California Poppy Seedlings

A small group of seedlings out of thousands that have germinated.

Dine with the Ancestors at the Carnival

Wow, the COG just keeps getting bigger and better! Thirty-one posts comprise the February 4th Carnival of Genealogy, 41st Edition. The topic is: "If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why?" Take some time to meet the dinner guests and enjoy the culinary delights presented. They will make you laugh, they will make you cry, they will make you think. You'll run the full gamut of emotions and you will be amazed at the vivid imaginations of some very talented writers!

Who, What, When, Where, Why? is my contribution to COG-41.

Jasia also announced the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy:

"The Best of The Best!" It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History aka AGFH (an esteemed organization that all genea-historian bloggers who participate in this next edition of the COG will become founding members of) to honor their best blog posts of ..* in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in ... Tell us which you liked best and why.
Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in .. would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in ..?
Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in ..?
Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in ..?

The award given to these very deserving examples of quality writing of family history will heretofore be known as the iGene Award.

Start digging back into your archives and choose which of your blog posts deserve to be recognized for outstanding achievement. This is not a competition between bloggers but a chance for you to spotlight your own shining efforts at recording your genealogy and family history in ..*. There is no nomination process. You just need to announce your winning blog posts for the 5 categories mentioned above in an article on your blog and submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy.

Please act as your own "award presenter" by writing an introduction and include it in the "Remarks" box on the BlogCarnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is February 15, ...

*We're going to define ".." to include any posts written in .. as well as those written Jan. 1-Feb. 15, .. as well (so that new bloggers can participate).

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

The Closest Thing to a Valentine

In all of the photo albums and family papers of my grandmother's, I haven't come across any valentines or love letters written by or to anyone. None. Zilch. Nada. And I don't have any personal valentines (that I'd care to share). So with my birthday being just 3 days after Valentines Day, I thought these cards might be good substitutes for inclusion in the 20th edition of Smile For The Camera. My niece Carrie made them a “few” years ago (when she was 9 or 10 years old). The images were previously published here on kinexxions in July ...

Engagement Day!

Above Image: "Where the Lake becomes the River" - Near the Gunflint Trail in northeast Minnesota, the Brule River resumes its journey toward Lake Superior after flowing through Northern Light Lake.









Last night, under the light of an incredibly surreal moonlit and lightning-filled sky over Lake Superior, I asked the woman I love to marry me. And she said YES! I feel like I'm floating on air today :-)









So, Jessica and I are now officially engaged :-) And what do we do to celebrate our engagement day? We spend it outside, of course! We went paddling on the Brule River and Northern Light Lake along the Gunflint Trail in Northeast Minnesota. It sure was a beautiful day!







Above: Jessica getting lost in the grass where the Brule River flows into Northern Light Lake







Above: The clouds and lily pads were awesome.







Above: It was loads of fun paddling through these reeds. Very interesting to watch them glide magically out of the way as the bow of the kayak nudged them to the side.







Above: Goofing off in the tall grass.

Photographing clouds over Speckled Trout Lake

A couple of shotsfrom last weekend in Northern Minnesota. We had gone out paddling on a local lake mostly to look for Loons (of which we did find two) but also just to get out on the water and hopefully get some nice pictures. As sunset approached we were treated to some very nice clouds which reflected quite nicely on the super-calm waters of the lake.

Blue Window

Blue window frame with a huge dark pink crape myrtle blooming beside it.

The DPS 138 and Dynafit's Carbon Green Machine ZZero4

A perfect day on Snoqualmie Pass for the Lotus 138 if you made the cut off. Pass is closed going east bound for hours while we burned turns in 30" of new snow which kept falling all day!












The story is longer than it needs to be. But it is a part of my experience so I'll share it. Like everything here at Cold Thistle it is my story in the end which may not relate to your story in any way.



After an amazing reintroduction to skiing in Chamonix last winter I skied through the summer. No cragging and no alpine if I wasn't hauling skis around. My lift assisted ski season ended in July and I kept skiing until August. Huge fun!



Last year was also my introduction to fat skis, rockered skis, fully rockered skis, early rise tips, super light skimo gear and ski specific racing ski packs. I was the new kid in gear hog heaven!



