Did you stop blogging?

Of course not!

I've renamed this blog to include a 2005 tag, and along with the new year, I have a new blog.

You can find my 2006 blog at denisegoldberg.blogspot.com, and this blog is at denisegoldberg2005.blogspot.com.

Closing the year the way that it started...

...with a bike ride, of course!

2005 was a good year for my favorite outdoors pastime - riding my bicycle! I have to say that the weather was much more pleasant on my January 1st ride (when the temperature was in the 50s, definitely an abnormal January day here in the northeast). Today was cold and gray, but dry. For the most part the roads were clean and dry, although I did slide across some wet or icy patches. Luckily they were few and far between!

Cold? It was 24 degrees at the start of my ride, with a little more warmth - 29 degrees - by the time I got home. Yes, I did say a little; 29 degrees is still cold! I have to admit I thought about not riding today, but my bike insisted! My 21-mile ride today took me to a grand total of 4101 riding miles for the year, which makes me very happy. And it took me to a new low temperature for riding.

I must have been wearing the right number of layers today because in spite of the cold temperature I was warm. I tried something new; I added my knee warmers to my biking shorts under my REI powerstretch tights. Having an extra layer on my knees made a big difference. And for the first time I stuck my Heat Treat toe warmers to the bottom of my socks instead of putting them on top of my shoes but under my shoe covers. I didn't think that my shoes would be comfortable with an extra layer on my feet; I suppose it fit comfortably because my cycling socks are really thin. It's funny, I've tried the warmers on my socks when I've been out walking, and they were too warm. But they were perfect in my cycling shoes. I wonder why.

I'd love to start 2006 on a bicycle too, but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. I can always hope that the weather forecast is wrong. If it is, then my bicycle and I will probably be wandering somewhere tomorrow. If we get the 1 to 3 inches of snow that is predicted? Well, then tomorrow may be a good walking day...

Pineapple sunshine

Ah, the smell of a freshly cut pineapple makes me think of sunshine. It's gray and gloomy outside, but there's a smile on my face and visions of Hawaii in my mind.

Of course, the pineapple I cut this morning had its roots in Costa Rica, not Hawaii, but my dreams drift toward the Hawaiian islands anyway.

When I'm in Hawaii I always buy local pineapple, but when I'm home my choice is Del Monte Gold. I don't know if this fruit just travels better, or if it really has a better taste... I headed over to the Del Monte web site to see if they had any information about this fruit. Interesting... one fact that just jumped off the page at me is that (any variety of) pineapple takes 18 months to grow. Another thing that cropped up in my web search is that there have been law suits over this pineapple hybrid between Del Monte, Dole, and the Maui Pineapple Company. Del Monte dropped their suit against Maui Pineapple back in 2003, and it's not clear what happened with the suit against Dole. A fascinating food fight.

OK, I know it's business - but stop fighting and just keep producing this wonderful fruit!

A sliver of the moon...

...smiling in the brightening morning sky

What a beautiful sight, just a sliver of the moon hanging in a sky that is becoming a beautiful shade of blue. It sounds like today will be the last clear day before rain moves in yet again. No complaints here, though my tune will change if we have a totally wet 3-day weekend...

And at this point, it appears that my totally rained out Monday holiday should not have been a target for complaints. It was Sunday into Monday that Caribou, Maine got 31 inches of snow (and some other towns in the area recorded 39 inches of that white stuff). Ouch! I'm glad that our precipitation was in the form of water!

Searching for dry roads

I have a feeling that my second day of cycling on this 3-day weekend may be followed by a non-cycling day. The weather forecast for tonight calls for heavy rain, with an 80% chance of rain continuing most of the day tomorrow. Oh well, at least I had two good riding days.

The temperature was again in the upper 40s, and the roads today seemed a little dryer than yesterday. It's quite possible that is because I stayed (for the most part) on the more major 2-lane roads. My bike and I covered 28 miles; not a huge distance, but certainly acceptable for this time of year. I'm hoping that tomorrow is another cycling day, but it sounds like my only outdoor exercise will probably be walking in the rain. Only tomorrow will tell.

An attempt to take a photo of myself and my bike in one of those curved mirrors that was positioned at the end of a driveway

Disappear? Reappear!

I have to admit, I don't like most of the decorations people have on or near their houses - but this creature made me smile. The (relatively new) blow-up decoration craze somehow appeals to my funny bone at times. This wrapped package contains a creature who pops out of the package, then slowly returns to a hiding state. Funny...

Dancing, prancing, bounding!

It was a beautiful day for a ride today, with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s - definitely not a normal December day. No complaints on my part though...

I was within a couple of miles of home, riding on a quiet back road lined with woods and houses too. There was no traffic, just my very quiet bicycle. And as I looked down the road, I saw a deer off to the side, heading toward the road. The deer very quietly and gracefully ran across the road in front of me and quickly disappeared in the woods on the other side of the road. Beautiful, what a graceful creature! I'm glad to have shared a bit of space with her today.

The rest of my ride was uneventful but enjoyable. The roads were wet with snow-melt, but the riding conditions were still reasonable. In spite of the warm weather, ponds in the area were still ice-covered, but were sporting cracks, a few holes, and in places, a sheen of water on top of the ice.

Still ice-covered, but with a long crack extending across the frozen water.

Changing time zones?

I heard an item on the news about New Brunswick deciding to extend Daylight Savings time to match the extension already announced by the United States. That didn't surprise me, but apparently at the same time the province was considering switching from the Atlantic to the Eastern time zone. That change was rejected, but the fact that they were considering it made me remember the recent talk about the state of Maine considering switching to the Atlantic time zone.

Wouldn't it be odd if Maine switched to Atlantic time zone and New Brunswick switched to the Eastern time zone? Ah, a time zone waltz. If the changes were enacted, going from New Hampshire to Maine to New Brunswick would mean bouncing back and forth through time zones. Actually, Maine switching to Atlantic time zone might actually make sense from a daylight perspective. Doesn't it seem like the northern part of the Eastern time zone covers a really large area?

