Trail Condition Report

The last week, I have been busy riding my bicycles and checking the various trails in Council Bluffs. We had some pretty miserable weather over the last week- hot and humid. Add in the regular storms during the week. The weekend turned out nice. Still got in 100 miles in the last 7 days.
Most of the rides have been between Xtreme Wheels and the Western Historic Trails Center. One ride up Dumfries Hill on the Wabash Trace. The last couple days I brought me D-SLR camera and shoot some HDR photos.
The top photo on today's posting is of the Dumfries Bridge on the Wabash Trace.
The Missouri River is up this week. There were heavy rains north (up-river) last week. Word is that the Corps of Engineers is also releasing more water through Gavin's Point Dam. I even heard that river level may rise as much as 3 feet from its current level!

Today, I headed out from the bike shop to the Trails Center. Rode the Lake Manawa Trail and stopped by the mountain bike trails to checkout their condition.
The second photo shows the flood waters over the THOR trails at Lake Manawa. The water is over the road that leads to the river boat ramp. Its going to be a long summer - hope the river drops so we can ride the dirt trails later this year!
Since the river rose back earlier this summer, the Iowa Riverfront Trail has been under water behind the Western Historic Trails Center. The waters have been slowly receding. The folks there have been busy clearing the trails of trees that dropped across the trail.
The next photo in this blog posting shows the water still over Iowa Riverfront Trail. There is a marked detour around that section of the trail.

From the Trails Center, I decided to complete the loop around Council Bluffs. The next section of the trail that was causing me concern was under Harrahs Casino. I had heard that the lower parking lot was under water.
There is water in the parking lot and the trail is flooded along the river. There is no marked path to ride under the parking structure. I dumped the bike on the mud riding past the equipment parked there. Not hurt, just some mud. Be careful riding under the structure - the pavement is slick with river silt mud.
In the final photo on this posting, you can see how high the river is.
Rode on up the trail to the Bob Bridge. Took a few of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos along the way. In the 25 summer seasons that I have lived here, I do not remember seeing the Missouri River that high. Most times when there has been flooding on the Missouri, it has been downstream from Omaha/Council Bluffs.

The next stop was the end of the Iowa Riverfront Trails at Big Lake. The rode there has been flooded and is closed. The trail is high enough that is it dry. Big Lake is "full".
Headed on through town on N 8th and my normal route to Harry Langdon. After over 22 miles under my belt, I was pleased that my legs were strong enough to carry me up the hill there at 10 mph.
Ended up with 26 miles, about 2 hours and a quarter. A good ride, several good photos.

Farewell Followed by Freezes

Depressing weather is on the way, appropriate right now, since Molly Ivins died yesterday. How can both Molly Ivins and Ann Richards be gone? Whether you agreed with their ideas or not, the world needs more smartass women, not less.
[Cowtown Pattie has some good words about this Texas legend, and James of Austin has a good story, too.]

For the past week there’s been sniping among the weathermen [they seem to be all men], with some insisting that Austin should prepare for the coldest temperatures since the mid-1990’s, and others scoffingly sure we'd barely sustain a freeze. The latest prediction falls somewhere in the middle: a cold front bringing a hard freeze tomorrow night, followed by three nights in the twenties.










Philo and I went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center last Saturday for the tree event, but we also looked at some paintings and strolled the paths.

One section of the garden celebrates the plant hunters and botanists who are remembered in the specific names of many native genuses. Austin gardeners who include Salvia greggii among their favorite plants can pay tribute to Josiah Gregg. Other plants with his name include Acacia greggii, Eupatorium greggii and Dalea greggii - those grey leaves surrounding the sign belong to Gregg's Dalea.
We didn't buy any trees, but we came home with several shrubs. That’s our new Evergreen sumac, Rhus virens, in the black container at the front.
The mature specimens of sumac on the trails were quite beautiful. We'll do our best to help this shrub thrive, by planting it as recommended in a raised bed with decomposed granite added to the soil.

