Forests and Foliage in the Fall

 It was October sunshine rarely ever seen with temperatures to compare.  A cloudless sky greeted us as we reached the Gun Lake park.  We hold this ride every year and this time there were enough people that I didn't have time to count.

Everybody grouped up on time at the start.

Anxious to get out on the roads of Barry County 

winding through the Yankee Springs forest.

The color in the flawless sunshine

was incomparable this year.

and everybody stayed in pretty tight groups 

throughout the ride while I took short cuts

to monitor everyone's progress

and made sure they all got up "the climb."

The effervescent sky reflected off the 

myriad of tiny lakes normally hidden in the forest.

The little "rollers" sprinkled throughout 

the route just keep gaining altitude.

The wind was favorable for the final flat sprint to the finish

where people I hadn't noticed at the start came in to enjoy 

the inevitable pumpkin spice donuts, cider and snacks.

The best ever is in history now.  Maybe 

Gun Lake can provide another work of beauty next year.

The Granfalloon parties forward.

 A few years ago, I think this past February, I received an email from a strange woman.  She had just moved with her husband and kids from Las Vegas, into the winter of Michigan, and was asking advice about cycling in the area.    Curiously she claimed to have a garage full of Rivendell's, said she had never ridden more than 17 miles at a time and wasn't sure how well she could ride.  Sounded simple, I put her in touch with a woman from our Kalamazoo Bicycle Club and figured she'd find a way to fit in, somewhere.

This seemingly innocent suburban housewife (Leah Peterson) was secretly plotting to become the High Priestess of an an infamous Rivendellian Granfalloon.  

Once again she gathered our Fellowship of beautiful bikes, this time for a review of the fall colors north of Grand Rapids, Mi.  It was a cold and blustery morning, but 7 of us came to enjoy the day together just to ride our bikes.

The trail was overwhelmed

 with the colors of fall.

Theride was brisk but in the Midwest we know to dress

 for winter in the morning, summer in the afternoon

and some had the foresight to wear the appropriate Rivendell uniforms..  Towards the end of the ride we had an excellent lunch at Third Nature Brewery outside of Rockford.

The High Priestess commemorated the event in a video.

It was a wonderful few hours for the Fellowship 

but it had to end so we can plan our next adventure.  

Perhaps in spring.

Thousand and one lights

     Thousand is a small company which makes beautiful helmets and has expanded into other accessories.  Their new light design fascinated me and I had to try it.  I have dyno-lights on my touring Hunq and my winter beater where I need the best, most reliable lighting.   

For years my backup for around town has been a simple Mini-Mag light with a 6 dollar Twofish light mount.  It's not the best choice but it makes me legal, visible, it's handy and works.   

     The new design by Thousand promises to be handier and work better.   It has 3 settings,  a 30 lumen flash,  a 250 lumen flash and a 100 lumen solid. 

The lens is exactly twice the diameter of the Mag-lite. 

The Mag-lite beam is 97 lumens 

and narrowly focused.

     The Thousand light provides a broader pattern, lighting more of the near and side pavement.   Either will get you through a neighborhood street safely, from streetlight to streetlight, at moderate speeds. Neither compare to a dyno powered light for nighttime and will not have much value at 20 mph on a country road in the dark. 

     The daytime options are where the Thousand light shines.  Leah Peterson is riding her raspberry Rivendell in the daylight with a Schmidt Edelux dyno light.  Schmidt makes some of the best bike lights in the world and they show up effectively in the day light. 

The Thousand Traveler presents a noticeable daytime strobe on the 250 lumen setting and the most unusual strobe pattern I have seen.  There is a 30 lumen strobe setting which saves battery time, but I can't imagine using it.  If you spend all day on the streets you may feel differently.  The Mini-Mag is not worth mentioning in the daylight.  With a 2 cm lens, it's as bright as a spot on a puddle. 

     Other features pop out of the Thousand light.  When you park your bike, the light detaches from the magnetic mount exposing a reminder that your bike will be lonely. 

While your bike waits patiently, and your light is safe from theft, you can recharge the module at any computer or wall outlet.  The light flashes yellow while it charges

and turns green when it's done. 

     The Thousand Traveler is an amazing design.  It looks good, the lens  diffuses light over a broad area and it's powerful enough to provide visibility on city streets.   With the typical strap and hook handlebar attachment, it can be easily switched from bike to bike and is loaded with convenience features.  You'll never know if it saved your life, but it's a bargain at $35. 

Fun convenience amidst drudgery

      At our bike club meeting last month, a number of us were invited to talk about practical cycling.  Oddly enough, with hundreds of thousands of miles in the collective saddle, most club members don't understand that option.  One ;thing that sounds ponderous to people is grocery shopping.  Most people are incredulous to hear that it is  simpler on a bike.

     Arriving at the store by bike, rather than searching the acres of Autogeddon for a safe looking parking place or walk the distance to the store,

I ride to the door and park.  On days when there's a lot of shopping to do, I pull my trailer with me.  Any of my bikes can pull the trailer, today I used the Brommie and gave it a chance to commune at the rack with the big boy bikes.

The trailer is a Burley Travoy which detaches and becomes a shopping cart. 

Wandering the store, I use the store app on my phone

 to scan things as they go into the bags.

When the bags are full with 2-3 hundred dollars worth of stuff, 

going through the self checkout terminal is a snap.

Outside,  I reattach the trailer, toodle on home

and don't notice the trailer, until going uphill that is.  

     After leaving the bike in the garage, the trailer rolls right into the kitchen to fill the fridge.  That's it. 

    It's easy peasy compared to driving, walking through the acres of parking lot, filling a cart, unloading at the checkout, reloading at the checkout, pushing the cart back through the parking lot to find the car again, unloading the cart, loading the car, unloading the car at home, carrying bags inside, and, finally, putting things away. 

    It's so much more convenient to use the bike and have the pleasure of another ride.