Scott School in Troy Township

On the back of the postcard photo above is written “Jane Brubaker 4/3/1914 My School. Wyland Herrold Teacher.”
Jane would turn 11 years old on April 14th, 1914. She is on the right side of the middle row, the little girl with the black bow in her hair. Her brother, William Hale Brubaker, is the young fellow with the white shirt and tie in the front row, in front of Jane. He was 9 years old on February 22nd, 1914. My grandmother would have been 12 years old at the time so should be in the picture also but for some reason she isn't. The family was living at the Goose Lake Farm, in Troy Township, at the time. The school was about 2 miles from the farm. The Scott School was closed in the spring of 1920.
The pictures below were taken in August ...

Cross Town Express to Castle Island

This past Sunday marked my biggest vehicular cycling accomplishment to date: We rode from Cambridge/Somerville to South Boston and Dorchester - via a 9-mile route that took us straight across greater Boston. It's by no means the most cycling we have ever done, but it was certainly the most cycling we have done through a high-traffic urban environment. (We do not attempt to photograph ourselves while riding in traffic, so these photos were taken along the South Boston waterfront.)

Referring to the map above, we went from point "A" to "B," then to "C" and to "B" again - and of course eventually, back home to "A".

Our destination was Castle Island in South Boston, where the goal was to cycle along the Harbor path through Dorcester and back. The harbor path is quite nice and about 3 miles in length, but it is crowded with pedestrians in the summer. In early November, however, it is just perfect: Still enough people for it not to feel abandoned, but plenty of room to cycle.

As you can tell by the photos, I was on my vintage 3-speed Raleigh DL-1 with rod brakes. No problems at all. The widely spaced 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub combined with lowered gearing (22 tooth cog) was more than sufficient for any elevation we encountered.

Oh, and I finally installed lights and a bell on this bike. The headlight is a CatEye Opticube LED mounted to the right fork blade, and the tail-lights (not visible here, but see the last two photos of this post) are Cateye Bike LD610s, attached vertically to the rear stays. The bell is a Crane brass bell.

We began our ride on Sunday mid-day and there was considerable traffic, but not too bad. Interestingly, as soon as we crossed the bridge into South Boston, we got some friendly comments from local motorists. Not what I expected given the aggressive reputation of this area. I think people found our vintage bikes and dressy attire appealing - a nice thing to see on a Sunday?

For those unfamiliar with the history and cultural climate of South Boston ("Southie"), it is an old working class neighborhood that has traditionally been predominantly Irish. And I don't mean just Americans with Irish heritage, but a considerable number of recent immigrants: you can hear Dublin and Cork accents spoken. Over the past decade, the area has grown more ethnically diverse, and some parts of it have also become "gentrified". But overall, the feeling of its historical roots still remains. The image above is the old Women's Bath House (now part of a community swimming facilities) that is located along the harbor path right before Castle Island.

Castle Island itself (which, as far as I can tell, is really a peninsula) curls around and connects to another part of the mainland via a narrow strip of land (see point "B" on the map above). This strip does not naturally close all the way, but they built a bridge to complete the loop. The Pleasure Bay Loop is part of the cycle path and offers nice views of the Boston mainland, the harbor, and the mysterious industrial landscape of the Conley Terminal of the Port of Boston.

Arrival at Castle Island via the Pleasure Bay loop. Here we were approached by an elderly man who asked us about our bikes and told us that he rode a DL-1 in Ireland since the 1930s - because the roads where he lived were bad and it was the only bike that could handle them. More evidence that the DL1 makes a great "off-Roadster". The gentleman also told us that his other bike at the time was a "fixed wheel bicycle" - hard core!

Finally, here is the real attraction of Castle Island: Fort Independence - originally built in 1634 for the sea defense of Boston. The fort is located upon a hill, and visitors climb it to sit and watch the airplanes land at Boston's Logan Airport just across the water. On the photo above I managed to capture one of the planes landing - though they look much larger and more impressive in person! The cool thing about planes landing, is that there is always a group of them, waiting for their turn to land in a cluster of lights in the sky. Then suddenly one light separates form the cluster and begins to move toward you until it grows larger and more plane-like. It really is pretty neat to watch, and Boston's Logan Airport is special in that it's surrounded by water.

Walking my bike up the hill; a corner of Fort Independence in the background. Didn't want to cycle on the nice grass.

Next to Fort Independence is the legendary Sullivan's. This is a fast food place that serves everything from delicious cheeseburgers to lobster bisque (there are healthier alternatives as well, but somehow they don't seem appropriate). As you can see, Sullivan's even had VIP parking for our bicycles. The thing to do is to order from Sullivan's, then take the food to the top of the hill and dine while watching the planes land at sunset.

The sunsets on Castle Island are beautiful, but difficult to capture.

We enjoyed cycling along the South Boston waterfront, as well as the process of getting there and back. Returning home at night was particularly nice: the beautiful lights over the water, the melodic noise of traffic, the peaceful darkness. It feels good to be comfortable cycling through the city you live in.

If you are in the Boston area and want to try cycling to Castle Island, the best way to get there from the center is on Summer Street, straight to the end. Summer Street may seem intimidating, but it is surprisingly okay. If you don't feel confident the first time, go on a Sunday morning: Everyone will be either asleep, in church, or nursing a hangover. The streets will be yours!