There's a dwarf Nandina growing in the large terra cotta pot behind the sumac. Its leaves are green in summer, but the first cold snap turns them red, and they stay that way for months. So think twice before counting on dwarf green Nandinas as a green background for your flowers ... those ruby-red tones might screw up any spring color scheme using delicate pastel tones!

Look behind the Nandina for the Gardenia, subject of a July 14th post. That gardenia should probably go into the garage for the weekend.
Our tall, white-flowering evergreen Abelias look unchanged after the ice, but not the one Abelia that blooms pale pink.
The leaves on this Abelia still had medium green leaves in October, seen here with the stripes of Canna ‘Bengal Tiger’ in the background.

Now the canna is a cluster of brown stumps, and the Abelia leaves have responded to the ice by turning a sort of dark burgundy.











When the ice storm bent their tree branches, the result was so dramatic that the Loquat, Magnolia and Oleander got all the attention. They gradually rebounded, with some lost leaves, and a few branches that appear to be permanently bent. Philo thinks the ice actually improved the shape of Magnolia 'Little Gem'! But in the week following the freeze, everything didn't bounce back like these flexible evergreens.
Plants that usually grow easily here, some of them natives, gradually gave evidence that they may not be returning this spring. Every Salvia guaranitica, growing robustly in large stands around the yard, in different soils and various exposures, died down to the ground without leaving the usual tuft of green at the base, and the Pineapple sage doesn't look good. Texas native Tecoma stans, also called Esperanza or Yellow Bells, turned hard and brown, with no signs of life, and both Barbados Cherries look very bad. If any of the Cupheas, Durantas or Lantanas are alive, they’re hiding it well.
Although all the ice-covered Camellia flowers turned brown and mushy, the Camellia buds emerged from the ice to produce another set of blossoms.
All the blue pansies in hanging baskets and containers lost open flowers, too, but in a few days they started blooming again. This colorful scene greets me every morning when I open the curtain - but what will I see on Monday?

A different kind of fitness goal

When it comes to setting goals, we all tend to aim for something tangible.
If you're saving money for a vacation or a new toy, you typically either have an amount in mind or a date in mind. If you're trying to lose weight like my co-worker currently is (you're doing great Amanda, keep it up!), you would typically shoot for a specific number of pounds you want to shed by a specific date. And so on and so forth.
We do this because it gives us a concrete answer as to whether we achieved our goal or not. If your goal is to simply get in better shape or read more books, the majority of the time it doesn't work out that way. Without a concrete objective constantly reminding you of what you're striving for, the human tendency is to push it aside when other items become more pressing.
In that regard, my new fitness goal is a little unique because, while it has a time frame, it doesn't have a concrete number that I'm shooting for. I'm not trying to lose X amount of pounds, run X amount of miles, bench press X amount of weight or complete a race in X amount of time. Instead, the goal is a race against myself and my reliance on modern convenience.
Confused? Let me explain.
My goal is to bike/run more miles than I drive in my car for the month of April. I will write down the mileage of my car at midnight on the 1st of April and keep track of my biking/running miles as if I was training for a race. At the end of the month, I'll compare the numbers to see whether I succeeded, failed or failed miserably.
On the surface, this seems pretty easy for me. I'm an exercise fanatic and I happen to have the good fortune of living within walking distance of my job, my bank, a grocery store, the post office and Erbs & Gerbs. I like to think that everything I need in life is just a stone throw away, and for the most part, that's probably true.
However, it's not that simple. Several regular destinations for me (the mall, BioLife's plasma donation center, ect.) are located on the other side of town, and the YMCA is located JUST far enough away (about 10 blocks or so) for me to justify driving there when I'm in a hurry. On top of that, most of my friends and family either live in the St. Cloud or Twin Cities areas, both of which are 150+ miles round trip for every visit. Not exactly an easy distance on a bike.
My reasons for setting this goal are pretty straightforward. I'm looking for a new challenge to get me out exercising more and I'm hoping to get away from having to rely on my car so much for transportation, which in turn will hopefully save some money on gas.
I wish I could give some grandiose meaning of wanting to promote a cleaner planet or get in the Earth Day spirit (happening on April 22nd, by the way), but that simply wouldn't be true. I'm as earth-conscious as the next person, but my means of conservation are more practical than making bold social statements. I'd rather keeps the lights off and recycle than buy a hybrid car and spend twice as much on organic food.
I've already told myself that I'm not going to cut myself off socially for the sake of this goal. If I feel compelled to visit family and friends during the month of April, I'm going to do it.
I also won't limit my entertainment options, meaning that I'm not going to bypass seeing a band or eating at a cool restaurant because it's too far to bike. The point of a goal is to challenge yourself, not become a hermit (unless in fact that is your goal, in which case more power to you).
Basically, my plan is to keep up with my regular exercise routine and to start using my bike as my main source of in-town transportation. My only exception for Mankato-area commuting will be for donating plasma, as I'm guessing the bike ride home from BioLife would be a little rough after being deprived of protein and water. If I drive up to St. Cloud or the Twin Cities, I will bring my bike with and try to use that to get around town there as well.
You might be wondering why I'm incorporating both biking AND running into this goal. After all, a car is used for commuting, and while a bike can be used for that purpose, running is pretty much exclusively exercise.
The reason for this is simple: So I'm not tempted to slant my cardio workouts to just biking. I plan on running in a race or two this year, and I don't want to take a month off from running if I can help it. Besides, this is really more of a fitness/commuting goal than it is one or the other.
So that's my goal for April. If you see me driving anywhere around Mankato, be sure to yell at me and tell me to stop being lazy.

