Lassen Volcanic National Park

After leaving Sheri's place on Monday (June 28th), I stopped for two nights at Manzanita Lake Campground on the north side of Lassen Volcanic National Park, several hours drive north of Stockton and about 60 miles east of Redding. It was more or less on the way to my Fourth of July destination.

I was aware that the highway through the park was only open about 10 miles on either end so you couldn't drive all the way through. Also, the Lassen Peak Trail was not yet open. (If this trail is one you might want to do this summer, check their website first. It will be closed periodically during the summer for restoration.) There are plenty of other trails, some quite easy, such as the 1.8 mile loop around Lake Manzanita and the half-mile paved trail in the Devastated Area.

Lassen Peak from the west side of Lake Manzanita on the afternoon of my arrival.

A closer view of Lassen Peak from the west side of Lake Manzanita.

On the morning of my second day at Lassen, a prescribed burn was being done by the Park Service on the northwest side of Lake Manzanita. The wind carried the smoke away from the campground area but the acrid smell of the burning brush permeated the air.

I stopped at the visitors center, which was engulfed in smoke as it was in the direct path of the wind though a safe distance from the burn area, to get a park brochure and some information (it was closed when I arrived the night before). Even though the road through the park was not open, if you wanted to do some driving, you could access all four corners of the park. There were campgrounds on the south side so I could have gone that way and spent the night on that end of the park but it was in the opposite direction I was headed and would have added several more hours onto an already long trip. Instead, I relaxed around the campground and took a few short walks.

Double the Pleasure, Times Two

Easter Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting, in person, a gentleman whom I have admired from a distance for over three years. I first met Stephen Danko via his blog in late .. and then when we learned that we had the same personality type a few months later, we both thought it would be neat to meet each other sometime. It's hard to believe that we finally have! Thanks to Kathryn Doyle (whom I had met last August) and her husband, we had a delicious Easter dinner and a wonderful afternoon talking and discussing all manner of things. Thank you, Steve and Kathryn for a most pleasant time!

Kathryn Doyle, Stephen Danko and Becky Wiseman. April 4, ...

The weather on Easter Sunday was miserable. It was chilly and rainy with occasional torrential downpours. I was so glad that it was Steve that drove to meet us! I was even more pleased on Monday morning when I awoke to sunshine. It made the drive to Stockton to pick up Sheri Fenley (The Educated Genealogist) much nicer. After a big hug from Sheri, we drove on to Sacramento to have lunch with Craig Manson (Geneablogie), another of the early geneabloggers whom I've wanted to meet, like forever. (Craig has been blogging his genealogy since September ..!! and I found him in the fall of ...) There was no awkwardness in meeting, it was as though we had all known each other for a long time, and in essence we have. But there is nothing quite like meeting for the first time someone you have “known” online. I really didn't want our time together to end, it was so much fun! Thank you, Sheri and Craig, for an incredibly pleasant day.

Craig Manson and Becky Wiseman. April 5, ...

Becky Wiseman and Sheri Fenley, slightly out of focus but happy! April 5, ...

Craig has written his impressions of our get-together, as has Sheri (who also has more photos).

For some more fun, check out Randy's post for another recent GeneaBlogger Meetup in Australia! Cool, Randy!

A day in York: Roaming around town and discovering a special church with box pews

Without a doubt, I have seen so many churches, perhaps in the hundreds already in my lifetime, maybe more, that somehow I have come to the breaking point of enough is enough (I now can relate to the Dutchman). I have made a pact with myself that I will only check out a church if it is special or it has something unique to offer. Now this church, the Holy Trinity Church Goodramgate, I came across while I was roaming the pretty streets of York. I thought she was one of a kind.

This is Stonegate, a busy shopping lane.

I was just done walking the York ruin walls and I am now heading back to the centre. I still have time to wander off a bit before I take a quick lunch break. Not really hungry yet but I was looking forward later in the afternoon to some traditional English scones with clotted cream and jam, and of course tea. While walking on the street I saw an out of sight wrought-iron gate with a signboard in front that says:

‘A rare seventeenth-century survival, box pews like these were once common in Anglican churches. Each family would sit together, renting a pew annually.

The high sides of the pews limited drafts in unheated churches and provided privacy, but also forced the occupants to focus on the content of the sermon.

The widespread removal of the box pews during the nineteenth-century makes them an unusual sight today. Holy Trinity Goodramgate is now the only church in York with box pews.’

