729. In 1853, part of Martic where the Brubakers had lived became Providence Township)

• Brubaker, Hans Jacob 1st - Martic - (1730-1755)


• Brubaker, Hans Jacob 2nd - Martic - (1730-1802)


• Brubaker, Hans Jacob 3rd - Martic - (about 1760-1817. Married Elizabeth Steinweg about 1788, to Ohio about 1817.)

13 - York (Lancaster until 1749)

• Berlin, Jacob & Ann Margaretha Euler - Codorus - (1740s)

14 - Adams (York until 1800)

• Berlin, Jacob & Ann Margaretha Euler - Berwick - (1750-1790)


• Berlin, Frederick Sr. - Berwick & Hamilton - (1750-1836) - Susan [Wagner ?]


• Berlin, Frederick Jr. - Berwick & Hamilton - (1771-1843) - married Juliana [Dietzler ?]


• [Dietzler ?], Juliana -


• [Wagner ?], Susan -

15 - Adams (York until 1800)

• Rupert, John, Barbara [baptism of Eva 1787] - Latimore - (????-1787)

16 - Adams (York until 1800)

• Dunfee, George & Mary - Cumberland - (1790-1800)


• Dunfee, George & Mary - Liberty - (1800-1830)


• Dunfee, James & Sophia (Hazlett) - Liberty - (1800-1830)


• Hazlett, Jonathan & Elizabeth - Liberty - (1810-1830)

17 - Franklin (Cumberland until 1784)

• Cow, Henery (aka Henry Coy) - Montgomery - (1790-1804)


• Hoffman, Detrick (2 sons married daughters of Henry Coy) - Montgomery - (1790s-1804)

18 - Bedford (Cumberland until 1771)

• Helm, Conrad - Bedford - (1804)

19 - Bedford (Cumberland until 1771)

• Helm, Conrad - Londonderry - (1807-1811)

20 - Somerset (Cumberland until 1771, Bedford until 1795)

• Stoever, John Caspar III - Milford - (1802-1805 to Ohio)

21 - Westmoreland (Cumberland until 1771, Bedford until 1773)

• Yerion, George - Mount Pleasant - (1773-1804) - wife Margaretha Williams


• Brinker, Andrew & Barbara Lederman - Mount Pleasant - (1785-1805)

22 - Fayette (Westmoreland until 1783)

• Sisley, Lewis & Margaret Ellis - Washington - (1790-1826)


• Stem, Conrad - Washington - (1820-1840s) - married Indiana Sisley before 1833, to Ohio before 1850. He was born "in Pennsylvania" in 1804.

23 - Washington (Westmoreland until 1781)

• Ellis, James - Fallowfield - (1780-1803)


• Ellis, Nathan Fallowfield - (1780-late 1790s to Ohio)

24 - Erie (Allegheny until 1800)

• Sprague, Thomas Sr. - Springfield - (1800-1805) - Came from Connecticut, went to Montgomery County, Ohio.


• Alexander, William - Springfield - (1800-1805 to Ohio) - Married Lucy Sprague.

Bucks, Philadelphia, and Dauphin counties are colored-in because they were the "parent" counties for the areas in which ancestors settled. Depending upon the time frame involved, research may be required in those counties.



I hesitated in posting this since it may turn out that I don't get to Pennsylvania for research this year, but thought I'd post it anyway since I spent so much time on it and also in the hopes of hearing from anyone researching these lines or with ties to these people - leave a comment below or send me an email at kinexxions "at" gmail "dot" com.

Pamlico Sound

The resort we are staying at is split into two parts. The one half sits on the ocean, the other side sits on Pamlico Sound. Pamlico sounds is the largest lagoon along the east coast. It is the second largest estuary (Chesapeake Bay being the largest).

I Like Turtles

We have had so many turtles at the campground this year. I'm not sure what that is about, but it's been fun watching them move around and share living space with us.

Tonight, as I was cropping pictures, I came across some shots that Nathan took of some turtles. Which made me think of Austin. For two reasons. The first being that he is in Virginia with Daryl and Diana for a visit. He is my baby and the only child I have left living in our household, so I wasn't fond of him going away. Lauren just had surgery though, so I thought it would be a kind thing if he went to keep his cousin who is in a cast company.



Before he left, I told him not to ask me if he could stay there for anything longer than a two or three week long visit. Because it rips my heart out to even think of giving up any of the little bit of time I have left with him up. I said it clear terms that if he called and asked me, I'd be tempted to bring home sooner rather than later. And then I said, I mean it. So he'd know of course that I really did mean it. I wasn't just tossing out empty, meaningless threats.