Over and out

I have now had time to ponder what happened. I will never be sure whether or not it was the right decision, but the decision came 330km into Saturday's 400, and the decision was made to retire with severe thigh cramp, and forget about it. As I said, I'm still not sure whether or not it was the right decision, but it felt that way at the time, and that's all the indication I have.

It had all started so well. I set off from the start at Lake Atkinson (which actually had some water in it for the first time in several years) in good form, and maintained it over the Walls of Lowood (those steep hills at the start), over the Marburg range, through Rosewood and the pictaresque hills behind Warrill View. I followed this up by continuing to scorch the next 100km through the area around Boonah, and over more rolling hills to Fernvale back in the Brisbane valley. I seemed unstoppable for the first 170km.

I did, understandably, slow a little after Fernvale and 170km, but still managed to maintain good form and technique through this part. That was important because it's generally the way to get through the tough parts on long rides. 200km was a key point, not only was it the half-way point of the ride, but it was also the end of the BIG loop. Now there were three smaller loops to make up the second half of the ride and complete the proceedings. Having completed the first big loop over an hour faster than on the same ride last year, I had every reason to be confident.
After the first 200, the temperature started dropping rapidly. It's worth considering at this point that I've barely seen a night with a temperature that dropped into single figures for the last two years, and it's fair to say that this sudden change did catch me by surprise. So much so, in fact, that I had decided to commence the first of the loops without leg warmers. It was a simple loop through Lowood, Fernvale, Coominya and back to Lake Atkinson, but by the end my legs were really feeling the cold, and the cramp was starting to set in.
At this point I still believed I could do it. I set off for the second loop, now with leg warmers, but in retrospect, with the damage done. This loop went to Esk, before heading back on the hilly Esk/Gatton road. The first 35km of it seemed to go OK, and I still felt reasonable. The cramp was there, but I could still manage. I was with a group of three other riders, and we paused for 10 minutes at Esk, and it was after this that I couldn't get going again. I was promptly dropped on the first climb (climbing is normally my strength), and my legs just would not get going.
A couple of kilometres from the return to Lake Atkinson I picked up a slow-leaking puncture. It wasn't the end of the world, but this frustration added to my cramp and the continually dropping temperature was probably the clincher. In retrospect, perhaps I should have been more positive in my attitude -- I still had 10 hours to complete the last 75km. As it was, I decided on a couple of hours sleep at this point, in the hope that I might recover. It wasn't to be, and for some reason I just couldn't get going again.
I did go and fix the flat tyre, with the thought that maybe that might spark me, but even then I was still finding it difficult to even walk, and my mind at the time told me it was over. Hence I returned, pulled the pin, and decided that I'd have to be satisfied with a double-century, but not quite a 400k.
I am now convinced that there is a huge gap between 300 and 400km. On the 300k at Banyo a couple of months ago, I felt as though I completed it easily -- despite the late headwind. This ride had no such headwind at any stage, and yet, I still didn't get through. The lesson here seems to be comfort, and erring on the side of caution when it comes to keeping warm away from the coast. Maybe next year.

