Mount Rainier :: Narada Falls

Tuesday, September 14th - - For a few miles the road through Mt. Rainier National Park follows the Paradise River. A short distance before reaching the Paradise visitors center complex, there is a little sign alongside the road announcing Narada Falls.

It is here, at Narada Falls, that the sparkling clear waters of Paradise River plunge over the edge of a cliff and drop dramatically 168 feet. The Paradise River runs clear, not milky, because it originates from snowfields, not debris-laden glaciers.

The trail to Narada Falls is only two-tenths of a mile long, but it is a 200 foot descent/ascent! It can be (and was) wet and slippery.

For some early visitors, the power of the waterfall suggested spiritual connections. They named it Narada after a powerful sage of Hindu mythology who acted as a messenger between human and divine realms. [National Park Service Sign]

It wasn't the biggest, or tallest, or widest waterfall I've ever seen. But it was one of the most beautiful and graceful.

There is a hint of a rainbow across the center of the falls.
The “drapery” of water opens and closes as it falls. It was enchanting.
Constantly changing as you watch, it is dependent upon the flow of water from above as well as the cliff face itself and the plants thriving there.

In Absentia: Boston Velo Sightings

My thoughtful Co-Habitant has sent me some photos of lovely bicycles that he took while I've been away:

Velorbis Scrap Deluxe, spotted in the wild in Cambridge, Mass.! This bicycle is absolutely gorgeous, and I especially love the pairing of the silver frame with the cream tires and the warm brown leather of the saddle and grips. I like a bicycle that will look good when dirty. This one looks great dirty! One question however: Is that rust on the fenders and rack?..

Edited to add: a reader forwarded me an email with the following message from Velorbis: "The bicycle in question is a Scrap Deluxe limited edition we made in 2007 WITHOUT any rust protection nor powder coating hence the name scrap deluxe. It was an intentional design and it was meant to rust to give it a 'scrap' look. We quickly realized that people didn’t get it and we quickly reverted to rust protection and powder coating of all our models in 2007 so today you will not have any issues with rust on your bicycle from Velorbis." Hope this response on their part is helpful to those wondering about rust.
Here we have a Biria Classic, parked in Harvard Square. A very stylish bicycle that can be had for a fraction of the price of imported Dutch bikes.

And the same Biria Classic, only in red, for sale at Cambridge Bicycles. The price tag says $450. Next to the Biria is an orange Batavus transport bike. Very cool, and I bet that stands out in traffic!

And what do we have here? Yes, it's is the Rivendell Betty Foy, casually displayed at Harris Cyclery. Each Betty Foy is finished according to customer specification, and it is interesting to see the differences between the floor model at Harris and Dottie's beloved Betty at Let's Go Ride a Bike. I like Ms. Foy best when she is fitted with fenders, a rear rack, and brown leather saddle and grips -- but I absolutely love the red brake cables that Harris put on her; they are the perfect touch!

And finally, here is my Co-Habitant's Pashley Roadster again, in the glorious greenery of Boston Commons!

Badlands :: The National Park

Tuesday, August 23rd - - After taking Babs to the airport in Sioux Falls (at 5 o'clock in the morning!) I returned to the motel thinking perhaps I could get in a few more hours of sleep. I rested for a while but sleep wouldn't come so I got up and back on the road, westward bound. Taking the Interstate, I made good time and arrived in Wall, South Dakota in mid-afternoon.



My “plan” was to visit Badlands National Park but the temperature had reached triple digits. Remembering what it had been like the last time, I got a motel room and hoped that it would be cooler in the morning! And, yes, I did pay a visit to Wall Drug, strolling through the various sections. It's an interesting place, to say the least.



Wednesday, August 24th - - As it turned out, it really wouldn't have been bad for camping last night after the sun went down. Overnight temperatures were in the upper 60s. Anyway, I got a relatively early start and was in the Badlands National Park by nine o'clock. Entering from the northwest, the route would take me south and east through the park.



Almost immediately upon entering the park I turned on the first drive off the main road, which was a gravel road but well maintained and in good condition with several overlook areas. The first one was Hay Butte Overlook.





