tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45444044873544408752024-03-27T02:36:39.354-04:00Tom's Bike AdventuresUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger514125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-2912852068212614182024-03-17T09:27:00.003-04:002024-03-17T17:01:38.705-04:00I Feel Good<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFotIAE5f_LDKS_KQrm7iYlRxs_pfXxFd_K5ynsL3VESDXKx09gKe5z8tDyE0c9n7vkcWE_e0Vv0oJJjMAhwLCfkLiu_1Bzfn-Zg1-YREJtSepoVEcMJzuwFgkBc0hRh0h3wMpk1ZA7bnnxLFWHd7nmFDVgDbFIPOjsDTfpGv8gvxxv24DmAU47sqJgUQ/s2685/clouds2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1815" data-original-width="2685" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFotIAE5f_LDKS_KQrm7iYlRxs_pfXxFd_K5ynsL3VESDXKx09gKe5z8tDyE0c9n7vkcWE_e0Vv0oJJjMAhwLCfkLiu_1Bzfn-Zg1-YREJtSepoVEcMJzuwFgkBc0hRh0h3wMpk1ZA7bnnxLFWHd7nmFDVgDbFIPOjsDTfpGv8gvxxv24DmAU47sqJgUQ/w400-h270/clouds2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Spring is only a couple of days away which means an increase in my rides and miles. I do try to ride as much as I can in winter but it was a cold and rainy winter and I had some health issues that prevented me from doing long rides. I never know how my fitness fared over the winter until I get out and do some longer rides with my posse. <p></p><p>This Saturday I decided to lead a ride. I only wanted to do around 35 miles but some in the group wanted a few more. Over the winter there were a couple of rides that had cutoffs so those who were not up for the full ride could bail early but still do most of the ride with the group. I liked this option so I created two routes for Saturday one that left from Allentown and another that left from Bordentown. The people that wanted more miles left from Allentown and met me and a few others in Bordentown. I then lead a ride to Robling and back. Since I did not have a lot of miles this year I was concerned about the pace but I felt good and didn't feel like I had to push myself to keep up. </p><p>We stopped at the Jacksonville Deli which strangely enough is not in or remotely close to Jacksonville (it's actually in Fieldsboro). It's a really crappy rest stop as Eric pointed out as he ate his "staler than shit" donuts but there aren't many other places to stop on this route. </p><p>It was a good sunny day with temperatures close to 60 degrees and a gentle tail wind part of the way. At the end of the ride I had 36 miles and felt as I could have done a few more. I was concerned that my lack of miles this winter would make it harder to get back to my normal miles and speed but after the way I felt today I think I should be able to get back to my normal 40-50 miles rides quicker than I thought. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-3797155496224650542024-03-03T19:46:00.002-05:002024-03-03T19:46:59.170-05:00Winter is Ending<p>Some where in the middle to end of February I really become sick of winter. I do explore some different areas and do some different activities in the winter so it can be a nice change of pace. The landscape can have a certain desolation to it that is beautiful and interesting in its own way. Take this picture of a pond in Allaire with the leafless trees against the winter sky for example.</p><p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1-u-zvk3jQH_7SXaUnXmurHjvk8fH3qSvOKMMvuUmTdKCtjtB8tuJEWEHyuBGQQPQ_WQKmvIX_3hOECHtIYingwjq3LiGHYbcReh0Bnx7Id-EvKhut1AHhhB9ZFT_HuRIvsyLprZ0ZCY_hzNfQt_yC_xOoiX3a91tapMpKZoaamHx3Mvm91qqkmpUH0/s7436/AllaireMillPondV2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5548" data-original-width="7436" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1-u-zvk3jQH_7SXaUnXmurHjvk8fH3qSvOKMMvuUmTdKCtjtB8tuJEWEHyuBGQQPQ_WQKmvIX_3hOECHtIYingwjq3LiGHYbcReh0Bnx7Id-EvKhut1AHhhB9ZFT_HuRIvsyLprZ0ZCY_hzNfQt_yC_xOoiX3a91tapMpKZoaamHx3Mvm91qqkmpUH0/w400-h299/AllaireMillPondV2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>However winter is cold. I have to wear so many layers that it is hard move. Although I can stay warm while riding there are always parts that are sweating and other parts that are cold so rides have to be shorter. It's just not as fun to ride in the winter.<br /></p><p>This winter has been a little colder and rainier than normal which has made it even harder to get out for a ride. Today however was a beautiful day. It was mid 50s when I started a ride out of Allentown with Jack, Bob, and Ricky. We did a relatively flat 30 miles as I try build my mileage for the year. The pace was faster than I have done for few months and I still felt good at the end of the ride. I hope I can continue rides like this to improve my fitness. We just need the winter to end so we will have more warm and sunny days like today. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-91303303027891612062024-02-11T11:48:00.001-05:002024-02-11T11:48:46.674-05:00The Ride of the Broken, Unhealthy and Morally Bankrupt<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJj7aQ-Y7-eV9Qy0vuCbUYze6GcHq4zVphMnmWizDY9ttIRAHXaaphJCiGHKKZ4E5KbCBp2ARjHEGYqGzVph1YXQy9gvXtXtOn4rKxdpf0iis866Ddyj194AEMjtAyrChLpKWh6tKa-Onf2F2vzE3E3uemvS9konIFBwF5310XIjrirXxeQl0q__6a7E/s3943/BikeRake1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2675" data-original-width="3943" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJj7aQ-Y7-eV9Qy0vuCbUYze6GcHq4zVphMnmWizDY9ttIRAHXaaphJCiGHKKZ4E5KbCBp2ARjHEGYqGzVph1YXQy9gvXtXtOn4rKxdpf0iis866Ddyj194AEMjtAyrChLpKWh6tKa-Onf2F2vzE3E3uemvS9konIFBwF5310XIjrirXxeQl0q__6a7E/w400-h271/BikeRake1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I'm still working my way back from some health issues. The good news is the treatment that I'm on is working and I am riding better than I did a few weeks ago. I still don't know when I will be back to 100% but at least things are going in the right direction. </p><p>This week I had planned on just doing a local ride by myself but got an invite to an off the books ride from Pete. He had planned the first 20 or so miles to be relatively flat before heading into the hills so that I might join the group for part of the ride which I appreciated. I was a little nervous about being able keep up with them but figured I could always bail if I wasn't up to it. </p><p>At the start of the ride almost all of the insane posse showed up. We even had an appearance from Bob who had his own health issues and like me is working his way back to being 100%. Unfortunately as we started the ride Bob found that his bike would not shift so he had to bail on the ride. So although Bob may not be broken any more his bike which had been ignored for 4 months was. </p><p>He wrote later that is was a problem with dead batteries in his shifters. I know some people might take a problem like this to point out that there is no reason to use electronic shifting as the old system using cables work just fine. However everybody that I know that has electronic shifting says how much better it is. The real problem is that people just have to get use to adding a few extra checks to their pre ride routine to make sure the electronic shifters are charged and working. It's not like cable shifters are immune from problems. I can think of a number of times when cable shifters or derailleurs have broken at the beginning or during a ride. </p><p>Back to the actual ride. I felt good for the first 15 miles of the ride and didn't really struggle to keep up although to be honest it was a relatively slow pace. I think it was just because we were all just catching up with each other and so we took our time. I will say Pete put a interesting route together through with a lot of neighborhood roads and we even had to go on some dirt to get between streets that weren't connected. The only thing the route was missing was the normal bridge out otherwise it was a perfect ride for me. At mile 15 I still felt okay but needed to slow down a little so I let the group go and did another 7 miles on my own. I ended up with 22 miles, 800 ft of climbing at a 13.3 mph pace. Not my longest, fastest or hilliest ride but it was more then I was able to do a couple of months ago so it felt good and makes me believe that I should be able to get back to my normal rides in another month or so. </p><p>This weeks ride also gave me a chance to try out the new bike rack. I actually haven't had to use my bike rack since the end of November as I have only been doing rides from my house. 21 year ago when I got the Baja I made a custom bike rack to fit into the bed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglh4zV3degr5t7nuUWVxiZKlzhp4XT8vZqv4ZlR6xkt0QOxvV6Chi0ps8rM8dtdGTTg4zu5wt8TeZvhgunN1QNtRDj_Mlr86bzD_4MhrasShvPLIYEHexo-kArWRsB3qeFGu8u6xnXE0FHFLc_o5-lspM_FifYG7a1Ho7DPuyzQ0FDmkS3s5locVNYFts/s3181/BikeRack5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2581" data-original-width="3181" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglh4zV3degr5t7nuUWVxiZKlzhp4XT8vZqv4ZlR6xkt0QOxvV6Chi0ps8rM8dtdGTTg4zu5wt8TeZvhgunN1QNtRDj_Mlr86bzD_4MhrasShvPLIYEHexo-kArWRsB3qeFGu8u6xnXE0FHFLc_o5-lspM_FifYG7a1Ho7DPuyzQ0FDmkS3s5locVNYFts/w400-h325/BikeRack5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The rack is just a piece of cherry wood with some a couple of fork mounts and wheel carriers bolted to it. It has served me well over 21 years and taken me and others on my rides and bike trips. About 7 years ago I had to add a 15mm thru axle mount for my mountain bike. Bike technology is constantly evolving not only do most new bikes have electronic shifting but most now have thru axles. And unlike the old standard skewers there is difference sizes of thru axles. This isn't a problem for me at the moment as both my road bikes still have skewers. However some other people that I ride with have thru axle bikes that I might need to carry in the Baja. For this reason I decided to upgrade my rack. </p><p>I took the same piece of cherry wood and made a few changes. The first one to create a dado and add a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XSX88M9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1">T-Track</a> to the rack. This would allow me to adjust the positions of the fork and wheel mounts on the rack.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vIsh6yvbEhVmgBYMrA4RlAWHVkDfR11E45r9G5Pf-YLRy8tziJJ6RWhJ6AAs7qUdeWx3ewDDTpRg4NDHqrEqM3mqfTEijqnC6QJylywDtOCFsu3Oo5qzU9zz9cX4lK6x-uUUtRCDleiHVwfjdjnH_QeNTA3cTWuaw2OK3jFanImbm8XBF28awOaCNEQ/s3213/BikeRack4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="3213" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vIsh6yvbEhVmgBYMrA4RlAWHVkDfR11E45r9G5Pf-YLRy8tziJJ6RWhJ6AAs7qUdeWx3ewDDTpRg4NDHqrEqM3mqfTEijqnC6QJylywDtOCFsu3Oo5qzU9zz9cX4lK6x-uUUtRCDleiHVwfjdjnH_QeNTA3cTWuaw2OK3jFanImbm8XBF28awOaCNEQ/w400-h110/BikeRack4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The next changes was the addition of a new fork mount from </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX_PCwcIsXoUUFqkwuLEvJ_a_yIWRnLv5DmW9y7RyZM5yrck3Ek8kzHkk__t7ScUWvFEaamQ8Cztzx1DglgvXzVAy71jn_yLTcyiQiWO0ydI04VIn6ue5P6SPK_oYcYysXULJt12YQEWo7aalN_85Jqn78hM-U1b8D6LytTzE69-aE0QzFtupB6JCau4/s3140/BikeRack3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1729" data-original-width="3140" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX_PCwcIsXoUUFqkwuLEvJ_a_yIWRnLv5DmW9y7RyZM5yrck3Ek8kzHkk__t7ScUWvFEaamQ8Cztzx1DglgvXzVAy71jn_yLTcyiQiWO0ydI04VIn6ue5P6SPK_oYcYysXULJt12YQEWo7aalN_85Jqn78hM-U1b8D6LytTzE69-aE0QzFtupB6JCau4/w400-h220/BikeRack3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BY1H2PMS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1">MUQZI</a>. This fork mount comes with different adapters so it can handle the old skewer mount bikes as well as most thru axle bikes. After that all I did was just put a new finish on the rack and put the old wheel and fork mounts back on. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWOOcNQnx3pghwmDE2Q9_U5UD-gxXpsmiDmUOius-k3wQ4fwDdyICcoZCp9mJ2TK5_OfyuCnFZf9P8kZ34Fj02KnDxN3xiVB7EJWZTx8Z4SxaIgMiD5Gy0IfamzvoQ5gUZPFcs7Q5i7u6zwtqS-JLNeyR6R0f36eXcMyySsiX2YF-r9CxQJglTx5Z0co/s3888/BikeRack2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2603" data-original-width="3888" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWOOcNQnx3pghwmDE2Q9_U5UD-gxXpsmiDmUOius-k3wQ4fwDdyICcoZCp9mJ2TK5_OfyuCnFZf9P8kZ34Fj02KnDxN3xiVB7EJWZTx8Z4SxaIgMiD5Gy0IfamzvoQ5gUZPFcs7Q5i7u6zwtqS-JLNeyR6R0f36eXcMyySsiX2YF-r9CxQJglTx5Z0co/w400-h268/BikeRack2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The rack may not look that much different but it is now a lot more functional as I can easily change and move the position of the fork and wheel mounts and should be able to fit any bike in there no matter what type of fork they have. I'm not sure what changes they will make to bikes in the future but I should be able to better adapt to them with the new rack. <br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-79353550946940921562024-01-21T21:13:00.000-05:002024-01-21T21:13:25.314-05:00Winter Hike<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmu_8JSrTvCAQUmMZUgu7PkhU4L9k1BcpxDV2I62dE_oYNezIxpea7h98Q_N5bcxLH-IT_ey2R6hQn-OnwSeS4RFr72yXDsbobIBSNG-1Yod3kElhGmelr_3bYN9wn4eIauI_4Cyr9oNQK_XBaompQKvXEy_RKUxzDq7AZhpJ48_8RE1KyeI-s5qKpOOw/s7332/WlHole9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2946" data-original-width="7332" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmu_8JSrTvCAQUmMZUgu7PkhU4L9k1BcpxDV2I62dE_oYNezIxpea7h98Q_N5bcxLH-IT_ey2R6hQn-OnwSeS4RFr72yXDsbobIBSNG-1Yod3kElhGmelr_3bYN9wn4eIauI_4Cyr9oNQK_XBaompQKvXEy_RKUxzDq7AZhpJ48_8RE1KyeI-s5qKpOOw/w400-h161/WlHole9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>For the first time in 2 years we had some measurable snow. We had two storm, one on Tuesday and another one on Friday. By Saturday morning we had a total of around 3 inches of snow and a temperature of 15 degrees. For the weekend it wasn't going to get above freezing so there was no possibility of a bike ride. Instead I sent a message to the posse for a hike in Tyler State Park. It is our go to place in cold weather. The good thing about Tyler State Park is that they plow the paved paths so even if it snows you don't need snow shoes to walk around the park.</p><p>Most of the posse met me at 11am at the boathouse of the park. It was around 25 degrees but sunny. The parking lot was crowded because of some runners doing a race. It seems they meet there every Sunday morning but by the time we started our walk most of them were already leaving. </p><p>I had a 4 mile route planned that would take us to the Scholfield Ford bridge and back. The park is scenic especially with snow. We took our time getting up the hill and down to the bridge as I caught up with everybody since I hadn't seen them in a while. I had brought my good camera with me as I wanted to get some good landscape shots of the bridge.On Wednesday morning I had gone out in the morning to get a picture of a sun over one of the ponds in our community and experimented with my camera to produce some sunbursts as you can see from the picture at the top of this post. </p><p>When we got to the covered bridge I took out my camera and took a few panoramic pictures of the covered bridge.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBSEsyIfaQ_sNlBAVHlcT7zC8ZFsLczRnM-boWAOaYwPc8MDQe1el8QKkVyPYIrHiGgPXgVk8BCz6YmP3HdQQFbjMkW0nEqXfcyP_TWiPash3fpz5wLu2WDXdG-EsoW4FFAqnsCK_PWWEVUSbRfZae28rQkLqs-CQPSSYzvYnKaymJevwCVhTkBXYnOQ/s9426/Tyler11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5910" data-original-width="9426" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBSEsyIfaQ_sNlBAVHlcT7zC8ZFsLczRnM-boWAOaYwPc8MDQe1el8QKkVyPYIrHiGgPXgVk8BCz6YmP3HdQQFbjMkW0nEqXfcyP_TWiPash3fpz5wLu2WDXdG-EsoW4FFAqnsCK_PWWEVUSbRfZae28rQkLqs-CQPSSYzvYnKaymJevwCVhTkBXYnOQ/w400-h251/Tyler11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I also got a good shot of the Neshaminy river. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuxeuBChY3jMnQIgNd9TQ1n3XofgMOzajCvXv8NiKTdEQG6ZkIm2DkK366uwzqQ2IZD-FJkquCULAOoRz7S4qVqLlprD9KQwyp90R3ubX4Oge2bvmOddIYzk57zUTPwwZGUPO-YOlpNX8whekx_b8qT_cEaMao6M8If_QpG3-3-8IRwoCDA5JDfOubqw/s7019/Tyler10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4696" data-original-width="7019" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuxeuBChY3jMnQIgNd9TQ1n3XofgMOzajCvXv8NiKTdEQG6ZkIm2DkK366uwzqQ2IZD-FJkquCULAOoRz7S4qVqLlprD9KQwyp90R3ubX4Oge2bvmOddIYzk57zUTPwwZGUPO-YOlpNX8whekx_b8qT_cEaMao6M8If_QpG3-3-8IRwoCDA5JDfOubqw/w400-h268/Tyler10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Then is was back up hill and back to the boathouse. At that point we had done around 4 miles but I was feeling good so decided to head down the river for another mile. There were a lot of geese on the river by the boat house. I took a few pictures of them but the light wasn't great. However we found a falcon in the tree that I managed to get a good shot of.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSec8s_PH8Co7ihaHJK_13ALXLE8MXB8QGEkJV8crLCS49I7Gq6VDwPAszAOwmBjSV6BOZtaAky3oB5T8FC8Dy8SU8ShMnBYz8i8WTJ7SjkJ-q21AWUekulBpxPharRyA7xQqMidG1XohNpe4zuUONFqBxsYizhhU1yUqnlILrvP8Ut1bx-eikw9g6x5E/s2400/Tyler12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1656" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSec8s_PH8Co7ihaHJK_13ALXLE8MXB8QGEkJV8crLCS49I7Gq6VDwPAszAOwmBjSV6BOZtaAky3oB5T8FC8Dy8SU8ShMnBYz8i8WTJ7SjkJ-q21AWUekulBpxPharRyA7xQqMidG1XohNpe4zuUONFqBxsYizhhU1yUqnlILrvP8Ut1bx-eikw9g6x5E/w276-h400/Tyler12.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><p>It is always harder to exercise in the winter because of the snow and cold weather but with warm clothing and a little determination you can still get out there and have some fun.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-76809350793350236192024-01-14T11:57:00.000-05:002024-01-14T11:57:42.428-05:00The Theraputic Value of Cycling<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZi8s4AWyC-faa5Nth3eeR04nm4uDlHgQ7a_nJb-jAcP5NXw2f48dekJakcoD_OCyqNXZtHCUaWZ7wGqtOPT3e6SWe8krNrlEQmAH5vSMqdXK6Mr53CExc69oxOzCuZ9ZpjnF774yaJkGmfOOfp5JeCd4tE5ICpLAbTqTBrXWR_JWevESWVjMwfQKlog/s3072/IMG_2261.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZi8s4AWyC-faa5Nth3eeR04nm4uDlHgQ7a_nJb-jAcP5NXw2f48dekJakcoD_OCyqNXZtHCUaWZ7wGqtOPT3e6SWe8krNrlEQmAH5vSMqdXK6Mr53CExc69oxOzCuZ9ZpjnF774yaJkGmfOOfp5JeCd4tE5ICpLAbTqTBrXWR_JWevESWVjMwfQKlog/w400-h300/IMG_2261.