Absolutely Exercise

My previous day out on the bicycle was last Monday and so by today, Friday, I was beginning to fret. The forecast came good and the wind slackened. The sun shone and the temperature reached the high-fifties Fahrenheit, which for the last day of January allowed for it to be a shorts and wind-jacket day. The outbound ride towards Sand Hollow was a delight with two hawks playing tag with one another, although I was only able to take photos of one of them. The crouch by the hawk on the top of the utility pole was in response to the other hawk dive-bombing at high speed. I suspect that what I was seeing might have been mating behavior. Immediately after the flypast, the perching hawk took off and the pair retreated to a discreet distance. Up at the Copper Rock golf development the entrance feature has been brought into commission and its final form revealed: it's a waterhenge, a cross between a rock structure and a water feature. On the boulder wall to the west of the round...

I cheated with the photos today. I took them as we returned from an appointment across town and took the car over RLington Parkway. I also cheated with the collage. All five cell contain the same panorama, just differently presented in each frame. Yesterday was a day off and my ride today was on the static indoor cycle, but the stats are genuine. Someone who tells the truth on one in three occasions may be regarded as an exemplar of virtue in the present times. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

Over time, the design of this house has appealed to me more and more. Today was the first time I was able to take a photo without a vehicle blocking the view. I was trying to walk with a lengthened stride (a return to my normal gait of yore) in an attempt to mitigate the tottering that age and infirmity have thrust upon me. I also tried to allow taking photos to last for the shortest possible time by preparing myself and the camera as I walked and then snapping off the shot and continuing to walk. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

Today was about returning to my baseline ride and trying to go forward using it as a benchmark on which to build more fitness. I realized today that my high-intensity flashing riding light was the reason why the hawks have been so edgy recently. I was able to observe this one for several minutes. A passing ready-mix concrete truck prompted it to take flight. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required; click below for limited access:

Thursday afternoon, Friday, and Saturday were a second medical furlough following another round of maintenance work by my doctors. Sunday was test ride day to see if the affected parts had been returned to working condition. I am pleased to report that the trials were successful. I rode on some of my normal roads and walked some unpaved terrain to check that rougher usage would be comfortable. I even rode up one of the steeper cart trackways at the golf course to check that operation under full load would not be an issue. The day was mild and calm. I rode in shorts and a light wind jacket, but carried a rain jacket just in case. As I arrived back to base a few spots of rain fell. Later, after dark, proper rain began to fall gently. I am not allowing myself to be misled by the continuing good weather. The forecast for the week ahead looks good.  Der mentsh trakht un Got lakht, as the Yiddish saying goes ( Man plans and God laughs ). Yesterday was the 261st anniversary...

The transportation history of the Mormon (Latter Day Saints) migration into what is now the State of Utah is described on a plaque beside a display at the Hurricane Heritage Park and Museum (the link is to Utah’s Adventure Family website). More details are available from an article on Wikipedia. The contrast between the wagons/handcarts that journeyed across unmade tracks, carrying mostly the bare essentials of life, and a behemoth that is a modern truck capable of smoothly cruising the asphalt with its full load of nutritionally-empty sweetened, fizzy water will not escape your ironic gaze. The Snopes website debunked the falsehood that the LDS church has a significant share ownership in either of the two dominant fizzy-beverage companies, Pepsi and Coca-Cola. That article was updated in late Aug. 2012 when the church seemed to moving towards a more relaxed position. In Jan. 2016 NPR published an article clarifying some common misconceptions. Decaffeinated versions of fi...