An informative sign explained why it was called Hay Butte:

Erosion left a few high islands topped with virgin sod, the slopes so steep that homesteaders could not get their stock up to graze. Instead, the homesteaders waited until the grass was ready to cut.



Then several got together, took apart a mower, and reassembled it on the top of the table. Once the grass was cut and baled, homesteaders hitched it to a cable stretched from the rim to the lower prairie – and whoosh, the bales slid down. Hence the name Hay Butte for the long table on the horizon.



Today the high grassy tables are harvested only by bighorns and deer. The bison which roam the Sage Creek Wilderness are excluded as effectively as were the stock of the homesteaders.

One of the flat-top buttes. I was amazed at how much “green” there was. Apparently there has been plenty of rain in western South Dakota this year!





Looking at the sides of the butte, it's no wonder that cattle and buffalo can't get to the top.





A little further down the road was the Badlands Wilderness area. It was rugged looking but seemed to have some areas that were more “rounded” and also had more grassland. There are even trees out there! I certainly wasn't expecting that.





My recollections of the Badlands from a visit in 1976 with my mother are far different than this. I recall a very dry, brown landscape. Rather forbidding and desolate. Yes, this is desolate looking, but it also has a strange beauty to it.

The Cyclist's Dwelling

When I talk to cyclists who have recently moved or are looking to move house, most admit that bikes influence the location and layout criteria for their new place. Usually this admission is made sheepishly, with some embarrassment that cycling plays such a prominent role in their lives. Me, I don't bother to be embarrassed anymore. Cycling is not the most important thing in my life, but it is up there. It is also more intertwined with the other important things now than it was before. And it is crucial to my sanity. It follows that any place I live must be bicycling friendly.




As far as location, this can mean different things for different types of cyclists. For some it means being in the middle of a city with good bicycle infrastructure. For others it means being close to good roadcycling - hilly country roads, or networks of dirt roads, or mountain bike trails. For others still the ideal cycling location is climate dependent. And for others, it's dependent on proximity to clubs, races, randonneuring groups, "cycle chic" get-togethers, or other types of cycling-specific communities. Of all these things, for me it is easy access to good back roads and dirt roads that is on top of the list. While I love a city with good infrastructure and loved living in Vienna for that reason, I know that I can also function without it with fairly little stress. And while I appreciate a close-knit cycling community, at heart I am a loner and do just as well on my own. But when it comes to access to open roads, it's more than a matter of liking it or appreciating it, it is a matter of needing it. Living on the edge of town in Boston (rather than deeper in the city) is wonderful, because it allows for easy escape from the congested urban tangle. And living in rural Northern Ireland is a dream, because a network of country roads starts straight out the front door. I would not do well living in an area without easy access to good roadcycling.




As far as the layout of a house or apartment, I am pretty easy: I like a ground floor entrance for dragging my bike out the door. While I joke about having a farm with a bike shed, in reality I am quite content to cram my bikes into a small apartment space. But I do want to be able to roll my bikes out the door with the minimum amount of stairs and narrow hallways. As it is, I am covered in bruises from the narrow hallways in my current place - never failing to hit myself on the shin with a pedal or on the thigh with a brake lever whilst getting my bike out the door.




For someone who loves bicycles, I am unusually indifferent to "bicycle art" - cycling themed photos, paintings, sculptures, housewares and such. But I do tend to have bike parts and tools lying around in a way that they become integrated into the very fabric of the house. After two weeks in my current place, my roadbike looks wonderfully at home leaning against the book case. And the random bike parts scattered throughout look natural mixed with the household objects and appliances. It's funny, because I only have one bike in the house right now (okay, and one more out on the porch), but somehow the place still has that "bikes live here and they are important" feel to it.




Grabbing Desdemona, I roll her out the door, and - cursing affectionately as I bang my ankle lightly on the derailleur - I pedal away and head for the hills, thankful for the quiet, cloudy Sunday morning, for the emerald green sea, and for the warm tiny place that awaits me and my bike upon our return.

Diamond Frames and Sizing: How Big Is Too Big?

