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New, improved, and personalized (for Alice that is)

2012-01-04T21:12:00.001-07:00

http://alices-wonderland-adventures.blogspot.com/

Alice is in Antarctica!

2012-01-01T18:42:00.007-07:00

Hi all! Thanks for reading this blog; I will try to update it with pictures and stories when I can, but I'm not too sure of my schedule yet for the time down here, so posting may be sporadic. Michael may also post for me, and if you have any questions for me please send them to either him or me at: michael.e.rhodes@colorado.edu or alice.duvivier@colorado.edu

I arrived safely in Christchurch, New Zealand after a bit of travel delays from Auckland. All in all things went pretty smoothly and I arrived New Years Eve at about 8pm. I went in search of food and then went back to the hotel where I was out like a light. I didn't make it to anywhere near New Year's.

The next morning I woke up early and went walking through the Botanic Gardens and city. I was surprised to see how much of Christchurch is still in rubble following the large earthquake last February. The whole city center is still closed, but even outside of the closed area there are buildings with broken windows, collapsed walls, and in some cases rubble in the streets still. I knew the city center was hard hit, but I wasn't expecting it to be so much like a ghost town (it was a holiday too, so that helped the eerieness, I'm sure). Christchurch has many lovely black stone buildings, and so many of their roofs, walls, etc. are in such bad shape. By far the churches appeared the worst hit, though many modern buildings were also in bad shape.

Finally New Years Day afternoon all the Antarctic travelers were picked up from our hotel, taken to the clothing issue center, and then prepared for our flight that evening. The flight was delayed about an hour, but that was nothing compared to what would have been worse: a boomerang flight. This is when the flight in a C-17 or C-130 takes off from Christchurch flies the 4-5 hours down towards the ice, but then due to changed weather conditions has to turn around and fly back to Christchurch. Sitting on the C-17 (which has a shorter flight) was not particularly comfortable since we were in jump seats along the sides and dressed in our emergency weather gear: heavy down parka, snow pants, white bunny boots, hat, gloves, googles. Spending 10 hours on a flight only to turn around is not my idea of fun, so I'm thankful for our pilot who did a great job getting us in and for the weather that was clear and beautiful when we arrived.

When we touched down you could see many of the surrounding mountains and islands: White Island, Black Island, Mount Discovery, Mount Erebus, etc. We got taken in to the McMurdo Station where we settled into our rooms, got breakfast, and have the morning to relax and get settled. This afternoon we have a briefing and learn more about the next few days of orientation for us newbies to the Ice. It's been sunny and pretty, a bit breezy, and cool, but not frigid. At least we don't have to walk around base in our heavy coats (Big Red) all the time now that we're on base.

Rain!

2010-04-21T21:10:00.002-06:00

Wow I thought I'd never go so long without seeing any rain! It's been at least since Early September since I've seen any rain let alone a wonderful, summer like, evening T-storm. I've seen lots of frozen precip., but no warm stuff in so long. Oh how I missed it.

Back to school work :(

2009-10-29T20:26:00.004-06:00

There's lots of snow in Boulder right now. It's too early for snow, but the dogs like it.

This is sunrise just the day before!

Waiting and Packing

2009-10-08T08:38:00.000-06:00

Oct. 8, 2009
"Here's a picture to brighten you day. Right now we're holding just outside of the Chilean border waiting for the pilot to show up. I can see oil rigs in the distance. We need to take the picarro down this AM and then keep packing up."

Cape Horn

2009-10-07T08:46:00.000-06:00

Ship tracker turned back on!

Land oh

2009-10-07T08:43:00.001-06:00

Email from Michael this morning:

"I woke up this morning to calm seas, sunny skies (with some clouds on top) and islands in the distance. After a naval shower I looked out the port side on my way to breakfast and there was Cape Horn.

Almost there!"

On the way home

2009-10-03T12:49:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I've been negligent posting here, but I didn't get any emails from Michael for a while then they piled up when I was busy. There's been no update on the map of the Gould, but I know they've left Palmer. Timeline is still unclear though. Here are his answers to some of my questions and some other happenings. Enjoy and Happy Weekend!

Wednesday, Sept. 30:
The weather here has been good by the standards. Cloudy for the most part, but the winds have been calm. That is until today. It started off nice and sunny but around 3 this afternoon it turned foul and hasn't let up since. The pressure dropped off of the charts and we've had sustained 40-50 kt winds with blowing snow. It's pretty awesome to see such an even where the snow gets picked up and plastered to any vertical surface. It's also really neat to walk into the lee of a building or such and listen to the erie peacefulness of the howling winds, and also watching the turbulent flows.

I have been sleeping (and eating for the most part) on the ship while we're docked here. We had to plow through a solid sheet of ice to be able to dock here at Palmer, but other than that its been avoiding the occasional small iceberg. The ship isn't really an ice breaker, it's just rated to go through a foot of first year ice at steady speed. Apparently in a previous year the captain had to come in and break up the ice at station and then do many doughnuts to clear it all out. This year we just came in backed out a little bit and then turned the boat around to face the proper way (starboard to the dock).

As for me I've been using a good deal of my time around here helping out with the station kitchen, trying to problem solve some of the issues with the oxygen titration, skiing a bit, and catching up on classes. For classes I've caught up on the lectures, but I still have several fluids HWs looming over my head. It has been an intense few days of watching videos and taking notes, but it sure is nice to have the videos.

We are slated to shove off at 1600 local tomorrow. It think the plan is to try Hugo a 2nd time. The winds should have pushed the ice that was in the way out of the way, but then again those same winds will make landing stupid. Sonja and a couple others from the raytheon crew are the ones that would land using a zodiac. The mission isn't that critical, it's just a GPS that is measuring changes in altitude for glacial rebound. If we can't get it now the LMG will be back in a few weeks for the first round of summer station scientist and they can try again then.

Thursday, Oct.1:
Just an update on our runnings around. We tried again for Hugo island last night and I think the ice was too much again, so during the night we turned around to head for a cast site for the LTER (Long Term Ecological Research). LTER is one of the big projects that goes on down here every summer. Anyway after we get there I think we'll give Hugo one more go. Oh also Bjorn, the guy in charge of the station at Hugo island is Jocelynns husband [Jocelyn is an awesome woman who works in our division at NOAA in Boulder doing carbon14 dating to trace Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs)], so Colm feels a bit more pressure to try and fix the GPS. It's been a bit iffy if we really need to get this done now anyway. We've been getting a wishy washy message from phone calls as to whether or not it is of high importance.

Friday, Oct.2:
Today was a mostly sunny day so we could see land and icebergs most of the time. There was one iceberg that looked like it was calving, but I think it was really waves just getting shot up the side. I don't remember what I last told you about our plans, but we couldn't find a good place this AM to land at Hugo. We went out for several hours and did a cast around 11 local and now we're back hanging out at Hugo waiting to see if it's good in the AM (now ish for you). I hope that this will be our last try at Hugo even though we have more time on teh schedule. Some additional time in/around PA would be nice. One of the electronics techs on board has a house down here so he knows the area well and could point us to a good day trip if we have time.

Oh and supposedly there was a whale this afternoon, but I missed that while working on fluids. I'm trying to balance work with seeing the sights.

Saturday, Oct.3:
We're still sitting on Hugo. I don't know why we're wasting our time, but it is what it is. i guess some of the lingering is because the Drake is supposed to be bad right now (I'd like to see a bad Drake).

Hugo: take 2 or more

2009-10-01T13:04:00.003-06:00

The LM Gould is setting sail for Hugo Island once again where we'll be trying to fix a GPS receiver that is measuring glacial rebound. If the ice and/or wind doesn't stop us we'll head on back to Punta Arenas with maybe one or 2 more CTD casts along the way plus a buoy deployment.

More pictures are up.

More Pictures!

2009-09-27T11:50:00.002-06:00

Here are some of the highlight pictures (and a video) so far from my POV. I'm sure I'll be able to grab pictures from other people, but for now with the limited bandwidth just the highlights.

The events so far at Palmer have consisted of getting others settled here, and going skiing on the Glacier. The best snow of the season is now apparently so it's the best time to ski, but even at that it's not very good by a global standard.

We are likely off the Hugo Island for a day or so to fix the GPS on a weather station there. hopefully we'll beat the bad weather there and then we'll make it back to Palmer here to wrap everything up before heading back to Punta Arenas for good.

Arrived!

2009-09-25T13:10:00.005-06:00

Michael and Company arrived last night at Palmer Station on the Antarctic Penninsula. Since he's at the base now hopefully he will be able to upload pictures and we can see some of what he's been seeing. Then again, he mentioned that he might be going xc skiing on a glacier near the station today, so he might not have time to use the internet all day. Yeah, I'm here grading labs, doing homework, and attending lectures. He's out skiing on glaciers. I think it sounds like a pretty fair trade, no?

Here's several of his most recent messages to tide us over until pictures arrive:
"Around mid day yesterday we saw out first land in a while. It was Smith Island and man was it amazing! The lower level was shrouded by a cloud bank, but it was amazing to see the tall pointy peaks coming strait out of the ocean. Right about now we're supposed to be going through this spectacular strait, but the snow is heavy so there isn't much to see. Maybe better luck on the way north.

I suppose you know too, from my last email, that we are in the islands and it foggy/snowy. Even with that a smallish iceberg went by that was amazing with it's blue caverns cut into the side. Such texture! We will get to Palmer today, but won't be able to dock until the AM (friday) unless the weather clears. Apparently they have XC skis there where we can go ski on the glacier so Sonja, another USAP person, and I are going to go do that. I'll be ready to tear up the snow with my XC skis when I get kacb. ;)

We did get into station earlier than we had scheduled (bad weather buffer), so our return plans are a bit iffy. It looks like we will be here till Thursday night and then sail over to Hugo Island to work on a remote weather station there. We have 3 full days scheduled there and then be back in PA on the 9th. This Monday is supposed to be a Station break day so Colm isn't too happy about wasting a day sitting here (he wants to get back ASAP to take care of stuff). If the weather is good at Hugo, then we'll leave when that's done and maybe do a couple CTD stops on the way back to PA. If this were the case we'd get to PA early. From that I don't know if Raytheon would pay for the different ticket, so I'm not sure how that'll go. I'll keep you up to date as I know things. Just wanted to let you know.

I've been able very slowly get the class videos onto my computer. So far about 1/3 done. Hopefully that'll keep me busy downloading and watching for the next week."

Land Ho!

2009-09-24T06:24:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon. I suppose it will be around noon when you can first read this.

This morning was quite beautiful with a great variety. We (Ken, Harriet, Colm, a couple of the transit crew, and I) just finished collecting cast #18 when the sun started to rise. the sky was mostly cloudy from the snow we had encountered earlier in the morning. There was small pancake ice floating in the water and the sun was trying to peak through the clouds. Not too long after that the large field of pancake ice diminished and turned in to many parallel streaks of the pancakes going off at an angle from the ship. I could see petrels flying off on the edge of the boat lights, even a couple giant petrels.

I went back down to do some work in the O2 lab and when I finished up the ice had returned in full to larger lily pad like ice that was ~2m across. I got some nice pictures/video of this. Again shortly there after the snow returned with the large lily pad ice, but I could still see the edge of blue sky to the south with yellow sky to the north. Now at breakfast the sky is clear, the sun is out for the first time in several days, the ice is gone, and the wind is clam. All within a few hours and not many miles traveled.

Last night was also very cool with the blowing snow (40 kt. winds). I went up to the bridge with Sonja and Mark. The wind was from the NE so it was quartering out back. From the bridge we could see the undisturbed free-stream flow, and then the turbulent flow coming off of the bridge. What made it especially interesting is that out 3-D anemometer mounted on a pole ahead of the bridge was in the variable area with the laminar and turbulent flows, so it should be interesting to look at that data.

The cable that holds the rosette sustained some damage on it's way in from cast #18, so we are siting at station 19 now waiting for the fix (another 2 hours or so). Otherwise the going has been slower than usual because of the ice. When the times get icy we have to slow down and deice the engine coolant water (I don't know how this happens). Ultimately that means we go 6kts instead of 10. The last 2 casts should be fairly short though since we've hit the trench and are on the shallow side of it now. I hope I'm awake to see the sights when we first hit the peninsular coast. Deception Island sounds like it's a really neat place but I think our chances of going there are very small.

The engines just shut down while we're waiting...the ship is so much quieter now.

I'm not sure what time we'll make it down to the peninsular islands, but I hope it's during the day time and that I'm awake too. The last couple of days I've been going to bed after finishing lunch and then getting up around 1900. It's really fun to watch the Cape Petrels fly around the boat without having to flap at all. Even when they drop down to catch some food (I suppose) then never really stop flying, then just let their feet touch and dip their beak into the water while keeping their wings spread out. It's really amazing that they can fly faster than the boat without really loosing any altitude; it boggles my mind how petrels and albatross can do what they do. The water is a really pretty blue out in the deep ocean. The undisturbed water is a nice deep blue with maybe a bit of purple hue to it, but when air gets mixed into the water you get the nice aquamarine color found in the tropical island waters.

Smooth Sailing

2009-09-20T19:48:00.002-06:00

They're out in the open sea now and it appears to be going well.
Again from Michael:
Yesterday, Fri. Sept.18: Yarr me mate. Ye best post up on some pirate talk day yarr. Temorra is international talk like me, ye space pirate, day. Yarr!

Today, Sunday Sept. 20: Hello again. Things have been going along at a good rate here. The weather has been amazing for the drake Passage. There has only been one bad-ish day, which resulted in a good amount of water coming into the room where the rosette is housed. Once the rosette was back up though there were no problems, just more water moving around the floor. Other than that the seas have been gently rocking. I heard the Captain say to a new crew member that this is the calmest you'll ever see in the Drake. Hopefully it'll stay this way until the sampling gets done and then I'd be up for some good storms. We are running short on one of the chemicals needed for the oxygen titration, but we'll see if we can substitute some KI for some NaI. Should be the same, we just need the I ion. The temp took a turn south yesterday from about 4 C to -1.5 now. Apparently it snowed some yesterday, but I slept through it; it is flurrying abit right now, but nothing notable. The crew enjoyed talk like a pirate day yesterday. Yarrr.

