Conowingo Dam

It's November. It's Thanksgiving Day weekend. It's time to visit Conowingo Dam.

Sadly the weather did not cooperate. The forecast called for cloudy skies, clearing about dawn, cool temperatures, and breezy conditions starting late morning. They got it right, except the wind picked up early. The uncomfortable conditions and rough water (preventing much fishing) led to my earliest exit ever in the many years that I've made the trip.

The parking lot was unusually empty, only about half full. The number of photographers was way down from almost every visit I've ever made to the dam.

I picked my favorite spot on the rocks near the water and there were hardly any other photographers or fishermen nearby. The rocks were especially slippery because they were covered by a thin layer of dirt turned to mud by the overnight rain.

I got very few shots because there really wasn't much close action. There were lots of eagles flying around the far shore, even some interesting eagle chases, but nothing close enough to photograph. Nevertheless, I did get a few keepers.

Bald Eagle in Sunlight with Dark Background

Bald Eagle with a Fish

Juvenile Flyover Before Sunrise

New Bike

It’s rare that I get a new bike. I get a new car more often than a new bike. I ordered my second bike in about 30 months.

Why? After all, the bike that I already have works great. I was happy with it when I rode it across Iowa. I’ve ridden 2000 miles on it this year alone. What’s wrong with just using my Specialized Diverge? I wanted a new bike anyway. Here’s why:

• The Diverge is a gravel bike. When I bought it, I wanted a sturdy bike that I could use in Maine on my annual trip there. I wanted something that could handle the C&O Canal trail. I wanted something like a mountain bike because that’s what I had most recently spent a lot of time riding. But after more than 5000 miles on the Diverge, it’s clear that road riding is what I want to do. An actual road bike is a better fit.
• The Diverge is a little bit too large for me. When I got it, the bike felt OK, and I’ve made saddle adjustments, but, while I’ve got the saddle height and setback about where I want, the reach is a little too long. I suppose I could get a shorter stem; maybe I’ll still do that.
• I’m much fitter now after 3 Summer seasons of riding, along with 2 seasons on the stationary trainer. I can now actually benefit from a faster bike.
• Maybe this is the real reason: I just want a new bike.

After much research about frames (time trial, racing, gravel, endurance, etc), I settled on endurance geometry. After researching frame material, I settled on carbon fiber. After researching shifters (cable, electronic), I settled on electronic. After researching brakes (cable, hydraulic), I wanted cables, but the model I want comes with hydraulic brakes. Rim brakes or disc? Disc for me. After researching tires (tubular, clinchers, tubeless), I went with clinchers. After researching wheels (aluminum, carbon fiber), I went with aluminum. Why?

• Carbon fiber frames are lightweight and stiff.
• I spent a lot of time BS-ing with other bikers in Iowa. Electronic shifting got high marks. Plus there are no cables to fray, no need to reindex.
• Hydraulic brakes need periodic bleeding and can be messy. I hope I like it.
• I like the disc brakes on my Diverge. They really grab when I want and rarely make noise.
• Flats. Last year (2020), I had a ridiculous number of flats, probably mostly because the road that’s most convenient for me to ride on has a lot of debris. This year, I’ve had only one flat, and that’s probably mostly because I spent so much time on the W&OD trail instead of the road. Tubeless tires seem attractive. But my Iowa acquaintances went on about how messy they are. Clinchers for me.
• Carbon fiber wheels are ridiculously expensive. I got aluminum wheels, and of course I can swap them sometime if I want to.

Then there’s the question of the make and model. In late 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and the resulting supply chain issues continue. It’s just about impossible to find good road bikes right now in stores. After a lot of research, I settled on a Canyon Endurace model. Canyon is an online seller. And because it’s November, I’m not riding outside very much, so I can wait. And wait I did. The Canyon web site showed my preferred bike out of stock for months. Suddenly the web site showed bikes in stock. And as I was dithering over whether to order, they went out of stock again.

There’s also the question of frame size. I used the Canyon web site tool. It recommended a small. Really? I’m about as average in size as possible. I took my measurements again. I researched bike fitting. I measured my Diverge. I settled on a stack/reach target. I looked at the Canyon web site for specifications on the Endurace. I watched several YouTube videos on bike size selection. I settled on a small after all.

