Two rides, two days: yesterday was a Freemansburg/Hellertown hill ride, and today Anne and I rode to Easton to brunch with Judy. Both rides were sunny, with 90-plus temperatures, and I am now wasted. Eighty nine miles for the (abbreviated) ride week though, so I feel pretty good.
(Things could be worse: Denver just got a ton of snow — Emmi actually invoked the “more than 6 inches fell” rule and made sticky buns. At least it waited until we were gone this time…)
Thunderstorms should be blowing in tonight, and tomorrow should be a bit cooler. Towpath?
Congratulations to my niece Olivia, who graduates high school today!
Some books…
I brought both The Dazzle of Day and Deacon King Kong along on this trip, and finished them both. Both had long ago become chores to get through (especially Dazzle), and both turned out OK by the time they ended (especially Deacon — Dazzle of Day was just unrelentingly depressing almost to the very end).
Being on vacation meant that we had to visit a few bookstores, and that meant more new books:
Thin Air, by Richard K. Morgan: I burned through this one in a few days, and finished it on the flight home. This was another in my long series of “bubblegum for the mind” sci-fi books, and it was classic Richard K. Morgan: a genetically modified super-warrior, washed up and gone vaguely rogue on Mars, gets himself involved in some serious interplanetary spy-soldier drama. Lots of hyper-violence, high tech, and cheesy sex… I already can’t remember the hero’s name, but it was a fun read while it lasted.
Piranesi, by Susannah Clarke: I’d been planning to read this for a while, but put it off to read her first book (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which took me forever to finish) then other things intervened… But I picked it up in Colorado Springs, and am now about a quarter of the way through. I’m not sure what it’s really about yet, but so far it’s the journal of an earnest, somewhat naive (amnesiac?) young man named Piranesi, who lives in the ruins of a giant house, which seems to be the only thing in his universe. It feels like something sinister is coming down the pike, but so far the vibe is a lot like The Slow Regard of Silent Things, and the world-building — the part I like best anyway — is really good.
Morning weigh-in: 171.5#, 11.5% BF (not great, not terrible)
Today was the first weigh-in since we got back from vacation, and it’s also the first “fast day” since before Denver — who diets on vacation? But now I’m back, and back in the groove.
I got in a towpath ride yesterday, my first bike ride in weeks. It was a beautiful warm sunny day, and Spring (which had just been starting to happen when we left), was in full bloom along the towpath. All sorts of flowers (phlox, king’s rocket) along the path, with fully greened-up trees all around, blooming with flowers of their own and filling the air with perfume, just perfect as I rode along the sun-dappled trail with the water sparkling next to me.
Anne went out earlier on a road ride with Julie, and reported that she could feel a positive effect from our weeks at altitude. I noticed it too: my perceived effort and my heart rate were both lower than I expected, and I seemed to be cruising along at a good clip too. Then I reached my turnaround, and realized I’d had a tailwind on the way out… Still, I felt pretty good considering my time away from the bike, and had a good overall pace despite the wind.
Today was the CAT/Bethlehem Bike To Work Day festivities and short ride, and in a few minutes I’m bicycling over to a doctor’s appointment. Bike bike bike…
Well, we’re home. We flew to Philly yesterday and rented a car to get the rest of the way — hard to believe, but that’s probably the easiest way to get between PHL and here. We were home in time to vote, but there’s no food here, the grass was ( was! ) a foot tall when we drove up, and the car had trouble after sitting for two weeks — it sounds like something is broken and clanking inside one of the wheels, no idea how that could have happened just sitting there. But now the car’s been towed to the shop, the lawn has been tamed, my first load of laundry is done and I’m gearing up for a bike ride, my first ride in two weeks…
Our time back in Denver after Colorado Springs was not too crazy, we just stayed in a nice hotel downtown and did some exploring: we saw the Denver Art Museum, and visited the REI “flagship store,” and watched the lunar eclipse from the fancy rooftop bar we could see from our hotel window. We’d returned the rental, so we did everything on foot, except for one time, when we rented those electric scooters we saw everywhere. (Sorry, no photos!) We did see Emmi & Kyle for dinner a few more times, and also managed to get together for an afternoon with my nephew Chris.
