Vanishing point: the point at which receding parallel lines viewed in perspective appear to converge. This month’s theme was inspired by this striking photo from Suzanne’s latest post: I especially like this example because it shows both horizontal and vertical convergence.  There are a couple of other examples below.  Note that the lines don’t actually … Continue reading "Challenge of the month, October 2020: Vanishing Points"

All the fires in Sonoma County, the North Bay, and the greater Bay Area are under control, completely contained, mostly extinguished, and not putting out much smoke. On the other hand, big fires farther away to the north, east, and south continue to rage across thousands of acres. Depending on prevailing winds, some days are … Continue reading "Clear blue equinox"

Did a mostly gravel ride today, and noticed that these downed trees on the trail form something of a natural arch. And, I even remembered to include the bike in the photo. On another note, smoke from the fires out west have reached the east coast. We’ve been having some really bizarre looking sunrises and … Continue reading "An arch, or at least something arch-like"

I’ve been trying to get to the coast for a ride for at least a week, but the poisonous air quality around here has extended out to the ocean and beyond, which is quite unusual. Every day I look for somewhere in the Bay Area with tolerable air, figuring the breezy coast should be okay, … Continue reading "Dog Beach"

Spring has sprung. We’ve been having many perfect days since the beginning of the month. The cherry and apple blossoms are gone and those trees have leafed out now. The magpies are swooping big-time. I have at least 6 different kinds of flowers blooming in my front garden. Many other trees have started to blossom … Continue reading "The guys go look for arches"

Quick science lesson: Smoke from distant fires rises high into the atmosphere, flattens into thick layer. Wind pushes layer of smoke hundreds of miles away above Santa Rosa and the Bay Area. High, thick layer of smoke completely blots out the sun. At lower elevations, marine layer pushes in from the Pacific Ocean and forms … Continue reading "There has to be an invisible sun"

Well I’m glad that there are 31 days in August and I just managed to sneak a ride up to the television towers before work. I do take my monthly challenge seriously, so I just made it…Pheww. Well we don’t have any nuclear power stations or weapons anywhere around here so I googled ‘radiation’ and … Continue reading "Hooked on Radiation"

I’ll bet you thought I’d forget about posing this month’s Challenge, enjoying myself cruising around over here in Croatia with Rocky and pretending that the world isn’t falling apart before our eyes.  Nope. Let’s stick with shapes again for another month, and look at another versatile shape: arches.  Lots of possibilities here, natural and un: … Continue reading "Challenge of the month, September 2020: Arches"

Just happened to be in the right place at the right time . . . . . Thanks to Bill’s suggestion and Bob’s train photos I never would have thought of it Riding down 7th street, I happened to hear CSX sounding 2 miles to the south — right turn on to 4000N and half … Continue reading "CSX Doppler"

This was covered some time ago, and originated by Bill Makes kind of a neat photo of the reflective stripes shooting photons back to the camera

No riding for a few days past, today, or a few days to come. Rare two-day lightning storm, record high temperatures, hundreds of wildfires, smoke filling the sky, ash falling like snow, and power outages. The image, captured from the Web, shows nearby fires as of approximately 4:00 PM today, with Sonoma County evacuations zones, … Continue reading "“Fire radiative power”"

No question about radiation from whatever this was attached to “We are just little cogs in the wheel of life” (Paraphrased from Mongo in Blazing Saddles) Double Radials Radiating R’s Radiating Reinforcements Radiating (?) mud cracks at JR’s Recyclables  

Short ride on a sunny day, with a timeout when my brother phoned. He made fun of my Ogre. I made fun of his Harley. It’s what we do.  Read more at Bill Bikes

Ah, more beautiful spring-like weather that finally aligned with a weekend. We only had half of our normal rainfall for July which meant there were many gorgeous days… they just usually lined up with the weekdays when I was doing the super-long stressful working hours much of the month. So here is August and the … Continue reading "Radiate Away"

Raleigh ready to go in search of radiance Beautiful morning for a ride after nearly all day rains yesterday Waves radiate from dropped pebble with secondary waves from splash impacts Second pebble impact with lots of baby splash impacts radiating waves Rock thrown into the North Fork with the current extending the waves downstream