I kept checking the web site; suddenly my preferred bike was back in stock. Sadly, only in gray. I started a chat session with a salesman and asked whether other colors would become available. He said maybe yellow. And he offered to remove the shipping charge if I ordered right away. I ordered.

Canyon Endurace

Fast forward…

My bike arrived today. I was very annoyed; the shipping notice said a signature was required. I arrived home after work to find my bike left in my driveway, a day early. No one signed for it and my expensive bike, it its box, was sitting there in plain sight. It’s a good thing I live in a good neighborhood.

I took my time assembling it. I put the frame on my stand, pulled my torque wrench out, and got to work. I was expecting a 100mm stem; it came with a 90mm stem. I installed the handlebars, then the front wheel. The stock saddle has a huge cutout. I removed it from the post and installed my saddle from my other bike. I also installed my pedals from the other bike. The Canyon came with pedals that I wasn’t expecting. After swapping the saddle, it was really hard to get the seat post in the tube. I had to work on it for a while, using force to gently get it inserted. After I got it inserted once, it was much easier to remove and reinstall it with carbon paste. Then I connected the cables for the electronic shifting and noticed that the bike came with a charge on the battery.

By this time it was almost dark, but there was no way I was going to wait. I pumped the tires up, grabbed my reflective windbreaker vest and helmet, put some bike shorts on, and did a few laps on my street. I immediately noticed that the handlebars were not installed straight and my saddle was a little low. I also noticed that the bike accelerates very quickly and is quiet and seems effortless to pedal. I tried the shifters out; it’s weird. Gentle taps are all it takes. No more manhandling to shift into larger rings. I tried the brakes. They work, but I didn’t really notice any difference.

I put the bike back on the stand, adjusted the handlebars to be straight on, raised the saddle a little, and called it a night. I put the charger on the bike to get the shifting battery topped off.

Fast forward…

I knew when I ordered a bike in November that I wouldn’t be able to ride it much. It’s unusually warm today and I just had to ride it after work, so I did a loop in the neighborhood to see if my last adjustments improved the ride. They did the trick. Now I have to figure out my saddle position forward or rearward. The shifting still seems strange.

Fast forward…

I really wanted to ride the bike out of the neighborhood to be sure it works. I have a 30 day return window and the weather is getting colder. I spent much of yesterday (Saturday) doing yard work (more than 20 large bags of leaves). Today I waited for it to warm up and for the sun to come out and I headed out at about 11AM with the temperature in the low 40s. I rode to Occoquan Park, rested for a few minutes, took the photo shown above, and headed back. The climb out of the park was the usual lung burning few minutes.

So, I like the bike. It feels like it turns power into movement very nicely. The shifting is still strange, but I like the quick response and effortless taps on the controls. I can’t really explain the braking difference; it’s subtle. It just feels smooth.

UPDATE

I’ve had the bike for 7 months now. I’ve ridden it more than 1,000 miles. I love it. All winter long I trained on the turbo trainer, eager for the chance to get outside. I had a handful of relatively warm days when I could ride outside. Finally, the warm days arrived and i started cranking the miles out. Here’s what I have to say:

• This past weekend, I rode the Endurace in the Armed Forces Cycling Classic Challenge Ride: 58 miles, 1775 of climb, 3 hours. I had a blast.
• The bike came with a 90mm stem. It always felt like I was too far forward over the handlebars when I was riding out of the saddle. I kept checking the Canyon web site for longer stems and they were out of stock for months. I found a 110mm stem on eBay. 20mm makes a world of difference. I like the bike handling better now and I’m much more comfortable out of the saddle.
• I’ve set lots of personal records. Maybe it’s the training. Maybe it’s the bike. Maybe it’s both.

This bike is awesome!

Repeat Visit to Moab

The bucket list is getting kind of short. Consequently we’re sometimes revisiting places.

Years ago we visited Moab. It was brutally hot even though it was early in June. But this trip was different. My wife wanted to participate in an event near Salt Lake City, I wanted to be a spectator at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, the timing of the two events was very close together, we decided to combine the events into a single vacation with a stay in Moab during the trip. So I got a second chance at Moab.

