Glad I don't drive

I am sure that my north of the border friends are not impressed but anybody else in the U. S. paying higher prices than Eureka.

Techno radmul

The ride south left a lingering problem but I learned an important lesson. If you are going to have to ride hours into a tough wind break it up as 5 or 6 hours of overuse wipes out the muscles for several days. I should have eaten in Fortuna and gone ahead and camped and gone on the next day. for the moment my recovery time is too long to get exhausted.

To add to my misery I had a meltdown of the computer. Still have not figured it out completely but the keyboard wouldn't load nor would many of my system programs so I am screwing with that. Had to invest in some new equipment and that was a drag as well.

Planning another trip before the Unknown Coast tour on the tenth. May try for the Oregon border again or might just hit the beach. The price of gas hit 405 and nine tenths today but I did not have the cam for a pic but since Evil appears to be winning I thought Monty fit my mood.

A little more southern radmul

I encountered a wide range of people on the southern ride. I am not particularly social but I find that people want to talk to weirdoes on bicycles. Neither am I antisocial and I am an amiable fellow so I indulge people’s questions and listen to their stories. One young lady in the Miranda Market told me about her late grandfather taking up riding at an older age. I munched a Popsicle and cooled down while she told me her tale, she had an infectious smile and brightened a morning that was already going very well.
At the Richardson Grove campground I met some folks from Hanover Germany. The worlds fair was there in 2000 he said. They were driving up the coast in an RV from San Francisco. One of them had gone to school in Berkeley and loved California. Hard to blame the guy, it is the coolest place on the planet that I have seen myself.
While waiting for my breakfast in Garberville I had a conversation with a tourist from Aurora Colorado. He was digging the big trees so I recommended the giant sequoias near Santa Cruz to him. Hope he makes it they are truly spectacular. It is on my list of places to ride to so some in person pics will be forthcoming.

For those that are interested in the details the ride lasted 4 days and covered 162.4 miles. For fans of hills there are 3 600ft climbs within about a 4mile run so there is definitely some challenging portions to Hwy101 thru southern Humboldt County.

Radmul Rides South

I am not a morning person so getting an early start is not usually my thing. When on the road I am finding it easier because I am crashing early. It tends to work itself out but the nervous energy of anticipation gets me going on trip days.
Heading south is a little flatter for the first 20 miles or so but once you get to Scotia it is an uphill ride. I started slow warming up my leg muscles as the sun warmed up the day. The country is not as stark as the coast but is just as beautiful in its own way. Mixed forests and meadows, Fortuna and Loleta are dairy country with Humboldt Creamery the local brand. They do make a tasty Neapolitan ice cream.
Along the way I passed Table bluff and the Humboldt National Wildlife Refuge as well as lots of cows. Then it is into the logging towns and Palco mills. The smell of lumber being milled is like being buried in those pine-scented trees from the carwash. The smells of the road seemed exceedingly strong on the first day riding south. Cow dung, road kill and Western Red Cedar in overwhelming waves. You are riding along and wham and a few hundred feet down the road it’s gone fortunately.
Speaking of the smells the road kill report for this trip included 3 snakes, 4 birds of which one was a massive crow, 2 possums 1 deer and a house cat. It was almost two deer as a fawn came flying up to the freeway but I startled it back before it got into the traffic.
I had a spot of bad luck in that I had brought along a really killer cinnamon roll for breakfast and it fell off the trailer somewhere along the way. I had added it at the last moment and stuck it in so as not to smash it and as a result I got nada and ended up at a Denny’s for a Grand Slam. Filling but a huge let down. Two days later in Garberville I had essentially the same thing, pancakes eggs and sausage, at the Millwheel and it was a thousand times tastier; that and I hate to eat cooperate food.
The Avenue of the Giants is amazing. I rode my bike thru a 5,000year old tree and saw another that people had thought was extinct for 20million years. In between is about 25 miles of old growth forest even if it is only a few miles wide the big trees give you a sense of perspective. When you see one of these mountains with a replanted tree farm that they try to pass off as woods and compare it to a real forest like this and it drives me crazy. The human population of this region tends to be a little different as well, after all this is the land of the Bigfoot. I passed by Hobbiton USA and an ear of corn on the side of the road. Chainsaw carving is abundant in addition to kitschy tourist art and some interesting stuff from the hippies.

