tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20448035631360460542024-03-05T16:31:13.362-08:00Tripieper Tales and TravelsRobin and Amy Pieper's cycling and other adventures at home, in England, and anywhere else we may roam.tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-46523210254982963972010-11-13T15:39:00.000-08:002010-11-13T16:04:54.322-08:00Soaking Up the Sun<span style="font-family:arial;">The in-laws wanted to spend time in Death Valley for their 50th Wedding Anniversary. In late October who am I to argue?<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PlOBQslFnB327EWPt3XguTa1gfqLNqFlpaPhsQyAMpBs92qxGaAPkX3-oeiox-RxJuo5QOW0JUS_B9_KXa2qSuc2luPqEFqSjMlt0izuLMBJgymtsrItfIAGxpTmr-AdXaws5qWaYKb0/s1600/_4DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PlOBQslFnB327EWPt3XguTa1gfqLNqFlpaPhsQyAMpBs92qxGaAPkX3-oeiox-RxJuo5QOW0JUS_B9_KXa2qSuc2luPqEFqSjMlt0izuLMBJgymtsrItfIAGxpTmr-AdXaws5qWaYKb0/s200/_4DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539184047269415106" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbUuTchvjylidDoP7rrIzaDF_NHCaKyUdWbGQRmoM4Hpk_2St1fFq7jd3TdidzjHz21SKjSOiB03MkmWwJgHWcbetpzI0WXxsA67Qm8KG_rEhjONTw8dyEQULn-FxS0pF4b_qtpAAvWtG/s1600/_34DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbUuTchvjylidDoP7rrIzaDF_NHCaKyUdWbGQRmoM4Hpk_2St1fFq7jd3TdidzjHz21SKjSOiB03MkmWwJgHWcbetpzI0WXxsA67Qm8KG_rEhjONTw8dyEQULn-FxS0pF4b_qtpAAvWtG/s200/_34DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539185900174917106" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The family enjoying the sun at Furnace Creek</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">and checking out the charcoal kilns</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Tracks in the sand dunes: Can you identify 1) roadrunner 2) a twig blown in the wind and 3) Robin aka dunewalker?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJySM2Agn0Oy7mDqXGP6yPEWP50NnqYyDJX0FqYFeiJH_Q6UZjl225X_OPUrgcqFa4MejokH0kqbXUUqK5KBTcZdYMddsydnAgSNN93a-21OvsiK6qE7s-kmdbUspQMTp5VoDkiTbbSQfr/s1600/_9DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJySM2Agn0Oy7mDqXGP6yPEWP50NnqYyDJX0FqYFeiJH_Q6UZjl225X_OPUrgcqFa4MejokH0kqbXUUqK5KBTcZdYMddsydnAgSNN93a-21OvsiK6qE7s-kmdbUspQMTp5VoDkiTbbSQfr/s200/_9DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539184557117751330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KG53Zk28bMVI3zYX5nLovWNBFNsb4P9ybaIwqidxs7yK86MGdxFsncwACQP48j-fxOBEf63l1VCPkJ3fD1LQ_xCsaICkGPdONv1d_bVrDcoQlslA4YUYoNjzSSraZq6HAfrGV34YK7pK/s1600/_14DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KG53Zk28bMVI3zYX5nLovWNBFNsb4P9ybaIwqidxs7yK86MGdxFsncwACQP48j-fxOBEf63l1VCPkJ3fD1LQ_xCsaICkGPdONv1d_bVrDcoQlslA4YUYoNjzSSraZq6HAfrGV34YK7pK/s200/_14DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539184069225882258" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPDZBTW8zPFB-NVP54IKAUoqT3AlemNGNDPPEhGw_JarOU1ZbKH-v2YT-eVChyVyhzVOOSFj_D3jSH-fj8_309VQ1XcAAsQNE905iBSZWg7UTeeM2GvFVH9jlxgNlVNXcE6LtGeZaPDbS/s1600/_11DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPDZBTW8zPFB-NVP54IKAUoqT3AlemNGNDPPEhGw_JarOU1ZbKH-v2YT-eVChyVyhzVOOSFj_D3jSH-fj8_309VQ1XcAAsQNE905iBSZWg7UTeeM2GvFVH9jlxgNlVNXcE6LtGeZaPDbS/s200/_11DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539184059600555618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Then we popped over to Yosemite for some pretty fall colors:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7X-_noAnF5jaGABw4fy4ibw67RD6N-bEmf64Exgb4EnKC_BLSZwq0H8ujj6_2se2AZnCCrf66dT-ZbZOtmhfp4CnMJFqreInI3Xd2S7ei5vHeOEJJqXCdA6yau8QPiHDSwqsmwFcWj_R/s1600/_44DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7X-_noAnF5jaGABw4fy4ibw67RD6N-bEmf64Exgb4EnKC_BLSZwq0H8ujj6_2se2AZnCCrf66dT-ZbZOtmhfp4CnMJFqreInI3Xd2S7ei5vHeOEJJqXCdA6yau8QPiHDSwqsmwFcWj_R/s200/_44DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539185921736986850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkYAcHu7v96_hCLaxCZOfVvM5XbYH4bFZ0IBsDJJ1oChr_RGVISnkaNnLNPHAh70pClcTTws3AfkPBhVfQJ0GoZhy4WAWNO0xF-6gI6b8f85iCyYWy-gezRg9FsCZ8VeaijiubgtVrX_e/s1600/_48DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkYAcHu7v96_hCLaxCZOfVvM5XbYH4bFZ0IBsDJJ1oChr_RGVISnkaNnLNPHAh70pClcTTws3AfkPBhVfQJ0GoZhy4WAWNO0xF-6gI6b8f85iCyYWy-gezRg9FsCZ8VeaijiubgtVrX_e/s200/_48DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539185936644789858" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRW2Q2Br4rlU6R6lnb4XFPqO_lnG62Ml2ZAlPCF3wcZx8deIeUnvfV14yHKn1h5WH7ArjsJZ0iC26d_6pWg1Gz3zgOmZlzLZDNp-A3jv8_Nmiri6rAsJO9TTdvlAxKAb2MmInC7NHqGpPg/s1600/_49DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRW2Q2Br4rlU6R6lnb4XFPqO_lnG62Ml2ZAlPCF3wcZx8deIeUnvfV14yHKn1h5WH7ArjsJZ0iC26d_6pWg1Gz3zgOmZlzLZDNp-A3jv8_Nmiri6rAsJO9TTdvlAxKAb2MmInC7NHqGpPg/s200/_49DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539185925682241090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnmLOgElv0hLdBW6ZoYsxJlcoippC-GKgYe5JKGP9_gKzzmB8qOQ1ghuH7Rum-1cT6FcXFvgg45AOv3utDF7pyL7OpuIwsWc30818_01RW8QON35PoRUY4_j6OBYdTwZ7XrvbO8QPhFX5/s1600/_39DV+and+Yosemite.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnmLOgElv0hLdBW6ZoYsxJlcoippC-GKgYe5JKGP9_gKzzmB8qOQ1ghuH7Rum-1cT6FcXFvgg45AOv3utDF7pyL7OpuIwsWc30818_01RW8QON35PoRUY4_j6OBYdTwZ7XrvbO8QPhFX5/s200/_39DV+and+Yosemite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539185909082545058" border="0" /></a>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-81049793406907236222010-09-05T16:20:00.000-07:002010-09-26T16:02:46.238-07:00Two, Two, Two Goals in One!<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">I had 2 goals I wante</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d t</span><span style="font-family:arial;">o reach th</span><span style="font-family:arial;">is ye</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ar </span><span style="font-family:arial;">an</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d I had </span><span style="font-family:arial;">th</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e good luck to achieve them both in one day - and - more importantly - had fun doing it. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Saturday, August 7 I finished up the last ride neede</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d for</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> my R-12 while completing the 3 Volcanoes 300km on tandem with rando extraordinaire, Peg Winczewski. I have a feeling our "record" for</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> an all female tand</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e</span><span style="font-family:arial;">m o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">n that c</span><span style="font-family:arial;">o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">urse w</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ill stand for some time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A few pic</span><span style="font-family:arial;">s courtesy of Jason</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Dul:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Me and my special Peg 3000 engine</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIQWhM9q59PU9LVnMzwn8IRdDdXq5apz07thc8dFBk8PH86Npjz3pG4z6oEkRjE017OxlKByedu6a_ZuIPelQ_2iGA28_DkP50MYbot3y3lHxQNCuxmQHNL41SbwcU0qcGlX9Q7Pzxgfb/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+me+and+my+special+Peg+3000+engine.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIQWhM9q59PU9LVnMzwn8IRdDdXq5apz07thc8dFBk8PH86Npjz3pG4z6oEkRjE017OxlKByedu6a_ZuIPelQ_2iGA28_DkP50MYbot3y3lHxQNCuxmQHNL41SbwcU0qcGlX9Q7Pzxgfb/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+me+and+my+special+Peg+3000+engine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513809921400781746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:webdings;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Where to find randos in the early morning hours<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N_yJ_2trqz5Qdob_FJEKuH8tW-SN0w92AUJkhbTWWxZUYCRVNXJ_A273AvjTHShBLNAiVF11DChlJJb4BMaG3DLnyyD-6t9doseVTdEn9JnsJQ7IChpk6ffX6S7O_UXSuDbi7-OB-q-b/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+early+morning+rando+hangout.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N_yJ_2trqz5Qdob_FJEKuH8tW-SN0w92AUJkhbTWWxZUYCRVNXJ_A273AvjTHShBLNAiVF11DChlJJb4BMaG3DLnyyD-6t9doseVTdEn9JnsJQ7IChpk6ffX6S7O_UXSuDbi7-OB-q-b/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+early+morning+rando+hangout.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635471350627906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKzZK5GoWsxhLScdcQ1GWqVdJ96gOJuRoWzenbuNolwiUui7uRiSHDzrWIH7TAREU7mHf6LibccnmsnZ67IpY2kTar9b8AacwfbhTACzAovdsqnDTwac-O3sS_eb5CKqi3T1AEYGSrmeW/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+milling+at+the+start.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKzZK5GoWsxhLScdcQ1GWqVdJ96gOJuRoWzenbuNolwiUui7uRiSHDzrWIH7TAREU7mHf6LibccnmsnZ67IpY2kTar9b8AacwfbhTACzAovdsqnDTwac-O3sS_eb5CKqi3T1AEYGSrmeW/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+milling+at+the+start.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635844391272290" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Checking out views along the route<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yKVpxDtIeqIMzgTe8_wsfbyNl-iCIsHf7O92ZRwbQcce_4ZBEVDgkJ0Cd_6ymHSEFY3v22vSPQLn-4DIekTITz9uf2IHQRpa7z-PreFzks6kNPTwxP1TNkOG0hv-lVviFP4bC7V2vO_8/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+scenery.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yKVpxDtIeqIMzgTe8_wsfbyNl-iCIsHf7O92ZRwbQcce_4ZBEVDgkJ0Cd_6ymHSEFY3v22vSPQLn-4DIekTITz9uf2IHQRpa7z-PreFzks6kNPTwxP1TNkOG0hv-lVviFP4bC7V2vO_8/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+scenery.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635859395798610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jason, the photographer, his front wheel encountering gravel, and Kole and Jennifer climbing Babyshoe Pass<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvCONwR4X39l0qnxk9bM1KXtBJlbUsrYrku7bZHexI1LXdLl407BEmsP_5TJU5bAQ61p-xBbitkUcHuczlVHbkG_TjTA8M5oLs_9PwdAcYHYU9nIEqv9Stbs5_RMY2B-Tqkuak2tebMLb/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+Jason+self+portrait.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvCONwR4X39l0qnxk9bM1KXtBJlbUsrYrku7bZHexI1LXdLl407BEmsP_5TJU5bAQ61p-xBbitkUcHuczlVHbkG_TjTA8M5oLs_9PwdAcYHYU9nIEqv9Stbs5_RMY2B-Tqkuak2tebMLb/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+Jason+self+portrait.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635481319070818" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4jPP8n3ITX3maGGtUVyWwsj4OAvENSNLeCl8zX8aaerQGNGV4oxhY4IyoFgn0p_v6YB1lzV1Mk3CATYnSgAFOx2jE4a3O64ZZZNlb_tMh9HsDXC5_emitWSdRj68w6ZhbZcdFiGYNroO/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+artsy+fartsy+shot+of+rear+wheel+and+gravel.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4jPP8n3ITX3maGGtUVyWwsj4OAvENSNLeCl8zX8aaerQGNGV4oxhY4IyoFgn0p_v6YB1lzV1Mk3CATYnSgAFOx2jE4a3O64ZZZNlb_tMh9HsDXC5_emitWSdRj68w6ZhbZcdFiGYNroO/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+artsy+fartsy+shot+of+rear+wheel+and+gravel.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513632778775458338" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZnJHCUnSzZ4s7CCo_mLD17Zy0XCoprdN27iPCOWROyMdiMlURHzLj20JevT6RVezUwlRm38TUjG5YjQaTRZ1xQQHS1g-3rLvh6AsMn-UqiuyZDVAaot2pOAVWXtAxE1GU_vJZ85dpRw6/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+Kole+and+Jennifer+on+Babyshoe.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZnJHCUnSzZ4s7CCo_mLD17Zy0XCoprdN27iPCOWROyMdiMlURHzLj20JevT6RVezUwlRm38TUjG5YjQaTRZ1xQQHS1g-3rLvh6AsMn-UqiuyZDVAaot2pOAVWXtAxE1GU_vJZ85dpRw6/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+Kole+and+Jennifer+on+Babyshoe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635482151513058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Randos at a watering hole - gotta watch out for crocodiles!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SuCQF9p-Or__SQkCXm-qlLqAslkKIAO01TYejLUWmUUZOYB6TSFNGUQp5skmSbKaSS6PI9gQccsQefDLLe45jidm4lDHzvR6fJ-nZtv0QDsM2byse6TxU8F3Eq_UvGFu4RalshlH7jDL/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+water+hole+randos.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SuCQF9p-Or__SQkCXm-qlLqAslkKIAO01TYejLUWmUUZOYB6TSFNGUQp5skmSbKaSS6PI9gQccsQefDLLe45jidm4lDHzvR6fJ-nZtv0QDsM2byse6TxU8F3Eq_UvGFu4RalshlH7jDL/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+water+hole+randos.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513636043669857458" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The tandem conquers Babyshoe and a group shot at the top while donating blood to the mosquitos (apparently the atmosphere at Babyshoe has a special quality that makes me extremely UNphotogenic)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1OJ6sXvTAdJMAqWeeXbyyM1DyhvJXN0jweOy1-2LsUrHKYvGMo8hjhOrwxPNVB9Z3Xr09cCuL-1Kzj6LPxLWERuc06rgetcSFFsCTHeR70Z-RYcjI7Af3gjnCGErSkwRkkU-kMILcHIo/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+tandem+conquers+Babyshoe.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1OJ6sXvTAdJMAqWeeXbyyM1DyhvJXN0jweOy1-2LsUrHKYvGMo8hjhOrwxPNVB9Z3Xr09cCuL-1Kzj6LPxLWERuc06rgetcSFFsCTHeR70Z-RYcjI7Af3gjnCGErSkwRkkU-kMILcHIo/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+tandem+conquers+Babyshoe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635866039663922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuCi_Mr9kMWcQCi8VZZZ27GxHtVPKX7ilQh0AUA2SsaBZ1Eivt5U3GC396i1VM7dob-bQx0DUkA2ZxSitmVALdwwDMHVABePxKnvXKGaytzlyKUAnTMdMmvN3dv4qq8bNpP4NsQugs_49/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+Babyshoe+summit+group+shot.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuCi_Mr9kMWcQCi8VZZZ27GxHtVPKX7ilQh0AUA2SsaBZ1Eivt5U3GC396i1VM7dob-bQx0DUkA2ZxSitmVALdwwDMHVABePxKnvXKGaytzlyKUAnTMdMmvN3dv4qq8bNpP4NsQugs_49/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+Babyshoe+summit+group+shot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635466361183906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />A river crossing just outside of Trout Lake<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNmn3wuHZTM6OVEMVZdSZFa2vkaRCUJRKaU5pw_g127MrM5NTO02bAbfGXDDGVCmGWe65mSPn3oGIIHbORH6ZSKQV-0x6YOKs_Zc97rJmMjogbH-KUJwXD5JiY_v9gY2lVX8jGNhxiqas7/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+outside+Trout+Lake.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNmn3wuHZTM6OVEMVZdSZFa2vkaRCUJRKaU5pw_g127MrM5NTO02bAbfGXDDGVCmGWe65mSPn3oGIIHbORH6ZSKQV-0x6YOKs_Zc97rJmMjogbH-KUJwXD5JiY_v9gY2lVX8jGNhxiqas7/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+outside+Trout+Lake.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635855646182130" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Beautiful scenery to distract us from that final climb up to Elk Summit and and ominous looking sight at the top<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjkp1AddPNl1F4bjtOeIH0aUkgOndk49flpa2PKirL6D-JJCthziKAE8PelXOhjLrt21XcWgATpESiccZn1ZAI7lWMBM1ilp2dY1jbnGxtt5r_uRlPWUsN2Txw_AkQPCSQ5LR08qdE_MV/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+majestic+scnery.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjkp1AddPNl1F4bjtOeIH0aUkgOndk49flpa2PKirL6D-JJCthziKAE8PelXOhjLrt21XcWgATpESiccZn1ZAI7lWMBM1ilp2dY1jbnGxtt5r_uRlPWUsN2Txw_AkQPCSQ5LR08qdE_MV/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+majestic+scnery.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635485785460434" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_-IIT7xmfjOztMXPC5e0NGjNmOvmctcg57LczmdVTmu2bNSUz2ySgaky5l3ueS29-UVcnfnU9Q63fZJm_QcnWPlZ25iCPOkZz3eABBBlgctS2u5rCJyTBqLq0-UMk47WgDIaiu0JyE0k/s1600/3+Volcanoes+300k+ominous+signs.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_-IIT7xmfjOztMXPC5e0NGjNmOvmctcg57LczmdVTmu2bNSUz2ySgaky5l3ueS29-UVcnfnU9Q63fZJm_QcnWPlZ25iCPOkZz3eABBBlgctS2u5rCJyTBqLq0-UMk47WgDIaiu0JyE0k/s200/3+Volcanoes+300k+ominous+signs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513635850944311714" border="0" /></a></div>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-13794828726936398472010-06-13T12:01:00.000-07:002010-06-13T20:59:52.922-07:00A Soul Reviving Day<span style="font-family:arial;">Robin was planning to join the boys for a 1000km brevet in the Blue Mountains of Oregon leaving me unsupervised and gazing in wonderment at the weekend forecast. Mitchel suggested the Flying Wheels</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> S</span><span style="font-family:arial;">umme</span><span style="font-family:arial;">r Century which</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> I hadn't done in dogs' years but he invited Jason too so it was tempting. Then Jason's anti-</span><span style="font-family:arial;">social side emerged saying he hated crowds and waiting in line at sani-huts so how about doing the Mountain Loop Highway 200km perma</span><span style="font-family:arial;">nent? FISH ON! I h</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ad been want</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ing to do t</span><span style="font-family:arial;">his route and t</span><span style="font-family:arial;">he prospect of getting to ride with </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Jason made it a "must do". At the risk of jinxing myself I'll al</span><span style="font-family:arial;">so say that I needed to</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> do a 200km th</span><span style="font-family:arial;">is mo</span><span style="font-family:arial;">nth to make it </span><span style="font-family:arial;">10 o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ut of 12 </span><span style="font-family:arial;">for my R-1</span><span style="font-family:arial;">2 </span><span style="font-family:arial;">e</span><span style="font-family:arial;">nd</span><span style="font-family:arial;">eavor.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After what seemed like decades of grey, wet, and cold weather Saturday emerged like a sparkling jewel. Clear blue skies, singing birds, children frolicking, and BBQ's smoking.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">I picked Jason up in Redmond (I offered to drive in order to ensure he wouldn't desert me!) and we headed to Snohomish. I stuffed a Snickers Dark in my mouth just before Jason took our "start" picture outside the 7-11.