I have come into the possession of a roadbike that was described by the previous owner as a 52cm frame, but in fact measures 54.5cm. On a diamond frame, that can be a significant difference, and I am trying to determine- without giving in to wishful thinking -whether the bike is too big for me to ride safely. When it comes to step-through bicycles, I prefer to ride the largest frame possible, as long as I am able to hoist myself onto the saddle. My Gazelle is 57cm, myRaleigh DL-1 is 56cm, and my Bella Ciao is 54cm. But with a diamond frame, that approach is not possible, because top tube clearance is an additional factor to consider. That is why my roadbikes have 52cm frames.



To illustrate what a difference just over 2cm can make, here is the new fosterbike (right), face to face with one of my 52cm roadbikes(left). The perspective of the shots exaggerates the larger bike, but look at the space between the lugs on the head tubes to get a more accurate sense of the difference. It is considerable.



The bike is not in rideable condition, so I can't try it out. But standing over the top tube inmy bare feet, there is less than 1mm of clearance between my"soft tissue" and that black cable.

In the shoes I usually wear, the space underneath my forefinger illustrates the clearance I get - less than 1/2". The bike needs a lot of work and some component replacements, before I can actually ride it and determine for sure whether I am okay with so little clearance. And naturally, I am reluctant to do that work if in the end I won't be able to ride it. My main worry, is that when dismounting I might hit my pelvis on the top tube, since our knees tend to bend a little when we jump. But I am not sure whether in actuality that is a valid concern.



How much top tube clearance are you comfortable with? Are there standard guidelines for how much clearance is "safe"?

Fallen

Fallen Sycamore leaf. (Platanus occidentalis.)



They seem to take the drought stress worse than most other trees here.

I walked out of a meeting last night and felt like I was stepping into a sauna. It's hot, it's been hot, it will be hot... but you really don't expect 90°F at 9:00 PM. (That's 32°C, for those of you in the metric world.)

It's About Time...

For those of you who have been wondering where I've wandered off to... let's see... I left Maine on the 28th of September and spent a few days in New Hampshire.







One of many lakes in northern New Hampshire, this one near Milan on Route 16.





As it had been for much of the previous week, it was a foggy, cloudy, rainy day.





But the fall colors were gorgeous.


Then it was a quick drive through Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania to spend the first weekend of October with my Aunt and Cousin and her family in Rockville, Maryland. It was great getting caught up on all the family happenings of the past 3 years! The kids, Connor and Melanie have gotten so big! Thank you to Carol and Eric and Aunt Shirley for their hospitality.



After leaving Rockville, I returned to Berks County, Pennsylvania for two days then headed west to Ohio. Not wanting to return exactly the same way I came into the state in early September (on US 30) and not wanting to take the Toll Road, I took US 22 from Harrisburg all the way through Pittsburg. It is a mostly 4-lane highway through some beautiful countryside. It wasn't quite as "challenging" as driving US 30 but it still had plenty of hills to get over and curves to go around.



After spending one last night in Pennsylvania (at Keystone State Park, east of Pittsburg) I made my way next morning (October 11th) to Lisbon, Ohio and stopped in at the Columbiana County Archives and Research Center. This is a wonderful resource for anyone with Columbiana County ancestors. One of the ladies that works there (both are unpaid volunteers who devote a huge amount of time organizing and indexing their material - a huge Thank You to both of them and the other volunteers) happens to have the "other" John Hoffman in her husband's lineage so we compared notes trying to figure out if or how they might be related.



The next morning, I returned to the Columbiana Archives for a few hours before heading westward once again. It was about then that I realized that I could probably make it to Fort Wayne for the Midwest Geneabloggers .. Fall Meetup! It was about noon on Saturday when I got to the Allen County Public Library where everyone else was already hard at work. After the library closed we all converged at the home of Tina Lyons for a Pizza Party.



I'm so glad that I was able to make it to the meetup and see "old" genealogy-friends again and meet a few new ones too. I had a great time - thanks to everyone there and thanks especially to Tina for organizing it and to her and her husband for hosting the after-research party.



So, here it is, October 23rd, and where am I? Still in Indiana, where I'll be for a little while longer until I get a few "things" resolved. And then? I'll be heading out to somewhere a bit warmer, at least for a little while...



And, because my grand-nephew, Zachariah, was born 18 years ago on this date, I want to wish him a very special birthday...






Ah, yes! We were both much younger back then! Happy Birthday, Zach.