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>When I was working on my<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Road-BikingTM-New-Jersey-States/dp/0762742887/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QF20ESHRNUTS&keywords=road+biking+new+jersey&qid=1705242642&sprefix=road+biking+new+jersey%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-1#customerReviews"> Road Biking NJ book</a> I did a ride on Long Beach Island to map out a ride there. About 5 miles into the ride I met a man who was recovering from a heart attack and was doing his first ride since he had open heart surgery. We spent about a hour or so riding together on a warm summer day. He was just so happy to be back on the bike that he exuded the joy that all of us feel when we ride. I really enjoyed swapping bike stories and experiences with him. He also showed me some of the better roads to use on LBI. It was one of my favorite experiences in writing the book and reminded me how much biking really means to me. <p></p><p>Yesterday I did a short local ride that sucked. It was warm for a winter day but the roads were wet with branches scatter across my path. It was extremely windy and I still have some health issues that make riding hard. However no matter what the conditions riding always makes me feel better. </p><p>For me riding is more than just a way to exercise it is a way to relieve stress and improve my mental well being. When I ride, especially when I do a solo ride, I get time to get away from any problems I'm having and just focus on riding and the scenery around me. For me it is a form of meditation that helps me connect with what is really important and helps me get rid of negative emotions. I know the more I ride the better I feel. </p><p>There have been many studies that show the benefits of exercise. It not only improves your health by reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, help you sleep better, and healthy weight but it has been shown to reduce depression and other mental diseases. </p><p>There is also the social aspect of biking. I'm lucky that I found some like minded people who join me on some of my rides and have become my friends. I don't know who I would be without cycling as it is an integral part of my life. I'm just glad I found something that helps me navigate the ups and downs of life. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-88512066423516834482023-12-31T15:12:00.000-05:002023-12-31T15:12:02.181-05:00Bird Hunting<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-d56kWrL_g_J9BGre5VsJLxOj-zEJuBU5B67EjF6p6XmvgC3sDnXXBJU4OT_F61tjmB9NU5Ek1BLxFzywreSM7Yh5zd3Qcp0blohkV0_Cv3ZnYNQi34zBdYnp3_EQEdYfiCsQ16lIo-ApX2d9ZGLJNNVmiZXAid2NxL_qZ6kbooUNZ5rM1C8KQNdR9o/s1800/SeagullLine4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-d56kWrL_g_J9BGre5VsJLxOj-zEJuBU5B67EjF6p6XmvgC3sDnXXBJU4OT_F61tjmB9NU5Ek1BLxFzywreSM7Yh5zd3Qcp0blohkV0_Cv3ZnYNQi34zBdYnp3_EQEdYfiCsQ16lIo-ApX2d9ZGLJNNVmiZXAid2NxL_qZ6kbooUNZ5rM1C8KQNdR9o/w400-h266/SeagullLine4x6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Although I have been doing some riding my rides have been solo, short and slow and nothing to really write about. I have been doing a little more hiking as the weather has gotten colder. I have been choosing places to try and get some picture of the winter birds in our area. These include mostly seagulls, ducks, and geese but I'm hoping to get some other birds as I hike around the area.</p><p>The photo at the top is at the Manasquan inlet on a sunny morning. I was lucky that I got that many seagulls lined up on the railing in the morning light. It took me a few shots to get it aligned and in focus properly. Seagulls are fun to photograph as they are easy to find but I haven't gotten a perfect picture of one yet. </p><p>The Saturday before Christmas I went in search of geese and ended up at Mill Pond Park in Plainsboro where there were a few flocks of geese. It was an overcast day so the light wasn't good but I managed to get a couple of good shots of the geese. I like the one below because of clear reflections off the water.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkSTyX3-tY_WVUnGUxvSpTQg6-QasyNggtlIThbCdZU6A3CnLgrKb8OcOAoBmKqJTxJXCyeXHmTkCJi8ChVyS7H9_FOv7ObnGyeX-SMhGWNkydHXG_fJqfr66Zw4q7M55q066c1zhHD6fF22AOtEMWr1WfLhhZR4aeAN0SSizq8SaE3fDaDElMSF593A/s5320/MillPondGoose4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3347" data-original-width="5320" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkSTyX3-tY_WVUnGUxvSpTQg6-QasyNggtlIThbCdZU6A3CnLgrKb8OcOAoBmKqJTxJXCyeXHmTkCJi8ChVyS7H9_FOv7ObnGyeX-SMhGWNkydHXG_fJqfr66Zw4q7M55q066c1zhHD6fF22AOtEMWr1WfLhhZR4aeAN0SSizq8SaE3fDaDElMSF593A/w400-h251/MillPondGoose4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I wanted to try to get a few of them in flight but wasn't able to catch them because of the trees over head. Mill Pond Park is actually bigger than I thought. I did most of the 2.4 mile path and when I got home and looked at the map realized I could make this a 4 or 5 mile hike if I wanted to. </p><p>Closer to home there is a lake that is only a couple of miles away that has a 4+ mile path and always seem to have large flocks of seagulls, geese and ducks. I found a pair of ducks when I went there on a sunny afternoon and manage to get some of my best bird shots yet. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7P1bpCyxWmj9ON2Melg97ZOgfCjFVMOYba-0gzBRdbeCrUzXPoorJuEG-BAF4RbE-CFZirXxWwZurLbTjyE9jxy8qFlPCaaIC-zfUdaFX_QuV7zJQpBW8aRAJ8pu6wWsx-3mbmLV-bm7eBo5msmPuciE0Puje4TH93wiMeaoLmdw7H4rM7z37UBMpENY/s6000/IMG_5696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7P1bpCyxWmj9ON2Melg97ZOgfCjFVMOYba-0gzBRdbeCrUzXPoorJuEG-BAF4RbE-CFZirXxWwZurLbTjyE9jxy8qFlPCaaIC-zfUdaFX_QuV7zJQpBW8aRAJ8pu6wWsx-3mbmLV-bm7eBo5msmPuciE0Puje4TH93wiMeaoLmdw7H4rM7z37UBMpENY/w400-h266/IMG_5696.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4r5gE5hfSjORxmaJ4xurqv-B4-nZumgWyqBqvtt3MJnB18qhYvB4VxGSMb-3ITneD3ywxXAyDgitfwb_J5c51HtbN8UEHqxMS96hSLEj-Viin_bc-c1-PH2QAJr1FRkM3t63Kna_mJBZoTfF-HZBNMmr0MIMxCtTpJC1PSwFFGrLWfJOTIz3-GKGuNM/s3564/Mallard1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2372" data-original-width="3564" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4r5gE5hfSjORxmaJ4xurqv-B4-nZumgWyqBqvtt3MJnB18qhYvB4VxGSMb-3ITneD3ywxXAyDgitfwb_J5c51HtbN8UEHqxMS96hSLEj-Viin_bc-c1-PH2QAJr1FRkM3t63Kna_mJBZoTfF-HZBNMmr0MIMxCtTpJC1PSwFFGrLWfJOTIz3-GKGuNM/w400-h266/Mallard1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>With my telephoto lens I was able to get a couple of up close shots with water dripping off the duck beak.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRuoTQftXp8umkxyyN7vBl4g-nWqjDPa5DucpMURQZH7nxgPEBnaRIMZ2X3YhnnyLTJZwUYTUkUT6AakBLrEIMLjXu8Z4mteddvTuuV3L5i0NAJ6qEClaXGQY244Sw4qwfnfCkgG4Z7_6p0WyTq3Wc9ynyc25cyiBc79h51Pny4gDERLK2Viwhj8lhrzw/s2772/Mallard2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="2772" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRuoTQftXp8umkxyyN7vBl4g-nWqjDPa5DucpMURQZH7nxgPEBnaRIMZ2X3YhnnyLTJZwUYTUkUT6AakBLrEIMLjXu8Z4mteddvTuuV3L5i0NAJ6qEClaXGQY244Sw4qwfnfCkgG4Z7_6p0WyTq3Wc9ynyc25cyiBc79h51Pny4gDERLK2Viwhj8lhrzw/w400-h238/Mallard2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SnA1ZGfs0qCVeCfFfmNBaLba0BpQG6W81YHi4dEa7FLaSEIg8YHeBbt4ZugYZ7Q0ZwEVVOB2xK3QujPvbeZmkSZtOkRJe5yYJzv68jY7jPdCsq1oIySplRkaAenOEX0t5nNA5IAX9Uw-kWHYIOpovK95J1SAr_JfKKh9A7yNiUH10VvMLcEdnguFce4/s3477/Mallard3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1993" data-original-width="3477" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SnA1ZGfs0qCVeCfFfmNBaLba0BpQG6W81YHi4dEa7FLaSEIg8YHeBbt4ZugYZ7Q0ZwEVVOB2xK3QujPvbeZmkSZtOkRJe5yYJzv68jY7jPdCsq1oIySplRkaAenOEX0t5nNA5IAX9Uw-kWHYIOpovK95J1SAr_JfKKh9A7yNiUH10VvMLcEdnguFce4/w400-h229/Mallard3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>If you click on the individual picture you will see more detail. I'm happy with the way these photos turned out. They are sharp and have good color. I can probably make them even better with some more post processing. </p><p>While I was at the park I worked on tracking birds in flight and got a seagull with a nut in it's mouth.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm41BWdh0Lh5d3n159uOC4KaIm6GBSq4ixD3LcBA8j3TjfFhg1rfJARreLDdL9uQYAAXc9qLfjyt_ZJ835OUpJioOYK9nmNucGi3rxQZKBrDJ57xOKTCCA-xdetA1Ard8qfjLUfqfgS9QtCzCD8nw9xPvNsmg19TXDn55NdpiqtjVtNxXke1iWaz-jRM/s3285/SeagullNut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2595" data-original-width="3285" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm41BWdh0Lh5d3n159uOC4KaIm6GBSq4ixD3LcBA8j3TjfFhg1rfJARreLDdL9uQYAAXc9qLfjyt_ZJ835OUpJioOYK9nmNucGi3rxQZKBrDJ57xOKTCCA-xdetA1Ard8qfjLUfqfgS9QtCzCD8nw9xPvNsmg19TXDn55NdpiqtjVtNxXke1iWaz-jRM/w400-h316/SeagullNut.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The shot came out really good as the bird is in perfect focus with a blurred background which makes the bird stand out. It takes a lot of practice and some luck to get these shots. I have had learned a lot hiking around getting some bird shots. It is something fun to do in the colder weather when I can't bike as much. It's definitely something I will do continue in the new year. <br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-69051563018476293832023-12-21T19:45:00.001-05:002023-12-31T14:32:48.978-05:00Christmas Cheer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgX4CV2Zw0rHy9usffzBf6ZOaelnV0JKUtBGTF2sWwEzjyKQmgtnx1bic3fqLewRCrHiVg97bfxcaKXlpifvEDfJ7gAnOhdwEI0FBI0sGgGt3YWfUb6Dh6syQY9C85f1a0-6fsTFs25_15u8WdbqP54JlfKwXAZt6Pvp36hi6qnth4OlNwtVYPqIDG30E/s5989/CL1_2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3316" data-original-width="5989" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgX4CV2Zw0rHy9usffzBf6ZOaelnV0JKUtBGTF2sWwEzjyKQmgtnx1bic3fqLewRCrHiVg97bfxcaKXlpifvEDfJ7gAnOhdwEI0FBI0sGgGt3YWfUb6Dh6syQY9C85f1a0-6fsTFs25_15u8WdbqP54JlfKwXAZt6Pvp36hi6qnth4OlNwtVYPqIDG30E/w400-h221/CL1_2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I'm not a big fan of holidays and family gatherings in general. I get along fine with my family and don't mind seeing them from time to time but getting together for the holidays is a hassle because everybody has different requirements and schedules so its hard to decide when to meet and what to do. At this point our nieces and nephews are grown up with their own families and they usually don't join us anymore so our gatherings are very small to the point it is not really worth getting together. In fact this year we are going to skip both Christmas eve and Christmas day gatherings as my doctor has advised me to stay away from any groups of people until I finish my treatment. </p><p>I don't mind missing these gatherings as I will just see my family some other time. So for this Christmas season the only thing we did to get into the spirit was to drive around and see some Christmas lights. There is a place near us on Brandon Blvd in Freehold township where almost the whole neighborhood puts up professional displays at there house. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgCEQi65FUhm1K5SgAVBaA2nDo7PrwG4ZJsnFexzgKdVPPl0PuyhgJ-WLW2WjORhFy20gQPOihBpE5MtNRdUkQa0IZguz07d_z1ADeEKMvRhiQB4nenw7_aPOb60iReH3Ieyp0LDygOOBR0EwU4TU3bUKCYphCQwo2u0y3fcb4VsSfSN5IlrWcPHcPes/s5968/CL10_2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2091" data-original-width="5968" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgCEQi65FUhm1K5SgAVBaA2nDo7PrwG4ZJsnFexzgKdVPPl0PuyhgJ-WLW2WjORhFy20gQPOihBpE5MtNRdUkQa0IZguz07d_z1ADeEKMvRhiQB4nenw7_aPOb60iReH3Ieyp0LDygOOBR0EwU4TU3bUKCYphCQwo2u0y3fcb4VsSfSN5IlrWcPHcPes/w400-h140/CL10_2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>It obvious from the amount of lights and things on the lawn that this is not done by the home owner but some company that comes and puts the lights up for them. There is no way you could put the lights on some of these trees or houses without some type of cherry picker.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDzNoVN_bkvewxpKfRSAdtz90XHkySm0u242we0pvpkP_z9wGT2oPAu8Z5h3XXyIMa3HbiDEDcPYFsE2kt70CHyGb64oBfRPhU_xWfPVM6tID_At_YEGZk-S8U09_Cj94HmZevcGJxmxs4MxmmfkBoxG6kGxNaWV190-zNdFzPIJQcSk4YRT5zktWFNw/s4302/CL9_2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3836" data-original-width="4302" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDzNoVN_bkvewxpKfRSAdtz90XHkySm0u242we0pvpkP_z9wGT2oPAu8Z5h3XXyIMa3HbiDEDcPYFsE2kt70CHyGb64oBfRPhU_xWfPVM6tID_At_YEGZk-S8U09_Cj94HmZevcGJxmxs4MxmmfkBoxG6kGxNaWV190-zNdFzPIJQcSk4YRT5zktWFNw/w400-h356/CL9_2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I would like to see the electric bill for this neighborhood for the month of December.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dQz3UjOhGQsFq_ZC200z0t4jf4zr98yTDQi9e6F-y0IdlVxy967uFSpbBwtrL4oFh0t7xrcTsncdFSJP4cYejoOfLK8zzGELRwLpsi613nPCoXyJ5mz0bhnLo_go2f0tfPpIQcOvgBwhgogsEKJHTTHAfmRKR6bMnqXxMTt1KS68Hv7hVwt8K4ugFwU/s4138/CL6_2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2347" data-original-width="4138" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dQz3UjOhGQsFq_ZC200z0t4jf4zr98yTDQi9e6F-y0IdlVxy967uFSpbBwtrL4oFh0t7xrcTsncdFSJP4cYejoOfLK8zzGELRwLpsi613nPCoXyJ5mz0bhnLo_go2f0tfPpIQcOvgBwhgogsEKJHTTHAfmRKR6bMnqXxMTt1KS68Hv7hVwt8K4ugFwU/w400-h226/CL6_2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcR549aBp7qjmZSGCnp4K1HW1tohQ3euHDHKlMmeYUW5pqCLdWN4eVIngl-3D-f92gtzDcp7tnsjJno5DMrHSBLAUeM7tmHqXJpBpFx-n5v82lbWd1lv1iDhgXh3pEp4NLhYCMJpqxIzwjQ4MVOdBjhCjoriyMZYLOvCSgKSp8okBdwGaUaXfox4SJFgI/s6000/CL7_2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="6000" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcR549aBp7qjmZSGCnp4K1HW1tohQ3euHDHKlMmeYUW5pqCLdWN4eVIngl-3D-f92gtzDcp7tnsjJno5DMrHSBLAUeM7tmHqXJpBpFx-n5v82lbWd1lv1iDhgXh3pEp4NLhYCMJpqxIzwjQ4MVOdBjhCjoriyMZYLOvCSgKSp8okBdwGaUaXfox4SJFgI/w400-h205/CL7_2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It was a spectacular drive around the neighborhood and was probably as good as some of the places that charge you to drive you through their display. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlkb_hWq2wfayAu2Bsx2TY2WUBpbjG8xmwqf7HtAcq29zoPts6GItloDPJ7cTidkEzcfccVo2cbNDIYtFBQ01Z_bg4Cw834_-r3_56X2GFaF5e-9LT8nmwFjvA_TEqEsZ5c1IpAeGnSt9NNd8cELmUl7RZy2ih8x08umY4KuJwZLK-rL3qE-LFNRsF_u4/s6374/CL3_2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2693" data-original-width="6374" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlkb_hWq2wfayAu2Bsx2TY2WUBpbjG8xmwqf7HtAcq29zoPts6GItloDPJ7cTidkEzcfccVo2cbNDIYtFBQ01Z_bg4Cw834_-r3_56X2GFaF5e-9LT8nmwFjvA_TEqEsZ5c1IpAeGnSt9NNd8cELmUl7RZy2ih8x08umY4KuJwZLK-rL3qE-LFNRsF_u4/w400-h169/CL3_2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>This is something we will do every year and one of the few things that I enjoy about Christmas.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-48972890006611271822023-12-10T15:13:00.002-05:002023-12-10T17:50:10.440-05:00Hospitalization<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirr4v6LWJ0cG5yTza8XKEmZeWxXfpf1GcallO1oIc8tqSq1Cu2GBxYna-Ht4aHZ1CeYpFRs9cDoZVuVxeiFFm1OBYdAoIhraFhr8Qdk9JxFW_xwplvzEC2XZmNQj2tZYe_f6xYOin2lFUPqjaA-6N_jW08WejHj3gluDEqZ3HDI_kwVCaVLpqglz5vx_8/s2972/TomHospitalSelfie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2972" data-original-width="2368" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirr4v6LWJ0cG5yTza8XKEmZeWxXfpf1GcallO1oIc8tqSq1Cu2GBxYna-Ht4aHZ1CeYpFRs9cDoZVuVxeiFFm1OBYdAoIhraFhr8Qdk9JxFW_xwplvzEC2XZmNQj2tZYe_f6xYOin2lFUPqjaA-6N_jW08WejHj3gluDEqZ3HDI_kwVCaVLpqglz5vx_8/w319-h400/TomHospitalSelfie.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I consider myself a very healthy person. I have never had any major problems with my health and rarely get sick. I do the regular check ups and preventative procedures and all my numbers up until now confirmed that I am in good health. I don't take any regular medications. I never broken any bones or had surgical procedures or spend any time in a hospital except to visit other people. </p><p>That changed last Saturday after I got a call from my doctor. I took a routine blood test to get ready for my physical and the test turned up something that indicated I had a problem that needed to be looked at. This require me checking into the ER to have a battery of tests run. Initially I though it would just involve a day in the ER while they ran some test and then I would be sent home with instructions to follow up with my doctor. However it ended up turning into a four day hospital stay. For privacy reasons I'm not going to go into the details of what they found but would like to share my first experience with being in a hospital. It wasn't the most pleasant experience but I think I now have a better appreciation of the people that work in the hospital and what it is like to be a patient in one.</p><p>When I got the call from my doctor at 9am, just as I was about to go out for a ride, my first reaction was to get pissed off that I won't be able to go out for a ride. I thought that there had to be something wrong with the blood test as I felt fine. Once I got to the ER they took lots of blood over the course of the first couple of hours. Luckily they put in an IV needle to my arm so they could just attach a tube and take more blood as needed. I also got wheeled down to the X-Ray room to take some chest X-Rays. By late afternoon they had confirmed that the blood test that I had on Friday was correct and I needed some more tests to try and pinpoint the exact problem. It was also determined at that time that I would have to stay overnight for observation. </p><p>Nobody especially someone who feels healthy wants to stay in a hospital but staying was the best way to quickly get the tests I needed and to apply any treatment if a problem was found. It is funny being wheeled around in a stretcher. It reminded me of all those medical shows where they show the patients view as he is being wheeled through the halls. You see the persons feet and then the hall passing by and the doors automatically opening as you approach them. The elevators in this hospital have mirror's on the ceiling so I got to see myself in draped in a fashionable hospital gown lying on a stretcher. Not a pretty site. </p><p>Saturday night I was moved from the ER to a private room so I got out of the ER before most of the drunks and bar fight victims started rolling in. I ended up on a geriatric floor and was definitely one of the youngest and healthiest person there. It is strange feeling healthy and being in the hospital with nurses coming in asking you how your feeling or asking what they can do to make you feed better. </p><p>Five months ago my wife had an outpatient procedure at this hospital and even though the hospital is old and small the staff is really good. They are all very friendly and efficient and keep you informed about what they are doing and what they plan to do. From working with doctors and nurses when my parents were in the hospital I know the quality of care is directly related to how good the nursing staff is and how much they like you. Even though I didn't like being in the hospital I tried make the best of it. I hadn't expected to be checked in the hospital so my wife had to go get a few things so I could be comfortable. </p><p>Over next couple of days I gave more blood and went for a couple of CT scans and a biopsy to help diagnose the problem. The hospital system had a reasonable good app that allowed me to see the results of all the tests they were ordering and also track the tests they were planning. The app is pretty well tied into the hospital and the doctors because I usually got notified of tests and scans at the same time the nurses did. </p><p>Of course being in a hospital is like being a lab rat. They come in every 4 hours to check your vitals and then come in to draw blood at least once a day if not more depending on if your going for some type of procedure. I usually got stuck with a needle a few times a day but the nurses were able to easily find a vein and get what they needed quickly so it didn't hurt that much. The only problem is because they have to keep checking on you it is hard to get a full nights sleep. I usually got woken up at midnight for a vitals check and then 4 or 5 am to give some blood. </p><p>The highlight of each day was the visit from the doctor as they are the one that can help you make sense of the tests and give you and idea of what the plan is to fix the problem. The hard part to being in the hospital is not knowing how long it is going to last or when they are going to come up with a final diagnoses.