</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsWmRs2JfxyR_16XPLUWh6fd2o2LiK7DfRWIuOJjpvuLmz8Eph4t_X_sDce7-tde09gtsekXe2BorWkXn3-WvXeYHk9_UEukwZnenqwaej-xhTuVoH5nOxp7SpCwnY3Qi7_MW_6XOvxAs/s1600/at+the+start+in+Snohomish+-+I+have+half+a+Snickers+Dark+bar+stuffed+in+my+mouth.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsWmRs2JfxyR_16XPLUWh6fd2o2LiK7DfRWIuOJjpvuLmz8Eph4t_X_sDce7-tde09gtsekXe2BorWkXn3-WvXeYHk9_UEukwZnenqwaej-xhTuVoH5nOxp7SpCwnY3Qi7_MW_6XOvxAs/s200/at+the+start+in+Snohomish+-+I+have+half+a+Snickers+Dark+bar+stuffed+in+my+mouth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338757143176562" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We started about 20 minutes late but neither of us seemed to feel any pressure. Unlike recent rides where I wanted to get done before it got TOO dark, TOO wet, and TOO cold today promised endless warmth and sunshine.<br /><br />Given the 14 miles of unpaved road on this route Robin had fitted my Rambouillet with no fenders and extra fat and cushy tires. Being extra fat and cushy they felt pretty sluggish on the pavement - or maybe that was the engine's fault - and Jason gave me a hard time for stopping to check first if a brake was dragging and second if my tire was going flat. We did discover that the rear tire was mounted with the tread in the wrong direction so I had my excuse for riding so slowly! I could complain about shoddy work to my mechanic but I can already anticipate the reply. Something along the lines of "you can mount your own *&^%&^% tire from now on" so I think I'll keep my mouth shut on that one.<br /><br />First control in Arlington and we got water to top off our bottles. Jason found one of the two zip ties attaching his light to his helmet had broken and the second was looking iffy. He didn't have cutters so he removed the light and then just tightened the remaining zip tie into a stylish "horn" and dubbed himself rhinocesquatch (a version of sasquatch which is his usual self-imposed moniker)<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRoZuCXKFkCBWf50i8qXMICx6E_Nez2OGJGlayTm_VsPC9y2DNbRiBIdeaXn5F3SsUMaK1n4qAxlElK_qDdtAs9H1vh9ziHdGXk5gln_u3nMgztVQI_Rn4bkQtO0Nx8iokwsJ4OyZqiUU/s1600/The+majestic+rhinocesquatch.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRoZuCXKFkCBWf50i8qXMICx6E_Nez2OGJGlayTm_VsPC9y2DNbRiBIdeaXn5F3SsUMaK1n4qAxlElK_qDdtAs9H1vh9ziHdGXk5gln_u3nMgztVQI_Rn4bkQtO0Nx8iokwsJ4OyZqiUU/s200/The+majestic+rhinocesquatch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338532083926018" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(now THAT's Rando!)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Most of the route from Arlington to Darrington is along Hwy 530 which is fine for about 15-20 miles and then you are really ready to be done with it but you still have about 7+ miles to go. Jason employed his time along the route taking pictures and waiting for me.</span><br /></div></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVKdYz7aENanFDQVoAGyKGGvnlPmrXyNnLmEb9fWKawfaQQPXUX2OnnY5wNzC1GTvZmr9bj_BwLmNkLjk40TPwjmsoeIp5U5Jg2pJzfNDYaZCsddVNMbJCzh1AL09Jb18W7gBYzeRbmJA/s1600/Here+comes+Amy,+straggling+along+again.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 98px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVKdYz7aENanFDQVoAGyKGGvnlPmrXyNnLmEb9fWKawfaQQPXUX2OnnY5wNzC1GTvZmr9bj_BwLmNkLjk40TPwjmsoeIp5U5Jg2pJzfNDYaZCsddVNMbJCzh1AL09Jb18W7gBYzeRbmJA/s200/Here+comes+Amy,+straggling+along+again.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338752517760322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jAyUiOi91mgtthgndhQvae_D8AzW0lAz69vT_hUSsantVoo6NnYLsRx2Tt5FQv_pnV1Q65mjXrkroTIEUP0t4D9VA3je_9aUjUruyLczxRL3-hr4DKFnBLXY9POdzwI3WouKVPLik4fT/s1600/Jason's+self+portrait+along+Hwy+530.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jAyUiOi91mgtthgndhQvae_D8AzW0lAz69vT_hUSsantVoo6NnYLsRx2Tt5FQv_pnV1Q65mjXrkroTIEUP0t4D9VA3je_9aUjUruyLczxRL3-hr4DKFnBLXY9POdzwI3WouKVPLik4fT/s200/Jason's+self+portrait+along+Hwy+530.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338746728377170" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We had our first lunch stop in Darrington. Most of the times I have visited this little town it has been cold so it was a real treat to sit at the little picnic table in the sun munching a sandwich and chips and reapplying sunscreen. We had about 2 hours in the bank even with our late start but we had the big, unpaved climb ahead of us so off we went.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Just a few miles later we are greeted by the "pavement ends" sign which, in this case, translates "and the fun begins"! I was so impressed with this road. It was packed solid and smoother than 95% of the roads in Skagit County. There were a few potholes but easy to navigate and the vehicle traffic was low and slow. Most of the road followed the Sauk River through the Mt Baker National Forest so we had the beautiful rushing river and breathtaking mountain views complete with snow topped peaks and gorgeous waterfalls.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Pavement Ends:</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuX2h6ENMxwFKDFUYTbXKr_TE8gjRL5UcsysQmSY61Ap_rfbjq-tChrWp8Ya2JEtpJwbLIW4rHbfIy7dPSk-bigExVbIHdaF62ESsrOBFdWJ2PYn2cHc-WiCqkgLLZ9l2BSSpddJPLs6x/s1600/Amy+entering+unknown+and+unpaved+territory.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuX2h6ENMxwFKDFUYTbXKr_TE8gjRL5UcsysQmSY61Ap_rfbjq-tChrWp8Ya2JEtpJwbLIW4rHbfIy7dPSk-bigExVbIHdaF62ESsrOBFdWJ2PYn2cHc-WiCqkgLLZ9l2BSSpddJPLs6x/s200/Amy+entering+unknown+and+unpaved+territory.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482339470604559906" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This was the place to be on this gorgeous day:</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfAXAGuWkuGAYhHz-FLEHLQN7YqR0e_wQzQb9-4N1Hbqnf6ZAbR7rCWOdvJ_b8gw3gWRTrdriVqNnSdsML1b5oybfh2waovrh1vtGQmu9BR1UosjudeRZtFyeQ51XpYcLCumXOBkDAJ05/s1600/A+gorgeous+day+in+the+Cascades.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 98px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfAXAGuWkuGAYhHz-FLEHLQN7YqR0e_wQzQb9-4N1Hbqnf6ZAbR7rCWOdvJ_b8gw3gWRTrdriVqNnSdsML1b5oybfh2waovrh1vtGQmu9BR1UosjudeRZtFyeQ51XpYcLCumXOBkDAJ05/s200/A+gorgeous+day+in+the+Cascades.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338511268507890" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWEIM1O3Ce00AI8dJWWEER_43MvfEAAOZBjodzSMofg_qdT-LwAiSvs25-lRgao6b9BKv7WggOiCegonOGVoGVW_opQoVjZZv9kTpBhn61l7MT08MYb7V0v9c91qH4XTHKqDJlji4UQEm/s1600/climbing+up+to+Barlow+Pass+-+a+fabulous+road%21.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 98px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWEIM1O3Ce00AI8dJWWEER_43MvfEAAOZBjodzSMofg_qdT-LwAiSvs25-lRgao6b9BKv7WggOiCegonOGVoGVW_opQoVjZZv9kTpBhn61l7MT08MYb7V0v9c91qH4XTHKqDJlji4UQEm/s200/climbing+up+to+Barlow+Pass+-+a+fabulous+road%21.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338524980795650" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ekHbrgP7PmBv4gROi8ayFfaWHscaLIghLLcAFyb7Dvve-Z8sIfcmd5aXI_3xHgyqJzKpJnN7Z_P9z2RENderTeZNnhyphenhyphengrAIeqvKi0HK7LyDfp6ra-sCAV4x7yuHt1kht1U13nKwoLiXH/s1600/absolutely+stunning.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ekHbrgP7PmBv4gROi8ayFfaWHscaLIghLLcAFyb7Dvve-Z8sIfcmd5aXI_3xHgyqJzKpJnN7Z_P9z2RENderTeZNnhyphenhyphengrAIeqvKi0HK7LyDfp6ra-sCAV4x7yuHt1kht1U13nKwoLiXH/s200/absolutely+stunning.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338509443032754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The climb did get steeper towards the top but there were only 2 or 3 sections where I had to hit the granny gear and plenty of thigh relieving flat and even short downhills spots along the way.<br /><br />After we reached the summit the pavement picked up again and we dove down the mountain triumphantly. We stopped at a picnic site for second lunch and some intense sandwich trading negotiations. A lovely lady with a foreign accent told us what great cyclists we were and our heads swelled so much we had a hard time getting our helmets back on.<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROpj2jeANFyXhYTAJa3pnB_gwDvUuYBcP9DkEeU09XKdB5uQT9YFRc9mB81jr2-u9jtAPcJv42fq-LK8fXvfkHusdja25DvJGwxkEHM7hUOgYY_B5BBW20rGlwMpZO5tgrrGqpf_XKRWj/s1600/second+lunch+stop.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROpj2jeANFyXhYTAJa3pnB_gwDvUuYBcP9DkEeU09XKdB5uQT9YFRc9mB81jr2-u9jtAPcJv42fq-LK8fXvfkHusdja25DvJGwxkEHM7hUOgYY_B5BBW20rGlwMpZO5tgrrGqpf_XKRWj/s200/second+lunch+stop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482338501752662194" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We did have some headwind on the way to Granite Falls but I had wisely brought along my own personal windscreen. I only had to relieve his efforts for short periods to keep him going! Somewhere around Verlot we saw a guy riding a penny farthing bicycle in the opposite direction - too cool!<br /><br />In Granite Falls I luxuriated outside a mini-mart by sitting on the sidewalk while munching a giant ice cream cookie sandwich. There are times when Granite Falls, a piece of concrete, and a fat-loaded dairy product are my idea of heaven and this was one of them. My big revelation here was that for the first time in a very long time I was saying to myself "we only have 21 miles left to enjoy" rather than "I only have to survive another 21 miles". It was a nice feeling which lasted for about 10 minutes after we left Granite Falls and started hitting the hills. Dubuque Rd was engineered by evil men with the sole intention of reducing randonneurs to tears. They didn't get the best of me this time however so they quickly regrouped and threw 131st Ave SE at me. Still no tears but Jason noted that I had to use my 24 inch gear for the upper half of the climb. After that we were home free cruising into Snohomish where we were greeted by cheering throngs cleverly disguised as mildly impressed mini-mart cashiers. As I've said before, I only do it for the fame and the glamour.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-2365955057653708842010-05-20T13:55:00.001-07:002010-05-20T14:36:14.706-07:00Why Two-Year-Olds Rock<span style="font-family:arial;">I should have posted about the great trip we took to Tucson in April to celebrate Archie's 60<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> birthday. We hiked, biked up Mt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Lemmon</span> (where I met Matt who has spent the last 2 years cycling around the US), watched the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Huies</span> rock climb, ate and drank around the pool, enjoyed hanging out with Spud and Tater, and were treated to a delicious dinner by my co</span><span style="font-family:arial;">usin John </span><span style="font-family:arial;">and his wife Peggy:<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10jns6RXGvpKTPcF4Rw74NZ4nhqwiCftxbtIc_AzZVDkMjIUzSaehbkLz3UDlPWaB_RewK_j-0QQySsKjF2up-mTRZe_ntHHkr2bKueX25dV-cWcDKZh0FWoU5W7HDeg2j1uYkkNWWw2U/s1600/_012Tuscon2010.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10jns6RXGvpKTPcF4Rw74NZ4nhqwiCftxbtIc_AzZVDkMjIUzSaehbkLz3UDlPWaB_RewK_j-0QQySsKjF2up-mTRZe_ntHHkr2bKueX25dV-cWcDKZh0FWoU5W7HDeg2j1uYkkNWWw2U/s200/_012Tuscon2010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473459576379682834" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_vYvEF0MQ4ckxmrOZcGDJmww8cYoJZKU2KjhOm084s_dl9vpNCmSOL9h7zp_-YiUvmdiAHuWtXHDU2yGc2ooDaNd6PVzjP5_towEJmG0NH18GiddAb3ImMVk8LrqZgMg7mpPCbsn6kcd/s1600/_010Tuscon2010.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_vYvEF0MQ4ckxmrOZcGDJmww8cYoJZKU2KjhOm084s_dl9vpNCmSOL9h7zp_-YiUvmdiAHuWtXHDU2yGc2ooDaNd6PVzjP5_towEJmG0NH18GiddAb3ImMVk8LrqZgMg7mpPCbsn6kcd/s200/_010Tuscon2010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473459564728690002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvKX-Hi7mOvZAVD_DMh-HHopQPY8mDsuNuqp_6wF5D1qO485Yv8QVBZ98piC5Nh7eLxLSgaT8fXMixd_5PNAHptIg8BS_THQXReETudRsoycF0kAAcAh7shOy0L_dX5elX-8V-4TcUEfE/s1600/_011Tuscon2010.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvKX-Hi7mOvZAVD_DMh-HHopQPY8mDsuNuqp_6wF5D1qO485Yv8QVBZ98piC5Nh7eLxLSgaT8fXMixd_5PNAHptIg8BS_THQXReETudRsoycF0kAAcAh7shOy0L_dX5elX-8V-4TcUEfE/s200/_011Tuscon2010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473460098997405586" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnV8b8sGsEYHFb2WUrGuWxjpqPwd-PDHHi3k3Woy1F71sr8cch1GwA-gMGY53H9HID9Ey49uNoyzJncdaQzFFH3S15uXmaQYdV-FmS-f95tTgxuCXH86JdvTgE5I_A9UtULHhNJ2q17d4Z/s1600/_053Tuscon2010.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnV8b8sGsEYHFb2WUrGuWxjpqPwd-PDHHi3k3Woy1F71sr8cch1GwA-gMGY53H9HID9Ey49uNoyzJncdaQzFFH3S15uXmaQYdV-FmS-f95tTgxuCXH86JdvTgE5I_A9UtULHhNJ2q17d4Z/s200/_053Tuscon2010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473459588047443426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZ_PiUe2ZEDO1yLnrK58FTCQYCiZoMwNlEyRthpwV3CDvHDC8WrxASxabs2PYWBp1CSY7hi1X8Rjm61JhZIXLl8kl1baoUf_dl9xViuoCtsS1zP9i-ZVjgAEn0uUaXjEKFuZsCvjCItTc/s1600/_020Tuscon2010.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZ_PiUe2ZEDO1yLnrK58FTCQYCiZoMwNlEyRthpwV3CDvHDC8WrxASxabs2PYWBp1CSY7hi1X8Rjm61JhZIXLl8kl1baoUf_dl9xViuoCtsS1zP9i-ZVjgAEn0uUaXjEKFuZsCvjCItTc/s200/_020Tuscon2010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473459596214587650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">And I should have posted about the fun long weekend in East Wenatchee for SIR's Northwest Crank training camp.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And I should have posted about riding a 400</span><span style="font-family:arial;">km brev</span><span style="font-family:arial;">et in Oregon w</span><span style="font-family:arial;">hich was a fabulous route includ</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ing 7 cove</span><span style="font-family:arial;">red</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> bridges and, unbelievably, headwinds no matter which direction I was riding and finished hearing the same birds at 4:30am that I had heard the previous morning at 5:00am:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_hG6mERNYiRi2HrN5zdJZtSAXqK-U6Y3FcL50WXk27CvlPahrAT8uKlwPNcQveR6rH__4NWHCpIt3Fas8-cgQ-VnfBx4ebbKV48Iv1dL1akFyYbs3qfl2efpMkxWYIp-NWLC7bkWUGq9/s1600/ORR400khalfway.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_hG6mERNYiRi2HrN5zdJZtSAXqK-U6Y3FcL50WXk27CvlPahrAT8uKlwPNcQveR6rH__4NWHCpIt3Fas8-cgQ-VnfBx4ebbKV48Iv1dL1akFyYbs3qfl2efpMkxWYIp-NWLC7bkWUGq9/s200/ORR400khalfway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473465990344047346" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__sMxjvYNeeIOWOyb_Gl8FPHuGRmgGOUEYKBviXY3aN_9nQre3yAFu4cVhCuAiYUS8WxgGrjd_VWUhyphenhyphenzN0iffq5D3_Sho_FBktz66h_h8eUpqFTDvt3Ad05iE8_D4PTPYTy0YvCREa6Up/s1600/ORR400coveredbridge.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__sMxjvYNeeIOWOyb_Gl8FPHuGRmgGOUEYKBviXY3aN_9nQre3yAFu4cVhCuAiYUS8WxgGrjd_VWUhyphenhyphenzN0iffq5D3_Sho_FBktz66h_h8eUpqFTDvt3Ad05iE8_D4PTPYTy0YvCREa6Up/s200/ORR400coveredbridge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473465993115725554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />But what finally got me to post was the simple wisdom of my grand-nephew Henry.<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuCOoxBvGc-xanRa_Z9Vocpfcy03iHY9G5vFenjE9x7ZaYIvyTeaeWm5TGNtCbCIhNzMQPqTaj5TJGMvkPBvMxiat26ccncypF3cHEz8pjtY7RzFnCbkqs3KtLTgjtb4ZDfnriuX6VnXE/s1600/henryandbennettmay2010.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuCOoxBvGc-xanRa_Z9Vocpfcy03iHY9G5vFenjE9x7ZaYIvyTeaeWm5TGNtCbCIhNzMQPqTaj5TJGMvkPBvMxiat26ccncypF3cHEz8pjtY7RzFnCbkqs3KtLTgjtb4ZDfnriuX6VnXE/s200/henryandbennettmay2010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473465987041035970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">On Tuesday, as I was sitting in the back seat between Henry and Bennett we were discussing the concept of "it takes a village". Here's how the conversation played out:<br /><br />me: Henry, you have a village.<br />Henry: nope<br />Mary: Yes you do Henry. Who are your people?<br />Henry: Gramma, Boppa (grandpa), Mama, Dada...<br />me: Aren't I in your village?<br />Henry: nope<br />me: Well I'd like to be in your village. How do I get in?<br />Henry: Open the door!<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-1577806822664369612010-04-02T08:07:00.000-07:002010-04-07T09:23:06.399-07:00I'm not Mark. Or Vinnie, Or Geoff. And certainly not Kole!<span style="font-family:arial;">Last year when some of my rando buddies started riding crazy amounts I kept saying they were nuts and that I needed time to recover between long rides. At least a week, maybe two, and three weeks in between would be lovely. I don't know when that logical approach got away from me but when I returned from Switzerland in mid-March I rode a very sensible 200k brevet and didn't feel trashed afterward. Knowing the Bellingham organizers were planning to target a nice day for their workers' ride (pre-ride) for the 300k I asked to join in. Turns out that would be only 4 days after my 200k. Luckily the group included Ralph and Carol on their tandem and Mark T so I had plenty of great drafting companions.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Still, I was pretty tired by the time we finished and then still had to try to rustle up something to eat, drive home from Burlington, and get cleaned up before hitting the sack at about 3am. Luckily my </span><span style="font-family:arial;">sweetheart of a husband answered the 5:20am call from my sister for a ride to the airport so I could sleep a bit longer. A few more days rest and I headed out for a "short" weekend ride with the Cycle Tuesdays gang - which means intensity! I was still feeling like I had recovered well so when Mark sent out a note to the SIR list for a mid-week permanent on Thursday before the big storm hit I just fell right into the trap.