Desert Flower Report

 
Blooming Barrel Cactus, Valley of the Sun. Digital Photograph. © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved. 

Saguaro Out Front

  

Blooming Saguaro Cactus Flowers

Need I say more. Digital Photograph. © Shawn Kielty 2006, All rights reserved.

"Naked is a State of Mind"

So -- I've got Luscious Jackson coming out of the stereo. It's the first time the stereo has played music since move day -- Ok -- I've been a little remiss on the moving responsibilities. Frankly, I don't entertain that much by using the stereo. This particular section of the house has stayed packed because it is the first thing to move. I remember a younger day when the stereo was always on; it was the last thing out of the old house and the first thing into the new. I guess we change as we age.

I am staked out to try to photograph the bobcat. I suppose he is busy because it is a Friday night. Probably down at the laundromat doing the stray cat strut; checking out the bobbygirl-cats that have nothing better to do than their laundry on Friday night. "Hey girly-cat, want to come by and check out my etchings?" "Can't I just see 'em online, big bobcat?" "No -- this is the real thing -- it's not digital." "My name is Pussy Galore." "I must be dreaming. My name is Bobcat -- James Bobcat."

I know he is a male because he has stained a few things around the place with his adult sized mark. Bleach works. I am part of his territory. I am going to go out to mark the area as soon as I am finished with this post. James Bond might have behaved differently.

He's here for one of three reasons: I am an oasis and he's finding water, he's finding food, he wants to eat my cat or bird, or he's injured or ill. I haven't seen the coyotes for a while. I wonder if a 10-20 pound coyote is part of a 35 lb. bobcat's diet. He may be very close on a regular basis. He was nearby last night -- because my cat was a freak, growling and flying backwards up the cat pole. I wonder if I need to be worried about my own safety. "Mesa man passes out on back porch -- gets eaten by bobcat." Pass. No, thanks.

I am most concerned about this. If the bobcat can come in my house -- then he may start to try to show up in the Joneses house down the street. If Mrs. Jones, with a family and guntoting husband and a calling the sheriff and chasing bobcat down with dogs attitude, happens to get upset about finding a bobcat in her house. The stray cat etching sharing stud Mr. big cat bobcat is going to die. Unless Darwin was right. I am rooting for the cat. As I always do.

The CD player is chomping through the random all option -- currently it's the splendid lyrical voice of Marta Sebestyen -- The superb voice from the the soundtrack of the English Patient.

Porcupine Quill

100°F.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmoshpere Assoc.Gurus Sky Harbor airport was officially threedigitshot today. My riding was not quite so hot though, but I could feel it. And I could feel being still tired from Sunday.

Date: 10 May 2006
Miles: 14.7
Average Speed: Slower than vomit - >14.7
May Mileage: 147.41
Weather: Hmmm ... Hot? 104 on the happy bike riding buddy's bike thermometer (his miles are all kms, but his temps are F. -- and I think -- I am confused).

Things People Look for.

Searching on Google for "the average speed of vomit" brings my page right up on top -- it's quite an honor actually.

Try it yourself.

If you're actually trying to find the average speed of vomit -- it is going to take a bit of work.

Marsh Wren Nest

I thought I would throw this old shot up because the BirdChick is talking about a Marsh Wren on her blog. I found this Marsh Wren Nest at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in the Central Valley in California.

© Shawn Kielty 2004-2006. All rights reserved.

About Pearl the Cat

She's Mad! ... She would rather hunt for field mice and kangaroo rats than eat cat food from a bowl. She's a cat -- It seems that the bobcat may have in fact been chasing her and fell when trying to go up the cat pole, because it fell over under the weight of a bobcat in pursuit of a house cat.

Pearl the Cat seems to have survived. Go figure and knock on wood.

Napa Valley Tour de Wine

It was totally a delicious day for cycling -- and the scenery was enviable. The real casualty of all this sun is that I have 1/4 inch thick bracelets of sunburn on my wrists and one ankle -- compliments of the extra sun granted by the gap between the warmers and the gloves or socks.



Date: 7 May 2006
Miles: 102.88
Average Speed: 15.4
Max: 31.1
May Mileage: 132.71
Weather: Sunny and oh so delicious.

Well, that's one for the record book. My first organized ride. My first century. It included only one tragedy that I know of. One flat tire, one broken spoke. One RV driver nearly killing me.

Wow -- gas was a tad expensive, however. Especially in the Mojave desert.