Last time, we visited Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park. We repeated those visits this time, but the weather was overcast and rainy. I have no new/improved shots of those places.

Except, I did make the climb to Delicate Arch at sunset. I got about a minute of wonderful light on the arch. 

Delicate Arch at Sunset

During that first trip to Moab, we didn’t have a lot of time. This time we did, so we explored. The scenery along the Colorado River northeast of Moab was very cool. We spent a morning driving Highway 128, aka River Road, through this very scenic canyon.

River Road

Years ago, during a trip to Mesa Verde National Park, I saw Shiprock off in the distance. During my previous trip to Moab/Monument Valley, I saw Shiprock from the road, again off in the distance. During a flight from some trip whose details I no longer remember, our course took us right over the Navajo lands on which Shiprock sits and I saw it through my airplane window. I’ve wanted to get a better look for a while. So, during our drive to Albuquerque from Moab I took a route that gave me the opportunity to get a good look. Here it is. 

Shiprock

After this detour, we went on to Albuquerque, which I describe in another post.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

My wife and I spent 3 days in Albuquerque to see the 2021 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. There were no evening events while we were there, only morning events.

Each morning we arrived at about 4:15. That’s right, 4:15 AM. Why so early? Parking. We wanted to get there before nearby parking filled up. We wandered the field, in the dark, every morning, and hung around the area where the dawn patrol was setting up. The dawn patrol is 6-8 balloons that go up just as the first light of dawn appears. It was very cool to be able to watch the whole launch process.

First, the crew lays the balloon out. Then they put the basket out and test fire the burners. Or they swap that order. The crew places the basket on its side, attaches the lines from the balloon to the basket, and they attach a tether from the balloon to a heavy object (like the crew van). Then the crew members use high-powered fans to blow cold air into the envelope while crew members hold the throat open. This cold inflation phase mostly inflates the balloon as it lies on the ground.

Crew Lays the Balloon Out

After cold inflation, the pilot will stand the balloon up by shutting the fans down and lighting the burners to heat the air in the balloon. During this process, the balloon will completely inflate and leave the ground, forcing the basket into an upright orientation. Some crew members may hop onto the basket to add weight to keep the balloon from lifting off.

Standing the balloon up

After stand-up, passengers board. At the fiesta, there were officials, “zebras”, people dressed in black and white stripes who cleared balloons for launch. When the zebra whistles, the balloon pilot will detach the tether, light the burner, and the balloon launches, immediately drifting in the wind.

We got to see this process several times, up close. So close in fact that we could feel the heat from the burners.

Of course I wanted to shoot the event. I did a lot of Internet research to figure out what to shoot, what camera settings to use, what gear to use. In the dark, I used my phone for close up shots and video. At dawn, I switched to my DSLR. On day one, I used a 24-70mm f2.8 lens. This was great for action on the ground but not enough reach for action in the air. On day 2, I took a balloon ride. I used my 70-200mm f2.8 lens. This was perfect because it had enough reach for shots of other balloons in the air and of subjects on the ground. On day 3, I used the 70-200 again. On this day, we checked the wind, went to the downwind side of the field, and I shot the balloons as they floated overhead. This was special shape day. I shot a lot as all sorts of strange balloons floated by.

My balloon ride was awesome. We launched just before sunrise. The balloon did not climb very quickly and it looked like we were going to hit some vans that were parked on the field. The ground crew held onto the rope to slow our drift while the pilot kept the burners going and we eventually cleared the vans by a few feet. Then we drifted southwest and climbed, eventually reversing direction to the north as we climbed into winds that were blowing in the opposite direction (the so-called Albuquerque box). We drifted almost as far north as the northernmost part of the launch field, then descended into winds heading south again. Eventually we came down low and the pilot looked for a spot to set down. We were over houses and businesses. There weren’t a lot of open areas. We missed several good spots (sport fields, parking lots) because they were not on our path and had to climb again. Finally the pilot found a spot and went for it. We bounced off a bush/tree, brushed a street sign, barely missed a mailbox, and set down on a street. Then the wind pushed the envelope and we left the ground again and set down again. And that happened again. And the basket tipped over. And the pilot jumped out and asked me to help him keep the envelope from landing on a chain link fence. I tried, but the envelope came down on me and I had to walk from under it by pushing it up over my head, getting pretty dusty in the process. Finally I got out from under the envelope and saw that it had landed on the fence. I carefully pulled it off the fence, a little at a time. The other side of the fence was a fire station lot. The firemen came out and helped to get the envelope off the fence. And so our landing had a little excitement. The chase crew then showed up, we had champagne, the crew packed the balloon, and we rode back to the fiesta grounds.