Traffic? Gone!

I have two (major) options of routes to work, one that takes advantage of highways, and one that sticks to surface routes. Looking at my normal drive-to-work patterns, I usually end up taking the surface streets. My route takes me over I-93, and I make my decision based on the (perceived) movement on that road. Today? Joy - it looks like there must be a great number of people heading out for their holidays a few days early. There was absolutely no traffic. And hey - if I have to work, it's a much better start to the day to have an unfettered commute to the office.

A song of the solstice

Ah, the winter solstice...

We've reached the point of the turning sun. Each day, the sun will stay a tiny bit longer. As we move through what seems to be the longest part of the year for me, at least the daylight will be once again moving toward my preferred longer days. And yes, I do realize that it will be many weeks - well really, multiple months - before the change is noticeable and usable.

"Solstice means... standing-still-sun

Such precision we have about it now! Winter solstice is when because of the earth's tilt, your hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun, and therefore:

• The daylight is the shortest.
  
• The sun has its lowest arc in the sky."

Quote courtesy of www.candlegrove.com. And thanks to alpinerabbit on the TE women's cycling forum for posting the link to this site!

Left foot, right foot...

...black shoe, blue!

I was two miles down the road (heading to the office) this morning when I realized that I was wearing two very different shoes.

It was an indecisive morning, and instead of just picking a pair of shoes my feet each chose a different shoe. The idea was to look in the mirror and decide which I preferred for the day. But somehow the mirror never came into play, and I walked out of the door wearing a black (Merrell) Jungle Slide on one foot and a navy Jungle Moc on they other. Hey - at least they were from the same manufacturer and the same general family of shoes! I have to admit I considered just continuing to work and wearing the mismatched shoes. They both have the same soles, so I don't think that I would have hurt my feet. But I was close enough to home that backtracking 2 miles to change one shoe made sense. It did make me laugh though!

I wonder if anyone would have said anything to me about my attire if I had shown up at work today wearing these two different shoes!

Orange feet sliding

Yesterday was a day for cycling, and today was a day for walking. The temperatures were in the 30s both days, a little warmer yesterday than today. My purple bike and I rolled down the road yesterday, pretty much sticking with the more major roads - still just two lanes though - in order to attempt to stay on dry road surfaces, to stay away from icy patches along the side and to avoid the salt crystals that are still in evidence. It was a decent but relatively short bike excursion.

I had planned to ride again today, but somehow I couldn't get excited about traversing the same roads yet again. It was slightly colder today too; the temperatures during my ride yesterday were in the high 30s. Today I don't think it got much higher than 35. Should I ride? Should I take the day off? Hey - this indecision about something I love to do just didn't feel right, and I began to realize that I needed a change.

Today's excursion wasn't on two wheels. Instead it was on two feet - after a little bit of a drive. I decided that the New Hampshire coast would be a good change of pace for me - and I was right. It was a good walking day, chilly, and a little windy. A relatively quiet ocean was on one side of the road, and there was a section on the other side of the road with a marshy area that was pretty much frozen over. There were a couple of people skating, but the reason I stopped there was to watch the birds. There was a large flock of sea gulls, mainly on top of the ice, but a few paddling around in the water. And there were three very funny ducks, orange feet sliding across the ice as they waltzed over to the water for a swim.

The air temperature was probably in the mid-30s, and I have any idea about how cold the water was - but there were wet-suited characters out surfing today!

Are you as tired of slipping around on this ice as I am? Hey - we're almost back to the water's edge - let's go swimming!

Daylight gone, slippery...

With the rain today I thought I'd be able to walk outside after work. I did walk outside, but it turned out not to be good walking conditions, and I came home much faster than I'd planned. The problem? By the time I headed out, the temperature was headed down. It was probably around 40 degrees most of the day, but it was very close to freezing when my running-shoe-clad feet headed out the door. Even though technically 33 degrees is still not freezing, I found that what appeared to be wet surfaces were actually slick and icy. Ah well, a short walk will have to do...

All set for walking without the sun... I picked up a couple of brightly flashing lights from RoadID.com to add to my illuminite-covered jacket. The illuminite reflects when headlights hit it, but I figured some extra always there flashers were a good idea too.

Happy to see rain!

I can't believe I'm actually saying that I'm happy to see this morning's rain. The forecast was for snow and freezing rain changing to rain, and there definitely was some of that icy stuff overnight. By the time I left for the office the precipitation had changed to a cold rain, wet but not frozen. I'm hoping that today's rain gets rid of some of our early season snow cover and cleans up the roads to make a good cycling weekend.

I suppose I'm a bit obsessed with the weather lately. It's because I really prefer to exercise outside, and both biking and walking are much better on dry surfaces. For my exercise walking, a non-dry surface is almost ok during the day, but when I'm walking in the dark I really prefer a dry surface.

This past week has been very cold and there are still icy patches on walking surfaces left from last Friday's crazy storm, so I've pretty much been sticking with indoor exercise. It's not all bad because I think I'm falling into a decent winter routine. I walked outside on Monday, but for the next 3 days a treadmill and elliptical trainer were my good friends. I'd love to get back outside today, but that will depend on what happens when this current downpour stops. I'm hoping that things clear out; from the forecast it sounds like there could be a mix of rain and snow late in the afternoon. That sounds a bit odd since the temperature is supposed to rise to the high 30s.

A time to celebrate

...mileage under my (bicycle) wheels!

I set a goal of riding 4000 miles on my bike this year - and at the end of my ride today my total was 4004 miles. I'm happy!

Maybe it seems silly to set a biking goal to some of you. After all, I'm always on my bike, right? It was a goal I really needed this year though, proof to myself that I'm really back after last year's biking incident (or accident, depending on how you look at things) and recovery. The roads today were better than yesterday - still a bit messy in the aftermath of Friday's crazy snowstorm, but more wet than anything. It turned out to be a great riding day though, with temperatures in the high 30s, a blue sky, and beautiful snowscapes. I'd prefer that there be no snow, but I really can't deny the beauty.