Memorial Weather

Both high camps have been receiving lots of new snow over the past couple of days. Memorial Day itself put drifts up to 50 cm deep around camp. High winds (40-50 mph) pasted the wet snow to most surfaces. The general forecast, at least initially, looks better for early-June. Hopefully we'll avoid the all too common "Junuary" weather pattern.






Climbers have been unsuccessful in reaching the summit for almost a week due to weather and avalanche concerns - although challenging conditions have been welcome training conditions for climbers with their sights set on even loftier peaks.




Stop by the Climbing Information Center in Paradise for the most current information on the mountain. We're open everyday at 06:00 - come on up and talk to us early, the Paradise Inn is open again for the season and they do serve espresso!




See you on The Mountain.

Coronado State Monument

Last weekend we decided to go to see Coronado State Monument which is just to the north of where we live near Rio Rancho, NM. in the town of Bernalillo, NM. First there was a sign telling us that these were the ancient ruins of Kuaua Pueblo. Kuaua is an old Pueblo word meaning 'evergreen'. Kuaua Pueblo (pueblo means 'town') was started in the 1300's and was made out of adobe which is a mixture of mud and straw that makes a good brick. By the 1500's it is thought that the town may have had as many 1200 rooms. This town is within sight of the Rio Grande River (this day we couldn't see the river as there were too many trees). These native Americans survived by hunting, fishing, and farming. They grew many of the same things that I now grow in my garden - squash, watermelons, corn, and beans. Corn was their staple food and was ground into a meal on special flat rocks using round rocks to make a meal which they used for a flat bread. This pueblo may have been a center for much trading among other tribes. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
found the village in 1540 while looking for the Seven Cities of Gold, which he never found because they didn't exist. Coronado had about 300 soldiers and 800 other Indians with him as well as about 1000 horses and other livestock. They spent the winter at Kuaua. This is where the monument got it's name of Coronado. It was excavated in about 1930 but many of the ruins that were above ground have disappeared with time and now most of the walls that you can see have been rebuilt to look like what was found. There was a square kiva or ceremonial chamber found underground that had many colorful murals in it. These murals can be seen in one special room at the visitors center but photos are not allowed so that more damage won't be done to them. I did find photos of them on a website and lots of information on them as well as the pueblo at these websites. The kiva can be entered and seen at some times but not on the day we were there. I did get to go into it when I was about 17 in about 1968. http://http://www.100megspopup.com/photo4phood/swarch/coronadohistory.html
http://http://www.nmmonuments.org/coronado-state-monument


My 2nd photo shows one of the signs that you can find on a short walking tour of the ruins with information on the ruins. But the most important sign to see and remember while visiting here is the one telling you to give right of way to all Rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes are found frequently on the cement and dirt trails where they like to sun themselves, but on this day we didn't see any. There are benches made out of logs for those that need to sit and rest and picnic tables with brush shades for resting and picnics. At the Visitors center was a modern-made wood cart like the Spanish would have used when they made the adventure to find the Seven Cities of Gold. The Visitors Center has a wonderfull, cool intrance way with huge yuccas in front of it. There are signs telling what a lot of the native plants are including the barrel cactus in the last photo. The cactus had buds on it but none were open. There was a Pueblo style oven in front of the Center. These ovens are still used to bake bread in at the pueblos.

Bikes and Swedish Cinema: Choose Your Favourite Contest Submissions!

The deadline for the Pilen give-away contest was last night, and the entries are in! To recap, readers who fit the height criteria (this is a large bike) were invited to submitan image that depicts a person and a bicycle, and evokes some aspect of Swedish film. The winner will receive the beautiful Pilen Lyxthat I am test riding for the distributor, BoxCycles. I received 30 eligible submissions, and most of the pictures were so thoughtfully done, that it seemed only fair to feature them all.



To select the winner, I will first choose five finalists based solely on the pictures. Then I will have a closer look at those entries, read their submissions carefully, and possibly contact them via email with some questions.

If you are up for it, I would love to have your input regarding which images belong among the finalists. I have some tentative favourites in mind, but if popular opinion differs from mine I will reconsider. There are too many entries here to turn this into a poll, but please feel free to let me know in the comments which images appeal to you. Here they all are, numbered 1 through 30:

1. entry fromJenny

2. entry from Marisa

3. entry from Amy

4. entry fromKitty

5. entry from Amanda

6. entry from Lauren

7. entry fromJulie

8. entry fromDavid

9. entry fromCris

10. entry fromMaddie

11. entry from Stephanie

12. entry fromKara

13. entry fromMike White

14. entry fromLouisa and Bojana

15. entry from Anders

16. entry fromJanice

17. entry fromDavid and Kate

18. entry fromMarcella

19. entry from Paris

20. entry fromOlivia

21. entry fromBrooks and Marya

22. entry from Trevor and Melissa

23. entry fromTraci

24. entry fromKate

25. entry from Kimon and Rhonda Haramis

26. entry fromGretchen

27. entry from Audra

28. entry fromFieldofBluebells

29. entry fromCate Fitz

30. entry fromRiding Pretty

Thank you again for taking the time to create and submit these pictures. Regardless of who wins, this is a visual treat and I hope they were fun to make. Thank you also to BoxCycles for donating the beautiful Pilen! I hope to announce the winner next week.