Desert Bloom Report

Date: 16 April 2006
Miles: 13.47
Average Today: 14.3
April Mileage: 227.86
Weather: 77° F., Still Dusty.



Roadie with the Palo Verde Trees and blooming Hedgehog cactus



Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia violacea) is a native of the Chihuahuan desert. This one has something growing on it.



Ocotillo.



Echinocereus fendleri, or Fendler's hedgehog Cactus, is a local native.



Opuntia acanthocarpa, or Buck thorn cholla. I could be mistaken though.



Ocotillo.

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

My 1st Century

I'll be riding this route. It ain't easy, but it is 100 miles -- and it is May 7. Wish me luck. Here's the page if you need to contribute. Go team.

The Good Stuff

I really enjoy cruising the photo albums at R.A. Dillon's blog, An Alaskan Abroad. I found this because I have a secret plan that says I am going to escape from Arizona, and go to that other great "A" state. When I was younger I decided that I would go to all the 50 states, I have just a few remaining now -- and Alaska is really next on my list. His post today showing the cool places (Where the Wild Things Are) to go in Alaska reminds me I am supposed to be going there.

Dillon's posts are informative, and pointed, and challenge me to be less apolitical. I hope you find them pleasant as well, or ... uh ... at least enjoy looking at the photos. Nice work, dude!

Tax day blues ...

Date: 15 April 2006
Miles: 13.04
Average Today: 15.4
April Mileage: 214.39
Weather: 78° F., Dusty.

Can one deduct the miles on the bike? If it's for a business purpose?

Don't Forget to Ride

... and ride.

Date: 14 April 2006
Miles: 10.30
Average Today: 12.6
April Mileage: 201.35
Weather: 89° F., overcast, windy.

Beer Can Stadium

If this picture looks like it sucks to you -- that's because it does. Shooting photos while driving ... tsk tsk tsk. Any way, it would be hard for me to make this thing any uglier than it actually is, but it seems I have succeeded. The old bag and I saw this big can during our ride out in the west valley Saturday.

It is an Air Conditioned stadium, I hear. And they roll the grass outside to get some sun. It's a little crazy out here with the A/C and the grass. It's not just here that people can get weird about their grass.

... and ride.

Date: 13 April 2006
Miles: 15.96
Average Today: 13.8
April Mileage: 191.05
Weather: 90° F., overcast.

Pick of the Week

There are moments in the past when I have had a thing I like to call the pick of the week. It is my favorite image of the week.

Per Volquartz will be honored with a solo retrospective exhibition from June 1 to September 30, 2007 at Denmark's Museum of Photography in Denmark. This is a tremendous acheivement and Per deserves it! Per is constantly an inspiration to his peers, students, and proteges and has done a great deal to further the beauty and community of photography.

I remember once when Per sent me a note saying that my images of Mono Lake after a Snowstorm caused him to uhh-hmm ... "wet his pants," and I was astounded, because never had someone so talented paid me so high a compliment. I will never forget that.

Here's the pick of the week.


Copyright Per Volquartz 2006. All rights reserved.

Congrats to Per!

P.M.

Date: 12 April 2006 P.M
Miles: 10.o8

Date: 12 April 2006
Miles Today: 19.90
Average Today: 14.3
April Mileage: 175.09
Weather: 93° F., clear, and sweaty.

The record for this date is 99° F. Temps are climbing. Hydrate.

Street Sweeper Cool. A.M.

Date: 12 April 2006 A.M.
Miles This Morning: 9.72
Average: 16.5
April Mileage: 165.01
Weather: 71 clear, and clean, and swept.


As John suggested, let's not count in metric kilometer things. City of Mesa ran a street sweeper on the rough spots of my route at my suggestion. Roadie was happy, but nevertheless, I did still manage to hit some large debris.

Today's Little Ride

Ok -- So I am a little confused. Is it ok to ride my bike over to Basha's (the nearest grocery store) and lock it up to buy groceries, or not? If it's an ATV it seems it is ok. If it's not ok I bet they don't mind at Safeway.



If it isn't, then why do we have this rack right in front of the sign? Am I the only one confused about this?



I wonder if they'll get upset if I ride my bike right in the freakin' door (which is what I want to do) and fill my panniers with groceries to buy? Is it ok for me to walk into the store?

Todays ride was just 8 miles. and that's a guess.

The Hackberry Springs Hike

My faithful nemesis continues to destroy my body. Even a week later. The Superstition Wilderness. Each time I enter I come out in pain. I don't get it. The Hackberry Springs loop is a beautiful hike. It's 5-6 miles, fairly level, nice. I just don't get it, do I have some bad juju there or what? Several of my recent hikes have ended with some pain.


Moon Rise over Siphon Draw. Digital Photograph. Copyright 2005 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.

In November I went in to the Superstition Ridgeline hike. Since this hike is often compared to a rim-to-rim hike of the grand canyon (it isn't), I'm not surprised that I was more than a bit sore after that hike. It's about 11-12 miles with a mile vertical ascent. It hurt. It still hurts.