Hmm, this is interesting. I need to see these box pews. What do they look like? Curious, I entered the garden and walked into the church and look what I found:

I do not think I have been to a church with box pews. These are indeed a rare find. It is very special to see them being preserved for the sake of history and posterity. I made sure to give a donation before leaving the small church.

Here are some random fotos of York I shot while roaming around:

Fotos above were taken on Goodramgate, Micklegate, Stonegate, Colliergate and Barley Hall.

Next: Not hungry yet so what's for lunch?

Velo Transgressions

I saw this bicycle yesterday, chained to the railing of a restaurant in Harvard Square directly under a series of neon "No Bikes Please" signs.

The restaurant responded by taping this note to the saddle:

"This, actually, is a bike, of which yon sign speaks.
(Please don't park here this weekend)".

Plenty of businesses would have (gleefully) had the lock cut and disposed of the bicycle, but this restaurant was nice enough not to. I wonder what was going through the bike owner's mind when locking their green-tired pride and joy directly under a "No Bikes" sign. It seems like the kind of intentionally transgressive act that gives cyclists in Boston a bad reputation.

This made me think of an incident a couple of weeks ago, when I wanted to go into a place of business, but the bike racks outside were full. I peeked inside with my bike and asked whether I could leave it in the lobby since there was nowhere to park it outdoors. The person I addressed was immediately filled with rage, and said something to the effect of "Don't even think of coming in here with that! You people think you can do anything you want with those bikes!" In the area where I live, I have noticed that bikes are often associated with transgressive behaviour. Some cyclists encourage this; then other cyclists reap the consequences.

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

I had come to terms with my road cycling days being over for the season. The Northeast Bicycle Club women's rides ended with the summer. I no longer had afast roadbike in my possession. The days grew short, reducing precious daylight hours. And it snowed in October. I was content fitting in a quick fixed gear ride here and there. Soon winter would start in earnest and take that away from me as well. And I was okay with that, I thought; I was ready.





But boy, was I lying to myself. Putting together the Moser this late in the Fall, I planned to take it on a couple of test rides, then put it on the trainer. But the bike's dynamite handling snapped me out of my "waiting for winter" stupor and made me want to ride, ride, ride. Somehow I found the time despite the limited daylight, and still I wanted more.






I knew that the Ride Studio Cafe had recently started offering a weekly Women's Ride, which they planned to continue for as long as the weather permitted. Their mixed gender rides have a reputation for being tougher than described, so I never worked up the courage to join those over the summer. Would the women's rides be more accessible? I was nervous, but ultimately felt that I had no choice: my bike was demanding to go. Can't argue with a bike.





I arrived early to have some coffee and take a break from riding to the ride itself. A few minutes later another woman walked in. Gosh, she looked familiar. We said hello and she introduced herself as Pamela. I realised that she was Pamela Blalock - a rather famous New England cyclist, who has done Paris-Brest-Paris and cycled up Mt. Washington multiple times. Suddenly I had doubts that I belonged on this ride. But I tried to keep calm, curiosity overcoming my fear of riding with serious cyclists.





It helped that I already knew the ride leader, Patria (shown here as Wonderwoman on Halloween). A strong cyclist with a road racing background, she also has a talent for putting people at ease - handy when dealing with neurotics like me. Two other women arrived, making it five of us in total. Shrugging off the morning chill, we set off on a very similar route to the one I had gotten accustomed to on the NEBC paceline rides.The ride itself however, was entirely different.




For one thing, it was not a paceline ride but more of a social ride. We rode in pairs or clusters and talked the entire time, as opposed to cycling in a tight single-file procession while listening to the leader's instructions. I am unaccustomed to (and fearful of!) this more social kind of group ride, but got used to it fairly quickly. I noticed that I am a lot more comfortable riding side by side with another cyclist in close proximity than I used to be. Our abilities were all over the spectrum, which kept the pace of the ride manageable. Each of our bikes was different as well: steel, titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber were all represented, as were different type of shifter setups.






The funny thing is that I don't have much of a memory of the ride itself, since all of it was spent in conversation. The miles rolled by quickly and the weather was ridiculously gorgeous for the first day of December. In the end I wanted more, which is always a good note on which to end an activity. I am now debating whether to attempt the RSC mixed gender ride, or to leave well enough alone and stick to the women's rides.