I suppose that's all for now.

Good morning!

On the Ocean

2009-09-17T12:56:00.006-06:00

Hi All, I received this email from Michael today saying he started his trip. I've included an image of the ship tracker showing where he's been so far. Looks like they're still pretty close to the coast of Chile, but soon they'll be out in the Drake Passage proper.

"Hey there. We got underway today without much fanfare. We've got the first 24hrs or so to get all of our testing techniques down pat. Today Mark and I with the help of Sonja trouble shot all of the problems we've been encountering with the O2 titration system. We think that one either the reagent, or the titrant are mix it a slightly wrong proportion. Colm made up a second titrant solution tonight maybe we'll see what that does for us tomorrow. It looks like I'll be taking the later shift opposed to Mark on the O2 system hopefully we can get some of the transit group to help us out and make the load not so bad.

It has been fun work so far and that's especially appreciated because they have been long hours (~18) a day. Apparently on of Sonja's hobbies is to make neck warmers and she let us go through and pick one out. I had a tough decision, but I ultimately ended up with a bumble bee and honey comb pattern. I'll see if I can get some pictures tomorrow of the land in the distance. I don't think we'll be out of the straits before 5 ET tomorrow (9/17) and at that we might linger a bit to let some 35ft seas pass us by. Even at that there are supposed to be storms every 3 days or so. In the passage the seas are not bad for a ship this size. I'd say they are equivalent to the roughest weather i saw during the EC coming around Cape Ramano off of San Marco Island."

And then from 3PM ET today:
"I'm off to sleep now. try to be ready for the first night of sampling. We've still had trouble with the o2 system, but it's mostly the equipment we've determined, so we'll just have to keep consistent our selves."

To Punta Arenas

2009-09-13T20:53:00.006-06:00

Here are the highlights pictures.

It was kind of funny... I went from this to this.

Maybe more tomorrow.

Drake Passage Cruise

2009-09-10T00:03:00.004-06:00

Start: Punta Arenas, Chile
September 16, 2009

Pausing: Palmer Station, Antarctica
September 27 - October 3, 2009

Finish: Punta Arenas, Chile
October 9, 2009

Follow the LM Gould at SailWX

Fullswing of CO Fall

2008-10-14T20:38:00.002-06:00

Last week Alice and I made a a quick trip up to the Indian Peaks Wilderness to see the wonders of a Colorado Fall. Here are the pictures from the Middle St. Vrain Creek valley. All told it was about a 16 mile round trip hike.

Summer's Over!

2008-09-23T15:29:00.007-06:00

Now that the summer is over and I am more or less settled in CO I have to post the remaining pictures from the ride.

But first here is the rest of the trip (in words) from Portland. We (Claire, Calum, & Trevor) left Portland after a couple days rest and headed for Lincoln City on the coast. But before we got there we ran into some incredibly yummy black berries, I got a ticket for running a stop sign on my bike, and we spent the night in McMinnville with a very nice family. The next day we made it to Lincoln City where I enjoyed the best peach ever. The following days were awesome riding down the Pacific Coast Highway. We took some short days and spent a night with Nathan and Michelle (remember them?) just north of Newport.

Several more days passed taking it easy, running into other cyclist along the way, and enjoying the seascapes. Particularly of note was the appropriately named Sunset Bay. Also, we happened to run into a hoard of what I'll call luxury cyclist between Sunset Bay and Bandon. The were several hundred cyclist riding really nice bikes and having all of their gear motored for them. They had all you could drink beer, warm showers on a truck, and massages in Bandon...what a life.

So on down the road we went. The last night I spent with them was on the beach just south of Golden Beach, OR. I still had 280 miles left to go in 3 days to get to Ft. Bragg so I knew I had to push it.

The first day I made it 90 miles across the CA/OR border and through the Redwood forests to the Elk Prarie campground. The next day I made it another 115 miles with a lovely last leg for the day along the Avenue of the Giants. The only crappy thing was that my rear wheel hub started to seize up on me so I really had to work to get anywhere. I was far enough out of town (Redway) that I need to to hitch-hike, so I did. I spent a good part of the night disassembling and overhauling my hub in the dark of an RV campground. The next morning I got a ride a few miles to the next town that had a small bike shop where the owner and I tried for several hours to fix the hub, but no success. I still had 75 miles and half a day to get to Ft. Bragg, so I rode down Hwy-101 some more hoping that the wheel would start behaving, but no success again. My only option really was to thumb it, so I did and I was pick up in short time.

In Ft. Bragg Alice and I visited the local Botanic Gardens where the Daliahs were in full bloom. We also spent a couple nights in the Bay area at the Exploratorium.

Anyway on to the pictures...

Ride Across North America

The Pacific

2008-08-06T23:35:00.000-06:00

West Coast Ride

2008-08-06T08:29:00.004-06:00

I realized that maybe I should have let everyone know what the crew is doing now that they made it to the West Coast, oops. They left Portland yesterday to head out to the coast, coast. I think that they're also hoping to reconnect with Nathan, Michelle, and maybe Stavros and Dan somewhere on the coast near Eugene, OR, but I'm not sure when and how this will happen.

They will be riding down beautiful highway 101 from Oregon to California. This way they should be able to ride through redwoods and along the pretty scenic coastline. I doubt there will be much swimming due to the cold California Current that runs south along the coast, but it brings nutrients to the area and supports all the seal, otter, fish, bird, and general ocean life along the coast.

I'm heading out to California soon for a backpacking trip with friends and then heading north to see my Aunt and Uncle and meet up with Michael (this is why I can't keep up with the trip anymore). He'll be returning to Oakland with me and then we'll have a day and a half in the Bay Area (staying with another of my Aunts) to explore. Michael, Trevor, Claire, and Calum are all flying out of the Bay Area on Aug. 20, so that is the ultimate destination for all, though I'm not sure if they'll end up taking the train some due to time crunches.

I've included a map with the general route below. I find it amusing that they are basically going to end at the same latitude of Denver, but they did a huge loop up north. I wonder if the final riding mileage of the trip will add up to going straight from Denver to San Francisco. I suppose we'll have to wait till the end to find out.

View Larger Map

Portland

2008-08-03T09:40:00.002-06:00

Michael and Co. hitchiked into Portland last night and spent the night exploring. I guess this means they're officially at "The West Coast" and my time as a guest writer in this blog has ended. I think Michael will take up posting again at some future date. Thanks for reading!
~Alice

Glacial Lakes

2008-08-01T09:15:00.002-06:00

First, Michael and co. are moving on again today. I'm not sure where they'll be dropped off from, but Claire's Aunt Inez will be taking them down the road a bit and they hope to be in Portland in less than a week. Almost to the last state they have to ride through! (Though they're all flying out of the San Francisco area on Aug.20, so they still have to get there.)

There was a request to discuss how glacial lakes were formed. A glacial lake is a place in rock where a glacier erodes rock. I believe this is most common as a glacier advances or recedes, because as the glacier moves it has to push rock out of the way. The reason they can be so deep is because glaciers are really powerful! Although they aren't moving particularly quickly (by our standards), they have tons mass and thus large momentum and kinetic energy. A glacial lake is exposed as a glacier retreats, the ice melts, the melt water fills in the depression gouged out, and voila, you have a glacial lake.

In the particular case of the Idaho lakes, I believe that the general latitude in Idaho/Montana that Michael was staying is roughly where the Cordilleran Ice Sheet ended. This ice sheet covered much of Canada during the last ice age. As a result, as the ice advanced or retreated these large lakes could have been created by the movement of these huge glaciers. Smaller glacial lakes are very common in mountains where there were only small, local glaciers. Lake Pend Orielle (near where Michael was staying)is the 13th deepest lake in the world, so there is more going on here than normal glaciation.

A particular geologic phenomenon was responsible for the depth of the lakes. At the end of the last ice age a glacial dam was created near Lake Pend Orielle when a glacier blocked the Clark River's path. As a result a huge lake was created: Lake Missoula. This lake was huge, but the intense pressure on the ice dam from the water eventually caused some ice to melt and the dam to fail. There were catastrophic floods all the way from the lake to the ocean and these created the Columbia River Gorge that Michael and co will be riding in to Portland. Lake Missoula would flood, eventually the ice dam would recover and the cycle would start again. Wikipedia tells me that these floods happened ~40 times in a 2,000 year period. Having a catastrophic flood every 50 years would certainly create the gorge and also help gouge out the lakes. If you want to follow up here are 1 and 2 good links.

Another interesting note here has to do with fluid dynamics, something Michael is particularly interested in. The river flow was immensely high during these floods. Some geologists have estimated it as equal to or exceeding the total flow of every river in existence today (that means the Amazon, Nile, etc etc). That is a lot of moving water! When water moves this quickly something called Cavitation occurs. Fast moving liquid has very low pressure and as a result air bubbles in the liquid collapse rapidly and create shockwaves that are particularly effective in eroding rock. I believe Michael watched a documentary about this process while he was staying with Claire's aunt, so it seems particularly pertinent to this situation. Repeated extremely fast moving water near the dam's breaking point would have created cavitation and gouged particularly deep in rock. It is in these eroded spots that the lakes now lie.

Michael wants me to show you a movie he found on an MIT website about cavitation and that he thinks is really cool. Follow this link and click on the 'Cavitation' movie, second one down.

Rathdrum

2008-07-31T15:23:00.002-06:00

Over the last few days the crew has been spending time with Aunt Inez, Claire's Aunt. The first 2 days we took our time and drove to Coeur D'Alene, ID and Sand Point, ID. They seem be be touristy spots during the summer. Both of them lie on natural lakes that are quite large, formed from glaciers. Yesterday was consumed with sailing a Hobie 14 around Coeur D'Alene lake. Conditions were quite good with 10-15 MPH winds and gusts on top of that.

I would love to be more thorough in everything, but I am being hassled but the fellow riders and my time on the computer is running low. I was trying to get pictures up, but they are using funny computers here in Hayden, ID so no luck with that. Maybe Washington or Oregon will be more friendly towards that.

We will be riding down the Columbia river into Portland on the Lewis & Clark trail so that should be scenic.

Idaho

2008-07-28T16:05:00.002-06:00

Michael and Co successfully made it to Missoula a few days ago where they were picked up by Claire's aunt and ferried across Idaho to Rathdrum. They are now very close to the border with Washington and are taking a few days off. I believe they are planning on riding the Lewis and Clark trail down the border of Washington and Oregon and end up in Portland. I believe Michael will get on here himself and say a bit more later, so I'll save that for him.

Subduction leads to Orogeny, or not?

2008-07-24T09:51:00.007-06:00

View Larger Map

The group is slowly making their way up towards Missoula, MT and then they will continue almost directly south again so that they end in Oregon instead of Washington. The group wanted to go directly west, but if you look at the map above you'll see that there is a big mountain range right smack in the way. I believe these are the Bitterroot mountains, a part of the northern Rockies. Now the Rockies are a pretty unique mountain range (I know, you could say that about any mountain range), so I wanted to spend some time explaining why the Rockies are here.

First some terminology:
Subduction: This is where one tectonic plate is pushed below another during a collision.
Orogeny: The process of mountain creation.

The Rockies are very different geologically because they are not an active range yet they are still relatively large. Most mountains you can think of lie along tectonic boundaries. The Andes have active volcanism because the oceanic Nazca plate is subducting below the continental South American Plate and these mountains are actively growing. The Himalaya lie along the Indian and Eurasian Plate boundaries and are also active, but they don't have volcanoes because the plates are both continental so there is no subduction. The Alps exist because the African and Eurasian plate collision. The New Zealand mountains, the Californian mountains and Washington coast mountains are from plate collisions and subduction, the Appalachians are from a plate collision millions of years ago (see earlier posts). But the Rockies are right smack in the middle of the continent here and have never been on a plate boundary. So why the heck are they here?

The Rockies were created 70-80 million years ago (they're young!) during a period called the Laramide Orogeny. The cause of this process is still debated, but one of the main theories involves the current activity off the coast of Washington and Oregon. Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Ranier, Mt. Baker, etc. are active because there is subduction off the coast: The Juan de Fuca plate is being subducted below the North American plate. This has a whole slew of present day hazards (too many for this post), but I think it's interesting because there is lots of history of this plate.

A long time ago, in the Jurassic (so imagine dinosaurs running all around) there was a huge plate roughly where the Pacific ocean is now. This plate was called the Farallon Plate. What remains now of this plate is the Juan De Fuca, the Cocos, and the Nazca Plates.

The rest of the plates has been subducted beneath the continent. So, now there is lots of this plate below the North American Continent.

Many geologists think that some unique sort of subduction led to the Laramide Orogeny. Somehow the Farallon plate subducted normally or at a shallow angle, but it is this plate mass that has pushed up the Rockies. Of course there is more geologic nuance than I can write here and much more than I am even acquainted with. But I think that it is really interesting how the Rockies were created. Of course there have been some changes from the last ice age and subsequent glaciation, but it is essentially the Farallon subduction that has created the mountains that are in the way of the cross country riders as I type.

PS The title is a geology joke. I just thought I'd clarify...

Short Day

2008-07-23T21:06:00.002-06:00

Today the group made it to Dillon, MT after about 30 miles. I believe they are trying to get an early start tomorrow in order to cover more ground. They are staying at a friendly woman's house and there seems to be less of a threat from storms tonight.

Michael asked me to link information about an earthquake that happened Aug. 17, 1959 just outside Yellowstone. The group rode right through the area where the epicenter of the quake was, so apparently there were signs and information about it. The quake was a magnitude 7.5, which is very large, so there was lots of local damage.