Radmul Rides South

Back from the southern trip and I am sore as I have been in a while. All the last leg, 48 miles, was into a 20 to 30 mph headwind. that just sucks the fun out of any ride. It makes it like riding an exercycle for like 9 hours straight as opposed to the wonderful weather on the trip down. Here is some video from the road. I will post more in the coming days. It was a great trip with some of the most amazing country. The new packing arrangement with less weight was nice but some of these hills still take a long time to get over. I have found that if I just go at it eventually I will get to the top. When the sunscreen is running into your eyes and you are gasping on the side of the road that can be harder than you might think. shot lots of pics and they are up on flikr I will put together a group for here when I straighten that page out. set up to upload the way I have in the past but screwed up something and it started to upload my whole catalog so I need to go through and edit it but that will have to wait.

A few procedural notes. The state web site is not accurate for open campgrounds so if you are traveling call first. Benbow was closed for the season when I got there so I went down the road To Richardson Grove. I want to head south again and go farther but time was a problem. I will give more details of the trip but I have to shop and get coffee today and I am moving kind of slow. I did a little computer work on the road but not quite as much as I should have. I hope to get in a little better shape over time as now I am pushing hard each day so at the end I am too tired to type much. The voice recorder works well for making notes so I am getting some writing done but I still need to put in the transcription time. enjoy the vid and I will give you a better yarn in the next post.

The Black Mina project

I have the plan for the south trip. Day 1to Humboldt State Park. then down to Standish Hickey on day 2. Day 3 I head north and east out hwy 36 to Grizzly Creek. Day 4 back to the house. A short trip but I need to get back for Jury Duty next week and this way I can always extend.

The picture of the little cow palace got me thinking about going south when I was a kid to the Cow Palace in SF. Saw the circus there and that seems an apt metaphor for my current endeavor. Although I want to avoid the lions and tigers and especially the Bears I have been called a clown on more than one occasion.

I have posted a piece of fiction called the Black Mina on my Rude blog. It is more adult than might be appropriate here and will be serialised over several parts. It does require a sign up but it is free if you are over 18. Check back next week for picks from Phillipsville.

Blue Moon

Went out for an hours ride totaled 12.47 miles. Then did a little shopping and wandering looking for some items to illustrate a story idea I have. It is an erotic thriller type set in the 50's. Sort of a Film Noir kind of feel to it. I want to try to creat a photo essay telling rather than straight prose so it may be a while in the production.

Put together a little video that captured my mood. I know this is not everyones Idea of a blue moon just radmul's but the piano is nice.

Radmul rides south

Headed south for the day put in a long ride close to 40miles in 5 hours. focused on the ride and did not get a lot of pics. A few of the steep hills stopped me for a short break but other than those gasping for air moments I rode continuously. The terminus of my ride was at hwy 36. Wanted to see how it was riding toward Fortuna for the tour of The Unknown Coast in May
I need to do this about every other day when I am not camping if I am serious about getting in shape. Hope to head south for 4 days on Tuesday morning weather dependent.

Hump day grumbles

Went out riding and thinking. Still have to find a waterproof bag for the bag but picked up a few lighter weight items, I am serious about getting the weight down by a bunch. Found a pillow a voice recorder and a small tarp. Still need a stool. Shooting for 50 lbs on the trailer and 10 on the bike. I am going to return the bag cover if I can find the receipt that was looser but all in all I had a great experience. I am going out again on Tuesday. Think I will go south this time to the Avenue of the Giants. I think that will take me past the home of Big Foot but I am not guaranteeing footprints.

The photo is of Equisetum or horsetails. The first actual science I ever did involved making slices of plants like these to determine whether or not they were a C4 plant. Up until then all the labs I had done were pretty much follow the recipe type experiments, this one I designed myself and executed it successfully the first time out. My hypothesis was that they grew so well because they using both photosynthesis and aerobic respiration as in C4 plants. To prove this I needed to find chloroplasts in the bundle sheath cells. I made these slides with perfect cross sectional views and popped them under the scope and the null hypothesis was correct. Still remember it though.