By mid summer I decided in for a penny in for a pound. My new La Sportiva Hi5s were so amazing to ski on. I was in love. But I also figured if a 115mm waist was fun even bigger might also be even more fun. Some rocker was good...huge rocker may be even better in the right snow and on the right ski.



The Hi5 has become one of my all time favorite skis and a go to back country ski here. One I had planned on skiing a lot early season.











By late summer I had scraped together enough coin to jump in deep with DPS. A pair of Waller 112s and a pair of Lotus 138s both in Pure Carbonconstruction showed up in August. I was Sooooooo stoked! I pictured myself cat skiing or if I won the local lotteryheli skiing again.



http://www.dpsskis.com/ski/wailer112RP



http://www.dpsskis.com/ski/lotus138









I had mated the skis with Dynafit TLT Radical bindings (which were a easy choice ) and the most impressive (now that I have finally skied them) Dynafit ZZero4 Carbon Green machine!



TLT Radical

http://www.dynafit.com/product/bindings/tlt-radical-ft-130mm-z12



What is there to say about Dynafit...they are super light, they work and never a pre-release.

Why would you bother to ski on anything but a tech binding? Which Dynafit invented btw.

Green Machine

http://www.dynafit.com/product/shoes/zzero4-green-machine-tf



Every thing seemed right in my world last August. Well almost everything.

I got a diagnosis of throat cancer and scheduledfor surgery the next daytotally out of the blue, the same week the skis arrived. I was a little FREAKED truth be told! Damn it! I had more important things like SKIING on my mind. Cancer was a little speed bump I hadn't planned on!



Skiing and climbing were on my mind but not on my radar for the near future. After a radical neck dissection I took a week long road trip to rock climb. No my best moment. There is a reason they call them "radical". I simply ignored the obvious and went climbing. It all worked out anyway. By the time I got home I had decided to start selling what ever gear I had that couldeasily be turned to cash and mailed out.



It was quick cash and all easily replaceable in the long run. All but the DPS skis. But then the DPS skis represented the largest amount of cash in just two pieces of gear.At that point I wasn't really sure what the future held so on the block they went anyway. I decided to put both pair up for sale and keep what ever pair didn't sell first. It wasn't like there was a shortage of skis around the house. The DPS skis were a pure luxury. And as cancer treatment startedit was obvious the road was going to be harder and longer than I expected. I hate speed bumps.



Chemo was bad but after repeated emails and dicking around, finally shipping the Waller 112s to Germany was pretty painful as well :) But I knew I still had my Hi5s so I wasn't being overly tortured in the "mid fat" ski category. The REALLYFAT Lotus 138s just sat in the corner of my office as did the new ZZeros Carbons with a box of bindings just waiting for the right moment. No way was I going to sell the boots. Even though they had yet to be molded.I am a big believer in the theory of "he who dies with the most toys, WINS". I hate coming in second! I kept the boots on that premise alone if for no other reason.



A month or so ago, long before I could actually ski or get out yet I dropped the Lotusoff at Pro Mtn Sports in North Bend and had them mounted. One step closer.I had a plan...small steps when you canbreath.



Cancer and chemo I have learned are the gifts that keep on giving. One week I am "fine". The next sick as a dog again. This week my hands and feet are numb. From the ankles down on the feet, wrist forward on the hands. Hard to stay warm when that is happening. It comes and goes now so not a huge deal just annoying. But not the symptoms you want to have while ice climbing either.



I've found you can ski at a so- so level, even ice climb at a so-so level. I've always biked at a so-so level and with snow on the ground no biking going on anyway. You can't build $5000 custom guns with a shaky hand at a so-so level. That just won't do. It will pass I am sure so for the moment I do what I can on that particular day. And yesterday we had 5" of light and fluffy on my deck. What else was I suppose, or could Ido??!



It has been snowing on and off here for two days. Unusual as I am only at 763 feet in elevation. Generally just below the snow line. When 5" of light and fluffy snow had piledup my deck yesterday by 9am I started thinking seriously about skiing! Big "if", was just making it to the mountain. Storms like that around here generally cut the power and shut the roads down for days.



What the hell...not like I was going to accomplish anything at home or in the shop anyway. So I threw sand and a shovel in the truck with Marley, the wonder dog, and headed east to Alpental!