For completeness, here the are photos from the final phase of our trip:
Bird With A Pearl EarringVeterinary Emergency Group ConferenceChris And MeThe REI MothershipSunday In Confluence ParkMe And The FaceColorado State CapitolDenver City HallNose And Carrot?Denver Map (Sanborn Map?)Le Meridien Rooftop BarThe Rockies From Our Hotel WindowGiant Blue BearRockies From The Train
Our trip today was up into the mountains, out near Cripple Creek to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. This was a place where, 34 million years ago, a lake/creek area was buried by volcanic activity — all these giant redwoods were buried to about 15 feet or so, and what was buried got fossilized while what was above rotted away. (All sorts of other plants, as well as fish, insects, and small mammals, were fossilized as well.) Fast forward to about 50 years ago, and this area was saved from development and the national monument was born…
OverviewPike’s Peak From The RearFossil Weathering ResearchFossil Redwood StumpFossil Redwood StumpFossil Redwood StumpsFossil Redwood StumpThe Back Of Pike’s PeakAnneThe Big StumpSemi-Arid PlantFossil Redwood StumpAcross the FieldThe largest Fossil Stump, MaybeGround Squirrel HolesPasque FlowerHow To Find StumpsDesert FlowerAnt Hill (Thatching Ants)Fossil PlantsFossil PlantsFossil Fish And InsectsFossil InsectsFossil InsectsThree Connected Redwood Stump FissilsKyle, Anne And EmmiPredator (Coyote? Bobcat?)ScatTiny WildflowersGround SquirrelSawmill TrailHigh PlainsKyle & EmmiWildflowersWildflowersInsect DamageAnne And Burnt TreeAnneMeDesert Ball CactusPike’s Peak From Sawmill TrailElk Damage To BarkSawmill TrailAnt Hill (Harvester Ants)
This was a really fun and spectacularly beautiful way to spend the day, and afterward we stopped for a late lunch on the way home.
This is our last night in Colorado Springs; tomorrow we head back up to Denver for the final leg of our trip.
It was a bit warm yesterday so we decided to do some indoor exploration: we went downtown to the arts/historic district (Old Colorado City), got some lunch, and then visited the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. They had several exhibits going on, including one reexamining John James Audobon and his prints, and one room filled with Chihuly works.
Audobon’s Yellow WarblerAudobon’s Ivory-billed WoodpeckerAudobon’s (imaginary) Sea EagleChihuly ExhibitStudy For A David & Goliath, Very Clockwork OrangeUndated Tin FrameLegend of Our Lady Of Guadaloupe
We finished our day with a visit to a coffee-shop/bookstore, where we all ended up getting several books.
We got here Sunday, and did a little bit of walking around Monday, but things got real yesterday when we got up early and explored The Garden of the Gods. This is a spectacular park (and National Natural Landmark) on the edge of town, which features the same kind of up-tilted sandstone formations we saw near Red Rock. There really isn’t much of a narrative here, we just walked around, admiring the views and and taking pictures:
Pike’s Peak and Garden Of The GodsAnne At Garden Of The GodsMe At Garden Of The GodsKyleEmmi & AnneKyle, Emmi & AnneKyle And The Rock FormationGarden Of The GodsKyle, Emmi & Anne At Garden Of The GodsRock FormationsHiking To The Next FormationRock FinsPike’s PeakKyle With The Rock FinKyle And EmmiRock Fin Up CloseAgainst The DayUnstable RocksRock FormationsAnneA PigeonJuniper BerriesKissing CamelsRock CarvingsKyle, Emmi & AnneThe ScotsmanScotsman TrailKyle And The ScotsmanYou Are HereColorado SavannahArid Landscape And Pike’s PeakSemi-DesertPrickly PearsAnne And EmmiThe Hole In The WallMore Rocks
Right about that last photo is where I somehow managed to change my camera settings to a sort of “focus” effect, which made these last few a bit odd but hey, these are the photos I got:
Balanced RockKyle And EmmiKyle & EmmiBalanced RockKyle At Balanced RockKyle, Anne & Emmi
And finally, one last shot of Pike’s Peak, from our table at the pub where we had lunch:
Here are a bunch of photos from our first days in Colorado…
Our first day in town we had some time to kill, but not a whole lot so we just went for a walk around the lake at Belmar Park. There were plenty of flowers and trees starting to bloom, and an enormous number of birds.
EgretEgretFlowersBlossoms (Apple?)Nesting CormorantsBlossomsNesting CormorantsA BirdStriking A PoseBeautiful PlumageTurtlesTurtles On A Log
This museum was based on Colorado artist Vance Kirkland and his work, but had a whole collection of furniture and other decorative arts objects in various styles (Arts & Crafts, Bauhaus, Art Deco etc). The place was awesome.
Thursday was nice, so we went to Boulder and hiked the trails near the Flatirons. We started at Chautauqua Park, and hiked over to the NCAR Mesa Laboratory (where we’d hiked on our last visit). Dinner was at a brewpub in Golden, a place called Cannonball Creek. They had some really good beer, and were in the process of winning an international beer competition while we were there — it was on the TV, some guy droning out the winners of all the various styles like the most boring Academy Awards ever, but the bar was going nuts like it was the Superbowl, cheering and groaning for local favorites or rivals, and they went absolutely crazy whenever Cannonball Creek won. We sat outside, away from the noise, and got nachos from the food truck.