My Grandma's Quilt

Even though it was in the high 90's last week, I slept with a quilt on top of my sheet, blanket, and bedspread.  I had some kind of stomach bug and couldn't get warm enough.
Now this particular quilt was one made by my maternal Grandma.  I loved that woman like no other; still do even though she's been gone for several years now.
I had never seen this quilt until my Mama called one day and asked Laurel if she wanted something of Grandma's.  Of course she said yes!  That something turned out to be a 1930's feedsack quilt. I was quickly filled with envy. " I loved Grandma best, so I should have it!  She practically raised me, you know. "  I think I startled Laurel by my vehemence.  I REALLY wanted that quilt.
Well, I told her I'd trade her one of my Mama's (her Mee Maw's) quilts for my Grandma's quilt.  I showed her about four different ones, and of course she picked out my favorite; a new quilt made from old feedsacks.  "Well.......I don't know about that one."  
So we're at a standoff.  But they are both still at my house, and doesn't possession count for something?  I told her she'd get them when I died anyway.  She can fight over them with her baby sister.  I'm so mean!  

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

Once again, I headed out to Mitchell Lake Audubon's wetlands to do my 10K (6.2 mile) Volksmarch. At 8:30 a.m. the temperature was quite warm and humid with no breeze. Thunderstorms were predicted for early afternoon (50% chance).

Yellow jacket nest (click photo to enlarge for greater detail)

The first third of the walk is pretty boring, but once the path reaches the polders (ponds), many more birds appear.

Juvenile white-faced ibis and blue-winged teal.

Black-necked stilt

Two American avocets and a black-necked stilt.

Where I walked...this is between two ponds.

At one point, two caracaras (Mexican eagles) circled over me and I was able to capture one of these magnificent birds in flight.

Caracara, AKA Mexican eagle.

Butterflies in abundance right now

As I walked, I noticed the following sign, "Area Closed." Hmm, why would that be? Keep reading to find out what was happening.

Area closed for these folks.

I used my telephoto to take photos of the birdwatchers.

But what are they doing?

Whirring Common Whitetail Dragonfly

Flower on the right has a butterfly on it.

American white pelican in flight

American white pelicans

Aren't they amazing? They're huge.

Getting ready to fly off.

As I was walking along one of the ponds, a number of kids and adults were out pruning back shrubs, trees and vines. The goal: a better view of the birds from the road around the wetlands. They were from a local 4-H club. I thanked them for volunteering their time.

A basket of colorful work gloves for the 4-H volunteers.

The hunt for the Roseate spoonbill was a success today. At the Visitor Center I was told to look for the Roseate spoonbills hanging out with flocks of egrets; the spoonbills would be the pink ones. My photo isn't great because they were way on the other side of lake and I had to zoom in on them. But they are spoonbills!

Great egrets and Roseate spoonbills

Pelicans heading my way!

Scissor-tailed flycatcher

Two Caracaras.

American avocets and black-necked stilts.

A beautiful fluffy feather.

Plant ready to bloom at Visitor Center.

Back at the Visitor Center, I asked why there was a closed area. They told me the people are participating in "The Big Sit !" an annual, international, non-competitive birding event. The object is to tally as many bird species as can be seen or heard in a 24-hour period. Big Sits are happening all over the world this weekend. You learn something new every day.