Amazingly enough it was straight shot out I-90 at mostly70 mph right up to the turn off at the Summit. I was on the lift minutes later. Marley, totally frustrated, was still in the truck wondering why we weren't headed for the back country? That would have beenway more typical.







Marley collecting some unnecessarygood Karma





Everyone seems to wonder just how different a 138mm ski would be to ride. These are 192cm. DPS says, "Riding the Lotus 138 in deep snow is like an entirely new sport." Seriously, I should have bought the 202s!



Sorry, easy to avoid the hype here as the skis don't make it a new sport no matter what size you buy. I'll admit skating across the flat from where I clipped in to the quad chair was a little weird but then I hadn't been in a stiff pair of boots for a LONG time so that was weird as well. Four turns off the chair and I was thinking this is pretty FFFFUUUUNNNN!. By mid chair I had a huge grin on my face and actually cracked out a couple of laughs betweentheface shots.



In fact wayfun, but not "a new sport".Tight, quick linked short radius turns or huge screaming eagle GS turns were to be had in total control. And damn near zero effort all day long... as the snow continued to pile up. (although I am a little sore writing this so there was some effort going on ;) Out running my own sluffs was so easy it ishardly worth mentioning. But I had so seldom done that even in the old days it is worth mentioning. The snow was deep and it was steep!









Yes, in fact I was feeling like a film star on this set up. I always say the best gear is gear you never notice. Chopped pow, untrackedpow, icy moguls or climbable water ice on thecliff bands, powder in the bumps? Anything and everything I wanted to ski was simply EASY. Water ice was a little iffy though! Thoughtless for the most part and super fun.



So when I got asked...and it happened almost every ride up the lift..."how are they to ski?" my answer was "easy....super easy!"Think a snow board for each foot here. So, I shit you not, the video belowcould have just as easily been me yesterday! Only I dress better than Steven Drake and must ski a little betterI suspect :) Anyone can ski that well on a pair of 138s in the soft stuff. They really are that good! And that easy to ski. Don't be all that impressed by the video. It is the skis...that make it look that easy. And it really is that easy. Don't be afraid of a rockered fat ski! You'll love them...well....I do these anyway. It is not a new sport but no question, with these guys the game has changed.







The boots and bindings? Like the skis...I never noticed them while doing some of the best skiing I have done in a long time. But after almost a year in the super light Dynafit Carbon TLT 5sif was really fun to add power steering and rip a bit. And these do RIP! I felt like I was cruising around on a rock solid 207cm GS out fit yesterday...unless of course I wanted to rip some tight turns on the tree line or down a powder filled set of steep bumps.This rig makes all that easy to do as well. The versatility of this set up on soft snow was simply amazing.A heli ski trip......would likely be orgasmic.



"The new Green Machine is absolutely stiffer than the Zzero CT-F (last years Green machine). Most of the increase is in lateral stiffness, the kind that matters when driving a big ski at speed. Plus that increase comes with lighter overall weight and better cuff rotation for more comfortable touring."

Sandy Brown, Dynafit Rep







The Green Machine is a simple boot. 4 easy to work buckles, a nice burly power strap and acomfy heat moldable inner boot with a stiff tongue. The inner boot is made byPalua for Dynafit. IMO they are the best inner boots available for climbing and ski boots. Others always want to argue but that is my take on it from having owned most of them. I've written about Palua several times here. It is worth checking them out. Theyfit me really well with no fuss. Just that simple. They ski like a race boot and they are warm. Strange combo there. My feet are still talking nicely to me at the end of the day. They may ski like a race boot but they aren't a race boot. This is a full blown AT boot. The buckles are easy to adjust for tour mode andeasy to adjust for fit. The latch and ankle/touringhinge easy to use. And that is comparing them to my TLT5 C's. Which are likely the easiest to useand best skiing touring boot made to date.



The Green Machine makes the TLT5 seem likea town car compared to a tight Porsche on a mountain road. These green guys are a GT2 RSR. There really isn't a comparison past they are both AT ski boots. Don't read too much into that as I dearly lovemy TLT5 Performance Carbons! But for a pair of 138s mid foot I wanted some real power. The speed at which you can so easily ski the 138s made the decision of a beefy boot a wise choice. This combowill ski pow at Mach 3 if you have the stones for it. And cutting a set of skins for them is not yet out of the question.