Saturday November 12, 2005, I am standing near the top of Superstition Mountain. Photo © Dale Perry 2005. All rights reserved.

On the Hackberry Springs loop there is a mine shaft that goes back a 100 ft. of so. There is the spring itself and water. Pools and running water ... these things are indeed rare in the Superstition Wilderness.


Elephant Arch in the Superstition Wilderness, near Hackberry Springs. © 2005 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.

There is the Elephant Arch -- named by my ever happy hiking pal. It's a good hike.

If you asked where the Superstition Wilderness is -- I'd say right out the window, right near my house. Stop by and I'll take you there.


It's full of hoodoos and goblins.

What this post doesn't do -- is show the blooming cactus (there were none last week) or show you the endless teddybear cholla forests, where alledgedly the lost dutchmans gold is hidden. Or a single saguaro. or even hint at an ocotillo, the best of which are all abloom here on the floor of the Valley of the Sun.

Danger Will Robinson

I think there's been a disturbance. I love the Old Bag's post there. It reminded me to think of other worlds, other spaces and times in my life, other intersections of life and the e-worlds. And surprisingly the Jetsons and Lost in Space. When we have opportunities to intersect our breathing life with the ethersphere, some of our past experiences, rumours and real news about horrors of meeting people from the internet, can cause fits of panic, apprehension, or just slight nervousness. This is normal, methinks. But today, I think we need to tell that robot -- "There is just no cause for alarm. " When I originally started this post I was mostly just linking to the Old Bag's post, which had sent me into a reverie. But then ...

I had the exceptional pleasure of sharing a 52 mile ride today with the Old Bag and a group of riders out in Sun City. She is charming and witty, every bit as brilliant in real life as in her blog. Plus what, she can really ride a bike. The ride was completely fun and perhaps we will do it again sometime. Thanks Jeanne, I enjoyed the ride and the company.

My average for this was 17.4. This was clearly the longest and fastest ride I've ever done. Make note to self, "ride more often with the Old Bag. "

After that and lunch I stomped out to the Salt river to add a few more miles to my day, and a bit more significance to my muy (that's moo-ie) sunburn and muy miles.

Date: 08 April 2006
Miles Today: 68.42
Kilometers: 110.08778
Average: 16.4
April Mileage: 139.29
Weather: 88 and sunburny

We all know what that means. Men ride faster when accompanied by women, and that's a bit like a metric century. Muy Bueno.

Bicycle Safely

Find a good document here with great info on traveling safe on a bike.

Scoop of the Day

Punch this into your browser and you will see that I was the man on the spot for pictures or Photos at the El Tour De Phoenix with this post. Look out East Valley Tribune, and the Rebublic. As far as I can tell, there was very little coverage of the race.

If your interested, here are the unofficial results of El Tour de Phoenix.

And Then Some

Date: 5 April 2006
Mileage: 14.48
Mileage for April: 70.77
Weather: Wind, 71°F PC
Average Speed: 13.6
Daily Tally: 27.17

Bike to Work Day

Date: 5 April 2006
Mileage: 12.69
Mileage for April: 56.29
Weather: Wind, 67°F Overcast, Lightning.
Average Speed: 14.5

Crazy Pre-Dawn

I was dreaming of someone taking pictures of me from outside the house while I was sleeping ... the cat noises breaking the pre-dawn silence, when an incredibly loud rumbling sound stood me straight up outta bed. 10 minutes later I have let the whiny cat in, and am double espresso chatting with the cafe buddy down the road, who says, what are you doing up so early? "Grumble ,,, flashing ... cat ...grumble ... loud rumble ... coffee, please?" There's a significant lightning show going on at the moment.

Right now I am suiting up, have determined to brave the 70 degree, 15 mile an hour winds, threats of thunderbolts and softball sized hail, because it's ride your bike to work day over at the widget factory. My alarm is going off, so I guess it's time to get up. I guess I should wear a raincoat. Grumble.

What About My Foot Pizza?

George, the bike riding donut guy, is asking "if that's your foot, what did you do to it?" It is injured, wounded, and feels like it has been beaten with a hammer. Said pain is accompanied by swelling and throbbing, and responds well to ice packing and Alleve™. So I am probably not making this up, despite the fact that there was no single event to explain the injury.

Saturday's 44 mile ride and/or Sunday's 6 mile hike have left my foot severely beaten. The 6 miles in the Superstitions included the same terrain as always: scree, larger scree, rock, harder rock, steeper rock and steeper scree, an occasional cave, getting disoriented, one dead camera battery, and several open streambed scrambles. It's nothing new. We didn't find the Lost Dutchman's gold.

Adjusting my clippies in my cycling shoes could help, or not hiking. It's hard to say. Ice definitely halps, as does rest and elevation. Tomorrow is bike to work day here at the widget factory, so I'll be riding 20 miles, and bragging about it.

I wonder how it is going to respond to the 100km Desert Classic on Saturday. I'll have a Hercules pizza and an ice pack please.

Ow