So what did I learn?

• My phone camera did a great job, especially in the dark.
• Balloons are huge. Shots on the ground really need a wide angle lens. My 24-70mm  was good for shots of action on the ground.
• Walking among the crews as they set up for launch, was a lot of fun. Seeing balloons launch all around me was also fun. There was no way I could turn and not have a balloon setting up or launching.
• Shots of balloons in the air were fun to take. The compositions that I liked were:
• Straight up into the throat with the burner lit. Actually anything with the burner lit.
• People in the basket during launch.
• Groups of balloons together.
• Balloons in profile.
• My 70-200mm lens was ideal for shots of balloons in flight, from the ground and in the air.

And here are some shots from the fiesta.

Special Shape Fish

Special Shape Sun

Look at that Flame

Special Shape Sloth

Special Shape Pig

Lit Burner

Special Shape Armadillo

Balloon Fiesta Grounds

From My Flight

Just Launched

Special Shape Bees

I have no idea what this is supposed to be

Special Shape Cow Launch During National Anthem

Special Shape Darth Vader and Yoda

Iceland Trip

Well, we did it. The trip that we planned for 2020, then cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, then rescheduled for 2021, happened. There were very few surprises. After all, we had nearly two years to plan. 

Here’s a summary.

July 9 departure from Dulles: We had to wear masks in the airports and during the flight. The airline swapped planes and reassigned seats; it was really confusing as everyone started swapping seats to sit next to their travel partners. The flight was good. We overflew Greenland.

Greenland

July 10: Arrival in Keflavik was awful, with a long line to get through passport control that extended down the stairs, wrapped around the ground floor, then out to the ramp with people waiting in line outside, then yet another long line after claiming bags to get to COVID screening. Then we spent 2 hours at Happy Camper pickup waiting for them to give us our van. I drove to Seljalandfoss, trying hard to pay attention to the speed limit with so many speed cameras around while I was feeling jet lag. We camped at Seljalandfoss. We needed coins for the shower but had none, so no shower because there was no bank open on Sat/Sun to get coins. It was very windy, rocking the van overnight. And it never got dark. Fortunately the curtains made the van dark enough to sleep.

Seljalandfoss

July 11: We drove to Skaftafell, and on the way we saw Skogafoss, Vik, Dyrholey, the Sólheimajökull glacier, and the Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon. We camped in Skaftafell national park. This is a good campground, with showers, bathrooms, and food. It was an easy walk to Svartifoss and glaciers were visible in the distance.

Skaftafell

Skogafoss

Sólheimajökull 

Dyrholey 

Pumping gas (diesel) is weird: you have to pick a cash amount at the pump or they put an outrageous hold on the card.

July 12 I walked to Svartifoss twice (once alone), then drove to Jökulsárlón, then to Stokksnes (which was veiled in cloud), then camped in Fossardalur campsite, in the mountains. It has beautiful scenery and a very nice owner. This was Monday, so we finally exchanged money in Hofn, which has a view of glaciers to the west and Vestrahorn to the east.

Svartifoss

Glacier Ice on the Beach

Jökulsárlón 

Jökulsárlón 

Ice on the Beach

Glacier Ice on the Black Sand Beach

July 13 The drive from the last campground to this area via the eastern fjords was amazing. My only complaint is that it was impossible to stop to take pictures because there was never a place to pull over. The puffin marina (Borgarfjarðarhöfn) was very good. There are walkways among the puffin burrows. Hundreds of puffins were standing by their burrows or flying out/in. Afterward, we found full campgrounds in the Egilsstaðir area, had to settle for a camp ground in a hay field with an asshole manager and too many people for the facilities. He charged us extra because the other campgrounds were full, and on top of that he charged us that exorbitant rate twice by saying the first attempt failed to go through. We disputed the second charge when we returned home.