It was definitely an enjoyable day to be outside. Here's hoping that the few weekends left in 2005 support more wandering on two wheels - but it's so great to have my goal for the year behind me. This way hopefully I can accept whatever conditions the weather wizard deals to us on the rest of December's weekends.

Who's that? Yes, it's me, happily riding down the road. Luckily the snow was only on the side of the road.

Sunshine on an almost frozen pond...

Home again, looking out at a sea of white

I have to admit that there were a few moments this evening when I thought my decision to work at the office today was a mistake. I headed to the Marriott after work to get a workout in, and I was totally amazed at the number of cars very slowly crawling down Mall Road. Luckily for me the Marriott is right across the street, and I walked so I could leave my car in the parking garage at my office. A good workout completed, I headed back across the street. The road was still packed with slow moving cars, so I just dropped my gym bag in my car and headed back in to the office. I figured I'd rather be inside with access to my computer than sitting in my car in traffic...

I stayed for another hour, then decided that was long enough. Time to head home! The highway still sounded like a mess, so I took surface streets, route 3a to 62 to 125. (Oh right, those last two don't quite intersect - don't try that one without knowing the cross streets!) The thing that absolutely amazed me was that route 62 went from a very bumpy but drivable snow-covered road to a totally clear surface at the town line between Burlington and Wilmington. Looks to me like one town does a much better job at snow removal than the other. (In case you're interested, it was Wilmington that did the better job!)

I was away from home a bit longer than I'd planned, but spending that extra hour in the office allowed the traffic to thin out. My drive took me 45 minutes, which is not too far off of normal. My gut feeling is that I got home at the same time I would have if I'd headed out an hour earlier. One way I could sit and surf the web, the other I would have been a very frustrated driver (in a sea of frustrated drivers).

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. But there's really a lot of that white stuff out there. Snow, snow, snow... The sky is absolutely clear now, sunshine tomorrow?

Thundersnow?

A quick check of the weather forecast was good for a laugh. Yes, it's still snowing, and now they are predicting something I haven't experienced before - thundersnow!

From the National Weather Service (Boston) web page:
Localized thundersnow from 130 to 330 PM
...Localized snow-Bursts of up to 3 inches an hour will be possible in thundersnow.

Snow, a quiet office, odd coins

Today's weather forecast calls for snow in varying amounts - and that white stuff has started so it was no surprise to me that I was the first one in the office this morning. My real question is, how many of my colleagues will decide to work in the office today as opposed to working at home. There are 2 of us here so far. (Update at the end of the day: we were 4 in total by the end of the day. That's out of about 20 - so the vast majority chose to work at home today...)

Funny thing... I started my morning (in the office) by getting a nice hot cup of tea, and by grabbing a bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerator. Soft drinks here are on the honor system, 25 cents to be deposited in a glass on top of the refrigerator. I didn't have change, so I grabbed the glass to pull 75 cents out in exchange for my dollar. I saw a coin that looked a bit odd to me since it had scalloped edges. What is that? It turned out to be a 10 dollar coin from Jamaica! Oh, you want to know where that came from? I'm sure that coin was deposited in the glass in an attempt to make our accounting guy a bit crazy. Sometimes folks will drop in loose coins - usually pennies - they'll put in the required amount, but then add some extra, so the amount in the jar won't add up to a multiple of 25 cents. So I'm sure it was a stunt pulled for the benefit of accounting...

Disappearing storm

I just love it when storms fizzle out before they arrive! This wasn't supposed to be a big one - just 1 to 3 inches of snow were forecast for the Boston area - but it would have been big enough to lengthen my normal morning commute. Instead, there appear to be a large number of people who believed the forecast and decided to work at home. The roads were empty this morning. So empty that I took I93 instead of surface streets, so empty that it took me just over 20 minutes to drive to work! Awesome.

Now I just have to hope that the long-term forecast which shows cold but clear weather for next weekend is right. Remember, I'm still 20 miles away from my goal of riding 4000 miles this year...

From cold & sunny to cold & snowy

The only constant in the past two days has been the cold. Yesterday was cold, the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. Today? It was still cold, but it was a gray day with snowflakes decorating the air. We didn't get a lot of snow - I'd say under an inch - but it was enough snow to create wet and slippery roads.

I was hoping to reach my goal of 4000 biking miles for the year this weekend. Almost, but not quite there. I rolled to 3,980 miles with my ride yesterday, and I was hoping to sneak in the remaining 20 today but my bikes agreed with me that it wasn't a good day to be on the road on two wheels. Today? It was a good day for walking, and it was a good day for relaxing at home. I think I needed that...

Early morning snow and pine needles...

The annual voyage of the sun...

...counting the days until it reverses direction

The shortest day of the year is only three weeks away, and I'm counting the days until it is here and gone. And yes, I really do know that longer days come in increments of minutes, and that it will take quite a while before it is noticeable. But as far as I'm concerned, the days will be moving back in the right direction.

I clearly need to retrain myself; it's so hard to use those dark before-work hours to start my day with exercise. In the summer I have no problem getting up early enough, but this time of year it's a battle. I have been trying to get in a short walk mid-day, with my longer workout time in the (dark) early evening. But I keep thinking that morning exercise would be a good greeting for the day. That's my new goal!

A weekend for visiting

Thanksgiving weekend was a welcome change of (working) pace, and the base for a good visit with my family. As usual, I took an extra day off to avoid airport craziness at the beginning of the holiday weekend; flying early Wednesday morning and early Sunday morning did the trick for me.

It was a good weekend of visiting, and a few crazy days of trying to get good photos of Bailey - the dachshund who is sure he is in charge of the house.

Puppy love! (Yes, I know, Bailey's really not a puppy, but the statement is fitting, isn't it?

Mirror & dog... it was fun but almost impossible to try to get a reflection photo of Bailey. He doesn't do a very good job of standing still, and do you have any idea how hard it is to get photos of a dog who is mainly black in color?

Family photos from the weekend can be found at http://denise.smugmug.com/gallery/1004683.