A caveat though on the boots. (Just realized this today..two day later) I ended up skiing the first two days while inthe Green Machine withthe hinge latchin walk mode. Never really noticed it actually as the boots are pretty stiff and even flexed while locked up or in walk mode. I generally ski my TLT5s without a tongue and my previous BD Primes unlatched as well. So I like a soft flexing boot generally. Nice to have the option of latching them down and having a stiffer boot if you require it.)



My body is totally worn out of course because these boots and the ski/binding combo let me rip it up all day with ZERO complaints about gear. They did what was asked and more with nearly a bobble. And I seldom noticed them past unlatching a over tight buckle or two mid day. Even more fun, it was my first day of skiing on them. I have no doubt the boots as well as the entire packagewill only get better with use.








Hardest thing I did yesterday was getting a shot of the "DPS" logo in 3' of new snow :)




And having to leaveMarley in the truck :(




From an up coming full review and comparison at http://blistergearreview.com/



"- DPS Lotus 138, Pure, 192cm



Not so long ago, DPS was the new kid on the block, and the Lotus 138 was one of the freshest innovations in the world of powder skiing.



Now, the Lotus 138 is more like the grandfather of modern design. It’s been around for a while, and while DPS has continued to tweak the construction materials, sidecut profiles, and amount of splay, the ski maintains its unmistakable, iconic look.



For their - model, however, DPS completely rethought the Lotus 138 from the ground up, regarded nothing as sacred about its design, and after major deliberation…decided just to throw a snowflake on the top sheet.



So what’s the takeaway here? DPS believes that the Lotus 138 is dialed."



As do I. Nice work DPS!



Post script:





A happy DPS customer

photo courtesy of Sting @ http://thesnowtroopers.com/



I was able to ski another 3 foot of fresh snow today (three days after the original post) as the temps werewarmingup. So much of what I got was true Cascade Cement. Short of pure hard pack the 138'sare still a tool to be playedwith. Even the hard pack was interesting but I wouldn't want to do a lot of it. I keep hearing how hard these fat rockered skisare to manage. I haven't found that to be the case. I was even able to make some good turns in deep untracked heavy snow on a side hill. Yes a side hill off camber slope. I would have never tried that on a lesser ski. Unheard of previous at my skill level. Any little pocket or hidden stash of fluff I could find got shredded.



Not the best conditions for the 138s later in the day. But where they were good they were exceptional. Given a choice I would have switch out to a skinnier ski late in the day today. The Hi5 would have been my preferred weapon for what was left of the mank. Sting from Snowtroopers was on a pair of Hi5s today btw. But don't let that scare you away from the 138s if you are lucky enough to live in an area that gets the big dumps like we do.



I have a good sized quiver to pick from and the Lotus 138saremy all time favorite skis for big loads of fresh.












My Lotus 138 track.

City Bikes with Mountain Bike Heritage

A distinct category of transportation bicycles that has emerged in parallel to the contemporary classic Dutch bikes and English roadsters, is the city bike with mountain bike heritage. I have tried four distinct bicycles from this genre so far: the Retrovelo, the Urbana, the Pilen, and the Paper Bicycle.



The lugged Retrovelo is the most deceptively traditional looking of the bunch. But behind the facade of an elegant European city bicycle, it is essentially a remake of an early mountain bike design - made speedier with the fast rolling Schwalbe Fat Frank tires (originally made for Retrovelo and named after its designer Frank Patitz). When I rode a Retrovelo for the first time, I noticed that its handling felt different from that of Dutch city bikes and English roadsters, but could not articulate how or why. Having now tried other bicycles with MTB roots, it makes more sense.



The swan-framedPilen surprised me with an even more dramatic difference in handling from traditional European city bikes. Its "unfellability" reminded me of one of those roly-poly toys that stay upright no matter how far you try to push them to the side. It was on the Pilen that I overcame my dislike of cycling on grassy hills and rock-strewn trails. And with its Schwalbe Big Apples in 700C, it towered over other bikes in city traffic while also breezily rolling over rough terrain.