</p><p>On Saturday they told me what they suspected it was but needed all the tests they did on Sunday and Monday to confirm it and zero in on a precise diagnoses. Most people want quick answers but I see now after talking to the doctor and seeing the test they run how the process works. Unless you have an obvious injury it is hard to get quick answer because when you check into a hospital with a problem there are hundreds of things it could be. Each test eliminates or confirms a certain condition. Each test can also take a few hours to a week to be processed and inspected by some medical professional. Although a lot of tests are automated there is a still a lot of manual lab work involved so its hard to get a quick answer. Besides you want to make sure the people evaluating the tests take the time to get it right. </p><p>By Tuesday they had run all the tests they need. I was still waiting for results and was not sure how much longer I would need to stay in the hospital. My doctor said it would depend on what they found and how soon they would need to treat me. By that time I was pretty well setup in the hospital and was able to work. The food wasn't too bad and I got used to giving blood and getting my vitals check. I still didn't enjoy sitting around in pajama pants and a hospital gown. I also could not stray far from my room so my exercise options were limited. </p><p>Luckily late Tuesday afternoon the doctor came by and said that although I still had a condition that needed to be treated it wasn't something that needed to done immediately. I was checked out about an hour later and am home now. I will visit the doctor this week and he will tell me what the treatment plan will be. It may be some outpatient treatment or require a hospital stay. Either way I'm glad this problem was caught early before I had any symptoms. The US health system definitely has some problems that need to be addressed. These problems have more to do with the administration of the benefits than the health care itself. After spending some time in the hospital I have a lot of faith in the people in health system and trust they will help fix any problem I have and continue to keep me as healthy as possible as I age. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-91993324885146985342023-11-22T17:12:00.001-05:002023-11-26T16:23:52.922-05:00From Tree to Desktop<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj79aiwQrApmr54kF_sGUZTsG_qC9e_zkOKlagIjGPVwdLAZW1hl_eDyv0IDeR9oK5n8OjV7I9mUARTo8tN-m10s44mq0udFAQ_npnAZ9777wyCHg1WWCZX6RBDBRd6uXDDDg_ssT1QT2JPV4sXaurSwQg8tarJA-nhDnheAHcx4NE5mbm-F0l38cYhrg/s5509/Desktop1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3808" data-original-width="5509" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj79aiwQrApmr54kF_sGUZTsG_qC9e_zkOKlagIjGPVwdLAZW1hl_eDyv0IDeR9oK5n8OjV7I9mUARTo8tN-m10s44mq0udFAQ_npnAZ9777wyCHg1WWCZX6RBDBRd6uXDDDg_ssT1QT2JPV4sXaurSwQg8tarJA-nhDnheAHcx4NE5mbm-F0l38cYhrg/w400-h276/Desktop1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Most of the wood I use on the furniture I build comes from some mill and is already smooth, straight, square and ready to use. Last January however I got some walnut slabs that some one had got from a tree they cut down. Basically after they cut down the tree they cut the trunk up into slabs of wood which is very raw and rough. Back in March <a href="https://frisket.blogspot.com/2023/03/windy-day.html">I turned a couple of the slabs into a plant stand.</a> After that project I still have four more slabs to use and decided to use a couple of them for a new desktop for my desk. </p><p>It takes a lot of work to turn the raw wood into a finished desktop especially with the limited tools I have. This is what the raw wood looks like.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQKhL-of-PPK7TXIrrcKZI79VNVwAw9LtqA_qe2rP_HUki3_uAxDwIpCziUfznyzBPwYQ9ISQOMOJ-x3pjz9zXaH1Wxkdsuwr0zcBiIMhKWqtE91BKelqMFWaRbyUkHvAh8pLceTXI-aJLqVdQfmO2iG0Z1cazqiNMUf8PSDUhjWcItB5HCFltMM2-NQ/s3795/RawWalnut.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3795" data-original-width="3036" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQKhL-of-PPK7TXIrrcKZI79VNVwAw9LtqA_qe2rP_HUki3_uAxDwIpCziUfznyzBPwYQ9ISQOMOJ-x3pjz9zXaH1Wxkdsuwr0zcBiIMhKWqtE91BKelqMFWaRbyUkHvAh8pLceTXI-aJLqVdQfmO2iG0Z1cazqiNMUf8PSDUhjWcItB5HCFltMM2-NQ/w320-h400/RawWalnut.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>It has a lot of marks from the rough saw cuts used to cut it into slabs and the slabs themselves are not straight or flat. Most of them are a little warped so making them into a flat desktop is not easy. Ideally I would use a planner to slowly shave off the top and bottle surface of the wood until they were perfectly flat. However I don't have an industrial planner and sending the slabs out to wood shop, to plane, would be expensive. </p><p>Most of the slabs were flat enough that some quality time with a belt sander removed most of the saw marks and got them flat enough. It was however very dusty work. Because I was going to use epoxy to cover the wood they didn't have to be perfectly flat since the epoxy would level the surface out. </p><p>The slabs I had were around 12 inches wide so I needed two of them to make my 24 inch wide desk. The boards are not straight or square so there would be gaps between the boards. This is normal with live edge wood and the solution to fill in the gaps is to create what is called a river table where you fill in the gaps with colored epoxy. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfK-nKYZtAVl5UzC6c3a3S8vKOSzHmus2Ve-BEOMqiJYOfqE3dbqicCiswICMbtPPXyrEzp3hMgj1rlkNL_8Afn-Wknyvk8VAumGp3puNYzwWpRFBuyDmE56k9qDxbf8mK6mOBh9LdqMjODLxBy8rwfjp4B-vFCQ7iT23ZOBR7uLY0LdHbjYyYxzHb9MU/s6000/Desktop2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfK-nKYZtAVl5UzC6c3a3S8vKOSzHmus2Ve-BEOMqiJYOfqE3dbqicCiswICMbtPPXyrEzp3hMgj1rlkNL_8Afn-Wknyvk8VAumGp3puNYzwWpRFBuyDmE56k9qDxbf8mK6mOBh9LdqMjODLxBy8rwfjp4B-vFCQ7iT23ZOBR7uLY0LdHbjYyYxzHb9MU/w400-h266/Desktop2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I chose a black metallic color and mixed in a little white to give it a swirled marble look. It worked really well with the dark walnut. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKAr85vvfhinvPG4b7Pm_HYOsqEwi9mKZ9LM-iEtwzBpFlH5252Dv_gNl8tUNR6xGCDS1HcGQAfqj60b3ubQJFuWozWprF2t0lE9qZH4lkZk4lSCYOoq9Yzu_o2lvFx351sB5pO9HaaZTOmFTPDJ7qcYgdDeqEWLjxeBUYMqwE7USTBe4TEOjRESGVes/s3923/Desktop3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3893" data-original-width="3923" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKAr85vvfhinvPG4b7Pm_HYOsqEwi9mKZ9LM-iEtwzBpFlH5252Dv_gNl8tUNR6xGCDS1HcGQAfqj60b3ubQJFuWozWprF2t0lE9qZH4lkZk4lSCYOoq9Yzu_o2lvFx351sB5pO9HaaZTOmFTPDJ7qcYgdDeqEWLjxeBUYMqwE7USTBe4TEOjRESGVes/w400-h398/Desktop3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>You can see from the side view how the slabs are arranged and the gaps filled in with the epoxy. After filling in gaps I had to put a couple of coats of epoxy to level the top. Between fitting the slabs together and putting the trim it took a few weeks to get it ready for epoxy. Then a couple more weeks to pour the epoxy as I wanted to be careful. <p></p><p>I'm happy with the way it turned out. I still have more to learn about using epoxy. Getting it perfectly smooth takes a lot of prep and even then you usually need to do some touch up and polishing to get it to look good.</p><p>Putting epoxy on the walnut really brought out the grain and all the beauty of the wood.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ip3sCEB3FjrBEi1t5bW7LzzWvqOs3lSzw1dFwnT8kLiztCxBymf4REqhDOENj-Lo4A6oUSlxwid4gzU13NW4TUHytc-bxmPSFkG8Dk37DNKKWRgN41hoZPd70WgWtqqIBb5yuKKo1wz8hvRuqrZ0o-8mPw1LcnAoTsvcTx58mzI3t8H87FXC_NurgkE/s4698/Desktop4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3942" data-original-width="4698" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ip3sCEB3FjrBEi1t5bW7LzzWvqOs3lSzw1dFwnT8kLiztCxBymf4REqhDOENj-Lo4A6oUSlxwid4gzU13NW4TUHytc-bxmPSFkG8Dk37DNKKWRgN41hoZPd70WgWtqqIBb5yuKKo1wz8hvRuqrZ0o-8mPw1LcnAoTsvcTx58mzI3t8H87FXC_NurgkE/w400-h336/Desktop4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I just enjoy staring at the different patterns of the grain so plan to keep new desktop clear of clutter. That way I can appreciate all the work it took to get it from a tree to a desktop.<br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-22689489310747216332023-11-12T10:01:00.003-05:002023-11-21T07:45:00.798-05:00It's Always an Adventure<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCQrFCJ1p7PAPW_PDqDP-kovhAyFH5qG4HiUR1yGPKEKGvw6HKNFpzqe_89g-US6ZLef9vK22sjB0lE3dWue9eXznIZ6ottSNu-u0P2wttdbT8nFoN_ENbxAzKfeqs3ed2_RpJuFJXH88_EhFhBK772lk3xh8VlSLDxyTCeOLS5o1IdAcBwAfY9MuWJM/s1024/IMG_1710(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCQrFCJ1p7PAPW_PDqDP-kovhAyFH5qG4HiUR1yGPKEKGvw6HKNFpzqe_89g-US6ZLef9vK22sjB0lE3dWue9eXznIZ6ottSNu-u0P2wttdbT8nFoN_ENbxAzKfeqs3ed2_RpJuFJXH88_EhFhBK772lk3xh8VlSLDxyTCeOLS5o1IdAcBwAfY9MuWJM/w400-h300/IMG_1710(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>For a lot of the rides I lead I always try to do something unexpected along the way. The weather has turned colder so most of the rest of my rides this year will be shorter and flatter. There were no good rides listed this week so I decided to lead a ride out of <a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31652137">MCP to Bordentown using this route</a>. I scheduled it for 10am to let it warm up a little.<p></p><p>It was upper 40s and sunny when we started and I took a slightly unusual route across 130 just to add a few miles and of course to put an unexpected ride on a sidewalk just to keep them guessing. (Ricky accidentally went down someones driveway instead of the sidewalk)</p><p>It was a relatively easy ride to Bordentown. I somehow hurt my left leg a week ago so couldn't even push it up the small hills. I was probably at 80% of normal speed. </p><p>Once we got to Bordentown I took another detour through the hilltop park and then we paid a visit to Thomas Paine</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcH2p3TZgf_F-3ZXnp68ZH0cr-kLHZms4qJho8-ZQfowLhXF-dCa_-YC-Utx4_Jf-EPv6TGYcxRCjrLhQE7i9s7RhGlRZvQFQu4_kVERLormQYdAZ-rJlg4KBRayQ6e-TjEw-dqihyphenhyphen2cnN4oI3Yg9XgUOHQYkm_9lI3gFDbz-1THyPBJEc9E6fU1hskk/s2280/20231111_113254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2152" data-original-width="2280" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcH2p3TZgf_F-3ZXnp68ZH0cr-kLHZms4qJho8-ZQfowLhXF-dCa_-YC-Utx4_Jf-EPv6TGYcxRCjrLhQE7i9s7RhGlRZvQFQu4_kVERLormQYdAZ-rJlg4KBRayQ6e-TjEw-dqihyphenhyphen2cnN4oI3Yg9XgUOHQYkm_9lI3gFDbz-1THyPBJEc9E6fU1hskk/w400-h378/20231111_113254.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It just seem like the right thing to do on Veterans Day.<br /></p><p>After our normal stop in Bordentown we worked our way back. Laura was not with us as she was attending one of her last glassblowing classes of this semester and maybe forever. I tried to find the best place to send her the normal picture and found a spider still out from Halloween and thought it would make a good group photo for her.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2Podpcmiw_L6lIBK8CJS1ckimA-nRWbRrlKgsHcQsdlhEEJgD1JlkPBSYGC-3GEeAsuuMd6bYfcU8iLGSSzgeEM6RxpMVKenUFvRPbMb_1-dwv-_9wZWOKai_pSPD9ji6whEK1CjH81THQwOrLzlzBrwyoZKMixKRUDuhM96KcD0F4uYYQOmXcbvUaE/s4000/20231111_121005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2Podpcmiw_L6lIBK8CJS1ckimA-nRWbRrlKgsHcQsdlhEEJgD1JlkPBSYGC-3GEeAsuuMd6bYfcU8iLGSSzgeEM6RxpMVKenUFvRPbMb_1-dwv-_9wZWOKai_pSPD9ji6whEK1CjH81THQwOrLzlzBrwyoZKMixKRUDuhM96KcD0F4uYYQOmXcbvUaE/w400-h300/20231111_121005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The wind picked up a little as we made our way back. I was doing okay until we got to Windsor Road and got stuck straight into the head wind. My leg started to burn and I had to really slow down. At the next turn I took a few minutes to stretch it out and we continued on.</p><p>I added another surprise at the end not heading straight back Windsor Road but instead crossing 130 on Voelbel Rd. The route has us turning down Main Street but I decided to take a quick look at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaminarayan_Akshardham_(New_Jersey)">BAPS Hindu temple</a> which is the largest Hindu temple in the United States. It was really crowded as I forgot it was Diwali. We did make our way around the parking lot and got some glimpses of the temple. The grounds are large and beautiful. Glen got a picture as we rode by which is at the top of this post. Friends of mine in the community actually went inside for a tour and said the inside was amazing.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFolIzfgSvTc1dTYaoy9MrbVAxIX_lqISkblatgYCt0AMOqzBFjb2QSPHEYX5aelXdmSTEIVFObKqyJBM5AZ3F2dKIjGTqpL6WKOX9hs4NGAqUNTAWHofOwvuxisQ6_xAc0U-ZiN8A6h5bVJopIwawzpobxOt5gu2QjhSf5t895UCtTd23nQxqeMLSVI8/s800/BAPS_Robbinsville_Mandir_-_mandir_interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFolIzfgSvTc1dTYaoy9MrbVAxIX_lqISkblatgYCt0AMOqzBFjb2QSPHEYX5aelXdmSTEIVFObKqyJBM5AZ3F2dKIjGTqpL6WKOX9hs4NGAqUNTAWHofOwvuxisQ6_xAc0U-ZiN8A6h5bVJopIwawzpobxOt5gu2QjhSf5t895UCtTd23nQxqeMLSVI8/w400-h300/BAPS_Robbinsville_Mandir_-_mandir_interior.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I think I will try to get more information on a tour and do a non bike trip there with the insane posse. It is probably as interesting and beautiful as any other church or temple in the world and worth the time to go see it. </p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-30780205482257080932023-10-30T20:45:00.003-04:002023-10-30T20:45:50.192-04:00The Last Day of Summer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8xYxghVDbRMIqDbQz6Hj9kGvoBxcKXy2sFL1cvvWkTCdmbHqkkcvTFW9bCV6z1buosT5Qlt_X8VfW_lhqJVnQyvydgN7cAgKM-v5DaGuVpcbiZK9GM-Ld2t0CU0S5aF-fsSJy6g9KpHGj60kFnty_gK743dJ9rpN59PO1PtZ1K_Jxh3aNTKDCLsOTo0/s4000/20231022_111934.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8xYxghVDbRMIqDbQz6Hj9kGvoBxcKXy2sFL1cvvWkTCdmbHqkkcvTFW9bCV6z1buosT5Qlt_X8VfW_lhqJVnQyvydgN7cAgKM-v5DaGuVpcbiZK9GM-Ld2t0CU0S5aF-fsSJy6g9KpHGj60kFnty_gK743dJ9rpN59PO1PtZ1K_Jxh3aNTKDCLsOTo0/w400-h300/20231022_111934.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I know that we are halfway through the fall but when the weather is sunny and the temperature is over 80 it feels more like a summer day. Luckily this weather fell on this past Saturday which somewhat makes up for it raining for the last 7 weekends. </p><p>I thought about a couple of ways of taking advantage of the weather and decided to do a one way ride to the shore to meet my wife on the beach. I didn't have to ride alone because the many times postponed Don Sprague century to Belmar was starting from Cranbury with Laura and Ricky and a few other people I know so I decided to meet them at a rest stop in Jackson on the way. </p><p>The timing worked out as I couldn't leave until after 9am. I was at the rest stop about 15 mins before the large group of riders pulled in. It looked like at least 20 people were on the ride. The actual ride leader had to bail at the last minute because of a family issues so Laura had to lead one of the groups. Although Laura knows the usual route to Belmar this route was quite different and not like any ride Don ever did to Belmar. It came into Sea Girt a slightly different way on a bike trail and then went all the way up the coast to Sea Bright before heading back east. </p><p>Most rides to Belmar don't spend that much time riding by the beach because the road aren't as nice and there can be a lot of traffic especially on a warm and sunny Saturday. The group made a few wrong turns as we went from Jackson to Belmar. I didn't actually have the century route on my GPS but had looked it over in detail and knew the general directions so when the group made a wrong turn I helped Laura get back on track. </p><p>When we got to Belmar we spend an extended time at the picnic tables by the usual pizzeria. It was very crowded by the beach. There were a lot of people on the beach and a lot of cars driving around looking for a parking spot. It was a little chaotic. </p><p>For some reason one of the rides decided to try to do some body surfing in the water before we set off from Belmar. We left him behind to catch up. I continued up with the group through Ocean Grove and Asbury. It was not a lot of fun riding along the beach as we made a number of wrong turns and had to keep watching out for all the traffic around us. <br /></p><p>I turned around at Asbury and headed back to Avon for a shower and then to the beach to relax for a hour or two before heading out to dinner. </p><p>It was a beautiful day for a ride so was glad I got out and saw some of the fall foliage on the way to the beach. We are going to be below freezing a couple of nights this week so I think the summer weather may be done for the year. In fact it might be time to break out the winter gear.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-66804482754838740702023-10-24T21:40:00.002-04:002023-10-24T21:40:50.881-04:00Annular Solar Eclipse 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZs_f3DUbCmiYCPkipSVFhoCJLCeidUTWEfy9M_7yaExGsa9tVIQM9suQk3aIB1ETz00QxQHRu7RKkeLGaAFokCeQgEwIbJ_yewP-gtbi6UhCghB6JCwsdsf26qB4blBJNEmD5b13uE0DPnJvuJ0g8xypdak_ZP68YRgJ1vvzSb_agxN168YsLdTVlROc/s2100/compsite1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2100" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZs_f3DUbCmiYCPkipSVFhoCJLCeidUTWEfy9M_7yaExGsa9tVIQM9suQk3aIB1ETz00QxQHRu7RKkeLGaAFokCeQgEwIbJ_yewP-gtbi6UhCghB6JCwsdsf26qB4blBJNEmD5b13uE0DPnJvuJ0g8xypdak_ZP68YRgJ1vvzSb_agxN168YsLdTVlROc/w400-h286/compsite1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>One of the main reasons we went to the southwest when we did was to see an annular solar eclipse. I admit to being and eclipse nerd and will try to see a solar or lunar eclipse if it isn't too hard to get to. We planned our vacation so we would be in Albuquerque by Oct 14th when the eclipse would occur. The eclipse would be partly visible in most of the US but Albuquerque was on the center line when meant you would get to see the ring of fire not just a partial eclipse. The solar eclipse was a annular eclipse when meant that the moon would not fully cover the sun but would cover only 95% of it and create a ring when it was directly between the sun and the earth.