The Clipless Ambush: a Tale of Failure

Well, my first encounter with clipless pedals occurred sooner than I anticipated. Last week the Co-Habitant decided to update his pedals, and the new set arrived in the mail today... which meant that he could gift me his old ones. I thought that surely this gifting would take place some time in the future - a distant, abstract future. But no. Cheerfully he attached them to one of our vintage roadbikes right then and there, so that I could give them a try. Don't get me wrong, I myself had expressed interest in this. But... I don't know, I just didn't expect it to happen immediately!



I already owned a pair of compatible shoes, having bought them on clearance last summer "just in case." With apprehension I watched him attach the cleats to the soles, trying to gauge the correct position. I then put them on and dragged the bike over to the kitchen sink, so that I could hold on to the edge with one hand as I tried to figure out how the contraptions worked.



I expected that clipping in would be relatively easy, but clipping out difficult. It was the opposite. At first I could not to clip in. I tried and tried, but my foot stayed on top of the pedal and the mechanism would not engage no matter how hard I pressed. I struggled to figure out what I was doing wrong, but the explanation turned out to be simple: I am a weakling. We had to loosen the tension almost to the max for my foot to engage the mechanism. Even after that, I still had trouble pressing down with enough force and in the exact position necessary for the cleat to catch. Clipping out, on the other hand, was intuitive: the sideways twist of the foot is exactly the same motion required to get out of Power Grips, so I found it natural.Transitioning from the kitchen sink to the trainer, I practiced for some time, clipping in and out successfully. I then decided it was time to go outside. I felt pretty confident at this point. Nothing to this.

It was around 10 pm and the small side street behind our house was well lit and empty of cars. Confidently, I carried the bike outdoors, swung my leg over the top tube, and clipped in my right foot. Now all I had to do was push off, coast for a bit, then put my left foot back down on the ground. That would be such an easy first step. No different from Power Grips. Just need to do it. Now. Go! But... it was not to be. Like some malfunctioning marionette, I kept clipping and unclipping my right foot, trying to mentally force myself to push off, but it wasn't working; nothing was happening. The amused Co-Habitant offered to stand at the end of the street and "catch me" if I found myself unable to unclip when I got there. But imagining that just made it worse. It began to feel as if I'd forgotten how to ride a bike entirely.

There is no redeeming ending to this story. After a good ten minutes I gave up and went back inside, my head hung low in shame. Obviously I am just not ready.

Aside from the tale of failure, I have some observations about the shoe and pedal set-up. I can't find the model name of the shoes, but in retrospect getting clipless shoes with laces was silly. Being stiff and unyielding, they are difficult to put on and tighten, and it's a pain to tuck the laces under the velcro. I am also not sure these pedals are right for me. They are Shimano SPD 520s: mountain bike style, double sided and with a very small surface area. I know that many love this type of pedal, but to me it felt like not enough of my foot was connected. Pedaling on the trainer, I had the sensation that there was too much pressure on the spot where the cleat meets the pedal and that a larger contact area would have been better. Maybe these particular shoes are not stiff enough, or maybe I would do better with a different style of pedals. There seems to be a consensus that the mountain bike clipless system is easier than the road system, but I wonder whether I might prefer the latter. Unfortunately, there is no way to try these things out.

Navigating the world of clipless shoes and pedals is complicated, and at the moment it seems best to postpone it... at least until I am brave enough to use the ones I have beyond the confines of my kitchen!

O Joshua Tree! O Joshua Tree!

The Joshua Tree isn't really a tree at all, rather, it is a giant yucca plant. The trunk of a Joshua Tree consists of thousands of small fibers and it lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine it's age. New seedlings can grow up to 3 inches per year in their first ten years. After that they grow only 1 1/2 inches per year.

According to park literature, the Joshua tree was so named by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer.

I was told by a Ranger, that each of the “arms” or the branches of a Joshua Tree was the result of it blooming and flowering. Each bloom creates another branch. The trees bloom in the spring, though they don't all bloom every year. In fact there were some Joshua Trees that were six to eight feet tall without any branches! And then there were other trees with an overabundance of blooms. After flowering, the blossoms drop off, leaving a length of dried stalk. New leaves grow beneath this dead portion, and a new branch begins its growth in another direction. The numerous shapes and sizes of the trees is fascinating.

This was one of the largest Joshua Trees that I saw in the park, perhaps 35 feet high. I don't know what caused it to lose the limb hanging down on the ground but it was somewhat recent damage.

It wasn't the first damage this tree sustained. On the side opposite of the new downed limb was a gaping hole from a loss in the distant past.

It also had one of the most complex branching systems that I saw. It must be very old and is still blooming!

The “furry” nature of the branches helps it to grab and retain moisture from the air.

New branches will grow from the remnants of the flower stalk.

One of the blooms of the Joshua Tree.

And another.

Close up of Quail

here is another shot of the quail that I pulled in closer. You can see part of a residental section of Rio Rancho, NM behind him.

An evening in Duluth

Duluth is a beautiful city, and whenever I come to Duluth (if I have the time) I do the good "tourist" thing and make a stop at Canal Park. My brother and I have some appointments tomorrow, but we decided to come down tonight so we could see a movie and not be so rushed tomorrow. As we came into town we noticed an ore boat out on the lake, heading towards the ship canal. We decided to check in quickly at our hotel then go to Canal Park to watch the ship come through.



When we got to Canal Park, it looked like the ship's passing was going to be timed perfectly with the setting sun. However, the ship was moving so slowly that by the time it entered the canal the sun had gone down and the ship was no longer in that nice, warm evening light. Oh well! I still snapped a few pictures as it went through. The image below was shot with my 17mm lens, which allowed me to fit the whole ship in the frame at close range, but also distorted the look a little bit.