Pushing the limits of my aesthetic open-mindedness, the Urbana is basically a downhill mountain bike redesigned with a low step-over U-frame, fitted with BMX handlebars, and equipped with all the contraptions necessary for transportational cycling - including a rear rack that, together with the frame design, allows the bike to carry an insane amount of weight without impacting handling. Unabashedly industrial looking, the Urbana does not aim at classic prettiness. But it sure rides well - rolling over substantial road debris and hopping curbs on its 2.6" wide tires with monster-truck ease and city bike grace.



And then there is the Paper Bicycle. With its seemingly bizarre construction, this bike manages to combine an upright sitting position with the type of "bad ass" mountain-bikey handling that inspired me to actually try riding it down a steep rocky hill (successfully). On top of that, it is responsive enough to ride long distance, as a single speed.



Knowing fairly little about mountain bike design (other than that they have a "low center of gravity" - which means what, exactly, as far as frame construction goes?..), I am not in a position to offer a technical analysis of these bicycles. But as a cyclist who has tried a myriad of city bikes at this point, I can feel a common thread in their handling. Granted, "stability" is a vague term. But theirs is a distinct brand of stability that I for one find useful in a city bike. The same qualities that make these bicycles stable off-road, are what makes them unexpectedly reassuring in traffic, indifferent to crater-sized potholes, and immune to unexpected road debris. There is more to it, but alas, I lack the vocabulary to describe it.



While mountain bikes have been used for transportation for decades, their sluggish tires, bouncy suspension forks, derailleur gearing and lack of fenders made them sub-optimal for this purpose. Also, allow me to be honest: Contemporary mountain bikes are rather ugly. But harvesting their best characteristics while optimising them for urban transport and aiming for a more classic look, seems like an excellent recipe for a fun, reliable and versatile city bike.

Small Wheel Shoppers: Wren and Bobbin

In my recent post about choosing a transportation bicycle one topic discussed in the comments was the available options for those who live in walkup apartments yet want a fully equipped upright step-through transportation bicycle. The thing about transportation bikes is that they tend to be on the large and heavy side, thus inconvenient for hauling up and down several flights of stairs on a daily basis - especially for those without a lot of upper body strength. The solution some might consider is a small wheeled bike. Not necessarily a folding bike, but what in England was at one time called a "shopper" - a bicycle with small wheels and a sturdy frame designed to withstand weight, equipped with fenders, racks and baskets. The Raleigh Twenty was probably the most popular of these and now there are two new bikes from England that channel its features. I rode them briefly at Adeline Adelinewhen I visited New York.






One of these is theWren bicycle shown here. Stiff cromoly frame, 20" wheels with wide city tires, 3-speed hub, swept back handlebars, adjustable saddle height, fenders and front and rear racks with optional enormous wicker basket.






The front rack is attached to the frame at three separate points. It does not move when the wheel moves and it sits low to the ground, which stabilises the weight and does not noticeably impact handling.





With the combination of front and rear rack, this bicycle can carry as much weight as a full sized transportation bike, and the frame is built to withstand that. But the bike itself is not heavy when compared to a full sized upright step-through, and being small it is quite maneuverable through tight spaces. Carrying it up and down the stairs is no problem. The low standover provides the same benefits as a full sized step-through frame. And the short horizontal bar above the bottom bracket functions as a convenient handle for picking up the bike.






While I was not able to get outdoor shots of the Bobbin Shopper, I did ride it briefly. The frame bears a strong resemblance the original Raleigh Twenty, but is lighter with tubing that is not as heavy-duty. Like the Wren, the Bobbin Shopper is equipped with 20" wheels, a 3-speed hub, fenders, a rear rack and an optional front basket. Unlike the Wren, the front brake is a caliper rather than a hub brake, there is a plastic saddle in place of the Brooks, and the handlebars are not swept back. The unicrown fork differs from the lugged crown fork on the Wren.






The Bobbin Shopper's frame is not designed to carry quite as much weight as the Wren and the craftsmanship is not on the same level, but these things are reflected very fairly in the price difference: The Wren retails for $1,150, whereas the Bobbin Shopper is priced at $550.






At these different price points, the basic idea behind the bikes is the same: small wheels,simple frame design, low stand-over, easy to carry,rack in the rear, optional basket in the front, hub gears. Both bicycles are made in Taiwan. And both bicycles weigh around 30lb, depending on how you set them up. One thing I wish is that each manufacturer offered an optional dynamo lighting package and it's a pity they do not.