Montana

2008-07-23T08:05:00.003-06:00

Last night Michael was in Sheridan, Montana.

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The group wanted to get a bit further west, but they were caught by a big thunderstorm. Michael said the storm started with golf ball sized hail and then there was a lot more marble sized hail following that. I believe they all got to shelter in time not to be too injured, but the whole town had hail damage and the motel that they stayed at last night had broken windows and damaged siding from the hail. In addition, Michael's bicycle fell over during the storm and lots of his stuff got wet in the rain (somehow it was in a small flood or something), so he was hoping it would all dry in the night.

Hail the size that they experienced is relatively uncommon and suggests that the storm that passed over was very large with a strong updraft area. In order to bring the air and water droplets high enough to be frozen the cloud has to extend high into the troposphere where temperatures are very low.

Hail is created when a drop of water turns into an ice pellet. It gets caught in an updraft of the thunderstorm and collides with water droplets which then stick to it and make it grow. It eventually falls again and can either fall to the ground in this state or be caught by another updraft where it can accumulate more volume. The hail can be tossed around in the cloud for a long while and grow in size, thus leading to larger and more damaging hail. As a result the hail grows in layers and if you take a cross section of hail you can see these layers:

The larger the number of layers the larger the hail and more severe the storm. You can imagine that only a very strong storm with powerful updrafts could sustain large hail. As the hail grows in size it becomes more massive and the force of gravity on them increases. If it remains airborne long enough to grow to the large sizes then the updrafts must have been very powerful to prevent the hail from falling. However, at some point gravity always wins and the hail falls to earth.

Marble sized hail is the most common size and that hail is most often found near the borders of Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. I also read (in my handy atmos handbook) that hail is more common over mountain ranges because the mountains force air upward, and this intensifies the updrafts in the storm. Since Michael is right in the middle of the Rockies up there I wouldn't be surprised if this played into the hail.

Yellowstone- hot springs

2008-07-20T17:34:00.007-06:00

Michael called this afternoon to let me know that the group had moved on to West Yellowstone, just in the Montana border in order to do laundry and cook. They are moving north on highway 287 and are hoping to camp along there tonight. Yesterday was a laid back day at camp for Michael and Trevor, and Claire and Calum hitchhiked into the park and saw the northern part of the Loop: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and such. According to his comrades Michael looks too much like "a scary man" to be successful in getting rides now. Oh well, he got to rest and read all day instead.

He sent me some photos of the past few days and I've posted them above. You can click on the slideshow and be taken to my photo account if you would like to see any of them particularly. I'm going to write a short bit about each one below. I have included two that I pulled out of one of my high school papers and have interesting and somewhat sad stories related to what Michael saw.

1. The Grand Tetons: I know very little about these mountains except that they are very pretty and were created during the Laramide Orogeny, the event that created the Rocky Mountains (I'll talk more about this later). If you'd like to know more about Teton geology specifically look here (thanks Wiki!).

2. and 3. Michael's picture of Morning Glory Pool contrasted with a picture from around the 1950's: Michael told me specifically that he was sad after reading a post near the spring. In short people have ruined Morning Glory pool irreparably. It used to be one of the most popular pools in Yellowstone due to its beauty and similarity in color to the beautiful morning glory flowers.

However, because people have thrown debris in there they have plugged the below ground plumbing and the spring is no longer fed with hot enough water to sustain the original color. Thermophillic microscopic life lives in thermal pools at Yellowstone and creates particular colors, which are indicators of the temperature of the pool: 164-145F- Blue, light green; 144-122F -Orange, bright yellow. The lower temperature allows new algae and fungi growth, and the color of the spring has changed to an orange (maybe Michael likes it this way better ;) that is less popular than the original blue color.

A cleaning of Morning Glory in 1950 produced many objects including socks, bath towels, 76 handkerchiefs (to be explained next!), tax tokens, logs, bottles, tin cans, $86.27 in pennies, and $8.10 in other coins. People continue to pollute Morning Glory and sadly coins currently line the walls of the spring.

4. Handkerchief Pool, early 1900's: I included this to elaborate on why the hot springs are so damaged. This photograph has, yes, a ranger holding up a handkerchief about to drop it in a pool.
Many hot springs are connected to others by the underground plumbing. In the past people would place debris into a feature to determine if the water could eject it, for more frequent eruptions, for good luck, for amusement, or for no apparent reason. Rocks, sticks, and other objects can completely block off an opening and stop all water flow. They can also cause a pressure buildup, so the next geyser eruption is sooner and more powerful. The plumbing system can be damaged, sometimes irreparably, because of the extra force in these eruptions.

Clothing was commonly laundered at hot springs and even Old Faithful was used for this chore in the 1880’s because when clothes were washed in Old Faithful, they came out “nice and clean as a …week’s scrubbing.” By doing laundry at springs, people discovered that adding soap, another foreign material, to certain springs would make them erupt (I don't know the chemistry or other particulars of the reaction here). The soaping induced an almost immediate eruption for impatient tourists and almost all geysers were soaped at some point. Soaping induced eruptions that were usually more powerful than normal and more likely to damage the plumbing due to too much force.

There were also handkerchief tricks that were even listed as amusements in tour guides. The most famous of these pools was Handkerchief Pool, though others were used too. Handkerchief pool had particular currents that would suck handkerchiefs in one vent and return them “nice and clean” in another vent soon after. Unfortunately some logs stuffed by careless tourists into the vent of Handkerchief Pool in 1929, plugged this spring. If the handkerchief trick were still allowed today (thank goodness it isn't!), it would not work because the plumbing that allowed for it was destroyed. Sad.

5. Dragonfly: Michael said that this morning there was a dragonfly flitting around. It was cold in the morning so the df was having trouble flying. He picked it up and held it on his hand. His skin's warmth helped it heat so it soon flew off. I think it might be a Black Meadowhawk, but whatever it is it has fantastic wing patterns!

6. Entering Montana: Just the requisite state sign.

Yellowstone-wildlife

2008-07-19T20:35:00.004-06:00

Michael has not been able to call much in the past few days because there is little cell phone service outside a few centers within Yellowstone. He's camping at Madison, on the western side of the park, with the three he's riding with. He told me that he has been unable to see the Artist's Paint Pots because there is some kind of road work going on in that area, but I think he's been able to see some paint pots.

But he has been around the Upper geyser basin, the location of old faithful and other famous springs like Morning Glory Pool, Beehive geyser, etc. And of course the beautiful Old Faithful Inn built around 1900. The lodge used to give bear viewings from the roof when park staff used to feed bears for the tourist interest. The viewing platform was disturbed by earthquakes and is now no longer open to the public for safety reasons. When I was young my favorite thing to do when I got to the inn was in the main entrance hall to look up in the highest rafters for a stuffed bear that was placed there during construction and was somewhat of a mystery. It was very small and hard to see and a fun game to see if I could find it before my brother. But during an earthquake in the last 10 (or so) years it feel from the rafters and is now kept in a museum in Mammoth.

Anyway, back to the wildlife. Perhaps things have changed since last I spoke to him, but he told me that all the wildlife he'd seen was a bison (known as buffalo, but this is a misnomer, they are American Bison) or two. I was in shock. There are usually animal jams galore in Yellowtone, especially in the summer when all sorts of people who have never seen bison or elk or moose. I hope that they will see a bear or coyote before going, but alas I cannot direct the animals. Shrug.

Michael said they did come across a bison skeleton that had been eaten, and he said perhaps by a pack of wolves. I have no idea how he decided this since it could easily have been scavenging bears, coyotes, etc. But the reintroduction of the grey wolf into Yellowstone is something very interesting as a human attempt to help restore the ecosystem. The grey wolf is the top predator in the ecosystem and after they were all killed earlier in the century the ungulate population grew alarmingly. Now having hoards of moose, elk, deer, bison, etc might sound like a good thing, but in fact it is very damaging. When there are too many herbivores the vegetation gets overeaten and they also move outside park boundaries to get enough food. In addition, after the large fires in 1988 and the loss of old growth trees it is important to have new growth plants because without plants' roots there can be problems with erosion.

Anyway, the grey wolf reintroduction has gone well. Even though there have been some problems with huge legal battles and later poaching (Local ranchers have been particularly opposed to the reintroduction because they are afraid that the wolves will kill their stock). However, the population has grown from the original 66 wolves in 1995 to somewhere around 325 in 2006. In addition the packs have spread and now populate areas (see map below) and wolves have even been spotted as far south as Colorado and these have been traced to the Yellowstone packs. The park has definitely had benefits such as increased growth of forest and recovery of some species, like red fox, and I believe that there have been fewer problems with preying on farm animals than expected. So, at least in my opinion, this reintroduction has been a success. I doubt Michael will see the wolves on this trip, but if he did that would be a treat indeed!

Yellowstone

2008-07-17T10:58:00.009-06:00

Michael called a few days ago to tell me that he, Claire, Calum, and Trevor had successfully hitchhiked to the Grand Tetons and were staying in the campground there that night. I have not heard from them since, but they were planning to ride on (yes, actually on their bicycles) to Yellowstone and I can only assume that they were there last night. They are probably riding their bicycles near very smelly hot springs as we speak. I know Michael said that he was excited to see the paint pots too. The weather there is supposed to be cooler and clear, so hopefully it is pleasant riding as they start up again.

I just wanted to talk a little bit about Yellowstone geology because it is near and dear to my heart (my dad wrote a book about Yellowstone, so when I was younger my family would go there yearly). Of course Yellowstone has wildlife (wolves, bears, and bison, oh my!- just a few), flowers, lots of mosquitoes, new growth forest following the fires, etc etc. I could talk a lot about all this stuff, but I'll stick to geology since without that Yellowstone would not be protected and instead probably hunted out and settled like most of the west.

Yellowstone National Park is a geothermal hot spot area. This means there is an upwelling mantle plume that brings warmer temperatures near the surface and increases active volcanism. The mantle plume is relatively stationary as the crust moves around the Earth's surface, so in the case of Yellowstone it is easy to follow the caldera movement across Idaho and into Wyoming. The number is the date in millions of years ago that the caldera was active.

Now the lovely thing about being a hotspot is that there is increased volcanism in the region. In the case of Yellowstone, right now, this is manifest as hydrothermal activity. We get geysers like Old Faithful, hot springs like Grand Prismatic here, or paint pots. All lovely interesting things to see.

But by far the coolest part, in my opinion, is that Yellowstone is still an active volcano. I keep using the word caldera here. A caldera is just place where land has collapsed following a volcanic eruption. This is why there is a large lake in the middle of Yellowstone: it is the shallowest area in the caldera. The particular volcano in the Yellowstone area erupts roughly every 600,000 years in a rather large explosions. Ash from some previous explosions has reached far into the midwest and even been as high as 10 feet in Kansas. That is A LOT of ash. It makes explosions like the one that destroyed Pompeii look like little poofs of air.

And guess how long it has been since the last eruption? Oh, approximately 600,000 years. That means, geologically speaking, we are due for an eruption any day. Fortunately the USGS (US Geological Survey) has tons of sensors all around Yellowstone to measure any volcanic activity and hopefully the park would be evacuated if there were serious threats. As for now, the park remains relatively placid and entertaining for the many tourists. Maybe the biggest threat to the park right now is global climate change, which has led to drought in many western states. As a result geysers have less water to draw from and their eruptions become less frequent and more unpredictable. I wonder if nature will destroy her own creation before or after we do it for her.

Rawlins Update

2008-07-14T11:43:00.003-06:00

Hello from Rawlins, WY! Right now Trevor, Claire, Calum and I are in the Carbon County library trying to figure out a way to get from here to Yellowstone quickly and at a reasonable cost. Some may think that we aren't 'riding' across the country if we do that, but I don't really care because this will allow us to ride down the OR/CA coast, plus it's all part of the adventure. Rawlins isn't the place to find good public transportation, but we'll see what we can do.

I forgot to say in my post from Fort Collins that I need to send great thansk to Alice for keeping up with all of our adventures, and to her Mom and step-Dad for letting us crash at their house for a couple days. All of us appreciate the food, shelter and warm showers! A special thanks to Alice for her daily reports to the rest of the world. I know many people are watching our next move and really appreciate what you do. Thanks!

Saratoga, WY

2008-07-12T21:46:00.002-06:00

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This morning Michael, Claire, Calum, and Trevor set out to cross Snowy Creek Pass at 10,847ft. near Medicine Bow Peak in Wyoming. It was a twelve mile climb that took Michael two hours, C&C three hours, and Trevor 5 minutes by hitchhiking (I hear he's getting good at hobbling around and looking in desperate need of a ride). There was an 18 mile descent with lots of views of lakes, snowy mountains, and general pretty mountain scenery. At the summit they ran into a cyclist from Ft. Collins who'd built his bicycle and a motorcyclist from Vermont to whom they talked for a bit.

Michael said today was a relief after the difficulty of yesterday. Though the wind was at their fronts it seemed easier. The winds don't look to be helpful for the next couple of days, so I think it will be some battling to get through Wyoming. Tonight they are in Saratoga, WY. Apparently it has hot springs that C&C went to, but Michael thought they looked sufficiently sketchy to avoid them. Tomorrow it's on to Rawlins!

On a side note, Marsha (Michael's mom) is at a conference in Utah right now. She was hoping to meet up with the crew, but that looks like it might not work with their delays. But she DID get third place out of 350 in classical music trivia at the conference. I bet her husband and son might have helped with that ;)

A Layover in Colorado

2008-07-10T20:44:00.002-06:00

I greeted Michael last Friday (the 4th) at about noon in Denver, CO. He'd ridden fast (the others arrived about 4.5 hours after he did) and was caked in salt and sweat. He promptly was ushered into the shower and then helped me make food for the rest of the group. We had black bean lasagna, watermelon, salad, and ice cream to celebrate. Then the group rode off to see fireworks at various places around Denver. From a building you could see all along the front range and the various shows going on in different towns.