Pictures of Bailey (the crazy dachshund) and Coco (the cat that runs my sister's house) can be found at http://denise.smugmug.com/gallery/1004811.

Miles flowing...

...under my bicycle wheels

Back in September I set a goal of riding at least 4000 miles this year. I thought then that it was a reasonable goal, but later I started to wonder if I would make it. My tour of PEI was about 150 miles shorter than planned, due to my dislike of riding in the rain. No regrets there... It was the month of October that set me back, with weather that really didn't support riding. I managed to ride all but one weekend that month, but all of my rides were pretty short.

October's last day was a gift to cyclists, as was the first day of November. My bike joined me at the office those two days so I could get in a mid-day ride. And overall November (so far) has been much more of a riding month than October. Backwards, but no complaints here!

So where am I? At the end of today's ride, I'm at 3935 miles for the year. 65 miles to reach my goal...

...with the weather wizard's cooperation, of course!

A fabulous gift...

...from the weather wizard!

Last night one of my bikes took a look at today's weather forecast and decided to jump into the car just in case today turned out to be a good riding day. (What, your bikes don't talk to you and take the initiative to plan a ride? Well, mine do!)

The forecast was for a cool and foggy morning, and a 60% possibility of rain in the afternoon - but with temperatures in the upper 60s. When I checked last night that rain was supposed to hold off until after 3. When I checked again this morning it sounded like the rain would make an appearance by noon. But - my bike was already in the car, a sign of hope. I extended my work hours on both ends of the day (just in case) so that I could take a long lunch hour.

The fog stuck until after 11. Patches of blue sky made an appearance, but gray clouds were flying around the sky as the wind picked up. It was a little after 12 when I decided to chance the weather and make my bike (and me!) happy. And what a nice ride! I headed up Middlesex Turnpike, a 2-lane road lined at the beginning with industrial parks, low office buildings. That wouldn't be my choice of a place to ride at the edges of the work day, but it was quiet with very little traffic, a perfect start to my mid-day wandering. At the end of the road I headed west on Concord Road, an absolute treat since the road was newly paved. It was a windy ride, with temperatures rising from the 50s at the start to the mid-60s by the time I returned to work. What a wonderful ride; I could easily have kept right on riding, but I knew I had to go back.

That should have been enough exercise for the day, but it was still dry and the temperature was in the high 60s so I headed out walking after I got home. This was forecast to be our last warm day for a while, and I wanted to spend as much of it as possible outside. Walking, watching the clouds scudding across the full moon, listening to and feeling the wind...

A wonderful day. Thank you, weather wizard!

Darkness, step by step

Somehow, I can't get myself to face all indoor exercise. Yes, we're well into fall, the temperatures are cool, and there's not enough daylight - but I'm still walking outside. While I try to get a mid-day walk in, that doesn't always work, and I'm often wandering by foot without the benefit of daylight. I am lucky that I live next to a college campus, so I do have an area for walking that doesn't have much traffic. That's not enough though; guarding against boredom sends me down neighborhood streets too. Sticking to the sidewalks makes me feel unbalanced at times since the surfaces are far from flat and are not easily visible in the dark. I thought it was just one of my own idiosyncracy's that oncoming vehicle lights seem to make the visibility worse, but one of my co-workers expressed the same thing to me today as we were talking about exercising outside without the benefit of daylight. And yes, I really am sticking to those sidewalks in spite of my desire to walk on the smoother surface of the streets...

I suppose I'm going to have to start to split my exercise time between walking outside and doing some bouts on the elliptical trainer at the gym...

The magic of Illuminite... a vision of my outer layer of "walking in the dark" clothing. My vest and jacket are both light blue, but you can get the idea of the effect of lights on the fabric here. Natural light on the left, and hit with headlights at night on the right.

Two very different days

Ah, a weekend for riding - the weather wizard is cooperating. It was a weekend of two dry but very different days. Saturday was sunny, a smiling kind of day - but with relatively cool temperatures. It was very cold when I woke up, but in the mid-40s for my ride. Sunday was warmer, but the high 50 to low 60s temperatures were accompanied by strong winds and sometimes overcast skies. I surprised myself this weekend by preferring Saturday's weather. Cooler was a small price to pay for no winds and sunshine!

This looked like a piece of original art-work tacked to a tree. It's more likely that it's a copy, of course - but it looks like a good plea from the animal world to maintain some open space.

A quiet road, leafless trees, it's fall...

I was fascinated by the reflections of trees along with floating leaves.

Crosswalks...

...a mystery solved!

I started noticing a change to crosswalks in some of the towns near me this summer. Roads were freshly paved, and the new crosswalks appeared to be brick. It looked like a lot of work, but the crosswalks seemed to appear overnight!

Ah, mystery solved! An article in today's Boston Globe gave me the missing information. According to the article, "the crosswalks are made from a form of plastic that is melted and poured onto the street, where it bonds with the asphalt. The designs can be imprinted to resemble brick or other natural stones..." Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe

Branches, bare!

My morning walk on this cool and very gray day presenting me with this image of impending winter, totally bare tree branches.

Backwards temperatures

Temperatures rising during the day makes sense to me. For today, the weather wizards have forecast a backwards kind of day, temperatures falling!

An interesting notation on today's forecast - it's relatively warm now, in the low 50s, but the temperature is supposed to fall during the day, heading for the low to mid 40s.

Leaves, gone!

What a difference an early November wind makes! On Sunday as I wandered on my bike on roads surrounded by trees, I saw a lot of trees sporting yellow, orange, and red leaves. There was still some green out there, and there were sections where bare limbs were out, but there were still leaves.

This morning as I drove down the same roads, the predominant feature was trees devoid of leaves. I've been saying I'm not ready for this change of seasons, and the lack of leaves are definitely a sign I didn't want to see. I suppose I'd better get used to the change though...

Who's in charge?

I just spoke with my Mom, and she almost had me rolling on the floor laughing. She was telling me how she was preparing her car for her planned drive to Philadelphia later this week, and one of the most important tasks apparently was cleaning the windows in the back seat so that Bailey would have a clear view.

