Fine Woodworking

 

Because it is harder to bike during the winter I usually have some projects to keep me busy. I did list a ride for this past Saturday out of Etra. It was almost 50 degrees but the wind made it a little unpleasant. You have to suffer a little if you want to ride in the winter. 

Last weekend I attempted to summit Forked River Mountain. Yes there is a mountain in Forked River. It's more a mound of about 180 ft but it does provide a view of the surrounding pine lands and the ocean. However the fire road I tried to take on my mountain bike was too flooded. This was unexpected as its all very sandy soil and one of the higher points in the area. 

In my down time one of the things I like to do is a little wood working. In my old house I had a small workshop and enjoyed building some furniture. I like it the hands on nature of it and creating something original. None of the things I make could be considered works of art like the pieces the master wood workers make at Winterthur but they are nice enough and fit the space they are made for. 

The picture at the top of the post is a new clock I made for my office. I made it from some maple and African rosewood. I also used some epoxy resin to put a blue stripe down the middle and also for the final finish. I have been wanted to experiment with epoxy for a while and so this project gave me a chance to try it out. Epoxy finish takes a lot of prep work and is a bit expensive but I like the results so may try it again on some other project. 

 In my new place my work shop is in my garage so I don't have the room I use to. Because of this I got rid of some of the tools I use to have including my table saw. What I learned though from this project is that I can do a lot of what I use to with a good miter saw and router jig. 

On of my other projects was redesigning a bookshelf to better fit into my new office. I had a large bookshelf I made for my old office in my old house which fit perfect in the space. 

My old office was in a 12' X 15' room and the shelf and recliner fit on one wall. My new office is only 12' X 12' and although I was able to fit the bookshelf and recliner in the room it was a little crowded. I also don't need that much room for books anymore since almost all the ones I buy now are electronic. Because if this I decided to take the middle out and just use to curved ends to create a display shelf for the wall in my office between the door and the closet. 

It now fits the room a lot better. 

I do enjoy being able to work with my hands and create some furniture and other things from wood. I recently acquired some live edge walnut. I'm not 100% sure what I will make with it but wood like this is hard to come by so I'm sure I will find some good uses for it.

 

Hiking Instead Biking

It's harder in the winter months to get out on the bike because of the colder weather and the possibilities of ice and snow. That is why I will sometimes choose to do a hike instead of taking out the bike. This winter I will probably do a little more hiking than previous years. This is because one of the people that we have become friends with in our community has a monthly hike and also because there are some good close places to hike where I live now.

Turkey Swamp and Manasquan Reservoir are a quick 10min drive away and during the winter I can hike the local golf course. Before I moved I didn't really walk around the neighborhood a lot but because where I live now is quieter I usually walk a couple time a week. I don't plan to reduce my biking but just want to supplement it with some other exercise. I'm finding that I enjoy a walk after work to help me unwind from a hectic day.

So far this winter I have hiked Turkey Swamp and Brendan Byrne state park. The hike through Brendan Byrne was over 10 miles and the longest hike I have done in a long time. I was stiff at the end but didn't have any blisters or other problems that would prevent me from doing this long a hike again. After the hike one of the people that was with us wanted to stop at the high point of Ocean county as it was on our way home even though it required about half a mile hike to get to. Apparently these people like to visit high points as one of their last hikes hit the high point of Morris county. I guess whether you hike or bike high pointing is a thing you do. 

This past Saturday was going to be cold and windy so I decided to invite the posse over to hike the golf course instead of a bike ride. It is usually hard to get the entire posse to attend any event but I guess I picked a good day because most of them and their spouses took me up on the offer. 

We did this hike around all 18 holes of the golf course. According to my GPS it was 4.4 miles but I've done this hike a few other times where it said it was 5.1 miles so I think the GPS shut off for part of the hike it set for bike mode. During the hike I felt a little like a real estate agent as I was explaining the different type of houses and explaining why this is a good place to live. We also when through the club house a couple of times and I showed them all the amenities we have here. 

It was a good hike as much for the exercise as it was just hanging out and talking to everyone especially some of the spouses who I don't see that often. After the hike we had some snacks and pizza out my house. Usually after a bike ride we all go our separate ways so it was good to have some social time the group. I don't plan to become an avid hiker but it is a good change of pace during the winter months.

