My Favorite Soldier

I couldn't let Veterans Day go by without mentioning my favorite soldier, my oldest son Garrett. He's now serving in Iraq and will be there until sometime next fall. Here are some photos I took of him in various disguises and as he was getting ready to leave home for the last time before being deployed.
He's such a goofball. When he walks into a room it lights up. We all miss him so much and pray constantly for his safety. We love you Garrett!

This and That

For those of you that are looking for my race photos, your wait is over. Last night I got them posted on the NaugaBike web site. Here's the link to the Maskenthine Race.
Sunday, it was trail day at Tranquility Park. Some 17 or so THOR members turned out. Order of the day was erosion control. In addition, the new trail markers were installed.
Thanks to everyone helped put. Great to see you up and about, Doug.
Monday I got my first true dirt ride. Rode the green & blues at Lake Manawa. Sure was great to be back playing in the woods! By the time I finished my loop, I was really feeling good. Everything seemed to click again.
I came across one dead fall in Woodchopper. Also, one spot in Woodchopper had some brush hanging over the trail - cleared that. Another THOR member says there's another one over the trail. Later today I will be calling our TrailLeader. Make sure he knows about the problem and discuss plans for the Lake Manawa Clean-up Day.
Wednesday, would have liked to ride in the dirt, but the trails looked just to soft from the rain Tuesday. I headed out from Xtreme Wheels, over to Manawa, checkedout the singletrack, then rode around the lake. Turned out to be a pretty good ride. My log topped over 400 miles for the year so far.

Spend some time reviewing specs on trail bikes. I had been planning to buy a full suspension 69er. But, I am not sure Trek has the bike dialed in quite right. And it does not yet have the EVO and ABP. That leaves me the Fuel EX. Several times (couple models of) I have ridden the Fuel EX7. It is a sweet ride. Would like to ride it now with the new EVO and ABP refinements. I could also ride (check out) the specialized Stumpjumper. That was a good ride last year at Black Hills FTF. Lastly, I could just tide my Trek 4300 for another year (but what is the fun in that).

A tale of two weathers

This morning, 8.00 a.m. Street lights still on, rain lashing down, and a gale blowing. The orange leaves of the beech hedge are blurry with movement. With my wee camera the murkiness of the day doesn't come across, but it was dreary.
Same day, early afternoon. The gale is still blowing, but the clouds have lifted to reveal blue skies. Down in Princes Street gardens the ice rink is being test-skated by a skating club. They're executing pirouttes and dance moves which are definitely beyond the reach of the office parties and once-a-year skaters who will follow.

Swanson - River City Shoot-out

Today was a great day for a bike race! Awesome weather.
This was the first race of the season (Race #1 of the series was postponed into June.) Some 155 riders took to the trail at Swanson Park. There was some confusion with the new categories but the organizers and USA Cycling officials worked everything out.
Special Thanks to Edge Physical Therapy for supplying the grub. It seemed that the hungry racers appreciated the food. I know that this photographer did!
I ended up shooting over 450 photos at the race. You can see my photos at http://win-photo.photoreflect.com. There are 4 groups of photos. The first group is general shots. Group 2 of 4 is the start of the Marathon, Category 3, and Juniors. Group 3 of 4 is the always popular Kid's Race. Group 4 of 4 is the Category 1, Category 2, and rest of the Marathon.

Fog City?

San Francisco and the Bay Bridge on a particularly sunny January day.

Madeleine L'Engle

I just finished reading The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L-Engle. It is a poignant true story of the last summer spent with her mother before her death.
She looks back on her childhood and growing up years as an only child of parents who were very cosmopolitan and well-travelled. She laments the fact that she can no longer communicate with her mother as she once did while having morning-long talks over coffee at the kitchen table.
She has to come to terms with the fact that after her mother's death, she's now the 'matriarch' of the family clan; a role she doesn't want but has to accept.
Here's a quote from the book about one thing that formed who she became as an adult. "School was mostly something to be endured; I don't think I learned nearly as much from my formal education as from the books I read instead of doing homework, the daydreams which took me on exciting adventures in which I was intrepid and fearless and graceful, the stories Mother told me, and the stories I wrote. It was in my solitudes that I had a hand in the making of the present Madeleine."
I agree with her, because that is also my experience. I've learned so much more out of school than in. Only in solitude can I work out solutions to problems, think in peace, and be creative.
If you've never read any of her books, I highly recommend them. She's probably best known for A Wrinkle in Time. I prefer her non-fiction. She was also a writer of spiritual books. In the above mentioned book, she was struggling with who God is and traditional religion, but later on she became much stronger in her faith.
*The lady in the photo isn't Madeleine L'Engle, she's an ancestor of mine, Lydia Walker.

North Side Tour

Have been a little back in my blogging. Maybe I can catch up this morning.
After the frustrations dealing with the dealership last Thursday morning, I needed a bike ride. In the afternoon, I parked downtown CB and stopped at the bike shop. Had a particular reason to stop at the bike shop - drop off some calendars.
Decided to check out the trails on the North side of town. Rode city streets up to the Sheriff's Dept. The road to Big Lake is still barricaded (as of Thursday - see photo). Water is basically under the railroad and I could see lots of clean-up activity in the park. I would not be surprised to see that Big Lake Park open now or very soon.
As I rode Iowa Riverfront Trail, I realized that some of the pumps have been shut down. The river level is continuing to drop. Standing water along the golf course is receding (tells me that they are slowly getting the ground water level under control).
Survey stake all along the level. Some makings on the pavement - looks like sections that will be replaced. Some sections have been almost destroyed by trucks and equipment driving on the levee during the flood.

Shot the lower photo here overlooking the lower level of Harrah's parking garage. From what I could see it looks like the water is nearly gone in the lower level. They have lots of cleaning up to do, clearing all the water silt, but perhaps they may soon open the section of the bicycle trail there.
On the way back, I looked at the area South the the Bob Bridge where the CB was building the new park/green space between the levee and the river. The area looks like coastal tidal flats.
Lots of devastation along the river. Much of the island between the river and chute is gone (maybe more will be visible after the river level gets down to normal). Many trees have died and are dying from toppling in the storms and high water.