So today, he called Nathan to tell him he wanted to stay longer and why. Ok, so he didn't call me which is what I had so clearly laid out. What he did do was to try and go around Mom though. Because he knows Dad isn't quite as sad about the last one leaving home as Mom. Dad would probably be ok with him staying longer.



So Dad tells me, just to let you know...this is what Austin called about. At which point I got angry and sad all at the same time. Since I cry when I'm angry and I cry when I'm sad, I just took care of both at once and cried twice as hard.



The main reason the turtle picture is making me think of Austin though is because a few years ago he fell in love with a video where a young kid is being interviewed by a reporter and he randomly says, I like turtles. Austin played this video over and over and over and over and over again. I think he even made it his voice mail message on his phone. It didn't hurt any that he likes turtles himself.



Somehow the two things are related, but I'm not sure why because I'm crying again over missing my youngest boy. Oh yeah, they are related because I can't look at turtles now without Austin's voice running through my head and I can't see turtles without thinking of Austin. So this picture made me think of Austin. And now I'm missing him.



So in honor of the turtle loving guy I thought I'd send him this message:



Dear Austin,



Mom just wants you to know I miss you so much already. And don't call Dad again about trying to stay longer or Mom will have to come up and bring you home the next day.



Much Love,

Mom

No Happy Dance – Yet – Still Hopeful

It's been a slug-fest here at the Family History Library the past five days. I've been chasing the needle in a haystack on several family lines, without success. But, as Carol says, at least now I know I don't need to look at those sources. Ah, ever the optimist, she is!



We've been taking an hour break for lunch every day. It helps to relieve the “stress” just a bit. Our break yesterday (Tuesday, May 24th) took a little longer as we walked through Temple Square to the cafeteria for lunch. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous!!





The Mormon Temple with Gabriel high atop the spires.



The flower beds are jam-packed. So colorful. So Pretty.See those large reddish flowers on the left?



This is what they look like before they burst out of their pods.



Up close. An orange one of the same variety. Fabulous.

Summer's Eve at Hollow Rock

This is the first image I've made at Hollow Rock in quite some time. Hollow Rock is one of my favorite places to photograph in winter, but for some reason I don't go there much in the summer. I don't know why, since it is a great place to shoot no matter what the season. At any rate, this image was made at 9:37 p.m. It is a 30 second exposure shot with the aid of a 3-stop reverse-graduated neutral-density filter. The hardest part about making this image was tolerating the mosquitoes. They were AWFUL!

Floods and Flowers

A ride that starts with mild rain, luring me out, ambushes with a downpour. I am too far out now to turn back. Might as well keep going.



This is all right. My tires slice through puddles.



Rain, rain, pouring rain. Drumming against my helmet. Dripping from my visor. This is okay. This is rather peaceful. The roads are all mine.



Meadow, meadow, forest, farm. Farm, farm, forest.



But darn, what's this. Country road, traffic backed up around the bend. I pedal carefully along the shoulder.



Endless line of cars, deep puddles, feet clipped in, water pouring down my face off the soggy visor,thinking "This is crazy," feeling calm, humming to myself.



A woman driver in a pickup rolls down her window. She points to my bike, then points to the back of her truck. I half-raise my hand in a half-wave like "I'm good, thanks." She shakes her head and smiles. I pass her in traffic.



Pedal, pedal, pedal. Rain, rain, rain. Cars, cars. Honking. Brake lights.



Two teenage boys in a Jeep roll down their window and lean over. "Cool bike! Cool braids!" Thumbs up to me from the teenage boys.



There is a soggy book on the grassy side of the road. Tossed by a kid out of a car window? Kittens on the cover. Bloated, wet kittens.



Let's see, what is going on at the front of all this backed up traffic...



A broken light. A ditch at the intersection filled with deep water. The bigger cars rolling though it slowly. The smaller cars frantically flashing their signals, making U-turns.



I pass them all and turn right. No one else wants to go there. What's wrong with right?



No matter. An end to the chaos. A silent empty road. Trees, trees. Darkness at noon. Streams of water across the pavement. Rain.



This is okay. This is all right. This is rather peaceful. The road is all mine. My shoe touches water on the downstroke.



And then I smell the flowers. A deep, heavy scent, almost an odor. The raindrops carry it, like perfume oil. A low-hanging branch of blossoms. I grab it and pedal home.