For those of you who haven't seen the comedy, "The Big Year" with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black, Bob and I highly recommend it. The movie is about bird watchers competing to see who can see or hear the most bird species in one year's time. And, yes, there really is a Big Year competition every year.

Next Saturday the Audubon Society at Mitchell Lake is having their Fall Festival with booths and information. Maybe I'll head over there. That afternoon, they'll be having a raptor show too. Cool.

This evening Bob and I went to our RV park's Steak Night. The park sets up big charcoal BBQs and everyone brings their own meat to grill. You pay $3.50 per person at the door for the rest of the meal: salad, salad dressing, baked potato with the fixin's, dessert, and iced tea or water. We grilled cod in tin foil which was very tasty. (I put a thin layer of mayonnaise on both sides of the fish and sprinkled ground cumin and garlic salt on it.)

We sat a table with three other couples who travel together. They are on their way home to California at the end of a 90-day trip across country, down the East Coast, and now across the southern states. Wow! 90 days to see the entire East Coast. That's a pretty quick trip.

Our forecast is for 30-60% chance of thunderstorms and heavy rain for the next five days. We just had some heavy rain roll through and it sounded great on our 5th wheel roof. We'll see if the weather allows us to walk tomorrow.

Enjoy your Sunday. Travel Bug out.

Diary of a Wild Hike

Last weekend, my folks took me to a Marin County Open Space area I hadn't explored. It was beautiful and we had it to ourselves... well... with the exception of some other creature species that I had to investigate. Here I am with my dad at the entrance.
Here's a beautiful California redwood! Aren't they impressive?
I've already spotted something up there. I can't convince it to come down and play heheh!
Yeah - I'm thirsty - so thirsty I could jump in - but it's for the horses.
Trot, trot, trot - ooops - missed something!
After I checked out that smell, I lead on as I needed to make sure I cleared the way of any beasts that could attack my parents.
Aha! Gopherland! Some likely candidates to flush out! Dang - missed him!
Beautiful wild iris - tons of them as we hiked on through the meadows and redwood groves.
Comforting my mom.
Hurry! There's so much to do... I smell something afoot up ahead.
Hurry............. I'm smelling something big...
Okay, I'm taking off. (I heard a crack in the woods and couldn't help myself. I took off after a gigantic furry creature that jumped gracefully over every rock and fallen tree. I couldn't keep up) Here I am returning to tell my folks all about it. They looked frantic.
Usually my recall is pretty good, but I just can't help myself. Gotta investigate this thing they called "deer" again. Their calls to me go unheeded.
But what is that? Yonder in the sky is a giant feathered menace. And I can not get him to come down.
We hike on through meadows with wildflowers and our own pretty California poppies.
I just love running through grassy fields in the spring! I'm very happy here!
THIS is the entrance to Lizardland. What a time I had here! You can imagine! I never caught one - they are zippity fast, so I don't know if they taste like chicken or what!
Can you spot me? I'm hiding!
But he is not hiding and I'm going to .... get him!
I jump in the air and pounce and... dang - missed again! That wascally lizard!
You'd think we were in the middle of nowhere, but... as mom pans the camera directly left... look!
Civilization! Drat! I thought we were all alone on this beautiful day!
I am so hot when we get to more redwoods, that I'm thrilled to find a tannin-y pool that I can cool off in.
In one of the giant trees, we find a hole that Dad and I can fit into together. Mom could even fit in with us!
I've never seen such big trees, but they sure have a lot of critters in them. I tried to get them, but they were too high up to climb to.
But I sure had a great time with my folks at this pretty place. There were a couple of minor problems. When we got home, mom and dad saturated themselves with something called Teknu to ward off a possible poison oak attack. ( I didn't know that was an enemy or I would have slayed it.) Then they got a Teknu-ed rag and slathered it all over me. Then I had to go to the spa. There, they removed about 100 ticks!!! They are still removing the little buggers from me and mom even took two out of her hair yesterday and screamed while doing so. Hope we get to go back there soon!