On Sunday he and I drove up to Ft. Collins so I could go to work the next day and the rest of the crew headed to Boulder to hang out. Colorado is very bike friendly, so I think they all enjoyed the bicycle lanes in the cities and general outdoor culture. At one point riding around Ft. Collins Michael told me that he thought it was cool that there were so many people out riding to downtown, for commuting, and just for fun or to get around, but it made him feel less special for riding his bike. You sure don't stick out riding a bike here, but I think riding across the country is something to make you stick out!

After spending nearly a week in Colorado Michael has started the rest of his journey west. He left today from Fort Collins, CO and is spending the night with Claire, Calum, and Trevor in Laramie, WY in the backyard of a writer for Velo News. Those three had ridden through Ft. Collins a day before in order to get an earlier start and feel less rushed. Today was a hard day due to hills, wind, and some of the hottest weather we've had yet this summer. Plus he was starting a long day after many days' break. I'm sure he'll fall into the rhythm again soon enough. I could tell that he was throughly enjoying himself and by the last night he was itching to be back on the road and complete the trip. The rest of the crew hasn't found the willpower to leave Boulder yet, so hopefully they will follow tomorrow or the next day and they won't fall too far behind.

Yesterday Michael and I, along with the rest of my fellow summer interns, went to New Belgium Brewery here in Fort Collins. They do brewery tours and give free sampling of their beers and I think they give you around 1.5 pints of legitimately good beer in total (I'm not a huge beer fan and I liked them quite a lot). They are also a very sustainable company and have invested in renewable energy, very good recycling of their products and waste in processing, they build energy efficient buildings, and they encourage bicycling. Their emblem and most popular beer is Fat Tire (a bicycle theme) and each employee gets a free New Belgium cruiser bicycle on their first anniversary of working for the company. The company is employee owned and the employees all get a free case of beer each week. With that much beer I think they just end up bartering it with friends for other things. Anyway, Michael enjoyed it a lot and I've added a slide show of the few pictures from there below.

Dan's Nederland Carnage

2008-07-09T11:37:00.001-06:00

So here is one tale to tell from the Boulder visit... hopefully details will come shortly from the man himself.

Update from the Front Range

2008-07-09T10:09:00.002-06:00

Here is a slide show of the last round of pictures between Hutchinson, KS and Fort Collins, CO.

It's been a nice break from the ride for me and I think the others have also enjoyed the time too. They spent a couple days in Boulder after leaving Denver. Last night Claire, Calum, and Trevor rode into Fort Collins and are planning on heading out later today. While Stavros, Dan, and Nathan are still livin' it up in Boulder. I hear of some great happenings down there; maybe you can read about them from Claire.

That's all for now I guess. There will be more from the road.

Storms

2008-07-03T06:19:00.003-06:00

I didn't want to worry anyone last night with a post (including myself), but the gang was sidelined in Wild Horses, CO for the night due to severe storms. As Michael was talking to me he said he could see the northern sky just filled with storms and lightning. They'd hoped to get to Hugo, CO but due to a late start in the morning, road construction delays, and a reported tornado in between them and the destination they decided to stay in Wild Horses.

All day they had nice tail winds which helped them along the way towards Denver. These tail winds from the south east were probably what helped contribute to the severe storms and copious moisture in this system. We had a big storm in Fort Collins and the streets literally turned into rivers for a short while. Of course, it being Colorado, within and hour they were back to normal. We did get continuous smaller showers all evening though, and that is not usual for CO.

Below is a radar image of last night from NCAR. Pueblo is the PUX station at center of the map and Wild Horses is north of the triangle shape on the far right of the map and near the intersection of the two red lines (highways). You can see that the most severe weather is purple and red and it is headed right toward them.

On a NOAA radar (that I was unable to capture) I saw something that looked remarkably like a hook echo. This radar pattern is indicative of tornadoes and would explain the warnings. Anyway, I just told Michael to make sure they had somewhere nearby that was underground, but the likelihood of any tornado actually reaching them was pretty low. They probably just got soaked with rain and possibly hail as well.

Today is a cooler day and they are making their way toward Denver. Tonight will hopefully be spent in Kiowa, just 40 miles south of my house in Denver. Then they'll either ride into the city and get to my house or stop at a reservoir in south Denver where I can go pick them up. They're staying in the backyard of my mom's house in Denver for a night or maybe two and will be able to enjoy the 4th where they are sure to see fireworks!

COLORADO

2008-07-02T10:00:00.002-06:00

Michael is now officially in Mountain Time; do I need to say more? eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Maybe in a few days he'll actually write on this blog himself, gasp!

Kansas

2008-06-30T20:13:00.002-06:00

The bicycling crew has had two ~90 mile days in a row now. Lots of straight Kansas roads. Last night was spent in Rush Center, a tiny town with only 170 people and no gas station to get food at. Dan had some wheel trouble and decided to take it apart, only to lose some ball bearings from it. He got in late last night after fixing it. Tonight the crew is in Scott City, KS. The town is bigger and pretty close to the Colorado border. They should get into Colorado tomorrow or the day after and hopefully arrive in Denver on the 4th, in time to stay at my mom's house and see some fireworks!

Today Michael saw a dust devil with birds riding the thermal above it. They had a pretty good crosswind so he could watch as the dust devil and birds moved relative to the earth's surface. Cool! They also had lots of trucks passing by today and one blew out a tyre right beside Michael. He was not hurt or anything, but I imagine it was quite a shock! Combines for harvesting also were a common sight and a bit scary to pass by on the road.

In Nickerson, KS, about three nights back, the group ran into a group of 5 other guys who are also going west on the TransAmerica route. They spent last night and tonight together as well and Michael rode 33 miles with them today. Different company and riding styles must have been an interesting spice.

Slideshow of Pictures

2008-06-29T11:02:00.002-06:00

The third installment of pictures from Michael's trip! For good measure I've uploaded the other two picture installments in slideshow form as well. If you click on the pictures it should take you to the online album where you can read Michael's comments and any captions for the pictures.

Halfway!- changes

2008-06-28T19:57:00.004-06:00

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As of Friday Michael was at ~1720 miles on his bicycle and about halfway across the country (as the fingers measure on a computer screen ;) . Tonight they are in Hutchinson, staying with Trevor's uncle. Today is a long day because they are riding a stretch where there are no towns or anywhere that the group can stop to sleep. I should be able to post more pictures soon too! Keep checking.

The crew took a half day and split up to go play around with the day off. Dan went and bought a backpacking guitar so he could play music for the rest of the trip; in fact, he was playing it as Michael and I talked. Claire and Calum decided to go play at a waterpark in Wichita. Trevor's uncle picked him up so they could have family time before the whole crew arrived. Stavros, Nathan, and Michael set out together from Wichita to ride to Hutchinson.

For lunch they stopped at Anne's Variety store in Mt. Hope, KS. The place was being renovated, so the owners didn't have their health inspection certificate yet. As a result, the food was pretty cheap and the boys had to cook their own food that they bought at the store. The owner (maybe Anne??) helped them out with this and regaled them with her opinions about goat breeding. The woman was a serious goat breeder for a hobby and even got out her magazines of goat stock (males?) to breed. They got to hear how she liked the coloring and size of this one or that one, but perhaps the ears were too long and reached the mouth, a serious no-no in goats! I wonder if they have a Westminster type show for goats or if they are just at the state fairs and perhaps other events like that.

Hutchinson is home to underground salt mines, one of a handful like this in the world and one of the 8 wonders of Kansas! Salt, along with wheat, other crops, and fossil fuels, was important in establishing the wealth of Kansas because when the mines were founded salt was still very difficult to obtain. In addition to tours of the salt mine, places that have already been mined are now used as storage facilities for things from Hollywood movies to business records so that there are backups of information stored there. These vaults are somewhere around 350 feet below ground.

Now, what I want to know is why there? The website was sort of helpful here, but not very detailed. Of course, underground storage will remain at pretty constant temperatures year round and if there are no rivers nearby then it wouldn't be too humid. Kansas is pretty much right between the New Madrid fault and the Rio Grande Rift valley, so I suppose it is not super tectonically active. (I don't think most people know there is a very active and potentially dangerous fault in the middle of the country.)

However, I wanted geologic information on how salt came to be in Kansas. I didn't find much online so I'm speculating here. If you read this before it has changed because I've consulted my mom (she's a geologist). During the Cretaceous (and various other geologic periods) there has been a large inland sea in the midwest US. See below:

As you can see, in the area where Kansas is it may have been quite shallow. As the continent closed up and the sea evaporated it could have left a lot of salt deposits behind. My mom suggested that another support for the sea theory was that the limestone in Kansas is not very pure and has lots of sandy bits. This suggests that the area was a transition area: somewhere shallow where salt could collect, but this isn't necessarily on the coast. In contrast, the limestone in Missouri and Kentucky is fairly pure meaning they were out farther and deeper in the sea. The limestone forms the famous caves in this area.

Wichita, KS

2008-06-26T23:12:00.005-06:00

First on the agenda tonight, pictures from Kansas.

The requisite state entrance sign:

Crops next to one of the straight Kansas roads:

Moooo! Wow, look at that big sky!

Today the gang is in Wichita, KS for the evening. Tonight they are staying at a home found via couchsurfing. Michael reports that the residents are classical musicians and had a record collection of classical music that he really envied. He wished he could listen to it all, but that alone would take several days.

Today was another day of mostly long, straight roads. Michael said that the days of riding here go something like this: ride 30 miles west, turn right and ride 10 miles north, turn left and ride 15 miles west, turn north and ride 3 miles north, turn left, etc etc etc. The constant tempo without much gear changing has made them pretty tired because going at the same pace and in the same position all day leads to cramps and aches.

Michael had a dinner of falafel and cheese after which he took a walk and could see storms in the distance. Below is the radar for tonight in Wichita thanks to NCAR weather. Wichita is the point in the center of the light blue. The red, yellow, and green all around is a squall line of thunderstorms. Fortunately Michael and company are not in the serious rainfall areas, so Michael was just enjoying watching the clouds and lightning on his evening walk, but this storm is no joke. Much of Kansas is currently under flash flood warnings and these storms can produce the tornadoes that Kansas and the rest of "tornado alley" are famous for.

Fortunately tomorrow will be a half rest day, so hopefully they'll get to stretch some too! Michael hopes to visit an aviation museum tomorrow in the town they're riding to. But it seems that the planes are very present in Kansas; he told me "I was definitely on the sky all today." There were lots of general aviation planes and biplanes up and about as they rode into town, so he enjoyed that. I read online that Wichita is home to Boeing, Cessna, Learjet and Ratheon, so it is no surprise that the city has also been nicknamed the "Air Capital of the World." He also got really (and yes, I mean so excited it hurt my ear to listen on the phone) excited about a twin-rotor helicopter flew overhead at a really low altitude (thanks to Dr. Howard here!).

But there aren't just airplanes around Wichita. Michael and crew rode through El Dorado, KS, home to the state maximum security prison. At a gas station in town they ran into a guard who, along with many people, found it amazing and unbelievable that these kids are riding all the way across the country on bicycles. I find it pretty unbelievable that she can work with the serial killers in prison. To each their own, I suppose. I think I'll stick to the climate modeling though.

Random notes: Michael has apparently acquired a new riding nickname: M-bot (or variations of that ilk). The group has decided that he is THE authority for knowing how to fix bicycles, knowing about planes, knowing about the clouds and storms they always see, and also predicting the weather. So he'll go for a walk or to the grocery store and come back and be bombarded with requests to fix the chain on this bike, or maybe adjust the derailleur on another bike, etc etc. I think he likes being the group mechanic/bike authority and I certainly look forward to his help on tuning up my bicycles!

Michael is thinking about possibly taking the Western Express route from Colorado to San Francisco instead of riding north through Wyoming to Oregon. I think he's going to bring it up with some of the kids sometime soonish. Maybe they'll wait till they get to Colorado and take a bit of a longer break. They're hoping to get to CO by the 4 July so they can see fireworks and celebrate because there aren't many sizable towns between where they are and Denver. If they miss the 4th they can always make Bastille day though! ;)

That's all for tonight, but I'm wishing them good weather, good winds, and speedy travels.

Chanute- a brief history

2008-06-24T21:47:00.002-06:00

Michael has reached Kansas and the long, flatish road that accompanies it. He rode about 60 miles today with a headwind that made the whole day a bit more of a slog than anything. But tonight will be spent in Chanute, KS. At Michael's request I'm writing about that.

He said he rode into the town and saw pictures of gliders and airplanes on the welcome board. I think he poked around and found out that the town was named after Octave Chanute, an aviation pioneer who helped the Wright brothers with their ideas and who graces our presence in the photo above. You can read more at this link, but he sounds like a cool guy.

Tomorrow holds more of the same in terms of riding. I will continue updating the map of where the group is, so it will be available for viewing as well!

Missouri

2008-06-22T21:44:00.002-06:00

This picture is one that Michael took this evening of the clouds near Ash Grove, MO. The top of the cumulus cloud is lit up by the sun, but this one isn't a thunderstorm yet.

He said today wasn't that great a day and seemed pretty off his normal self on the phone. The hills were steeper than they expected, they took long breaks and didn't get in as many miles as they wanted. A pack of dogs ran after them at one point and one bit Claire's shoe. She was pretty shaken up about that and it took a bit to recover.

Highlights were that he saw a scissor tail out flying around. Also, while Michael was waiting for the rest of the crew to get to a rest stop some guys drove up to get some beer. They asked Mike where he was going and he said "Oregon" and they said "no way". They asked where he was from and he said "North Carolina" and they just told him that he must be bullshitting them. Then they insisted that they shake his hand if he was really doing that. To cap it all off, as they drove away one yelled out the window: "If that doesn't get you laid, I don't know what will." Interesting...