My bike is upside down in the kitchen. My flower, my prize is on the table. The rain has stopped, like none of it had ever happened. But water droplets glisten on the petals. And on the pedals.

14 Months Without a Car

We have been without a car since last December. The "anniversary" of this date was so unremarkable, that it came and went unnoticed. But I've had some requests to post a 1-year report about what it has been like, which made me realise it's already been longer than that. I want to make it clear that being without a car is not a political statement for us and is not wrapped up in our sense of identity. For that reason I do not use words such as "car-free" or "car-light," or any of the related terminology. We simply do not have a car, for the time being.





Living on the border of Somerville and Cambridge, MA, we are lucky to be in a location that happens to be convenient for getting around the Boston Metro area by bike. Before moving here 4 years ago, we lived in rural Northern New England - where we did a great deal of driving and each had a substantial vehicle with off-road and hauling capacity. As soon as we moved to Boston, we sold the larger of the two, because it was clear that keeping both was impractical. The Co-Habitant's car was sold, and mine was to become the shared car. However, what happened instead is that I simply stopped driving at that point entirely, preferring to get around on foot and via public transportation. When later I started riding a bike, that became my main mode of transport. I have not been behind the wheel of a motor vehicle since late 2007, and I even let my driver's license lapse for some time. But I still co-owned our shared car, and rode in it as passenger.





We used the shared car mainly to travel out of town and for trips that involved transporting or purchasing bulky items. The majority of everyday transportation we did by bike, simply because both of us found it more convenient. When the car broke down in late November , we realised that we did not really feel like getting it fixed and preferred to make do without it instead. So that is what we did.





The winter of - was a brutal one, and interestingly getting through it was what cemented our decision. It snowed so much and so frequently, that we often relied on resources close to home - which made us realise that it is possible. If there was too much snow on the roads to cycle, there was a grocery store and pharmacy within walking distance. They may not be our preferred grocery store and pharmacy, but nonetheless they are there for us to simply walk to in case we needed milk at 10pm in a snowstorm. Further afield there are coffee shops, restaurants, a post office, and other destinations that could be reached on foot. The Co-Habitant could evenwalk to work if really necessary, though he had no problem cycling through snow. I could also walk or take public transportation.If anything, we felt that we had it easier that winter than drivers - who constantly complained about having to dig out and defrost their cars, and about the horrible driving conditions. A bike and a pair of winter boots require much less maintenance.






Once that winter was over, everything else was a piece of cake. Owning a car in Boston now seemed like a burden and inconvenience. How did we ever manage with all those fees and maintenance responsibilities? Not owning a car was so much easier, not to mention that we now magically had more money. And that's really all there was to it, as far as everyday stuff was concerned.






That is not to say that we never used a car. We still occasionally needed to travel to remote out of town locations and to transport bulky items. And, ironically, I occasionally had to transport bikes in various states of assembly for Lovely Bicyclerelated projects. But the key word here is "occasionally." Once we got the hang of zipcar and car rental, using these services in addition to the occasional taxi proved to be sufficient for us to not feel that we needed to actually own a car. The main limitation of zipcar, is that you cannot always get one on the spot, and we tend to do things spontaneously rather than plan everything out carefully. But over time we got better at planning and also became more savvy/psychic about zipcar rental. After a couple of initial glitches, it has mostly been okay. I even moved into my art studio with the help of a zipcar pickup truck, which went very well with fairly minimal planning.






Our only frustration so far has been with the public transportation system. Without exaggeration, the T (subway) has gotten stuck between stations most of the times I've taken it over the past year, making me late for appointments. The buses are habitually late by as much as 20 minutes, to the point that the bus timetable is not meaningful. The buses are also very full and taking fragile items on board is not practical. The commuter rail runs infrequently and not at the times we seem to need it, so that going somewhere via commuter rail can mean having to spend an entire day at the destination instead of the 1.5 hours we need to spend there. Also, many of the commuter rail stops are not handicap-accessible - which also means not bike-friendly, since they have these super long and narrow staircases leading down to the platform from overpasses. Whenever I criticise the MBTA, inevitably someone gets angry, as if public transportation is some holy thing no matter how good or bad it is and I should be thankful for it. But with all due respect, having used public transportation successfully in cities where it works, the MBTA is a disgrace in comparison. I cannot pretend to be thankful for the frustration and wasted time it causes me nearly every time I attempt to use it, and I am certain that it is the reason why more people in the greater Boston area do not feel comfortable without a car.