Redwood trip report

I returned from the camping trip up the coast. The weather was a little damp but the scenery was unbelievable. I need to work on my conditioning before tackling the mountains again. I traveled 125 miles in 4 days of riding. I made 34.4 miles each of the first 3 days with the short day coming when I arrived home.
That was odd the way it worked out but ran into a few problems with a trail that wasn't maintained. I wasted half a day trying to reach a campsite out at Ossagon Creek. There was blow down all along the trail and I thought what the hell I’ll be a good guy and clear some but eventually got to a section that needed a chainsaw, which I did not have. I had portaged twice already and gave up and turned around after tweaking my ankle. By the time I got back to the paved road I was whipped so I went down hill to Prairie Creek.
Let me back up a bit, on day one I was up early and after a few packing modifications I was off. Took a while getting used to the weight again but made it out to Clam Beach by lunchtime. Then it was all uphill for a while to Westhaven and Camel Rock. I shot some vids and pictures along the way and ended up at Big Lagoon for the night. That was one of the things TV taught me wrong. From watching Giligan’s Island as a kid I did not know the thing that made it a lagoon was the sandbar. They always just paddle out on their rafts or whatever. Speaking of Bad TV from the 60’s seems more than just Bob Denver was 420 friendly. Dawn Wells got busted for pot possession; we have some useless laws for a free country. It was the camp host at one end of the campground and I at the other in what felt like the middle of nowhere. I sleep well in the true dark and quiet, a few hours after sundown the silence is clarifying. I would have slept well under any circumstances, as I was exhausted.
Along with the trail problems I also had a few tech problems. My tape recorder gave up the ghost, it was 15 years old but damn it pissed me off. The sleeping bag cover sweats so it was a total waste however I did get good at guying the tent to avoid condensation and the rain bothered me not a bit when I was inside. Since I was not going as far I decided not to rest day 3 and rode back to Clam Beach another 34 miles.
For the next trip I will be cutting the weight and looking for something a little less mountainous but I need more conditioning. This trip the wildlife I saw elk at the little red school house some mule deer and a falcon. I did not get photos of the Sandhill Crane or the Egrets. The chainsaw carvings were a little more exotic. The road kill report was pretty light a gopher 2 birds a field mouse and a skunk.

A quick flick

Here is a little taste from my trip will write more tommorow but I am a bit tired at the moment.

Go climb a big tree.

Busy day getting ready for the first extended camping trip of the crisis. Did Laundry and hit the grocery store for supplies. Finished the equipment list, Found a pair of bicycle pajamas for the machine. That is what they call the bike cover I found at prosport. Also picked up a flag for the trailer. Looks kind of dorky but I want to at least try to be seen. The ups people delivered my Tune Juice so I have a way to extend the Ipod without power. Can't go into the woods without tunes and Mina. The new packing with two 18 gallon rubbermaid tubs spreads out to 75lbs on the trailer and 18lbs on the bike with food and H2O. Too much canned fruit adds to the weight but the fresh isn't available yet.

The trip will be to Crescent City and the Jedediah Smith Redwood State park. Along the way I will stop in Trinidad, no Tobago here, Oreck, Camel Rock and Big Lagoon. Hope to get some amazing pictures and video for you guys. Oreck has a large herd of elk, the coast is amazing and the coastal redwoods are some of the biggest longest living organisms on the planet. They can live 2000 years or more. The giant sequoia near Santa Cruz are larger but these are 100's of feet tall. There are Some fungi that are square miles in size but trees are somehow more impressive. Go by the radmul channel on youtube to check out some new videos and I will be posting from the road next time.

Recycled Radmul

Still in recycle mode I took a box of books to the library The last of the Steven Kings that were taking up space along with some Eddings paperbacks and some old vhs tapes. Then took my old laptop over to C&K for Chris to play with. the screen went bad long ago still functioning connected to a monitor. For me it was too slow. Went for a long ride this pm and shot a little video at the Ingomar Club. Found no birds alas but did shoot a few random pieces for the DJ project. Hope no one fooled you today, I find practical jokes very unfunny but that's just me.