</p><p>We decided to view the eclipse in the Rio Grande Nature park in the south end of Albuquerque near our hotel. The Albuquerque Astronomy Society (TAAS) had events all around the city and this park was one of the places they would be. The eclipse would start at 9:13 am so we got to the park about 8:30am. There were already a few people there and by the start of the eclipse there were probably around 100 people there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1VDZmmqYPvXwu2CXhCPvRga9yknHYgs_JWVWdyQ-kGa0uq16m-0uBAjxh300_RcJqoy3O0uXHGjM3DLzJOnmUhXELy_ubUzE0qD4nUNs4dOflOgIbVWIspdtHrm4IoVvThfLurNsUzrfV0K3OaDNnwfGsdyZouBt0btvyWcsXIYOfKwG8wAbNLy6erY/s3991/20231014_114017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2707" data-original-width="3991" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1VDZmmqYPvXwu2CXhCPvRga9yknHYgs_JWVWdyQ-kGa0uq16m-0uBAjxh300_RcJqoy3O0uXHGjM3DLzJOnmUhXELy_ubUzE0qD4nUNs4dOflOgIbVWIspdtHrm4IoVvThfLurNsUzrfV0K3OaDNnwfGsdyZouBt0btvyWcsXIYOfKwG8wAbNLy6erY/w400-h271/20231014_114017.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It was a good place to view the eclipse as it had a clear view of the southeast as the sun rose higher in the sky. My set up to capture the eclipse was my new Canon R10 with a 400mm lens. This worked well. Since I didn't want the hassle of bringing my telescope and drive motor through the airport I made what is called a <a href="https://nightskypix.com/how-to-build-a-barn-door-tracker/">Barn Door Tracker</a> which when lined up properly allows you to roughly track the sun, moon and stars. It meant I wouldn't have to constantly adjust the tripod as the sun moved all I would have to do is to manually twist a screw to keep the sun in the center of the picture.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLv_gerXsEqPcGOW6aMLMC3MpPwjf3KRex1Fq9UwyNBUIPPUYb8PUrNW3Qmn3uLEzCRPyS90moB6uC42fronJLNOvzZL3d_m4Eab7hmFcuZ2LrdKi06DGxo-kNnNchSByCI66lEu_2GHvQZVTr6cb39yBHwjzrpv3cL5u3Q2l1lUIa4gm6GtNPADWt64/s2315/20231014_114100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2147" data-original-width="2315" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLv_gerXsEqPcGOW6aMLMC3MpPwjf3KRex1Fq9UwyNBUIPPUYb8PUrNW3Qmn3uLEzCRPyS90moB6uC42fronJLNOvzZL3d_m4Eab7hmFcuZ2LrdKi06DGxo-kNnNchSByCI66lEu_2GHvQZVTr6cb39yBHwjzrpv3cL5u3Q2l1lUIa4gm6GtNPADWt64/w400-h371/20231014_114100.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>This worked well and allowed me to concentrate on just getting good photos as the moon started to cover the sun.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWQ1CDvmAM4k11q3V9qj2vctYPLfSig8y5wycYNzX9IAbAOrByd9Dd6aIRROyin_qYsKjmDh2PZJN_IZjGCSbK2Y2RRxqxQTM3Du8vu1g7SLw1rsUAdzEMYYNolr9WVXscQR7O_0HQ1k9tMdEDG1XJtEH2MsfL9apHbYILtps3zYnwdHIq0vMPfk_OLM/s1089/IMG_4304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="996" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWQ1CDvmAM4k11q3V9qj2vctYPLfSig8y5wycYNzX9IAbAOrByd9Dd6aIRROyin_qYsKjmDh2PZJN_IZjGCSbK2Y2RRxqxQTM3Du8vu1g7SLw1rsUAdzEMYYNolr9WVXscQR7O_0HQ1k9tMdEDG1XJtEH2MsfL9apHbYILtps3zYnwdHIq0vMPfk_OLM/w366-h400/IMG_4304.JPG" width="366" /></a></div><p>We are in a time of high sunspot activity. The week before the eclipse I did some test shots and saw 5 or 6 large sunspots but on the day of the eclipse there was only a few small ones.</p><p>I kept taking pictures as the moon covered more of the sun.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87WXlqzZmNdU7HajwcAeCAo_RHs2dtofmj-tWwx-BPGsnMtQJ34s7OrPKEvV-LOfn7iEquekpGx4iXZZG67zvIwlWzYGffU2E2D3t9JpvweqOe0XB7UPQs1J7a_uTpTYMNt3J8bdcwafXakJtbwkQOWhZPZImg-y2L7oReHwbQKuhpU4MRuv-avam6nQ/s1100/IMG_4341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="1100" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87WXlqzZmNdU7HajwcAeCAo_RHs2dtofmj-tWwx-BPGsnMtQJ34s7OrPKEvV-LOfn7iEquekpGx4iXZZG67zvIwlWzYGffU2E2D3t9JpvweqOe0XB7UPQs1J7a_uTpTYMNt3J8bdcwafXakJtbwkQOWhZPZImg-y2L7oReHwbQKuhpU4MRuv-avam6nQ/w400-h348/IMG_4341.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The temperature which was in the 60s actually dropped about 5 degrees as the eclipse progressed. This was different than the last annular eclipse we saw in 2012 where we didn't notice a temperature drop or change in the light. The difference was that eclipse was at the end of the day close to sun down where as this was at the beginning of the day.</p><p>As we got close to the ring of fire the light got a little softer and felt a little like twilight. </p><p>Finally at 10:34 am local time we reached the maximum eclipse and saw the ring of fire.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlwkheraXZfeCePOkZPdeBAjMWhAmV54ioMXh2-4QiW5ZCoSy2qamBQSPulgK3GU9RgcuDt-5IgfFlymtxovbWsdsoOuLiiKkoAS7fzsc4p0FklMNyRVrIqbz3SlAZicookZ9v76eweyp6_NfCb20CqYPF_slgtQsEGdlTBwZDKOUtWSm7HrLm3EH0A4/s1078/EC_Fire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1061" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlwkheraXZfeCePOkZPdeBAjMWhAmV54ioMXh2-4QiW5ZCoSy2qamBQSPulgK3GU9RgcuDt-5IgfFlymtxovbWsdsoOuLiiKkoAS7fzsc4p0FklMNyRVrIqbz3SlAZicookZ9v76eweyp6_NfCb20CqYPF_slgtQsEGdlTBwZDKOUtWSm7HrLm3EH0A4/w394-h400/EC_Fire.JPG" width="394" /></a></div><p></p><p>I managed to get some really good pictures with my set up. I know it just looks like a black circle over the sun, but what makes it cool is understanding what is actually happening. This is a picture of the moon in front of the sun perfectly center over the sun. The fact that the sun is 400 time bigger than the moon but the moon is 400 time close than the earth make this possible. This makes the apparent size of the sun and moon the same from our point of view on the earth which is a strange coincidence. Predicting these eclipse was an obsession for ancient astronomer and helped advance our mathematics and understanding of the solar system.</p><p>One other cool things that happens during and eclipse is as it gets closer to maximum you can use a pinhole through a piece of paper to project the actual eclipse on the ground or other flat surface. </p><p>I learned at the total eclipse in 2017 that I could cross the fingers of my two hand in a # pattern and get the same pinhole affect. I was able to do this to project the shadow of the eclipse on the ground. During the maximum eclipse I project a couple shadows of the eclipse on some ones pants and came up with shadow puppet I call the ring of fire monster.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIH45NwJIa4tHEac-_juwaJTJ0eXvgOW1oPV6l-eLyzHRfDkGdOTpTa1kq3Pe-LNTuBUA6bcmQC8g0ve9dub0gkZGigBArsEbI4djxCtUIKBncPzEnyNdvQtb3OdX0z2hGHbZcVqtWUkq0U3lvp_1tIhdclakiWM9gRpT9p3DcHH_njdDoekb5yJMH_cE/s960/Resized_20231014_103629001%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIH45NwJIa4tHEac-_juwaJTJ0eXvgOW1oPV6l-eLyzHRfDkGdOTpTa1kq3Pe-LNTuBUA6bcmQC8g0ve9dub0gkZGigBArsEbI4djxCtUIKBncPzEnyNdvQtb3OdX0z2hGHbZcVqtWUkq0U3lvp_1tIhdclakiWM9gRpT9p3DcHH_njdDoekb5yJMH_cE/w300-h400/Resized_20231014_103629001%20(1).jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><p>After the ring of fire was over I continued taking pictures until the end of the eclipse. The composite at the top of this post shows the full sequence. I also put together an animation of it which I need to process a little more to get it to look better.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxGQGncRP_chXtvoT0JbIkZaRuwSnHZ_8G7qO3C3L_ojV9R4voQzmHzwTZzZBBppffUx0jiPatkPkNBNKazRmi4b0kj9Dc0pheB64N1P2mgDjIKPBfSmA284mpkhN-0fw2pccIud4T_cNSlnpfXoB35AxKJKE3zoSPyuJD8HuXW_nW5KM2pC5OoLMaW8/s1160/EclipseAnimated.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="1156" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxGQGncRP_chXtvoT0JbIkZaRuwSnHZ_8G7qO3C3L_ojV9R4voQzmHzwTZzZBBppffUx0jiPatkPkNBNKazRmi4b0kj9Dc0pheB64N1P2mgDjIKPBfSmA284mpkhN-0fw2pccIud4T_cNSlnpfXoB35AxKJKE3zoSPyuJD8HuXW_nW5KM2pC5OoLMaW8/s320/EclipseAnimated.gif" width="319" /></a></div><p>Solar eclipses that are easy for me to get to don't happen that often so I really am glad I made the effort to see this eclipse. They are all a little different and interesting in their own way. The next solar eclipse in the US will be a total eclipse on April 8th 2024. This may be the last one I will be able to see as after that most of them will be on another continent. I'm already working on plans to see that one and hope it will be a fun to see as this one was.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-6528238552627843112023-10-22T15:27:00.001-04:002023-10-24T07:28:16.913-04:00Scenic Views from the Desert Southwest<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MjYMhpaobzNgxf2PuGCt6d5_P8796uVjgcneaXstFw5FstlpBa-Ogz7EccWCRRi2QIZiq90ww3WndS5TSlW95RJGdo_jo_QsR6t4oVnxWtMBfv0gMNdj4lkp1_zOazFKhAoOdiPm5uDNXLLIC6R5CnWgQ9JBGxBt6KrfnPU-UaZdV32utVziwgxOdXM/s6000/IMG_3864.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6000" data-original-width="4000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MjYMhpaobzNgxf2PuGCt6d5_P8796uVjgcneaXstFw5FstlpBa-Ogz7EccWCRRi2QIZiq90ww3WndS5TSlW95RJGdo_jo_QsR6t4oVnxWtMBfv0gMNdj4lkp1_zOazFKhAoOdiPm5uDNXLLIC6R5CnWgQ9JBGxBt6KrfnPU-UaZdV32utVziwgxOdXM/w266-h400/IMG_3864.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/qreLcGDVZKvdqE3V6">Click HERE for more Pictures </a><br /></p><p>Although we have taking a couple of driving vacations over the last couple of years we haven't really had a long eventful vacations since before Covid. This past week we headed out to Arizona and New Mexico to see an annular eclipse and tour some of the geological features out that way. I'll talk more about the eclipse in another post but wanted to share some of the other things we saw along the way. </p><p>Our trip started out with a flight to Phoenix. The flight was fine but I forgot how painful it can be to get through baggage check, security and the general chaos associated with flying. Once we got to Phoenix we drove north towards Lake Powell. The goal was to hike through Antelope Canyon. It is probably one of the most photographed canyons in the world. It is slot canyon meaning it is just a crack in the rock. Over time the occasional rushing water has carved out some really unique circular patterns on the walls. This mixed with the different colors of the rocks and sun beams coming in from the top makes this a sort of a magical place. </p><p>Antelope Canyon is part of the Navajo land and anybody that wants to visit it has to go through a company that hires Navajo guides to take you through it. This canyon used to be one of the places they would come and meditate and talk to their animal spirits. I can easily see why this is a spiritual place and would have loved to spend hours just sitting on the floor and admiring the beauty of the canyon BUT this place has become so popular that there is a constant stream of people walking through it. </p><p>I have to say though that our Navajo guide Cindy did a good job of giving our group of nine people some undisturbed time in each of the rooms in the canyon so we could get some good pictures and just gaze and look at all the strange formations in the canyon. She also seem to really know how to get the best pictures of the canyon whether you were using your phone or a real camera. She managed to take a good photo of me in the canyon as shown at the top of this post. </p><p>After Antelope Canyon we took a quick trip to Horseshoe bend which is on the northern end of the Colorado river. It was a bit of a challenge to get full picture of Horseshoe bend without getting too close to the edge of the canyon but I managed to take a series of shots and create a good panarama.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDMqiiqF3ZRacnAhLE09VUTR7HhyLqYAkXP4AxqQTjzRAKCOUryRb6k_9mBxj9LJSnUWuW_bsFAhzJbb7o2gJeZPP9STZ-PRQwoNPT0tBdcCinlTFtAiurfvWcYVbxuXXVY42KKVxpBtRwuHpgpex_-lqEvOwCHwvPhMD0624PPkuq8sQ5UMgFKKXU9I/s12663/HorseshoeBendPan1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4915" data-original-width="12663" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDMqiiqF3ZRacnAhLE09VUTR7HhyLqYAkXP4AxqQTjzRAKCOUryRb6k_9mBxj9LJSnUWuW_bsFAhzJbb7o2gJeZPP9STZ-PRQwoNPT0tBdcCinlTFtAiurfvWcYVbxuXXVY42KKVxpBtRwuHpgpex_-lqEvOwCHwvPhMD0624PPkuq8sQ5UMgFKKXU9I/w400-h155/HorseshoeBendPan1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>From there is we drove towards Monument Valley and unfortunately got there just after the gates closed for the day. The problem was that Arizona does not use daylight savings time and Utah does and even through some Monument Valley is in Arizona the entrance is just over the border in Utah. It didn't really matter as we had seen Monument Valley on another trip and were only stopping because it was on our way to Albuquerque. I did manage to get a few shots just outside the entrance.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclo8Nmrqem0GrFMeRgWgMUjhwmdprvAvVfwSHCUXzKxhsInICCnXneDyRUWZgJ0fwdEwQc-OP2lt6j47ek6OAt2WQ1Fe4n9O8SQ4PSYcY8RfTciG4ejnIPLoC8fz37a3IfnaLpubdhtGHFcGrQQvyePjh3XsM4WTMy9I2XUQbfA_X9NFEkwesf_RmxY8/s5542/IMG_4013.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="5542" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclo8Nmrqem0GrFMeRgWgMUjhwmdprvAvVfwSHCUXzKxhsInICCnXneDyRUWZgJ0fwdEwQc-OP2lt6j47ek6OAt2WQ1Fe4n9O8SQ4PSYcY8RfTciG4ejnIPLoC8fz37a3IfnaLpubdhtGHFcGrQQvyePjh3XsM4WTMy9I2XUQbfA_X9NFEkwesf_RmxY8/w400-h156/IMG_4013.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The next stop on our trip was Albuquerque. This is where we are planning on view the eclipse as Albuquerque has on average 310 days of sunshine a year. When we planned the trip I had a hard time finding a hotel in Albuquerque which is strange since it is a pretty big city and there weren't enough eclipse nerds to fill the city. It turned out it was also the time of the biggest balloon festival in the world. We have never been to a balloon festival so since we were in the area we decided to check it out. </p><p>We attended the afternoon/night session. It seems each day has a theme for the two weeks of the festival. The theme for the day we attended was shaped balloon. At night the have what they call a Glowdeo where they inflate and then light up them up which ended up being way cooler than expected. This festival has over 500 balloon teams attending and there had to be 100+ shaped balloon. It was a sensory overload in the best way. We were so close to the balloons where we sat that we actually had to move when they blew one up because it was hitting our chairs<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz766rICJb7nal_O5qdmTblSUQf3du4LSfy2o7lNzcjzVNkl7qOB7eVaeIdmeUTLa_T9kNjExhLXEf_KGcvopPYJcla0LS_xgKEB50mnqTrs9OdhMX_5tinvwMCk0ZCYpn-IwIhTlg601w3UwPpJ_aj-tD4HxEPMdTa8sDcP5WZwTyHtwmRYbyCjbIKMc/s13825/BallonFestPan1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3571" data-original-width="13825" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz766rICJb7nal_O5qdmTblSUQf3du4LSfy2o7lNzcjzVNkl7qOB7eVaeIdmeUTLa_T9kNjExhLXEf_KGcvopPYJcla0LS_xgKEB50mnqTrs9OdhMX_5tinvwMCk0ZCYpn-IwIhTlg601w3UwPpJ_aj-tD4HxEPMdTa8sDcP5WZwTyHtwmRYbyCjbIKMc/w400-h104/BallonFestPan1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It was a really well organized event. It took about 30 minutes to blow up all the balloons so the field when from empty to filled with shaped balloons really quick and soon we were totally surrounded. </p><p>When it got dark and they lite them up it which was insanely cool.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7GBLoFjyhsoxOHU40D8-3XgO1iMaDz-setzYjk1yXoDgJ6Eqsc06ZHZIIsFBSVU0680WQTS56io4kbdUkBg-7j42vhP52Ks-7PWJ9waWEVdACb8vaiv5DWZJwhj9blRrscxEOmCU74IHM65WA1xULcCCIJ35JPruftQoFDveqIsVfOpHZU6R7Qz85Ao/s6000/IMG_4120.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7GBLoFjyhsoxOHU40D8-3XgO1iMaDz-setzYjk1yXoDgJ6Eqsc06ZHZIIsFBSVU0680WQTS56io4kbdUkBg-7j42vhP52Ks-7PWJ9waWEVdACb8vaiv5DWZJwhj9blRrscxEOmCU74IHM65WA1xULcCCIJ35JPruftQoFDveqIsVfOpHZU6R7Qz85Ao/w400-h266/IMG_4120.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>It was much better than we expected and I'm glad we got a chance to see it. After the Glowdeo there was a drone show where a few hundred drones took to the air with LED lights and formed all kind of cool patterns.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Lc4sM2M1BdEiH2WJt9ziadQh3CqPEZ20i-AubjxULCHpNrkmgsnGVHxnaFzzLMyXI78Hq_RAwTThNfREcfB92oXmVFB8qPPoLR7r-uOK3YSk-PJMC5Tb07YgExzMwo2HvzxiLVzXkFx_rqAqDUiEdpbFcYd0XSxjpYs-vNkXM0wQZ3hSO5HL1svN1_U/s4080/PXL_20231014_014741464.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Lc4sM2M1BdEiH2WJt9ziadQh3CqPEZ20i-AubjxULCHpNrkmgsnGVHxnaFzzLMyXI78Hq_RAwTThNfREcfB92oXmVFB8qPPoLR7r-uOK3YSk-PJMC5Tb07YgExzMwo2HvzxiLVzXkFx_rqAqDUiEdpbFcYd0XSxjpYs-vNkXM0wQZ3hSO5HL1svN1_U/w400-h301/PXL_20231014_014741464.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>There was also sky divers flying through the night air lighting fireworks off as they came down and then a final fireworks show to cap the night off. Although we had never been to a balloon festival, now that I see what they are I would definitely do it again.</p><p>The next day on our way to the eclipse viewing site we actually saw the morning ascension of the balloons. It was really great seeing that many balloons up in the air at once. </p><p>After the eclipse we took a couple of days to make it to Sedona and spent a couple of days taking in the many red rock formations and scenic drives in the area. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhm33dINQAqsuv772nmI8ciMjUFF0dpa43V19DXZpb4bQqb__HcMT85BD0j6sYtY19PqVabEWBzX3CK3MNfSh-Tga8fk9lG280DFMlOXLxVRdMbDxdU3zqc8oOUz2ND-5nikL7MggvZKwNJKnktlRrlgQjdRHOwqwHoR72-2nizYFSGnRXqGjMZfph3g/s8224/IMG_4522.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2800" data-original-width="8224" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhm33dINQAqsuv772nmI8ciMjUFF0dpa43V19DXZpb4bQqb__HcMT85BD0j6sYtY19PqVabEWBzX3CK3MNfSh-Tga8fk9lG280DFMlOXLxVRdMbDxdU3zqc8oOUz2ND-5nikL7MggvZKwNJKnktlRrlgQjdRHOwqwHoR72-2nizYFSGnRXqGjMZfph3g/w400-h136/IMG_4522.