Having ridden each bicycle briefly, my impressions are not extensive, but I'll share them such as they are: The Wren is undoubtedly a smoother, more luxurious ride. It is simply a higher quality build. But it also felt a little peculiar in both fit and handling and took some getting used to. The frame is very long and I felt quite stretched out and leaned over even with the upright handlebars. The Wren's handling seems optimised for a front load and with the basket empty it took me a bit to get used to it. The Bobbin's fit is more standard and the handling was more intuitive for me on first try. I do not feel that the small wheels are a limitation on either bicycle for city riding. And both bikes felt delightfully maneuverable. For those choosing between the two bikes, I would say it comes down to price point and fit preferences.




Not being folding bikes obviously means that neither bicycle can be made more compact than it already is, save for lowering the saddle. But one advantage of the non-folder is that the bike can be locked up outdoors in the city just as easily as full-sized bikes, whereas folding bicycles can be tricky to leave outside securely. I am a fan of this breed of bicycles and am glad more of them are emerging. What are your thoughts regarding non-folding small wheeled "shoppers"?

The Skinny ropes?

I would prefer to use one of the modern lwt single ropes given the choice in most situations. Lots of them available these days. No surprise I am a big fan of the Beal Joker pictured above and own two of them.



But on any route I need to rappel off of I would prefer a twin or maybe a double rope. But generally a twin. I find the twin format easy enough to use on most ice routes I am doing and "safe enough". A double rope will generally add to the safety factor while adding some weight. Many of the better modern ropes will allow you to use them as a twin and a double and in some cases a twin, double and single.



But you need to play close attention to the following on all these ropes.

Falls/ Impact Force/Elongation/Extension



The down side of the skinny twin ropes now available (or at least the pair I have been using for a while now) is they are really skinny and themore common belay plates can be problematic. Too fast on steep rappels for my taste and too stretchy sometimes if loaded as a single rope.



My current twin rope system is a pair of Beal Ice Twins @ 7.7mm and 37g per meter. There are other great ropes and I have used most of them. I just happen to be on Beal at the moment. My first and more than half of them bought at retail fwiw.












I saw a few new ropes at OR this summer. Some of them held great interest for me. Enough interest that I may change a good part of my ice climbing system for some (but not all) projects.














TheEdelrid Flycatcher was one @ 6.9mm and 35g per meter. And no question the skinny winner! I comes with a specifically designed belay device...which it needs IMO. All of the ropes mentioned here need extra care on the belays and rappels. More on this rope system specifically coming up shortly.



More here on my take on ropes:

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//03/ropes.html













Beal also has the new 7.3mm Gully @ 36gram per meter. Twin and Dbl ratings. Late Jan, 2014 delivery. 36gram per and 7.3mm? Interesting trade off on the already thin and light weight Ice Twin at 38gram per meter and 7.8mm. Another rope I will be using as a comparison to my Ice Twin when I get the chance.









Petzl has a new 7.7mm twin. Sorry unsure what the weight was on the Petzl. I would suspect it is close to the Beals offerings. Mammut has at least onetwin @ 42grams per meter.











" Monster Ropes by Metolius are
7.8mm and 38g/m and a double or twin. They are a contender."



Thanks Brian!



I should have more infoon all these ropes shortly.









Trangowith a 8.1 that is both a twin and a double @ 42gramsper meter. Theyarea very clean set of ropes and available now.



No doubt I missed a few of the new "skinny ropes". But things keeping getting lighter and more fragile...truly "race parts" in gear these days.



Problem is..high performance "race parts" fail in a spectacular fashion. And cost a lot in $ to maintain. Ask anyone who races cars.The twins in particular are not "beginners" ropes IMO.With the current technology I thinkwe are pushing the envelope on ropes. Sometimes, in some places/circumstances bigger and heavier might just be better and much safer. I know it is always cheaper.



I like soloing on ice. Take a look at these ropes yourself. Decide for yourself just how close you are to soloing.