MBTA frustrations aside, we did manage to go on a 2-week vacation via bike plus commuter rail over the summer, and it was a lot more fun than renting a car would have been. No traffic jams, no gas station stops, no looking for parking - just the freedom of bikes. We brought all the stuff we would normally have taken with us too, including two weeks worth of clothing, books, laptops, and basic camera equipment. It's amazing how much you can stuff into heavy-duty bicycle luggage if you try.






When we first discussed the idea of giving up the car, it was important for both of us not to feel as if being without it would be a struggle, or would limit our freedom. And over a year later, I can say that at no point did we feel that way. At this stage of our lives not having a car gives us more freedom, not less. We do not miss the responsibilities and the spendings that come with owning, parking, fueling and maintaining a vehicle in the Boston Metro area. We also simply never talk about it anymore. We neither lament our carless state, nor do we congratulate ourselves for it; it's just become one less issue to worry about.





By no means is this narrative intended to be an "if I can do it, you can!" sort of thing. Our circumstances happen to be conducive to getting along without a car, but others' circumstances might not be. There is also no question in my mind that at some point in the future we will have a car again, and I will even drive it - since my ideal place to live is in the countryside in the middle of nowhere. In the end, it's not about fixating on the car as an object - be it an object of desire or an object of evil - but about deciding what works best for improving your quality of life. Car ownership for its own sake has become such a given, that it may simply not occur to some people that there are circumstances under which they might be better off (i.e. waste less time, be in a better mood, have more disposable income, feel better) without a private vehicle. When I lived in Vienna, I once asked an elderly socialite - the wife of a wealthy politician - whether she and her husband owned a car. She cringed and fanned herself. "Goodness no dear, sitting in traffic is so undignified! I take the trolley and I love to walk. For me, these are life's luxuries." The concept of luxury is, after all, relative.

Two days in Vantage ..

Ian and I had planned to go to Squamish for a bunch of days. However, the forecast was not favorable for any of the "local" climbing areas. By Monday, Ian wasn't feeling well, and we decided to make it a two day trip to the Frenchman's Coulee area. Since I don't seem to enjoy climbing there, this didn't make me feel great about the trip before going, but I kept my hopes up that we'd have a good time.

When we arrived, the skies were gray, with a light wind. We headed to Sunshine Wall so I could help Ian finish his project of climbing all the sport climbs at Sunshine (and the Feathers.) Once there, I believe we "warmed up" on Throbbing Gristle(5.9). Ian led it and I followed. It was technically easy for a 5.9, but strenuous. I fell and hung at one point. I cleaned the anchor, and we moved on to the next objective: Air Guitar.

Right around the corner is Air Guitar(5.10a), a route with a little history. (Goran Kropp died from a fall on Air Guitar.) Ian sort of psyched himself out of doing this one in the past due to that reason. He climbed it, and sewed up the middle section a bit before he ended up leap frogging protection near the top, then running it out when out of gear. You should include two #3s and two #4s in a rack for this climb. (One guide book even says a #5 if you have it, but I think two #4s will do.) I had Ian leave the gear in for my climb. I cruised the lower 2/3s of the climb then the crack got to off hands for me. I didn't have a good jam to move up on, and took a fall trying to go for a higher hold. After a few attempts, Ian gave me the advice to go deep into the crack for a jam. It worked. I basically wound up jamming my forearm, and it gave me enough purchase to make the next hold. That got me up to a big ledge, where what I would call the final crux moves waited. Above the ledge the crack was wider and was either fists or off-width depending on your body size. I couldn't manage to get decent fist jams, and ended up arm barring the last section with a few falls to reach the chains. Since we had the top rope set up, Ian climbed it again, and then I gave it another lap where I struggled more on the lower 2/3s and had an easier time with the off hands section.

Ian on Air Guitar

At this point the wind was picking up, and it was trying to rain on us. Ian and I huddled down for a bit hoping it would pass and then decided to head back to the car area and possibly climb at The Feathers. We took a long scenic way back admiring the flowers on top of the mesa while hiking.

