Tour Divide

We'll start with the few pictures I did take. Yea, I'm a littleembarrassed by the lack of pictures in general. To undertake such a massively epic and beautiful endeavor and not really document it, is kinda silly. Though any extra bits of effort kinda went out the window. Generalhygiene, picture taking and bikemaintenancekinda slowed to a crawl. Eating and riding took over as the primary functions. Its all still like foie gras in my brain and the regurgitation of brain film to decipherable thought is still taking place. That's 2 of the big 3. Stay riveted to your bar stools, church pews and inflatable furniture, I'll have a semi-legible report together soon.

Echo Reunion Photos

I have been spending rainy days working on the web site pages for the Echo Reunion. Burning the DVD of photos for attendees is on the "To Do" list.
Photos of the reunion functions are now on my web site. I am still writing verbiage for the pages. Also still working on the pages of my "tourist" stops on the way to and from the reunion. Finally, there will be the reports of my bicycle rides and trails during the trip.
Here's the link to the reunion report and photos... http://www.tomwinfield.com/vietnam/echo/echo-10.html

Pancake Cove Sunset

Here's last night's bitter cold sunset right out in front of our house on Grand Portage Bay. This little circular "cove" has been forming in the ice over the past several days. Up until yesterday morning it was just water in the cove, it hadn't yet filled with ice. After 24 hours of temperatures well below zero, the cove was suddenly filled with sheets of ice commonly referred to as "pancake ice". I thought I would name this little temporary ice cove "Pancake Cove". Last night at sunset these were separate sheets of ice, but this morning after another night of temps approaching 20 below zero, these cakes are now almost completely frozen solid. That's one of the things I love most about winter on Lake Superior... things change every day and often look completely different just from one sunset to the following sunrise!

Indulging our inner salmon

Here's something we have in common with salmon: We've been in all kinds of wonderful water, but every year we return to the tiny little pool where our love for paddling hatched.
OK, we stretched that metaphor to death. But how else can you explain our affection for the dinky little pool where the Chicago Whitewater Association (CWA) teaches 10-week classes every winter and spring?
We began as students about seven years ago. That's where we learned to roll and to control our boats. We gradually became assistants, helping set up gates and move gear. Now we're able to teach rolling and strokes to a new cohort of kayak enthusiasts and help on the club's teaching trips every spring on the DuPage, Vermillion and Wolf Rivers.
Last night was the final spring pool class in Oak Park--the night of the slalom, in which students are challenged to run through a series of gates, sometimes forward and sometimes backwards, as a test of their new-found paddling skills.
John Karch explains the slalom rules: Run all the gates once--some forwards, some backwards-- and do a roll or a 360-degree spin at the end before repeating the course once more. Each time you hit a gate, five seconds are added to your time.
People get very nervous, but they're also very supportive of one another. There's a lot of cheering when someone clears a gate, and groaning when they tap one with their boat or paddle.
Bret manages to clear a gate, using his kayak limbo skills.
After the instructors run the course, we take down the gates, haul out the boats and go out for pizza. We'll see one another again in a few weeks, when we embark on the first of the river trips.
Mike gives the slalom race two thumbs up. Next stop: actual moving water!

Recycling (2)

The epic 'redd oot' (clearing out) in our household has coincided with a strike of the city's refuse collectors. It's not cause and effect, I hasten to add. The solution was a visit to one of Edinburgh's recycling centres (known locally and less politically correctly as 'the dump'). We had already taken furniture to the Bethany Christian Trust the previous weekend, so for this trip we were left with the normal household recycling that isn't being collected just now, and rather too many bags for landfill.
I'd never been to the dump before, and it was a revelation. I loved it! There are stations for offloading still-working electrical goods, and furniture. There's a station for chemical disposal, and since the European Union has banned many commonly used UK garden pesticides this should be well used. I'm sure it's not. Then there's a series of bays for different categories of waste: solid wood, laminates, cardboard, garden waste and of course landfill. Containers for different colours of glass are further along, together with bins for paper, plastic, aluminium, clothes and shoes. (You can tell I'm enthralled by all of this). I didn't see anything for battery recycling - we're not very good at this in the UK. It was one of the happiest moments of the summer for me - a guilty pleasure, as I flung black bags into containers destined for landfill. Now that I know the array of possibilities, I'll do more pre-sorting next time, so that less goes into landfill. And there will be a next time - we haven't even started on the loft yet.

Along one edge of the 'facility' is this carefully tended garden. Bright annuals, hanging baskets, tomato plants, various ornaments and statues, topped off by tiki torches. I would love to visit at dusk when the torches are lit. Perhaps the bistro tables will come out then, and a barbecue. I'll have to time my next visit carefully.

Making a Difference in the World

"Anything you do from the soulful self will help lighten the burdens of the world. Anything. You have no idea what the smallest word, the tiniest generosity, can cause to be set in motion....Mend the part of the world that is within your reach." Clarissa Pinkola Estes
I want to take these words to heart. I need to quit looking for the bigger thing to do. I know in my own life that the things that have made the biggest impacts on my life have been the small things; a word said in passing that shook my world, a kind smile that eased my aching heart, a quick touch on the hand that said, "I care about you"....such small things can have a big effect on the heart for good.
Today I want to do small things for my loved ones and strangers alike. I want to live mindfully and deliberately, and by lightening someone else's load, I'll bring more joy into my own life.

Spring on the Wabash Trace

Almost perfect weekend for biking. Yesterday I rode the road bike from Wabash Trace trailhead to Western Historic Trails Center (and back). Wanted to get a couple miles to top over 14,000 miles since I started cycling in July 2005. Mission Accomplished.
Today was a beautiful Spring day for a ride on the Wabash Trace. It was the first ride on the Trace this year. Sunny, slight breeze from the South, and pushing 80 degrees. Yes, 80 degrees in late March!
Was good to get off the pavement and ride the hardtail (Trek 4300). Been a while since I rode that bike. It was outfitted with platform pedals and studded tires for the winter. That was not needed with my winter trips and the mild winter.
Headed south from Silver City. Rode as far as Silver Creek Bridge. By the time I was there, I could feel that my legs might rebel because of the fat, knobby tires and softer trail surface. Add to that this was the third ride in a row. Think they need a day off.
First think I noticed that there has been horses down the trail. They are not supposed to be on that section of the Trace. (Only allowed on the dirt trail that parallels the old railroad bed and then between CB and Mineola). Another rider I met said the horses cam down the trail about 3 weeks ago.
The trail is mostly clear except for branches partially out into the trail surface. The rider I talked with also mentioned to me that the mile marked 393 had been pulled out and dropped on the other side of the trail. Others had reset the sign (including concrete) into the hole left there. Can't understand why folks would such vandalism.