If you haven't followed my previous posts about Bailey, he's the very funny dachshund who lives with my parents. I've thought for a long time that he runs the household, and now his sphere of control has moved into the car too. Funny!

Didn't you know that this is my car?

Warm and cool, sun and fog...

...dry and mist

This weekend was one of many contrasts. While the forecast called for two sunny days, that wasn't reality. I had planned a Saturday ride along the New Hampshire coast, but I thought better of it when I was greeted with cool fog in the morning. Actually I woke both days to fog - Saturday's burned off to give us an afternoon of blue skies and sunshine, but Sunday's never showed any sign of leaving. I managed good rides both days - after all I have to take advantage of decent riding weather as long as I can! I have to admit that I had to force myself out of the house on Sunday though. Somehow 50 degrees and misty isn't my favorite riding weather, but once I was rolling I was really happy that I chose to ride.

November, and the trees are still wearing coats of many colors - and although this picture doesn't show it, there is still a bit of green out there.

A tree stump, and some amazing mushrooms.

Bare legs and bicycles

What a nice beginning to the month - sunshine and warm weather! November rolled in very softly this year, and I decided that I needed to take advantage of the warmth.

Goodbye to October and hello to November, greeted with a return to work attire (skirts!) with my warm weather bare legs instead of cold weather tights. And it was predicted to be warm enough that my bicycle jumped into the car to be prepared for lunchtime rides. I came in to work early and left late on both Monday and Tuesday, but rewarded myself for the seeming extension of my day by taking a long lunch and riding my bicycle. It was shorts and short-sleeved jersey weather; no knee warmers, no wind vest. Bright sunshine too. Fabulous!

Curiosities of English...

...the English language, that is!

My first task of the day was to check the National Weather Service site to see if the 70 degree forecast for today was still expected. I don't think I can waste a warm sunny day, and my bike decided to stay in the car when I got home from yesterday's ride, thinking that I could ride today at lunchtime. Let's see, get to the office early, take off to enjoy the mid-day sunshine, then work a little later than normal.

But back to the weather forecast... today looks great, tomorrow too. It was tomorrow's forecast that made me laugh though: Breezy, with a calm wind becoming south between 18 and 21 mph.
Tell me, do the words breezy and calm really go with one another?

I was seduced...

...by Denise Goldberg

What a start to a post on a web forum! I occasionally search in Google for my own name to see where my journals and blog come up in the search. I did that today, and I saw an entry titled I was seduced by Denise Goldberg. I was definitely curious, and I just had to follow that link. I ended up in a discussion on bikeforums.net about folding bikes. The author went on to say

"Yes, Denise's excellent travel journals in "Crazyguyonabike" and the postings of many of you on this forum, seduced me into dropping $2500 on a Bike Friday. It arrived yesterday and all I can say is, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU"!"

Wow. I have to say that made me feel really good. I just love hearing that folks (other than my family and friends) find my writing to be useful and enjoyable.

What a difference!

Today was an amazing change of seasons. Yes, the weather forecasters were absolutely right, but I have to admit I was having a hard time believing that today would be a beautiful day. From yesterday's snow with temperatures in the 30s when I went to sleep, to this morning's sunshine and above 40 degree early morning temperature, to this afternoons high 60s. Amazing!

It was a good riding afternoon too. Robyn & Steve & I left from their house in Boxborough and headed toward the hills in Harvard. Quiet country roads, sunshine, colored trees, enjoyable and comfortable cool to warm temps, a bit of wind...

Beautiful colored leaves. Too bad the color is a precursor to colder weather!

Accompanied by snow!

I woke up at 5 this morning, and looked outside to see if the predicted wet weather had appeared. Not yet... instead I saw a beautiful sliver of the moon hanging in a crystal clear but still dark sky. It was too early to start my Saturday, so I returned to sleep for a couple of hours. When I woke again I found that clouds had moved in, and it was a gray but still dry day. Cold too - in the low 30s.

With the forecast calling for rain and snow, I hadn't planned on riding today; the dry pavement almost made me change my plans. I'm very glad I decided not to ride though, since about 30 minutes into my walk white flakes started flying from the sky. In no time the ground was very wet - my bike would have been very unhappy and would definitely have needed a good washing. It was a beautiful walk though, and I was almost wearing the right clothing. I say almost because I could have used warmer gloves, and although my earbags kept my ears perfectly warm, by the time I got home there was a great deal of water dripping from my head. A hat would have been a good adddition!

Hopefully the forecast is right for tomorrow. The predicted sun and 50 to 60 degree temperatures should give me good riding weather.

A wonderful garden guardian - this little frog brought a big smile to my face.

Me, my pink earbags, and a few snowflakes.

Yup, those really are snowflakes!

End of season flowers, dressed with water droplets from melting snow

Flying figure 8's

Red lights sometimes give me the chance to see interesting things. As I was stopped at one this morning I looked up at the sky, and there was a flock of birds that looked to be 100 strong. I wonder if they were trying to get their morning exercise - they were flying figure 8's, moving a little further up the road with each loop.

It would have been a good morning to have a camera with me.

Absorbing beauty

A night out, I headed to the Museum of Fine Arts with friends to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. I really like his photos, and this is the first time I've had the opportunity to see them in person. I found the media contrast very interesting. In the early days, his photos were printed in sepia tones on textured paper. I have to say that I preferred the prints that were black & white on glossy paper - and there were some examples of the same photo printed in both ways hanging side by side.

I was fascinated by a print of three children, and wondering how he managed to stage the beautiful shot. A note next to the photo said that he borrowed a (fast) camera - one that didn't need his camera's normal setup - from a fellow photographer and took this single shot with it. Amazing.

If you're a fan of Ansel Adams or if you are as fascinated by good photography as I am, this is an exhibit worth seeing.

It was more than a little amazing to me to see images like this one where the tree in the foreground is seen close up and in focus, and yet the beautiful background scenery was still not blurry - even though it didn't have the sharp edges of a targeted focus. How did he do that?

