Thing of Purpose

DAY OF WIND TWO • I thought my reading of the weather forecast was probably too optimistic, or at least too early to call. The day started cool, cloudy, and windy; however, it was still a fair bicycle riding day. It was also the first day since the spring that I rode the whole ride in an upper top-layer, albeit unzipped in the sunshine and if I was in a tailwind. The pomegranate fruits split this week, which must be another seasonal indicator for those more in touch with such things than I am. After harvesting the fruit, the seeds inside (called arils) have to be harvested. The specific gravity difference between the arils and the membrane surrounding them is your secret ally: the membrane floats in water and the arils sink. There are instructions on the Simply Recipes website. The manufactured extracts and juices of the pomegranate have no magical properties, as  research summaries  show, but it is a valuable fresh  wholefood in the armory of a healthy p...

WINDS OF CHANGE • My mother was fond of Kathleen Ferrier singing ' Blow the Winds Southerly '. Overnight, my weather-forecast application suddenly announced that there would be strong winds from the south. A wind advisory was issued by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) for 25-35mph winds with gusts up to 45mph in the afternoon and evening. Sailors and singers may like winds, but as a bicyclist I am not so keen. I complained over my first cup of coffee about the short notice for this previously unheralded change in the forecast. I complain often, which is probably why I am so often ignored. I had awoken with knots in my left bicep and quadricep. I was lying on my right side, so no explanation there, unless you support some kind of reverse physiology hypothesis. I was also snuffly and grumpy. If you have read ' Diseases from Space ' by  Fred Hoyle  and Chandra Wickramasinghe you may believe that the snuffles came from an extraterrestrial sourc...

Classification conundrum • Earlier in the day, in an otherwise clear blue sky, a line of low cloud developed along the eastward-facing flank of the Pine Valley Mountains about halfway up the slope. I am not going to put myself on the line by attempting a classification. Those feeling emboldened by confidence in their own abilities, warranted or otherwise, to decipher the Wikipedia page on cloud identification are welcome to leave their call in the comments. I am going to leave it at "a line of low cloud". By noon those clouds had risen in altitude to cap the crest of the mountain range. Cue Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes"…lift us up where we belong / Where the eagles cry / On a mountain high" ('Up Where We Belong', the  #1 hit song from the movie soundtrack of 'An Officer and a Gentleman', 1982). I was reliably informed by a loved one on my cellphone messaging app that it was raining in Southern California. I thought it never rained in Southern...

A super-abundance of produce • I went to Ali's Organics to collect the produce shares for this week and I was amazed by the pumpkin display. Some of them are destined to be  jack-o'-lanterns —although they are edible, as Ali told me, "You wouldn't want to!" I am a turnip-lantern man and the removed flesh of those are edible. I am not a big fan of pumpkin pie and I wonder why this vegetable (it's a cultivar of the squash plant) is so strongly associated with the baked goods department. Check out the last link: hidden among all the sugary comestibles there are curry and chili recipes and even one for lasagna! Both  pumpkin leaf  kimchi and  pumpkin spice kimchi from Korean cuisine both seem like more interesting alternatives to dumping shovelfuls of refined sugar onto the mashed flesh and baking the resulting mucilage into a pastry flan.

Magic waterfall • For the first time in many weeks my legs felt like they were working for me and not for my enemies. Following the longer-than-usual ride yesterday, I had expected my legs to be tired today and accordingly my plan was a shorter ride. Immediately after I set off on my ride, I could feel my legs were functioning better than I had anticipated. To check that this new development was not just a flash in the pan , I decided to replicate the ride from yesterday as a way of establishing a direct performance comparison. I am delaying celebration through the declaration of an International Magnificent Legs Day, just in case this is an example of the one step forward and two steps back syndrome. Been there. Experienced that. Too old to be caught out again. As I was descending from the moor after my first turnaround, I saw a strange aircraft in the sky. It was too far away for good viewing and certainly well outside the iPhone's comfort zone. A small section of the photo, ...

High, wide, blue & white (oh, purple & yellow, too!) • It took me all morning to do what I used to do all morning. Like the gruff old Scottish Highlander who took a young bride, "It's work I dinnae grudge!" I have eschewed carrying a camera in recent days, but the big skies today were suitable for the wide-eyed and legless focal length of the iPhone lens. The Canon G3 took one last photo of a sunset a few nights past and then died. Farewell, my faithful servant during 17,869 exposures. My legs were in better shape than the Strava stats indicate. I went slowly, but did my full route that does not include venturing down the hill known as Mercy. What goes down has to come back up. I'm not ready for that just yet. I walked a couple of sections just to stretch out my back and feet. Overall output was modest, but a respectable distance for endurance. Not for the first time a camera almost had me involved in fisticuffs. The driver of a Kenworth rig (who looked...