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Company was great, route was good, weather wasn't quite as nice as we'd hoped but manageable and we got to see lots of friends along the way. Michael Gray, Mark, Vinnie, Dave Harper, and myself rolled out from University Village at 7:30, stopped in Snohomish at the bakery for some fuel and a tube change</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> for me and then on to Granite Falls. I was doing pretty well and even taking a few pulls for the team but any uphill made my legs feel like lead. After Granite Falls we did the undulations along Lake Roesiger and hit some very nice pastoral roads heading into Monroe. By this time Dave had to take up babysitting duties and paced me nicely along trailing after the other riders. Early in the morning we'd seen Kole (after having ridden a 400k the day before - as had Vinnie!) on his way to work. Along the Snoqualmie River Road we came across Kent Peterson out for a jaunt planned to intersect our gang. We spent some time chatting with him and enjoying refreshments in Carnation.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Next up, Issaquah-Fall City Road. A road that meets my definition of the Irish "a terrible beauty". It is a quiet, forest-lined road that kicks my butt every time. As said butt was already dragging a bit the kicking didn't take much effort. Vinnie managed to adjust his usual quick climbing pace to my slow slog and kept me company all the way. That's after he'd already waited for me before Carnation when I dropped off chatting to Kent and then getting stuck at a light. After this we saw Mike McHale and </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Jim Rupert just finishing up an afternoon ride and they turned around to ride with us for a short time and say hi. That left just getting to the I-90 path, a little jaunt around Mercer Island and back north to University Village. Now Mark was on duty shepherding me along as I got slower and slower on each hill. When we reached Mercer Island I called Robin at work so he could meet up with us on the other side of the lake and join us for dinner at the end. I started off in pretty good shape through the winding curves on the east side but once we hit the rollers on the west side of the island the wheels completely fell off and it was a real slog-fest from there to the finish. Mark showed incredible patience (as had all the guys the entire day) and got me back in one (albeit pitiful) piece. A big mug of beer and a bacon blue burger never tasted so good!<br /><br />Next morning result - yes I do it for the glamour! If only my bike and I could defy gravity on the hills the way my hair defies gravity after going to bed with it damp!<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9UmFa_icjqqM4DpDW1HMSoGG2g-VjzEzU1S9R_E7k7VmBDb6u9Sw6LGX2GbZrDWa_0-iiBfkio0kHzWPAU2EpQ7S6Pr77xadPzBkZO45u1PUp9SODhUreqkqAplxwfXm7t1-2RgNL-P0/s1600/Snapshot_20100402.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9UmFa_icjqqM4DpDW1HMSoGG2g-VjzEzU1S9R_E7k7VmBDb6u9Sw6LGX2GbZrDWa_0-iiBfkio0kHzWPAU2EpQ7S6Pr77xadPzBkZO45u1PUp9SODhUreqkqAplxwfXm7t1-2RgNL-P0/s200/Snapshot_20100402.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455558418262146578" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now, I'm going to take a long recovery break - really - don't even think about asking me to do a long ride - I mean it!<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-78107662247141530572010-03-10T06:07:00.000-08:002010-03-10T06:32:21.940-08:00On Human Kindness<span style="font-family: arial;">I don't read or watch the news every day. Too much emphasis and top stories about war, hate, violence, and other bad stuff. A step outside into the "real" world time and again gives me a perspective I much prefer. A little example from yesterday:<br /><br />My travel itinerary was a car ride from Lucerne to Zurich, flight from Zurich to Frankfurt, flight from Frankfurt to Washington DC, flight from Washington DC to Seattle. The first 2 steps went off without a hitch. In Frankfurt we deplaned onto the tarmac and caught a shuttle bus to the terminal where I went down various hallways, several flights of stairs, and was halfway down a "disappearing into the horizon" moving walkway when I realized I didn't have my purse. Yes, the purse with my passport, money, credit cards, phone, boarding passes, etc. I swung a leg over the handrail, jumped off the moving walkway (long legs come in handy at times like this), and headed back the way I had come but didn't REALLY know where I had come from. I found the Lufthansa gates and was told I needed to go to lost and found. Funny thing is - lost and found wasn't easy to find - ironic? yes, I think so. I eventually found Lufthansa's Baggage Tracing desk. I had kept it together pretty well until then but after getting out that I had left my purse on the plane or the shuttle bus I could no longer speak without the threat of a full tearful breakdown. The lovely Lufthansa agent asked which flight I'd been on and I couldn't remember the number - just that I had come from Zurich. A nice man behind me stepped up with his boarding pass from the same flight and asked if that had been the one - yes, thanks! Then she wanted my name but I couldn't spit it out. "Just write it down" she urged pushing a pad and pen towards me. Then she said she needed to go to another location to make some phone calls and for me to wait. I was there about 20 minutes trying to stay calm as the time for my connecting flight got ever closer. I was wondering just what one does in a foreign country with no ID and no money - would I need to get to the American Embassy? have Robin come from Lucerne to bail me out? live at the airport ala Tom Hanks in Terminal? When the Lufthansa agent returned she told me she was waiting to hear back from several areas and that I should go to my connecting flight gate and if they found it they would send it there. I tried to return the way I had come but, as that would return me to a secured area I couldn't get in (I did try but set off an electronic warning). I realized I wouldn't be able to get to my gate without my ID and boarding pass so returned to the Baggage Tracing desk. The woman was on the phone and gestured to me to wait. A few minutes later she walked over and told me they had found my purse! I was SO relieved. She had to go get it and didn't know exactly where it was so I was again instructed to wait there. Another 20 minutes or so and she was back with my purse. I had missed my connecting flight so she instructed me to go to rebooking. At the rebooking desk I explained what had happened and at first the agent told me she couldn't do anything for me. Apparently a flight booked with miles and missed due to your own stupidity doesn't qualify for rebooking (makes sense but wasn't what I wanted to hear). She then started looking closer and said the original itinerary was one that probably shouldn't have been booked in the first place as the connection time was too close - and my incoming flight had been a few minutes late - so she decided to rebook me anyway! I was so grateful! I ended up with a better itinerary on Air Canada through Calgary on a half-empty plane.<br /><br />Whew - too much drama! But mostly alleviated due to the kindness and honesty of total strangers. That's the kind of news I'd like to read about more often.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-31039031782089875732010-03-01T06:08:00.000-08:002010-03-02T02:45:01.652-08:00Scotland<span style="font-family:arial;">Doing some backtra</span><span style="font-family:arial;">cki</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ng here. For</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> two w</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ek</span><span style="font-family:arial;">s</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> last A</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ugust Robin a</span><span style="font-family:arial;">nd I drove visited Scotland and had a few adven</span><span style="font-family:arial;">tures. Our frie</span><span style="font-family:arial;">n</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Bar</span><span style="font-family:arial;">bara B</span><span style="font-family:arial;">la</span><span style="font-family:arial;">cker </span><span style="font-family:arial;">re</span><span style="font-family:arial;">minded m</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e that I had yet t</span><span style="font-family:arial;">o share any pictures s</span><span style="font-family:arial;">o her</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e goes:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sunday August 2 we</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> drove from Farnborough to Kelso, home of the ruined Kelso Abbey. </span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8PG5NTuVTAwW0tQJUgO4eplvj9lHzRDfFZjqlMecK5ll81CvH1EiAXM6gE4PgItwHZJrasznD9DbzbsIdc0ux20TGm7H7hXVGyFkLGhv9VpqC1J_OzK2shyW8-38S4PWK5mn_N4_I99T/s1600-h/Scotland2009+001.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8PG5NTuVTAwW0tQJUgO4eplvj9lHzRDfFZjqlMecK5ll81CvH1EiAXM6gE4PgItwHZJrasznD9DbzbsIdc0ux20TGm7H7hXVGyFkLGhv9VpqC1J_OzK2shyW8-38S4PWK5mn_N4_I99T/s200/Scotland2009+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439957720610962706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Before driving on to Edinburgh we did a walk along the coast from the fishing village of St Abbs.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpKOxcGTKYxSg2nLtwLBPCJoD_XluS5NUqqkguyRjJZnJ3QamL5WHdS3IZ9LBG0omPqzU9sL9LOh90rRcHMC2eor2VJX3rAT-HSfe2sKmXacdLqS825iWfxzKcNXiqUEOy_Xg6WtCvGt5/s1600-h/Scotland2009+006.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpKOxcGTKYxSg2nLtwLBPCJoD_XluS5NUqqkguyRjJZnJ3QamL5WHdS3IZ9LBG0omPqzU9sL9LOh90rRcHMC2eor2VJX3rAT-HSfe2sKmXacdLqS825iWfxzKcNXiqUEOy_Xg6WtCvGt5/s200/Scotland2009+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439959166000174946" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxdwDDTdp2UXZ3Wb2KCGEaEuq91DtUKxlSoRmKk50Taph8Z-NIms-Hb852EGEfrkS87lhAQ0QZv1mxcyxaoC5axskldz_ZR_FBGejVp8Au-rUm1Yuqjlk8Su-mUye1pO5rbLNCM0ue1na/s1600-h/Scotland2009+008.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxdwDDTdp2UXZ3Wb2KCGEaEuq91DtUKxlSoRmKk50Taph8Z-NIms-Hb852EGEfrkS87lhAQ0QZv1mxcyxaoC5axskldz_ZR_FBGejVp8Au-rUm1Yuqjlk8Su-mUye1pO5rbLNCM0ue1na/s200/Scotland2009+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439959170792565058" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TbapzSJ9B_B3fc8h-yhGMAjQjL_Qif77piBMqkxjqpsPXyis_c_ht7L_AskhCuND6HVRLHSUUHT6sdkWumMfv5xJmjaAN6ad5_V9ieFxViwPLXRQdmUPpg8YvH-7VUboM_FEZbO66KiB/s1600-h/Scotland2009+007.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TbapzSJ9B_B3fc8h-yhGMAjQjL_Qif77piBMqkxjqpsPXyis_c_ht7L_AskhCuND6HVRLHSUUHT6sdkWumMfv5xJmjaAN6ad5_V9ieFxViwPLXRQdmUPpg8YvH-7VUboM_FEZbO66KiB/s200/Scotland2009+007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439963806088556882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">August 4-5 we stay in a cool small hotel in Edinburgh and tour the castle, Royal Mile, Carlton Hill, and the HMS Britannia.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">View from our hotel room:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhE04NTaYoOm4j0-ve5m_mXtYXixEHqlNgtaVFHmf5zknOxHScEOGiU880MXo2uf6OS1Lj31X0qBlnHJntSZ53x6mbQ6NcHP01ECvLgWh58wQYzOT83fibqOHJmUZ55xP2tEcS1azXZXX/s1600-h/Scotland2009+011.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhE04NTaYoOm4j0-ve5m_mXtYXixEHqlNgtaVFHmf5zknOxHScEOGiU880MXo2uf6OS1Lj31X0qBlnHJntSZ53x6mbQ6NcHP01ECvLgWh58wQYzOT83fibqOHJmUZ55xP2tEcS1azXZXX/s200/Scotland2009+011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439967798478631426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Walking around town:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lYpZEVUiW6-aq76jivtrOsxlzYYF0cEfJaTwJ3gAt5sev4RNtyBGsWLUIah1GPsLslvMbi0Bu_TPzbMw_XAtb5RE1OhEb58-L4EeG98GdUIQPQKVnuTE5wVHwzsr-2FtfKXgDic8GOa6/s1600-h/Scotland2009+023.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lYpZEVUiW6-aq76jivtrOsxlzYYF0cEfJaTwJ3gAt5sev4RNtyBGsWLUIah1GPsLslvMbi0Bu_TPzbMw_XAtb5RE1OhEb58-L4EeG98GdUIQPQKVnuTE5wVHwzsr-2FtfKXgDic8GOa6/s200/Scotland2009+023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439969193320659954" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNN7_rBd7Bah2VsnUk4UYTeOWR7kr8OEIZiiQ5ei5mhuO0ynt7eOKhI8wWD2E4DGbzR6cfnVLgzSS-1Ww5L_N_jwHo-td33ta1qM3q7jowU0JGFG5pyFh3WF9x17IC1zxc-8Al1MQhzu9_/s1600-h/Scotland2009+026.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNN7_rBd7Bah2VsnUk4UYTeOWR7kr8OEIZiiQ5ei5mhuO0ynt7eOKhI8wWD2E4DGbzR6cfnVLgzSS-1Ww5L_N_jwHo-td33ta1qM3q7jowU0JGFG5pyFh3WF9x17IC1zxc-8Al1MQhzu9_/s200/Scotland2009+026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439967813832729234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPg9btslVvjj3eUFiS5FchuPksBjrpf5GkgF9mK8eQzYL1JWyJNMYqvypkY4A5c8pYphOHJUtFrCH5jW8r1Ii9xQXSC8g0TreVVRFq1Y8npUf45YOD4enK18Hvm8xtrWnj9Xk8rSJnO9p2/s1600-h/Scotland2009+031.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPg9btslVvjj3eUFiS5FchuPksBjrpf5GkgF9mK8eQzYL1JWyJNMYqvypkY4A5c8pYphOHJUtFrCH5jW8r1Ii9xQXSC8g0TreVVRFq1Y8npUf45YOD4enK18Hvm8xtrWnj9Xk8rSJnO9p2/s200/Scotland2009+031.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439969201130022562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The castle:<br /><br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPtGw-ocChYufuPybm8po6WCc-1usEMYB05lT1BWAYHlIdFSopBRu6G71VrqRePdBCpPH9Q847oFeHLhOnc79H5V_8YAYQhWtLLfZ_B87Jo3LejXR2zY4xLxgylqnilxdboH8P4AL0C-U/s1600-h/Scotland2009+028.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPtGw-ocChYufuPybm8po6WCc-1usEMYB05lT1BWAYHlIdFSopBRu6G71VrqRePdBCpPH9Q847oFeHLhOnc79H5V_8YAYQhWtLLfZ_B87Jo3LejXR2zY4xLxgylqnilxdboH8P4AL0C-U/s200/Scotland2009+028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439967820509686818" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrv9of4MhUEq3PyCHJzj6h_9dU5zEBlxbNIQYmKGelJu9_vAer_wKSGYj95awfdzHyBAg49So6sYzEfqtkJgi-r9ryHvXWTFh3e-s4J6mBpxTdX_uvGrvsjx-1z9vN3iiCX_0Jvp1hKKsx/s1600-h/Scotland2009+017.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrv9of4MhUEq3PyCHJzj6h_9dU5zEBlxbNIQYmKGelJu9_vAer_wKSGYj95awfdzHyBAg49So6sYzEfqtkJgi-r9ryHvXWTFh3e-s4J6mBpxTdX_uvGrvsjx-1z9vN3iiCX_0Jvp1hKKsx/s200/Scotland2009+017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439967809752431698" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKh4uQLVW8iY1IZxmiXabTD9b8153RKbBYplnTr98GVvQsPCdUiYXT8zRv_XAHb6GPS9GS2-0FkxT_PDPegma9rXga7hMuEukQkE1mlTONY8CzaT8j7DyOoiBf-U146QQisF1H286I9-j/s1600-h/Scotland2009+015.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKh4uQLVW8iY1IZxmiXabTD9b8153RKbBYplnTr98GVvQsPCdUiYXT8zRv_XAHb6GPS9GS2-0FkxT_PDPegma9rXga7hMuEukQkE1mlTONY8CzaT8j7DyOoiBf-U146QQisF1H286I9-j/s200/Scotland2009+015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439967805279381362" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">August 6</span><span style="font-family:arial;">-8 we take the overnight</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> ferry (very NIC</span><span style="font-family:arial;">E!) from Aberdeen to Lerwick, Shetland Island and spend 3 incredible days w</span><span style="font-family:arial;">alking and touring around the</span><span style="font-family:arial;">se rough, re</span><span style="font-family:arial;">mote, and beautiful islands.<br /><br />In Aberdeen a statue of William Wallace and a beautiful lamp post:<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRG3JK_c85qoKCNAwdkkosUAMLSBaoGL8XVQ-ZOAgVWMOqpTgKbznhiIOC0izpGb1uPAgfQuFH5SiUPJfZjCNwkIuK6QUBgFTQbbKCYAsfIIUdNMTYhHU5nVr98R5x8i1XUXzTni9UR2nr/s1600-h/Scotland2009+037.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRG3JK_c85qoKCNAwdkkosUAMLSBaoGL8XVQ-ZOAgVWMOqpTgKbznhiIOC0izpGb1uPAgfQuFH5SiUPJfZjCNwkIuK6QUBgFTQbbKCYAsfIIUdNMTYhHU5nVr98R5x8i1XUXzTni9UR2nr/s200/Scotland2009+037.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439969206798259746" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmhfWHM1LAwo4i45N-fiRoVqT_WXzDtmUFcXglh_0e5mZbMzEOh9RGlPNA01YrXtAr1XJ9Td3-OVG212K3FB6Gh9Hsg09Pbce84yMWYGBS_CBAU9zOwcK3Io6_oP3J0BHn6SKurIvgfwl/s1600-h/Scotland2009+040.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmhfWHM1LAwo4i45N-fiRoVqT_WXzDtmUFcXglh_0e5mZbMzEOh9RGlPNA01YrXtAr1XJ9Td3-OVG212K3FB6Gh9Hsg09Pbce84yMWYGBS_CBAU9zOwcK3Io6_oP3J0BHn6SKurIvgfwl/s200/Scotland2009+040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443983199054153378" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Aberdeen skyline as we depart for the Shetlands:<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFJ24J7A17DQehP1ydbxnifKBzaMthqlYMcWjiaWRgp6M6NtyJQOT2nWW2YQRh-t8rN4JKhTyNFV6D9ikScVBSXg1__JfHBGbTiE3RbW1zQ8Qj9TX35CoY61020Qs5TTYeuLjZr3Ugl_z/s1600-h/Scotland2009+047.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFJ24J7A17DQehP1ydbxnifKBzaMthqlYMcWjiaWRgp6M6NtyJQOT2nWW2YQRh-t8rN4JKhTyNFV6D9ikScVBSXg1__JfHBGbTiE3RbW1zQ8Qj9TX35CoY61020Qs5TTYeuLjZr3Ugl_z/s200/Scotland2009+047.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439970486653316258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Of course, a Shetland pony (baby) and first stop - Sumburgh at the southern end of Shetland to look for puffins. We saw some but not very close up. The nesting season has ended early this year and there aren't many left.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbb6tmT9X1TgocZ_AJwgXx2w9D5m6GPxlzcLGZS2dXTvqCGuglEnDhFaCtkruTpTYDA6Pe0ZjY2QLqqAfxJG60td9a2Ma1aZdUEb9WWAuerlL6_04k9kVPOaqhxjWiLWO4wbnWuoedTfo/s1600-h/Scotland2009+071.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbb6tmT9X1TgocZ_AJwgXx2w9D5m6GPxlzcLGZS2dXTvqCGuglEnDhFaCtkruTpTYDA6Pe0ZjY2QLqqAfxJG60td9a2Ma1aZdUEb9WWAuerlL6_04k9kVPOaqhxjWiLWO4wbnWuoedTfo/s200/Scotland2009+071.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973233958471586" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JU64zpi3DbslzFaYIR-Otla_xrP3GqzC2wzNbmDPMijOUVghmumI2AcvwRHHBkBCHycKX46caXQSTCnWE0cPKdVcikvYhKSGKOsNK85iCwRqHFkvlUgahV0Y7Xy-nHIBl1CinT1zhWgB/s1600-h/Scotland2009+049.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JU64zpi3DbslzFaYIR-Otla_xrP3GqzC2wzNbmDPMijOUVghmumI2AcvwRHHBkBCHycKX46caXQSTCnWE0cPKdVcikvYhKSGKOsNK85iCwRqHFkvlUgahV0Y7Xy-nHIBl1CinT1zhWgB/s200/Scotland2009+049.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439970490329575842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We make a trip to the northernmost inhabited island of Unst and do a walk of a nature reserve. Absolutely deserted, wild, and beautiful. A boardwalk (in the process of being replaced with Trex-like decking) to protect the bog leads us to the cliffs:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTPt6PWdZtk7vEz5LJi0bd6Dmf0cV71N-mLBLagMAoUTddSPWomTVytFzxAj_UsOrSF_pV7og-za6ymCT2XzRczaTsp4H3up1iUnEzMj6xYVM-Cb1rXNBtEUS-bamLHnS52HWUfEKFlaw/s1600-h/Scotland2009+056.