The FlatironsAnne At The TrailheadBoulder (And Denver) In The DistanceBlooming PlantBluebell Road And The FlatironsMore BlossomsAnne On Mesa TrailWalking On The TrailVistaMore SlabsMetro Denver In The DistanceA Pothole In The RockVistaLooking At The MountainLooking At BoulderTree TrunksMountain Peak Above The PinesA Well-Earned Pint
We got to see Emmi and Kyle on Friday, which was awesome — we hadn’t seen them in person for more than two years. The first thing we did together was go to the plant sale at the Denver Botanical Gardens.
Emmi & KyleFlowersTulipsFlowersInside The FlowerMore TulipsBlue Flowers And BeesBlue Flowers
Yesterday Anne and I did a little exploring between meeting Emmi & Kyle for brunch and meeting them for dinner. We wanted to get a hike in, someplace that wouldn’t be too crowded even on a Saturday, so Emmi suggested Red Rock Amphitheater and away we went.
Red RockMeAnneSome Slanted RocksThe StageAmphitheaterLooking DownThe Stage From The TopDenver In The DistanceVistaLife Amidst The SlickrockJohn Denver
And finally, here are a few photos of a robin eating berries at Belmar Lake this morning:
We’ve been in Denver since Tuesday, but a COVID exposure scare — someone who’d been in physical proximity to us texted to say they’d got it — well, that kept us laying low until we tested negative.
Since then our days have followed a pattern: we occupy ourselves with hikes and coffee shops in the morning, then meet Emmi & Kyle for the afternoon and for dinner. Today we all leave together for a long weekend in Colorado Springs.
Bicycling doesn’t usually do much for flexibility, but flexibility sure came in handy on the recent Road Scholar ride…
Monday: We switched back to the pre-Ida routing for this trip, doing the Lehigh Towpath from Bethlehem to Easton, rather than the relatively unscathed portion of the D&L from Lehighton to Cove Road we used last year. (I think that the D&L has a better surface overall between Lehighton and Cove Road, and was better even before Ida trashed the towpath, but everything else about the ride — the vibe, the points of interest, and especially the scenery — are all so much better on the original Bethlehem-Easton route.)
Posing At the Mule BarnAt The Mule BarnAt The Mule Barn
These were some shots at the Mule Barn (Lock #44, Freemansburg) on Monday’s ride.
That decision worked out pretty well, and since Genesis Bicycles (our old destination on this ride) is closed now, we didn’t bother to do the last part of the original ride — we got picked up at the Forks of the Delaware rather than do city riding through Easton.
Tuesday: The weather forecast started looking pretty bad for later in the week, and I think everyone was thinking the same thing: let’s switch the Tuesday and Thursday rides, so if Thursday is a washout we still get to do the Lehigh Gorge ride, which is supposed to be the last ride and the highlight of the week. There are usually a lot of moving parts to the Road Scholar logistics, especially when it comes to coordinating transportation, and changes like these are sometimes hard to pull off, but there were no other programs this week that needed transportation. The transport guys managed to shift the dates, and Tuesday was a great ride down the river to Jim Thorpe, on the last beautiful day of the week.
Lehigh Gorge SceneAt the WaterfallPosing With Lock ConstructionInside Lock 22At The WaterfallAt The TrestleThe View From Nesquehoning TrestlePosing At The TrestleThe Crew At The Trestle
Here are some photos from Tuesday’s Lehigh Gorge ride.
Wednesday is usually a short morning road ride, to lunch in Delaware Water Gap and an afternoon of free time for the participants. But, the morning weather looked so bad, and we’d already had such good luck messing with the previous day’s schedule, that we decided to mess with this one as well — the afternoon was supposed to clear up a bit, so we started later and had our stop lunch before the ride. This also worked out well: the rain had stopped even before lunch, and though the roads were a bit wet we managed to have a pretty decent ride. (Everyone seemed to ride a bit stronger too, probably from the extra nutrition.)
Rainy Morning at ShawneeAt The Top Of The HillThe End: Loading the Bikes
I didn’t take too many photos on Wednesday but here is one each from before, during and after.
Finally, Thursday. The forecast was still bad, so bad that the final ride (Allamuchy) was canceled. I didn’t even go in, and Midge and Andrea came up with substitute, indoor activities, yoga, a visit from the bird rehabilitation people, etc. This worked out so well I wish we’d been able to do it last year — the year we walked around Jim Thorpe in a downpour. Again, the bosses managed to move the logistics of travel and activities around to make this work. I am not usually a flexible person, physically or mentally, but this one time: Flexibility FTW!