Then there was this dust storm in the Palm Desert. Notice the snow -- that's just 90 miles east of Los Angeles, right near Palm Springs. Spring break anyone? Sonny Bono managed to outlaw thongs there, why, I can't help but ask? I remember when you had two choices for coffee -- the Starbucks in PS or chinese donut shop desert coffee -- tastin mostly like donuts,



Somewhere in this shot at the first break is the group I met from Queen of the Valley Hospital, and it seems they were cancer and blood experts, except Gabby, who said biking was her hobby, and she just happened to work Monday to Friday at the local bike shop in Napa. "It's nice to be able to have the weekends off." I think so too. We all climbed the only thing in the whole ride that reminded me of a hill.

I had a nice conversation with Gabby, so I was quite disappointed when I flatted out and the group dropped me. I could have used The Old Bag's pump, cause when Jim or Joe -- the type 1 Diabetic bike shop guy from a Santa Rosa shop showed up he was carrying a pump -- because I was beating myself to death with my very small pump.



The roadie early in the day -- everything is still intact.



Nearing the halfway point I met a young woman named Cindy who was going the wrong way. She informed me the I had lost my way (I had not -- but she had), and convinced me to get lost with her for a bit. We did this until we some people with a map that confirmed that I was not lost -- and helped to get us back on track. She was riding a fat tired mountain bike with pink stuff, so was traveling pretty slow. I rode with her for a bit, and helped her find her way to the next rest stop.



Then the citizen press finally got its big break. One of the CHPs (I think it was Eric Estrada) asked me to stop and take his picture while he dispatched a deer that had been hit by a car and had "bones sticking out" and stuff. I felt really important.





I updated this with a close up of the officer. To the left. I should have zoomed in more.

Here's the roadie (below) -- with a missing spoke. I hit a boulder in the road and popped a spoke. Some miles to go -- and the brake will rub before I am done. It may explain why those two guys at three miles from the finish -- were able to ride away from me like I was skating backwards.



The last important marker on the route was missing so I showed up at the finish line from the wrong direction -- leading everyone to suspect that I might have been sleeping in my car all day. I had to phone my friend Farbod (having opted out of the 50 mile ride for the 25 mile, he was waiting with his buds and the rest of the group at the finish) and ask him for directions to the finish line -- and that's where the extra mile came from.

Here I am with the riders from KLA-Tencor at the finish -- Looking maybe a tad shell-shocked.



And then I went home. If you happen looking for the Teddybear Cholla bloom in Joshua Tree this Year -- you missed it -- as did I.



When you don't miss it -- it looks like this:



All photos © Shawn Kielty, 2003-2006. All rights reserved.

Bobcat in the Kitchen

It's a first. It's getting warmer here and I frequently leave the doors open into the evening. I just heard a loud noise and got up to see what it was -- and there was a large cat in my kitchen. A bobcat. Dayamn. Come on in my kitchen (Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett with Eric Clapton and Duane Allman). We've had better lives, but I can't imagine when.

Note: I removed the image.

Large Banjo Brothers Seat Bag Review

I received a new large Banjo Brothers™ seat bag recently in the mail and I just decided to try it out for a century ride I'll be doing. Since I'll be in coastal Northern California, I'll need to be better prepared for wind and rain than I currently am here in Mesa. During the monsoon season here in the late Summer some protection from the rain can be handy. So this bag seems good because I will be able to carry a raincoat.

I picked up a new Cannondale™ rain coat and thought this would be a good opportunity to test out the large seat bag. It's roomy, fairly lightweight and has a convenient pocket. It will hold a couple of cans of beer soda I think, along with an apple if you expand the pocket. I didn't try any of this.


Here's the stuff that would be useful to have along. Patch kit, tool kit, tire irons, spare tube, gooey food. Rain jacket, condoms. Just kidding about the gooey food condoms.



It's all in nicely with some room to spare -- but not so loose that anything would rattle around against the plastic support inside the bag. Notice the convenient pocket for the tools and the patch kit.



Here it is with the expandable pack open. All in all it looks to be great addition to my luggage. It has reflective piping and a place to put a rear taillight. If the strap were a tad longer it might be able to hold a spare tire outside in addition to a full pack inside, but it would be easy enough to extend it with a bit of velcro strap. I think if I were to press it -- I could even fit my Marmot™ rain pants in addition to this new rain jacket.

The placement of the strap attaching to the back of the seat - could be set back just a bit further on the bag -- IMHO -- which would cause the bag to be a bit less dangly. It seems like it's going to be jfd (or just dandy for short).

All photos on this page are © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved. I mean it.

O Man?!

Warning! This will turn your stomach. agggh. That special taste.

Can Parrots count to Zero?

They talk -- but I never really thought they were that smart, Unlike crows. Which you should feed if you get a chance. They like bacon best, walnuts, almonds and cat food, corn chips, corn, corn on the cob, did I mention corn . Enough of that, rumor has it that crows can count. Sometimes when you feed a crow -- they will bring you something shiny and leave it to trade -- like your neighbors wedding ring. Other times they might bring you something interesting to trade -- like a burning cigarette. Be sure to pay close attention to the stuff in the area of feeding.