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTPt6PWdZtk7vEz5LJi0bd6Dmf0cV71N-mLBLagMAoUTddSPWomTVytFzxAj_UsOrSF_pV7og-za6ymCT2XzRczaTsp4H3up1iUnEzMj6xYVM-Cb1rXNBtEUS-bamLHnS52HWUfEKFlaw/s200/Scotland2009+056.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439970493941065906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDhj5qobFpSbndcf7GU7eth0GEgjZI9yt-5szXM9FgxlNtVL4U1CNOwLrFJc529WH0iT-HXznR4y5ExkyVNKUGbqJJKe4LouPdBXmpGqqiN5OUeu4SlSHJezSMmEDEzkXnxgRDEz_BiF8/s1600-h/Scotland2009+057.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDhj5qobFpSbndcf7GU7eth0GEgjZI9yt-5szXM9FgxlNtVL4U1CNOwLrFJc529WH0iT-HXznR4y5ExkyVNKUGbqJJKe4LouPdBXmpGqqiN5OUeu4SlSHJezSMmEDEzkXnxgRDEz_BiF8/s200/Scotland2009+057.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439970499546697010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Here we get to see some puffins up close. They are very fun to watch. They have a distinctive flight with stubby wings for "flying" underwater and beautiful beaks. We kept missing them as they'd fly out from the burrows to fish and we couldn't tell where they returned in all the different headlands. Robin watched one take off and directed me towards the burrow while he stayed in place. I got about 20 yards from it before the puffin returned and I called Robin over. The bird left again and we ventured closer. A puffin returned and stood on the edge of the cliff looking at us with tiny sand eels in its beak. We wondered why it didn't return to its burrow. It took off again in a wide circle out over the water then flew back towards us. We watched in anticipation to see where it would land so we could get a close look. The puffin flew in fast and hot right into a burrow nearly under my foot! We had accidentally stood nearly on top of its burrow so in order to avoid the stupid tourists it had to dive bomb into its burrow rather than make a nice landing and walk in! Sorry Puffin!</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtcSxrJ-OyDzwxfcd8AhDH1qedWatexAm1WgfVb58pKbmdR2s8H0zTQEdLyDr-qGhCfTqAwmHDIq7NhodvAbEn6wCC5rWQWIgJ-4Y2uPmO3Zf4jg9q4TRRChQMqXhwxTG-BxOlnwZWdlw/s1600-h/Scotland2009+060.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtcSxrJ-OyDzwxfcd8AhDH1qedWatexAm1WgfVb58pKbmdR2s8H0zTQEdLyDr-qGhCfTqAwmHDIq7NhodvAbEn6wCC5rWQWIgJ-4Y2uPmO3Zf4jg9q4TRRChQMqXhwxTG-BxOlnwZWdlw/s200/Scotland2009+060.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439972241938719010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A little taste of walking on the island of Unst:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunvAZazXhjA2CigIrp-iCUsNShwghQWbrCWLG0n5pNWrZjL7p4khONmsvwLAd-6EkR6QGwygCIT2EUvUPGH57UHDxbL56Y41UMAqn-r3n9V8vwkxgjamst4rvhPKj3a35I5GTy0zLZkS2/s1600-h/Scotland2009+092.JPG"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyNdoib936Gj-HDiZxe7qq7h6wTcblle_XujSSGUAUPY29NYiIQZRneK2BxPQNEoQj06gvvMJ1pMVGHbSMA6g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Robin checks out a turf field and we do our best to keep the Shetlands clean by "dunna chucking bruck":</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuk9AfR4hPMukrxs53ov6Zaaf2FKcTlqr8RzUVles31emKTzAnfcXjHjvPv1jFB7dw_bpXOYhUvV-xE-lpseWin8zecNiQOPPIVY8-KoziPydxBvqxrAdyl2pbdcepp-PTFwaWmiI4K7Sh/s1600-h/Scotland2009+067.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuk9AfR4hPMukrxs53ov6Zaaf2FKcTlqr8RzUVles31emKTzAnfcXjHjvPv1jFB7dw_bpXOYhUvV-xE-lpseWin8zecNiQOPPIVY8-KoziPydxBvqxrAdyl2pbdcepp-PTFwaWmiI4K7Sh/s200/Scotland2009+067.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439972254565492114" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZhx-hrDidBe3YX35ne2uUMnqrOayOjNjYX1aP6-QUiisBGjFozPrfWE_zaRHSa_2hyphenhyphenk3CR3dP-XmzIF5j1bbEJ7Xg52ijyVo_azqDsfHgtJ2z1UpEtJwgV_f2OCpPgihClr5zbzVNse-/s1600-h/Scotland2009+070.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZhx-hrDidBe3YX35ne2uUMnqrOayOjNjYX1aP6-QUiisBGjFozPrfWE_zaRHSa_2hyphenhyphenk3CR3dP-XmzIF5j1bbEJ7Xg52ijyVo_azqDsfHgtJ2z1UpEtJwgV_f2OCpPgihClr5zbzVNse-/s200/Scotland2009+070.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439972269191999474" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />After a "day off" and then a rainy and traffic-filled drive down the east side of Loch Ness we spend August 11-12 in Glasgow. We saw a piping competition and did a walking tour of the city. On the way we stopped at Culloden - the battlefield where the Scottish received the trouncing that would signal their final defeat at the hands of the English and the end of their independence. We didn't go into the museum but instead walked around the battlefield itself which included some markers with indicators of where the opposing forces established their lines and where clashes took place. Not many of the visitors actually walked the battlefield so it was quiet and a bit eerie.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7-Ygx1uOI-8HsIsf0YLeVpeaZjyE1jN2zEoL35-A_oCnYmSWS-Xp6tunEbRkSlGgSm_MLOYue5Dyic4KoMWxbjbNIMY2VRdoRqm_YRAYAOn9pdIDqNON9zNV1N2exEe_CZPv42IQv3PG/s1600-h/Scotland2009+079.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7-Ygx1uOI-8HsIsf0YLeVpeaZjyE1jN2zEoL35-A_oCnYmSWS-Xp6tunEbRkSlGgSm_MLOYue5Dyic4KoMWxbjbNIMY2VRdoRqm_YRAYAOn9pdIDqNON9zNV1N2exEe_CZPv42IQv3PG/s200/Scotland2009+079.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973237043009874" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Scenes in Glasgow:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHq7TP-A7lvjWwk_9ECSIo1hneWznkbzmzJq0BtbEqkixjpixccsM_OxuQARm6KNmt8p4Ltga0xdY_6T7hDVUcq-GeUCFll5yOZoP9amzYAC5kCLs-bqLTzdye-7wJSKjYW60_wuD4mbU/s1600-h/Scotland2009+085.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHq7TP-A7lvjWwk_9ECSIo1hneWznkbzmzJq0BtbEqkixjpixccsM_OxuQARm6KNmt8p4Ltga0xdY_6T7hDVUcq-GeUCFll5yOZoP9amzYAC5kCLs-bqLTzdye-7wJSKjYW60_wuD4mbU/s200/Scotland2009+085.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973242589076658" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKvZ4I95wur84gEdaj4bFjlfEJaC5J4gMQzZyoLz_n-Q3CjXmVo8XX6FQYghWK_uONqThTbIQdylAVPagwIOZyABbsefGPTDNaXYQiq9rX-8fuy008E11Gv2s4y8OszKSwKchC9ZHkZ1_/s1600-h/Scotland2009+087.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKvZ4I95wur84gEdaj4bFjlfEJaC5J4gMQzZyoLz_n-Q3CjXmVo8XX6FQYghWK_uONqThTbIQdylAVPagwIOZyABbsefGPTDNaXYQiq9rX-8fuy008E11Gv2s4y8OszKSwKchC9ZHkZ1_/s200/Scotland2009+087.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973248900439554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br />To wrap up our trip we spent 2 nights </span><span style="font-family:arial;">with Dick and Lucy McTaggert whom we met prior to PBP 2007. They took us on a walking tour of Galashiels and then a nice walk around St Mary's Lake despite Dick's aversion to traveling on 2 feet rather than 2 wheels.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwTR3L51KN5fbqWpj3wEmCf2KH-SvwdtBQxmfWz9NewPd37PuVCj5dkFUap9KVeqxZxCDZ9KhjgXYToejWqx2X85nrJ-HsCvV64GOZ7yGiR58RTvU4Zrx8Np_aXrPCQzJFDFgvsqQDKEQ/s1600-h/Scotland2009+091.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwTR3L51KN5fbqWpj3wEmCf2KH-SvwdtBQxmfWz9NewPd37PuVCj5dkFUap9KVeqxZxCDZ9KhjgXYToejWqx2X85nrJ-HsCvV64GOZ7yGiR58RTvU4Zrx8Np_aXrPCQzJFDFgvsqQDKEQ/s200/Scotland2009+091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973660228905250" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunvAZazXhjA2CigIrp-iCUsNShwghQWbrCWLG0n5pNWrZjL7p4khONmsvwLAd-6EkR6QGwygCIT2EUvUPGH57UHDxbL56Y41UMAqn-r3n9V8vwkxgjamst4rvhPKj3a35I5GTy0zLZkS2/s1600-h/Scotland2009+092.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunvAZazXhjA2CigIrp-iCUsNShwghQWbrCWLG0n5pNWrZjL7p4khONmsvwLAd-6EkR6QGwygCIT2EUvUPGH57UHDxbL56Y41UMAqn-r3n9V8vwkxgjamst4rvhPKj3a35I5GTy0zLZkS2/s200/Scotland2009+092.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973665883589378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgc2y82BH2j9VPH1hVolB79mRVvTFUU2NnFgl_7X7jFarVgUZwl6h7USOAB9S5oVVlAW5jBx3iVrFjq2vxJaYp2xnhthnoDtfb0CTFMXzhlZgR2DKdHued0ZypPBR5Us-hTRNETzEzIt7c/s1600-h/Scotland2009+089.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgc2y82BH2j9VPH1hVolB79mRVvTFUU2NnFgl_7X7jFarVgUZwl6h7USOAB9S5oVVlAW5jBx3iVrFjq2vxJaYp2xnhthnoDtfb0CTFMXzhlZgR2DKdHued0ZypPBR5Us-hTRNETzEzIt7c/s200/Scotland2009+089.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973654460985282" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZezcjAa5pJBDktQyRHaovW6qLM8f4jya_BPLeotacGFLhsfTqaTG1Y_wxmdsgsajqeRe1NY-rQ0exDYpnMi20wB5FuHUAOxIq829dZ6o9iR_K5NwVesSd4q1G7OlibwFOd96BX7M483fG/s1600-h/Scotland2009+094.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZezcjAa5pJBDktQyRHaovW6qLM8f4jya_BPLeotacGFLhsfTqaTG1Y_wxmdsgsajqeRe1NY-rQ0exDYpnMi20wB5FuHUAOxIq829dZ6o9iR_K5NwVesSd4q1G7OlibwFOd96BX7M483fG/s200/Scotland2009+094.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439973673077829458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-41441631866834666902010-02-18T09:16:00.000-08:002010-02-19T06:06:57.616-08:00Fridays with Henry<span style="font-family:arial;">Since August 2008 I have traded every other Friday with my sister in caring for her grandson, Henry. It has been great to be a part o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">f his evolvi</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ng life and watching</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> him develop. My </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Henry Fridays have </span><span style="font-family:arial;">been a delight and </span><span style="font-family:arial;">about twice a m</span><span style="font-family:arial;">onth alone with a baby an</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d now a toddler is just about right.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Here are a couple of pics from our early days (can't wait til he's about 16 and sees these!).</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFXKzlCnJ1NRRMeJuA0oUfb2tgTYWPvOMNVvwBsz8Z5cMj-kqv8uXMKTIceP5w33GeJoB7ztIo5vgfenaZtPgoUu3ZsbSSK3Ag9TZBusXPrpMuz1z2rFwNlygZjHEArYDwQHCoRMDMwp1/s1600-h/barebutttime_010.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439636445345863458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFXKzlCnJ1NRRMeJuA0oUfb2tgTYWPvOMNVvwBsz8Z5cMj-kqv8uXMKTIceP5w33GeJoB7ztIo5vgfenaZtPgoUu3ZsbSSK3Ag9TZBusXPrpMuz1z2rFwNlygZjHEArYDwQHCoRMDMwp1/s200/barebutttime_010.JPG" style="height: 150px; width: 200px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6FDF7jH812-ldzpRLVeajbg26zCjfkmsecr__CLzqNS0kaWe4A15zM2mjUvBMmM0jBuk-y4Ez1mdiaaH6jApwriIjPiK43GeFfIBwoQVqLWIIbWh8wU6AGWINtqv3DwkFH9N6TITDTIl/s1600-h/Henry's+butt.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439636453630295922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6FDF7jH812-ldzpRLVeajbg26zCjfkmsecr__CLzqNS0kaWe4A15zM2mjUvBMmM0jBuk-y4Ez1mdiaaH6jApwriIjPiK43GeFfIBwoQVqLWIIbWh8wU6AGWINtqv3DwkFH9N6TITDTIl/s200/Henry's+butt.JPG" style="height: 150px; width: 200px;" border="0" /></a></div> </div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">He has been very helpful with th</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e housework but on</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> this</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> particular d</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ay his curiosity resulted in injury. Up to that d</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ay he'd never been able</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> to get the desk drawer open because he</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> tried pull</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ing on just one handl</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e. Ev</span><span style="font-family:arial;">er since this owie it has been a running joke to ask him where he has gotten an owie because the answer is always "Amy's house" - no matter where it happened!</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliXYtfGJfnPWeiCUvR507FwEtJgXQjDh6Ef55n0bwku8AfVEU0-nTps2Hw1ZRZKzbhHaPoS03i9Xy6x8FO4khokIdGMZziK6LOgGHn0BLfoYLfsvrH7U5uJismmxakEW2esQ4l06YQipp/s1600-h/yummyhotchoc.JPG"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx89yaSWImYxN4PGcY1mCkLG_7Qho6cuJnilrL0Y8uMJBALVRbJcbz5Dn5F-jB7YAX_50L3OL2d05xF4XBp3Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">My last Henry day before the arrival of his baby brother. Trying out Amy's helmet.</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAvRCf3xrrB6MJG1eNOp3QZ5s8eZwggTBpo7kESX-3aRjbhDdLzpCf3r3ie25N8_FsTliRbmE1gL5qVljYIe-wB52EZ2wIxiecyLYP7EgE55DDjFrWjcRSMN3jkeV-Cfzq3jo2CX1KG1y/s1600-h/henryhelmet2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAvRCf3xrrB6MJG1eNOp3QZ5s8eZwggTBpo7kESX-3aRjbhDdLzpCf3r3ie25N8_FsTliRbmE1gL5qVljYIe-wB52EZ2wIxiecyLYP7EgE55DDjFrWjcRSMN3jkeV-Cfzq3jo2CX1KG1y/s200/henryhelmet2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439953191721477202" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-RJnxOQKqoC31d7BP0hGgwlr2f8Bel7LDYStxW247RM_J0EUrjeGyRIJbKy_rbaR85n_QRwHEKTerdHJLZgyLz1AlKcAggXhqDDw3L8q_k-KJ5ydANq6xt9tzOerVCM0XPMPVCGnfYDS/s1600-h/henryhelmet.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-RJnxOQKqoC31d7BP0hGgwlr2f8Bel7LDYStxW247RM_J0EUrjeGyRIJbKy_rbaR85n_QRwHEKTerdHJLZgyLz1AlKcAggXhqDDw3L8q_k-KJ5ydANq6xt9tzOerVCM0XPMPVCGnfYDS/s200/henryhelmet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439953188643425778" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Enjoying hot chocolate on a cold day.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliXYtfGJfnPWeiCUvR507FwEtJgXQjDh6Ef55n0bwku8AfVEU0-nTps2Hw1ZRZKzbhHaPoS03i9Xy6x8FO4khokIdGMZziK6LOgGHn0BLfoYLfsvrH7U5uJismmxakEW2esQ4l06YQipp/s1600-h/yummyhotchoc.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliXYtfGJfnPWeiCUvR507FwEtJgXQjDh6Ef55n0bwku8AfVEU0-nTps2Hw1ZRZKzbhHaPoS03i9Xy6x8FO4khokIdGMZziK6LOgGHn0BLfoYLfsvrH7U5uJismmxakEW2esQ4l06YQipp/s200/yummyhotchoc.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439953201750045618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiu7rztjRrWYZ7l0NGwVVek4PYs1z1Z2va_xLsDIo3-5uCROil5JSTJnhETYdAbIpZDZ53HZ8Wel3gLtm-DAi1oamIEY39kBUfbIl24iYxsAGTXk6d2OzCTTX2PV2cTBRvfihtlZMJDaKk/s1600-h/gettingintochoc.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiu7rztjRrWYZ7l0NGwVVek4PYs1z1Z2va_xLsDIo3-5uCROil5JSTJnhETYdAbIpZDZ53HZ8Wel3gLtm-DAi1oamIEY39kBUfbIl24iYxsAGTXk6d2OzCTTX2PV2cTBRvfihtlZMJDaKk/s200/gettingintochoc.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439953208502064786" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih5EJD7ztpkv78NFuzWLPRDbAszyZRkumTpJDfWi6dZn-hXHi7haKHRxufmVqwdZYxfqsN3W2VAtLI63oLNkwAlQdNijoI-32id-n-TrNyTFym5YgQBPi3HYjbV9ZfPj1igxjvqOXouknX/s1600-h/hotchocface.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih5EJD7ztpkv78NFuzWLPRDbAszyZRkumTpJDfWi6dZn-hXHi7haKHRxufmVqwdZYxfqsN3W2VAtLI63oLNkwAlQdNijoI-32id-n-TrNyTFym5YgQBPi3HYjbV9ZfPj1igxjvqOXouknX/s200/hotchocface.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439953209598387554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br />It'll be interesting to see how Fridays play out once momma returns to working and there are 2 little boys involved!<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-21372668888381121282010-01-07T15:43:00.000-08:002010-01-07T16:15:41.790-08:00One Lucky Rando Girl<span style="font-family:arial;">The three mega mileage amigos (Geoff, Mark, and Vinnie) were planning to baptize the new Three Rivers Cruise V2 route last Saturday. Earlier in the week looking at the weather forecast I thought Sunday looked better and managed to talk them all into switching the day. As the weekend drew near dire changes were shaping up on the weather front and I was facing the prospect of not only being scorned by my riding mates but also not being able to do any weather whining. Saturday turned out to be a pretty good day and the forecast early Sunday was still unfriendly. Okay, load all the rain gear and get ready to gut it out.<br /><br />I was picturing a pretty wet and miserable day of about 11-12 hours. But no, Lucky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Rando</span> Girl emerges from the phone booth! Robin and I drove up to Arlington to find not only those amigos but a few others as well - Dan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Jenson</span>, Mike <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Richeson</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kole</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Kantner</span>, and Ward Beebe had heeded the siren call. Notice all the male names there??? Like I said, Lucky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Rando</span> Girl! Another point of luck, they are all nice, intelligent, handsome, and look great in lycra!<br /><br />A little bit of head wind and a very cold arrival in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Darrington</span> (which didn't prevent <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Kole</span> from feasting on an ice cream sandwich - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">brrrrr</span>) and I was still anticipating the rain at any moment. Lucky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Rando</span> Girl would not be so easily defeated - we changed direction here heading north and suddenly the wind was at our backs and seemed to stay there for the entire rest of the ride. Bits of blue sky appeared and we had fantastic views of snow capped Mt Baker while also sighting eagles along the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Sauk</span> River. Another change of direction (west now and still a tailwind) had us zipping along the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Skagit</span> River. Well, we were zipping once Robin got Mike and me in hand and pulled us up to the leaders...