Delay of joy

A week ago yesterday Beautiful wife ad I went to Niles. Essentially I was looking to test ride the tour again and confirm that I liked it and let BW test ride it so she could get a bit of the trike bug and like the idea of dropping huge cash.
Well they had a zommer built up. It's narrower but the big difference is it has direct vs linkage steering so on test riding it I discovered it was zippy, it had a much tighter turning radius like a sports car instead of Yak's Grandpa's old Lincoln town car. Also I am not comfortable with the bar end shifters but that will take time. I kind of hated the grip shifters mounted vertically.

I went ahead and got the elite (better brakes, bottom bracket, cranks, bar end vs twist shifters.

It was expected that my bike would be in Niles from MI by Friday but it was not. Joe will call Tuesday to find out what's up.

This Saturday I went over to Handy Rider's and we went to Niles so I could drop off some clippless pedals and confirm some accessory choices

Fenders
Mirrors (the screw/clamp mount vs velcro--more $$ but I'm going for durability
6'combo lock and 12' extender cable (for trailer etc)
bottle cage to be screwed in ( for battery of light)
velcro bottle cage for electrolyte drink
seat bag for water bladder
planet bike superflash blinky for back of rack
(my trek interchange rack from the backup bike will be made to work)
flag
computer
terracycle mounts (2) 1 w/ extenders for lights and computer--expensive but won't wiggle

http://www.wizwheelz.com/images/TTZoomerElite/zetube1-800.jpg

also a friend or two will help me rig up a system for a mini strobe I got. I want to make it removable for dark riding only since the sealed lead acid battery is almost 6 pounds


In other news I can report that Darth and I and another friend did 30 miles yesterday (and I am sore) and that handy has taken is bike to Tim fir upgrade and replacement of the destroyed fork. I look forward to him being back on the trail.

Redwood Jungle

Last Saturday I went for a 10.5 mile hike at Big Basin Redwoods State Park (trivia: the oldest state park in California, established in 1902). The park is probably less than 20 miles from home as the crow flies, but because of the winding mountain roads, it's still about an hour drive.

I thought Saturday would be a particularly good day for a hike in the redwoods. It was forecast to hit 90 degrees in San Jose, but redwood forests are generally in the cooler, moister coastal areas, so I was expecting to get away from the heat.

And I did, sort of. When I arrived at the park, the thermometor read around 75 degrees. Not bad, but I forgot that "moister" part of "cooler, moister coastal areas." So it was 75 and humid, which as my midwestern friends know, is about as comfortable as 90 and dry.

I hadn't been to this park in over 5 years, so it was nice to be back there. I was little bummed that it was so crowded. I almost didn't find a parking space. And there were lots of people on the trails at first. It felt as if they had transported a city block into the forest. But as expected, the people thinned out after the first half-mile or so. Still, it was more than I expected, but at least people started saying "Hi."

I did the Berry Creek falls loop, which is listed as a strenuous 6-hour hike, but can be done in four if you huff it. The elevation change is ~400 feet, which sounds like a lot to a flatlander, but isn't too bad. The highlight of the hike is the series of waterfalls along Berry Creek near the halfway point of the loop. The lighting wasn't the best, but I did manage to snap a few pictures. Overall, a good workout with some nice scenery.