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>We had been to Sedona over 20 years ago and were surprised how much the town itself has changed. The scenery is still spectacular but there is a lot more hotels, restaurants and houses than there use to be. It was a good way to end the trip. I'm not sure when we will be out this way again but it was fun to see some scenery that is so different from what we have here in New Jersey. <br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-43837201306935361452023-10-04T16:50:00.000-04:002023-10-04T16:50:08.712-04:00The Octogenarian Ride<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczPXqC7CZHpXw9mtC3RHmvqaMGVieuPep4U_aJPZ78_kxsNa6rUuxrE4L4mcTRmPg5GSrXxKIyWFWxVonq-wCTRLSmDNigEO13cLSGsTi7PCQJBow45-6cKstO0dKr5dFcTOsFI9fNDIfVj-RaiuvzheyXoV4dhYiQV4TnXIyy-lr_j8xR79cmIDMwuQ/s3815/Octogenarians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="3815" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczPXqC7CZHpXw9mtC3RHmvqaMGVieuPep4U_aJPZ78_kxsNa6rUuxrE4L4mcTRmPg5GSrXxKIyWFWxVonq-wCTRLSmDNigEO13cLSGsTi7PCQJBow45-6cKstO0dKr5dFcTOsFI9fNDIfVj-RaiuvzheyXoV4dhYiQV4TnXIyy-lr_j8xR79cmIDMwuQ/w400-h219/Octogenarians.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Some 30 odd years ago I got serious about biking as way to get some exercise. After riding around my neighborhood on an old bike I bought a new one and joined the Princeton Freewheelers. It took me a few rides to get use to riding in a group and doing more than the 5 and 10 mile rides I had been doing. </p><p>I was lucky to have met a few really nice people in the club who not only showed me how to become a better rider but also how to have fun along the way. There passion for biking was infectious and I quickly went though the normal milestones of a new biker. First 50 miles, First Metric and First Century. </p><p>Eventually I became a regular out of Cranbury, Mercer County Park and Bordentown and looked forward to my weeknight and weekend rides. It went from a way to exercise to part of my social life and a way to have some fun. I had found my tribe and it made my life better. </p><p>Some of the people I started riding with then were probably in their late 40s and 50s and it impressed me how healthy and active they still were. </p><p>Even though it is 30+ years later as I write this post some of these people that I started out with are still around and still riding. Today was a beautiful sunny day which was welcome after last weeks rain. It was a perfect day for a ride so I planned to get the posse together and sent out an email and got a few takers. </p><p>Then I saw an email about an Octogenarian ride to the <a href="http://www.theoldeworldbakery.com/">Olde World Bakery</a> where some of the people I use to ride with 30 years ago would be. Although I had seen a few of these people on the all paces some I hadn't seen in quite a while and wanted to try and be part of the ride catch up with them.<br /></p><p>The actual Octogenarians along with some younger 70 something riders started from Chesterfield to make it a shorter and easier ride whereas the other groups left from Byron Park in Allentown.<br /></p><p>Because I needed to be home in the early afternoon I didn't want to ride one of the scheduled rides out of Allentown as they were more miles than I wanted to do and would be bigger and slower rides. I tried to get a few people to join me on my shorter faster ride but they all bailed out at the last minute. </p><p>Still I'm glad I went to where the group rides started, in Allentown, because I caught up with a lot of people I hadn't see in a while. Then when the ride started I went left out of the parking lot and everybody else when right. </p><p>It was a beautiful day to ride and for the most part the 23 miles down to the Olde World Bakery were traffic free. When I got there the Octogenarian rider, which had started from Chesterfield where already there. The oldest rider there was Spencer who is 89 and still riding. They club had bought some cinnamon, apple and pumpkin cakes which were cut up and waiting in the bakery. I sat at the tables catching up with Ira, Barbara, Joe M and a few other people. I also saw Dennis there although he did not ride today. </p><p>There was a brief presentation and some general merriment as we gave a certificate to the Octogenarians. Although not all of the people I use to ride with 30 years ago are still around (Miss you Howie, Don, George,...) it is good to see that some are doing well. </p><p>I rode the first 5 miles back from the bakery with the Octogenarian ride just to see what my future might look like. They may do shorter rides and not be a quick as they once were but they are still out there and enjoying themselves. Hopefully 30 years from now I will still be out there too. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-3986769333630411072023-09-24T17:52:00.000-04:002023-09-24T17:52:06.486-04:00Sunrise, Sunset<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOiaDa3oCt3iIVkZg5ZRp_2rSzT0Zjmnxc_wvUcSvGtvGU-Ju1jpBLIKUCz4TXgvbgm7VSF2-uNSYyUmadY5jkLWVG-QNpH-q1BnOloWTpr6vZxowcUdev3gWah9KtEr3eo60GGu1-ZEG53vYNIIZCtB6rOlJBqAZWSMbUigFfXpnSPbNkGdSDSIX2ZnY/s3620/SunriseBarnegat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3620" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOiaDa3oCt3iIVkZg5ZRp_2rSzT0Zjmnxc_wvUcSvGtvGU-Ju1jpBLIKUCz4TXgvbgm7VSF2-uNSYyUmadY5jkLWVG-QNpH-q1BnOloWTpr6vZxowcUdev3gWah9KtEr3eo60GGu1-ZEG53vYNIIZCtB6rOlJBqAZWSMbUigFfXpnSPbNkGdSDSIX2ZnY/w400-h261/SunriseBarnegat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This past Wednesday was a perfect day for both a sunrise and sunset with a bike ride in between. I have been wanting to go back to LBI to do a ride since it is not too far from where I live. When I decided to do the ride I decided that since I'm headed out that way I might as well go early enough to see the sunrise. <p></p><p>It is hard to know what a sunrise is going to look like as the amount of clouds and humidity can change the characteristics of what it is going to look like. I was lucky as there were just the right amount of clouds to reflect to the sun but not too many to obscure it as the photo at the top shows. I took the pictures of the sunrise from Barnegat light so got a few pictures of the lighthouse while I was there. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIRPsy_crQWIu1ozxZ4jM_XQRmEsNbZrWDw_i06yTolIwtu_fhG9sITD0RttC5mnAVsb-vnkn8VephAE2IhwJk0rU5d502fXjJvnbDRmy9FJaJIiFZcKDHjqFcmkIlzEg0k_I3tKl5fV_r-GOseZVGxXlwcoJ2Ftmv1znRqOYXUfbeJ_gULaoS6z4C3E/s3308/BarnegatLight.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3308" data-original-width="2976" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIRPsy_crQWIu1ozxZ4jM_XQRmEsNbZrWDw_i06yTolIwtu_fhG9sITD0RttC5mnAVsb-vnkn8VephAE2IhwJk0rU5d502fXjJvnbDRmy9FJaJIiFZcKDHjqFcmkIlzEg0k_I3tKl5fV_r-GOseZVGxXlwcoJ2Ftmv1znRqOYXUfbeJ_gULaoS6z4C3E/w360-h400/BarnegatLight.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3RovUS-PO_VBnRhv_R5MQ-5X7vWMdNnmorxtYYmEZAhiqH13jzJNHEBNGfh9qIM0FQpBgaNukGlsM1jPvRvEa9CTCPLblJCYoJxIiC7x1NQXcgELrQ4rA_WgeP8NitUQ7DTx8HLTeZthdmJgi1vKJV8Q4GDlzCRzNwQR59ZzdZc74MPZW6M-2aN0oaY/s3824/LighthouseKeeper.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3824" data-original-width="2747" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3RovUS-PO_VBnRhv_R5MQ-5X7vWMdNnmorxtYYmEZAhiqH13jzJNHEBNGfh9qIM0FQpBgaNukGlsM1jPvRvEa9CTCPLblJCYoJxIiC7x1NQXcgELrQ4rA_WgeP8NitUQ7DTx8HLTeZthdmJgi1vKJV8Q4GDlzCRzNwQR59ZzdZc74MPZW6M-2aN0oaY/w288-h400/LighthouseKeeper.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>After the sunrise <a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44494479">I rode the entire length of LBI</a>. As the name implies this is a long island, 18 miles from top to bottom. There aren't a lot of road since the island is so thin but I tried to see as much of the bay and beaches as I could. Almost all the roads have wide shoulders so there is no problem sharing them with the traffic. Although at this time of year there aren't a lot of cars around. This is probably the flattest ride you can do in NJ as my GPS had me below sea level for most of the ride. There are no hills or even high spots on the island and a strong storm and a couple of big waves could turn this island from a thriving vacation resort to a sandbar very quickly. </p><p>At the south end of LBI is top end of the Edwin Forsythe wildlife refuge. There is a parking lot where I stopped to enjoy the view and some surfers riding the waves. If I didn't have my cleats on I could have hiked down the beach to see some of the many different birds. Maybe I will come back and do that another time.<br /></p><p>On the way back to the lighthouse I got a good views of some of the bay.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nORUTyhc8TnuaQDCSv_QVVD-2cDpFuKBnNkmMjiyPtMj4gcazQABP1nUSahPvrtjmZRrEax1w-gJDurhb04iaFbB17OLzfMH-JmdOTnpDCV9eC9rgqjgLluuclOATqnmmpFC5NgBzcI89XNb7ETB-aG9z0u_TzulI_V2pE9egleS1AfCja9DF-bQDyo/s5184/TheBay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nORUTyhc8TnuaQDCSv_QVVD-2cDpFuKBnNkmMjiyPtMj4gcazQABP1nUSahPvrtjmZRrEax1w-gJDurhb04iaFbB17OLzfMH-JmdOTnpDCV9eC9rgqjgLluuclOATqnmmpFC5NgBzcI89XNb7ETB-aG9z0u_TzulI_V2pE9egleS1AfCja9DF-bQDyo/w400-h300/TheBay.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p> This ride is a little boring at times as you spend miles just riding through the houses along the beaches and bays so it is not a ride I would do often but the views of the ocean and bays make this a good change of pace. When I got back to the start I had 39 miles which was a good long ride. </p><p></p><p>Since it was an early start I was back by 11am and headed home to rest. My day wasn't over because the local camera shop was running a workshop on sunsets in Belmar that I wanted to attend. So a little after 5pm I headed to the marina in Belmar. There were about 25 people there for the workshop including a couple of people that I know from my community. I got there about a half hour before sunset and stayed to just after the sunset. </p><p>The Belmar marina is not the most scenic place to take a sunset picture but it was fun to talk to the other photographers and get their take on how they frame a photograph of a sunset. I did manage to get a few good pictures. There was a couple on paddle boards that crossed just before sunset. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1LCnHlEFgvi0VHUMwueDmrpp0-i6db3EyJyDMm9Gx6Bolvafmy_udn29JYt2V00GM1wlS-P-79cv9OrrjK4trQp4PGpjrrdU0V7QGpw5TkfLwB9Fe8eVZ-Eqyh8eIkhpg66lbz_NiiYRvuNxNInRy6hANAiBhCpdiTU_xYD6U-CPhX24BjbB2fcJ4Rw/s2932/Paddleboarders.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2116" data-original-width="2932" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1LCnHlEFgvi0VHUMwueDmrpp0-i6db3EyJyDMm9Gx6Bolvafmy_udn29JYt2V00GM1wlS-P-79cv9OrrjK4trQp4PGpjrrdU0V7QGpw5TkfLwB9Fe8eVZ-Eqyh8eIkhpg66lbz_NiiYRvuNxNInRy6hANAiBhCpdiTU_xYD6U-CPhX24BjbB2fcJ4Rw/w400-h289/Paddleboarders.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>My favorite picture of the day was a photograph of one of the other photographers talking to a guy that was fishing there. The reflection of the sunset was on the water between then and I thought it would make a good silhouette shot. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmOk3cNgf8RDGS5Hbfw4G9ahpGBk6wU3mCohS-z8oGtCbN9DgptCd2u-JWDZaQG3uS0tS9zlxwK71RThqqTGyp9NxWWiihgbELvZW-K88ABOEcp5HOfS7-Y38y9-vaRLaJmgXGXmZZ_-rqnLlDNa_sycaH2oc6ZZr4aPO-PsSfj9YwhaM01kCnwApVRQ/s2402/LennySunset.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2300" data-original-width="2402" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmOk3cNgf8RDGS5Hbfw4G9ahpGBk6wU3mCohS-z8oGtCbN9DgptCd2u-JWDZaQG3uS0tS9zlxwK71RThqqTGyp9NxWWiihgbELvZW-K88ABOEcp5HOfS7-Y38y9-vaRLaJmgXGXmZZ_-rqnLlDNa_sycaH2oc6ZZr4aPO-PsSfj9YwhaM01kCnwApVRQ/w400-h383/LennySunset.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The silhouette came out good and I got lucky as the I caught the sun flare in the glasses of the guy on the right. If you click on the picture you will see the sunburst in the glasses. </p><p>There are a lot of other cool places in NJ to take sunrise and sunset photos and it is something I enjoy doing. Although I have gotten some decent pictures of the sunrise and sunsets I know there are better pictures out there so will keep trying until I get the perfect shot. <br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-79930575100549900972023-09-17T17:18:00.000-04:002023-09-17T17:18:35.908-04:00Summer Weather<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gzHKkL964cfxdqBwVpbNK3VTJ4Bu2FCDaZTJMaD96yTUH40wl_Q1LsDK4EWF4_nyUkqgGLgd2IvQTdOYATkLicveK79OD7AAM98jt3CJGQIXo8p-b6FxCnjwAZiROcrzOLvBmV4kBm-EzdRxegtNaaFPZterP5-UVLVkWJv5Oxdnzc0Gs3oNVT6UyU8/s3142/Clouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2539" data-original-width="3142" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gzHKkL964cfxdqBwVpbNK3VTJ4Bu2FCDaZTJMaD96yTUH40wl_Q1LsDK4EWF4_nyUkqgGLgd2IvQTdOYATkLicveK79OD7AAM98jt3CJGQIXo8p-b6FxCnjwAZiROcrzOLvBmV4kBm-EzdRxegtNaaFPZterP5-UVLVkWJv5Oxdnzc0Gs3oNVT6UyU8/w400-h324/Clouds.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I haven't posted in a few weeks because I didn't have anything interesting to post. The weather has swung between nice to ridiculously humid to raging thunderstorms. The last Thursday in August I took a day off and went to the Philadelphia Zoo as I had wanted to see it and try to get some good pictures of some of the animals there. You can <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/1HB1wwx48HXE8sZX7">see all my pictures here</a>. Unfortunately the Wings of Asia exhibit was closed as they were introducing some new birds which is too bad as it is one of the reasons I went there. However in the normal aviary I found a cool bird that is actually a pigeon. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3cNZIhEImwOFCWItdcjWgG9AkP0ryp6ZldKejSTma52nRknLnDmm-okBz_AY7jXp_RW4j2tZxkOZRX5JVc5uw8iHlU8UvUGiZvyMK3XvIzYmaZ8NxGfIdnjEMBiOXyKDiTzfvt6_78t0HWrJw1N52CnyDwaTSMVr-GBe9TEu31uvmc2y6MeTa1Rw608/s4369/Pigeon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3661" data-original-width="4369" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3cNZIhEImwOFCWItdcjWgG9AkP0ryp6ZldKejSTma52nRknLnDmm-okBz_AY7jXp_RW4j2tZxkOZRX5JVc5uw8iHlU8UvUGiZvyMK3XvIzYmaZ8NxGfIdnjEMBiOXyKDiTzfvt6_78t0HWrJw1N52CnyDwaTSMVr-GBe9TEu31uvmc2y6MeTa1Rw608/w400-h335/Pigeon.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I think if most pigeons looked like this nobody would mind them that much. </p><p>While most of my friends were doing the Sourlands Spectacular last Saturday I just did a local ride on my own. It was misting in the morning before I started the ride and was still unbelievably humid during the ride. I'm usually not too bothered by the heat or humidity but I'm pretty sure that more water was dripping off my body than I could drink so I actually cut the ride short. </p><p>We haven't had as many heat waves this year as usual so although this was the hottest summer for the world and a lot of other places that was not the case here. We have had fewer days above 90 than normal but it has definitely been one of the more humid summers. We also had some pretty good storms. We had a couple lighting storms parked over us where I could see the lighting hitting trees and the golf course around us. I suspect it might be the reason I had to replace a garage door opener last weekend.<br /></p><p>The storms also made me cancel my planned trip to Gettysburg but I did take a day off this week to do a ride in the Sourlands by myself since the weather was perfect for a ride. It was cool with no humidity and the sky was dotted with clouds as shown in the picture at the top of this post. <br /></p><p>This past weekend hurricane Lee was off shore. It stayed far enough off shore so we didn't get any rain but it did send some high waves and rough surf towards our beaches. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGw8hC6g3axeEzQrrdR2KR_55g1XQvKt3OEKn4rlLwv-4B_qFvh_3vzeXI2dAY6BrGS_7d0WcYJgl8oKYxoWqyPe0iaLV24HZrFtgNurGjkWkYPv7hl_ALkrVitSZmkLthGGkXllch5OOqKn-BswI1LohuStRukgJvujv0K58zroCKr_gUbFdBkgk65E/s5343/Wave1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2993" data-original-width="5343" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGw8hC6g3axeEzQrrdR2KR_55g1XQvKt3OEKn4rlLwv-4B_qFvh_3vzeXI2dAY6BrGS_7d0WcYJgl8oKYxoWqyPe0iaLV24HZrFtgNurGjkWkYPv7hl_ALkrVitSZmkLthGGkXllch5OOqKn-BswI1LohuStRukgJvujv0K58zroCKr_gUbFdBkgk65E/w400-h224/Wave1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82ytWzxop_vB-On31x9zNoLZ-p_JjPIrhhC3rYObnD3xPD8Zz_Gc-Myj1ZrfLEjQiBKpEWLif8JLXxMq9BR8yQN-diAuv_NyZP-OERrIdKm7A9V8VJMOAjHVO8OGF5D8l4RqJlOAF5AmQMMt0dTsk0_CupVy3iPYo-kbdPEPl_XNK6P3ZNM8DgJvH7Iw/s4898/Wave2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3265" data-original-width="4898" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82ytWzxop_vB-On31x9zNoLZ-p_JjPIrhhC3rYObnD3xPD8Zz_Gc-Myj1ZrfLEjQiBKpEWLif8JLXxMq9BR8yQN-diAuv_NyZP-OERrIdKm7A9V8VJMOAjHVO8OGF5D8l4RqJlOAF5AmQMMt0dTsk0_CupVy3iPYo-kbdPEPl_XNK6P3ZNM8DgJvH7Iw/w400-h266/Wave2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>We went down to Avon for dinner on Friday night and stopped by the beach to look at the waves. They were 10-12 feet and breaking over the jetties. The waves were so big that they actually broke over both sides of the shark river inlet as they rolled in. </p><p>However by Saturday afternoon when I was at Sandy Hook on my ride the waves were probably only half the size and the winds not as bad as expected. It was suppose to be mostly cloudy with 15-20 mph winds but the weather at Sandy Hook was only partly cloudy and the winds weren't that bad probably around 10-12. There were a lot of wind and kite surfers at Sandy Hook taking advantage of the wind and we saw a few surfers riding the wave. But when we headed west the go back home the headwind wasn't as bad as expected. In fact it ended up being a good day for a ride. </p><p>Fall starts this Saturday which means summer is over but there should be a lot of good riding weather ahead. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-72724572313878392172023-08-27T08:56:00.000-04:002023-08-27T08:56:01.549-04:00Lying Bastard 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSRZZ5AT8K7ZPzCgbrkh98CH-0WwpdPG-rlMKk4bKIx7coJEJZ6gQbcDLAS6Jq0gm-THT50q3UK8kbeFNt5JJ-acnii_e1DkQslzyD9_jmG2yciQwPsPK6dRDiylzJYISYIKjJfPCEYUDPDIgDaEzf5ncysliS7-nB_bs3c_TrqHGDqYtyVKsoewCBT8/s3290/LakeNoxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2216" data-original-width="3290" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSRZZ5AT8K7ZPzCgbrkh98CH-0WwpdPG-rlMKk4bKIx7coJEJZ6gQbcDLAS6Jq0gm-THT50q3UK8kbeFNt5JJ-acnii_e1DkQslzyD9_jmG2yciQwPsPK6dRDiylzJYISYIKjJfPCEYUDPDIgDaEzf5ncysliS7-nB_bs3c_TrqHGDqYtyVKsoewCBT8/w400-h270/LakeNoxs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>My semi regular Lying Bastard ride use to be a ride where I would post a ride and a route and then make some changes (like adding an unexpected 15% climb) somewhere along the way. My Insane posse however knows most of my tricks by now so there are very few surprises on this ride. </p><p><a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44188297">This year we did this route</a>. I have tweaked the ride over the years to make it a little easier and get rid of roads that had traffic or were not in good condition. There are still a few roads I would like to change like the roads right after the rest stop but some times there are no good alternatives. </p><p>The only surprise of this years ride was a quick detour to see the spillway where the water empties out of Lake Noximixon. The bridge on Headquarters Rd is still out and I don't think they will ever fix it. This year they piled more gravel in front of the barrier but there is still no problem getting over the bridge. </p><p>The climb up Headquarters is the longest climb of the ride. It's just a long grind with only one or two quick steep spots. My legs felt tired as I started up the first few climbs. I had done a long ride on Wednesday to the shore where my legs felt heavy so I guess I had not recovered from my busy week. It's not that I felt bad it's just that I could not push as hard as I normally do so had to use slightly lower gears and cadence. </p><p>It rain early in the morning before the start and was cloudy when we started but by the time we took a bathroom break on the south west corner of the lake the sun was out and the humidity was dropping. </p><p>From there we climbed up the west side of the lake and then through the rolling hills on the north side. There are no real tough climbs here but just a constant up and down with a few short of steep spots along the way. </p><p>There was almost no traffic on these roads which is one of the reasons I like to ride around here. I just wish my legs had a little more life in them. </p><p>After our stop at Turkey Hill we started the last 10 miles back. The first two miles we hit a lot of traffic. Most of the way has a shoulder that lets traffic get around us but there was one spot where a car would not pass us even through they had room. We pull over for a few minutes to let the cars pass then made our way to the Red Circle of Death and back to the start. </p><p>It was a very uneventful ride so even thought it is called the Lying Bastard ride it has really just become a normal ride around the hills of Lake Noximixon. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-79647064445895426612023-08-22T20:30:00.003-04:002023-08-23T07:19:20.268-04:00A Busy Week<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNvPyS942slaE41aSd2yhi4v6hoKbU_6ajvajS2CB1mbpsCyZEzd9IvGz4i_l1WmyVmXqxTjToznrEsspqv8zuEJLWGTSToPLvjp_tSeaQ1h5-X-gTt-Ciw0C4JwbPkG2ZVBNbSb74AcbRJ8GKjlWufJHn9gcN6oZyN9hSp-lONsFFOxJeTZiWKhUgm0/s6000/Jenkinson13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNvPyS942slaE41aSd2yhi4v6hoKbU_6ajvajS2CB1mbpsCyZEzd9IvGz4i_l1WmyVmXqxTjToznrEsspqv8zuEJLWGTSToPLvjp_tSeaQ1h5-X-gTt-Ciw0C4JwbPkG2ZVBNbSb74AcbRJ8GKjlWufJHn9gcN6oZyN9hSp-lONsFFOxJeTZiWKhUgm0/w400-h266/Jenkinson13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Last weekend I went for a ride with my other bike club mainly because the ride started close to home and I errands I need to run in the afternoon. It didn't hurt that the club was buying ice cream for everyone at the rest stop. The JSTS club has some unique traditions through out the year and the ice cream ride is my favorite. We stopped at a place in Englishtown and all the different paces stop at the same place so it's sort of like a big ice cream party. The place we stopped at is called Four Brothers. They usually don't open until 11am but the club called ahead and got them to open a half hour early since 50 or more bikers were heading their way. I usually don't like to eat something as heavy as ice cream during a ride but on certain occasions it just feels right.</p><p>This past Wednesday I went to the Atlantic City airshow since I hadn't been at one in while and a person in our community asked me to go. It's a long day since the air show starts at 11am and runs until 4pm. It's very crowded on the beach so you have to get their early and stake out a spot. We had no problem with finding a parking lot or getting a good spot on the beach. It was a mostly sunny day but not too hot. We had an umbrella to keep the sun off us so I was relatively comfortable on the beach. The airshow was good and had a couple of good acts. My favorite was the dual mustangs.There is just nothing that sounds and look as good as those airplanes. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDbkne5P9THA8_VzzRRssCvvKYN7-wBZHBfAPCU09oIjaxsg2lBrkBvIirpfhNAk_DrsFYA5Us98cMvG9xnPjGEg96vklwo03x7O4myKswRgNWdMdXPc3GVM4f5KCuNyMetkySUiAiUzJGc1mnrIkrzd6jXbYHqs7W3SSVgdWiOcG3xmbf082WxUqkR0/s2629/AcAirshow12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="2629" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDbkne5P9THA8_VzzRRssCvvKYN7-wBZHBfAPCU09oIjaxsg2lBrkBvIirpfhNAk_DrsFYA5Us98cMvG9xnPjGEg96vklwo03x7O4myKswRgNWdMdXPc3GVM4f5KCuNyMetkySUiAiUzJGc1mnrIkrzd6jXbYHqs7W3SSVgdWiOcG3xmbf082WxUqkR0/w400-h306/AcAirshow12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>There was also a Harrier jet that hovered over the beach that was cool. This is a shot taken by other person with me who is an avid photographer. He changed the picture to high contrast B&W to show more detail.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwApTDsRgPP_Kc244xXYDWi9hWC09uYEBOmz-wNgaJJoa3a52HwQ9F-nK56f3oywz5ORyEN5EE83Diz0bwkm6epbtJSCJQoBwLHkD8LZCnS0Lny0L5-xloV1RmvrHn-PYbxIhZw2mhuGKRZTV7DNuk2MFX6URvKmu3qKSILUBNVGplWQgBo_iEDTtMOM/s2000/Airshow23_18395%20FB.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwApTDsRgPP_Kc244xXYDWi9hWC09uYEBOmz-wNgaJJoa3a52HwQ9F-nK56f3oywz5ORyEN5EE83Diz0bwkm6epbtJSCJQoBwLHkD8LZCnS0Lny0L5-xloV1RmvrHn-PYbxIhZw2mhuGKRZTV7DNuk2MFX6URvKmu3qKSILUBNVGplWQgBo_iEDTtMOM/w400-h400/Airshow23_18395%20FB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>After the airshow since it was on the way home we stopped by the <span>Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to try to get some picture of the birds there. Since I had my good camera with me with the telephoto lens I wanted to see if I could some better bird pics than I did two weeks ago. </span>There were a lot of herrings there along with an assortment of seagulls and other water fowl. I got a good pic of a egret landing</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9qW5o4bWeHkXmV31IepMLPzvkXfYUPMeJGXkDq3DxJlH4eV30ZFnZN6ZDoMQD3PX0oAucqsg15WXK7XtcVw3lUIgmvrle9SUo4Vnp6idYvbHIRqaWiiLqfojSS6CRgnKJx0474hZDoC2rn4y6GFygnHx4pPEUOzUyscXKOe9OuKTY4_bq8LXYrJbiDQ/s1972/HerringLanding.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1357" data-original-width="1972" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9qW5o4bWeHkXmV31IepMLPzvkXfYUPMeJGXkDq3DxJlH4eV30ZFnZN6ZDoMQD3PX0oAucqsg15WXK7XtcVw3lUIgmvrle9SUo4Vnp6idYvbHIRqaWiiLqfojSS6CRgnKJx0474hZDoC2rn4y6GFygnHx4pPEUOzUyscXKOe9OuKTY4_bq8LXYrJbiDQ/w400-h275/HerringLanding.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>And some kind of bird that skims the water with its beak.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dKKx1r8UcvhRMvY-g22VnLb2Eg73UcrYnExahgOdAQcAEf9gZ0jaWpAvMKIAbuOngxCAIsLL98W_tVu5DSEHkfRyEjCcwKHwdi0VnXDJnq81LGqZlBJqHE65Vc58Gf42GkzXk4vGtPFhjIyg-hTmd6tdA9Flm0ZUcHi48qtPiXIn_ADNQqqSQGXc354/s2777/Edwin11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1604" data-original-width="2777" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dKKx1r8UcvhRMvY-g22VnLb2Eg73UcrYnExahgOdAQcAEf9gZ0jaWpAvMKIAbuOngxCAIsLL98W_tVu5DSEHkfRyEjCcwKHwdi0VnXDJnq81LGqZlBJqHE65Vc58Gf42GkzXk4vGtPFhjIyg-hTmd6tdA9Flm0ZUcHi48qtPiXIn_ADNQqqSQGXc354/w400-h231/Edwin11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>And a heron eating a fish. I'm not sure of the bird type so need to add an app on my phone to better identify them.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7IHUAnBqr8gpCKnHfG5JrxVPOODEx4gUK7hEuSk5vMUIp6pJGzXs88bjvgTtH_KpxVyZrkkPccOYLBiM1jMMcgL32Lud3_rgmTfz-RqO9ogi9Ksdzi5st9PfX3NLX9ResXvLFkcGuTOPwu_i6UcDTBx1_96cGDBuXWs7KRfYZ6D7KrNiMtFJ5bSY-b8/s3096/HerringFish.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2381" data-original-width="3096" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7IHUAnBqr8gpCKnHfG5JrxVPOODEx4gUK7hEuSk5vMUIp6pJGzXs88bjvgTtH_KpxVyZrkkPccOYLBiM1jMMcgL32Lud3_rgmTfz-RqO9ogi9Ksdzi5st9PfX3NLX9ResXvLFkcGuTOPwu_i6UcDTBx1_96cGDBuXWs7KRfYZ6D7KrNiMtFJ5bSY-b8/w400-h308/HerringFish.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Wildlife photography is challenging as you have to take pictures in bursts hoping you will get the bird in focus and at the perfect moment. You also have to hope for good light which we didn't have. I definitely learned a lot and got enough good shots but I know I can do better so will probably try some more wild life photography in the future. </p><p>This past weekend I lead one of my standard rides out of Allentown as I felt like something close and flat. The<a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39415988" target="_blank"> route goes down to Columbus then through New Egypt </a>and out to some pastures past some longhorn cattle. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwC5O0oa9mvVaKGszCwP6p4-Ag8SMRG21NJRnttvh32m9aVp00yA4IdcciCILXNfbOYeN6tugZC9pcbtCOdwhVaVy9ZScckFK4rVkULYx0LLzo9H9mhRyVZWp_B-AzFOvTieYMaHysrQ9FU9nX-EjZTdo9EHx3AvRtQrGnA9I1q2N8C1dirN5IEvgTxUk/s1883/FreeBull.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="1883" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwC5O0oa9mvVaKGszCwP6p4-Ag8SMRG21NJRnttvh32m9aVp00yA4IdcciCILXNfbOYeN6tugZC9pcbtCOdwhVaVy9ZScckFK4rVkULYx0LLzo9H9mhRyVZWp_B-AzFOvTieYMaHysrQ9FU9nX-EjZTdo9EHx3AvRtQrGnA9I1q2N8C1dirN5IEvgTxUk/w400-h236/FreeBull.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Normally the cattle our on the INSIDE of the fence however this one got out and most of the people on the ride did not want to get too close... Except for Luis and Jim who stood in front of the cow for a picture I wanted to send to Laura.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukL6Iju2T41UK5aNEHlsEhfzc89wUqtZ73abEGCysABwOXthlrE3u9RsVStCHrZ9kuzzCFeYXlT6FZQYfq364PcQWfrg2ZlniiLXu9tn29vRIqLmftt6eFuzihNNl4SIEdk2_nLfNdrCfnpEFdYQP0xiLKVfgNEFzlHLPpv3Mw1MuF94svq-hwlm35CM/s2433/FreeBullFinger.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2433" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukL6Iju2T41UK5aNEHlsEhfzc89wUqtZ73abEGCysABwOXthlrE3u9RsVStCHrZ9kuzzCFeYXlT6FZQYfq364PcQWfrg2ZlniiLXu9tn29vRIqLmftt6eFuzihNNl4SIEdk2_nLfNdrCfnpEFdYQP0xiLKVfgNEFzlHLPpv3Mw1MuF94svq-hwlm35CM/w400-h251/FreeBullFinger.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Cattle are very docile animals so I don't think it would have charged us as long as we didn't stop it from eating the grass it was so interested in. </p><p>We stopped at Charleston Coffee for our break and maintained a good pace into a slight headwind. It was a good ride on a sunny and low humidity day. As August turns into September we should have more weather like this.</p><p>The bike ride on Saturday was not my only event for the day. The photography club here had an outing to Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant to learn about a type of photography called street photography where you try to walk down the street and get candid shots of people or objects you encounter as you walk past them. I'm not very good at taking pictures of people or have a lot experience so decided to give it a try. </p><p>There were about 10 of from the club on the boardwalk with our cameras. We started about a half hour before sunset. It felt strange just talking picture of people on the boardwalk. I felt like I was invading their privacy but it was really crowded and no body seemed to mind or really care. There are a few people in the club that are very good at going up to someone and asking them to pose for a picture. As you can image there were quite a few strange characters on the boardwalk that would make a good picture. </p><p>It was fun walking around with some of the other people from the photography club. They are each a little different and have different styles so I picked up some tips from them. After I got into it I relaxed and took a few good shots. The best one was of a girl on a swing giving her mother a high five as she went around.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3V5hPfHouLQgNiiIb3m1EHgfc49he3HbGr8qOdiEPTZPUx-7ltCfnw2qrv3dql-XXPG1V76bPRDTrjmGG21zYHdMY56f9dUHgqu9whiwwqmpbYdtQE7h8P36iH_n8xW0lExEGOV7HBReDQDKNe_9RtdXBWXq722KbiX7kkOPKO7FL6OXqM6vSRLxMBM/s5102/Jenkinson14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3763" data-original-width="5102" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3V5hPfHouLQgNiiIb3m1EHgfc49he3HbGr8qOdiEPTZPUx-7ltCfnw2qrv3dql-XXPG1V76bPRDTrjmGG21zYHdMY56f9dUHgqu9whiwwqmpbYdtQE7h8P36iH_n8xW0lExEGOV7HBReDQDKNe_9RtdXBWXq722KbiX7kkOPKO7FL6OXqM6vSRLxMBM/w400-h295/Jenkinson14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I converted it to black and white because the low light made the colors look dim so converting it to black and white brought out more detail. I also took picture of some of the rides and got creative and did a long exposure to blur the motion of the swing. That is the picture at the top of the post. </p><p>I left the boardwalk around 9pm and was tired from a long day and a busy week but did a lot of different things and had a lot of fun.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-38106655344988686582023-08-11T22:13:00.000-04:002023-08-11T22:13:08.884-04:00Batsto, Beach ride and Birds<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhu9dTV3_H2Vbigo32yq9jixsovaNTV4X7nrF6ryqhc9umYxfyDT_4vkkuZMb6k0Lq-II96GikCxRjj7cTBKDcN7AhWGVleNAvKT9mp1Ee1NMjX3SseB3k4zSYMZ8d8Kcn2dkHdktk3tVPq5SVK1uD2Yuk2xJfRReATezLTDIOFNeIAEO8uRSz-bIr58/s3556/LeedsPoint.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2652" data-original-width="3556" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhu9dTV3_H2Vbigo32yq9jixsovaNTV4X7nrF6ryqhc9umYxfyDT_4vkkuZMb6k0Lq-II96GikCxRjj7cTBKDcN7AhWGVleNAvKT9mp1Ee1NMjX3SseB3k4zSYMZ8d8Kcn2dkHdktk3tVPq5SVK1uD2Yuk2xJfRReATezLTDIOFNeIAEO8uRSz-bIr58/w400-h299/LeedsPoint.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Last week I had a couple of unique rides. On my Wednesday off I road from Belmar up to Long Branch along the beach. I did the ride early in the morning so there wasn't much traffic. I rode through Asbury Park through Deal and then to Long Branch which has a nice paved bike path along the beach. There is also 7 Presidents park and monument dedicated to the 7 presidents who visited Long Branch starting with Ulysses S. Grant who had a house here and declared Long Branch the nations best beach.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBW3sDiZWQmUfCfIITv2bNk5LpeAZS2UTrsdwkRNF6j6M82hq3SEy4SnsGpkm6LpYIC1-z_1fyBtxLCgydU7WlENQ-UgRpN8lLeWgIQTNF6sWvy8lPJBG6dq7-jIZNcT3_rTOYLd1qZOGW-oSkUxw8egceU1wZcyZZR2YbBcRyE0J5OTUjjaNtDOIyAkg/s3145/7Pres.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1903" data-original-width="3145" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBW3sDiZWQmUfCfIITv2bNk5LpeAZS2UTrsdwkRNF6j6M82hq3SEy4SnsGpkm6LpYIC1-z_1fyBtxLCgydU7WlENQ-UgRpN8lLeWgIQTNF6sWvy8lPJBG6dq7-jIZNcT3_rTOYLd1qZOGW-oSkUxw8egceU1wZcyZZR2YbBcRyE0J5OTUjjaNtDOIyAkg/w400-h243/7Pres.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It's not much of a monument but Long Branch itself is probably one of the better beach towns at the Jersey Shore. I had a pretty stiff north wind fighting me on the way north so it was an easy ride back. I did an inland loop in the way back around one of the bays with some nice view of a couple of marina's. I ended up with 27 mile. This is not a ride I would do a lot but it was a nice ride along the beaches that is fun for a change of pace.</p><p>This past Saturday the with decent weather I got the posse to join be on a southern sojourn down to Batsto in south Jersey. We a route along the Mullica river out to Smithville and back. The roads down by Batsto are flat and almost traffic free. There are also a couple of interesting sites along the way so it is a scenic ride. </p><p><a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34103549">We did this route</a> and got a good number of the posse to join me including a new addition Jeff. Jeff asked if there would be any dirt roads in the route which prompted a laugh from a few of the regulars. For some reason most of my rides involve a bridge out and some dirt along the way so they don't bother asking anymore. The group was still complaining about dirt in their cleats from our journey up Stony Brook where we had walk across Zippy creek.</p><p>We started our ride by going through the woods around Batsto before crossing over the Mullica River where we stopped to talk to the bridge operator. We didn't hit much traffic as we cruised towards Smithville. We moved along at a good clip with the slight tail wind we had. We had our first bridge out as we got to the town of Port Republic. This was the same bridge our we encountered the last time we did this ride 3 years ago. At that time they were just about to tear down the bridge. This time the bridge was just about finished so it wasn't a problem getting over. </p><p>When we got to Smithville we stopped at a bakery in the shopping village. The last time we were down here in 2020 this was all closed so we had to stop at CVS. The bakery made a much better stop. After rest stop we headed out to Leed's Point which gives you a good view of the inland waterway and a distance view of Atlantic City. We usually get attacked by bug here but it wasn't bad this time. We stopped for some pictures like the one at the top of the post then headed back west towards our start. </p><p>We did have a flat tire to deal with but otherwise it was trouble free ride back to the starting point. There was some minor traffic at a few spot but for the most part it was a quiet, flat and scenic ride. We did have two more bridge outs on the way back so it was the rare triple bridge out ride but we were able to easily ride over both of them. </p><p>After the ride I headed home but stopped at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to take some pictures of birds. I had wanted to come down here for a while but never took the time so I figure since I was close I would check it out. There were a lot heroins, seagulls,egrets and other birds I couldn't even name. Also the bugs that were usually at Leed's Point were here instead and attached me as soon as I go out of the car to take a few pictures.<br /></p><p> I got a couple of good pics with my point and shoot camera</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSz4gmvrZ8u3UrG63tgfw3YC_5VmvvTvab_DYu2afITFLNb3LUtDybG55IlgfAZ3iVGiwKR3oryDLd0lFtfS4pljC-6x2NN6cb1LELSze5mxqC4F83LJNkF9u821I6Wf41f7Kw-cruN2nI6g-rtvkqf1tn0XBOJfTtLq49mQMe9KpDZIIhDyMLHXp3Ms/s2706/IMG_5443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1990" data-original-width="2706" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSz4gmvrZ8u3UrG63tgfw3YC_5VmvvTvab_DYu2afITFLNb3LUtDybG55IlgfAZ3iVGiwKR3oryDLd0lFtfS4pljC-6x2NN6cb1LELSze5mxqC4F83LJNkF9u821I6Wf41f7Kw-cruN2nI6g-rtvkqf1tn0XBOJfTtLq49mQMe9KpDZIIhDyMLHXp3Ms/w400-h294/IMG_5443.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>but want to go back with my real camera to get some better pictures.