<br /><br />We descended upon the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Skagit</span> Valley Co-op in Mt Vernon for a nice lunch break and then back out on the road, this time basically south but still with a tailwind - how is this happening??? At this point we had visions of getting back to Arlington before dark and the rest of the group would easily have done that but my legs were beginning to feel the efforts of the pace and they very kindly slacked off a bit for me. Now we had views of snow geese and Mt Pilchuck to delight the senses. Still, I was on the edge, just hanging on, and as we climbed a freeway overpass (it was a BIG one, I'm <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">tellin</span>' ya!) as we entered Stanwood I saw the group pull away. Well, it looked more like they were shooting out of a canon while I rolled backwards! After Stanwood I saw a tail light ahead and Mike had backed off to wait for me. Not much further along Robin was there and when we hit Silvana the rest of the crew was hanging out and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">harassing</span> the locals. They could have been in Arlington already but they waited so we could all finish together - what a bunch of sweeties! I felt just a few raindrops as we neared Arlington and there was even a lingering bit of light in the sky as we pulled into the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Haggen's</span> parking lot.<br /><br />What a Lucky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Rando</span> Girl.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-62821171764362539342009-10-24T19:41:00.000-07:002009-10-24T19:58:37.817-07:00Ain't no pretty here<span style="font-family: arial;">I completed my slowest 200k ever today - bully for me. Included in today's route is a section of road with which I have a most curious relationship. I have ridden <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Issaquah</span>-Fall City Road many many times and never well. My efforts on that climb from Fall City up and over the lump between it and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Issaquah</span> range from the low end of Embarrassingly Pathetic to a high end of Merely Pitiful. Those rare times in my cycling career during which I've gained some kind of climbing acumen (read about 2 days in total) have never coincided with riding this road. I always arrive at the bottom in a state of trepidation. I grovel and tuck my tail firmly between my legs never daring to raise my eyes. It regards me with true and undisguised disdain. As I move up the road quickly exhausting my supply of low gears I am forced to rise out of the saddle to maintain some sort of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">forward</span> momentum. This effort it greeted by a derisive snort. I somehow claw my way forward while gravity gains strength with each pedal stroke. The bit of asphalt just passed over now attaches itself like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">velcro</span> to my butt trying to pull me back. I begin to whimper and whine and degrade myself in every way possible in hopes of appeasing the road and somehow gain that little section that likes to pretend it is the top. I begin to rejoice in my success and am quickly slapped back down to my natural level. The road tilts up again. I begin to despair but salvation comes in the form of a caterpillar or a slug or, on very bad days, some road kill that calls out "on your left" as it slips effortlessly by me seeking higher ground. The road is momentarily distracted or perhaps has become so bored with me that I begin to make headway. Yes, the end is in sight. I have triumphed (?) once again! Take that you old so and so - until we meet again!<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-68191077872076345872009-07-20T03:04:00.000-07:002009-07-20T08:51:08.349-07:00Visiting Open Gardens<span style="font-family:arial;">One of the things I</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was really looking forward to on this visit to the UK was visiting gardens. Being summer (w</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ell,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> B</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">riti</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">sh summer anyway) it is the height of open garden season. The National Gardens Scheme (founded in 1927 and patronized by HRH The Prince of Wales) raises funds by opening gar</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ens to the public. The funds support several health and garden-related charities. On Sun</span><span style="font-family:arial;">day July 12 we set out to take part in this charming tradition.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVnp-SYTqWGp78L4XEQhwdG5IzXuyKvu5EXg-6TtbPTdMt79_Vx3nSwBkyyecARUVMy3_y05CsqcDZuouJoT98hxeyttY_KwwwA45GWOMW8gGP0smiQW9F4LoUAEQysWI1IP3NUOQFUmO/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_019.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVnp-SYTqWGp78L4XEQhwdG5IzXuyKvu5EXg-6TtbPTdMt79_Vx3nSwBkyyecARUVMy3_y05CsqcDZuouJoT98hxeyttY_KwwwA45GWOMW8gGP0smiQW9F4LoUAEQysWI1IP3NUOQFUmO/s200/EnglandJuly09_019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360481523374712146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We had 2 gardens on our list to visit that day and the first was just outside one of our favorite villages, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dogmersfield</span>. We started with a country walk planned to circle around and deliver us to Whispers (name of the house) just in time for its opening. It was a dry and comfortable day and we enjoyed our usu</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">al</span> walk routine o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">f starting off with </span><span style="font-family:arial;">a plan and then diverting from it until we were lost. At one point I stopped to take a panoramic video to illustrate how the public footpaths actually pass through different fields and prop</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">erties</span> so that you are walking well away from towns, houses, and roads at times.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkb2zAZUCAMMjsa7gQT3nyxB9ObhyphenhyphenyNZNBkcgMz04zdXlV4drou1yssbz2Gue7bQZQPBFtPPfH1i25OjqehUR9EECK20HnR_l4MVmwJM1KiEGYL3KqivbaKHPF8fX8Zw4ciI8FnlNykMMk/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_026.JPG"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxEkpJj8aPth670pCFSr0MIHUitdmcIg1ahA96SU3v5kjnO834BUKmnRdRvgxTY379fwSBHHbrFzoJwQ2KQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We arrived at Whispers just a bit after opening, purchased our entry, and entered a real beauty of a private garden. John, the owner, is a former nurseryman who used to own the next door property. When this property went on market he didn't want to see someone build something he might not like next door and he wanted a retirement project so he and his wife purchased it, built a new home, and set about creating a real paradise. Of course "teas" were for sale featuring homemade cakes provided by friends and family for purchase. We wandered the garden and sat on the back patio enjoying our tea and the gorgeous water feature which <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">dra</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ined</span> magically under the flagstones and got a chance to talk to John for a bit. He was a wonderful character and reminded us a lot of Robin's dad.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr249HcS9_0EKedxVT92MvRkuKVcr5WVFjbFldqd2VcHegchoch0T-A77lgxlX2MOlRnTYU3PSatW0LCjxQPx3Kx7Kqtn1XxFGqnb3CsCY-9JBBs7THhQxvJoaFJGs_C6jUYjy6UEpUi16/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_022.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr249HcS9_0EKedxVT92MvRkuKVcr5WVFjbFldqd2VcHegchoch0T-A77lgxlX2MOlRnTYU3PSatW0LCjxQPx3Kx7Kqtn1XxFGqnb3CsCY-9JBBs7THhQxvJoaFJGs_C6jUYjy6UEpUi16/s200/EnglandJuly09_022.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360481531931765346" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpedZSrMEPCbV243gXx_D3e-Z47epUo6dRTOZxChyRqQ0U7twvCP6PrP6aYM2HzuGerReoXKbt_eVGujflW4Z3rF9vvJGKa9a28qHqPogdcY_nqubriDQEZLzdWOgQdbjgExTHRWAYxBn0/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_021.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpedZSrMEPCbV243gXx_D3e-Z47epUo6dRTOZxChyRqQ0U7twvCP6PrP6aYM2HzuGerReoXKbt_eVGujflW4Z3rF9vvJGKa9a28qHqPogdcY_nqubriDQEZLzdWOgQdbjgExTHRWAYxBn0/s200/EnglandJuly09_021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360481526411099874" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYoGjR4iAcbI7B3urv1nSfLWOAR4tegdMeHJiCVczTbwW8914SOipCsd9yl9dNlBGOSCBts-cbm3VVeOy0o8BiGa3M7zyi_hfwoOXeymhG9BAydxKfbwtu8gg565l8oo3PJzCyvmXJ-yM/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_023.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYoGjR4iAcbI7B3urv1nSfLWOAR4tegdMeHJiCVczTbwW8914SOipCsd9yl9dNlBGOSCBts-cbm3VVeOy0o8BiGa3M7zyi_hfwoOXeymhG9BAydxKfbwtu8gg565l8oo3PJzCyvmXJ-yM/s200/EnglandJuly09_023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360481537797735970" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkU1DAFaUhEblF7QvNZoIKFpSMVhiiPspH-BeyvuY-51CR44izNXKs06Tv-ki4pMlCxA_HlK57Vsx9ms_LhNBYE5RrUL6RB_ajhpWWv0rS7bxMTKZ1l3O5_RqsBWYpxdMxNDaYGdpkNBn/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_024.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkU1DAFaUhEblF7QvNZoIKFpSMVhiiPspH-BeyvuY-51CR44izNXKs06Tv-ki4pMlCxA_HlK57Vsx9ms_LhNBYE5RrUL6RB_ajhpWWv0rS7bxMTKZ1l3O5_RqsBWYpxdMxNDaYGdpkNBn/s200/EnglandJuly09_024.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360509152022004898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We tore ourselves away from the garden and teas to make our way to our 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">nd</span> garden for the day at Farleigh House just outside Farleigh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Wallop</span>. This property is the family seat of the Earl and Duchess of Portsmouth so we knew this garden might have a different feel than Whispers. It is a very nice property and an impressive house but we both felt we preferred the personal touch and care of Whispers.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkb2zAZUCAMMjsa7gQT3nyxB9ObhyphenhyphenyNZNBkcgMz04zdXlV4drou1yssbz2Gue7bQZQPBFtPPfH1i25OjqehUR9EECK20HnR_l4MVmwJM1KiEGYL3KqivbaKHPF8fX8Zw4ciI8FnlNykMMk/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_026.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkb2zAZUCAMMjsa7gQT3nyxB9ObhyphenhyphenyNZNBkcgMz04zdXlV4drou1yssbz2Gue7bQZQPBFtPPfH1i25OjqehUR9EECK20HnR_l4MVmwJM1KiEGYL3KqivbaKHPF8fX8Zw4ciI8FnlNykMMk/s200/EnglandJuly09_026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360504733574923426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFaV7zUH9086ZNmZv7qRpuvRIFF6Np4AReiXmniGmQzSbuXhtsuZ8LB2cnBiuz3cfSkMbv4ej0rBf5CVH7uNy_t6MF67adWwRBnebYTNTr7UtlUGaEFLmnMj45dO0mmQIMKy7gqbxxQLHm/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_028.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFaV7zUH9086ZNmZv7qRpuvRIFF6Np4AReiXmniGmQzSbuXhtsuZ8LB2cnBiuz3cfSkMbv4ej0rBf5CVH7uNy_t6MF67adWwRBnebYTNTr7UtlUGaEFLmnMj45dO0mmQIMKy7gqbxxQLHm/s200/EnglandJuly09_028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360504736254723410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />The teas offered at Farleigh House were in the barn down the road. We stopped in there and felt </span><span style="font-family:arial;">the clear <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">dema</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">rcation</span> of the public having tea in the barn as opposed to sharing in it with the owners on the patio was a bit too much for our American sensibilities so we skipped the tea! Uppity revolutionists we!</span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-10541127889608694752009-07-20T02:35:00.000-07:002009-07-20T03:03:21.587-07:00Hampton Court Palace Flower Show<span style="font-family:arial;">After Robin knocked off work on Friday, July 10 we, along with Brian and his son Harrison, headed up to Hampton Court Palace - the favorite crib of Henry VIII (after basically stealing it from Cardinal Wolsey - it's good to be the king!). Brian and Harrison went to visit the palace while Robin and I were there to attend the world's biggest annual flower show. Robin got a bit itchy at first as the crowds around the 6 themed gardens for the 6 wives of Henry VIII were a crush but things cleared out away from there and we happily wandered around enjoying the display gardens, nursery booths, and vendors. Here are 2 of the queen themed display gardens:<br /><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ9RaSzJSvVqlwsxgN53EY3M_Vilo_s-zes3Lvh3p2jRhSlf0Ag4QyfeHcIKQWJxmUqXVOONKgNx6519AiTFst0Vyckacx8ZyhM5M1ao9hyRgTilVarrTFUTzd5omey5x5Qqoj-5kgQyo/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ9RaSzJSvVqlwsxgN53EY3M_Vilo_s-zes3Lvh3p2jRhSlf0Ag4QyfeHcIKQWJxmUqXVOONKgNx6519AiTFst0Vyckacx8ZyhM5M1ao9hyRgTilVarrTFUTzd5omey5x5Qqoj-5kgQyo/s200/EnglandJuly09_001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474234646544738" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNfYsUjWzBG3BIU_Gk_MAW6ssytucYvhrVl7TdppusCF8Qxwegaqwt4dgIWYcGPAHrzm9lWLvKux-P_M7OJdVuPiBu5e_5xkNZiKzdVGBFRvareeM1_xZ5dRKWFCWnLUOYdQneRBouZax/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNfYsUjWzBG3BIU_Gk_MAW6ssytucYvhrVl7TdppusCF8Qxwegaqwt4dgIWYcGPAHrzm9lWLvKux-P_M7OJdVuPiBu5e_5xkNZiKzdVGBFRvareeM1_xZ5dRKWFCWnLUOYdQneRBouZax/s200/EnglandJuly09_002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474240349002882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKxjIlsOKFykP3Jerp15RfPfYcy6Zq6t_UOLlF8WTD_K6hoWVsONZb9dKxBFCPD-eRh2_plrfxTT5J7uhYjIBIsHyEjq8A0fU72R14frsR5GY6b2Xh3yGnK3ReHS_DLmQFH-Tq4Nl3Xnn/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKxjIlsOKFykP3Jerp15RfPfYcy6Zq6t_UOLlF8WTD_K6hoWVsONZb9dKxBFCPD-eRh2_plrfxTT5J7uhYjIBIsHyEjq8A0fU72R14frsR5GY6b2Xh3yGnK3ReHS_DLmQFH-Tq4Nl3Xnn/s200/EnglandJuly09_006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474244704433138" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04x-OVslZ6o9BTgaci7q5CEKQstzlmrA7afHZm-J7fIEAYJucZeqSL5_Ii33OcIbkXrf7BTIZLfJfZziBNzkH9uW0Ph20N0KS2qU0_oN3NjWhYePq6bIx4bDn9ezA3iyIJfBobxOJYbK3/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04x-OVslZ6o9BTgaci7q5CEKQstzlmrA7afHZm-J7fIEAYJucZeqSL5_Ii33OcIbkXrf7BTIZLfJfZziBNzkH9uW0Ph20N0KS2qU0_oN3NjWhYePq6bIx4bDn9ezA3iyIJfBobxOJYbK3/s200/EnglandJuly09_007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474248512108386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We sat in on a floral arranging presentation and one of the displays there w</span><span style="font-family:arial;">as a sweet "tea" made completely from flowers:<br /><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />An interesting p</span><span style="font-family:arial;">a</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaZOlaO47CF_1yzSvdO7tE7dIuigyIvvHDlMxDcWmHW5n-TcCuSLks3Y4qQRg9jkiEuLPfegp9vMKl8a7mdqPhaPPvMZJ8H7IE31zMD_NXjGpJRwvh9hmzau9lH-1w61zlZ1s2vRXSmrC/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_011.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaZOlaO47CF_1yzSvdO7tE7dIuigyIvvHDlMxDcWmHW5n-TcCuSLks3Y4qQRg9jkiEuLPfegp9vMKl8a7mdqPhaPPvMZJ8H7IE31zMD_NXjGpJRwvh9hmzau9lH-1w61zlZ1s2vRXSmrC/s200/EnglandJuly09_011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474663333848562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">rt </span><span style="font-family:arial;">of the show was dodging the "wheelie boxes" that so many of the show attendees h</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ad to carry their purchases. When I stopped to take a picture of these 3 ladies with their wheelie boxes the </span><span style="font-family:arial;">one on left caught me in the act and came over to chat. I said "they look handy by they seem a menace" and she agreed and said they had just bought them out of self-defence! Walking amongst the crowds it would be very easy to trip over their boxes as they trailed behind them.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPx-_vEkFM2H8S_9-tpH56uFVUeLCVikJ55dSCjtRN5DEMul-SyNMQqg6heeDm1zlaZcTfS2jVTDzjeFuFAJZo4x9tYi-JCaVE5SOj86ni9HgVXbctu2DQeoZ_pjArRnbtj0MU2HCwPV0F/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPx-_vEkFM2H8S_9-tpH56uFVUeLCVikJ55dSCjtRN5DEMul-SyNMQqg6heeDm1zlaZcTfS2jVTDzjeFuFAJZo4x9tYi-JCaVE5SOj86ni9HgVXbctu2DQeoZ_pjArRnbtj0MU2HCwPV0F/s200/EnglandJuly09_013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474670284421986" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I really</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFB41BUbRqWLDIU6hulPoBEqn7ejznrgh1Hjev4dLEE_4r6dQJVAqjt0SXbGJGozWOs-5_emMFkC5GtFbNsxy3O_YUF7Uw81lUAg9bW45NMZYOMd1AwEagqSuE9aIl4s6lLSigdPQ0Ymcq/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFB41BUbRqWLDIU6hulPoBEqn7ejznrgh1Hjev4dLEE_4r6dQJVAqjt0SXbGJGozWOs-5_emMFkC5GtFbNsxy3O_YUF7Uw81lUAg9bW45NMZYOMd1AwEagqSuE9aIl4s6lLSigdPQ0Ymcq/s200/EnglandJuly09_004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474242974694434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> liked the display gardens in the sustainability area. One that featured a water fountain coming out of a wall-mounted Royal Mail b</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ox and another edging fences made from woven willow:</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOLW1etlsnHX3UvjOj96f_8ROByHMli3QwBpmay8kSEYIoQIFFP4fwxkEL8ltX3VztFtfHIhWpl1YyyCL6G9tRmYUXPb_sz5A3BdqSrCMMrwYxAPfgqaMtbKkh-0yed_AMXfaVkuczbMV/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_018.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOLW1etlsnHX3UvjOj96f_8ROByHMli3QwBpmay8kSEYIoQIFFP4fwxkEL8ltX3VztFtfHIhWpl1YyyCL6G9tRmYUXPb_sz5A3BdqSrCMMrwYxAPfgqaMtbKkh-0yed_AMXfaVkuczbMV/s200/EnglandJuly09_018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474674343478322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijk2O9qy0YRaW3C1frYn15pExRFJGurQ8GqbmejzLiRZRohIfodwKI8e-dCxPFLKHSAnhHvC0ZYIe2R2l41KwtScG1Fgv8eOlu3Tv1XcajK-BI9g8ldliwxkm9zVuCu8xnqciBEyxxzEkA/s1600-h/EnglandJuly09_017.