Puffin

Puffin

Puffin with Food

Puffin

July 14 We drove miles down a gravel road to reach Stuðlagil canyon. The basalt columns are very cool. Then we drove to Mývatn (lots of midges everywhere), Hverir (like a miniature Yellowstone) and Dettifoss. It was chilly and rainy. We stayed at 66.2 campground on the north coast of Iceland and parked right next to the kitchen (instead of the shore) because it was so rainy. This was our northernmost point on the whole trip at, surprise, 66.2 degrees north latitude.

Dettifoss

Stuðlagil 

Stuðlagil 

Stuðlagil 

Dettifoss

July 15 We started by visiting Goðafoss in very nice weather. Then we drove 40 km down a dirt road to the end of the road where it turns into an F-road. I parked there then proceeded 1.2 miles on foot in very strong winds with STEEP hills to get to Aldeyjarfoss, then down a steep path to the cliff overlooking the falls. As I began my walk back to the car, a very nice Swiss couple gave me a ride from the parking lot back to my rental van. We then drove to and camped overnight at Drangeyfarferthir by the ocean.

Goðafoss

Aldeyjarfoss

July 16 It was a long drive to Kirkjufell, then to a campground near Reykjavík. We spent most of the Icelandic cash that we never needed because this campground did not accept credit cards.

Kirkjufell

July 17 After a lazy start, we visited Þingvellir, then drove to Keflavík for our COVID test (which was required for our return flight to the US), then we drove to and camped overnight  in Flúðir in the best weather that we had for the whole trip.

Flekaskilin

July 18 We drove to Gullfoss, Strokkur, and Geysir, then got a hotel in Keflavík.

Gullfoss

Geysir

July 19 Departure/return to VA, overflew Greenland again.

The Van

What I like:

• Good fuel economy
• Used diesel, which is cheaper than gasoline in Iceland
• Everything worked, but the windshield wipers were awful until the rain cleaned them off
• WIFI hotspot worked well but we were confused at the beginning when our phones dropped the connection and we couldn’t get it to work again until we finally figured out how to restart the tablet and force it to renew the Internet connection
• Heater works well on second battery/had heat all night
• Dometic refrigerator worked well, noisy
• Extra power outlets (from the second car battery) were very handy. This was charged by the solar panel on the roof.

What I didn’t like:

• The bed was too narrow; the built-in drawers/sink take too much space
• Camp stove was junk
• Curtains left big gaps
• Bedding bag was huge - it took up a lot of space in the back as we were driving around
• Impossible to see back/right because there was no window
• Back door was very hard to open

Cash

• Only one campground required coins for shower/laundry, and it was the very first one
• We wound up using the exchanged cash to pay for a campground

Clothing

• Didn’t need boots, but wore them to let my shoes dry out
• Only 2 really rainy days, at Dettifoss and again during the long drive to Snaefellsnes and on to Reykjavík
• Layers were good, the only time I was uncomfortably cold was in the 66.2 campground because of the wind and rain
• Only needed the coat on the rainy day at Dettifoss when it was so damp

Other stuff

• Never used the tripod, triggers, 14mm (but probably would have used the 14 if not for the clouds at Stokksnes), trekking poles
• Never used the bug nets but would have if we had spent more time at Myvatn or Þingvellir
• Never used the eye mask - we were tired enough and the van’s curtains worked well enough for us to sleep
• Brought too much food
• Never wore the rain pants
• Did laundry twice
• Never needed my night driving glasses because it never got dark
• Had plenty of options for USB charging and never used the 110v inverter, never used the battery that I brought
• DSLR camera used nearly 1 battery charge, then switched and used about half of another battery
• Dumped photos onto computer at 66.2, forgot to put XQD card back in camera, but remaining photos landed on SD card
• Surprising number of cyclists, including bikepackers, out in the cold and wind