Well. So.

Regional cuisine

So, after Thanksgiving I took a break from blogging, and from bicycling starting some time around Christmas, until the weather began to improve in March.

What mountain is this?

After I completed my French language class last spring, then rode the RedBell 100 at the end of June, I didn't really have anything planned. Mainly I've been diddling around for the last several months. Trying out some new ventures and interests. Recovering my health, which took a beating during the two years when I was a bicycle-commuting barista at the airport. Getting used to not worrying about money all the time.

Money does not change every thing, I have learned. I'm still the same, still have the same old character faults that always used to trip me up and hold me back. I am a procrastinator and a worrier. I'm wishy-washy and indecisive. I get myself in to a safe, secure rut and hide out there. I'm working on changing that.

I finally signed up for one of the bicycle tours I've been wanting to take for so long, a week-long group tour in Quebec later this summer. I don't want to publish in advance exactly when and where, or all the details of my plans. But I'm back in the saddle, training for the ride, studying the language and the province. Getting moving again.

Change of Seasons

Sun worship! Yes!

For the past two years I've been going to once-a-week yoga sessions which helped me recover from my awful first year in Ferndale, when I was bike-commuting to my coffee shop job at the airport after being evicted from my apartment in Bellingham. I developed walking pneumonia over that winter, too. By the end of the following summer I was thoroughly beat-up, dreading another winter. Yoga and antibiotics got me through. Sadly, the studio closed at the end of September when the teacher/owner had a chance to return to school. (But good for her!)

After a month of trying to practice on my own at home, needing more motivation, I signed up for membership in a gym this month. So far I've been going to yoga classes two or three times a week, with different teachers. I plan to try an indoor-cycling session as soon as I can get myself trained to get up early enough in the morning. I'd also like to have someone show me how to work the cycle, treadmill, and stair-climber machines, and help me with the weights - eventually. Just for more variety and cross-training purposes; I don't want to become fitness-obsessive.

At Monday night yoga class this week we did many, many repetitions of raised arms stretched above the head (extended mountain pose), which isn't too strenuous really, unless you do many, many, many of them, which we did. Plus some side-planks and other shoulder work, so my shoulders, neck and upper back were very fatigued and sore afterwards.

I'd been counting on the sun for a bike ride on Tuesday, Veteran's Day, forgetting that it would also be chilly and windy. I decided to ride to Birch Bay, figuring I would have a headwind to begin with, then a tailwind coming home. Somehow the roads and the wind both twisted themselves around, though, so I only felt mild gusts from the sides and rear on the way out. At the state park I hit very strong headwinds while riding in to Birch Bay Village, but the road there, by the bayside shops and condos, was more sheltered. Riding along the beach was as pretty and sunny as any summer day, but much more brisk and invigorating.

The most powerful headwinds hit as I was riding home, on Kickerville Road and Mountain View Road. On a flat section of Mountain View, a gust of wind almost knocked me off the pavement and into the ditch and I had to stop on the shoulder of the road to wait for the biggest surges to settle. Luckily, the headwinds made the last hill-climb in to town seem easy, or maybe the wind created some sort of up-draft on the hillside. I cruised up easily, only to be slowed by the headwind on the downhill side.

When I got home I was thoroughly chilled, and very stiff and sore in the back, shoulders and neck from the combination of wind, hills and yoga. A long soak in a hot tub seemed like the best remedy, even though I vaguely remembered reading someplace that heat is not good for sore, inflamed muscles or joints. Turns out this is true, although the hot bath did feel good while I was in it. Later on, though, my spine and shoulders were so painful I had to put a cold pack on my back - not the pleasantest feeling on a stormy winter night, but better than the pain. I was stiff and sore all day Wednesday, too. So there's a lesson.

At the railroad crossing on Bay Road, near Kickerville, I had to wait for a long tanker train - BP refinery traffic, I suppose. I didn't count the tanks or time how long it took to pass, but by the time the gates opened there were seventeen cars backed up on my side, and twelve on the other side of the tracks. Rather than add to the delay, I pulled in to a turn-out to let the cars pass first. Just sayin'.