I didn't have a clue that Ansel Adams ever worked in color until I saw this book in the museum bookshop. There were some beautiful photos in the book, some with the same subjects as his B&W shots. The introduction stated that Adams did some color work when Kodachrome was first introduced in the 1930s.

The weather wizard is out of control...

...again!

You're right, I have been complaining about the weather way too much lately, but the weather wizard hasn't given me much of a choice! It has definitely been a very wet October.

The forecast in the Boston Globe this morning was interesting. It didn't strike me as the forecast of a professional meterologist - or maybe they were as frustrated by the prediction as the rest of us. The forecast started with the words Nasty with high winds, heavy rain and flooding. It was absolutely correct, but I can't remember ever seeing a weather forecast begin with the word "nasty"! It rained for a good portion of the day, and the tops of the trees kept us informed about the presence of very strong winds. It was interesting watching people walk by our office windows clutching umbrellas that were seconds away from turning inside out. It was a raincoat day today, not an umbrella day!

I headed out for a solid one and a half hour fast walk this evening, decked out in warm tights, a long underwear tank, a Patagonia R1 shirt, and a rain jacket. I even wore my Ear Bags and light gloves, and I was toasty warm. The temperature was barely 40 degrees with a bit of wind, and a bit of drizzle. Drizzle? Well it almost felt like I was walking through a wall of water. It felt really good to be outside though, and within 10 minutes of my returning home the water was again cascading from the sky. I guess it was a good luck walk...

I really shouldn't complain about our weather here though. I spoke with my Mom after my walk, and she told me it was snowing. The section of upstate New York where my folks live seems to make its own weather, although I know that snow is forecast for higher elevations around here tonight too. Ouch!

There was a fair amount of water flying around outside today - as you can see from this rainfall totals map from the National Weather Service. The red patches are 3 inches (and above), and the yellow indicates a 2 inch rainfall. Where do I live? In one of the yellow bands...

Change of season musings

Tell me, why does a 50 degree day in the spring feel warm while the same temperature day in the fall feels cool? Is it wishful thinking, or is it because in the spring I'm looking forward to the next seasonal temperature change?

The past week was a good walking week, and a not so good biking week. I managed at least one and a half hours on my feet the days that I walked - all but Friday, which was a rest day for me, and Saturday, which was a biking day. I still need to get myself back to the gym on a regular basis; my goal is to try to maintain a level of 90 minutes of aerobic exercise most days, plus some weight workouts too.

The threat of an imminent cold rain canceled my Saturday riding plans, but I still managed a dry close-to-home ride. I think I was wearing the right layers for the temperature, but it was hard to get started. If I wore enough clothes to be comfortable at the start of my ride I would have been soaking wet from sweat by the time I returned home.

I find it much easier to get the right amount of exercise when I can ride my bike outside. Somehow indoor workouts just aren't as satisfying, and the time certainly doesn't seem to go by as fast. And yes, you're right - I need to stop complaining about the change of seasons and get used to the colder temperatures. After all, there is more and much deeper cold on the way before I get my choice of weather back again!

There are trees with very few leaves remaining - but those that are there are beautifully colored...

...and very close by, there are trees with little or no change. A mixed up color season?

Windy! but dry...

A beautiful blue sky greeted me this morning, but it soon was covered once more in gray. This time the gray was lighter and not threatening precipitation. In place of the rain, the wind was howling...

Yesterday was another very wet day. The almost 7 inches of rain from last weekend was supplemented by 5 additional inches yesterday. Needless to say, my bike and I didn't venture out on the road. I'm not that fond of riding in the rain, although a light rain isn't terrible. But yesterday's rain wasn't light!

The wind today wasn't as bad as the day in PEI that I was only able to ride at 8 miles per hour riding downhill, but it was pretty bad. I was almost blown off the road a couple of times, but worse than that were the couple of close encounters I had with tree branches. The leaves were flying, as expected. When branches (not huge, but noticeable, definitely not little twigs) started crashing to the ground it made me a bit nervous. When one landed just in front of my bike, I managed to ride over it - but what bothered me was the thought of one of the branches landing on my helmeted head. It was time to cut my ride short and head for home by the shortest route possible.

I don't know how many days of rain we had, but it was too many! Last week was a week that started to get me back into my off-season exercise mode. I did a fair amount of (fast) walking despite the wet weather, and I managed to get myself to the gym for a couple of exercise sessions too. Not too bad, but not at the level I need to maintain a decent level of fitness over the winter. I'll get there though, and hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

We many not have a spectacular color fall this year, but individual trees are making an effort. There are trees that changed early, almost overnight, whose leaves are already gone. There are trees that are still primarily green. And then there are those that are reaching out with some very pretty pockets of changing colors.

An afternoon diversion

Yes, today was a work day, and yes, I escaped for a couple of hours along with a few of my co-workers. We headed to the movie theater to see the first feature-length Wallace & Gromit movie, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Very funny!

If you haven't seen any of Nick Park's creations before, this one is well worth seeing. And if you have, this is a great continuation of the tales of Wallace & Gromit. I think I saw his previous films on PBS, so maybe you've seen them too...

Memories of Wallace & Gromit. Photos courtesy of Nick Park and Aardman Animations Ltd.

Rain, rain, walking!

As predicted, it was a very rainy weekend. According to spotter reports on the National Weather Service web site, we had 6.91 inches of rain. That's a lot of water! Yesterday was warm, in the 70s - a good day for a long walk in the rain. After I returned home, I left the windows and doors open to enjoy the warm air. That is, I left them open until I suddenly felt a very chilly breeze. When I again checked the weather service web site I found that the temperature had dropped 15 degrees from one hour to the next. That makes me think that the temperature drop was really instantaneous, as a front slammed (rather than meandered) through the area.

No biking for me this weekend. I probably could have managed a ride this afternoon, but the roads stayed wet for a long, long, time, and the sky stayed a rather dark gray. My bikes decided that none of them wanted to get wet and dirty, and I have to admit that I wasn't in the mood for a major clean and re-lube session today. Fast walking with a few stops to capture the things with my camera worked for today.

