Here are the pictures from last week and this week, taken from the same locations.
We start with the falls: January 8th...
From the bridge looking down on the falls and the foot bridge: January 8
January 14: I didn't get quite the right angle to show the new lumber that has collected on the falls. Amazing what a strong current can carry.
January 14: Where was this young man last week?
A reminder of our picnic table January 8th;
And today: A little more picnic ready, although the grass was still pretty squishy.
The lower falls January 8;
Not as zoomed in on January 14. Although they are still pretty strong, nothing like last week.
This is the old Olympia Brewery and the lower falls. The small square object in the water between the falls and the brewery is a sampling raft. They use it to test the water, and to check on the salmon migration.
A week later, you can actually see the difference in the level of the falls. It is starting higher and falling, not just raging into the sea. The water is clearer already, not the brown murky storm water coming out of the hills.
I have been trying to get out more, not in my car, now that it has stopped raining, for a little while. Usually I walk, and I have noticed the fall out of a good snow. On my bike, a nice 10 speed with skinny little wheels, all that gravel on the side of the road becomes treacherous. The bike lanes are bad and the sidewalk is even worse. My son has a new bike, as of this summer, and his tires are a bit wider. His wheels are much larger than his old bike and I found myself moving right along, and he was keeping up with me the entire time. I guess he is growing up, and soon he will have to slow his pace so that I can keep up with him.
I was glad to get back in my car, the one with the seat warmers, to take #3 to dance this evening. Not only are the seats warm, they are much more comfortable than a bike seat, and I have a radio.
4 comments:
Wow. Cool to see all of that. That's quite a difference in a week. I'm glad that you didn't float away.
Hope you're sending some of that water down here. I'm thirsty.
Bikes? Back when I got my $250 Raleigh, I kinda had two things in mind: 1) I wanted to ride upright; 2) I wanted robust wheels. I wanted a solid bike, not a light bike.
I'm a heavier rider than the flyboys who rocket around France every July, and I've trued enough wheels after going over curbs and through potholes to last me a lifetime. What today is called a "road bike" (and looks like what we used to call a 10-speed) usually has very skinny, fast wheels. Big fat wheels, with "knobbies" on them (mountain-bike tires), mean you have to work a little harder to get the bike up to speed . . . but I'm on the thing for exercise anyhow, right? So more work is good?
Re riding upright, it's not recommended. For short jaunts, it's great: You get to see where you're going. You pay with somewhat higher wind resistance, but I go back to the theme of working harder because it turns out I am here for my health. The catch with these "comfortable" handlebars: In a month where I put 300 miles on this bike, I pay for upright riding with constant cricks in neck, shoulders, and upper back. If you're going far, or riding much, the dropped-down pose you see racers use is better ergonomically.
It's not that I'm against "road bikes." They have their place too, and riding a lightweight frame with skinny wheels is like hopping on a cloud--there's just nothing there, and you go fast fast fast. But it's like deciding whether you need a pickup truck or a compact car. One isn't absolutely better than the other. But for certain jobs, one is the obvious choice, and for other uses, that one is all wrong. If I were planning for lots of riding, I'd choose drop-down handlebars in a heartbeat. I got the bars I was after at the time.
(If I were shopping today--and bikes are ridiculously expensive these days--I would add one thing for a general knocking-around bike: I'd rather not have shock absorbers. I'm guessing they're great if you're mountain biking. But for knocking around town, they're one more moving part to fail, and in theory they make you work that much harder, because part of every pedal stroke is going into frame motion against resistant springs. I stuck with fat tires and extra frame weight to make myself work harder. Don't need more harder work.)
So my heart is with you on those gravel-strewn roads. Your skinny wheels make it more exciting. Just make sure you don't slip in the gravel and fall off the bridge into the river. New Yorkers like traveling in rivers. No need to do it in your neck of the woods.
Great pictures!
--Uncle Brother No. 2
Now I will have to take a walk from the picnic table when I want to catch a fish. That river was so nicely situated to sit and fish in the first picture.
PapaB: We are not floating away from here. We are pretty stable in the side of the hill where we are.
MrJ: I got my bike in the 80s (100 years ago) and it still works so I still ride it. #4 has a newer bike with road tires, not Mt. tires, and shock absorbers. As far as wind resistance, he has to worry about as much as a pencil in a strong wind. As far as upright handle bars- he needs to keep an eye on me so he doesn't get lost. Shock absorbers create more work, I am all in favor of #4 doing more work.
CAgirl: Sorry you will now have to work for your dinner, or lunch since it is dark at dinner time and you wouldn't be able to see the fish.
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