Achingly Upright

Longer commutes over the past few months have given me the opportunity to ride a variety of upright bikes over varying distances. And while achieving a particular fit is less important to me on upright bikes than it is on roadbikes, I still have preferences. For instance, my ideal handlebar height is on the low side. I began to notice that fairly early on, lowering the bars on my city bikes further with each passing year.I'd assumed this growing preference had to do with performance: That maybe as I picked up handling skills and began to ride faster, lower handlebars just made more sense. And in part that's probably true. But lately I've realised that it's also a matter of physical comfort.



Riding several bikes with the bars set higher than I prefer, I notice that my back starts to hurt after some miles. It's a distinct kind of dull, gnawing pain, somewhere around the shoulder blade area. On bikes where the bars are set lower, I don't experience the pain. And having moved the handlebars on one of the "painful" bikes down an inch, the pain disappeared. I've tried this a few times now over the past couple of months with the same result: When the bars are too high, my back aches.



The downside to having a city bike set up the way I like, is that other women who try it usually tell me the handlebars feel too low.In the end, it's about finding our personal optimal position. And too upright can be just as achy as too leaned forward.

Erupting Aurora over Devil Fish Lake

This was the first "good" shot that I made of the Aurora on July 15, . This moment occurred at just after midnight after we had already been watching the sky for about two hours. My friends were starting to think that maybe we weren't going to see a sky full of active lights that night, they thought that maybe a faint glow was all we were going to get. I told them to be patient, it's not even midnight yet. Sure enough, just after midnight the sky erupted with lights. Once you've seen how quickly the aurora can erupt and fill the sky, it's a vision that never leaves your mind. It is a phenomena that makes you feel both insignificant in the universe and grand all at the same time. On the one hand you feel incredibly tiny, realizing that the source of these lights came all the way from the sun. On the other hand, when the lights are this active they seem so low in the sky that you can almost touch them... in a way almost touching the sun itself. Any way you look at it or ponder it, it certainly is one of nature's most breathtaking sights!

Fishtail Palm Frond

Looking up from beneath a fishtail palm in Oakland, CA.

Oh my!

Simply stunning photo from Jon Griffith, again!



Courmayeur in the moonlight



Photo courtesy of Jon Griffith



More here but there is a link on my blog list on the right margin as well.



http://www.alpineexposures.com/blogs/chamonix-conditions/3849152-innominata-ridge-mont-blanc

Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger (1939)

The 30th annual reunion of the Phend family was held at the Nappanee Community park sun. Aug 27 - 1939

There were 46 present all seemed to enjoy the dinner very much.

Meeting called to order by president Henry Phend.

Election of officers was then in order. Motion made & 2d that the same president be retained for the next year. Motion carried. Motion made and 2d that F. A. Wehrly act as Sec & Treas. Motion carried.

Motion made & 2d that Rob't & Evelyn Bechtel act as entertainment comm..

Coll[ection] was then taken amounting to

[page 2]
Coll $3.11
Bal of .87
[balance] 3.98
Park fee 2.60
Sec exp. .87
Bal. 1.11

There being no further business, meeting then adj[ourned] until next year.

F. A. Wehrly S & T. Protem.



The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Northern Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. The events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

Princess of the Cave

Here at jjobrienclimbing we've had hundreds of letters from Russell Bright asking "when am I going toget my mug on your blog"? Our original charter forbade it, but we are after all, a shameless commercial operation, and when Russell came up with the required cash, we relented.So here's Princess Russ.





As far as can be understood this man makes a living from fish fiddling.I hope I'm not over simplifying it but I thinkhe makes goldfish have goldfish.





Russ earned his strength relentlessly lapping hard routes.



Style: Hard to say. Delicate Thai hippy details, barefoot, with awell maintained sharp edged do on top.

Let's call it, Tonsai dirtbag meets personal fitness trainer.











Curiously, Russ has a proven ability to make good on steep routeswithout climbing shoes. Ouch. Why would you do that?How could you do that?



The coldest, windiest day of the year allowed me the rare opportunity to shoot Russ with his shirt on.





Route: "Evil Knievel"

Coolum Cave

Dynamicin style.

Irrepressibly cheeky by nature.

Russ the belayer: He's not watching you, he's watching Sharma. How are you going to compete with that?The internethardly needs more photos of Russ, maybe just one more.



The strong man who earned the title "Princess Russ"



PS. Welcome to our newest follower Lewis Templar, who's middle name appears to be "Danger".

That rocks Lewis. Did your Mum come up with that?

O Joshua Tree! O Joshua Tree!

The Joshua Tree isn't really a tree at all, rather, it is a giant yucca plant. The trunk of a Joshua Tree consists of thousands of small fibers and it lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine it's age. New seedlings can grow up to 3 inches per year in their first ten years. After that they grow only 1 1/2 inches per year.

According to park literature, the Joshua tree was so named by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer.

I was told by a Ranger, that each of the “arms” or the branches of a Joshua Tree was the result of it blooming and flowering. Each bloom creates another branch. The trees bloom in the spring, though they don't all bloom every year. In fact there were some Joshua Trees that were six to eight feet tall without any branches! And then there were other trees with an overabundance of blooms. After flowering, the blossoms drop off, leaving a length of dried stalk. New leaves grow beneath this dead portion, and a new branch begins its growth in another direction. The numerous shapes and sizes of the trees is fascinating.

This was one of the largest Joshua Trees that I saw in the park, perhaps 35 feet high. I don't know what caused it to lose the limb hanging down on the ground but it was somewhat recent damage.

It wasn't the first damage this tree sustained. On the side opposite of the new downed limb was a gaping hole from a loss in the distant past.

It also had one of the most complex branching systems that I saw. It must be very old and is still blooming!

The “furry” nature of the branches helps it to grab and retain moisture from the air.

New branches will grow from the remnants of the flower stalk.

One of the blooms of the Joshua Tree.

And another.