They're hoping to get to Colorado by the fourth of July. I did some calculations for them and that meant 70 mile days from tomorrow on. Well, in Kansas maybe it won't be such a problem. The maps for Kansas (you can see them on the Adventure Cycling association link, to the left) have very straight lines with none of the curviness we've seen so far. They're hoping to get out early, so tonight was an early to bed night as well.

Popeye

2008-06-22T06:52:00.002-06:00

"The biking gang went through Chester, IL--- home of the creator of Popeye! The TV show Good Eats filmed there recently otherwise we wouldn't have known either. Michael said there were references to Popeye all over town. Hope they had some spinach while they were there!"

Thanks to Marsha!

Missouri Pictures

2008-06-21T22:40:00.002-06:00

Michael sent some pictures this evening from Marshfield, MO (just east of Springfield). I believe more are on the way as well, but we'll have to wait to see in the morning!

The big surprise today was that they didn't all get rained on horribly. I checked the forecast and Doppler earlier today so they had an idea of weather and it didn't look good: severe thunderstorm warnings and flash flood warnings over Springfield. The crew was deciding what to do when a sheriff came into the subway where they were eating and told them the weather was looking bad. They prepared for the worst and got rain gear out, but no one actually took the precaution of putting it on except Claire. By doing so she saved the rest of them and scared away the weather. ;) There was tons of rain in the area, but it seemed to pass them all by and they didn't actually get rained on at all.

Michael's trouble had more to do with flat tires. Fortunately, while he changed the flat tires he was able to look at the fantastic storm clouds. He said that while he was watching he saw an updraft of a cloud shoot up until it started moving outward in the identifying anvil for thunderstorms. I'm going to add a little atmospheric science in here (hey, I'm not doing work on cloud modeling for nothing this summer! Actually this has nothing to do with my modeling...). The fact the Michael could see the top of the anvil means that this particular thunderstorm was really far away from him. The anvil only forms when the updrafting air hits the tropopause (a boundary layer in the atmosphere) and can't rise anymore and must move outwards. Since the tropopause is usually around 35000 feet high this is a really high cloud and you can only see it if you're far away. So, I guess I'm saying Michael had nothing to fear from that particular storm, at least as he watched it form. He said the the colors were really cool with the bottom being light pink and the top being lit up by the sun (this happens because of the extreme height too. Think of watching a sunset on a tall building vs. the ground. It sets sooner for the ground viewer than the higher up one).

Anyway, I think Michael has more cloud pictures for us maybe tomorrow. The group got into town and are staying at the fairgrounds. They were able to shower and then relax for the night. After dinner of falafel Michael called and said he was watching a family of foxes (two adults, two kits) playing near him. They were running around and barking! He finally went off to bed saying that they're aiming for getting near the Kansas border tomorrow and will hopefully be in Kansas in two days!

Some random things before we get to pictures:

Michael's road name is "Flattius". I think it might be a combination of his flat tire incidence rate and his flatulence. Not sure which made more of an impact on the nickname.

Apparently in VA, KY, IL, and most of MO the main type of roadkill was turtles. Now it is Armadillos. Neither of us really knew armadillos were that common in southern MO. Too bad they get hit by cars so often!

Michael learned how to pull on the upstroke of pedaling so maybe he can get a full leg workout now. When you have clipless pedals you can get power from the upstroke and downstroke and can get moving faster or use it to work different muscle groups.

Manners go out the windows when you're riding XC. I guess this is one of the main topics of conversation for the group when they're in a town and eating dinner or in a library/store/whatever. Maybe Michael will elaborate more on this for us when he can enter some stuff himself on the blog!

Pictures!

Missouri! I think that taking a picture of each sign is now a tradition.

Michael riding along. I've noticed he seems to have lots of side facial hair in this and pictures on the album of other pictures he sent me. I wonder if it's itchy?

Clouds at the base of a storm in Missouri. These often form below thunderstorms!

A few more things

2008-06-19T19:08:00.002-06:00

I almost forgot: Michael has commented on many of the next batch of pictures that I have posted. I think the comments say they were made by me, but I guess he signed in as me to comment because he has done all the commenting. Check those out if you are interested.

Also, Claire has a livejournal blog that I have linked at left. There you can find more descriptions from the perspective of one of the riders.

Alley Spring

2008-06-19T17:33:00.000-06:00

Hi again everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I have been at a climate modeling conference in the mountains and didn't have my computer or internet. Michael has also been rather out of touch and unable to get reception in rural Missouri. I guess the Ozarks are not the most in demand place for cell service.

Michael and company are now about 1/3 of the way through Missouri. All I heard of the ride today was that it was arduous: hilly, hot, and lots of unfriendly cars. Too bad! All I have besides that is the map of their progress. Hopefully we'll get more of an update later this weekend!

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Bicycling for all ages!

2008-06-15T19:27:00.000-06:00

Today was a rest day well earned for Michael and crew and it sounds like the name of the game was "Consume as Many Calories as Possible." They slept in, then when they woke up went out to eat at a coffee shop for breakfast. Immediately after the coffee shop they went to some markets to buy food for the trip and the potluck this afternoon. Michael said he got falafel mix. Then they made the food and went to the picnic where they ate some more, hung out, and experimented with slacklining, which I can attest is much harder than it might seem. When I talked to him they were thinking about heading out for a second dinner. I'm sure they need the food, so great! Plus, we get the second round of pictures and I believe Michael has commented on them and the first round so we can have an idea of what is going on in each. Hooray!

At Michael's request I'm going to write about what I did this afternoon: watch a local bike race. The picture above is from the races. A mere kilometre away from my summer home on the Colorado State University campus are the "Races at the Oval" and it was great fun to go watch.

The best part about the races is that they are totally family friendly. There are races for all ages and abilities, both men and women (or girls and boys depending on ages here): under 6, 7-12, 13-17, 18+ and then 50+. In the last two categories there are also the distinctions of "citizen" and "licensed" racers. I went to see a friend of mine and co-intern for the summer from Colorado College race (he was in the 18+ men, licensed). It was great to see the older groups race around the oval and to oogle their very beautiful (and pricey) bicycles. It was cool, but a rather big crash in the last citizen men's race required an ambulance transport and reminded me that bicycles are not just fun, games, and racing. Fortunately the races require helmets (not all races do) as a safety example for the kids who are racing.

However, I think the best part was the kids races. The above is a picture of the start of the under six race. The kids races were great because these kids still had training wheels. I mean their bicycles barely come up to my knee and they're racing them! Older kids had everything from mountain bicycles, to BMX bikes, to road bikes. And they all just had a jolly good time. It wasn't super competitive and everyone cheered as they came into the finish. And I mean cheered the whole time until the very last kid completed his last lap. Talk about community support!

I think the best part of these races, which I want to emphasize and I think Michael would agree with, is that bicycling can be for everyone and not just racing. This race series includes things like "messenger" bicycle races for the career messenger bicyclists who use very different bicycles than a typical road bike. There were also trackstand contests to see who could balance longest on the bike (I know Michael is very proud of his trackstanding ability, of which I have none). Families who don't compete ride their bicycles there to watch and play on the grass and have picnics and cheer on others. And on the other end of the spectrum, there were definitely families where the mom, dad, and kids would be racing in their respective categories. Loads o'fun and very family oriented. If you want to see a few more fun pictures check here. I also saw a photographer from the local paper, so perhaps there will be some in there tomorrow too!

Carbondale, IL

2008-06-14T20:30:00.000-06:00

Michael has called to check in for the past two days. These past days the crew has ridden into and almost through Illinois and Michael's odometer clicked over the 1000 mile mark. He's currently at 1025 miles!

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Friday the 13th the crew had a very bad day for cycling. They started from Marion, KY but it was a rainy day. They were all packed and ready to go pretty early on but it was raining in the morning. They had to cross the Ohio river and past there into Illinois the road got pretty bad. Michael rode through ahead of the group through Elizabethtown but soon after some storms came up and he waited them out in an empty carport along the road. He waited about an hour and then suited up for rain and rode on a few more miles. At that point Claire called to say the rest of the crew was stuck due to storms in Elizabethtown and they weren't going on. All in all Michael did 35 miles.

She went to pick Michael up and brought him back there. They stayed in a church there and met two other cyclists from Boulder who were riding XC starting in San Francisco. They talked about routes through Colorado, Kansas, and Kentucky. Then Michael said that because his quads had been (and I quote) "screaming at me a lot" he made sure to eat a lot of food and stretch for a long time. He also started reading Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver. It is a good book that I would highly recommend and that I think was recommended to him. He got to sleep around 11, but he said it wasn't very good sleep because he was sleeping right above an air conditioner, cars kept rolling by, and dogs were barky all night.

He woke up at 4:45 and woke the rest of the crew. They were planning to get on the road by 6AM. Because Michael was ahead he decided to drive the car on up to where he'd last stopped. He also said the roads were bad in that section, so he didn't really feel like re-riding it. I guess the roads used to be gravel and then to "pave" the road they just tarred over the tar so it is very bumpy, sticky, and annoying. When Trevor caught up he took a turn driving the car (I wonder how big this car is...) and then Claire and Nathan took turns driving later on.

Mike said the day was a nice one of hills, minus the road quality. He did about 90 miles in total and arrived in Carbondale. When we talked they were waiting for Claire to pick up Trevor and Nathan who had broken down on the road. One had a broken spoke in his wheel and the other had a CO2 inflation capsule blow up as he tried to fix a flat and I guess neither had a hand pump. Then they were going to go out to dinner. Michael said he thought Carbondale was pretty nice, so it is a good stopping place.

Tomorrow they will be taking a much needed rest day. Because Michael's legs are screaming (After 1000 miles I would scream too!) and everyone else is tired too. Tonight they are staying with someone they found on couch surfer and the people happen to work with solar panels. Tomorrow they are getting some local publicity for the trip. I don't know if there will be sound, video, an article or what, but as I know I will post it here (if it is available via interweb). They will be having a potluck for them and I think Michael is also hoping to email a bunch more pictures and get some access to internet.

Two pictures

2008-06-13T15:04:00.001-06:00

Some Kentucky countryside!

Illinois! Need I say more? I have no idea who is in front of Michael here.

Perhaps more of an update tonight or tomorrow AM.

song

2008-06-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today Michael said that he had a pretty good day. It was a day of cruising over hills, but there wasn't anything particularly interesting to report. They are definitely out of the mountains with lots of trees and Michael said all the cicadas are gone now. I asked if he has music stuck in his head or anything and he said yeah, sometimes a concerto or symphony, but right now this particular song. Look under "songs" on the left and then on that page in the first paragraph there is a link called "bicycle". Click it!

He rode near on 70 miles, though he did 80 because he took a wrong turn at some point on the ride. His bike odometer is now at 835 miles, which means he's almost 1/4 of the way there!

The three other kids- Trevor, Nathan, and Michelle- who left the ride for various reasons (vacation, class, strained tendon) decided to drive to meet up and ride on with the crew. When I talked to Michael they were still a few miles away. What they'll do with the car when they arrive I didn't really understand, so that will still have to be worked out.

Tonight they are in Utica, KY where they are staying at the fire station. Tomorrow they're hoping to get to Marion, KY, which is very close to the border with Illinois. So within a few days they'll be changing states again.

Past Louisville

2008-06-10T20:24:00.000-06:00

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Today the crew is staying at a free hostel for cyclists near the intersection of highways 84 and 920 in Kentucky. Michael said highway 902, but since I couldn't find any highway of that name intersecting 84 I'm going to assume he was mistaken. Today was a total of near 60 miles. The group decided that they were going to forsake the caves on the trip. It would have been about an ~80 mile detour and the group was behind because of the storms last night.

Though there was lightning throughout the night the storms never broke again except for a little bit of rain. The crew was up at 6:30 today, a nice change from the typically late starts they've been having. They hung out a bit in the morning because the nuns (??) brought them milk and coffee and also postcards if they wanted them. And then they were off! The pace was relaxed and on a "sortcut" they happened to get on they rode by a childhood home of Lincoln. I guess the group got a little split up over the day, so they did their own things. Lunch was a chicken sandwich and a tasty tasty chocolate milkshake for Michael. He said that the day was rolling hills, but definitely flatter than they had been. It was warm and less humid than it had been. At one point Michael rode alongside a horse and carriage that was along the road.

Holy Mackerel! That's a lot of pictures!

2008-06-09T21:31:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning to a whole slew of emailed photos from Michael. Since there are 100+ of them, I decided that the best option for getting them out there was just to upload them to my Picasa site and link it here. Michael is hoping to get online sometime and comment on the photos, but for now they stand alone. They are in chronological order so best of luck placing them on the timeline of the blog so far. Also, I will continue updating the map each night, so that should also show where the crew are nightly.

Tonight Michael and crew are staying in Loretto Motherhouse, a Catholic convent in Nerinx, KY. This is about halfway to where they intended to get tonight, but Michael said that they were very lucky to get shelter tonight as the storms are rolling through en masse. One already passed today with lots of hail and winds and as he talked he could see one approaching. The lightning in the approaching storm was apparently so good that several times in his message Michael stopped to gasp or just stopped talking because he was in awe. So, they will hold down in the convent tonight and hopefully by morning the storms will be mostly passed so the crew can get down to the caves. Today was 40-50 miles of steep rolling hills and tomorrow looks to be much of the same.

2008-06-08T21:13:00.000-06:00

This morning the crew left Berea and headed north to Harrodsburg, KY. The ride in total was about 60 miles and Michael said that as of today his odometer reads 645 miles. So he's about 15% there! In addition, tomorrow the crew is set to officially cross from Eastern to Central time. It seems to soon for that, but I suppose they are moving pretty quickly.