Remembering an English bluesman • It is almost five years since John Robert Cocker OBE 1944-2014, better known as Joe Cocker  [ Wikipedia ], died in Crawford, Colorado. His last tour was in 2013, preserved on the 'Fire It Up' DVD and an eponymous album [ Spotify ]. A 2017 documentary, 'Joe Cocker Mad Dog with Soul' [ Men's Journal review], summarized his turbulent life and career. None of this explains why, as I was riding along this morning, in my mind's ear I could hear snippets of Cocker's best known tracks wafting towards me on a breeze across the Rocky Mountains.

Sun & moon • I rode with the sun and the moon in the sky. The headline photo is a confession of failure: I did not manage to get a satisfactory picture of the moon with any of the other objects that were moving around in the sky. This is as close as I was able to achieve and shows the moon, a yellow plane that I missed on its take-off, and a powerchutist who refused to come close enough to be visually significant. There was a lot to see on the ride. I realized how much the repeated stopping and restarting was negatively impacting my cycling performance, which I had planned to improve by a sufficient factor so that by the last day of October of this year I will be riding at the same speed that world record runners complete a marathon. I need a plan that will address that issue. WEATHER report: *START* 08:09, Clear, 57°F, Feels like 57°F, Cloud: 0%, Humidity 25%, Dewpoint 22°F, Wind 1mph from ↙, 3mph, UV index 0. *END* 11:32, Clear, 79°F, Feels like 79°F, Cloud: 0%, H...

Riding at running speed • My outing today was less of a bicycle ride and more of a day out in the countryside by bicycle, ending with a meet & greet with the neighbors to discuss our shared heritage. After I checked the stats on Strava, I realized that my ride distance of 26.29 miles (42.31 kms) was slightly longer than the official marathon distance of 42.195 km (26.22 miles). That's where the comparison has to end. The current world record for running a marathon is held by Eliud Kipchoge (2h:01m:39s) and the record for a woman is held by Paula Radcliffe (2h:15m:25s). My time for much the same distance by bicycle was a moving time of 2h:53h:02s spread across 3h:45m:24s. My spread time included birdwatching, powerchute-watching, flower photography, and the aforementioned social interaction. I need to focus my efforts if I want to equal the times achieved by runners. It should be achievable. Why, I hear you ask? Because goals. It seems reasonable to me that after a lifet...

Sharp reminder • I took yesterday off for WAAAP (whingeing about aches and pains). We sallied forth on a retail therapy expedition and I bought some warmer clothing for the cooler cycling weather that is approaching—although not just yet as the afternoons are still over 90°F (32.2°C) with plenty of warm sunshine even in the breeze. On the way home we stopped at the license  plate pole to take photos. Today, I delayed the start of my ride start until I was moving more freely. It was windy, but comfortably warm and sunny. I rode steadily and the rest on the previous day and the conservative riding today soon had me feeling much better. I passed several touring bicyclists and wondered how the SPP (self-propelling particle aka Dan Calverley ) was progressing on his bicycle journey across six continents. As I climbed the rise to the north cattle guard at the end of W3000S where it bends 90° left, I was thinking what a potentially hazardous journey he had undertaken. On my way n...

Saturday recreations •  It was a busy day all around. The Copper Rock earthmovers were parked up, although there was excavation and pipe-laying out on the playa, which required a water bowser and sprayer to damp down the dust. People were enjoying the pleasant September weather and having a day out for recreation and enjoyment. All the activity busyness had the hawks up on their toes, or should that be talons? Whichever, I was able to take some photos of them on the wing. I saw runners, walkers, other bicyclists, a powerchutist, and a stately procession of vintage cars. In the center of town the BAM (Because Animals Matter) ninth annual Dog Day Spectacular was in progress with dock-diving dogs, frisbee-catching canines, and agility teams of dog and human. I socialized with Bull and Bo, which is always a pleasure: Bull is the one in the bowler hat and Bo is the one with the big ears! WEATHER report: *START* 08:34, Clear, 64°F, Feels like 64°F, Cloud: 0%, Humidity 23%...

Retirement benefit • After I retired (or became unemployable as I prefer to say), I discovered that the benefits of retirement are certainly not financial. There are some things that are valuable without having a monetary value. I have wealthy friends who bemoan their painful predicament of being money rich, but time poor. As in so many circumstances there is a balance to be struck. I have done my best to achieve that desirable state. I realized that one of the benefits I enjoy is that I don't have to leave at 05:30, riding in the cold and dark just because that is the only time available to me. The mid- and late-morning temperatures are now comfortable enough for bicycle riding. I started at 08:30 and avoided the madding crowd that is routinely late for school or work and trying in vain to make up time by not driving in the sedate manner that normally characterizes the locale. The countryside was all ours: me, the birds, and the farmer raising dust. I have the pilot of the g...