Desert Flowers

Before we got back to the car, we decided to climb at Zig Zag wall. Neither of us had before, and it was about time. So we headed over to Unfinished Business (5.8) as our first route over there. Ian then told me it was my turn to lead, so I led up the route. He wanted to see me climb at my limit, which that route technically wasn't, but was challenging for having smaller holds after we had been doing laps on Air Guitar. I on-sighted the route, and then Ian pink pointed it. He commented about the strenuousness with the small holds and congratulated me on a nice lead. We spoke with a few women about looking at their newer guidebook, then decided on a .10b route nearby. (I think it may have been called Group Therapy?) Ian led it nicely, then I thrashed up it to the chains. (Actually I wasn't that thrashy, just in one section.) We called it a day and ate dinner and hung out in the car before camping. (It had started to rain around 6pm, but we decided to stick it out to see what the next day would bring.)

We woke up at 6:15am and Ian promptly went back to sleep. I took a walk down to the Columbia on the road and just enjoyed the smell of the sage, and the desert morning. When I arrived back at the campsite, Ian was topping out from a free solo of Where the Sidewalk Ends (5.1). We got in the car to get him his morning coffee.

When we got back we headed to The Feathers in an effort to complete his project there. He wanted to start with a warm up on The Uprising (5.8), probably the nicest route at The Feathers. However, he wanted me to lead it. I was intimidated by the first bolt being 15' off the ground and backed off one move from it. Ian led it, and then I pink pointed it afterward. I told him that it was a little too stout of a lead for me to warm up on.

We headed through the notch and geared up for I'd Rather be Skiing at 49° North (5.10b). Ian stated to me that this was still not finished by him due to a somewhat scary clipping issue at the 4th and 5th bolts. (There is a potential for falling on a ledge if falling at that point.) It turns out that is the crux of the climb where it is slightly overhanging and has some awkward foot placements. Ian led it in fine fashion, and I cruised to the crux, and then thrashed a bit trying to overcome it. It mellowed out above that point and I cleaned the anchors.

The next target was Hardening of the Arteries (5.10c). This was another route with a high first bolt which has caused Ian trouble. Although after climbing it, I'd say the crux was between the 2nd and 3rd bolt for sure. Ian led the route with no issues, and I climbed it well to the crux where I got pretty pumped trying to pull through the steep moves before it mellows out again near the top. We left the rope up and allowed a Canadian guy named Peter to top rope the route. Then Ian climbed it again to clean the anchors.

Peter at the Crux on Hardening of the Arteries

The wind picked up again, and we sat in the car for a bit eating lunch and hoping it would subside. Ian had only one route left to complete his task, but neither of us was feeling great about going out and tackling it. So we hiked over to it, and looked at it and proceeded to pack the car and leave for Seattle.

Overall, a great trip. I feel I need to step up the next time I climb with Ian. I usually feel content following harder stuff, but want to start leading some harder stuff too. Perhaps next time.

Spring Weather

Small pockets of sunshine followed by waves of snowy/rainy weather have been passing over the park the last couple of weeks. Winter conditions still persist on the mountain: climbers are still choosing to climb the Ingraham Direct instead of the Disappointment Cleaver, eighteen feet of snow still remains at Paradise, and the snow plows are still hard at work clearing the roads.

Please continue to check back to the Access and Roads thread for the most up to date information regarding White River and Stevens Canyon opening dates.

With Memorial Day Weekend just around the corner, the climbing season is getting into full swing. The Climbing Information Center will be open daily from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm starting Friday, May 27th. Come on up and enjoy the start of the season!

Aquatica Water Park

Today we hit the water park. This is the warmest day we've had in some time, so we took full advantage of it.

Vehicles of Equality

[image via cnn]

Last week many of us were following the #women2drive campaign in Saudi Arabia - a move organised via social media, where about 40 Saudi women drove cars in protest of their country's ban on female drivers. Saudi Arabia is the only country where it is currently prohibited for a woman to drive. The ban has become a symbol of gender inequality, while driving has become a symbol of freedom and women's liberation. It is unclear as of yet what effect the protest will have on Saudi policy toward women drivers. Meanwhile I've received an email from a cycling activist, asking whether I thought bicycles would at any point be incorporated into the movement.



[image via wn]

To clarify, women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to cycle just as they're not permitted to drive. That is, they are allowed to be passengers on a bicycle, but not operators. The point of the ban is to prevent women from going off on their own, and so it applies to any vehicle that facilitates travel. However, I doubt that Saudi women will be getting on bicycles and staging a #women2ride movement any time soon. While in some cultures there is now a trend to associate cycling will freedom (freedom from dependence on fuel, from being stuck in traffic, from having to find parking, from hour-long commutes, from financial strain, etc.), the bicycle does not symbolise any of those things in Saudi Arabia. Neither does it symbolise travel, in the contemporary sense: A car can travel further and more efficiently if fuel is not an issue.In order for a group to protest not being able to engage in an activity, that activity has to be perceived as desirable. And I just don't think cycling has that status in Saudi Arabia.