TURN ON YOUR HEADLIGHTS!

Rainy season again. We have a day or two of torrential rain, followed by a day or two of clearing, then another wave of storms comes through. On Friday night, Halloween Eve, the weather cleared long enough for an early evening of trick-or-treating, but the Nooksack River was just short of flooding.

Left Bank

Right Bank

Saturday night was the end of Daylight Saving Time, when we turn the clocks back one hour, to get another hour of daylight in the morning. On Sunday morning I woke up earlier than usual, but confused, thinking it was Monday. But the weather continued dry over the weekend and I got out for 25 mile bike rides both days.

Monday, and it's pouring again. I took the bus to run errands in Bellingham, returning home about 4pm. As I was riding the #27 on Northwest Drive I saw three valiant cyclists heading back to Bellingham, wearing bright yellow rain gear, with bright LED headlights.

Unfortunately, I also noticed about one out of every five cars still driving without headlights on. Pacific Northwesterners typically drive cars in colors that match various types of wet or dry pavement, making them even less visible in gloomy afternoon conditions. It's extra dangerous for a few days, until drivers begin to adjust to the early darkness.

Edifice Complex

More pix from the Museum of Anthropology and University of British Columbia campus.

 

 

 

Canadian Thanksgiving

Haida totems

Canada's Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on October 12, which is a bonus if you're working for a Canadian company in the US - you get two holidays. Or else you get one very boring work day in October, while your Canadian bosses take the day off.

Last Saturday I took a bus excursion to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver BC, arranged by Whatcom Community College's community education program. The $90 course fee covered fare on a Belair charter bus and admission to the museum, including a guided tour. At first I thought the price was a bit steep, but then considering that if I went on my own I'd pay transportation and hotel for an overnight stay instead of a one-day trip, I decided it would be a good deal for a last-chance trip before the rains come.

When I saw the line-up of south-bound Canadians at the border in the morning, I was a little worried about getting stuck for hours on the return trip, but the crossing was easy and fast going both ways. At both US and Canadian border stations, passengers get off the bus to have passports or enhanced driver's licenses checked in the office, while inspectors inspect the bus. Since the tour leaders at WCC had checked our identification before we boarded, there was no delay at the crossing.

A contemporary mural influenced by manga and native art

Haida totem

The Museum of Anthropology has a collection of European ceramics in addition to First Nations art and artifacts, and also small exhibits of works from Pacific Rim and African tribes. I especially like the expressive and humorous Haida pieces, although the Haida were slave-owners and traders, which is not so admirable. Many of the carvings are not very old, since even cedar doesn't last long in the wet forests. One piece made in 1907, is a series of large serving bowls joined together like thigh-height train cars on wooden wheels, used to serve food at potlatch ceremonies.

After a guided tour, we had lunch at the museum cafe, then two or three hours to explore the museum and get out for a walk around the university campus. Food at the museum was about as good as what I used to serve at the Bellingham Airport cafe, and the servers were quick and pleasant. I had brought along a stash of Canadian currency, plus some coins left over from my tip jar at the airport, but the cashier wouldn't accept my Canadian pennies, even in the tip jar. I left a loonie and some silver, but I guess I'll have to save up my pennies to sell on the commodities market.

Slaves supporting a bench

The University of British Columbia campus might possibly be even more beautiful than the University of Washington. There are some old, rough, gothiky stone buildings, and more modern, innovative architecture contrasting with a wilder setting, despite the nearness of the city of Vancouver. There are whimsical details like adult-sized swings hanging from tree branches, and concrete partitions made to look like stacked firewood. When the clouds lift, you have a stunning view of the North Cascades, along with a relief-panorama showing the names of all the largest peaks.

The North Cascades, beyond the Rose Garden on the UBC campus

Someone should make one of these for Birch Bay State Park.

