Swimming in the ocean and cycling are two of my favourite activities, and it feels wonderful to combine them. Interestingly, the ocean water seems to be a great complement to high-intensity cycling - relaxing the muscles and giving me extra energy to go on. Anybody else have this experience?
All problems are ultimately a matter of time. All the troubles, they are actually asking for trouble!
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Cycling and the Beach
Swimming in the ocean and cycling are two of my favourite activities, and it feels wonderful to combine them. Interestingly, the ocean water seems to be a great complement to high-intensity cycling - relaxing the muscles and giving me extra energy to go on. Anybody else have this experience?
Thursday, January 29, 2015
A Visitor to My Campsite
Wednesday July 20, .. - - After leaving Guilford Lake and Columbiana County I leisurely drove north and west through Ohio, stopping for the night at Maumee Bay State Park a few miles east of Toledo. The temperature started out in the mid 70s and continued to climb all day long. I thought of just continuing with driving but I had already been on the road for eight hours. I was able to select my campsite at Maumee Bay State Park and found one that had a little bit of shade. It helped. A little. But the 100 degree temperature and high humidity made it very uncomfortable.
Very briefly, I thought about joining the crowds at the beach but it would have meant having to leave the van closed up in the open sun. I just didn't think it was worth it. A nice breeze would make its appearance every now and then and as the sun made its way across the sky, the shade lengthened in the campsite cooling the area off just a little.
At one point I noticed something on the picnic table nearby. I couldn't quite make out what it was and it stayed there for quite some time. Eventually, I got up and took a look and saw what it was and grabbed the camera.


Go ahead, double-click on the image to view a larger version. You know you want to. The wings are pretty amazing, so thin and delicate.
The dragonfly patiently waited while I moved in closer and closer with the camera. Finally, after half a dozen shots it jumped up, landed on my hand for an instant and was off to explore its own little universe. It was doing its job well – that of eating mosquitoes and other small bugs – so I wasn't bothered too much by them.
In between wiping the sweat (and it was sweat, not simply perspiration) off my brow (and elsewhere) I sipped a tall glass of a cool beverage and waited out the sweltering night, hoping that the next night would be just a little cooler! The temp when I crawled into the van for the night at 10:30 pm was 96 degrees. When I got up the next morning at 6:30 am it was 84 degrees. It was a rather uncomfortable night, to say the least. Not complaining. Just saying ;-)
Very briefly, I thought about joining the crowds at the beach but it would have meant having to leave the van closed up in the open sun. I just didn't think it was worth it. A nice breeze would make its appearance every now and then and as the sun made its way across the sky, the shade lengthened in the campsite cooling the area off just a little.
At one point I noticed something on the picnic table nearby. I couldn't quite make out what it was and it stayed there for quite some time. Eventually, I got up and took a look and saw what it was and grabbed the camera.


Go ahead, double-click on the image to view a larger version. You know you want to. The wings are pretty amazing, so thin and delicate.
The dragonfly patiently waited while I moved in closer and closer with the camera. Finally, after half a dozen shots it jumped up, landed on my hand for an instant and was off to explore its own little universe. It was doing its job well – that of eating mosquitoes and other small bugs – so I wasn't bothered too much by them.
In between wiping the sweat (and it was sweat, not simply perspiration) off my brow (and elsewhere) I sipped a tall glass of a cool beverage and waited out the sweltering night, hoping that the next night would be just a little cooler! The temp when I crawled into the van for the night at 10:30 pm was 96 degrees. When I got up the next morning at 6:30 am it was 84 degrees. It was a rather uncomfortable night, to say the least. Not complaining. Just saying ;-)
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Studio Bike
I know it looks like a day at the beach, but honest - we've been working all through the weekend! Plus, this bit of sunshine was but a brief interlude between hurricane-like rains.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Social and Solitary


Monday, January 26, 2015
Grillin' & Chillin'
Tonight we headed to downtown Wauchula, where they had Main Street blocked off for the Grillin' and Chillin' event. It was a fund raising event that had a grilling contest. There was music and some classic cars there too. We had fun!
I didn't take my camera, so these are courtesy of Aric:




And just because they are so cute:
I didn't take my camera, so these are courtesy of Aric:






Sunday, January 25, 2015
Parka Time?
After the art store, we decided to experiment with what it would be like to take a longer ride in freezing temperatures, and rode for a bit on a major road that leads out of town, stopping at a coffee shop and then heading home. It was okay, but did not feel entirely safe. The right lane was like an obstacle course: clusters of hardened snow suddenly popping up, potholes, icy patches. In addition to the parked cars on the right and moving cars on the left, it was a bit overwhelming to constantly watch out for all this, especially after dark. The good news is that with the parka I was at least able to finally cycle in these temperatures without feeling uncomfortable. A parka may look silly on a bike, but so what!
Friday, January 23, 2015
Detroit Tigers Baseball Game

One of the first things we did as a newly married couple years ago was to go and watch the Detroit Tigers play. And we have never been back to see them since then. Until today. We remembered that they do their spring training in Lakeland and bought tickets and headed out to cheer them on.

The stadium was really nice. The crowd was really nice. The weather was really nice. The game was pretty good. There was a lot of this:




We were in awe watching things like this:


I mean, seriously, how is that even humanly possible? Mind boggling is what that is. Still...the score was not all that exciting until this bit of magic happened:

And the score got very exciting:

After that, it was pretty much more of this:

And when all was said and done, we were very excited about the score! So neat!

Living the life in sunny Florida!
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Stellar weather and long term forecasts

The seasonal outlooks through spring 2007 suggest... a continuation of warmer than average conditions throughout the region for the coming fall, winter, and spring seasons... pointing toward[s] a weak-to-moderate intensity El Niño event for the next few seasons... suggest[ing]... an anomalously dry fall and winter for much of the region.Of course there were some serious disclaimers, but if you follow this prediction, the forecast doesn't look so hot for skiers.
In the meantime, it's warm and dry on the mountain. Camp Muir enjoyed a balmy low of 49 last night! It's at 59 degrees as of 9 AM.
Image by Rob Veal
Monday, January 19, 2015
Shore Birds
One of the pleasures of strolling along the beach is watching the birds. They move in and out quickly with the ebb and flow of the waves. It is fascinating to see how they can time their movements so that they don't get drenched by the waves.


The least bit of movement on my part and they take flight.

This fella (or lady) graciously posed for me, though not for long...


The least bit of movement on my part and they take flight.

This fella (or lady) graciously posed for me, though not for long...
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Cycling in a Heatwave... Making Friends with Florals
While this is good advice for some, changing upon arrival is not an option in my line of work. I have meetings in different parts of the city in the course of the workday, and there is no reasonable opportunity to change upon arrival prior to joining the meetings. Plus, I am on a tight schedule and changing a half a dozen times a day would be ludicrous.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Three Ladies, One Bicycle
I came across this scene in my favourite park in Vienna, the Augarten. Did not really know what to make of it, but it looked so iconic that I just could not resist a clandestine snap:
The three young women were resting against the wall - eyes closed, smiling, faces turned up towards the sun. The bicycle seemed to be "with them" rather than belonging to one of them, almost like a fourth person. Intriguing...
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Milk Jug Toy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)