Anubis FWA

The Comb showing the line of Anubis, on the day of the ascentQuite unexpectedly, I managed to complete my long term ambition to make the first winter ascent of my own summer E8, Anubis on Ben Nevis. The number of hours to finish the lead might just be countable on one hand, and completely exhausted me for the following three days. In other words, I completely went for it.



Starting up the initial overhang Photo: Christina BellIt seems to contradict reason, but it seems clear to from my experience that there are many different states of mind which seem to work well for bringing out the best (or should it be worst?) in climbers for hard leads. ‘confident and solid’ is most consistent, but suffers often from nerves and fear of failure. ‘Invincible’ can produce moments of sickening boldness/recklessness, but always makes for a short career in climbing. ‘Angry’ is only really good for pull-ups. Climbing is too delicate for it’s unchannelled release of energy. ‘F**k it, what have I got to lose?’ was where I was at on the crux of Anubis. Life is too short for caution when you are on the right route, at the right time. So I dispensed with caution.A small gear ripping fall on the initial wall leading to the main roof helped a lot to relax the body. I had been needing that for about two or three seasons. I started again. This time climbing like I wanted to get higher.



Crossing the crux roof Photo: Christina BellSeveral hours later, with nothing left in my arms, my feet slipped off again on the final headwall, well out from the last gear. I had the eyeball bulge of a leader with three seconds to find a solution or fall. A footless speed-downclimb of about 8 moves and kung foo kick back onto the footledge under the roof saved one more chance to get to the belay. Christina burst out laughing at the sight of it. I laughed as well, after a minute or two.Next time up was my last strength, so I got there. I pulled through my 70 metre ropes, tied them together and kept going up the comb in a 140 metre pitch, before untying and continuing up the ice grooves, and eventually standing in the quiet of the summit by myself for a few minutes.Grade in winter? No idea. I’ll have a think about it. I haven’t ever tried or done anything harder in winter. I guess there are worse chores than grading your hardest route. The route started as an idea to see if it was possible today to maintain the Victorian mountaineering tradition of opening a new climb in summer conditions, and progressing to an ascent in winter. Great that it’s still every bit as possible as it was a century ago.





The highpoint of my 2nd attempt, the other week Photo: Andy Turner





Anubis in summer E8 mode Photo: Cubby Images



Postscript: Just before I posted this up I read a timely post on Ian Parnell’s blog with a full list of all the routes of grade IX and above. I can’t say it really helped that much for making a wild and disclaimer-ridden stab at a grade for Anubis. But what did stand out was the consistency of routes which are often reasonably protected HVSs working out at IX in winter. There are of course some E2s and up to about E4s that have been done as winter mixed routes, generally where the cruxes involve cracks. Anubis, although dramatically harder at E8 does have a useful short crack at the crux, but then a section of E5 6a face climbing on small crimps. Bla bla… the long and short of it is I do think it’s a significant step up from any of the routes I’ve done. The crux is not much harder than Don’t Die, but then the rest is like stringing three of the IXs on Ian’s list together. So maybe it’s XII if my other two routes are really XI. Or if The Hurting and Don’t Die are really grade X then Anubis might make it into XI. I’ll keep thinking about it...

Big fun for me!

If you didn't know I spend some spare time designing and buildingice tool partsyou wouldn't know how excited I get seeing those tools getting used as intended.



The pictures here should giveyou anidea of where "my gear" has been.



http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com//08/ice-climbing-gear.html



But I have to say this one got me pretty jacked up this morning. Congrads to Ally and Dave on the Colton- MacIntyrevia the Alexis.





http://allyswinton.blogspot.com//09/something-that-i-am-starting-to-see.html







I hope Dave and Ally forgive me for stealing the picture!

The Face Behind Bikeyface

It's not every day that one meets a cartoon character, let alone a bicycling cartoon character. And so imagine my delight upon learning that I live just minutes from one. Allow me to introduce:Bikeyface!

A sure cure for self-seriousness,Bikeyface is a weekly comic strip that offers a parallel universe where all the weird stuff we imagine but don't say out loud materialises in cartoon form. Rich in visual detail, manic undertones, and good old fashioned perversity,Bikeyfacehas charmed thebicycle blogging universe with unexpected gems like"Office Shower Politics","Men in Skirts"and "Winter Beard."