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijk2O9qy0YRaW3C1frYn15pExRFJGurQ8GqbmejzLiRZRohIfodwKI8e-dCxPFLKHSAnhHvC0ZYIe2R2l41KwtScG1Fgv8eOlu3Tv1XcajK-BI9g8ldliwxkm9zVuCu8xnqciBEyxxzEkA/s200/EnglandJuly09_017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360474671908428562" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br />After the flow</span><span style="font-family:arial;">er s</span><span style="font-family:arial;">how closed up we wandered a bit on the grounds of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">e palace which looked much nicer than when I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">vi</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">site</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">d them in the winter </span><span style="font-family:arial;">time:</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As we left and returned to the car we were kicking ourselves for not thinking ahead like many of the others and bringing along our table, chairs, tea sets, and snacks and cakes to enjoy before heading back home! We made up for it by stopping into one of my favorite pubs, The Swan in Ash Vale, for dinner.</span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-77794889977736828292009-07-02T07:23:00.000-07:002009-07-04T08:12:46.773-07:00Finding a new rhythm<span style="font-family:arial;">Robin and I have been in England <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">si</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">nce</span></span> mid-June and it has taken me a while to figure out my daily "routine". Just before we left home I got 2 new contract jobs lined up but had kind of put them on hold while we did some work on the garage (repairs and painting) and I tried to make up for a whole spring of neglect in the yard and garden. We <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hav</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">e a wonderful <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">housesitter</span></span> this time who is an avid gardener (and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">horticulturist</span></span> by training) so I wanted something she could get into and maintain (and as a bonus have some ho</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">megrown</span></span> vegetables awaiting our return!).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />The first week and a half here Robin was working 2n</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d shift and we both struggled with sleeping since it is getting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">lig</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">ht here <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">arou</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">nd</span></span> 4:30am and we are used to getting up early anyway. This week he switched to first shift which suits our personal style</span><span style="font-family:arial;">s be</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">tter</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">especiall</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">y for these long summer days.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I am finding a completely different rhythm of life here this time around. My first long trip here I was training for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Ironman</span></span> Canada which gave me a very structured schedule and the 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">nd</span></span> and 3rd trips I was fortunate enough to ma</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">ke</span></span> fast friends with first Brenda and then Rachel (other Boeing spouses) giving me some wonderful pals to explore and play with. Rachel was due to come this time as well and I was very much looking forward to spending time with her again but her mother became gravely ill and she instead went t</span><span style="font-family:arial;">o Tennessee to spend her last days with her. A blessing for both of them. After getting the apartment set up <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">th</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">e way we like I got stuck in with a daily work schedule trying to get a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">firme</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">r handle on the more demand</span><span style="font-family:arial;">in</span><span style="font-family:arial;">g of my new</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> jobs (still working on that!) and this week I have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">incorporated</span></span> an exercise routine as well so finally I am in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">groo</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">ve</span></span>.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, what exciting things have we been up to since</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> we got here?<br /><br />We've done a couple of nice walks with Steve - one to a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">beerfest</span></span> and another past one of my favorite houses - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Dipley</span></span> Mill. I'</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">ve</span></span> only ever seen </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Dipley</span></span> Mill zooming by on the road on our bikes so <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">takin</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">g a walk that actually went <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">arou</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">nd</span></span> 3 sides of the prop</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">erty</span></span> was a treat. Here we are on the little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">humpy</span></span> bridge in front of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Dipley</span></span> Mill.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeSeJB18z8Iw972pT1BW5R6qGlUv7bNTXPNyHb0Qn_QKSmzQvRp3uypV3cLnxhDGbAUdt2EW3E_1EK7zZSroHTqRhq3x5NYHSqFxLFRR0yxI5K2vP9rzWQD9iU6mfFCpuGMBravOlv-Ee/s1600-h/EnglandJuneAndRatDipleyMill.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeSeJB18z8Iw972pT1BW5R6qGlUv7bNTXPNyHb0Qn_QKSmzQvRp3uypV3cLnxhDGbAUdt2EW3E_1EK7zZSroHTqRhq3x5NYHSqFxLFRR0yxI5K2vP9rzWQD9iU6mfFCpuGMBravOlv-Ee/s200/EnglandJuneAndRatDipleyMill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319125136870450" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONmLYTBaSTfYVaqHqf0Bgk2bbhbLLYNMhxOXrDLFwoXWCJa6VyCxXeQ_PCIbcd3HoF4xAJjGELNonZUOGc4tBB3SaZuulcwVeO-QeC84vD02EYCOQvbXfbTmMBaoT0TZIGbz95oVz5xUE/s1600-h/EnglandJune09DipleyMill.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONmLYTBaSTfYVaqHqf0Bgk2bbhbLLYNMhxOXrDLFwoXWCJa6VyCxXeQ_PCIbcd3HoF4xAJjGELNonZUOGc4tBB3SaZuulcwVeO-QeC84vD02EYCOQvbXfbTmMBaoT0TZIGbz95oVz5xUE/s200/EnglandJune09DipleyMill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319122635083282" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">and a photo of the house and garden. We pretty much think our place will be looking like this soon...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Over the weekend we drove to </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Wales to watch the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Briti</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">sh Cycling Road Race <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Championships</span></span>. We arrived on Saturday just in time to see the Junior Men finish their race and then the Women had their race in the afternoon. The women's' race ended with 2 circuits of the town and we found a great place to see them pass by a couple of time</span><span style="font-family:arial;">s and then got to the finish line to see Nicole Cooke take her 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">th</span></span> consecutive national <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">titl</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">e and 10<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">th</span></span> altogether. Nicole is also the reigning Olympic and World Champion and is Welsh so we were very surprised at the lack of crowd there to witness the event. I had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">deliberately</span></span> reserved a B&B in a neighboring town to avoid what I assumed would be a zoo in the host town of Ab</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">ergavenny</span></span>. A few pictures of the day:<br /><br />The start/finish in town:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeBQKuPB8ETLs9oV7eD3rwKAfbMUoxzYN4t66jsJY4sKn6blh6pu3DDCAHi_gtR4jhBhU7iwZNh8HFKw5BNGPSSFYjAoBN35SL9ucdfxszeHKmMTKD4PQlxfCb47z3Eqvrpb9vwohyphenhyphenDM0/s1600-h/EnglandJune09finishatAbergavenny.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeBQKuPB8ETLs9oV7eD3rwKAfbMUoxzYN4t66jsJY4sKn6blh6pu3DDCAHi_gtR4jhBhU7iwZNh8HFKw5BNGPSSFYjAoBN35SL9ucdfxszeHKmMTKD4PQlxfCb47z3Eqvrpb9vwohyphenhyphenDM0/s200/EnglandJune09finishatAbergavenny.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319134169323666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The start of the Women's Race - that's Nicole in white and the world champion stripes:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFOTaX0CKhMaWlpUgV05jXi99KU6V626Ij288eTQd88_m6H3h5WQhBRZ3j1acbeiF_dUFprjwGB6iZSCr847xnVcEsVvnZy9HcsJv3BVkSO2EjMIG-IOrO4mGQB5ZPTyHPgX6nWBOrJ7q/s1600-h/EnglandJune09womensstart.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFOTaX0CKhMaWlpUgV05jXi99KU6V626Ij288eTQd88_m6H3h5WQhBRZ3j1acbeiF_dUFprjwGB6iZSCr847xnVcEsVvnZy9HcsJv3BVkSO2EjMIG-IOrO4mGQB5ZPTyHPgX6nWBOrJ7q/s200/EnglandJune09womensstart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354326482251113138" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Walking around Monmouth Robin liked this wonderful 4-story skinny building:</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcV9h8evXPApTmajvaq3XDSFHTCSH3aSej1FG3CKWhhmaoJEMLvXf4y0tM-jfXEN2gybT-soXhzoqgKPgDnzcHv-GtYIai5YNFZRL0-EkdhwiqIAdwTWExtI1SvfQI-gzhObo6oZWy77m/s1600-h/EnglandJune09skinnybuildinginMonmouth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcV9h8evXPApTmajvaq3XDSFHTCSH3aSej1FG3CKWhhmaoJEMLvXf4y0tM-jfXEN2gybT-soXhzoqgKPgDnzcHv-GtYIai5YNFZRL0-EkdhwiqIAdwTWExtI1SvfQI-gzhObo6oZWy77m/s200/EnglandJune09skinnybuildinginMonmouth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319147357833794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sunday was the men's race and there were a few</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> more people around but still no</span><span style="font-family:arial;">t at all what we expected with big names like David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Millar</span></span>, Bradley Wiggins, and Mark Cavendish - all big Tour riders. We stayed in the lovely town of Monmouth, visited the ever-present local castle ruins, had a great dinner, got a bit lost on a walk, and had time the next morning to drive to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Skenfrith</span></span> and ride the 13 miles to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Abergavenny</span></span>. We </span><span style="font-family:arial;">watched the start and then headed out to catch the action on the big climb up and over Iron Mountain. That's where we finally saw some crowds as many people drove and rode to the top. We got there early at about noon and decided to go to the nearby pub for some lunch. I made the mistake of skipping the prepackaged sandwich and ordered the jacket potato (that's a b</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">aked</span></span> potato back home). The result - we missed the race going by! Oh well, back down the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">mountai</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">n and into town to catch the 10 finishing circuits which were very exciting and then the fin</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">ish</span>.<br /><br />At the start line for the Men's race one of the neutral support mechanics is put to work before the race starts:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSyehHptu56OLpDwFqXUsZFHGY4jaGrfcerPq_H1UPUN9lUXUQlUuKQpmNhyphenhyphenJ4SQVYvHbDqwLpjf4BZIqmgWLSt6jkPzhWVnEGo3-KT4jtTIITvvuTcBD7H7ycznKTYIJ4ZkAYVi3VPW_/s1600-h/EnglandJune09supportatworkb4therace.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSyehHptu56OLpDwFqXUsZFHGY4jaGrfcerPq_H1UPUN9lUXUQlUuKQpmNhyphenhyphenJ4SQVYvHbDqwLpjf4BZIqmgWLSt6jkPzhWVnEGo3-KT4jtTIITvvuTcBD7H7ycznKTYIJ4ZkAYVi3VPW_/s200/EnglandJune09supportatworkb4therace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319498523784274" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Here are some folks riding to the top of Iron Mountain to catch the action:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaSLiGEJaT2XbO4E-VmzapxRDsGa7PX_e-c4vUO7sUvy7F0JDh-r_MGS1RzIcZo6A8xsgck9p4WOie1tdkLH0xtsWGy4iQ05OfBHdz5VE8bVPSFS6z-vRXeM1ePl5Ur8gHP_4z1p8EgrON/s1600-h/EnglandJune09IronMtnClimb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaSLiGEJaT2XbO4E-VmzapxRDsGa7PX_e-c4vUO7sUvy7F0JDh-r_MGS1RzIcZo6A8xsgck9p4WOie1tdkLH0xtsWGy4iQ05OfBHdz5VE8bVPSFS6z-vRXeM1ePl5Ur8gHP_4z1p8EgrON/s200/EnglandJune09IronMtnClimb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319493374246754" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The view from Iron Mountain over the southern Welsh countryside:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyp7bXywfCYyHnK9o_S84IG86TnOGm2JhyphenhyphenbUufi0KiZDhB8PCIhN_1p_kxMxMjxApRL0-N3gomK_0faEAWIE61WOu6f5oB40z_ZmOyfziCt-qceWemOyhQqseq0LermwUMJ62GOCGHtjQ/s1600-h/EnglandJune09viewfromIronMtn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyp7bXywfCYyHnK9o_S84IG86TnOGm2JhyphenhyphenbUufi0KiZDhB8PCIhN_1p_kxMxMjxApRL0-N3gomK_0faEAWIE61WOu6f5oB40z_ZmOyfziCt-qceWemOyhQqseq0LermwUMJ62GOCGHtjQ/s200/EnglandJune09viewfromIronMtn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319500197557938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The longtime race leader on the finishing circuits - cruel fate dictated he ended 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">th</span></span> on the day:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx5SZmTolKkoXW4BMtgatjImDIDHTJNsKaFpKG2kjhQIxmUNlLOciJOXo8am1uk26DkxJs36j9YlxjKx6vmKJiQS2AwfnUa38RXBK0WMT_HKKVhfS5ajU-HY46pUcQ6ETHyT-nP-T6-0SZ/s1600-h/EnglandJune09mensleaderonfinishlaps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx5SZmTolKkoXW4BMtgatjImDIDHTJNsKaFpKG2kjhQIxmUNlLOciJOXo8am1uk26DkxJs36j9YlxjKx6vmKJiQS2AwfnUa38RXBK0WMT_HKKVhfS5ajU-HY46pUcQ6ETHyT-nP-T6-0SZ/s200/EnglandJune09mensleaderonfinishlaps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319494252251218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We b</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">oth</span></span> thought the ride back to the car might be a bit of a grind but the quiet road over the rolling hills</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> with the fabulous views of the Welsh hillsides dotted with farms and sheep was very enjoyable</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. Back in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Skenfrith</span></span> the ruined castle was now a bustling local craft fair with lots of folks out enjoying the warm and sunny afternoon. Two boys were hitting a tennis ball against the side of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">castl</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">e</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - h</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">casu</span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcFidJsjPY_1GviK7XpaRNezHJBz3qrsu9e7A-F4aIIf7l2hxPXOfECMn1JDdoqE67LwfBX8JxiqEUA5bPcxFgeUan7na2Wv4brMWPk3UdkYQRjLkOqYVugMIxDZKXm_EAcjCp7DyT6V7/s1600-h/EnglandJune09tennisagainstcastleSkenfrith.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcFidJsjPY_1GviK7XpaRNezHJBz3qrsu9e7A-F4aIIf7l2hxPXOfECMn1JDdoqE67LwfBX8JxiqEUA5bPcxFgeUan7na2Wv4brMWPk3UdkYQRjLkOqYVugMIxDZKXm_EAcjCp7DyT6V7/s200/EnglandJune09tennisagainstcastleSkenfrith.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354319506119044178" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">al</span></span> is that?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Back in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Farnborough</span></span> on Monday evening I grilled some sausages from the organic farm shop and Robin fixed some greens then proceeded to eat THREE of the sausages which he immediately regretted. He was sick for the next 2 days! I did my best to nurse him and he seems back to his usual self now. No pictures to share of that you'll be thankful to know!<br /><br />So, life goes on here with extensive coverage of Wimbledon on the telly and the Tour <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">de</span></span> France starting this weekend seeing us spending a bit more time on our fannies than we should! Pair that with my complete lack of will power when in comes to the plethora of high quality cakes and goodies here and I'll be having a hard time wearing anything but a (large) sack soon!<br /><br />As I've been typing this Serena Williams has been playing her semi-final match against Elena <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">Dementieva</span> and she just won a very tough match! Oops - it has taken me a day to get the pictures loaded and since then now Venus Williams won her semi-final making a Williams' Sisters Final on Saturday and tonight Andy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Roddick</span> upset British favorite Andy Murray and will meet Roger <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">Federer</span> on Sunday. GREAT tennis watching and a guarantee of at least 1 and possibly 2 American Wimbledon Champions this year!<br /><br /></span><span style="visibility: visible;font-family:arial;" id="main" ><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><br /></span></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-73381898986640966912009-05-16T14:43:00.000-07:002009-05-16T14:46:08.586-07:00How Goeth the Proclamation?<span style="font-family: arial;">Signs 2 and 3 have come to pass. Sign 1 experienceth issues. The battle against the dark forces continues and I shall triumph in the end.