. . . also, bicycling on campus

The bicycling component of my trip: I had thought I might be able to take the WTA bus to meet the charter bus on campus, but forgot that on Saturdays the first morning run isn't until 9am. Also, with the possibly of delay at the border returning home, I needed my bike for the return trip. So I ended up riding both ways - a slow, easy ride in the morning, to avoid getting all sweaty before boarding; then an easy ride home, because the ride on the warm tour bus made me very sleepy and I was looking forward to a nice nap after my big day-trip.

Old Bones

Last night I was out for another one of those excursions to town that required a bicycle for the trip back home after the bus stopped running. This one was a presentation by the Arthritis Foundation on "Living with Knee and Hip Pain" which was of interest to me because I've had joint pain in my left leg going back fifteen years (before I started bicycling). Actually, the bike ride may have been more valuable for this purpose than the lecture, which mostly covered generally-known information. The best-practice advice is: keep your weight down, exercise, eat healthy, stay active.

When I was in my forties the pain in my foot, knee, hip and back seemed to flare up with my menstrual cycle, and sometimes became pretty debilitating and frustrating. It's somewhat better now that I don't have PMS anymore, but still a chronic thing.

Recently I've been feeling a bit proud of myself because, even after fifteen years, I can still throw my leg over the seat of my bicycle, and most likely the reason I can, is that I just keep doing it several times a day, several days a week.

Which reminds me of a bit of technical advice I've learned over the years. Commuters often fall into a very set routine, down to always going in and out of doors walking on the same side of the bike (to avoid bashing the door), and always approaching a preferred parking spot from the same side. After a while I noticed that I was getting sharp, painful twinges in my right knee, and my left leg was much more limber than my right. When I checked what I was doing, I found that, besides habitually mounting from the right side of my bike, I was standing with my foot perpendicular to the bike and twisting my knee slightly as I kicked the other leg over. I retrained myself to take turns mounting from the left or right side so both hips get a regular stretch-out, and try to remember to either point my foot forward a bit, or to rise up on my toes and turn on the ball of my foot as I throw my leg over the saddle, to avoid twisting my knee.

It's normal to have one leg stronger or more flexible than the other, but I hope these habits will help balance things out, besides preventing injury from unconsciously doing the same painful thing over and over again.

One item of new information from the Arthritis Foundation lecture concerned glucosamine and chondroitin. According to the lecturer, new research shows that these supplements are not harmful, but don't work. This was reassuring to me because I'd tried them for about eighteen months several years ago. I had read up on glucosamine before trying it, and the information I found claimed that it stimulated an enzyme that promoted growth of new cartilage. Later I read another article claiming that glucosamine alone could cause new cartilage to grow on top of damaged, brittle cartilage, which would create a joint lining that would be even more prone to crumbling. This article recommended taking the chondroitin supplement in combination with glucosamine, which would stimulate another enzyme that would break down and carry away old cartilage to allow new growth on a strong base. It sounded reasonable at the time, so I tried it for a while but then stopped after losing my job, because I hadn't noticed any change and couldn't afford the $50 for two bottles of pills. Still, I've had fleeting fears since that I'd done something that might actually cause more damage. I was glad to learn that I was only wasting my money.

Ferndale Fog

Mornings are a bit foggy these days, but it usually burns off and turns sunny before noon, as it did on Sunday. Except when it rains all day, which it did today. The trees are just barely beginning to show a little fall color and the rain has brought new growth on lawns and fields.

Yesterday the fog was just starting to clear when I took off for a Sunday ride from Ferndale, but after I crossed over the hill crest at West Bakerview Road, I coasted down Northwest Ave. into a fog bank. Downtown Bellingham was socked in all day.

Luckily I was planning to test my hill-climbing on Samish Way up to Lake Padden Park. I did surprisingly well, after a twelve-mile warm up ride from Ferndale, and rode 35 miles total round-trip. It was worth the effort, too, because I found a perfect, sunny fall day at the top of the climb. There were kayakers, paddle-boarders, and even swimmers training for a triathlon out in the lake.

Obviously, someone else found the perfect reward for a hard ride, too.