No turning back • Folklorists use the ATU Index (Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index) to categorize folk tales. The Dick Whittington and His Cat folk tale is a type 1651 ('Whittington's Cat'). Lacking the necessary accoutrements (a cat and a peal of bells: we have many feral and domestic cats hereabouts, but I do not recollect ever hearing any campanology) to play out my own tale in that way today, I had to settle for not turning back. I felt cold when I started, although in my homeland 60°F (15.6°C) at sunup would qualify as the intense heat of high summer. It was the day after my rest day. At this point Paul Sherwen would always say to his fellow commentator Phil Liggett  something like: 'The body can react in strange ways after a rest day, Phil.' I was feeling like a stranger to myself. I had expected to be energized following my R&R day, but I found that I was dragging my heels. I decided to go to the next 'exit point' (all well-planned routes incorpo...

Breaking Away on the Champs-Elysées • World-class former bicycle racer David Millar has rebranded himself as CHPT3 , which he cunningly pronounces as "Chapter Three" to make finding him in that rôle when using a search engine into a triply difficult exercise. The CHPT3 website has a Journal  section with a variety of yarns and recollections. We chose ' Breaking Away on the Champs-Elysées' , Millar's account of his ride on the front of the race in the final stage of the 100th edition of the Tour de France in 2013. Millar has been described as an 'elder statesman' of the world of professional cycling. His career stretched from 1997 to 2014 and included a ban for using the performance enhancing drug EPO. After serving a ban that cost him dear, he returned to racing as an advocate for a doping-free peloton. After his retirement from the sport he became a broadcaster, writer, coach, and consultant—hence the name of his brand, CHPT3. His race analyses ...

The roll cloud returns • Today, as if to underscore the approaching change of season, a roll cloud returned to sit atop the Pine Valley Mountains. At first light the clouds started massing in the west and by mid-morning there was a fully-formed roll cloud, which is something more often seen in the cold months of the year. It was a busy day around the countryside. There seemed to be more construction vehicles than usual moving around and the flight path out of the airport was busy with both planes and helicopters. Three aircraft passed overhead as I paused at Amen Corner by the horse hotel. Up at Copper Rock there are now four buildings under construction. The first structure to be started is now well advanced and a worker was loading materials in preparation for the roof cladding. I rode the final leg of my route at a slow pace as I enjoyed the morning sunshine. I saw several dogs and cats that are now regular sightings, including the fierce metal-sculpture hound that guards the ...

Raptor hunt • My ride today was mostly routine. The temperatures are slowly falling as the change of season approaches. In the shade it was a cool at around 60°F (15.6°C) and the afternoon temperature failed to make it to 100°F (37.8°C) for the first time in many days. Most noticeable was the color temperature of the early morning light and the long shadows at my first turnaround. A hawk retreated as I approached and we played the pole dancing game until I finally managed to take a photograph. This bird looked different from the red tailed hawks I usually see. Perhaps it was just the light, although it looked less rufus, which was not what I would expect. It was certainly much less tolerant of my presence, so perhaps it is a new arrival from an even more rural part of the country with less human activity. WEATHER report: *START* 07:19, Clear, 61°F, Feels like 61°F, Cloud: 0%, Humidity 25%, Dewpoint 25°F, Wind 5mph from ↙, 7mph, UV index 0.  *END* 10:22, Clear, 71°F, ...

On advisement • A fellow bicyclist cautioned me to take it easy after I was unwell recently. I took the warning on advisement and after an overnight deliberation I decided to ride gently and limit my mileage today. A different advisor—one of the 'no pain, no gain' school—suggested an alternative strategy of trying to ride harder and increase my mileage. When half your advisors suggest you are a Cavalier hellbent on self-destruction and the other half suggest you are a Roundhead who needs to live larger then you are probably striking a good balance. After my ride today I felt much better than I felt after my ride yesterday. I am not reading too much either way into that bald statement, which is too narrow and shallow to be useful as a training guide. I also drank a bottle of beer last night. Either of these determinants may be sufficient encouragement for me to be more Cavalier or more Roundhead on my next ride. The Cavalier/Roundhead comparison (Puritans/Southerners in th...

Two-pronged attack • I was awake from four o'clock, but weary. Feeling ' Wide-eyed and Legless ' like Andy Fairweather Low in his successful 1975 song , I dragged myself onto the bicycle for a slightly later start than planned. One advantage of the hour was that the sun was up on the west of the valley, which meant that taking photos was a more reasonable proposition than on starts earlier in the day. On my first arrival at the Angel heights community postbox I knew it was not going to be an exhilarating romp out and back. It began to feel as though there might be an out but no back unless I called for assistance. The character-building value of shame and guilt should never be underestimated, especially when applied to those who are already experiencing low self-esteem. Just kidding. The day was pleasant: there was some humidity, but the heat of the summer is fading so I was comfortable. On my second arrival at Amen Corner (the junction of Airport Road and W30...