The heroine of Bikeyface describes herself as a "common commuter" type - who wears "non-spandex" clothing, "inappropriate cycling footwear," a hounstooth patterned helmet, and a "bikey smile" as she pedals around greater Boston on her bike, Marlene Dietrich.

Occasionally she will don a cycling-themed accessory, such as this gear pendant (okay, so they're the wrong type of gears)...

...or a beard/muschachio balaclava, to compensate for her lack of facial hair on chilly winter commutes.

But who is Bikeyface really, the woman behind the cartoon and the knitted facial hair?

Well, all right: She is Bekka. She is a painter with a non-painterly dayjob, to which she commutes by bike. She lives in Somerville, MA. Before that she lived in LA and rode her bike there. And she is from New England originally.

The bike she currently rides is a tiny Surly Cross-Check in her favourite colour, which she got last summer and loves. It is called "Marlene Dietrich" because it is sultry and feminine, yet with a tomboyish edge. Of course. Other bikes she has owned have included an Electra Amsterdam and a couple of hybrids, but Marlene is the preferred ride - used for both commuting and long distance recreational cycling.

Of all the people I've met so far via the cycling blog connection, meeting Bekka has been my biggest "the worlds collide" type of experience. Besides living walking distance from one another, we discovered that we have some uncanny non-bikey things in common and spend more time talking about those than we do about cycling. It sometimes feels as if we are interacting as two different sets of people: the real us, with our bikey alter egos hovering in the background. We've talked a little about identity - how we both come across differently on our blogs than we do in person, and how people react to that difference when they meet us. Whereas Bikeyface is a perky, mischievous and boisterous character, in person Bekka is subtle and analytical, and rather difficult to characterise. Visually, she is striking: A soft and delicate face withenormous, unusually shaped blue eyes - the type of face that belongs in a 1930s French film and not so much in a 21st century bike cartoon. I would certainly like to paint her some time, as herself.

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy Bikeyfaceand invite you to do the same. The strip normally comes out every Wednesday morning and is certain to brighten up your day.

More Christmas Fun

We had two Christmas parties this past week, the first was the work party and the second was the dinner they have for the whole park.



I didn't remember to bring my camera to either one, so I only have pictures from my phone from the work party. We had a nice time talking and we did a White Elephant gift exchange that was fun.









There was lots of good food to eat!







I love sharing Christmas fun with those that are around us. It makes the holidays even more fun.

Bicycles in Brussels

I was in Brussels and London over the past few days. Am exhausted, but here are a few velo snaps from the land of waffles, chocolate, the European Commission, and Eddy Merckx. London pictures will follow in the next post.



I have been to Brussels many times, and not once have I seen the city sunny. So my main association with it - whether deserved or not - is darkness: dark sky, dark buildings, dark trees, dark chocolate...



People in black overcoats riding black bicycles fit right into the romantically gothic landscape.



A black Gazelle chained up in the city center. I saw many Dutch bicycles, from brands both known and unknown, as well as many modern hybrid bikes. To my dismay, I did not see a single bike by the Belgian manufacturer Achielle.



The bicycle infrastructure looks similar to how things are in Boston: occasional bike lanes and "sharrows". Mostly, bicycles share the road with cars, buses and trams. On large streets you mostly see roadbikes, because the bicycles really need to be going quite fast in order to blend into the flow of traffic. On side streets you see more of the Dutch bikes, since the traffic flow is less hectic.



One trend I noticed is the huge number of people riding folding bikes. There are definitely more folding bikes in Brussels than in other cities I have been to recently, and it's funny to see how aggressively they are maneuvered through the streets. I also saw at least a half dozen women whose outfits matched their folding bicycles, but alas I was quick enough to photograph only this red on red number. Notice also how the yellow panel on the backpack matches the yellow strip on the bike.



And then of course there is Villo, the Brussels bike share programme.



The Villo bikes look to be in spectacularly good condition compared to the Vienna Citybikes and the Paris Velib bikes I have seen. Not sure whether this is because vandalism is less prevalent in Brussels, or because the bicycles are newer.