I am chillin down for a century ride Sunday. Grocery Store girl says what do you eat when you ride like that, As much as humanly possible at ever opportunity, I reply. "Man -- I need to ride a bike" she says. NFS - plus what -- I spent $50 dollars filling my tank today, holy guacamole. It's the first time in over a week though. And frankly -- it's cheaper when you ride a bike.

Beep! Beep!

Roadrunner, © 2005 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
This guy has been on this site before -- I saw him again today, but he is very quick, and I am not.

Red Tailed Mate

© Shawn Kielty 2006. All rights reserved.

I am going to hazard a guess. This is the mate of yesterday's bird. Happy birding folks.

Toasty

Date: 2 May 2006
Miles: 19.76
Average Speed: 12.8
Max: 30.8
May Mileage: 29.83
Weather: 97°F. sun 8% humidity.

Oh -- well we didn't break 100° after all. Unless you look at the gizmo on my porch which says the high today was 102° F. One of the things I can never figure out is why the weather sites have made it impossible to find out what today's high was -- today! I either have to wait till it becomes part of yesterday, or look on TV (I usually don't) to find it. My usually happy hiking buddy was telling me his on the bike thermometer declared 99.7. It was toasty.

Warming Up the Day

Date: 1 May 2006
Miles: 10.07
Average Speed: 15.8
Max: 28.9
May Mileage: 10.07
Weather: 75°F. sun.

I appreciate the bird chick's link to my post here, and enjoyed seeing this picture of vulture vomit*. What a great way to start the day.

it was 75°F. at 7:45 this morning and looks like it will break 100° today, for the first time this year.

* Technically the Bird Chick called this "vulture or pelican vomit," but pelican vomit is just ... so ... unromantic.

Red Tailed Hawk

SO I thought I might load up my bike and go out to look for the hawks I have seen hunting along the drainage beside my place. So I grabbed my camera and the hawk taking lens, and then started trying to figure out how to carry it on a bike -- It doesn't fit well into the Timbuktu messenger bag, or the SunLite rack-top bag. Maybe if I had decent sized rack-top bag like the Banjo Brothers one George has that can carry bowling balls. In case your wondering what this picture is, it's a picture of my real digital camera atop my sun-lite rack-top bag on my commuter. The thing weighs as much as some bowling balls and is a much more less graceful shape.

SO I lazily took the car. And I found the nest I had noticed a few days ago.



And it's owner.





My initial thought on this is that it's a red tail hawk. But I currently seem unable to find the stack of guidebooks. Perhaps the Bird Chick will help make an ID. Her blog is fairly cool with serious birder stuff going on. Since her rabbits are indoors and not in my yard eating my cactus -- I guess maybe they are ok.



Her dissaproving rabbits will be happy to see that this hawk appears to be carrying a rat, and not a rabbit or a cat.

All Photos are © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.

Date: 30 April 2006
Miles: 8.0
Average Speed: 14.4
Max: 22.5
April Mileage: 415.21
Weather: 93°F. sun.

Brotherhood of the Hungry

It's the brotherhood of the hungry. "Yeah man you gotta eat...," says Ruby in my last post. Ain't that the truth. Eat early and often. Is what I have always said, but never done. When I quit smoking in July, I started to eat again. Even that thing the rest of you call breakfast. I never have been good at making breakfast work. Leo Tolstoy said, "most people think of changing the world, but few people think of changing themselves." SO I am going to have to figure it out.

A while ago I found this type of moth, a sphinx moth, flapping wildly inside the house with a cat flying equally as wildly below it. It is about the size of a sparrow or a bat, I hung the cat on the coat rack (just kidding, I put her in the bird's cage) and set out to find this monster bug. This is just one of many varieties of sphinx moth in the vicinity of Arizona. This photo was taken by Paul Opler. I have no idea if the moth I found is the Falcon Sphinx or not. I gave it to an entomology student, the young Jane, who is not to be confused with the old Jane, who didn't much care for bugs either.

Turns out that this large bug is the pride of Jane's 200 bug collection. So maybe she can tell us which Sphinx Moth it is. After seeing this woman in The Silence of the Lambs, I am positive it would be a bad idea to eat the moth, even for a cat (Annie Leibovitz photo of Jodie Foster is gorgeous). I repeat, do not eat the moth.

So I went to the Mediterranean restaurant after my ride today and was treated to this, compliments of Jane, for finding the best darn bug around.



Which of course I tried to eat.



Oh -- and I was kidding about the cat, I love Pearl the Cat; I threw her outside for a minute (I opened the door first).

Since the bird didn't get to eat the cat, I gave him the leftover shish-kebob.