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Michael woke up this morning and headed downstairs to eat a continental breakfast at the hotel. For him this included: three bowls of frosted flakes, three pieces of toast with corn (jam/jelly), several donuts, and some juice. He mentioned that his bike shorts are now loose in the thigh but he's not sure if they were stretched when washed or if his thighs are shrinking. I have to say though, two weeks burning near 4,000ish calories a day may have something to do with it. Anyway, after breakfast Michael headed upstairs to pack up and clean off his camelback, which had apparently gotten green goo on it from the hotel faucet (don't ask me, I am just the messenger. But to me that sounds like a sketchy motel... water-wise anyway)

Michael, C&C met up with Dan and Stavros in the main square of Berea. Then the whole group of 5 left together. Along the ride they could do some catching up from the time they were separated and it sounds like Dan and Stavros met some fun people and had interesting times (I will decline to comment further so as not to, uh, implicate anyone in any activity).

Michael said that it was VERY flat going out of Berea. Welcome to the plains! He also said that there were some 1960's style of weird 2000's style building that he took pictures of. I have no idea what he means, but perhaps in future days this will make more sense with a picture to go along with it. As they rode further they got into some rolling hills, but though there were some fairly steep climbs it was not like the mountains they had been in. Today the cicadas were very bad, not only loud but flying around so that the riders had to do lots of ducking and dodging. The day itself was drier, so Michael said that he was sweating less but going through water much faster than before. Again, welcome to the plains!

Before getting to Harrodsburg the group went by Herrington lake. Michael says it was cool because the walls were vertical rock for 8-10 ft, but there was also soil, vegetation growing in it. I looked it up online and apparently the lake was formed by damming a river which explains vertical type walls. After that they had a short climb up to Harrodsburg.

Upon arriving the group split up to find camping for the night. After consulting firefighters the group learned they could camp by the hostel, just outside of town. They're all staying together there over and went to get mexican take out for dinner and ate in a "arboretum" (just a nice grove of trees I suppose) near the restaurant. They ran into a group of Tennesseans there who were taking pictures by a fountain. They got talking and the Tennesseans thought what they were doing was cool so they bought the group dinner. It sounds like Michael and crew have run into some very generous and friendly people on the trip!

Tomorrow they are up to Cave City,KY. They hope to get into Mammoth Caves Park to camp and then they could tromp around the caves for a bit before heading out. Its a bit of a detour, but they're looking forward to the fun. They're also hoping to get to a library tomorrow AM and then maybe I can get more pictures! Thunderstorms may be a problem for the next couple days as it looks as though a front is moving across the country. With the plains come the thunderstorms over the plains. Keep your fingers crossed for them!

Lots of pictures!

2008-06-07T20:01:00.000-06:00

Michael has checked in today where the group is now in Berea, KY. In addition, I guess the proximity to Lexington and a half day break means we get to see pictures! I'll write more about today's ride after the pictures. I've dated them so hopefully they are easier to place in context of the earlier blog entries:

3 June
This is specifically for Alan, it looks like Puta might have a long lost cousin or maybe a girlfriend. That's Claire on the left side during a stop to buy food.

3 June
Cicada. Michael says they're everywhere (crawling over roads and stuff) and very loud.

3 JuneMichael at the Grand Canyon of the South near the KY/VA border.

4 June
In the coal country. The darker lines in here are veins of coal running through what looks to me like it could be limestone.

5 June
Michael has picked up a hitchiker at Knott historical society bed and breakfast where he and C&C stayed the night. Apparently there were kittens everywhere and this kitty crawled up Michael's shoulder. He liked her (since she is calico) lots. Good thing he isn't allergic to cats!

6 June

Here is the exterior of the cathedral in Buckhorn, KY. As you can see, it is made of logs.

6 June
The interior of the cathedral at Buckhorn. There was a major flood in 1957. Michael says there is a flood line midway up the organ where there should be a major difference in color of the walls. I don't see it myself, but the fuzziness of the picture makes it harder to see.

6 June
Some hills just north of Vinson, KY. I think that the cloud sort of looks like a dragon!

6 June
Scenery from last night near where they camped.

7 June
This morning Michael woke up and grabbed his sunglasses and to his surprise found a spider had made its web in there. Apparently this is not prime real estate, however, because there were no flies or any other insects in the web. The campsite this morning was not lacking for bugs though. Michael reported that the campsite was buggy with ants and mayflies etc etc. Shucks! I don't think I'd want that spider as my roommate however...

The group rode toward Berea: 30-40 miles from last night's campsite. I'll just report the "interesting" things that Michael told me about. On the way they came across a snake that was hit by a car and still alive (very sad!), so they tossed it off the road. Then they filled up on water at local friendly guy's house. At one point 150 motorcycles passed them in one long line, most were nice but some revved their engines. Growl. Today there were only two small climbs, but it was mostly flat. A good preview for the Great Plains.

C&C and Michael arrived Berea at 3 and ran into Mike, a guy they met in Damascus who is also riding XC. The three of them are staying in a hotel for the night courtesy of Calum's mom. In addition, Michael got the location of a bike shop from Kent, so he rode up there and fixed his tire, got two tubes, but unfortunately Calum was unable to fix his cassette because the shop didn't have shimano parts.

On his way back into town, Michael ran into Stavros and Dan who were sitting in the main part of town. Apparently the trip to Asheville was a little nuts (no details here) and in the process Stavros lost his phone. So it was pure coincidence that Michael's little group ran back into those two today in this place. Nice luck considering they would have been unable to contact Stavros any other way. Dan and Stavros are staying somewhere else tonight and it is unclear whether or not they will continue with Michael, C&C tomorrow. Instead, those three went out to a Mexican dinner of beans, rice, and cheese. This was followed up with ice cream so that they can continue to get energy. They're planning to head out tomorrow, but to where is not yet planned.

A few more hills to go

2008-06-06T19:58:00.000-06:00

Michael checked in tonight to say that he and C&C are camping on top of a mountain near the intersection of Lee County, Owsley County, and Jackson County, KY. They left the Hamblin family house this morning only to be followed for about 2 miles by the family's German Shepard. They stopped in Buckhorn to see the cathedral which has an impressive organ and considerable flood damage from a flood in the 60's. Michael said he took some pictures, so hopefully they'll be coming soon. They stopped in Booneville for a lunch/dinner at a diner there. In addition, they met their first West --> East biker: a guy going from LA to NYC.

In total, they did about 50 miles of hills today. Soon they'll be out of hilly country and on to the flat, flat Great Plains. (Just to give an idea, it's pretty darn impressive how big the Appalachians are still considering they are 480 million years old! In contrast, the Colorado Rockies are only about 75 million years old.) They're aiming to hit Berea, KY tomorrow and take a half day break. Michael said he's having some trouble with his tire being "sketchy" and that Calum is having trouble with his cassette. So they're hoping for a bike store in Berea. That's all for today!

Slow Day

2008-06-05T22:06:00.000-06:00

Michael called late tonight, nearly midnight Eastern time. I was expecting that they didn't have service tonight, but apparently it was just a very long day. Here is the map of the past two days.

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Last night the crew stayed in Hindman, KY. Michael got separated from C&C (Claire and Calum) and waited for them at the main crossroads in the town for a while. They had planned to stay at the Bed and Breakfast in town because it had specials for bicyclists. He rode up to the B&B after waiting for a while and then C&C didn't show up until 9:30 or 10 at night. They ordered pizza for dinner and didn't get to bed till about 1.

As a result, this morning they didn't get out until just after noon. They hoped to make it to Booneville today, but because of the late start and setbacks they didn't make it. Just north of Hazard, KY Claire was having cramps so they went to a clinic there to get her some medicine. Nearly 4 hours later they were back on the road but much behind schedule. They were unable to stay in Chaives, KY and were planning just to "stealth camp" somewhere along the road, but a sheriff pulled up and told them that they had to continue to the next town. Somewhere in here a family pulled up and said that they would pick them up and take Michael, C&C to their home. Michael said that they are staying in the family's basement and were fed some dinner as well. The house is in Gays Creek, KY between Chavies and Buckhorn on the map.

Michael was unsure of the plan for tomorrow, but they are hoping to get out early to make up for today's lost time. Still no pictures, but maybe coverage will be stronger near Lexington, KY and we can get some more photos. Maybe even one with Michael in it!

Kentucky!

2008-06-03T20:17:00.000-06:00

Michael has called in to say that he, Calum, and Claire have made it to Kentucky! They are spending the night in Elkhorn City, KY. Apparently the day was a bit slow and disappointing mileagewise. I'm not aware what the total mileage was however, sorry!

The group was in hilly country and Claire even saw a bear! Michael and Calum were/are jealous of this sighting, though from what I could tell Claire wasn't best pleased to be the "lucky" one to spot it. Perhaps there are more to come, but they might just have to wait till they get to Wyoming for bears.

The group road out of Council, VA early this morning. They rode up to Haysi, VA and got some groceries. Then they rode on up to the VA/KY border. There was a quick break at the "Grand Canyon of the South," a gorge along the route. Continuing on, they next stopped and spent a good deal of time at Breaks Interstate Park trying to find a log for bikers to sign in. It was important for the three to find this log and sign because the log is used to promote awareness for alternative transportation and bicycling in Virginia. Then they pushed on to Elkhorn City, KY for the night.

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In addition to the roads, thunderstorms rolled over throughout the day. Here is a radar from this evening of the east coast. Notice the storm cells located now over VA. In the afternoon these were moving from Kentucky to Virginia, right over the crew's route. There were no problems, but Michael reported very wet roads and rain. Right now the radar shows scattered, light showers where Michael is staying and very severe weather to the north, along the Ohio border.

The weather tonight should not be a problem, however, because the three are staying in the basement of a church. Some female church members had a dinner meeting tonight and there was enough leftover food that they invited the three bikers to share. Michael said he was stuffed with deviled eggs, salad, ham sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, pasta, cheese and crackers, strawberry jam, and chips. Finally lots of dessert. The following list is a direct quote from Michael and he said that he had some of each thing listed: peanut butter things, chocolate and nut things (bar form), chocolate cake, chocolate pie, coconut cake, and gelatin peach goodness with nuts. Now off to bed sleepy and full!

Tomorrow the crew is aiming for Pippa Passes, KY. Good luck!

Pictures!

2008-06-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

Michael has been staying at the Place, a hostel for hikers and bikers, in Damascus, Virginia the past two nights. The town is a crossing point for both the Virginia Creeper Trail (bikes) and the Appalachian Trail (hiking). As a result the town is very friendly to bikers and hikers who pass through. Apparently showers, internet, phone, and gear stores are readily available. Michael and the crew spent two days relaxing and resting in the friendly atmosphere there.

This morning Stavros and Dan rode out for Asheville, NC. Tomorrow Michael, Calum, and Claire will ride out towards Kentucky and then farther west. I don't know yet if they have a destination for tomorrow night, but the ride will be resuming then.

Here are pictures Michael sent me from the first few days of the ride. He's been taking them on his cell phone and then can send them via email. Unfortunately there are none of him since he's behind the camera. The first two are from a short hike Michael took in St one Mountain park to Stone Mountain Falls, the second is of Stone Mountain itself. The next is of a section of the New River Trail. The final one is of some beautiful countryside in the Draper Valley, VA with rolling green hills and clouds. So at least Michael is seeing the beautiful country out there!

I'll try to get him to send some more photos soon and hopefully one with him in it too! Good luck kid with the next state! One down (almost), only a few more to go!

One big happy biking family

2008-05-29T21:01:00.000-06:00

Michael met up with the rest of "the clan" today at Pulaski, VA along the New River Trail. The bikers remaining at this point were Michael, Stavros, Dan, Nate, and Michelle. Nate and Michelle are leaving tomorrow for unknown reasons and might join up again later. Trevor pulled his Achilles tendon, but he hopes to be able to meet back up with the crew later on. Calum and Claire are about a day behind the rest of the group, but they too hope to catch up at some point. They are all backyard camping tonight in some friendly backyard 500 yards northeast of the intersection of I77-I81. And I even hear they got showers!

Today's ride from Galax to Pulaski was difficult: Michael said the road was rocky, he got a flat tire, it was steep, and to top it off he was stung by a bee between the eyes. Ouch, but apparently he got it out pretty quickly. I think he's pretty relieved to be with the clan now because apparently camping in the backwoods isn't always rainbows and unicorns, on particular snafu was putting the tent's rainfly on backward. But with a group that knows the area they get luxuries, like showers and access to outlets for charging phones.

The past two days have been okay rides. Michael got up to Stone Mountain, NC the first night and then the following morning did a short hike to a waterfall there (pictures hopefully to come!). Then he had a shorter day up to Galax, VA. Today was meet up day. In total, Michael has done approximately 200 miles (he was in his tent and didn't want to get up to check the exact mileage). That's approximately 5% across the country!

Tomorrow they hope to get out early and head to Damascus. No not Syria, but Damascus, VA. It will be somewhere around 70-80 miles, so a fairly long day. We'll see how far they get in total. They will be on the Virginia Creeper Trail.

Below is the map of what Michael has done so far. I will be updating it as they move. I have put small comments on some spots, but by and large my contact with Michael has been sort and not very descriptive, so sorry if it isn't as complete as possible. Please let me know if anything doesn't work or there are questions!

View Larger Map

Off!

2008-05-27T07:23:00.000-06:00

This morning Michael took off on his cross country bike trip. The rest of the group started from Richmond, VA late last week and Michael will be heading up to the VA/NC border to meet up. Here is his route, and hopefully within two days he will be met up! Good luck, safe travels, and May the wind be always at your back!

The beginning of Summer!

2008-05-03T15:12:00.000-06:00

Today I loaded up the bike trailer I am borrowing to test it out on the open roads. Here are some of those pictures. It was a windy day and I made sure to hit some of the biggest hills around. All told I did 14 miles in about 50 minutes; not far but enough to get a feel for the hills and trailer.

I'm riding a modified 1999 Lemond Zurich. It is in great shape and was a bargain with full Ultegra components. But now it has triple chainring, Shimano Sora shifters and derailluers, aerobars, Bontrager wheels, and a WTB saddle. it is a great bike.