</p><p>When I was on the beach last Wednesday I did get a few good bird pics with my DLSR camera.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeROuKKRdOIFnMEb_VrdaWC1D8bdbmm7Y8mwM0qrJmyv1wSlZoHKWZP4ybKwp044MQPVO3ykuph4R5C77XbzIS35r6dfIWzky3RBS-h18VhduoozWx4UHgtvqT23LBVsQtCLxK0cSUFPsm1QcZBkSn4FwxqRFNihoCkZjLwf58PJB2mBNZUKpKq1nEwKU/s5053/SegalFlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3170" data-original-width="5053" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeROuKKRdOIFnMEb_VrdaWC1D8bdbmm7Y8mwM0qrJmyv1wSlZoHKWZP4ybKwp044MQPVO3ykuph4R5C77XbzIS35r6dfIWzky3RBS-h18VhduoozWx4UHgtvqT23LBVsQtCLxK0cSUFPsm1QcZBkSn4FwxqRFNihoCkZjLwf58PJB2mBNZUKpKq1nEwKU/w400-h251/SegalFlight.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jG6h_EvYBchi8PGBeVjF67n8qXx-JYJqQc5r3Lu-1WQvbUY00uHbLdZqcfljJQ3g6EFl3WzrE-XhKYV5lE_0PUFXH2h4mV2gayhx_Va309utU8MqwrRtFw1rKsa_ghTdgAacicomjvkm8JHM4xjxURr0JCw_9QVhxxE7tcnBfOIqMJxdHoRlFMCyN-g/s4491/SegalStrut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3332" data-original-width="4491" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jG6h_EvYBchi8PGBeVjF67n8qXx-JYJqQc5r3Lu-1WQvbUY00uHbLdZqcfljJQ3g6EFl3WzrE-XhKYV5lE_0PUFXH2h4mV2gayhx_Va309utU8MqwrRtFw1rKsa_ghTdgAacicomjvkm8JHM4xjxURr0JCw_9QVhxxE7tcnBfOIqMJxdHoRlFMCyN-g/w400-h296/SegalStrut.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These are with a new telephoto lens. After I learn to use it better I should be able to do even better. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I got home that day I was actually able to capture a humming bird going after a sun flower on our patio.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yD09CQfkPGnb55d5ahJ25BGZ9NquMPuSLZOmkz8stJRJ60O5FgwtKZCYBhLG0_hTTtlfSgkfOyQRVpuu8Ms3yLOMTq1YI1-MtagPsRT9zQiZHfyQMYT_JfUtt-7wgo7FWLKC5TwdI5IV1a6jx0Vbzq7UYVT2W1GrXSb6bUXRNSwOrm3DKcGx5PTFYt8/s2855/HummingBird1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="2855" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yD09CQfkPGnb55d5ahJ25BGZ9NquMPuSLZOmkz8stJRJ60O5FgwtKZCYBhLG0_hTTtlfSgkfOyQRVpuu8Ms3yLOMTq1YI1-MtagPsRT9zQiZHfyQMYT_JfUtt-7wgo7FWLKC5TwdI5IV1a6jx0Vbzq7UYVT2W1GrXSb6bUXRNSwOrm3DKcGx5PTFYt8/w400-h324/HummingBird1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> It was a lucky shot but with the flowers we have on our patio the humming birds come by a couple of times a day so hope to get a few more before the flowers fade.<br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-12886162229650317312023-07-30T16:20:00.001-04:002023-07-30T16:20:33.878-04:00A Few Nice Days<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQy7VvgopNF1i3yRg-C74Dx-OwR7lQWGo65t63KftDlP88xcbFJ7Omwy-BALc4ILyGlsQBzRNFOCMTKORZhE7muNGjyjdkat3LNAP26YE3Ewe1_3FZPYVM9gDr5rtUgKFlVRCe1hcD2cqfiJ0Zf2n2t7zVTXklf-W_u2wFzCTpD8DleuYDEkOA-RKLFqE/s3895/Golf10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2345" data-original-width="3895" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQy7VvgopNF1i3yRg-C74Dx-OwR7lQWGo65t63KftDlP88xcbFJ7Omwy-BALc4ILyGlsQBzRNFOCMTKORZhE7muNGjyjdkat3LNAP26YE3Ewe1_3FZPYVM9gDr5rtUgKFlVRCe1hcD2cqfiJ0Zf2n2t7zVTXklf-W_u2wFzCTpD8DleuYDEkOA-RKLFqE/w400-h241/Golf10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Over the past couple of weeks we have had few days which were actually NOT as hot as hell. Last Saturday was the first day in a while below 90 where the humidity was low. Laura scheduled her pick your distance ride to Belmar. She and a few others were doing a hundred miles a couple of others started in Etra for 67 miles. Since the route almost goes by my house I met them at their first rest stop and did 55 miles. It was nice to ride out of my house for a PFW ride since I don't get a chance to do that much anymore. It was low 80s and low humidity so for the first time this summer I didn't feel like I was riding inside an oven. <p></p><p>With a light west wind we made our way quick to the beach and our normal stop in Belmar by the beach for a break. The beach was crowded but not overly so and the traffic wasn't all that bad as we didn't have much of a problem getting in our out of Belmar. </p><p>On the way back there was a small head wind but it didn't really slow us down. I left the group when they turned towards Freehold and headed home. I had about 10 miles more to get home and cruised home with out a problem. For once I did over 50 miles and didn't cramp or feel dehydrated.</p><p>The past week most days were over 90 with high humidity. I did a quick ride early Wednesday morning just to get some miles in but was home before 10am. I didn't really leave the house the rest of the week. Saturday was another 90+ degree high humidity day so I decided skip riding and instead do a ride on Sunday where the weather would be in the upper 70s with low humidity. I thought of doing Jim's Sunday ride but on Thursday it was almost full and the start of his ride is at least an hour away for me. I looked at other rides but nothing appealed to me so I scheduled to lead a ride out of Yardley.</p><p>I usually don't lead rides on Sundays especially when another person I normally ride with, like Jim, has a scheduled ride because I don't like to split up the group. However Jim always has more than enough people to fill his Sunday rides so I don't think he had a problem with it. I know I pull a few people off his ride but I'm sure he didn't miss them.</p><p><a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40020732">We did this route</a> which goes over the 95 bridge into Pennington and back through Lambertville and New Hope. It's hilly but I haven't done a lot of hill work this year so figure it would be a good day for a hilly ride. </p><p>There was some emails before the ride stating that Stony Brook Rd was closed because of a bridge out. The way around Stony Brook would have involved a short but steep climb up Van Dyke so we checked out the bridge out. The bridge over "Zippy Creek" is gone. The have poured the foundations but there was no walkway for the workers to get over the creek. However "Zippy" is not much of a creek and only about a foot and a half wide so we made our way down the embankment and walked over a couple stones to get over to the other side. The only problem with the crossing is that some people got some mud in their cleats so had to clean them out before starting again. </p><p>We made our way to Lambertville and stopped at Union Coffee for our break then headed over the bridge to New Hope to continue the ride. Lambertville and New Hope were really crowded so it was slow going over the bridge and through New Hope until we got out of town. </p><p>There were still a few more climbs left and I was mostly in the back on the way up the hills. The last 5 miles was along the river and that is when to ride became a race as most of the group sprinted for home. </p><p>The weather had stay cool and dry so I wasn't too worn out after the ride. I know there is still some more hot weather ahead this summer but hope we get a few more days like this. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-11029315223026992712023-07-16T09:27:00.000-04:002023-07-16T09:27:38.166-04:00The Summer Heat<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQmto3rmB3fhUZFDyCz1BqmMcozNK3vMFuaifc1gvIWfU1Rtkyr8gFTazbyYQsW_pzoARZVUBvNYI3hdwn5LgeRXEZNR6w7KPCcKS6IIfFxtPG3qV9ywet8KuhXpKQDAADHElroSValNXbhcUF54fmKbu0ijxW2dl4oaov02CJvFBqGMLL1rgpUn6VUA/s2673/EagleB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2373" data-original-width="2673" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQmto3rmB3fhUZFDyCz1BqmMcozNK3vMFuaifc1gvIWfU1Rtkyr8gFTazbyYQsW_pzoARZVUBvNYI3hdwn5LgeRXEZNR6w7KPCcKS6IIfFxtPG3qV9ywet8KuhXpKQDAADHElroSValNXbhcUF54fmKbu0ijxW2dl4oaov02CJvFBqGMLL1rgpUn6VUA/w400-h355/EagleB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Even though the average temperature has been below normal, the humidity has be off the charts which means the heat index has been really high for a lot of my rides this month. You can start rides early or try and stay in the shade but it only helps a little. There is just no way you can avoid sweating your ass off in this weather so you just have to hydrate as much as you can and don't push too hard yourself if you want to ride in this weather. <p></p><p>This past Saturday I lead a<a href="https://ridewithgps.com/trips/128117570"> ride to Robling from Bordentown</a>. I wanted a flat ride after last weeks hilly Round Valley ride. On early Saturday morning when I checked the list of registrants it was mostly my usually crew however when I got to the start of the ride I there were a few other people there, that registered right before the ride, that I don't normally ride with but knew they were fast riders. It was going to be a hot and humid ride so I didn't want to push the pace. Because of the possibility of rain later in the day I was hoping for cloudy skies but it was only partially cloudy so the sun was beating down on us. </p><p>We made our way quickly through Bordentown and towards Robling. On Old York Rd there is a trail I take to get to Robling as it is the best way to get across 130 to the roads along the Delaware river. I was behind the group as I had to wait for a rider that had stopped for a few seconds for an adjustment. I jumped on the trail but the rest of the group sped ahead of me. I thought about dropping the who group but instead waited by the turn in the trail where they could see me and yelled at them to turn around. Everybody had the route on their GPS so not sure why they missed the turn. </p><p>We continued on through Robling and down to Burlington City where we stopped for pictures by the Eagle and Burlington Bristol bridge which has become a tradition on this ride. From there we made our way out to quieter roads while detouring through a park and over a sidewalk just to keep things interesting. </p><p>On this ride we usually stop at the Jacksonville Deli but I added a few extra miles so we could go to the Olde World Bakery which has a better bathroom and better food. It was still relativity sunny and ridiculously hot at the bakery. We stood around in the shade but I still felt over heated. </p><p>I was still feeling okay as we rode bake towards Bordentown at a brisk pace. The group started stretching out as we moved along. We would stopped and regroup a couple of time at major intersections but most of the faster people were racing for home and I was starting to fade by mile 45. I had nothing left for the last few small hills on the way back. I wasn't cramping which I was amazed at given the heat and humidity but knew I would if I pushed it too hard. </p><p>I was definitely dehydrated at the end of the ride. It wasn't that I did drink enough it's just that my body can not replace the water and electrolytes as fast as I was losing it. Still when I look at my average speed I came in at 15.7mph which is the fastest I have even done this ride. So I'm not getting slower I'm just riding with faster people who make me feel slow. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-42216440896226683042023-07-09T08:41:00.000-04:002023-07-09T08:41:28.035-04:00It's Always Cloudy in Round Valley<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinalOhLsLR6qszx-kjDWGOF-N4mbgheWuIa9-cKTshGYLx-RML6RRTqzaYp5z7V4Gdu5XQ8Gn1P25ZcjYQHmFDHTwkTTLDdSuV9ZiveZ1Kd2qt7kA22I15YWFgPzOYXQV0AfCQJzIN1qg90SPMAMW-6AgNYNVURUpAH2-G4YXLjeWVKzZmiYbEkaHEghc/s3882/RoundValley.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="3882" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinalOhLsLR6qszx-kjDWGOF-N4mbgheWuIa9-cKTshGYLx-RML6RRTqzaYp5z7V4Gdu5XQ8Gn1P25ZcjYQHmFDHTwkTTLDdSuV9ZiveZ1Kd2qt7kA22I15YWFgPzOYXQV0AfCQJzIN1qg90SPMAMW-6AgNYNVURUpAH2-G4YXLjeWVKzZmiYbEkaHEghc/w400-h208/RoundValley.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I haven't done a ride to<a href="http://frisket.blogspot.com/2020/06/vacation-days.html"> Round Valley since 2020.</a> When I did that ride we discovered that they had closed the road around the reservoir to work on one of the dikes that hold back the dam. I have not been back since. I was planning on going there next weekend but Laura scheduled a ride for this Saturday so I signed up for her ride to see what has changed. <p></p><p>The good news is that the road around the reservoir is open again. However like almost every time I do this ride it was a cloudy crappy day. This time with the addition of heat and extreme humidity. Laura schedule the ride to start at 8:30am to try avoid some of the heat but we didn't get going until 9am because she had a flat on her car. Luckily she was able to get a ride from another rider to the start of the ride. </p><p>I was sweating just sitting waiting for the ride to start. I was well hydrated before the ride but was still worried I would cramp with the hot and humid weather we had especially since it was already 80 degrees and close to 100% humidity. <br /></p><p>I was glad that once we started that the pace was reasonable as I didn't want to have to push myself to keep up. The first part of<a href="https://ridewithgps.com/trips/127314813"> the route </a>has just a few rolling hills and in general I felt pretty strong today although I knew we have a couple of long climbs ahead.</p><p>Around mile 10 Laura had another flat this time on her bike. I waited with a few others in the shade while it was fixed. I asked once we got started again if they found what caused the flat and they said they couldn't find anything. When I get a flat it always makes me a little anxious when I can't find the cause because I am worried I will get another flat.</p><p>We made our way to Stanton and started the trek along Stanton Road which brings us up to the reservoir. This is a 7 mile stretch that has a few rolling hills before the long climb to the reservoir. I fell back behind the group on the first roller when they stopped to regroup I kept going wanted to get ahead a little so I won't slow down the pace that much. </p><p>The traffic on Stanton Road was light. There are about 5 miles of rollers with some good downhills before the main climb. I spend this time like I do everytime looking around each corner asking myself when will the big climb start. I was surprised that the group had not caught up to me before the climb. </p><p>The long climb up to the reservoir is really three small climbs. Someone years ago named each part by painting words on the shoulder of the road. The first one which is the steepest and longest is called Papa bear. The next two are called Mama bear and finally Baby bear. I didn't see the name on the road this time for Papa bear but I saw the wall of the dam on the right that marks the start of the climb so as soon as I started up Papa bear I switched to Granny gear. </p><p>The actual climb isn't super steep or that hard if you are in shape. I really didn't need to be in the granny gear but took it easy and spun up just to conserve my energy and try to reduce my chance of cramping. Once over the top I glided down to the parking lot by the entrance of the reservoir for a view. As you can see by the picture at the top is was cloudy. I'm sure Round is very scenic on a bright sunny day but as much as I have been here I have no visual evidence to back that up.</p><p>I waited in the parking lot for the group to catch up but after 10 mins they were no where in sight still. When they finally showed up about 5 mins later they said that Laura had another flat so for those of you keeping score Tires 3 Laura 0. It turned out there was a small nail or radial thread in the tire that they missed before that caused the flat. This time they found the cause and there were no more flats the rest of the ride. </p><p>The road around the reservoir looks the same as before and there was not much evidence of any construction or they work that kept the road closed for over two years. </p><p>We made our way to the usual stop in Whitehouse Station. Although it was mostly cloudy the sun still peaked out and made if feel really oppressive. I was glad when we started again as the wind provided some relief. The way back from our rest stop does have a few rolling hills but no real climbs. I faded a little on some of the rollers but was able to keep up with the group. When ever I go on a hilly ride with this group I always feel a little pace anxiety. I don't want to be the one holding the group back. I am a little slower than I use to be going up hills but also some of the slower people I use to ride with don't come on these rides so the pace is just a little faster. When I start fading on the climbs I feel like an antelope that can't keep up with the herd and is about to be culled by a predator. </p><p>Laura doesn't leave anyone behind so the group stopped at major turns to regroup. The way to Neshanic was mostly flat so it was easy to keep up. There was just a couple small climbs on the way back but we all pulled about the same time and even though this was a hot day and more the the 45 miles I like to do for hilly rides I didn't cramp(although I was close to having one). </p><p>I ended up coming in at 14mph which is around my normal average for this ride which was good for such a hot day. <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-84432632156999530762023-06-25T15:39:00.003-04:002023-06-25T15:39:51.701-04:00Who'll Stop the Rain?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPkgxirsmNEfAnvpLDd3gsNFYRnMDwW71nq613xXRuAMWlVpgfgvHXuYDrTufA_XNeyF1CDC6NJWhCAn_gAMuggQlRPqWheZ7U1Np8qv8jhYyMvDsPUUP2wFd4MyJprJ7xMLNxoSIE0PMzmRk8y_UN2hu-iFfSwVK7e3gRhLjsdDGEnwsybfp39J4_S8/s4984/RainPic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3664" data-original-width="4984" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPkgxirsmNEfAnvpLDd3gsNFYRnMDwW71nq613xXRuAMWlVpgfgvHXuYDrTufA_XNeyF1CDC6NJWhCAn_gAMuggQlRPqWheZ7U1Np8qv8jhYyMvDsPUUP2wFd4MyJprJ7xMLNxoSIE0PMzmRk8y_UN2hu-iFfSwVK7e3gRhLjsdDGEnwsybfp39J4_S8/w400-h294/RainPic1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>It's always disappointing to look at the weather and see rain in the forecast on the weekend. Weekends and especially Saturdays are when I do my big ride of the week. I don't mind missing a few days of riding because of rain but it seems like we have had a lot of weekends with rain even though the rain totals are low this year. </p><p>Saturday was the predicted total wash out as there were on and off heavy rain all day. This is why this past Wednesday I did a <a href="https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43190203">hilly ride with some of the retired folks</a> which was longer than my usual Wednesday rides. </p><p>I spent Saturday taking care of a few chores and taking a few experimental rain pictures. I found out that you can get some cool mirror affects if you focus closely on rain drops on a window. