Something To Think About

Do your work...and step back.Fill your bowl to the brimand it will spill.Keep sharpening a knifeand it will blunt.Chase after money and securityand your heart will never unclench.Care about people's approvaland you will be their prisoner.Do your work, then step back.The only path to serenity.
I don't know where I read this, but I recognized the truth in it. How many times do we overwork something to the point of ruining it? Westerners want more, more, more instead of being satisfied with enough or even less.
And as a Christian, I don't believe that the only path to serenity is to do your work and step away from it. But the poem makes a good point, doesn't it?

A beautiful morning in the Badlands

After my recent visit to Nebraska, I took a slight detour on the way home to visit the Black Hills and the Badlands of South Dakota. I arrived in Badlands National Park in the late afternoon hoping for some nice sunset conditions, but it was not meant to be. The day ended much the same way it began: with overcast skies, high winds, and very little color in the sky. The following morning was a different story. The wind had died overnight and was nothing more than a slight breeze, and the heavy cloud cover had disappeared along with the wind. What remained were some very intriguing clouds that added a lot of interest to my wide-angle landscape shots of the Badlands.

Forest Bellflower

Forest Bellflower, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

I found this campanula down by a stream in Dolomieu, France. There were many flowers down there, as well as mushrooms. I tried to do a little exploring, but I heard that vipers lived down in wet areas, so that shot that idea down.

Variety in Riding

I have commented before - variety in riding is a key for my riding. Here in the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro we are fortunate. We have very good paved trails, 5 dirt trails, and the Wabash Trace.
Today's photo is on River Front Real Estate at Lake Manawa SP.
Because of the relatively wet summer we have had, I have ridden more on the Wabash Trace. I have been amassing a large collection of photos of the Wabash Trace.
Back to variety - another secret of my riding this year has been in the variety of bikes I ride and own. At this time, my bikes are a hybrid (Trek 7200FX), a hardtail mountain bike (Trek 4300), and a full suspension trail bike (Trek Fuel EX7).
For the Wabash Trace - the best bike is the hardtail. Its just awesome for climbing and soft trail conditions. I often use the hybrid on the trace when I ride as a photo shoot, That's because the hybrid has a rear rack and bag. The trail bike does not respond well on crushed limestone.
In the dirt - its really a toss-up. Lake Manawa, where I ride most, a full suspension bike is overkill. I can ride well there on either the hardtail or the Fuel EX7. I like the comfort of the full suspension. So far, the hardtail has better handling. Recently I have started experiencing riding with the suspension locked -- that gives me some rear suspension.
On pavement - any bike is good. The surprising thing is that the hardtail is the fastest bike for me. You would think that the hybrid, with thinner tires, would be faster. Recent test rides, on my hardtail, I average about 1 mph faster than the hybrid.
This year I have been doing longer rides. Right now averaging about 25 miles per ride. Starting to look at a "faster" bike. Cyclocross bike? Road bike? With my experience with the hybrid vs hardtail, will either increase my speed?
BTW - for those interested - yesterday I topped 2400 miles for the year. Over 200 miles over last year's total. Have been riding about 100 miles a week since July 4th.

Not quite a disaster, but...

The midnight century ride didn't go quite as planned. I did manage to complete the ride in a reasonable time under the circumstances, so there's probably no reason for complaint, but in reality I'd hoped for a lot more.
The problems started about 20km or so into the planned ride to the start. Half way to Canungra, I realised I had left my wallet at home. Basically, this meant that I had to backtrack, and could basically forget about riding to the start at Ipswich because of time constraints. As it happened, I managed to negotiate the clusterf*ck that is public transport in Queensland and make the start.
As I always do on these rides, I opted for a steady start and just worried about riding myself into the event. That was working, until around 70km in, when I was deceived by a sign to Lowood, misread the directions and took a wrong turn. I realised my error, backtracked and got back onto the course again, thinking that was about as bad as it would get. In Coominya that was proven wrong, another wrong turn, this time the result of a sign pointing in the wrong direction, and a farm road with no signs for 3km to tell me I was in the wrong place.
Back in Coominya I bumped into another rider of the opposite gender but with the same given name as myself (funny how non-gender specific names can get confusing), and confirmed that I wasn't the only one to take a wrong turn. We negotiated our way over Wivenhoe Dam, onto the second checkpoint at Fernvale, and onto the remaining 54km of the event. I wanted to mop it up quickly, but at this point my legs weren't cooperating. Fortunately, there was a little thing called the Marburg Range just down the road.
The Marburg Range proved to be the perfect scapegoat for the earlier frustrations, and I slaughtered it. I had worried that this effort might slow me down over the last 30km of the ride, but it didn't prove that way at all. I seemed to draw inspiration from it, and seemed to be finishing stronger. I had also caught up to Chris on that climb, meaning I'd have some company for the final stretch.
The last few kilometres of the event finished the way these things usually do, negotiating it's way through the streets of whatever city the event is held in. There was a mistake in the route slip at Walloon, but this wasn't a problem -- largely due to knowledge gleaned from all those weekend tours I've ridden in the past that started in Ipswich. There was also an attack from not one, but two magpies. This actually shows remarkable insight by Ipswich standards. This time their ideas are only two months behind those of everyone else.
There seem to be mixed emotions about the way this one turned out. I should probably just be glad to have completed the ride and have it done with. The various side-trips, route negotiations and so on gave me 236km in total, but I had been hoping to turn it into a 300k. On the other hand, the relative recent lack of long distance rides has probably affected my condition a little, so perhaps I should just be happy with what I have. That said, I still plan on making up for it next weekend.

A Zest for Life

Is there anything more beautiful than a sleeping child? I've taken photos of all my grandboys this way, and they're some of my favorites.
This particular one is grandboy #2. His given name is Landing but is nicknamed Crash. He's the one who runs at life head-on. He comes up to me about fifty times an hour to hug my legs and say, "I love you, Nana!"
He doesn't do anything by halves. I love his vivacity and cheerfulness. He never meets a stranger, and within two seconds they're lifelong friends. He loves and lives hard. He's a good example for us all.

Denny Wood, New Forest

6 miles. With Esther who was pushing Joseph in the buggy.

More fritillaries and lots of little brown butterflies.



here