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-14860062003780026162009-05-07T17:26:00.000-07:002009-05-07T17:50:14.190-07:00Proclamation<span style="font-family:arial;">The reign of the Queen of the Failed Endeavor ends today. You shall count three signs over the next week which shall serve as proof. The number of the</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> counting shall be three and three is the number thou shalt count. Precedence for the counting hath been set here:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk</a><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The first sign</span> shalt be the arrival of a 2009 Kestrel Tal</span><span style="font-family:arial;">on. The Talon shalt endeavor to fill the mighty shoes of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">the Kestrel SCI.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTgAQl1O8h_XSSXNQMqcnOOiwGI6hISDizbjBCBwoVnhFRigB8A3tJItQS2vjUGEvjuuU2VppGF63e3YfIk_jjWbgonYtqiBu6N9NlBbUI8p5W6C5ruWQORawBOZbwxjqg_3F81YqYazo/s1600-h/lg_talon_sl_road.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTgAQl1O8h_XSSXNQMqcnOOiwGI6hISDizbjBCBwoVnhFRigB8A3tJItQS2vjUGEvjuuU2VppGF63e3YfIk_jjWbgonYtqiBu6N9NlBbUI8p5W6C5ruWQORawBOZbwxjqg_3F81YqYazo/s200/lg_talon_sl_road.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333245741610903026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The second sign</span> shalt be the overcoming of the obstacles set forth by those naughty in our sight (Boeing and British Airways) to securith a seat on an airplane bound for the British Isles.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABQggTat0bwHryMmXZ0JlZ5TfPSf3cyjgQ8CbO13aiy6JeSVyapruNMT8pIpYva30rFOvCmdeuv9DOjB61mBcCPkS9Cz3jSrb9coiVzzjU253MTjlxAiK9rqoEOo_PPBztMfomvrq-5U4/s1600-h/ba_looks_forward_to_a380_era.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABQggTat0bwHryMmXZ0JlZ5TfPSf3cyjgQ8CbO13aiy6JeSVyapruNMT8pIpYva30rFOvCmdeuv9DOjB61mBcCPkS9Cz3jSrb9coiVzzjU253MTjlxAiK9rqoEOo_PPBztMfomvrq-5U4/s200/ba_looks_forward_to_a380_era.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333247311568869842" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The third sign</span> shalt be the finalizing of lodgings for visiting family members in August.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLD9LPpAZgx2yaTo8hUwDDe7P-3An69Pj3UQq3dOHbno3SKU3Rb2iBROYACivwPWz-gqhhmB9kD7nl7DNDzqzHwM02knxUMwXR5YQyVNbfAgAdtUCdLTrtIGUfwtAEV8_CGrQZfvHxg5K/s1600-h/449+-+Ramada+Inn-+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 144px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLD9LPpAZgx2yaTo8hUwDDe7P-3An69Pj3UQq3dOHbno3SKU3Rb2iBROYACivwPWz-gqhhmB9kD7nl7DNDzqzHwM02knxUMwXR5YQyVNbfAgAdtUCdLTrtIGUfwtAEV8_CGrQZfvHxg5K/s200/449+-+Ramada+Inn-+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333247402043854258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Let it be so.</span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-32483676054783496252009-04-26T11:38:00.000-07:002009-04-26T12:00:00.440-07:00Staying up all night<span style="font-family:arial;">When was the last time you stayed up all night? and why? Now in my 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> decade on earth the reasons to stay up all night have changed since my teens and twenties. Back then the only time I would stay up all night would be either to finish a paper or project for school or to party. These days I am either doing a long bike event or I am at the hospital with my mom. Staying up all night is weird if you are the standard daytime person. 24 hour places like hospitals and even convenience stores don't seem to really notice that they are out of step with the rest of the world. They carry on as if most of those around them aren't snoozing peacefully in their beds respecting the circadian <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">rhythms</span> of their bodies.<br /><br />Last weekend I rode the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Fleche</span> Northwest put on by my club, SIR. My team captain, Geoff <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Swarts</span> did a great writeup so for the full story go here: <a href="http://greenhornetrandoing.blogspot.com/2009/04/amy-et-ami-food-friends-fun-and-biking.html">http://greenhornetrandoing.blogspot.com/2009/04/amy-et-ami-food-friends-fun-and-biking.html.</a><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwz7Y2a75mOI_FH7PPqCZtwsOcTjcQ8cSyY1HZ987L1VAaWsFyA2SLIe3rEmyvWpK4FNGrWsUZ-BDGlow6ILu6uFkcV5FQy8C8Lc9wVyM6boGkfRBqeFhnps8A5nwtfcTaUmLuLEPyrwiA/s1600-h/amietamisfleche09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwz7Y2a75mOI_FH7PPqCZtwsOcTjcQ8cSyY1HZ987L1VAaWsFyA2SLIe3rEmyvWpK4FNGrWsUZ-BDGlow6ILu6uFkcV5FQy8C8Lc9wVyM6boGkfRBqeFhnps8A5nwtfcTaUmLuLEPyrwiA/s200/amietamisfleche09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329075675817119266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Amy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">et</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Amis</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Fleche</span> Team in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Westport</span> around 11pm. Nice how I managed to get on a team with 4 tall guys eh??? Notice the stylish matching reflective ankle bands - nice!<br /><br /><br /><br />After catching up on sleep Saturday and Sunday nights it was off to Lacey on Monday where my mom was scheduled for hip replacement surgery. Cut on Monday, PT on Tuesday, and home by Wednesday was the surgeon's schedule. My mom doesn't follow schedules well. Short on sleep Monday night I was happy to get back home on Tuesday evening to my own bed again. Wednesday did not bring a hospital release for my mom. Back to Lacey and a night in a recliner in my mom's room to help monitor and make sure she got back on track. Luckily I have lots of siblings and the overnight guard could be switched daily. She is back home as of yesterday - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">yay</span>!<br /><br />In future if I get the choice I'd much rather be out riding and taking catnaps in Denney's at 4am rather than hanging at the hospital. Those in power - please make a note of it...<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-23693080256609987122009-04-06T17:17:00.000-07:002009-04-06T17:29:27.231-07:00DNS<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DNS</span> stands for Did Not Start and that is the status I had for Saturday's 300k brevet. All conditions were perfect - weather forecast right on, some confidence in my legs, and Robin was planning to come out and ride the start. Bikes ready to go and alarm set for 4am - all systems go.<br /><br />Okay so 10pm is a little later than I wanted to hit the hay with a 4am alarm but I could sleep all I wanted Saturday night. For the first couple of hours in bed I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting to sleep. I'd think I had drifted off and then something would wake me up. I finally figured out it was my sweet hubby. He is feeling a bit overwhelmed at work and also realizing the effects of just getting back into his riding routine after 6 weeks off. He was so stressed out that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">every time</span> he started falling asleep he was jerking himself (and me!) back awake. Another couple of hours trying to get him to relax but no real success. By the time the alarm went off I figure we each had about 1 hour of sleep in 2-3 minute intervals. It was a "no go" decision. I suggested he go in to work for a few hours of uninterrupted time to get some things under control and we could head out in the afternoon for a ride. Seemed to do the trick because after that we both fell soundly asleep for the next few hours.<br /><br />We did get up to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mukilteo</span> (about 9 hours late for the start) and caught the ferry to ride some of our favorite roads on south <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Whidbey</span>. A GORGEOUS day out on beautiful rolling roads. We got back to the mainland in time to see the fastest riders finishing up the brevet. Sad not to be among them (although I wouldn't have been among them anyway - I would still have been at least 3 hours out from the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">finish</span>) but happy to have had a nice ride with my hardworking man.<br /><br />It would have been nice to gain the confidence from the 300k to help me out mentally with the upcoming 24-hour <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Fleche</span> (380km) in two weeks but what can you do? Just a tad worried that one of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Fleche</span> teammates - Ward - was there with the extra fast boys on Saturday. He did claim that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Fleche</span> is an entirely different animal so hopefully he and my other teammates will have all the patience they will need to drag along the Amy Anchor.tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-88043118880644299032009-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:002009-03-23T11:01:25.921-07:00PBP MemoriesI was looking at some of the pictures from PBP07 this morning and it brought back so many memories of that year and of the year I did it in 2003. I plucked a few of the pics that seemed to demonstrate the highs, lows, and in betweens of riding 1200 km in 90 hours or less.<br /><br />Arriving in France is so great.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aRTJuGpd-Wg0Z8yzX4yM-N6s_uVwZtjorAXtZwiCeu-TEvboIlLErGlc0sJvwv4zVFzYJS6T0MX_ySVp03fiB9Rhbs1itIxHEjnWSyqcK7xw7oIZwh3YvddNrOfIwkYHpJ1K_xfD4EGb/s1600-h/Peter+Dan+and+Eiffel+Tower.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aRTJuGpd-Wg0Z8yzX4yM-N6s_uVwZtjorAXtZwiCeu-TEvboIlLErGlc0sJvwv4zVFzYJS6T0MX_ySVp03fiB9Rhbs1itIxHEjnWSyqcK7xw7oIZwh3YvddNrOfIwkYHpJ1K_xfD4EGb/s200/Peter+Dan+and+Eiffel+Tower.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316436210872129986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here is the SIR gang the day before start day full of anticipation and nervous energy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieft5hkMePABW4M5QNBYR51u4_iDV_JAt4k716lqyhTjOZLVslKUDnXO7XFwSghUHzjP3s-suEQQoujhsnlKCyByllwmRlEeX45TjJMgdnFZdPhninITt5OakrvjMJqQ5yIWuhoCpiO8lF/s1600-h/teamSIR.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieft5hkMePABW4M5QNBYR51u4_iDV_JAt4k716lqyhTjOZLVslKUDnXO7XFwSghUHzjP3s-suEQQoujhsnlKCyByllwmRlEeX45TjJMgdnFZdPhninITt5OakrvjMJqQ5yIWuhoCpiO8lF/s200/teamSIR.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316436191990423154" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And then the real start line.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGqHHeJta-_a9ntvSuWtOVycOdUed1NalYXIZ6DYP1iUDr8HdffqzU0IFseltv6w7edRn6crf6YVVoyPvbnZACQvHzK9hYpOa1GVtjporJrAsyYVh-GctQ6GP4IF-0No2nMAhv3EraJ33/s1600-h/the+start.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGqHHeJta-_a9ntvSuWtOVycOdUed1NalYXIZ6DYP1iUDr8HdffqzU0IFseltv6w7edRn6crf6YVVoyPvbnZACQvHzK9hYpOa1GVtjporJrAsyYVh-GctQ6GP4IF-0No2nMAhv3EraJ33/s200/the+start.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316436209794603730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Many highs, high fives, and smiles.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFy-cnaRAtYKfWNSIF8pu31HXRF66mJur_T80Lw6f2QcjDRoqv39esAopwy8DRkspTi2QEuO3t-uKqFoNJRv0_5w6GlxGgbbiwTsBt4nAimuO-PlMFKvnq6zoM4pAavsUmFyZcv6vQLmqr/s1600-h/smiling+Jon+Muellner.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFy-cnaRAtYKfWNSIF8pu31HXRF66mJur_T80Lw6f2QcjDRoqv39esAopwy8DRkspTi2QEuO3t-uKqFoNJRv0_5w6GlxGgbbiwTsBt4nAimuO-PlMFKvnq6zoM4pAavsUmFyZcv6vQLmqr/s200/smiling+Jon+Muellner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438222532136002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bz4IvEVae7n6nID0TWyBT4BplRqNmYaQ51eQhmRgDzi2pCLDsj-ciLhmin5xqgdj7816q7AUumzQ5xmkkeTnL2TsuzSfamLpYVMNXHAvigCZ7LCp1nHas5zj8ky_aLQ-S9PG032yfdm6/s1600-h/Robin+and+Joel+at+Carhaix.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bz4IvEVae7n6nID0TWyBT4BplRqNmYaQ51eQhmRgDzi2pCLDsj-ciLhmin5xqgdj7816q7AUumzQ5xmkkeTnL2TsuzSfamLpYVMNXHAvigCZ7LCp1nHas5zj8ky_aLQ-S9PG032yfdm6/s200/Robin+and+Joel+at+Carhaix.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438047486039154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPBK6uhQMcyqQpvizDz5grhp-qBiBRPN6Ur2jToIENhSfw490sNe5rqTEkoAUCkzl2D0m3FAsEe8TgfaLeJjaqg1h2Kcm6_VrtY3bLvgyxcLiCR8r_KT5krM-pyp6UvYzhPewgIrl-iE_/s1600-h/rolling+fives.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPBK6uhQMcyqQpvizDz5grhp-qBiBRPN6Ur2jToIENhSfw490sNe5rqTEkoAUCkzl2D0m3FAsEe8TgfaLeJjaqg1h2Kcm6_VrtY3bLvgyxcLiCR8r_KT5krM-pyp6UvYzhPewgIrl-iE_/s200/rolling+fives.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438219330247426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimP7_Z2vk4gZyhfF1x2byp8rWYZHPWqUeEOKCYlrtBIdA1056Xa14zFJhyHa0lrIpg0coQ0RwC7oK6kES2ZEqeO5qj3FE9yb61cv525cpGQA4VT-YtufvS39AdP0R53tQz958lOjCL7sV3/s1600-h/Mark+and+Peter+wet+and+happy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimP7_Z2vk4gZyhfF1x2byp8rWYZHPWqUeEOKCYlrtBIdA1056Xa14zFJhyHa0lrIpg0coQ0RwC7oK6kES2ZEqeO5qj3FE9yb61cv525cpGQA4VT-YtufvS39AdP0R53tQz958lOjCL7sV3/s200/Mark+and+Peter+wet+and+happy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438034311452610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTQbYscSF0v_sSw1bb2LJSEAK0nrcdpJLexcxp86TiqIKYWmtLkfNlUlJofmvm2SI0u6pz0e6Tzodf-_c5jngj40cIrbWMMZFRdbJCTcaxhaSEnT0kIxrjD-L6dynm91U_duAkG4bevVw/s1600-h/Robin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTQbYscSF0v_sSw1bb2LJSEAK0nrcdpJLexcxp86TiqIKYWmtLkfNlUlJofmvm2SI0u6pz0e6Tzodf-_c5jngj40cIrbWMMZFRdbJCTcaxhaSEnT0kIxrjD-L6dynm91U_duAkG4bevVw/s200/Robin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316436216870006786" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAVhdRLjPAbQASoGC0hh-r2TT2OtY62AwKrRwhmsGTskzwwY0_9T0RUi0c1fca1JeALzOVxwC-60Q-WU6aZxiABafd7nACrA_U_SHCV_jJY5M3Es0iJ2dcP40vpE_ay916Wxd1O4HYksZ/s1600-h/rolling+fives.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAVhdRLjPAbQASoGC0hh-r2TT2OtY62AwKrRwhmsGTskzwwY0_9T0RUi0c1fca1JeALzOVxwC-60Q-WU6aZxiABafd7nACrA_U_SHCV_jJY5M3Es0iJ2dcP40vpE_ay916Wxd1O4HYksZ/s200/rolling+fives.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316436218402944002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNkywMXsrP_8eI0zn8Zci9WXIVp0hkVJpDd3IY15QqCfYVQiYqoIgaupncA232SBzSFj4PZjkhwD6w57r8TSqs_iIKI1OmGgM3I-lpYYRNLRSVBd62uI1zZSHm_Z1reabbjQqcTDcF02q/s1600-h/Robin+and+Bob+Brudvik+in+Villaines+la+Juhel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNkywMXsrP_8eI0zn8Zci9WXIVp0hkVJpDd3IY15QqCfYVQiYqoIgaupncA232SBzSFj4PZjkhwD6w57r8TSqs_iIKI1OmGgM3I-lpYYRNLRSVBd62uI1zZSHm_Z1reabbjQqcTDcF02q/s200/Robin+and+Bob+Brudvik+in+Villaines+la+Juhel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438042818970050" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxoD-H_3nJzQBFtXEWwkyorDkd8G40uZc34oTErcM8KvLR8wkas2F1ZtjoAkL2dGTN28lxsjpXZLhFPaNuEOXdMIFOBSW-OxVuni9rW_XCV8AvbcvQ1-uaPwcs9minyId8SPH8Ia9heCk/s1600-h/Joel+Metz.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxoD-H_3nJzQBFtXEWwkyorDkd8G40uZc34oTErcM8KvLR8wkas2F1ZtjoAkL2dGTN28lxsjpXZLhFPaNuEOXdMIFOBSW-OxVuni9rW_XCV8AvbcvQ1-uaPwcs9minyId8SPH8Ia9heCk/s200/Joel+Metz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438020664784258" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FsUY41VPOvmZykfUj-ZLMBSCCZuynEwbS7LiaHFwIz1rELUMaJtX9OofnYo1yGMuD19tDTn38C2g1_l-ljwf_immcD8s1RYhf6iXpPuOpYoHfdNgtHvE9KuKwLAufJLmeoyHj0zV5iXv/s1600-h/Greg+and+Eric+wet+dark+and+happy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FsUY41VPOvmZykfUj-ZLMBSCCZuynEwbS7LiaHFwIz1rELUMaJtX9OofnYo1yGMuD19tDTn38C2g1_l-ljwf_immcD8s1RYhf6iXpPuOpYoHfdNgtHvE9KuKwLAufJLmeoyHj0zV5iXv/s200/Greg+and+Eric+wet+dark+and+happy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316437856358119682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And a few lows: Shermers neck and examples of carnage (carnage with energy bar wrapper, carnage by road signs, cafeter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesiTHLA_B3sNW6CP0f16y9TMauOKQWF9qYgJx7VewJRmxJ9l6FmB6Lg4Pb8_l0u4buDpQa-qcZmrNtlt7kJWx7EGgMEqII6dCuCyBjwimv3Kc8O1eNjKkM62P5xE8aNQDajWc27HrmDuA/s1600-h/Shermer's+neck.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesiTHLA_B3sNW6CP0f16y9TMauOKQWF9qYgJx7VewJRmxJ9l6FmB6Lg4Pb8_l0u4buDpQa-qcZmrNtlt7kJWx7EGgMEqII6dCuCyBjwimv3Kc8O1eNjKkM62P5xE8aNQDajWc27HrmDuA/s200/Shermer's+neck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438223430389202" border="0" /></a>ia carnage).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUSpPhOrjBblHe6wxwB6X4cMsOAeoJBXJjv30SmluCHAO6Nia0v-Re9Qch3fckfs_4pgZDzXALeZSAYcJ3OydDqgq9DbG7iadnCn6FEQ5dBCKAOKgl04aei7DyOEhYMLSLCTBbGdr9Bwu/s1600-h/carnage+with+wrapper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUSpPhOrjBblHe6wxwB6X4cMsOAeoJBXJjv30SmluCHAO6Nia0v-Re9Qch3fckfs_4pgZDzXALeZSAYcJ3OydDqgq9DbG7iadnCn6FEQ5dBCKAOKgl04aei7DyOEhYMLSLCTBbGdr9Bwu/s200/carnage+with+wrapper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316437850127863010" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCBzmYy-DFlxSWrY137bKS8cMyuNYzOfGehyoDZGYjs1DuV1ckek3Adhb5Oa4OBE8aBjhHxBCdRAanToqwQtpccbYpguDB0oOytiWp5ysAI_PZspAt43MHCIQyMbAWx5fwQGX-VtshoP-E/s1600-h/carnage+with+sign.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCBzmYy-DFlxSWrY137bKS8cMyuNYzOfGehyoDZGYjs1DuV1ckek3Adhb5Oa4OBE8aBjhHxBCdRAanToqwQtpccbYpguDB0oOytiWp5ysAI_PZspAt43MHCIQyMbAWx5fwQGX-VtshoP-E/s200/carnage+with+sign.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316437850348481026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9B0-_x1Pj67Z7KEHSYa6mdlnP5zw2r9SsyaTybOlQ4XtcFsg-DzX0vKIP4PAfehcnY3VGqYBqyW6d-hrpySA8tlw83Cp0glopQ6BtmMWvu1K_RQFqILm89IrMV5VNs4GYyn3AHanxJNE/s1600-h/carnage+cafeteria+style.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9B0-_x1Pj67Z7KEHSYa6mdlnP5zw2r9SsyaTybOlQ4XtcFsg-DzX0vKIP4PAfehcnY3VGqYBqyW6d-hrpySA8tlw83Cp0glopQ6BtmMWvu1K_RQFqILm89IrMV5VNs4GYyn3AHanxJNE/s200/carnage+cafeteria+style.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316437846796560850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInnkBauAEXV422n7PnEpKt6OZ8d9QpjgBo3ltpXe2ZaZlSdJ7PX7gWIglegyVgRDSA0EyABYIQV2NjhpZnpV9PIErHapGtDpVkCzXmolucsFzK90yeKYKtVEjjZWkoKeiXTZufsQvZjic/s1600-h/more+cafeteria+carnage.