Working Four Days a Week

 

I don't make New Year's resolutions. If I want to improve or change something in my life I don't wait for the new year and make some public declaration. I just do it. There are always ways to make life better. This year I decided to cut back my hours at work. I'm not ready to retire but would like more time to relax and enjoy my hobbies. 

It's going to be nice to have the extra day off. It will allow me to get more riding in and let me spend more time outdoors. Most people working four days either take Monday or Friday off but I decided to take Wednesday's off. This way I work two days get a day off and then work two days and get the weekend off. 

During the Christmas break I had the week off. It was a little cold at the start of the week so I did a hike on Monday, the LHT on Wednesday with the pose and another ride on Friday with the pose out of MCP. It was a good break after a long year. 

This Wednesday it felt a little weird going out for a ride instead being at work but it was 60 degrees so I'm glad I had the day off. Its going to be a little bit of adjustment getting use to the mid week break but I think it is a good way to kept a steady income while improving my work life balance.

My Christmas Card

I don't send out Christmas Cards but if I did I would send out one with this picture. I was off this past Tuesday and it was too cold to be on the road so I road the path from Allaire down to the beach in Manasquan. It's my go to ride when I just want quick a 15-20 mile ride in cold weather. The best part of the ride is riding the paved path along the beach as there is always something to see. This time I saw a Christmas tree in the sand on the beach. According to the locals Santa comes during the week before Christmas and puts the tree up then all the local add decorations to it and painted sea shell underneath it. 

When my wife goes to the beach she takes a picture of her bare feet looking out over the sand towards the water and then sends it to her friends to let them know she is on the beach. So when I saw the Christmas tree on the beach I knew I wanted to take a similar picture and send it to her. 

Of course it was 30 degrees so my feet are covered by my booties but you get the general idea. Sitting on the beach when its 30 degrees looking at a Christmas tree is wrong in a lot of ways which is what makes it a good picture. 

I hope to get a couple of more rides before the end of the year as I'm off of work. And if I'm lucky hopefully see some more interesting sights. This will be my last post before Christmas so I wanted to wish everybody a happy holiday season and hope to see you on you on a ride soon. 

New Paths

Since my move last year I have been looking at all the possible places to ride in my area. I already knew most of the roads in the area but have not explored all the possible rail trails and parks. This past Wednesday since I was off from work and it was a little too cold to ride on the road I decided to check out the Barnegat Branch Trail. This is a rail trail along one of the old Central Jersey Railroad lines that was abandon a long time ago and was finally converted to a trail.

This current top of the trail is just over 25 mins from my house. This trail will eventually be 15 miles in total but only 11 miles have been completed. The last part from Tom's River toBayville t has yet to be completed. I let a few of the posse know that I was doing this trail. I didn't think anyone would join me as they all live at 30-40mins west of me but Jim decided to take the trek. It was good to have him along. 

The trail itself has a very well packed crushed stone service and was easy to ride. There are some parks and river crossings along the way that are somewhat scenic but there isn't really a lot to see along the way as you are just riding through the woods and fields next to Rt 9. We did manage to cross both forks of  Forked River though.

When we got to the southern end of the trail instead of turning around we headed east to Barnegat Bay to take a look at the shore. At this time of year there isn't a lot of people around so we road along the shore without having to deal with much traffic.

What we had to deal with was a strong north wind which slowed our progress back. We ended up riding on the roads for about 5 miles before getting back on the trail for the ride back. We rejoined the trail about 3 miles from the southern end and retraced our way back to the start stopping at a couple places to take pictures. 

We ended up with 25 miles by the time we got back. Even though the ride was very flat it felt like a hard ride. That was probably because of the wind and because its been a while since I have ridden my mountain bike which takes more effort to ride. 

There was nothing spectacular about the Barnegat Branch trail. I may do it again if I'm looking for some miles on a cold day but there are a few other place I want to check out first to see if I can find some other option to ride when I want to do some trail riding.

Winter is Coming

It's Thanksgiving and it is getting colder. I have already had to break out the cold weather gear for riding. We were lucky so far this fall with warmer than usual weather. A couple of Saturdays ago I actually was able to ride in short sleeves to the beach but last weekend I had to put most of my winter gear on to lead a ride out of Allentown where it barely touched 40 degrees by the end of the ride. Soon I'm sure there will be a few weekends ahead when I will have to take my mountain bike and ride on the paths instead of the road. Still as long as I can get some kind of ride in each weekend I will be happy.