I have an annoying tendency to get overexcited about things that I enjoy doing, and I know I am setting myself up for a terrific let-down if I get all roadcycling-crazy again and then bang, it starts snowing. But gosh, I can't help it - I want to ride!

Mushroom Picking Season?

Just got these in the mail and they looked so ridiculously season-appropriate that I had to share! One of the cutest bicycle accessories I've seen in some time and certainly worth the $10 price tag, these tiny objects are cork and bamboo bar-end plugs from Portland Design Works. They look like miniature mushrooms and are so nice that I almost don't want to install them on my bike.



I like to use wine corksto plug the ends of handlebars, preferring their organic warmth to the cold look and feel of plastic and metal plugs. But I ran out of corks and didn't want to have to drink more wine - so I looked around online and found these delightful creations. They are practically weightless, if you care about that sort of thing, and are made in both drop and upright handlebar diameters. Just lovely all around.



Since my Rivendellno longer has bar-end shifters and my other roadbike is a fixed gear, I will probably order another set and install these on both. What are you using for bar-end plugs these days? I've tried lots of different things at this point, but keep coming back to corky/woodsy stuff - it just feels nicer.

Petzl Nomic and Ergo.."danger danger will robinson"

Petzl's answer on 12/21..less than a week after Petzl France got a look at the first pair of damaged tools.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//12/petzl-issues-recall-for-new-nomic-and.html







"I have always been of the belief that the pommels needed to be as strong as the leashes they replaced since climbers will be betting the farm on them, like they did the leashes."







It should be obvious I am a big fan of the Petzl line of tools. I'm been using Quarks and Nomics from almost day one of production.













One of the few weak points on a Nomic is the lower Delrin pommel and the upper grip support. The upper grip support has been known to break off on occasion and generally a warranty issue at Petzl where they have in the past simply replaced the tool.



If you have read the "Old Nomic, New Nomic" comparison you have seen how the pommel male/female interface differs on the old and new model. I had written about and speculated thatthe sloppyfit on the pommel/shaft interface would likely bean issue. But I had thought the tools would make it through more than a few days of climbing.



The pictures here are from Daniel Harro'snew set of Nomics with less than a dozen water icepitches total on them. As in less than a total of 12 full pitches of climbing and the pommel is stripped on one tool and about to go on the second.



My new Ergos are seeing similar wear issues with the interface and already dinged and showing prematurewear. Petzl says they will warranty them but replacement isn't going to stop it from happening again. It is obvious we will need a better fix asap. The metal inner face between shaft and pommelis 3mm on the pommel with one tooth and 6mm on the aluminum shaft end so it is not full strength and the harder stainless is cutting through the softer aluminum shaft with relative ease. Before anyone criesfoul and that it must be climber abuse, my original Nomic pommels are going on FOUR full winter and alpine seasons, hundreds of pitches by nowand nevera bobble as we start on the 5th season.



If you have the newest tools Nomic or Ergo and have climbed on them...check your gear now.. as you likely already have somewear happening. Only two of us in our small climbingcommunity that are on the newest tools, and we do.



Less teeth, and rounded teeth are making the new pommel much, much weaker in comparison to the older style tools with full width interface and a square cut interface. Add to that the serrated "spike" digging into the ice, loosing the ability to slide around a bit under that kind of force applied with each swing of the toolandfailure seemsassuredon the newest Nomic and Ergo pommels.



The only answer I have at the momentis set the pommel in one position and use some very good steel based epoxy to keep it from moving and hopefully give yourhandles some added life. But I don't know if that will void the warranty at Petzl yet. (12/07/2001update.. Petzl says it will void the warranty..so don't do it)



No easy long term fix, but worth thinking about as well, is pull the new pommels off completely and bolt on the older pommels. (they bolt right on but only in a "BIG" size) The grip will be bigger but at least that way you will strip a plastic part and not your aluminum shaft and need a new tool. That way if Petzl does come up with a quick answer your shaft won't be totally useless when they do.



Update directly from Petzl this morning 12/07/



This is info I gatheredfrom a conversation withRick Vance @ Petzl. For those that wonder Rick is a climber just like the rest of us. You can take him at his word.



These are the first failures Petzl has seen. They are on to the problemnow and working to identify the exact issues that caused the failure and most importantly along term fix. Broken tools will be covered under warranty. So no worries there. Don't start modifying tools or adding epoxy. Give Petzl a chance to solve the problem first. Petzl will give a public update once they know what caused the problem and their proposed solution.