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Category Archives: Biking
Speed Racers
In a couple of weeks, Anne and I will jet off to Europe, ending up on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, where we will tour the Dalmation coast via bicycles. This trip is part of this year’s septuagenarian themed summer, where we both celebrate our turning seventy together. It is a heady milestone. One where we are fighting against the clock, trying in vain to turnback time. A fool’s errand I know, but what else is there for a couple of geriatrics to do?
For this trip, Anne and I have been torturing ourselves. Riding almost daily now. We have both made progress with improved fitness. Anne more than me though. I hate being showed up by a gurl, let alone a blue-haired one. Through these trials Anne has always been most kind and solicitous. This really bugs me. As the days tick down to departure the gap between our improving levels of fitness and the demands that this tour will make did not seem to be closing quickly enough, at least for me. After a sleepless night, where the hamster in my head spun its exercise wheel all night, I reached a fevered conclusion and first thing this morning, I upgraded from a regular old analog bicycle to an eBike. When it came time to slap my plastic down, the most solicitous travel agent told me that there is no shame in riding an eBike. I knew better. Anne is not going to get one.
Turkey Lurkey
We bicycled this morning in Forest Park, reprising the route we rode on Monday. The temperatures were cool and being a weekday, the park was not crowded. In Kennedy Forest, we saw three turkeys crossing the bike path. Afterwards, we stopped by Kaldi’s for a couple of coffee drinks and bumped into Dr. Mad
Back on the Bike
Yesterday, after watching the pros do it, we decided to give it a try too. Some of the pros passed us on the bike trail, trying to stay loose and impress the locals. We rode around the park twice, at least all of the hills. This gave 400′ of elevation climbing, which is still less than half of our easiest day in Croatia. Still, we did that in less than two hours, leaving the rest of the day to get more.
Pisgah
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Night Flight
Last night was forecasted the storm of the century. Not a thunderstorm this time, but a geomagnetic storm. The northern lights were predicted. The news claimed that they would be visible all the way south down to Alabama, the land of cotton. We had clear skies, so I was pumped. Unfortunately, we also had a dinner party to attend. Getting out-of-town, out of the light well that is Saint Louis was not an option. Then I had an idea. I could fly the drone. Studying this possibility, I discovered that my drone had camera settings. Most importantly for night photography, its shutter speed could be set for long exposures. I began charging the aircraft and then headed off to the party.
The party was with some of our old Team Kaldis alum. It was great to see everyone again. Fewer and fewer of them are still biking, but it was great to recount and hear all of the old war stories from our glory days. Our stroll down memory lane was punctuated by an around the table recounting of how each couple first met and then how they started dating. It was a great time!
Returning home, I found my drone fully charged. Powering it up I took to the skies. I could not really see anything through my iPhone control panel, but I was still hopeful that a long exposure would show more. The running light on the drone made it easy to spot up in the night sky, but I could not determine its orientation. This made it difficult to fly and to keep it out of trees, but I managed. Later, checking the stills, I saw no aurora borealis, but I was rather pleased with the imagery of the ground. Some tweaking will be needed to get crisper shots in the future, but this whole new venue of night flying offers much opportunity. So, no northern lights. The heat island and its associated light well that is the city of Saint Louis not only protects us from tornadoes, but it also wards off geomagnetic storm too. But then there is always photoshop, to see the world as nature intended.