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNO-R49J2J3j2RQtUbjnTSKnBqUbBvaOIspBEeKkQLwUvfM7oKQxC7IbnxEWi3lUVM35YmQ2VbndrxQIgHDQ5uMXn1iEunPlToNJKU4NPJbYYSQzvtvXBM20QeOxfhCwowXVfoQg54H8Jr9GiCuKcOq4H6n_ugVQWzWKur0NT8uocgpvvThyfe6TBpN4/s3312/RainPic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2666" data-original-width="3312" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNO-R49J2J3j2RQtUbjnTSKnBqUbBvaOIspBEeKkQLwUvfM7oKQxC7IbnxEWi3lUVM35YmQ2VbndrxQIgHDQ5uMXn1iEunPlToNJKU4NPJbYYSQzvtvXBM20QeOxfhCwowXVfoQg54H8Jr9GiCuKcOq4H6n_ugVQWzWKur0NT8uocgpvvThyfe6TBpN4/w400-h323/RainPic2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>If you click on the above picture to enlarge it you will see the chair and some flowers being reflected in the raindrops. I think with a little more practice I can make this even better.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Rk_xGKsG43m80oaZRk0qUQxhx9vftF7yiXgwnebKHDqFpXvI4EayCwh6LlMalwiqBxOWPNywjRCORty3kaIyMP47gnVrx-6VF9gS4XKqEiDEpMZTx-OXCJXLMHVTmFVK-opqN1xF-AHaNFHz1jeyzNUezWut2c8wGkfQOd4SKKyMNs__xPvF0MzzN8E/s1359/RainPic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="1359" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Rk_xGKsG43m80oaZRk0qUQxhx9vftF7yiXgwnebKHDqFpXvI4EayCwh6LlMalwiqBxOWPNywjRCORty3kaIyMP47gnVrx-6VF9gS4XKqEiDEpMZTx-OXCJXLMHVTmFVK-opqN1xF-AHaNFHz1jeyzNUezWut2c8wGkfQOd4SKKyMNs__xPvF0MzzN8E/w400-h349/RainPic3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>In between the rain I took a picture of a few flowers in bloom on the patio to see how the rain looked on them. Cloudy light is the best light to get pictures of flowers. I got a decent shot of a red dahlia.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjP9BFVCMNL8ACyFqrnj9gTumFVwm5jbKtEPGDJtzTyVT34cRn7ZgeNBUuvMbC2dwqzQiQYRDUg6G_g6AiRW3_QAekJDOQKMCgauliC9ZGoHqZVdjnzT4NPUcmVD7xVdJWelHsXXJzpxU_DsfZsqfyhktNTyaV8KM8YPwISmEPIq-V6JRbq1niWF17Cyw/s4070/RedFlower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3594" data-original-width="4070" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjP9BFVCMNL8ACyFqrnj9gTumFVwm5jbKtEPGDJtzTyVT34cRn7ZgeNBUuvMbC2dwqzQiQYRDUg6G_g6AiRW3_QAekJDOQKMCgauliC9ZGoHqZVdjnzT4NPUcmVD7xVdJWelHsXXJzpxU_DsfZsqfyhktNTyaV8KM8YPwISmEPIq-V6JRbq1niWF17Cyw/w400-h354/RedFlower.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p>Luckily on Sunday there was a few hours of sunshine in the morning. As soon as I saw the sun as I woke up I got on my bike cloths and headed out. I was on the road by 7:30am and did a quick 30 mile ride. I was back home by 9:30am. This had to be the earliest I have gotten out for a ride in a long time. It was weird to be back so early but the forecast called for popup showers later in the morning and by 11:15am some light rain started followed by some large thunderstorm. </p><p>The forecast for the next week doesn't look great. I expect there will be <span>clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground as the song suggests. I just hope there will be some moments of clearing so I can get some riding in. </span><br /><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-8292974787680394692023-06-11T19:54:00.001-04:002023-06-11T19:54:56.188-04:00Air Quality<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjZOcsTons40tzeqMruT77AXeL_JmDrpUoUad9J9KZiVRivTRIk6igprGcYHXQI1d3a5_MPDjs9Hv49oV-N5Q_ymrrAQhmU829_2boT-mtk6Ypk3q2_e_Fd088meAgbi5lz3wKjOtHhmD2aUak0AeTZP12H2P29FDIIlzQeztC-dbxPxvFBmMIdfe/s3944/Smoke.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3944" data-original-width="3856" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjZOcsTons40tzeqMruT77AXeL_JmDrpUoUad9J9KZiVRivTRIk6igprGcYHXQI1d3a5_MPDjs9Hv49oV-N5Q_ymrrAQhmU829_2boT-mtk6Ypk3q2_e_Fd088meAgbi5lz3wKjOtHhmD2aUak0AeTZP12H2P29FDIIlzQeztC-dbxPxvFBmMIdfe/w391-h400/Smoke.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><p></p><p>I always check the weather before I ride. I like to know if I have a chance of getting rained on. Even when it is clear I like to know which way and how strong the wind will be blowing so I can adjust my route accordingly. This pass week I had to add another weather check in to my pre ride routine. That is to check the<a href="http://airnow.gov"> airnow.gov</a> site for air quality. That is because the smoke from the Canadian fires got funneled down to NJ and most of the mid east states by a low sitting up in New England. Most of the time when smoke from wild fire drifts over us it is usually higher in the atmosphere and doesn't affect air quality that much. This time it made it unhealthy. It gave the sky that post apocalypse feel. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNLg51aBkhXSTLfGKnWHYsKeEPfjVX4b4z3IS09j8Rpci8bnbC4G1qNSBRVr8rS1grmA-Xok9sZXA_vLvBF5HXhJi6N6xameMNUgv6YM_yysoUVAlhnpXx-g8VmXuq8Ejs0yW-mOfA2xOYUbtnAozaI0Ra_EwDkqZA-uWphBXH5ir0moypLWNYwAj/s696/SmokeSun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="656" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNLg51aBkhXSTLfGKnWHYsKeEPfjVX4b4z3IS09j8Rpci8bnbC4G1qNSBRVr8rS1grmA-Xok9sZXA_vLvBF5HXhJi6N6xameMNUgv6YM_yysoUVAlhnpXx-g8VmXuq8Ejs0yW-mOfA2xOYUbtnAozaI0Ra_EwDkqZA-uWphBXH5ir0moypLWNYwAj/w378-h400/SmokeSun.jpg" width="378" /></a></div><p>Not only did you smell the smoke but the sky was gray and you couldn't even see the clouds above. The sun barely shown through the smoke. I took a picture of the sun with my camera and didn't get the usual glare because of all the smoke in the atmosphere. In fact the picture looked like a picture that I take when I have use my solar filter which blocks 99.9% of the suns light. You can easily see the sunspots. This just shows you how much crap was in the air blocking the light. </p><p>I had initially planned to do a ride on Wednesday but after Jim alerted me to the smoke forecast I checked the air quality and canceled the ride. I did actually have to spend a couple of hours outside on Wednesday. My wife volunteers at a rescue farm and feeds the animals once a week. She needed my help Wednesday afternoon for someone who had canceled. The smoke was really heavy in the afternoon we went so I wore a mask while we fed the animals. The farm has a cow </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGf8nVpxyHeMr0j7Lcm1w8-NAINjeD_leQ97gyi68BEGdfkYNIhr67Nv2yGROllEX88kooTiScmat2MGJtI11DcaWwCryYlg9ELedXM75MqyVNz8QzZClEBOH8fqahRfcfVaNtI2WTeIy9WZugig-sxjlAnjF_DHYkfmA7uKjv3kgTn35ns4OHBkE/s3839/IMG_5359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3839" data-original-width="3613" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGf8nVpxyHeMr0j7Lcm1w8-NAINjeD_leQ97gyi68BEGdfkYNIhr67Nv2yGROllEX88kooTiScmat2MGJtI11DcaWwCryYlg9ELedXM75MqyVNz8QzZClEBOH8fqahRfcfVaNtI2WTeIy9WZugig-sxjlAnjF_DHYkfmA7uKjv3kgTn35ns4OHBkE/w376-h400/IMG_5359.JPG" width="376" /></a> <br /></div><p></p><p>a few horses</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSpuvKdMXOz2q8mtlY4d5jexrCxe9SAOoNI5C1tbOs5G8bSwOyj0E6sy4X1AaMibEslztMOhHWdeC2-IaRBqmIoyWzr5hUp-vjwfLSbus0cAogQNPxLua4ib2XElviqmM-WgDu-2W4MqGs7xU-Gfhl9Gnut5ugF7ENsMB53q2r6hWcRxKAcdA0ag_/s5184/IMG_5365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5184" data-original-width="3888" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSpuvKdMXOz2q8mtlY4d5jexrCxe9SAOoNI5C1tbOs5G8bSwOyj0E6sy4X1AaMibEslztMOhHWdeC2-IaRBqmIoyWzr5hUp-vjwfLSbus0cAogQNPxLua4ib2XElviqmM-WgDu-2W4MqGs7xU-Gfhl9Gnut5ugF7ENsMB53q2r6hWcRxKAcdA0ag_/w300-h400/IMG_5365.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p>some pigs, a bunch of goats.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQ4vUN9lan0RZYfPeyYozIgZbweprETetOOboBE4AkSMCu395M3XDiwxbMDgCAooIgEGUlU40fg_2gpgLqzpp39Sd7p3CpI8c5cBkffeuDLMGTKFnbZnxXB0K62wt8vrgrzudTSdgIcIIvVgVjAWv54tOa9KZ1VS5He0QxUVZusZ9cWhHa4fI8-J0/s5184/IMG_5370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQ4vUN9lan0RZYfPeyYozIgZbweprETetOOboBE4AkSMCu395M3XDiwxbMDgCAooIgEGUlU40fg_2gpgLqzpp39Sd7p3CpI8c5cBkffeuDLMGTKFnbZnxXB0K62wt8vrgrzudTSdgIcIIvVgVjAWv54tOa9KZ1VS5He0QxUVZusZ9cWhHa4fI8-J0/w400-h300/IMG_5370.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>and some cats in the barn.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaG3Gc54QHoV24YL3xnKMmHMktD7UeUobCwh71h1vG4UUZj4RTpIW5w0k37IsZ91_q52UyTDy4eB3A6rWZ9g9f01Zx0jJ1ehwSbPeoj0vB-5rBgMojrSm1pMVcwFEVIXV2qpp244JzXyvO_39N8XAZCw-zwqmjwE56kwiSU7sYVum4wfaq2jgh1_Hn/s5184/IMG_5353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaG3Gc54QHoV24YL3xnKMmHMktD7UeUobCwh71h1vG4UUZj4RTpIW5w0k37IsZ91_q52UyTDy4eB3A6rWZ9g9f01Zx0jJ1ehwSbPeoj0vB-5rBgMojrSm1pMVcwFEVIXV2qpp244JzXyvO_39N8XAZCw-zwqmjwE56kwiSU7sYVum4wfaq2jgh1_Hn/w400-h300/IMG_5353.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>Feeding the animals is a lot of fun especially the goats. These pictures are from Monday morning when we went to fill in for another person who couldn't do their schedule feeding. On Wednesday we didn't spend as much time with them as Monday as we wanted to minimize our time outside. I felt bad for the animals who had to deal with the smokey air for a couple of days.</p><p>Luckily by Saturday the smoke had cleared and I was able to get out and lead a ride. We haven't had a lot of rain this year so the risk of fire is high. We had a fire near where I live earlier in the week which took a couple of days to burn out. There are also a couple of fires burning down in the pinelands so until we get some major drenching rain we will have to keep an eye on the air quality before deciding if it is safe to ride. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4544404487354440875.post-12991225762636281282023-05-24T16:54:00.001-04:002023-05-24T16:54:22.730-04:00My Artistic Side<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaILlVMida-C41PMYu_EpYpTGebAemxBx2uNXv47JnxB8XifDKncqHleDHW0DaBkkKGNYuSWnk8AtjSNFDhkXweMdX0arr1G59_jZ437a2he2HVYYED_JtBXMuIyqu9W7n98g5QIbUFEaxAfwU03Dqzl5sOOjclDoc4A-UMw28MQUyVmEigMZFdGY/s1980/NewCamera.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1980" data-original-width="1697" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaILlVMida-C41PMYu_EpYpTGebAemxBx2uNXv47JnxB8XifDKncqHleDHW0DaBkkKGNYuSWnk8AtjSNFDhkXweMdX0arr1G59_jZ437a2he2HVYYED_JtBXMuIyqu9W7n98g5QIbUFEaxAfwU03Dqzl5sOOjclDoc4A-UMw28MQUyVmEigMZFdGY/w343-h400/NewCamera.jpg" width="343" /></a></div><p></p><p>Those of you that know me know that I am a very analytical person. As a software developer I have to have a good knowledge of the technology I use and be able to make logical decisions on how best to solve any problem or create any type of software. There are rules and patterns that I have to understand and apply so I have to stay within certain guidelines. This doesn't mean there isn't some creativity to what I do for a living as there are multiple ways to solve a particular problem or manage the team to get the required results.</p><p>Even in what I do in my photography is more technical than art as it is more about <a href="http://frisket.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-sun-and-moon.html">capturing some astronomical event</a> than creating something artistic. However as part of the last lunar eclipse that I took photographs of I managed a few<a href="http://frisket.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-sun-and-moon.html"> good sunrise pictures</a>. They were good but did not represent what I really saw or even felt. That lead me to join the photography club in our community to help me become better. Most of the people in the club are really good photographers and a few are even good enough to be professionals. I have learned a lot from them and picked up a few techniques I can use to take a better pictures. </p><p>However the main thing I learned about photography from the people in the club it that photography is more than taking at good picture. It is about telling a story, exposing some interesting feature of nature or life. The composition of the shot and making sure it has a clear subject that inspires some reaction is more important than any technical aspect of a photo. There is a lot more creativity and art require to take a good photograph so that is something I have to work on. <br /></p><p>In March I decided to upgrade my camera to a DSLR. It's a entry level mirrorless camera from Canon. It's the <a href="https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/eos-r10-rf-s18-150mm-f3-5-6-3-is-stm-lens-kit?color=Black&type=New&gclid=CjwKCAjw67ajBhAVEiwA2g_jENhSFiPR6gPrcfO1O1BM8AAtF21_Nluw5DNI8ivmwlFJp6dXhr6ZsxoCCwoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds">EOS R10</a>. The main different from my old Canon Powershot 740 is a real sensor and an interchangeable lens. Even though my Powershot 740 had a couple of different manual modes it still had some limitations especially for depth of field and focus. With the R10 I have a lot more control and flexibility on how to frame and capture what I see. For example I can finally do some macro photography and capture the details of a flower and blur the background.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejaR6xigc44yr_P6gCJ_FG5-Rukvj9BKXfbvLMQ0piKRyFVV7zcTdTzF9IwrLnbCUxyTanq4w01Zf7aKfEw4Dfd1SD9i6nS38IV9iWjCrBuoFETpnMOGxBb_Oo28H5O1t-PPw4aI1zCxoFhDLEIxCqAvs0o4xMm2P3PnuJMyQpHlpUH8IpBuJ7__0/s5228/Flower4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3512" data-original-width="5228" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejaR6xigc44yr_P6gCJ_FG5-Rukvj9BKXfbvLMQ0piKRyFVV7zcTdTzF9IwrLnbCUxyTanq4w01Zf7aKfEw4Dfd1SD9i6nS38IV9iWjCrBuoFETpnMOGxBb_Oo28H5O1t-PPw4aI1zCxoFhDLEIxCqAvs0o4xMm2P3PnuJMyQpHlpUH8IpBuJ7__0/w400-h269/Flower4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Here is another example. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwAOOKZX4SGmYq9bcDedR9b_qUh4GpaS_kHE75JcNVx_0mnpgk1qEdmsbWSCTUl-MyX3oGcmBLtseefxyCRg4LkXBDpZkWV3s8h9MUnrVdq6BORuLG3LFA9zKHMWbmOIGv3oO-KSnl5l07ZACLtjMH39H7DQ8jghUmHEb8Uhdn6WCbQ1ly0bzGFUT/s4121/Flower5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3750" data-original-width="4121" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwAOOKZX4SGmYq9bcDedR9b_qUh4GpaS_kHE75JcNVx_0mnpgk1qEdmsbWSCTUl-MyX3oGcmBLtseefxyCRg4LkXBDpZkWV3s8h9MUnrVdq6BORuLG3LFA9zKHMWbmOIGv3oO-KSnl5l07ZACLtjMH39H7DQ8jghUmHEb8Uhdn6WCbQ1ly0bzGFUT/w400-h364/Flower5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I still have a lot to learn both technically and artistically but the more pictures I take and the more I talk with the people in the photo club the more confidence that I get that I can get a lot better and produce some spectacular photos like they do.</p><p>Once a year in the community I live in there is a photography and art show. There are some really good artists here. I mean painters, sculptors, and photographers. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tGx9jbrlcBOmdhXeYPnuHPvtajqx_YJ7BkgfwBMTuhHBnl7X1yDfwt9UIGh3zg563qicEF_u9NKwTmz3kwkNGKfns0k2EI3O9nRGtBZ0ydMNPd-H-wSVOYDKluxoIJHo0FTpMJlu_9uNwwdHgweWPqiuAmYe_-UJLL1tP5sw54GaYB81TMzeh-hQ/s5176/PhotoShow2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3400" data-original-width="5176" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tGx9jbrlcBOmdhXeYPnuHPvtajqx_YJ7BkgfwBMTuhHBnl7X1yDfwt9UIGh3zg563qicEF_u9NKwTmz3kwkNGKfns0k2EI3O9nRGtBZ0ydMNPd-H-wSVOYDKluxoIJHo0FTpMJlu_9uNwwdHgweWPqiuAmYe_-UJLL1tP5sw54GaYB81TMzeh-hQ/w400-h263/PhotoShow2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>There is even a guy who does some amazing carvings. Theses are shoes carved and painted from a single block of wood. Only the shoe laces are real.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtToCwwplpPy-mF6xy7T59--14IAquSR-4LBS0jCnyLUs4VkzrQC_5coYMdSxkLRXzZTHxqZqFjXk_SpCQJlkam8M2pnpU9XwU245CQpWt13L2bIblb5nLioQGkg1bXcSuokSO3saP503j84imI7FqRR7ibwFsOLuqbA79iPmjll6ec9H3BUKhmynO/s3338/Photoshow3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3311" data-original-width="3338" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtToCwwplpPy-mF6xy7T59--14IAquSR-4LBS0jCnyLUs4VkzrQC_5coYMdSxkLRXzZTHxqZqFjXk_SpCQJlkam8M2pnpU9XwU245CQpWt13L2bIblb5nLioQGkg1bXcSuokSO3saP503j84imI7FqRR7ibwFsOLuqbA79iPmjll6ec9H3BUKhmynO/w400-h396/Photoshow3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>It definitely takes a lot of patiences. </p><p>There were over 60 photos submitted by people in the photography club. There was a good range of landscape, portrait and macro shots.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoAjfvTJrJbAx2p9MD649znbDN6Vf7EQriySKWAaC2p3mOZoSM2Z4eppiX58n_At_Gf2r1CMYp4Vr46MxEcXxJoVUOKGWvULrTsTdR5zs1fMIVoTkVi9AApW8VXS-6ilidblisvDqllaPsYoPBb31KvYftEGsgkWMeyUEzq_mjIcdxjFMIOvVz48d/s4439/PhotoShow1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2787" data-original-width="4439" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoAjfvTJrJbAx2p9MD649znbDN6Vf7EQriySKWAaC2p3mOZoSM2Z4eppiX58n_At_Gf2r1CMYp4Vr46MxEcXxJoVUOKGWvULrTsTdR5zs1fMIVoTkVi9AApW8VXS-6ilidblisvDqllaPsYoPBb31KvYftEGsgkWMeyUEzq_mjIcdxjFMIOvVz48d/w400-h251/PhotoShow1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I originally wasn't going to add any of my photos to the show as I didn't think any of my were good enough but the president of the club had seen some of my photos and encouraged me to submit a couple.</p><p>The first one was a picture of a Flamingo that I took on my phone and through some photo shop work it turned in a pretty good picture.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebaSswK3MMtVmfY-Jk2tU1gHG0M-pvew8bQ_kYqi1uNnLtd7M2RWLRHQj-WUSTssNtFsRMXpcec_Dg0kM-bPtMbh2TMCBh6VcNlxQIVvU3z9rZf9V1BUlEFcbR1SaH7a008n8ht1C4maaUudcd3w1ENw4eoso4H-zTwfcNdRRT0g2Uevz-PWBI-oF/s6000/Flamingo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6000" data-original-width="4800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebaSswK3MMtVmfY-Jk2tU1gHG0M-pvew8bQ_kYqi1uNnLtd7M2RWLRHQj-WUSTssNtFsRMXpcec_Dg0kM-bPtMbh2TMCBh6VcNlxQIVvU3z9rZf9V1BUlEFcbR1SaH7a008n8ht1C4maaUudcd3w1ENw4eoso4H-zTwfcNdRRT0g2Uevz-PWBI-oF/w320-h400/Flamingo.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The other was a sunrise picture I took in Manasquan in November. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSH-v8vrTDYzA4fj0DHZHtMfDJ_ONFZxNzbhUXZmN49qXOVJEp_5Tch1SsVV3zHY6lFaYDrUailZ_smokiJHkrMGCQ1gdb0zR_laTb81GQUWtXBNDuBib2wy7Jtg9YbUMR1_j_s89zNVaUPlIedqhLF-muc8CZi84U7CxQkj-t6fIQSiIWosVv_y4n/s5665/SunriseShow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3966" data-original-width="5665" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSH-v8vrTDYzA4fj0DHZHtMfDJ_ONFZxNzbhUXZmN49qXOVJEp_5Tch1SsVV3zHY6lFaYDrUailZ_smokiJHkrMGCQ1gdb0zR_laTb81GQUWtXBNDuBib2wy7Jtg9YbUMR1_j_s89zNVaUPlIedqhLF-muc8CZi84U7CxQkj-t6fIQSiIWosVv_y4n/s320/SunriseShow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When these were printed out and framed they actually looked better than expected. I got a lot of good comments at the show even from some of the other photographers. These are good photos but I know I can do a lot better. It was good talking to the other photographers and artists at the show and I now how some ideas of how I can improve my photography. I don't know how good I can get but I am enjoying it and gives me an excuse to explore something more artistic.<br /></div><p> <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0