Person, woman, man, camera, TV.  I’m so impressed that our man aced his cognitive test, and can remember and repeat five words.  And in order!  Perfect really, if only TV were actually a word. I’m inspired, but five is a word too far for my old brain.  Here’s my list, gleaned from our recent rides … Continue reading "Blue Chain Library Potato"

Like the Bowerbird below I’ve roamed around this July looking for blue-ness. The Bowerbird does it to impress potential partners whilst I do it on a bike to contribute to Cycle365 and because I just love cycling around, it keeps me sane in a crazy world. Birds are a passion of mine, they’re free to … Continue reading "A Blue-tiful Challenge"

The picture is blue and without a bike and so am I. Yesterday I went for a little birthday ride before my sons and their wives and seven of my eight grandchildren came to celebrate my 80th with me. It was our first get-together since Corona and a wonderful birthday. Just my bicycle didn’t want … Continue reading "Blue without a bike…"

Chicory/Cornflower on a ride south to CSX Hot! We elected to stop in the only shade available Cloudless sky allows the full radiant heating effect  🙁 No need just yet — but it was warm Friendly Jerky waves to all Street signs/dying tree Blue Fusion!

Here’s a bike. On a blue sign. Challenge complete. These signs direct you on road segments between rail trails in the area. Here is a link to the rest of the ride: https://rambleoutyonder.org/2020/07/07/shifting-july-ride-1-independence/ And here is an album for the times… the new one by J.S. Ondara. This song is my favourite because I love … Continue reading "June Challenge – Blue bike sign"

Every ride starts out on my BLUE bike, and almost always from my BLUE-doored garage. And by the way, I live in a neighborhood called Hillwinds, which unsurprisingly is on the top of a hill. So this song seems appropriate. And the classic line, which is very appropriate for all cyclists…“Hey, let’s be careful out … Continue reading "Starting out Blue"

If you’re like us, you’ve got a thing or ten to have the blues about right now.  Don’t get me started, or we might not get to the bottom of this post.  And we’re among the lucky ones this month!  No jobs to lose, no home mortgage to try to keep up, healthy so far, … Continue reading "July’s Challenge: I’ve got the blues"

Today’s ride took me from Brattleboro up to Newfane and back, a ride totalling about 24 miles. To tie this in to the Challenge theme, we have a bit of history with Newfane, since we lived and worked there from 2002 to 2016. Here’s the story. Back in 2002, our family was living in Raleigh, … Continue reading "Brattleboro to Newfane"

MY FIRST MEMORIES My first bike was a 16-inch bike that was red with training wheels. I was the fourth kid in the extended family to learn to ride on it. I have memories of being on that one at the end of our sloped driveway. My dad also had made me a scooter out … Continue reading "June Challenge: Encyclopedia of Childhood Bikes"

Okay, Suzanne. By 1952 or 1953 I was ready for some tricycle races. And then I was considering a new career on Java in 1984, also involving a tricycle.

Alrighty, here we go with my first attempt at a challenge. After much searching, I really wasn’t able to come with then and now photographs that showed both me and a bike. So, this is going to be mostly a story, with a couple photos that hopefully capture the time vibe, and of course keep … Continue reading "June Challenge – to Jekyll Island, then and now"

This month’s challenge was inspired by this comment from Old Grumbleface on one of my posts a few weeks ago: Pardonnez-moi, s’il vous plait. If I may butt in for a moment, I would like to propose, for your consideration, a Challenge, if not for June, then perhaps for another month, or perhaps just a … Continue reading "Challenge of the month: Time, for a change"

Nature has decided to liven up my rides this past month. It may have been the same roads over and over in different combinations, but the autumn leaf show has more than made up for the mundane routes. It’s been truly spectacular this year. There have been some dandelions for Suzanne, too, whole fields of … Continue reading "May Challenge: Spectacular changes"

I didn’t really see what the May challenge was supposed to entail, so I have come up with my own challenge that reflects what we call ‘the current situation’ at work. We are not allowed to say anything like coronavirus or COVID-19 or ‘the virus’ in ANY of our work communications (including the many emails … Continue reading "May challenge: The current situation – Changes, changes"

It’s difficult thinking of an appropriate theme for the month at this unprecedented time.  We’re all stuck to one degree or another, some of us really severely – unable to make meaningful plans, unable to tour, unable to leave our home, or unable even to get home.  I’m thinking especially of folks like Mike and … Continue reading "Challenge of the month: MAY I go outside now, please?"