I was only firing on one cylinder again today, so I took my time and stopped frequently to take photos. The Pine Valley Mountains were channeling the Alps on a mild and sunny winter afternoon. My photos do not do justice to the constantly changing cloudscapes in the latter part of the day. A correspondent sent me a dramatic re-envisioning of the first photo, which motivated me to attempt a more subdued enhancement of my own in the final photo below. A couple of hawks and I did the Utility Pole Two Step along the length of W3000S. I would U-turn and approach quietly, but the hawks would spook and fly along to the next pole. This dance would then repeat. Finally my perseverance paid dividends and an exasperated hawk sat long enough atop a pole for me to get into position with my feet on the ground and my camera in my hands to take the sequence shown in the second collage. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

I had mostly recovered from the bad fettle of yesterday and today the restorative powers of bicycling slowly made me feel better as my ride progressed. After a dull start the skies gradually brightened and as I reached my second turnaround the sunshine burst through the clouds. It was too late in the day to raise the temperature. I am so  enjoying these days with afternoon temperatures that only just manage to get above 50°F (10°C) that it's difficult to remember what it's like riding in the 90°F (32°C) heat of summer. In 2019 the worst of the winter weather arrived in early February and lasted two months, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required; or click below for limited access:

The director, writer, actor, and comedian Woody Allen once  quipped that " …eighty percent of success is showing up ", which is what I did today. I have worked with crews for whom such a metric would mark me as a rampant over-achiever. Woody does not joke only about life, he is eminently quotable about death, too: " My relationship with death remains the same. I'm strongly against it. " So am I and like Woody, " It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens. " I made my minimum contribution and felt somewhat better after freewheeling back down from Sand Hollow Top in the cold air. At a random rural divergence, I took the one less traveled by and soon found myself at the end of the road. Fortunately, this was only literally. Metaphorically, today was not to be the day. Low-thermogenesis winter riding is cool. I like it in moderation. You may quote me if you wish. View a STRAVA entry for this po...

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day in the United States. There are flags flying all over the town and I thought it a suitable occasion to reflect on the current state of the union. Something went awry with my STRAVA recording. Ah, the vicissitudes of life!

I never met Mr. Boots, although I think I may have glimpsed him from a distance as he hunted in the long grass around where a memorial to him has now been erected. I hope he had a long and happy life during which he was clearly loved. We have been asked to make it absolutely clear that there is absolutely no affiliation between ABSOLUTELY NO DUMPING and the website AbsolutelyExercise.com where this blog is hosted. The oleander bush is toxic in all its parts. This blog is relatively harmless for readers and only mildly addictive for the writer. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

My heart fell. I took a three-day layup and behind my back there was a move to change the use designation of the lands through which I so much enjoy riding. My dismay is rooted in impurely personal and selfish soil: I am sure the city fathers will weigh all the interests at play—individual, communal, commercial, and environmental—before coming to a fair, unbiased, and equitable decision without fear or favor. I was out for a short ride to double-check my knee function after recent pharmaceutical therapy and a first-check walk earlier today in the forenoon. Everything seemed to be contributing to my  hunkey-story , but I was careful not to exceed half power. As I came to a kerb-stop at the end of my ride, the sun did an 'Excuse me while I kiss the earth' maneuver with which I was heartily in agreement. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

I took my rejuvenated right knee out for a stroll. I have had a three day layup, so it's uncertain if the comfort I experienced today was from the rest or the cortisone injection. Either way, the relief was welcome and I hope it lasts. If it does then my sincere thanks my doctor and to Big Pharma! I passed that slowcoach tortoise/turtle/terrapin (the differentiation is regional/linguistic rather than scientific/taxonomic) on my walk, which cheered me up no end. Clearly (s)he was unmoved by my performance and remained immobile until I returned by the same route. The town was remarkably quiet for a Saturday morning. Even after living here for almost nineteen years, much of the visual landscape and urban-scape still has the shock of the new for me. Tractors with parasols? Minimally-clad drummers (probably local) with horned helmets? Metal sunflower vendors (ask to see the range of dinosaurs)? From a cultural perspective, I may never recover. View a STRAVA entry for this ...