I'm pretty amazed to see what looks like freshly blooming flowers this late in the year.

A more seasonal view of the same plant - a very spiny seed pod.

At least there isn't snow here!

Wow. I guess I'd better start to happily accept the shorter days and loss of daylight here. I just saw a news report about a storm yesterday where some locations in North Dakota had 24 inches of snow!

The temperatures this week have been warmer than normal, and the loss of daylight continues. All things considered I guess I really shouldn't be complaining!

We are far from peak colors here, but there are definitely some leaves showing their bright colors

Blue skies, shorter days

I have to admit I'm having a hard time accepting the shortening of the daylight. You're right, I have months to get through before the days stop getting shorter, so I'd better get used to it soon!

Last week was my first non-vacation, non-bike-to-work week in a long time. I knew when I got home that the days would be too short to support a daylight bicycle commute, but that's still hard to accept. I used the week to start rebuilding my off-season exercise schedule. The weather was nice in spite of the shorter days, so I haven't started a gym routine yet. Instead, I walked between an hour and a half and two hours each day during the week. And of course on Saturday and Sunday my bike and I wandered the roads again.

The nights have been relatively cold, sneaking down into the lower 40s. We've had some cool days too, but today's mid-70 degree temperature was a pleasure for riding. The colors are changing, but slowly. I noticed last week that there is a tinge of brown in the trees, and there are a few pockets of red, orange, and yellow. As long as we have to accept this change in temperatures, I'm hoping that we have a good color season to go along with the change in daylight and temperatures.

Hopefully I'll stop complaining about the change in seasons soon!

A beautiful sign of the changing seasons, I'm fascinated by these milkweed seed pods.

Memories of touring Prince Edward Island

Ah, home again. I have wonderful memories of my trip to Prince Edward Island floating in my head, and there are also images from Hopewell Cape in New Brunswick and Acadia National Park in Maine.

You can share those images by looking in my Wandering along the edge photo gallery at http://denise.smugmug.com/Travel/114285.

Here are a few photos to whet your appetite:

Flowers that have gone to seed can still be very beautiful.

Ah, it's time to head out from Charlottetown. My bike is calling me!

A beach along the north coast of PEI, in the Greenwich section of Prince Edward Island National Park.

Daylight?

Home again from vacation, and the shorter days are really jumping out at me. It's not like the early disappearance of sunlight is a surprise - after all it is the first day of fall. But I think that the contrast with Atlantic Time (from my vacation in PEI) plus facing the fact that my bicycle commuting days are over for the season really struck me today.

I'm sure I'll get used to it. The days are going to continue getting shorter though, and I'd prefer that they not do that. It's funny, whenever I think of moving out of the northeast, I think west. But I won't get rid of this lack of daylight problem unless I move someplace like Hawaii!

Come on Denise, you'll get used to the change in seasons. You always do.

Wandering along the edge

Looking for me? Surprised that there are no new blog entries? I'm headed to Prince Edward Island with my bicycle for a tour around the island, and while I won't be posting new blog entries here while I'm on the road, click to my tour journal.

A short but delightful ride

My goal for this last weekend before an eleven-day biking vacation was to do some biking but also to get some rest. In keeping with that goal, I headed up to Maine to ride in the southwest corner of the state.

I had a sunny start to my ride, but the clouds managed to roll in. I was lucky though. I rode through some sprinkles, but as I got closer to where my car was waiting, the road was absolutely soaked. (And yes, I did need to clean my bike when I got home. Somehow wet roads mean that all of the dirt comes flying off the road and sticks to the bike...)

I started my ride in Kittery Point, and rode along the coast as far as the Yorks, wandering down side roads to visit beaches and Nubble Light. It was a very enjoyable ride, short but sweet.

There are some fabulous wood carvings outside of the Kittery Trading Post - I just love this critter with his paw protruding from the tree trunk!

Somehow it wasn't possible to get both the flower and the bee in focus. Almost though, and I can't believe that I managed to capture this very busy bee.

An across-the-water view of Nubble Light

3003 miles!

I made it! A few weeks ago I looked at the miles I had covered on my 2-wheeled transportation so far this year, and I set a goal of riding 3000 miles before I headed off to Prince Edward Island to wander around the island on my bike. It was a bit of a stretch, and it not only required some higher mileage than normal weeks, it also was dependent on decent weather. With the weather forecast at the beginning of this week it was very possible that the mileage would be just beyond my reach. But - the weather wizard cooperated by providing rideable weather from Wednesday afternoon on, and my mileage for the year so far at the end of today's ride is 3003 miles.

You're right, it was a somewhat silly goal - but it feels really good to have those miles under my wheels!

Last bike commute of the season

Today was my last commute to work by bike of the season - by the time I get back from my PEI adventure on September 21st there won't be enough daylight to support a full day's work plus riding my bike in both directions. I'll have to rework my exercise schedule to go back to riding only on the weekend; guess it will be time to start going back to the gym!

Today was a fabulous day for riding though, sunny, and very reasonable temperatures. The bell captain at the Marriott came out to greet me and told me to bring my bike in to the hotel entryway instead of locking it up outside; he promised to watch it for me.

I think my bike must have known it was her last commuting day of the season - although I can't understand why she would be upset since she will be my transportation on Prince Edward Island. When I parked my bike in the closet at the office for the day, the chain was exactly where it belonged - sitting on the chain rings and cluster. When I went to get my bike to head home, the chain was off. Now tell me, do my bikes have the kind of power where they can remove a chain on their own?

Bailey is in charge...

...really! After all he is the "person" who decides what direction to walk, isn't he?

Oh, you haven't met Bailey yet? He is the dachshund who lives with my parents; actually I think he runs the house.