Adverts are featured on the dressguards - but to my eye, these are not as overwhelming as the ones on the Vienna Citybikes. I also quite like the Iris emblem.



I had a very precise schedule while in Brussels, and cycling was not on the agenda. As for using the Villo for transportation - one of the main obstacles for me was the same as for Vienna Citybike: The basket will not fit my bag - which is a standard briefcase/laptop size bag - and it is not the sort of bag that can be carried messenger style. When I mentioned this in a post about Vienna's Citybike, I received some aggressive responses (that I subsequently deleted together with my defensive replies): Basically, a couple of readers criticised me for "whining" about this issue, and for carrying an "impractical designer bag" in the first place. Not that I need to justify myself, but my bag is actually a conservative, modest briefcase-style bag with no visible designer labels. This type of briefcase-style bag is standard to use in my line of work, whereas a messenger bag or backpack is not. Especially in cities like Brussels and Vienna - where so many professionals arrive for international meetings and conferences, such bags are prevalent. Therefore I do not think it is unreasonable to suggest that when designing a bike-share bicycle, its basket is made to fit a standard laptop-sized bag, for those who do not carry backpacks to work. If a system is designed "for the people", it seems useful to understand what factors encourage said people to use it vs what factors prevent them from using it.



I did not have a chance to visit my favourite places in Brussels on this trip, but at least I walked around a bit between my meetings. Brussels is a city that I like very much, but cannot imagine living in: Everything seems to be centered around EU activities and this gives it a certain hectic and bureaucratic feel even when things are quiet. I also find it disorienting that French and Dutch are used interchangeably (though the city is technically French-speaking), with occasional English and German thrown in as well. For these very reasons, I think it is essential to visit Brussels if you have never been. Its atmosphere is in many ways crucial for understanding today's Europe. It is a very easy city to visit and to get around - with excellent food, regal parks, beautiful architecture, and walkable streets.

Intrigued by the Pedersen

While most of the time my reactions to bicycles are love or hate at first sight, my interest in the Pedersen developed slowly. I do not even remember the first time I saw one. It's sort of always been there, in a distant corner of my awareness - a lovely absurdity that I categorised somewhere in the realm of antique bicycle designs that have no place in practical, everyday cycling.





That began to change, as I watched my friendWolfgangcasually roll up on aPedersenone summer day in Vienna last year. I knew that hehad one in his collection. I just didn't know that he actively rode it, or even that itcouldbe ridden in the same manner as a regular bicycle - in traffic, at commuting speed.Turns out I knew nothing at all about these machines. Still produced in Europe and even imported in the US, the Pedersen is a Danish design that, its proponents boast, is the most comfortable bicycle in existence.





The multiple-stay frame construction provides suspension. The hammock saddle, even more so. The result is an upright, cushy ride, that Pedersen enthusiasts describe as downright regal in comparison to standard bicycles. Wolfgang's bike was too tall for me to ride, so I cannot say whether I agree. But I find myself wondering more and more and would very much like to try one.





Though I do not remember the first time I saw a Pedersen, I do remember the last time: a couple of weeks ago in the garage of the office building where the Co-Habitant works. Yes, someone who works in his building commutes on a Pedersenand leaves it locked up with all the other bikes. I suppose they are all used to seeing it there by now and no longer process it as anything out of the ordinary, but I was terribly excited to discover it. And it seemed to be in my size. Perhaps I should leave a note...





If you are curious to know more about Pedersen bicyles, there is a history page here, and agreat article in Bicycling Magazine by Florence Williams about hunting for one in Copenhagen. Feedback from owners is, of course, most welcome: Are they feasible as commuter bikes? How on Earth do you mount and dismount them?

Great Blue Heron Family

Some of you may remember that almost a month ago I posted some pictures from a visit to a Great Blue Heron rookery. Yesterday I visited the rookery again and WOW how the babies have grown! On my last visit we only saw a couple of babies and only their heads stuck out above the nests. This time, the babies were a lot more visible because they were a LOT bigger! As far as I could tell, all but one or two of the nests had 3 babies in it. That means there are about 45 young Herons in this rookery.