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInnkBauAEXV422n7PnEpKt6OZ8d9QpjgBo3ltpXe2ZaZlSdJ7PX7gWIglegyVgRDSA0EyABYIQV2NjhpZnpV9PIErHapGtDpVkCzXmolucsFzK90yeKYKtVEjjZWkoKeiXTZufsQvZjic/s200/more+cafeteria+carnage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316438039399251666" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And finally the triumphant (?) finish!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNZxUvassVLRv05enD3zBXUTsAmU9ZZm_wasoSljweX1wgukTeyAJVE9r54vYp6zCtIeWspwk65ZJQBO9J1kQMcbfX2VUFJRKyqdQKvVW6a7H1MB6j3gV1M6XB_WrLvMKNwAMMO11vt9b/s1600-h/Jeff+Tilden.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNZxUvassVLRv05enD3zBXUTsAmU9ZZm_wasoSljweX1wgukTeyAJVE9r54vYp6zCtIeWspwk65ZJQBO9J1kQMcbfX2VUFJRKyqdQKvVW6a7H1MB6j3gV1M6XB_WrLvMKNwAMMO11vt9b/s200/Jeff+Tilden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316439236109831730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The agony and the ecstasy. It is a strange sport.tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-3505725072706830252009-03-22T13:07:00.000-07:002009-03-23T10:23:13.919-07:00Broken Bones & Bikes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpu8y4q7I7cr4U2sVA5Zy3dgTa1W2CjPeJyfeZEVUfDK57hdTwELLNnxjvc7QPTVS3UEruu3dWCdg95QiHwa725eVIbDUlKO6iKfGbU6-mD8iYAj-ZAiaqkL9diqpd5UbSLSiKtjyxr4k2/s1600-h/amypetertandem200k2009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 97px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpu8y4q7I7cr4U2sVA5Zy3dgTa1W2CjPeJyfeZEVUfDK57hdTwELLNnxjvc7QPTVS3UEruu3dWCdg95QiHwa725eVIbDUlKO6iKfGbU6-mD8iYAj-ZAiaqkL9diqpd5UbSLSiKtjyxr4k2/s200/amypetertandem200k2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316110886017223810" border="0" /></a><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Amy/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" />My hubby Robin broke his collar bone and fractured both wrists about 5 weeks ago from crashing on his bike. Just a couple of weeks after that my good buddy and sometime tandem partner, Peter, crashed his bike in CA and broke his scapula.<br /><br />After Mark R broke his pelvis last year from a bike crash I began to mentally compile a list of bones that ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE BROKEN. You know, fingers, maybe an arm, or the frequently broken clavicle are not such a big deal (although I have never broken a bone, knock on wood, so am no expert) but there are those bones that are integral to the structure of the human frame that really ought not to be broken. Pelvis, skull, scapula, femur - those just really need to remain intact. I actually cringe when I hear that someone has broken one of those. Just goes to reinforce my motto on each ride - keep the rubber side down.<br /><br />Back to my friend Peter. He is a very enthusiastic rider, loves to ride, has a great positive attitude, and is a big powerful guy. Two days before SIR's season starter 200k ride Peter emailed me to see if I would captain him on the tandem. I asked if he had clearance from his wife, Anita, and from his doctor. Without really answering the question he steamrolled the process and next thing I knew we were set to ride together. I hadn't captained the tandem for nearly a year and was VERY rusty. Combined with Peter's weight (all muscle Peter!) and my lack of recent experience I was doing a lot of oversteering and manhandling of the bike. Peter did confess that he hadn't consulted his doc about doing the ride and that Anita, while not forbidding it also did not give her blessing. So I got to add not just a little bit of trepidation about dumping my broken friend or just hurting him further by covering 200k of a pretty challenging bike course.<br /><br />The weather was GREAT! After a winter of WAY too much snow and COLD we actually saw evidence of spring after the fog cleared. Sun and temps up to 50 degrees added to my stoker's sunny attitude to make even the tough parts of the ride fun. The last few climbs to Greg's house near the finish were looming large in our minds but we handled 218th better than expected (no walking!) and the hill on 240th passed quickly as we spent the time gossiping about our rando friends (what happens on the tandem stays on the tandem - right Peter).<br /><br />No bravado here though, I was definitely wasted but pleased with our day. Always a pleasure to ride with Peter and all the other randos with terrific support and a great finish line chili feed at the Cox house. Not quite ready to think about 300k in two weeks...tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-10823134178731748212009-02-11T10:51:00.000-08:002009-02-11T11:16:25.704-08:00Fun at the Emergency Room<span style="font-family:arial;">Sunday started off in the usual fashion of late - layer on tons of clothes and bike down to the Southcenter Starbucks to meet up with the Charly Miller gang for a training ride. Rolling along Frager Rd in Kent events took a dramatic turn. I was on the front of the group chatting with Elaine when we heard a huge comotion behind us. After getting slowed and turned around my stomach lurched as I saw Robin on the ground. He'd had a bad fall on ice just a few weeks ago and was still healing up from that and it was obvious he wasn't jumping up from this one. A stick or something had gotten picked up by his wheel and when it met up with the fender stays and the fork the bike came to a sudden stop while Robin continued on the forward trajectory up and over the handle bars until he too came to a sudden stop on the pavement.<br /><br />One of our favorite new riding companions, Vincent Mouneke, was on the scene immediately doing a status check. Vincent is a plastic surgeon but we have called on his medical expertise and calm demeanor more than once on a bike ride. After the initial all over shock Robin's main complaint was his right shoulder. We were in a portion of the road blocked from vehicle traffic so Mark rode ahead to find the nearest access point which he reported was about 1/4 mile away. Robin did not want to call an aid car and I was having a hard time watching him in pain so Peter Beeson and I rode back to his van and then drove to the access point by which time Robin, with help from the rest of the group, had walked under his own steam. Don Jameson had also hit the ground but seemed to be in good shape. Robin and his bike were loaded into the van and Peter brought us home where I got Robin into some dry clothes and he had a little rest before we headed to the Emergency Room at Valley Medical Center. X-rays showed a broken right clavicle and small fractures in both wrists. We left with pain meds, wound dressings, and various slings and braces. Sunday night was pretty uncomfortable for him and he got up Monday feeling pretty stiff and sore. Since then he has used only ibuprofen and has been doing amazingly well. The wrists are in fairly good shape and we'll go into the orthopedic specialist again in a week or so to get new x-rays on the clavicle to make sure it hasn't shifted and is in a good position to heal.<br /><br />Thanks to all our fellow riders who took such good care of us and the staff at Starbucks who let us stow our bikes there while we took care of Robin. Hopefully in about 6 weeks he'll be back good as new. In the meantime he has a rather abused bike to concentrate his energies on.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-76981292530679846892009-02-06T05:34:00.000-08:002009-02-07T08:00:51.064-08:00Oh what a beautiful morning<span style="font-family:arial;">Oh what a beautiful day,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> I've got a wonderful feeling,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> Everything's going my way.<br /><br />That's what kept running through my head as a bunch of weekday ne'er do wells headed south along Lake Washington Boulevard from Leschi Wednesday morning on a 200km ride. As the sun came up it turned the lake orange while scant white clouds dotted the sky. A short time later majestic Mt Rainier loomed ahead with a chorus of bird song and the chatter of randos for background effect. I know there are many beautiful places in the world and wonderful places to live but at that moment I sent up a prayer of thanks for this being my home. Later in they day we passed by lakes, swollen fast-moving rivers and streams, and the always impressive Green River gorge. For a few hours the early February sun produced heat I could actually feel on my skin and all was right with the world.<br /><br />With the exception of yours truly everyone was riding strongly and only the last few of us rolled in to the finish after dark - but just barely so I was feeling good to post a sub 11-hour time. I enjoyed chatting a bit with Urs for a while before he decided to pick up his pace after Ravensdale to ride with Thai. In Auburn Vincent joined the fast boys leaving the rest of us to ebb and flow for the rest of the day: tandem team Ralph and Carol, Kristie, Martin, Mike Richeson, Dominic, Mark, Andy, Frank, and Steve Davis (thanks Mark...).<br /><br />A grand day out indeed.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-82162340223602524772009-01-24T14:09:00.000-08:002009-01-24T14:18:16.874-08:00Back on fhe R-12 train<span style="font-family:arial;">Got derailed in December and starting over in January wasn't looking good after an attempt last Sunday (see Mark's account here: </span><a href="http://rusa64.blogspot.com/2009/01/not-as-planned.html">http://rusa64.blogspot.com/2009/01/not-as-planned.html</a>. <span style="font-family:arial;">But thanks to Mark, Vincent, Ralph, and Kristie I got a 200k done on Thursday. It was freaking cold all day. Our "high" temp was 34 degrees and we were in fog and at or below freezing for all but about an hour. I was feeling pretty wimpish about anything that looked even faintly like ice on the road so the downhills (usually my forte) were slow and anxious. Leaving Granite Falls as the light was beginning to fade and the fog thicken even more I was having thoughts of quitting but Vincent, with his amazing power of positive thinking, got me believing I could make it.<br /><br />Vincent not only gave me a ride to the start but loaded and unloaded my bike each time and had a cold orange juice waiting for me in his truck in the morning. Throughout the ride he played shepherd at the back to make sure I didn't fade away. Mark was his usual wonderful company and provided many many good pulls for me and Ralph was a complete angel pacing me up the hills at what had to be a painfully slow speed for him. Kristie was terrific company and even tried to make me feel better by pretending to be tired towards the end.<br /><br />Thanks to my 4 riding companions for a great day out with warmth of friendship to make up for the cold in the air. Now I gotta get Robin healed up and back onto the R-12 train too.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-73667358131135914152008-12-24T10:00:00.001-08:002008-12-24T10:09:47.257-08:00Baby It's Cold Outside - or how my R-12 attempt met its end<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjee1Bfy6IivrALluqrlZXM_qatZaLhfp3nnj3o5eOG1oYCs8nyZwhlMU_pQQUkXq2HkFcZf0skr6UdfX1i61pN9__TSgRHRPFrQ0cjd0qcqRaREhQGKpMyJiQ_3BFVW_y7rKgCIgbir0gm/s1600-h/winter082008-12-20+073502DSCN0383.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjee1Bfy6IivrALluqrlZXM_qatZaLhfp3nnj3o5eOG1oYCs8nyZwhlMU_pQQUkXq2HkFcZf0skr6UdfX1i61pN9__TSgRHRPFrQ0cjd0qcqRaREhQGKpMyJiQ_3BFVW_y7rKgCIgbir0gm/s200/winter082008-12-20+073502DSCN0383.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283418720481073090" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Saturday Dec 20 - already snow on the ground in the Seattle area for a week</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> and this is what my thermometer showed at 7:35am - yes that says 17 degrees F! 2 days later early in the morning as I was looking at the window surveying the beautiful winter scene I heard an ominous drip drip drip from the window. Our gutters were full of ice and snow and the downspouts were completely frozen solid. Since our house has no eaves that means it backed up right onto (and into!) the walls and was coming in the house. Out we go with ladders, flashlights (it was still dark), drill, sharp objects, etc. We disconnected the downspouts and and thawed them in the garage until we could empty out the ice and reattach them. Next day I was on "downspout dut</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijNxrlsW2NT7BKwiDqEm55omwKz6p9ovPRARDQymVT9OZzyDjT_IeMC-W9qgHAun9jKQUF0XjIeLvupQXmDLiIWhaT8oaEJxMdCVCIN9b7mA8LC4ijWJKK2iE08333upnq_CwTV6abs07/s1600-h/winter082008-12-23+131330DSCN0384.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijNxrlsW2NT7BKwiDqEm55omwKz6p9ovPRARDQymVT9OZzyDjT_IeMC-W9qgHAun9jKQUF0XjIeLvupQXmDLiIWhaT8oaEJxMdCVCIN9b7mA8LC4ijWJKK2iE08333upnq_CwTV6abs07/s200/winter082008-12-23+131330DSCN0384.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283418722115748786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">y" and emptied one out before it got clogge</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGZGJCoWJyyEyJJEkvLeMpL-5pLyt6XtJMdfjkdlNVy4bN1goIDyztNh2YjfF-WwS88skuurS1WI6rT-RtPLsbfF2BjLnlMUzoLNhw-rBPs4rthSD8xOye09NuRctzmm-1NcZGCeyF52m/s1600-h/winter082008-12-23+131352DSCN0385.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGZGJCoWJyyEyJJEkvLeMpL-5pLyt6XtJMdfjkdlNVy4bN1goIDyztNh2YjfF-WwS88skuurS1WI6rT-RtPLsbfF2BjLnlMUzoLNhw-rBPs4rthSD8xOye09NuRctzmm-1NcZGCeyF52m/s200/winter082008-12-23+131352DSCN0385.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283418726999507298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">d - got about a 3 foot long section of "ice tube" intact - pretty cool.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, all this equates to no 200k ride for me this month (there is no chance for me before the end of the year now I'm afraid) so I'll be starting my R-12 quest over in January. Wouldn't it be great if Santa put a new bike under the tree to take up where the Kestrel let off????</span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-59289939922038017312008-12-19T08:52:00.000-08:002008-12-19T08:58:42.919-08:00Women's Bike Camp - June 12-14, 2009<span style="font-family:arial;">Last year Lisa Brudvik and Bridget Herzog put on a women's bike camp near Leavenworth in the tradition of Estelle Grey. I was one of the coaches for the event and it was great. It was a small group and every woman there gained skills and confidence in cycling. This year Bridget had to bow out and Lisa extended me the honor of asking me to partner with her to present the camp again in 2009. If you or someone you know might be interested please check out the website here:<br /><a href="http://www.coachlisab.net/bicycle_retreat/">http://www.coachlisab.net/bicycle_retreat/</a><br />or feel free to contact me for more information.<br /></span>tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044803563136046054.post-44904901406376307592008-12-15T20:12:00.000-08:002008-12-15T20:35:40.034-08:00RIP Kestrel 1993-2008<span style="font-family:arial;">Over the past couple of years I had begun to wonder about the state of my sexy fun summer bike - a red Kestrel first generation carbon fibre bike. In my quieter moments I had to balance my thoughts between visions of a catastrophic failure on a fast windy descent vs $0 in the budget for a new bike. The fates now have taken the balance scales out of my hands and firmly yanked on the chain of the failure side (fortunately without the aforementioned adjective).<br /><br />A couple of months ago Robin complained of my bike "creaking". I didn't hear it but sometimes you don't - you ride away from the noise I guess. He thought the crank was moving too much so diagnosed a worn out bottom brac</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ket. No problem, off to our favorite bike shop - Sammamish Valley Cycles - place an order, and even get personal delivery from Mark Thomas before our weekly group ride on Sunday. Sunday evening Robin heads to the basement to install the new bb. About 45 minutes later he comes looking for me and finds me flopped in front of the TV - uh, wait - I mean preparing a 4 course dinner while tutoring an underpriveleged youth in calculus and listening to classical music - yes, that's it. Anyway, he reports the aluminum cylinder that hods the bottom brackets has delaminated from the carbon fibre frame (or whatever) and the bike is toast. A great many and mixed emotions accompa</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ny this news. Hopeful that Kestrel will offer some kind of replacement under their lifetime guarantee thus possibly securing a new bike, relief that the end didn't manifest itself in one of the painful and gory ways I had previously imagined, guilty at having secretly plotted ways to replace it (although not successfully), and lastly and mostly sadness since this is the nicest bike I have ever owned (or more correctly stolen from my husband) and I've had hundreds of fantastic rides on it. I conquered the Death Ride on it, rode my very first brevet on it, joined in many fast and fun group rides on it, redeemed a DNF of 1000km brevet on it, and completed the bike leg of Canada Ironman on it.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It is red, sleek, and shiny and always got attention even when lighter, newer, and fancier bikes were around. My dear Kestrel, you will be missed.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_foBUaOpggjOenRYTCYN2yrgm-2mq0Z6fNiX1gL74XjN4hAtQd3gcdJTaEnT96xuHQdddTIRgGMPN81anxXLv8Og0hbVfJBZv3UZov54ZXQZwt0n7qaaKby2SSMHZp0GoJRMpCDM4Ojb6/s1600-h/RainierPermanent_002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_foBUaOpggjOenRYTCYN2yrgm-2mq0Z6fNiX1gL74XjN4hAtQd3gcdJTaEnT96xuHQdddTIRgGMPN81anxXLv8Og0hbVfJBZv3UZov54ZXQZwt0n7qaaKby2SSMHZp0GoJRMpCDM4Ojb6/s200/RainierPermanent_002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280241644244955218" border="0" /></a>The ever patient Kestrel leaning on the picnic table in Ashford waiting to carry me to Paradise and beyond.tripieperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04286347034554466635noreply@blogger.com1