But you really need to check the ratings (Falls/ Impact Force/Elongation/Extension)on all these ropes to see if they are appropriate for your own use. YMMV

Reading Bill Strickland's Ten Points

A little while back, someone suggested that I read Bill Strickland's Ten Points, and before I knew it I was interacting with Bill Strickland himself and he sent me a copy. When the book arrived, the cover alone induced a pre-emptive sense of nostalgia. A cyclist walking his bike into the fading sun, beneath the overhanging trees, as if savouring the sweet devastation of defeat. Of course this would be on the cover of Bill Strickland's memoir.



Bill Strickland is the editor of Bicycling Magazine. He lives in Pennsylvania. He races for Kapelmuur Independent. And he writes, a lot. Articles for various cycling and sometimes non-cycling magazines, a few books, blog posts. The first time I read something by him was maybe in Rouleur a year ago, and then I began following him online. I remember it initially surprised me that a person who wrote like Bill Strickland was the editor of Bicycling. Those guys are all about nutrition and training and race coverage and roadbike reviews. Strickland's writing is evocative and sensual and self-consciously sentimental. And that's just on his instagram account.



Ten Points is an unconventional memoir. It's inextricably tied to bicycle racing, but is not really about it. Bicycling is more of a metaphor, an explanation, a case study in magical thinking. At the start of the book, the author tells his little daughter that he will score 10 points during a single racing season, then proceeds to participate in criterium races and fail spectacularly week after week.



But this plot line merely serves as a trajectory for the real story - a story of surviving childhood abuse, emerging damaged, then wondering for the rest of your life whether you're human or a piece of garbage. In adulthood, the author considers himself cursed, a monster. He struggles to stay in control, but the past haunts him and he worries about being a fit parent and husband. He believes that cycling keeps the monster in him at bay. And winning 10 points for his daughter might just have the power to lift the curse entirely.



Reading the memoir and trying to process it as such, I must admit that I found the 10 points theme to be overbearing and at times distracting. The writing is good. Bill Strickland excels at creating a visceral sense of understanding between himself and the reader. Repeatedly I found myself lost in his past, in his life, in his very sensations. In contrast to this, the overarching storyline of the 10 points feels forced, packaged. Like maybe the author had written the book differently, and then some editor swooped in and tried to make it more marketable for those who like the "top 10 ways to tackle hills" types of articles. I don't know how else to explain it.



Could the story have been told without the 10 points theme being so overt? I honestly think that it could. The book is really a rich collection of snippets, flashbacks to various incidents in the writer's life, and there are other ways in which these could have been tied together. The narrative style is jewel-like, seductive, while somehow also managing to come across as sparse and reserved. It is part American Gothic, part John Updike, but replete with its own, uniquely Stricklandian, characteristics.



In a way Ten Points reads more like a novel than a memoir, and some characters feel more believable than others. The incidents from the past, despite how dramatic some of them are, read as believable, as do the parts about racing. But in the present-day dialogue with the wife and daughter, the things they say are sometimes too well-phrased, too conveniently meaningful. In those instances I could practically feel the author trying to wrangle them into the 10 points plot.



At his best, Bill Strickland is the sort of natural storyteller who can engage an audience with a description of an Idaho cornfield. He can stir the reader into alternating states of wistfulness and fear within a single paragraph. He is a master of subtle foreshadowing. I want more of all that, less meta-narrative.



Writing about this book, I find myself wishing I hadn't interacted with the author prior. Because now I am hyper-aware of him as a real person and nervous about how he will feel reading this. But maybe that's arrogant. After all, who the heck am I and what does it matter what I think. I am describing the book as a reader, not as a critic. And I continue to follow Bill Strickland's writing with interest.

The size of things

When we had 20+ chickens, it was often impossible to tell who was laying what. I never was sure which individual was laying the pinkies in the egg picture above (in the the new header)¹.

When you only have two chickens, it's easy to tell the difference in the eggs.



On the left is an egg from the Marans hen. They're supposed to be very dark eggs, but sometimes they turn out speckled. You don't find chickens advertised as laying spotted eggs, but most of our hatchery Marans did, from time to time.

On the right is an egg from the Easter Egger. They are usually green or blue. This one is such a pale green that it didn't come through well in the photo.

Common wisdom has it that chickens lay fewer, but larger, eggs as they age. I've found that to be true for all the types we've had except the Marans. Hers continue to be smallish, but she's laying more often now than ever. All our chickens' eggs have gotten lighter in color each successive season.

