Friday, August 19, 2011

Cleaning off the digi-cam

 

Haven’t had time for a lot of riding lately.  Towards the end of this heat spell

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I came down with a wicked cold slash virus slash bronchitis slash “can’t totally get rid of the hideous nighttime cough.”  If I can’t sleep at night I sure can during the day, thus not much productivity…

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Did manage to wander slightly off the trail near Lancaster Ave to Schlegal Park a couple weeks ago.  Not much happening there these days but it is a nice view of the fire tower, pagoda & city.

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Whole lotta this going on…

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My favorite “can barely grow it here Southern veggie.”   (okra for the under privileged)

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A little bit of craftiness…transformed a $1.99 raglan into a custom biking tee.  Just Google ‘freezer paper tutorial’ if you’re into making your own.

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And I took a couple plain reflective tees from my stockpile & made them a little more comfy for myself.  Left one shows the 2 back pockets I added to one.  Both got side color blocking which makes them fit better on the bike.  Stupid. Bad. Sizing. For. Tiny. People.

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Last Thursday I rode tortured myself on the Perkiomen Trail through Montgomery County from Green Lane Park to wherever-the-hell it ends near Oaks.  I wasn’t quite sure where to start the trail from my parking space so I backtracked before I found the official start--but that allowed me to do the whole. damn. thing. in one shot.  41.3 miles of torture where I neglected to take any food or extra water, my own stupidity…a nice water fountain near Schwenksville on the return saved me from sure death.  Had the camera but only got a couple shots of the pure white great blue heron I spotted near Collegeville.  I turned back at the “Welcome to the Schuylkill River Trail” sign, that’s another ride for another day and my next big hurdle, the run from Oaks to Philadelphia.

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This morning brought more of this (I picked a nearly identical basket just yesterday) and lots of canning time today.

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I made 5 jars of candied jalapenos, 3 of pickled sweet banana peppers & 5 of peach freezer jam.  Should do us for a few days & then I’ll do it all over again!

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Hoping to ride around Green Lane again tomorrow if I have wheels (car is in the shop so we’ll see).  Still coughing & hacking, wish me luck!  Happy trails!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Goal Met! And some pics

 

I wanted to ride 100 mi this week and did it!  Considering this is just week 3 of my new obsession I think that’s pretty good.  I feel awesome, lost a couple pounds, definitely feel stronger and I got to put away some clothes that were too big and now fit in some I haven’t worn for over a year.   Part of it is due to this

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First large basket of veggies from the garden.  We’ve eaten them all (well, I canned about 10 jars of pickles too) and pick about this much every 2 or 3 days.

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Today I biked to the river park in Pottstown, back through Birdsboro, to Gibraltar, up Gibraltar Rd to the Exeter Trail, I found this sign at the end (above).  I used to walk the Exeter Trail but had never gone this far.  It continues up Neversink Mountain but I tried pushing the bike up and it’s just too rough and steep to do on the bike (now anyway, I may get brave eventually).

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Last week me and 2 buddies rode up to the Blue Marsh Stilling Basin.  Red Bridge seen along the way.

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Beginning of the connector trail from the Union Canal Trail to Blue Marsh.  Sign above on one side of the road, below are on the other.

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That’s Berks County Prison off in the distance, lol.

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Beginning of the official Blue Marsh trails (we haven’t done that yet).

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I’ve been trying to get a good Blue Heron pic…this ones not so hot.

I had a great week & I’m biking this route again Sunday to the Berks Heritage Center for a free tour day. 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

First Draft of Bike Bag

 

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Excuse my cheap bike, it does get me from A to B (and I just picked up a second, nicer bike) but I wanted to share my first attempt at a frame bag.  You wouldn’t believe how much stuff I can haul around! 

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That bottle holder pocket didn’t work, it hit my leg so it’s coming off but the rest worked great.  There’s a large zipper on the other side-inside is a spare tube, extra water bottle, wallet, tool pouch, a pretty decent first aid kit, sunscreen, digicam & granola bars.  I need to tweak the design a bit but considering I made it in about an hour with nothing but a newspaper template, tape measure & some scrap (waterproof) duck cloth I had on hand, I’m happy with it.  Now I need to figure out how to fit one on my true mtn bike that’s a girls model with less space.

Marker 594 Fred J Doberstein Overlook Campsite

 

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This is a nice place to take a break & stretch your legs in the shade.  It’s between Birdsboro & Pottstown, near Gear Jammers Saloon.

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Sweaty, red-faced pic but figured I should show myself here somewhere.  I’m off today for a ride to Reading & beyond.  Happy cycling!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Welcome!

 

I have to sort a ton of photos & figure out how best to share them for each section of the trail that I’ve traveled but for now I’ll share a few from today’s ride from Birdsboro to Pottstown.

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Hmm, what’s that up ahead?

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Ooo, 2 babies!

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We were 3 feet away!  One was pretty spunky, he started to follow us and hissed when we passed.  Thank goodness mama wasn’t around, I kept watching for her to come running from the woods to defend her babies.  They were spotted near marker 594 (Fred J. Doberstein Overlook Campsite).