I am borrowing the trailer from my PE teacher here at NCState. For today's ride I loaded it down with 30 lbs. of water and tools, plus the weight of the trailer to make a 45 lb payload. It was interesting to feel the trailer behind you, but it works great.

My first major trip with it will be to Charlotte this coming Monday. I'll pack a tent and other gear to make the 160 mile trip in 2 days. I just need to get to Charlotte in time so I can vote on Tuesday!

The end to the school year

2008-05-03T14:51:00.000-06:00

You can find most of this years aerospace senior design flight videos here.

There are also some nice pictures from picnic here.

This first video is of Team Phelan's (the best team) picnic flight.

Here is video of Tandemonium's first flight...

Goose Gets Going

2008-04-18T00:17:00.000-06:00

What we have here is the video of Team Goose flying for the first time. They had a wonderful flight, not such good landing(s). No worries though this flight happened on a Tuesday and they were ready to go on Thursday.

First Flight

2008-04-10T00:46:00.000-06:00

Well Tuesday was an eventful day. The video is mostly good only for the takeoff and landing portions of the flight, but they are sweet!

Enjoy

Primed, Painted, and Pretty

2008-03-22T09:15:00.000-06:00

There she is all painted and nearly ready for flight. Just a few more days and she will be flying. We've done an installed engine test, a drop test, break test, wing loading test, and others. All that is left now is to fine tune the radio, pass the Dr. Hall inspection, high speed taxi, and then 2 days after the high speed taxi test will be first flight! Pictures from that for sure. For now more pictures are here.

Not more pictures but...

2008-02-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Video! Yep that's right live action video this time around. Team Phelan performed its static engine test Thursday (2/21/08) and we have video of it. Overall I think we all feel that we have a good engine and propulsion ducting.

A little bit about the engine from the manufacturer...

Manufacturer: AMT, it's a Mercury-180
Weight: 3.1 lbs
Max. specified thrust: 20
Max. RPM: 151,200
Exhaust Gas Temperature Range: 1200-1380 deg. F
Fuel: Kerosene
Fuel Consumption at 100% throttle: 10 oz./min.

I remind you these are the numbers from the manufacturer... here are some numbers we got last semester in our propulsion lab.

Manufacturer: AMT, it's a Mercury-180
Weight: 3.1 lbs
Max. thrust: 16.2
Max. RPM: 142,800
Exhaust Gas Temperature Range: 950-1030 deg. F
Fuel: Kerosene
Fuel Consumption at 100% throttle: 15 oz./min.

And with the engine inlet, bypass duct, and tail pipe Team Phelan hit 14.7 lbs regularly in the test. This may not seem great, but we are pleased by it because with all of our performance calculations done last semester in the design phase we used 14 lbs of thrust. Also, Team Goose hit 14.1 lbs in their test the day before.

Some of you propulsion smartypants readers (are there any of you that actually read this?) would say, "Hey but what about standard day corrections!?" Well our propulsion guy ran those numbers and figured out that we would only lose a tenth of a pound if the standard atmospheric conditions existed (29.92" Hg and 59 deg. F).

If you were really hoping for pictures well don't feel too bad, I should have some up and ready no later than Monday night.

Wildlife

2008-02-17T21:57:00.001-07:00

Also check out Alan's blog...

More Pictures

2008-02-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are more Team Phelan pictures!

It looks like I'll be getting them every 2 weeks (that's when our 'Update' presentations are).

Enjoy

A quick one

2008-01-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Finally I have some pictures to show for Team Phelan's work thus far in the semester. I'll try to keep them updated as much as possible, but I'm not in control of when I can get the pictures, so enjoy for now. Here's the link.

By the way, something mysterious happened to all the pictures on the previous post. Sorry 'bout that. I doubt that I'll get around to fixing it any time soon, so try to be happy with the real pictures now.

I'll try to get more posts up from now on. (When isn't that a goal?) I've got some potentially exciting bike happenings that are in the works.

Yay!

2007-12-23T10:51:00.001-07:00

So school is done...for the fall. Now comes the build blitz for Team Phelan in the Spring. We were all happy to find out at the end of exam week that we were cleared to build. Here are some pictures from our computer models.

This is the cover of our CDR document.

And here is a taste of the CMARC model. CMARC simulates pretty much everything aerodynamic except for drag, go figure. What you see here is a coefficient of pressure during the cruise portion of flight.

Next are some of the CAD models.

Ooooo, ahhhhh!

All dimensions are in inches (boo not metric).

One thing I think all of us were excited to learn was the professor's desire to create a removable wing-tip design. Our team leader presented on a wing tip designs and what they did for an aircraft, so the professor called up the authors and wanted to know if they were interested in using our vehicle as a platform for experimental data collection. Under normal flight we will use the wingtip shown on the right.

For now I'm enjoying a nice long break out in the great state of Colorado. It can't be beat!

Times Change

2007-11-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

So this semester I've been enjoying a class in Fluid Physics which emphasizes earth science applications, inevitably some aerodynamics shows up too. In an attempt to get away from the long derivation based lectures the professor shows videos on fluid mechanics that were made back in the late 50s and early 60s. I very much enjoy these videos and can't wait till the next Wednesday class each week; the semester is coming to an end which is unfortunate with respect to this part of my week.

Anyway I get my hands on these videos (VHS) and convert them to a digital format so I may enjoy them for years to come, they really are a treat to watch. And one thing I have come to admire is the immaculate hand writing of the narrator/host, Ascher Shapiro. His penmanship is in start contrast to much of the hand writing I see on a daily basis, especially that of my professors. I got to thinking (during class usually) how things like this change, maybe it's my romanticized view of by gone eras, or maybe it really is that people in general had better writing back then. I can't help to think as I peck away at some letter label buttons how little I actually 'write' and how much life now depends on typing. I always appreciate aesthetics, although some might say I don't, but I find it very rare to see a nice piece of penmanship. I know I am not gifted with this ability, but after the last few weeks I have become more aware of my own writing.

I have always thought my writing was mediocre at best, but it seems to get the point across. And that's the thing, I think people feel like writing is such a slow use of time that they hurry through it with out much concern for it's ability to communicate to other readers. I know I am guilty of this. I would say that 99.99% of my writing is solely for personal use; notes are essential to students, and even then I am always critiqued for how sparse and dense my class notes are. But now after watching the wonderful strokes of Dr. Ascher Shapiro I am very aware of what can be done with practice of the arm-hand-eye coordination, I will strive for this for some time to come.

As I sit here writing this out I can only think of the modern equivalent to what I have identified, the rush to finish typing because it feels like such a drain of time. Again I am guilty as charged. Many times reports and papers have to get done and nearly all of those many times a deadline is breathing down your neck, the result, poorly written text. (See! I'm not sure if I even got the punctuation correct on the end of that last sentence.) Now the thing I fear! People who can't physically write clearly enough so that other people can read it, and people who can't express their ideas to get their point across in the first place. I don't like what popular technology does to some parts of our lives.

Do I make myself clear?

Back To The Grind...

2007-11-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

...Only 3 more wild weeks and one fluid filled day left until the end of the semester. This is both good news and bad news. Good because it can't last too much longer, bad because there's so much to do in such a short time; the questions is, can Team Phelan get it done in the remaining 2 weeks!?! Yep that's right 2 weeks and counting until Critical Design Review. Eeeeek!

That being said the Thanksgiving break was a very welcome change of pace for several days. I had a great time with Mom, Pop, and Alice; I also got to spend some time with Grand-Pa, Sara, Scott and Carrie.

Thursday was spent talking, cooking, eating, playing with dogs, walking, and being a tour guide.
Friday was an enjoyable day of bike riding, walking, and lumber jacking. Alice turns out to wield a mighty maul and saw. Watch out for those trash cans, they'll get'cha!
Saturday passed with the retrieval of a new kitchen table form Pineville, and a driving/walking tour of my olde stomping grounds.
Sunday mmmmm banana bread!

A great break with a little hard labor, a little exercise, and lots of good food and relaxing times.

Officially the World's Strongest Man

2007-11-12T21:56:00.001-07:00

I can tear a phone book in half.

Dream Art

2007-11-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

No EC for me...

2007-11-03T09:08:00.001-06:00

After several months of being on the fence about my participation in the Everglades Challenge 2008, it is now official; I will not be on Mullet Key March 1, 2008.

Here's why:
1) Aerospace senior design is eating up lots of time. If I were able to have a spring break, I would not be able to take the full week off anyway, needless to say a couple days before the break actually started.

2) I am already booked solid for the Thanksgiving and Winter breaks so I won't be at school to do work, and apparently to be worthy of good work I have to be at school? Anyway I would much rather spend my whole Thanksgiving and Winter breaks away from school than spend some of that time away and still not be able to do the EC08.

3) And the last reason, for now, its that the entrance fees are increasing. Seeing that I am going to graduate soon I need to start really saving money until I have a job or some other source of support.

Maybe I can be the 'ground crew' for the Stewarts' and Adam, that'll give me a fun thing to do during the week.

Sigh, what great times I had last year.

Pineapple Poll

2007-10-29T17:55:00.000-06:00

According to a recent study 50% of college students prefer pineapple chunks over pineapple slices. I find this very interesting.

What do you prefer? What is your age group?

I look forward to finding out!

Vie

2007-09-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

So I thought I would put up a quick post.

School has been keeping me busy most of the time, senior design is going to be a demeaning course, but the results will be satisfying (hopefully). This weekend should be a good one. Going out to Wilson to drive Dan around in the back of Puta for a XC R/C flight, then Sunday I will get back in the swing of Orienteering. We'll see how my running legs hold up.

The following weekend I'll head home to see everyone at a small family reunion, Spencer's clan is even coming!!! That Saturday is the annual COK Canoe-Orineteering meet so I plan on doing that, possibly with Lesley, a cousin. The following Monday is a proposal for Senior Design, and then the next Saturday is another team NORSA event in the Uwharrie mountains. Adam, Alan, Tim, and I are going to participate in the 2007 Gold Nugget Adventure Race; we will have to paddle, bike, run, orienteer, and think our way through an estimated 12 hour course. It should be a blast from teh past!

And then last, but the best is the fact that I am going out to CO for Fall break to spend a day and some with the folks, Spencer, Rose, and their kids. This should be a great time; I hope to take some of them up for a glide over Boulder. But even better yet I am going to see Alice for the first time since July. I can't believe it has been that long, but it has been so long since we last laid eyes on one another. Right now the plan is to meet up with her for breakfast/brunch on Friday and then the two of us will drive down to C Springs for the remainder of the weekend. I can't wait for fall break!!!

Also this weekend I'm rebuilding the wheels for my mountain bike (Giant Yukon). This is something I've been meaning to do since August, but time and desire only allows for it to happen now. After having ridden by new road bike for a couple weeks, it was a shock to get back on the mountain bike with crappy wheels. Either way I feel like an absurd SUV driver when I make the switch to the Giant; it's also taken some time to re-acclimate to the turning characteristics, but the track stand is still there. I love being able to pull up to a light and just sit there without having to dismount; the track stand is progressing on the Trek, but is a bit tougher.

Anyway I shall go now. Hopefully pictures will be abundant for the next few weekends.

Music and life are great.

Pamlico Swirly-Whirly: Foux Du Fa Fa

2007-09-03T16:51:00.000-06:00

Well I must say the Pamlico Swirly-Whirly was quite a trip and a great way to spend the longer weekend.

The adventure really started Friday afternoon where Adam, Alan, and I started to look for a place to stay that night. Adam called a connection through the NCSU sailing club to see if we could sleep on the floor of the maritime museum in Manteo, but that fell through because the guy was out of town. Next stop was Couchsurfing.com, here we had great success finding options. After sending out 6 or 7 requests for a place to crash that night in the Manteo area one fellow, Alan, responded saying that we could stay at his place; great we’re all set for the night. All we had to do now was pack up our stuff and drop it off with my new friend (Ryan) Neely who happened to be camping on Ocracoke Saturday and Sunday nights. I initially invited him along on the trip because he is also a biker, instead he was going to go camping with a bunch of friends and he was nice enough to transport things for our Saturday night, plus he provided a space for us to stay at the NPS campground. Thanks a bunch Neely!

Well after we packed up a headed out to drop things off a Neely’s place, but he wasn’t picking up his phone, so we spent some time looking for him and deciding what to do without stuff. We ended up piling the bags in the bushes in front of his car with the hopes that no one would see them and steal them. That was taken care of then we hit the road in earnest. As soon as we got on the beltline there was very heavy traffic, but this eventually cleared up when I-40 split from I-440. We made our exit on Hwy. 64 without much traffic and made our way through most of Wake County before we encountered another slow up. This time it was a pickup that had run off the side of the road into the woods; needless to say it didn’t look pretty. We also encountered a home built trimaran being trailered towards the coast and this brought on a discussion of EC 2008 as Adam is now interested in doing it this year. Traffic was still moderately heavy on the way down there, but that could be expected for Labor Day weekend. We took our first stop at a shopping center to get dinner at Subway and let Alan get money at the SECU; but the bank was closed, and the Subway didn’t open until the next day, it was brand new. So we went further down the road looking for a place to eat when we came across a DWI check point. It was strange to have a checkpoint so early in the night, but at least the state is serious about the issue. Next stop was in a small town to get gas, and by that time grab some dinner.

Alan and Adam opted for the microwave burritos, while I went for the Wheat Thins, pound cake, and sugar wafers; now we were set food wise. As we neared Kill Devil Hills, where Alan and his puppy Lopez live, it started to hit us. How crazy was this guy going to be, and should we be prepared for a duel; but we knew it was going to be ok and figured he was thinking the exact same things. So we got there without a problem, met Alan and his crazy 6 month old German Shepherd, talked with him for a while and then crashed; he gave us some good local advice of where to go and what to do for the next couple of days. Alan had the perfect setup for us we each had our own bed to sleep on which was great for our early morning start Saturday.