After hanging out at Canal Park for a little while longer, we went to see the new "X-Men" movie. When the movie was over, we took a walk along the harbor past the Vista dock, and I took a few pictures along the way. I loved the reflections in the water in the image below:

Squirrel

Quality, price and value?

Youdecide for yourself which ones are important to you. Just make sure none of themare the monkey on your back.









Cold Thistleis about the alpine stoke. But it is easy to get stuck on gear. I have failed on a lot of climbs and actually succeeded on a few as well. Still, way more failures. But I have NEVER failed because of a lack of or the wrong choice in gear. Weather maybe? But generally it was simply a mental error some where along the line from planning to alack of will in the final execution.



Only takes one real shitfest in the mountains to realise what ever the bad choices you made they weren't worththe time and money you saved.



Newbies can learn. Just takes an open mind. The ones that already know all the answersseem to get stuck more often than not. Or get even less done.



I found this comment several weeks ago on an Internet forum.



The first comment,

"I never pay full retail, preferring to trade hungry climbers food money for
their used gear."



An observation was made:

"So not only do you buy used but generally from climbers who don't
have the funds or may be the experience to buy the best or the most useful in
the first place?"



Q: Do you plan on climbing in
it?



A: "Maybe, very rarely..."



Q: If the jacket is only going to get used occasionally or sit in your pack then
things like collar height, type of wrist closure, pocket orientation, or some
new down treatment will make no difference to
you



A: "Indeed- none of those things matter..."





There are times whenthe only real concern is the price you pay. That kind of economy never seems to
end well in the long run. Applied to alpine climbing it might well be painful.



Climbing (especially alpine climbing) is a thinking man's game if you are to be successful. Nothing that you use or put on is more important than what is between your ears. Nothing. A reality check on that particular space is a good place to start when sorting gear, getting in the car and again when you lace up your boots. Because the reality of it is "everything matters."

Tunnel Cliffs and Sunday School Crag conditions

Winter wonderland... for now

I woke up this morning feeling a little sore from my past several days efforts. Needing a rest day, I decided to go check ice conditions high up on the ridge at the coldest areas in the region as well as get in some winter hiking and views. I loaded a light pack with minimal gear. Tools, crampons, extra gloves a puffy and the normal lid contents. I brewed a pot of elixer for my thermos and set off up the mountain to Tunnel road. The road was maintained part of the way making the driving easy. From there on out to the top of NO DRIVE hill (parking area) the snowmobiles had it packed to reasonable passage. I parked there and hiked down the 1.25 miles to the climbing. It was looking pretty good, but I was surprised that the top outs were still looking very wet and boney. Here's a couple of shots...

Hard to believe this is Tunnel cliffs from the ice farming days circa 1999

I like the no maintenance of the new version...

but liked the natural non tiered version better

Here's the beta on the NEW Tunnel Cliffs. I would suggest only using this area on Sundays and keeping a low profile. Since this is the first year I've been back here in years and this one sucks, I'm not really sure of the potential here. Its basically short benches (30'?) that can be climbed in short "pitches" or linked all together. Its a great place that seeps continually from a natural spring and parts are in full shade. It is one of the highest crags as far as elevation goes and comes in quicker than most other areas. This should be a great location with lots of moderate climbing. I don't expect to be climbing here that often, so this is my effort to share with fellow ice climbers an area. I would expect that it will become a good asset for both local and visiting climbers. You can find Tunnel Cliffs in Griz's Ice climbing Pennsylvania guidebook. It'll help get you there, but the routes are obviously different. Unlike the old days of serious efforts required to "farm" ice and climb here, TC has now been transformed into an ice making machine that requires no maintenance. Climbing at Tunnel back in those years was not a problem and could be accessed at any time. Now given its current condition going on days other than Sunday may ruin it for all. Please don't be "that climber" and lets keep this place climbable. Thanks and enjoy! I snapped a couple pics and left quickly as not trying to be the person I just mentioned. I wanted to get a couple pics with it a little thicker than I've seen it thus far and to gauge what it takes for this place to come into shape to help y'all out. I've always enjoyed the walk down into and out of Tunnel cliffs. Its a long gradual hill that goes through some beautiful forest. Its quickly contrasted by the new climbing area as you will see if you visit (some Sunday). Keep this one on your hit list if leading WI3ish climbs is what your after. Keep in mind if not leading that there's not much in the way of anchors (trees, etc) for easy top roped climbing. In addition the ice may be hard to reach from the top and may not offer easy access for screw anchors either.



After my hike up out of Tunnel Cliffs I visited Sunday School Crag. The conditions there look promising. If the cold weather continues it'll be fat by next weekend. If it warms up its going to be very unstable. Unfortunately the forecast is calling for a warm up and rain. I spent a couple hours walking around checking out the climbs enjoying our brief winter experience. Here's what it looked like and a few random shots for your enjoyment.

60 meters of chossy alpine fun

South Park Wall

Near where New Years Revolution once stood.

Looks harder than WI4+ though.

It's waiting for us when you're ready Matt!

New Years Reunion WI?

Dumbfounded self portrait. It was a wonderful 13°

and felt good in the sun

Pennsylvania Alpine? Who remembers the approach?

Another 60meters of more strenuous fun.

Who's coming with me man?

There you have it the ice is looking better than it has yet, but has some building to be considered FAT. Lets hope for some mercy on the warm fronts and colder temps hit the area with fury. I know I'm ready to get some serious climbing done. Mother nature has a different plan. Hard to believe its 44° and raining now just hours later. What a bitch!