-----

¹That seems to be the picture that people remember most from the blog. (Every time I look at it, it bothers me that I didn't get them lined up a little straighter.) It was from my first month of blogging, so I suppose you could say it's been all downhill from there. Click here for the larger, right-side-up original version.

Watermelon

We waited and watched and watered and waited and finally we had watermelon. It sure was good.
But the kitten couldn't figure out why we wanted to eat such a thing.

Dynafit ONE and TLT6 comparison?

I do havesome additional long term ski boot reviews in the pipeline but here is aninterestingobservation from this week that kinda surprised me. Although I have both boots in the closet and have skied the ONE a bunch the thought never occurred to me to make a comparison.



Big Steve and Marshal over at TGRwere the first I saw to bring up the likely comparison. Took me a week to have that AHA moment. One of the reasons TGR is a good place to hang.

A better comparison maybe? And a good place to start for a franken-boot project for those inclined and wanting to save some money? Likely!



A better comparison now with the current boots available instead of the TLT5 and 6 IMO is the TLT6 and the ONE PF-TX. Just 5.5oz/156g between the two boots, and either $100 or $300 less in cash. $650 retail for the One PF-TX (but seemingly easy to be had for $550 online) compared to new TLT6 Mtn @ $750 or the P @ $950.



The ONE is a lot more real ski boot than the 5.5 ounce weight gain would appear to be over the TLT Mountain.



It has been gnawing at me for a week or so. I seem to remember Lou over at Wild Snow or one of his members "asking" for a TLT ONE at some point in the recent past. Without a doubt imo that is exactly want the TLT6 is now.



Not sure what the weight is of the third buckle @ the toe andthe two added Pbax straps are for the ONE. The liners are off by one ounce. Add the spoiler, bigger power strap, added weight of the deeper tread and heavier lugs of the sole rubberand extra sole length of the ONE and the grams and then ounces add up quickly.



Performance wise I don't see a huge difference in either boot, except for skinning. There the advantage of a shorter sole/backed up tech fitting and more/easier ROM will help but also easier to go down a shell size in the ONE. (which Lou already thinks he can do in the TLT6) And ROM can be added easily enough or loosened up any way. I take a 29 TLT and use every bit of the length. Ieasily wear/ski a 28 ONE. And save3mm smaller BSL. Guess I'll also need to look into a 28 TLT myself. The tech fitting placement in the toe between th TLT and the ONE is the one of the few places I don't see a way to fudge the performance.



Sometimes it is easier to just ignore the obvious in front of your eyes. As I have clunked around in my TLT6s here at the house sorting out my liner fit I kept having the nagging feeling I was in just another ski boot. My most recent "ski boots" are the ONE and the RS. And now that feeling makes more sense to me. Taking a closer look at the TLT6 and the ONE side by side and looking down at either while they are on your feet and the resemblance is uncanny. Looks to me like Dynafit shot themselves in the foot here.



More details to come asap. But anyone doubt how easy it would be to chop 200+ grams off a ONE or Mercury shell and get under the factory TLT6 shell weight and equal or better the skiing of a TLT6?



Anyone done it yet? Details?

Sweet FA (First Ascent)

You've worn his kneepads.

You've read his forum.

You've done his training.

Now let's see him climb.



You know the rules: If you bolt a new route, it's your project. No questions.However, if you leave the State it all gets a bit ambiguous.

William Monks bolted an extension to Friends in High Places, leading intobrave new territory between Gasoline Rainbow and Cleared for Take Off.



Willmade a public announcement opening the project on29th July .

By 10:00am on the 30th Lee had sent it.

The lower section is in common withsedate and slopy Friends in High Places 21





But the top goes nuts !

Along the way there's some spectacular scenery, big strong moves, razor sharp edges and the odd kneebar.













Did I mention the kneebars?





That is one spooky top out.

Climbers, you know the feeling: You are a long way off the deck, your rope is coming from below the overhang, everything slopes the wrong way, and you are pumped spastic.







Lee displays his trophy. The faded red tape that once marked the route's ownership to Mr Monks.

Thanks Will, for a terrifying new addition to an already intimidating wish list at Coolum Cave.

Tentatively graded 26.



Photo: Sam Cujes

Senior climbing photographer and style director from jjobrienclimbing was there to get the story.



jj