 In the winter I do shorter rides but still try to keep them interesting. This Saturday I did my Trolley Line ride which is a stupid sort of ride as it uses a few trails and short cuts along the way that breaks up the ride and makes it a little different. One of the trails we use on the ride is the Trolley Line Trail. This trail is on bed of an electric trolley that use to connect Trenton with New Brunswick. Its a nice paved trail that is easy to ride and this time I actually didn't get lost in West Windsor Community Park. 

We struggled into the wind to the canal and looped around to Thomas Sweets for our break before making our way back. It was a good ride but we have entered the winter riding season where the weather will dictate when and how long a ride we can do. As always I will ride as much as I can during the winter as I would rather be a little cold outside than sit inside and be mad that I didn't get out for a ride.

I will use the cold weather of this winter to explore some new places. I have yet to try out all the roads and trails by where I live now. Last year I road the trail out of Allaire state park to Manasquan since it is a close ride along a path that I can get a good 20 miles in on my mountain bike. There are a few more like the Barnegat Branch Trail and Double Trouble that are close to me now and worth checking out. So even if the winter curtails my riding a bit I will still find ways to get out and have some fun.

The Sun and Moon

For those of you who normally read my blog you know that besides writing about my bike rides I also share some of my attempts at seeing some astronomical events. This past Tuesday morning was a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse started around 4am and would be visible until moonset at 6:41am. To try and get the best view of the eclipse I went to Manasquan by the canal which is on the bay side and had an unobstructed view of the western horizon which would give me a good chance of seeing the eclipse all the way until it set. 

I arrived at the canal at 3:30am (as eclipses seem happen in the middle of the night). When I got there I saw there were already a couple of SUVs there so I guess I wasn't the only one to think this was good spot to see the eclipse. As I set up my telescope I thought the people in the SUVs would come out but I noticed that I couldn't actually see anybody in either SUV even though one was running with its parking lights on which was strange but more on that later. 

After I had everything set up I took a few pictures of the full moon before the eclipse started. 

It was 50 degrees and windy so I hung out in my car between shots. I got out every 10 minutes to take pictures as the eclipse progressed. A few other people eventually showed up. Some just stopped to take a quick picture of the eclipse with their phone but there was one man who came by with a DLSR and telephoto lens. The two of us keep taking picture until the moon was fully eclipsed.

About 15mins before the full eclipse a man and woman got out of the back of the SUV that had been running since I got there. The woman was leaning into the back of the SUV tossing around some pillows and a blanket. The man said a few words to her then got in his SUV and left. Then a few minutes later the women left. Neither took a look at the eclipse. I'm not going to make any moral judgements on what they were doing in the back of the SUV but they probably should have picked a more remote spot.

Each lunar eclipse is different in color and intensity. This eclipse was the dimmest one I have seen. Even with a 15 second exposure it was hard to get a good picture of the red moon. I also had to resort to manual focus in order to get the camera to not blur the moon. The wind made the air very turbulent so these weren't the best condition for pictures.

The full eclipse started around 5:15am and was going to last to just about 6am. The moon got dimmer and was hard to see as twilight approached. By about 6:10am it was almost impossible to see even through the wide aperture of my telescope. 

With the eclipse over I packed up the telescope but kept the camera and tripod out. Sunrise was at 6:30am so while I was at the beach this early I might as well try to get some sunrise pictures. 

The sky was clear with just enough clouds to be under lite by the sun.

 

There was a trawler steaming towards the canal which produced a good silhouette.

And managed to be right next to the sun when it rose. It's almost like the trawler tried to catch the sun

When the sun came up it looked like a nuclear explosion 

This is because the water was warmer than the air and this causes a mirage like reflection off the water. 

So I did have to get up early and spend a few hours in the cold but I got some good sun and moon pictures to add to my collection. Also the next lunar eclipse won't be until March 2025 so I'm glad I got to see this one. 

This is the second time I got to the beach to take a picture of a sunrise and think I may do this more often as its different every time and although I got some good pictures I know I can do better.