I wonder if this somewhat wacky dog can tell time. My folks live on a big hill where the part below the house is much steeper than the part above the house. The daily morning "walking the dog" activity heads up the hill from the house, and often the afternoon walk heads down the hill where Mom & Bailey meet Dad on his way home from work and get a ride back up the hill. Not a bad deal... Well today in the mid-afternoon Bailey insisted on walking down the hill even though Mom really wanted to head up the hill. Do you think he can tell time? Do you think he thought he was meeting his ride back up the hill? Whatever he was thinking (do dogs really think?), apparently he was guite happy to prance down the hill and back up again.

Yes, that's me hiding behind our crazy Bailey - a self-portrait of the two of us...

You can find more pictures of Bailey here.

Bicycle conversations

The weather wizard finally decided on a dry and sunny day so it was a bicycle commute to work today. As I walked in to the Marriott (heading for the health club and my very welcome shower) I stopped to talk to one of the hotel managers who is often in the lobby in the morning. This morning he told me that I didn't need to lock my bike to a light post outside, that I could wheel it into the entryway and he would keep an eye on it. Now I really don't mind locking it up, but what a nice offer!

Then as I walked by the hotel restaurant I said hello to a guest who was walking out. He said hello, then asked if I commute to work by bike and asked how far. With those questions I was sure I was talking to another cyclist. He turned out to be from the Washington DC area, and he commutes to work year-round. I'm only a summer (and around the edges) commuter since riding in the dark with the crazy drivers around here scares me, plus I can't handle the really cold (and wet) weather. He pointed out that Washington has more of a southern climate, and that you can get used to riding in the dark, with good lights, of course. I think I'll stick to my daylight commute, although I'm sure I'm going to miss riding in to work when I get back from my tour of PEI.

Calm before the storm

I'm getting a forced rest from cycling so far this week - dictated by the weather. So far it has been mainly gray and wet. I really could have ridden this evening since it wasn't raining, but the ground was very wet and the sky was very gray so I decided to walk instead. I'm still hoping to meet my pre-trip mileage goal of 3000 miles by next Monday. I believe it is possible, but it's really dependent on clearing weather.

From my Monday morning walk - before the gray overrode the blue sky

Late summer flowers

Pricing surprises

Sometimes I'm amazed at the prices for items in grocery stores. Well, maybe I should say a lot of the time...

I regularly shop at both a 'standard' grocery store and at Whole Foods. Produce tends to be better at Whole Foods, although it can be more expensive. But the two items with prices that really surprise me are actually cheaper at Whole Foods. Kashi Go Lean cereal is $2.50 at Whole Foods and between $3.50 and $3.69 at regular stores. And Luna Bars - my current favorite energy bar - are 99 cents each at Whole Foods, $1.39 each at grocery stores, and $1.25 each if you buy direct from Luna. Very interesting.

It really makes me wonder who sets the prices!

A visiting day

How nice that there was a conference in Portsmouth that my dad needed to attend. That means that I was able to have a nice visit with my folks not too far from home!

It was a beautiful day for wandering, sunny and comfortable. We started at some of the outlet stores in Kittery, enjoyed a nice lunch at an outdoor spot in Portsmouth, and then wandered around town for a bit. It was definitely an enjoyable day.

Hey mom - I think I finally got a picture of you that even you will like! This moose hat is priceless...

Disappearing sunlight

Why is it that the addition of more sunlight to each day as spring approaches seems slow, and the disappearance of sunlight as fall approaches seems fast? I'm enjoying what I believe are the last two weeks of the year for commuting to work by bike (OK, only 2 to 3 days a week, but still!). I'm leaving on September 7th for a 2-week vacation wandering around Prince Edward Island on my bike, and by the time I return there won't be enough daylight to support both a full day of work and my commute to work.

I just looked at the 'Sun and Moon' page on the National Weather Service's website, and the times they show for sunrise and sunset confirm my feeling that the daylight is in fact getting shorter quickly. On August 1st, possible hours of sunlight were 14:28, and by the end of August that has decreased to 13:12. When I'm back after my vacation, the sunlight has decreased to just over 12 hours - with a sunrise on September 22nd at 6:36 AM and a sunset at 6:42 PM. Considering that I usually leave for work on my bike at 6:30 and get home at about 7 PM, well I think it's back to a non-biking commute.

I'll enjoy the rest of this year's biking commute though. Here's hoping for decent weather for the next week and a half!

Fog, mist, wet!

This was definitely a good riding week, although there were times during my ride yesterday when I wasn't too sure about that! My choices for a ride destination yesterday were a loop in south coastal Maine, or a jaunt along the New Hampshire coast.

My desire for simplicity - as in not needing a map or cue sheets - plus an iffy weather forecast made me choose the close-to-home option, the New Hampshire coast. I drove to Salisbury, MA, thinking to try for a three-state day. That would have required riding through Portsmouth, NH and then heading over the bridge to Maine - but the weather conditions drove me to stop a little short of Portsmouth. It was still a 40-mile round trip, not bad at all even though I'd hoped to do 50.

It was gray and foggy when my bike and I left my car, and it seemed to get foggier as I progressed further along the coast. There wasn't much visibility out to sea, although it wasn't totally socked in, as in I could see the cars and the cars could see me. But it got grayer, and it started misting. I can't say that it was raining at all, but the mist was so heavy that I had to keep stopping to clear my glasses. I finally gave up and rode without them, something I never do! The bike was pretty trashed from the road gunk spraying up, and finally when the water was dripping off of my helmet I figured that it was time to turn around.

In spite of the conditions, it was a beautiful ride, and a good picture-taking day. My only regret is that I didn't manage a good close-up shot of the egrets that I kept seeing in the marshes on the non-ocean side of the road.

And yes, my bike did get a bath and re-lube as soon as we (the bike & I!) got home.

See what I mean by a bit foggy?

This is before my glasses got too water-splattered to see through. They were bad, but not too bad yet!

I just had to stop when I saw this bird party. They must have been having a party - or I guess they just like hanging out together!

More pictures from today can be found in my Along the New Hampshire Coast - 2005 smugmug gallery. The first page of the gallery is from a ride back in May; the rest is from today's ride.