[image via rfe/rl]

There areother issues to consider as well. Operating a bicycle is deemed "too sexy" by some government and religious figures in conservative Middle Eastern countries. In Iran there is technically no travel ban in effect for women, but the Iranian Women's Cycling Team was stopped by the police while training last October and told that the activity is not permitted in public, as it is too provocative.



There is also the question of safety. Driving in protest is safer than cycling in protest, as on a bicycle a person is more vulnerable to recognition, apprehension, and potential attack.



[image viabikehugger]

While in Western cultures the bicycle became a symbol of gender equality in the Edwardian era, I don't think that this can be applied to today's situation in countries where basic women's rights are being debated - particularly in the Middle East. The circumstances are too different. Should cycling activists feel threatened by the#women2drive initiative? I think that would be highly misguided. But the question of how to make bicycling more accessible to women in this region is worth considering.

Thoughts on Bar-End Shifters

When I was getting my first new roadbike in spring , I had it built up with bar-end shifters. This decision was arrived at via a process of elimination. I had ridden a couple of vintage roadbikes before with very limited success and found the classic downtube shifters too challenging. I had also tried to test ride some modern roadbikes and found their combination brake/shifter levers ("brifters") to be so uncomfortable that I had trouble using the brakes. Other cyclists I knew recommended bar-ends - an older style that had grown popular again in recent years. Rivendell - the manufacturer of the road frame I was having built up - was also strongly recommending this setup. And so that is what I went with.






A bar-end shifter is exactly what it sounds like: a gear-changing lever installed at the end of the handlebar. There are different styles. Some are longer, others are shorter. Some are friction, others are indexed. I have tried a few now on different bikes, and my favourite remains what I went with originally: Silver friction shifters. The length and shape make them easier for me to operate than other models; I get more leverage. I find the friction mode easy and intuitive to use, and I like the control it gives me. If a gear is imperfectly adjusted, I can simply move it a tiny bit manually. I can also shift multiple gears at a time quite easily.






The shorter, indexable Shimano bar-ends are another popular choice for this style of shifters. The Co-Habitant uses them on his bikes and loves them. But personally I find them more effortful and less comfortable to use that the Silvers.






Over the time I rode with bar-end shifters, I was more or less fine with them. I was able to switch gears and I was able to install the brake levers I liked, since they were independent from the shifters. But I did find two things about the shifters less than ideal. One was that they required me to dramatically change my hand position(s) on the bars in order to switch gears. I got better and quicker at this over time, but nonetheless I was never "in love" with the process. The other issue was that when stopped or off the bike the shifters would often poke me and give me bruises. But both of these points seemed relatively minor at the time, and I was not considering a different lever setup.





My switch to combination levers was a product of accidental discovery. I was discussing test riding a Seven roadbike with the staff of the Ride Studio Cafe, and all their demo models were set up with modern brifter-type levers. I told them about my inability to brake using brifters when I attempted to ride other modern roadbikes. Rob Vandermark asked which specific makes and models I'd tried. It had not occurred to me until then that this could make a real difference. I'd tried quite a few, all of them by Shimano and SRAM. Rob looked at the Tektro short reach brake levers on my own bike, and suggested I try Campagnolo; apparently the shape is very similar. And so it was. I test rode a demo bike with Campagnolo ergo shifters and it was as if my brain became integrated with them immediately. I resisted making a rash decision to make the switch on my own bike, but a couple of months later I finally did switch and have not looked back.






So what do I think of bar-end shifters in retrospect... Pretty much the same thing as before. I have no desire to "bash" them or to proclaim the superiority of brifters; it is really a matter of individual preference. I still like bar-ends and I am fine riding a roadbike set up with them. I especially love the friction mode. If given a choice of models, my favourites are the Silvers; they feel great in my hands. I imagine that bar-ends are well suited for those who prefer their shifters to be separate from their brake levers, who wish to have the option of friction shifting, and who have no problems moving their hands to the edges of the drops swiftly and efficiently when they need to change gears. I am sure there are other contexts in which bar-ends are the preferred choice, and those who have things to add on the subject are welcome to chime in. To me, bar-ends will always be associated with my first road cycling experiences, and I retain a fondness for them despite having switched to another system.