June 2009

Starting from Mather Parkway, 62 miles, 5600 feet elevation gain, 4 hours, with Russ and Luc Andersen. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the visibility of the mountain was 100%. We couldn’t have picked a better day. It was the debut of my Steelman bicycle, and it was everything I expected; it was handled well, the gearing was superb, and the ride comfortable. The only problem that I had was a terrible seat. Fortunately, the seat was on trial, so I am trying out another seat for my next ride. We are getting ready for a one-day STP, and getting as much riding in as possible. Stay in touch.

I had no idea that this month would go so quickly. I’ve spent much of my time doing a number of things…

1. 1.Recovering from jetlag. I did not think that it would take about two weeks to return to reality. Every day after return from Bangladesh was like being a Zombie. My internal time-clock persistently woke me at 2 am, and I was ready to go to bed every day at noon. Pitiful.
2. 2.Learning French. I prefer to learn German. German is more fun to learn, and more useful. Except, when someone is going to Cameroon, which used to be a German colony, but taken over by the French. The area where we will be uses French as the immediate second language. So, I will re-learn French. I’m using French in Action, which is the best language study method that I’ve ever seen. You never are given English equivalents, but must always think in French. It is similar to how things were at the Goethe Institut learning German. I’m still trying to stay on top of my German, and you are all welcome to communicate with me in German whenever! Ich liebe Deutschland.
3. 3.Preparing for the STP in one day. This is a 203 mile (320 km) one day affair. I’ll be doing it with some friends from church, Russ and Luc Andersen. They happen to be a bit stronger bike riders than I am, but, I suspect that I shouldn’t have too much trouble getting in the mileage. I’ve already done one century this year, and am doing at least one 70-80 mile ride per week, riding at least 3x/week. I’m now registering only the more significant rides in my Bikeblog, and will eventually merge that with my Hike-Ski blog.
4. 4.Learning photoshop – reworking some instruction books to better master the art of connecting my camera to the computer to produce compelling prints.
5. 5.Installing a new computer. My Power Mac was 5 years old, not Intel, and getting a touch slow. It was at last time to upgrade. So, I now have a new Mac Pro.I suspect this one will also last about 5 years. The old computer will be put to work performing other tasks. When I was using PCs with Billy Gates’ Windows, I’d essentially trash the computer every 3 years. All in all, it was a savings to be on an Apple computer, as it is a little more expensive up front, but you don’t have the crashes and problems that a PC gives you, and upgrading tends to be less expensive as on a PC.
6. 6.Reading/ listening to music – I’m reading mostly larger texts, so, the book reports won’t be so plentiful. I’m re-working much of my old music, gaining a familiarity with more obscure pieces. iTunes lets me set to hear only “unheard” pieces, so that I am able to work through the entirety of my collection. I enjoy classical proper as well as twentieth century music, such as that of Korngold or Shostakovich or Goreki. There is too much good stuff to listen to. There are also too many good books that remain unread by me, and my library shelves sit full of books read or waiting to be read. “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” Eccl. 12:12.
7. 7.Ripping all of my movies. It’s easier and safer to use your movies from the computer than from the original disc. So, I am putting all the house movies onto several large hard drives. It doesn’t take up much personal time, as I can do other things on the computer while the computer rips a film.
8. 8.Preparing for Cameroon. This will be another adventure, and am spending time thinking about how to make things go well in Cameroon, and how we might be of the best help to the missionaries who we will be staying with. Cameroon and Bangladesh are not countries that are high on the tourist list, and unfortunately, too many people go expecting some sort of adventure. We are going to be servants. It’s the least thing we could do. With that attitude, we could not have had a better time in BD. Hopefully, Cameroon will be the same. If I wanted a vacation, I’d go to the Caribbean or to Deutschland.
9. 9.Backpacking? I hope. Jonny and I are signed up to do the Wonderland Trail counterclockwise starting 28 AUG. You’ll hear more about that once we are done. It is 93 miles, 20,000 feet elevation gain total, and usually takes 7-14 days. We will be doing it in 8 days. You have to schedule and reserve all of your campsites, so that you can’t just wander in and do the trail. It’s about 12-15 miles/day, which on this trail, can be rather demanding. You’ll get a full report in September.
10. 10. Family. We visited Rachel and Diane. Rachel is now engaged to be married. We are delighted. She has found a good man.
11. 11.Trails class – I did this one weekend, learning how to design, build, and maintain hiking trails. There is actually a science to this. Going to this class was an inexpensive luxury, that I could have never done outside of a Sabbatical.

 
While bicycle riding with the Andersens, it occurred to me that people do this activity as a fund-raising activity. And, why not? If people will pay me to have fun riding my bicycle, or hiking, or running, or picking my nose, or chewing gum, of course, I’ll do that for a good cause. But, haven’t things gotten out of hand. How does a physical activity actually help somebody dying of cancer, or prevent poor starving children in China? In reality, it does nothing. This year, I will be engaged in two fund-raising activities, the Courage Classic, which is for the prevention of child abuse (you’ve got to be kidding me, no amount of money will prevent a moral problem!), and another ride4US, which is to purchase ultrasound machines for CareNet clinics. But really! Why these activities? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to have me work for a day or week, and then donate the revenues to the cause? Of course, it would, but it doesn’t get press. Actually, it was a Tacoma surgeon, Dr. G. Klatt, who started the whole run/walk/swim/pick a booger for some cause movement. He was quite well-intentioned, and raised much money for cancer. It was a great idea, but, now, there are people arbitrarily asking for money for every mile of something that they do? Should I support this madness? I don’t think so.
 
Aber, was ist schließlich? Ich habe mein neues Fahrrad abgeholt! Hier ist es! Ein Foto! Ist es nicht wirklich schön? Es ist aus Stahl gebaut, dunn aber sehr streng, und ohne Gewicht! Nur 8.3 kg. Die Farbe sind gelb und rot und schwarz, und es fahrt wohl. Die erste Fahrt war über Cayuse und Chinook Pass, 1600+ km Anhöhe und 87km weit.  Es war sehr schön. Siehe “Bikeblog”.

I am now trying to prepare for the STP in one day, and so am doing a number of rides. This was my first century of the year, which was a little concerning for me since I had had a 3-month interlude off of the bicycle while we were in Bangladesh. It felt good to be back on a cycle. The entire event was notable for the hills hitting me a little harder than my last ride, the absence of flats, and that I cut at least an hour off of my riding time, feeling a moderate amount of energy at the conclusion of the ride. Thus, it was a good ride, all in all. Meanwhile, I continue to ride with Russ and Luc Andersen, who truly are superb cyclists, learning much about endurance and techniques for better riding.