We woke up Saturday, filled up on water, left a cantaloupe for Alan, and drove over to the Mariner Museum. We spent about an hour making the final pack and prepping the bikes for the journey to come, and eating our own cantaloupe, yum yum!

Off we went East on 64, and then South on 12 with a nice 15ish MPH tailwind. The first big obstacle of the ride was the bridge over Oregon Inlet which is apparently in very poor shape; they are always dredging the channel under the bridge because mother nature doesn’t like it. We noticed riding over the bridge that we had two choices in the event of a crash; go over the railing into the water (a long way down), or fall left into traffic and hope they stop quickly enough. Fortunately we didn’t have to find out what would happen. We made our first stop about 30 miles into the ride (1.5 hours) at a rental shop where an acquaintance of Adam’s used to work, but he was not to be found. On we went further south to kite point which is a big kite boarding location on the sound side of the barrier island. Then we made a quick stop for Adam to stretch and me to check on a clicking noise emanating from my real aluminum rear wheel.

Next stop was the 208 foot tall Cape Hatteras lighthouse, a quick stop, no climbing because of cost, but it was cool to see it again in its new location, after 15 years. Shortly after the lighthouse we were rode straight to the front of the line for the Ocracoke Island ferry.

After a quick ride over to Ocracoke we hit the fresh pavement of the island. I pulled ahead of Adam and Alan for about 10 minutes just to get in a good hard pace for a bit. Eventually we made it to the NPS campground and checked to see if Neely was there yet, but no luck so we rode another couple of miles into town, checked out the harbor and then grabbed an enjoyable lunch. I was feeling for something on the light side, so I wanted a hummus sandwich, but wanted a grilled chicken breast on it, instead I ended up with a chicken sandwich with hummus on the side. We also all enjoyed a pitcher of Yuengling and a pitcher or Mimosa before we hopped back on the bikes to make the upwind journey back to the campsite. By that time Neely and friends had arrived so we did the meet and greet for a bit, and then setup camp with a little improvisation due to high winds, lack of tent spikes, and dysfunctional tent poles.

After getting everything situated we suited up and headed for the surf where we all body surfed, with varying degrees of success. But really it was about washing all of the grit and road grime off more than anything. The water temps were nice, and the sun started to peak out by this time so it wasn’t too cold once we got out and were quickly dried by the stiff winds. Back to camp to get a rinse of shower, cook some pasta, grab some things from the town grocery, and fend off wild embers while making smores. I also took a quick trip towards town to check out the island airstrip and some of the aircraft on the ramp. By this time the three of us were pooped, so we hit the sack. Adam and I had to get cozy in a poorly designed tent; two 6’+ people in a small round tent is interesting. The sleep wasn’t great, especially considering the previous nights’ accommodations, but anything was welcome considering the day to come.

We woke up at 5:15 to break down camp, fill up on water again, and the make a break for the 6:30 ferry. We made it down there with plenty of time to spare, paid our $3 each to ride the ferry and hopped aboard for the 2.5 hour (really 3) crossing of the sound. There was one spot a little ways out of Ocracoke what was pretty cool to see (sorry no pictures). First there was an island where the dry sand was being blown across the exposed tidal sand which created a nice spectacle in the morning sun. Furthermore there was a sand bank extending off of the island where the waves were meeting at a 90 degree angle. Once they met it was cool to see a Cartesian grid of peaks and troughs traveling in unison through the water. Neato! Also aboard the ferry were three other NC State students who were biking the same route we did; they were unsupported though, telling us of their adventures to find a place to sleep on Ocracoke, getting the boot from the ranger, and then sleeping in someone’s yard between two sheets for the 3 of them. We were lucky that Neely was camping on Ocracoke for the weekend. Also on the ferry we realized that we needed to put on sunscreen and that Alan had left his at the campsite that morning, so our first objective was to find a gas station to buy some.

Once off of the ferry we had to do some navigating to find the right roads, and even then we had trouble; the whole day was going to be long because of the strong head wind this time. We were planning on riding across Lake Mattamuskeet, but missed the turn; I didn’t care though because we got to see a crop duster in action right over our heads. Eventually we asked for some directions and back tracked to find the cross lake route. There were some big swarms of gnats that we rode through and most of the one that hit me stuck to my sweaty arms. The origin and history of Lake Mattamuskeet is not very well understood, so now I’m curious; I’ve wanted to see the lake for several years now after trying to figure out what the largest lake in NC is, but now I want to know more about it. If you look at an overhead shot (care of Google) you can see some curiosities in the land, but nothing I’ve found so far says anything about human intervention; anyway I digress.

So on the north side of Mattamuskeet is the little farming town of Fairfield were we stopped to stock up on calories, and buy some sunscreen. Well they certainly had the calories, but no sun block for sale; however the attendant was nice enough to let us borrow hers. We slathered up and chowed down and got underway towards Engelhard. We ended up stopping there at a rest stop (some picnic tables in the shade) to fill up on H2O again and take a break. While sprawled out on a picnic table I saw one thing that I would have never guess I would have see in such a remote place, a French speaking family; it turns out they are likely Canadian because of their Quebec license plate. It was nice to hear the French in a conversational manner. After the stop in Engelhard we rode for what seemed like forever on several stretches of very straight and very long roads. We did take a quick break on the road side when Adam figured out what the noise was in my real aluminum rear wheel; it turned out that there was a piece of metal wire that had pierced my rear tire and was knocking on the bike frame, it was lucky that is didn’t hit my tube.

In what we were expecting to be a mile more, it turned out to be more like 5, was Stumpy Point. We took a nice rest break here initially because my knee started acting up, but it ended up being a good stop. We all filled up on H2O again, and ate some energy; I got some pain meds down, and found a can of Fanta, so as my nick name says I drank it. At the north end of Stumpy Point there was sign telling us it was only 22 more miles to Manteo; in reality it was more than that because of the route we had planned, but a finite number was good to see. This boosted my morale, but at the same time the wind settled down so we made good time for the next 15 or so miles until we got to the 64/264 junction.

So we were about to turn onto the road that took us on the old Hwy. 64 bridge and I was looking back to check traffic when I ran into Alan who had slowed up. The only damage was a couple bent spokes and a sore foot, but the wheel was still true, so we were good to go. I did come close, not that close though, to getting run over by a minivan; let’s just say that my life didn’t even come close to flashing before my eyes. We rode up to the old bridge, did out business and then did the last few miles to our jump off point. Adam and I made it there without a problem, but when Alan didn’t show up we went looking for him, he eventually showed up having missed the turn. All told we did 200+ miles in 12.5 hours of riding; 4.5 hours the first day and 8 the second day with very similar mileages. That tells you about the winds while riding!

We did the break down and pack up, decided to eat something, and then go fly Alan’s parafoil kite at Jockey’s Ridge, some big sand dunes. Dinner wasn’t what I was hoping for, I was hungry, and I didn’t feel like arguing, so I did it I ate 3 Big-Mac’s from McDonalds; that was the first time I had eaten there in many years. The burgers looked like crap and tasted the way I remembered them, not great by any means, but at that point food was calories and I needed them. Afterwards we had fun at Jockey’s Ridge trying to float down the dunes, watching the hangliders, and the sunset; there was even a full sized paraglider out here floating down the slopes. After getting even messier at Jockey’s ridge we went to a kite boarding shop which had an outdoor shower where we rinse doff and cleaned up some, also the sun was finally setting there. Then we hit the road and made it back to Raleigh about 10:30.

Once back in Raleigh we unpacked and grabbed swim suits to go soak in some friends’ hot tub which felt great on our tired legs. And of course much sleep ensued.

Check out my Pamlico Swirly-Whirly photo album; or you can see Alan’s interpretation of the trip and photos. Also check out the video Adam put together, and the original video that the music came from. If you were wondering about the subtitle, Foux Du Fa Fa, this was a song that was running through all of our heads for the whole trip.

Summer

2007-06-17T11:51:00.000-06:00

Finally I have some photos to share with the web. The summer has been great so far and looks to remain that way.

I am in Boulder, CO for the summer working as an intern for NOAA. There are several other NOAA in terns and then an equal number of students who are working at NIST for the summer. Most of us live in the same apartment complex which affords us some great free time activities and drama. Biking, hiking and all around fun are had nearly every night and especially on the weekends.

Personally I traveled out here a week earlier than everyone else to get a glider rating add-on to my pilots certificate. By the end of the second day I had already logged 4 solo flights in one of Mile High Gliding's SGS 2-33A gliders. This progress continued through earning my certificate, and the weekend after that I was training in a Grob 103 Acro III.

Yesterday I went to go get checkout one more time in the 103, fly with Alice, and then go fly the single seater Grob 102. The soaring forecast looked promising for Saturday, but nothing really developed, so it was a day of gliding, not soaring. The G102 is a tight squeeze for me physically, but it is a blast to fly; I can't wait to fly it when there is actually lift out there.

I've told other folks, other than Alice that I'll take them up, so I'm thinking about getting some insurance so I can fly the faster, quieter G103 ship instead of the SGS 2-33A (a factor of 2 performance difference).

On the more outdoorsy side of things several friends and I have made it a point to have several good rides each week. 2 weeks ago was by far the most intense, here was the schedule:
Sunday - Airport and NCAR
Monday- NCAR
Tuesday- Flagstaff
Wednesday - city ride with lots o wind
Thursday - sleep
Friday - the end of Four Mile canyon via Boulder canyon
Saturday - Walker Ranch via Flagstaff

Just to give you an idea of how steep Flagstaff is, I clocked a speed of 55 MPH on the way back from Walker Ranch with my GPS. That's no pedaling right before a hair pin turn...so much fun.

Also there have been some hike in the local area. The one that I really love is through Settlers Park at the mouth of Boulder Canyon. As Ethan and Lucas put it "it's an underwater castle". Once you hike the short trail and then do some rock climbing, you are rewarded with a lovely view of the plains, especially the between sunset and night.

Work is great too, I'm able to work in a lab everyday, and while the tests are running I work on some calculations, or data analysis. In a couple of weeks we should be deploying our system to the Niwot Ridge Biological Preserve to measure the methane habits of a sub-alpine forest.

And last but not least are the pictures care of Alice (check them all out here):

Boohoohoo

2007-05-01T12:48:00.000-06:00

I learned of some unfortunate news yesterday with respect to the NCSU Aerial Robotics Club. Our pride and joy, the '12footer' crashed on Sunday. Check out the AR website for a video link and some explanation. Here are some still photos taken by the helpless pilot, Alan, at the crash site. It wasn't Alan's fault by any means, most signs point to a servo battery failure; it must have been a heart wrenching feeling to see it go down without any control.

This first image is created from the autopilot datalog and screenshot, which was then fed into Google Earth. The RC runway is in the fore ground. The 12footer went down about 1/3 of a mile away from the flight pad. The colored dots are the autopilot way-points.

Here you can see to bulk of our autonomous system: the engine and autopilot are on the left side; (no-so) safety switch, GPS antenna, computer antenna, and autopilot wireless card are in the center of the picture.

Most of the 12 footer came through the tall pines, some of it remained with the trees.

This is one of the wings, they got obliterated along with everything else.

Sigh

We are already underway with the mobilization of our backup system. Stay tuned to the AR website for updates on the Wide-body 8footer.

O

2007-04-29T06:43:00.000-06:00

Due to he unfavorable winds which canceled a scheduled Aerial Robotics flight test, Tim and I were able to partake in our first adventure race on Saturday. The event consisted of riding our bikes around Raleigh, Cary, Umstead S.P., and Crabtree County Park to find a series of clue based check points. Time had trouble with cramping which cut our race a little short, but it was still fun to go ride 35 miles with an objective. This was my first taste of hopefully many more Bike Orienteering events to come. After the ride back to school Time and I had finished 45 miles on our bikes for the afternoon.

Beginning of the Storm

2007-04-25T21:42:00.000-06:00

Today started out just like any other day, bike to the AR lab, find something to do before class, and the goto Broughton 2211. But the day certainly didn't end up in a normal fashion. Since the semester is wrapping up I didn't have to go to PE(Ultimate), so I spent my time getting the last bits of information for my Stability and Controls class project.

After an hour or so I headed back to my room to masticate (chicken spaghetti) and finalize my portion of the project. That was done in due time so that I could head over to Centennial Campus for my Structures project testing (pictures to follow). The test went well overall. Matt and I missed the stiffness by alot, missed the estimated weight by a factor of 2, and our strength to weight was off by a factor of 1/2. The ultimate load was probably the closest of any groups, we held 90lbs. with an estimate of 100lbs. The waiting portion of the testing was not fun, one group ahead of us took more than an hour to 'break' their structure, really it just oozed apart at the glue joints...shotty construction. Ours on the other hand deformed over 1.25" and when it failed you knew it. For me, I heard the pop and then the whiz of a quarter and peice of scrap aluminum fly by my head. For anybody interested in our material of choice Matt and I used Rohacell foam with Marinepoxy as the bonding agent.

After than was over I had to 'help' Matt finish his portion of he Stab. & Control project...don't ask.

I dropped off the project in Broughton and then headed back to my place to get ready for some pick-up Ultimate! I had a good time playing, it had been nearly 2 years since I had played any good pick up and it was nice to be in the swing of things.

With all of my running around today I think I set a record for number of time in and out of my room at 5. Usually I can plan better than that, but today was fairly chaotic day.

Notice how circular holes turn into ovals and the displacement gage is embedded in the structure after failure.

A new era

2007-04-04T16:19:00.000-06:00

I have decided to go ahead and capture a blogger site name. This is to give me a personal space to share what I feel, with whoever. You can check out some of the cool things I've done with Team RAF on what has reverted back to SOS's blog; check out dates from October 2006 to March 2007.