I am on a three-day medical furlough away from walking and bicycling and I am beginning to develop a  cabin fever  response Yes, it's a real condition! At that Wikipedia link there is a recommendation: One therapy for cabin fever is as simple as getting out and interacting with nature directly.  After attending a talk by Will Gause I was even more restless, so I took myself off for a drive along the Southern Parkway. I drove up the gravel road to the Sand Mountain ATV assembly area and looked across to the places that are so familiar from my bicycle outings. Tomorrow, I will try out my hopefully rejuvenated knee after having a cortisone injection. The signs are favorable.

The evening sky did not look particularly impressive (more the grays you see rather than the purples and reds in the other collage photos) until it was undershot by the sinking sun. I almost missed the show, but was alerted by my alert companion and dashed outside with my camera as the show was fading.

Earlier today, Will Gause [STRAVA website link with login required] gave a talk entitled 'Get On Your Bikes and Live!' as part of an IHC LiVeWell series. He described how following a family tragedy he turned his life around and then he shared with his audience the journey he undertook to becoming the person he is today. Some of that journey was on a bicycle, but there are other ways to travel a similar route and he shared some thoughts on that subject. I have a notion that there may be more to come so I am not going to preempt that possibility by rehashing details, but if he does expand his caring mission with a wider remit then you should seize the opportunity to benefit from his wisdom and experience. There is a STRAVA entry for this post (login required).

I had been hoping to meet up with David when he was riding his favorite bicycle. It's an earlier Cruzbike model, a Silvio. He was heading north down the hill as I was heading south up the hill to Sand Hollow Top. He turned and we road to the crest for a natter. With frontwheel-drive and -steering, the recumbent Cruzbike is an interesting alternative to the more conventional diamond-framed, upright, rearwheel-drive safety bicyle that has changed little since its development in the late nineteenth century. Up at Copper Rock the development continues. There are now two framed structures and it looked as though the contractors were beginning to apply some type of covering. On my way back through the cultivated area, I noticed a cloud of dust hanging in the still evening air. An variety of contractors plant, including what may be a ground testing rig, had assembled on one of the fields. Change is the only constant. There is a STRAVA entry for this post (login required).

Alfred Wainwright devised one of the most-loved pedestrian paths in England, which he called the Coast to Coast Walk (often shortened to C2C , which is where it runs). It was named as the second-best walk in the world according to a survey of experts in 2004. The most feared part of it is not the high mountains of the west; not even the boggy moors of the backbone of the country strike fear into the hearts of walkers; not even the rough ground of the North York Moors gives them pause: the flat pavement-pounding in the agricultural lowlands of the Vale of Mowbray is the feared section even though it is quite short. I reflected on this as I walked on concrete sidewalks this morning. My longer walk yesterday on gravel and grass was much kinder to my old bones. The mystery found-object was lying in the middle of one of those sidewalks. I have no idea what it is, let alone its purpose. The name of Robert's Roost caused an embarrassing faux pas for me when I first moved here...

As I approached the Gen. Dick Stout north sock the road was quiet. I went behind a utility box for a natural break. Seemingly from nowhere, and certainly without audible warning, an aircraft came in low directly towards me. I experienced a sudden privation of privacy. I was quick enough to capture a photo of the plane sideways-on as he passed me and landed. A full frontal, the plane not me, was available later because I was more alert on my return journey and saw him from afar. There is a STRAVA entry for this post (login required).

I read a headline recently: "Slow Cycling Gains Momentum". It sounded like a low-speed collision between a paradox and a haiku. Most discussions about bicycle riding speeds tend to revolve around 'fast' rather than 'slow' as their subjects. This is understandable for an activity which has a specific word for when two or more practitioners are gathered together: it's called a race. Asking a practitioner of t'ai chi ch'üan (supreme ultimate fist) how fast they are able to complete a set of movements is to invite a blow to your ego. Fortunately, you will see it coming in plenty of time to avoid it landing. You might reflect on bicycle riding as an art form rather than a competitive sport. In bicycle racing the winner is not necessarily the most elegant rider. Perhaps it would benefit the sport if bonifications (time bonuses) were available for style. Just kidding. I searched the web for articles that compared bicycle riding to t'ai chi as ...